Officials say a sheriff's deputy assigned to work at a South Florida jail spent his shifts using his cellphone instead of conducting security checks.
Oreth Smith was arrested Tuesday following an investigation that also showed he falsified inmate head count records at the Broward County Jail. The 35-year-old deputy is charged with official misconduct and introducing contraband into the jail.
Smith, of Plantation, was booked into jail and released on bond. Records don't list an attorney.
Broward Sheriff's spokeswoman Veda Coleman-Wright said that Smith has been suspended without pay.
An arrest report says an inmate complained that Smith wasn't conducting checks or head counts. His supervisors then watched surveillance videos to confirm the allegations. Officials say it's against the agency's policy for deputies to have personal cellphones into the jail.
