A female Morgan County Jail employee has been charged with one count of trafficking with an inmate after a tattoo gun and supplies were found in an inmate’s jail cell. The charge is an A Misdemeanor and if convicted, Crystal Graphman could face up to a year in jail.
According to jail records, Graphman, 23, Morgantown, had been employed for about five months as a jail officer.
According to the arrest report filed by Morgan County Detective Sergeant Larry Sanders, in early November, a tattoo gun and supplies were found in the jail cell of Michael Jarvis. Jail officers noticed several inmates had been sporting new tattoos and they began looking for their source.
During the investigation, Sanders said it was learned the items had been supplied by a jail officer who worked the night shift. Sanders said the officer, Crystal Graphman, was allegedly paid $150 to bring the items into the jail.
According to the report, Sanders questioned Graphman, who admitted she agreed to bring the items.
She said that for weeks, “Michael and other inmates have been bugging her to sneak in different items.” Graphman said she finally said yes to Jarvis.
Graphman told Sanders she went to Jarvis’s home and located a package in the mailbox that was wrapped in black electrical tape. The $150 payment was also in the mailbox, Graphman said.
She had disguised the package and took it to the jail and gave it to Jarvis. This was the first time she had ever done something like this and she knew it was wrong, according to the report.
Graphman was booked in to her former place of employment late Tuesday night. She is being held on $1,550 bond.
Morgan County Chief Deputy Robert Downey said the system was designed to keep inmates and the public from bring items into the jail. It depends on the jail employees to make the system work. He said the cell block has been checked to make sure no other illegal items had been brought in.
Downey said Graphman “Not only put the staff at risk by her actions but also the inmates.” He went on to say that she “ruined her career over $150.”