(Stillwater, Okla.) – A Cimarron Correctional Facility inmate serving three concurrent five -year prison terms for three counts of armed robbery in Oklahoma County has been charged in Payne County with possessing marijuana while incarcerated at the private prison in Cushing.
Tevin Lee Cooper, 21, who has also used the middle initial of R., has not yet appeared before a Payne County judge on the felony charge that was filed last week, court records show.
Cushing Police Officer Rachel Hentges wrote in an affidavit filed this week that she was sent to the Cushing prison at about 5:25 p.m. on Nov. 19, 2017, on a report of a visitor being caught passing contraband to an inmate during visitation.
According to court records, the visitor has not been charged with any crime in Payne County.
A correctional officer “reported she passed by the visitation room and observed a hand-to-hand exchange through the visitation window,” the affidavit alleged.
A package wrapped in black electrical tape containing what appeared to be marijuana was found in inmate Cooper’s front left pocket of his jeans, the affidavit alleged.
The alleged incident was recorded on the prison’s video surveillance, according to the affidavit.
When the visitor was initially interviewed, she presented an identification card that was not hers, but later identified herself by another name, the affidavit alleged.
The visitor “reported she had put money on Cooper’s books at the facility, so they could talk over the phone,” the affidavit said.
She “reported Cooper brought up the idea of her delivering a package to him inside the prison approximately one week prior,” and said that she would be paid $300 to bring it to him, the affidavit alleged.
The visitor “stated she was nervous, but Cooper assured her she would not get caught,” the affidavit alleged.
She said a man “dropped the package off to her at her residence and told her it was for ‘homeboy,’” the affidavit alleged. She said the false identification card was also given to her at the same time, the affidavit alleged.
The visitor “reported she brought the package into the facility in her vagina,” the affidavit alleged.
She said that while in visitation she went to the vending machines, “pushed the package out, which she described as how a woman would push a baby out during birth,” and then pushed it over to the side of her pants, the affidavit alleged.
She said “she passed it to inmate Cooper as she gave him a hug,” the affidavit alleged. “She stated she believed Cooper put the package in his pocket after she passed it to him,” the affidavit alleged.
In addition to viewing the surveillance footage from the incident in the visitation room, the Cushing police officer also listened to three recorded phone calls made on the previous day by Cooper, who instructed the visitor what to do, the affidavit alleged.
If convicted of possessing marijuana while incarcerated in the Cimarron Correctional Facility, Cooper could be given a prison term of five to 20 years and a fine of $10,000, according to the charge.
According to Oklahoma Department of Corrections records, Cooper had been sentenced on July 1, 2015, to three concurrent five-year prison terms, followed by three concurrent five-year probationary periods, on three counts of armed robbery in 2014 in Oklahoma County.
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