POLK COUNTY, Fla. — A nurse was arrested after deputies said she gave a cellphone to a Polk County Jail inmate and wrote love letters to another inmate.
Suzanne Gracia, of Avon Park, was arrested Thursday.
Gracia had worked for Corizon Health since 2014.
Deputies said the phone was found on inmate Julio Ruiz on May 21.
Ruiz told deputies Gracia brought him the phone, according to a report.
The phone was used by inmates Fernando Olvera-Gonzalez and Simon Ramos, deputies said.
Olvera-Gonzalez also showed deputies love letters that he claimed were given to him by Gracia. In the letters, "Sue" mentions how her husband is in prison, and told Olvera-Gonzalez to find her when he is released from jail.
Gracia admitted to investigators that she wrote the letters and had brought the cell phone into the jail and gave it to Olvera-Gonzalez.
"A cellphone in the jail presents a security risk and can ultimately place anyone in the jail in danger. As a nurse, she's supposed to provide care to the inmates, not phones,” said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. “We're obviously none too-pleased with her behavior, and I suspect Corizon isn't either."
Gracia is facing two counts of introduction of contraband and two counts of interference with county prisoners.
Cox Media Group
