By ROBIN SHANON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – A St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office corrections officer was arrested Wednesday morning after an internal investigation revealed that he was smuggling drugs to inmates in the parish jail.

Allan Meadows, 41, a resident of Oakland Drive in Destrehan, was charged with malfeasance in office, along with four counts of taking contraband into a correctional institution, said Capt. Dane Clement, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office. Clement said Meadows had been working within the corrections division for about 18 months prior to the arrest.

The brief investigation was initiated after authorities received information that Meadows was taking drugs into the parish jail on numerous occasions, Clement said. He said the drugs were being given to inmates at the facility but would not elaborate further.

Clement said St. John investigators shared their information with the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office, which conducted its own investigation.

Deputies searched Meadows’ home in Destrehan and uncovered a small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. As a result of the St. Charles investigation, Meadows will also be charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia in St. Charles Parish.

Meadows is the second St. John Sheriff’s Office employee to be arrested this year. On April 27, Donna Breaud of Reserve was arrested after it was discovered she had stolen more than $20,000 in traffic fines while working as a clerk in the civil administration division.

Clement said Meadows is being held at the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility in LaPlace in lieu of a $20,000 bond set by ad hoc Judge A.J. Kling.