LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — A tip from an inmate led to the arrest of a corrections officer at the Lake County Detention Center Tuesday.
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The investigation began back in May when the inmate reported that 25-year-old Detention Deputy Bailey Lennon was placing electronic cigarette cartridges in trash cans within the facility for inmates to use.
After interviewing other inmates and detention deputies, Lake County Sheriff’s Office detectives were ultimately able to recover vape cartridges that had been left in trash cans that were accessible by inmates.
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According to a report, detectives reviewed surveillance camera footage from the jail for three days from June 16 through 18 and could see Deputy Lennon entering the staff bathroom multiple times throughout his shifts, talking on his cell phone as he enters and exits each time. Investigators say they believe Lennon was communicating with someone about the placement of the cartridges at those times.
Days later, detectives conducted a sweep of the bathroom before Lennon arrived and found no contraband. According to the report, it was only after Lennon was seen entering and exiting the bathroom that another sweep yielded a vape cartridge in the trash can.
In an interview, Lennon initially claimed he accidentally left his bag open underneath his desk and inmates stole cartridges from it. He also admitted to disposing of used cartridges in the staff bathroom trash can as he would replace them with new ones.
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When confronted with the fact that each of the cartridges investigators recovered were more than half-full, he claimed he doesn’t like using them after they’re half used.
Under further questioning, the report says Lennon eventually admitted to intentionally bringing the cartridges in the jail, leaving them in the staff trashcan and knowing that the inmates would have access to them. However, he denied doing it intentionally for the inmates or doing it for profit.
During the interview, deputies say Lennon removed another pack of cartridges from his pocket.
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Investigators secured an arrest warrant for Lennon, charging him with introduction of contraband into a county correctional facility. He was booked into the jail Tuesday evening and released on $2,000 bond less than an hour later.
Lennon has been a Lake County corrections officer since July of 2019. According to the sheriff’s office, he’s currently on suspension with the termination process underway.
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