The guy pictured above is 21-year-old Matthew McCoin.
Don't let his baby-faced soft cheeks and innocent looks fool you. Although he looks like he should be helping your grandmother cross a dangerous intersection, he's an enterprising young contraband capitalist.
Yesterday afternoon, The Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office announced that McCoin – an Oklahoma County Detention Officer – was arrested for selling tobacco to inmates in the Oklahoma County jail.
Here are the details via a media release:
An Oklahoma County Detention Officer has been arrested for bringing contraband into the jail. Matthew McCoin, D.O.B. 03/01/1997, faces four counts of Possession of Contraband in a Penal Institute and one count of violation of the Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act.
McCoin is accused of bringing tobacco into the jail and selling it to several inmates for between $50 and $150 per pack. Investigators believe the inmates would pay McCoin using Green Dot cards. McCoin is accused of using a cellular phone to transfer the money from the Green Dot cards to an account he could access.
Holy shit. $150 for a pack of tobacco? What are Mary Fallin and Oklahoma lawmakers doing leaving that revenue on the table? The state should be the one selling black market tobacco. Then we can tax it and use the profits to fund education. Considering how good this state is at sending people to jail, it will always be a dependable revenue stream.
“No one is above the law, and that certainly pertains to employees of the sheriff’s office,” said P.D. Taylor, Oklahoma County Sheriff. “The vast majority of our employees are dedicated and hardworking individuals who believe in serving the community. But any employee who betrays the trust of the citizens they are entrusted to serve will be held accountable for their actions.”
McCoin is currently being held in the Oklahoma County Jail on a $22,000 bond.
$22,000 bond for selling tobacco to legal-aged inmates? That seems excessive. I know what the kid did was wrong, but it's not like he was smuggling in Rita Hayworth posters and rock hammers. It's only tobacco. Plus, detention officers only make a couple grand a month. With blackmarket tobacco prices reaching all time highs, you can't really blame him for being all entrepreneurial. Slap him on the wrist and get him a job at a vape shop.
