CLEARFIELD, Pa. — A state prison employee accused of bringing drugs into a Clearfield County facility appeared in court Wednesday.
Rick Davis Jr., 36, of Philipsburg, was charged Saturday with felony manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver, felony intentional possession of controlled substance, felony possession of controlled substance contraband/inmate and misdemeanor use/possession of drug paraphernalia.
Davis waived his preliminary hearing Wednesday and had all charges bound over for trial.
The Department of Corrections (DOC) said Davis is a corrections food service instructor at the State Correctional Institute at Houtzdale.
The DOC said Davis has been suspended without pay pending the outcome of the investigation.
Clearfield County District Attorney William Shaw Jr. said the charges stem from an ongoing investigation at SCI Houtzdale.
"It's bad that drugs get into a prison through visitors or by other means, but when staff members take drugs in that's as serious as it gets," said Shaw. "We take that very seriously and it's absolutely not going to be tolerated."
Shaw said he expects more arrests to be made.
"The introduction of drugs into a prison puts everybody in the facility at risk; employees, other inmates and visitors," Shaw said. "It's a very dangerous situation and it's not going to be tolerated."
Davis is one of three DOC staff members arrested for attempting to introduce contraband into its facilities.
"When we closed off the mail as a major avenue for drugs getting into prisons we knew there would be pressure on other avenues for contraband introduction and that includes staff," said Corrections Secretary John Wetzel. "We have a zero-tolerance policy on contraband in our facilities, whether it is introduced by visitors, staff or other means and violators will be prosecuted."
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