When a prison worker has been convicted of trying to smuggle contraband into jail, it’s usually drugs or a cell phone… or anything an inmate may consider a need that they can’t get from commissary. But one South Carolina prison worker is accused of trying to smuggle the most unsuspecting item ever for an inmate— and now she’s facing charges.
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Sharon Elizabeth Smith, of Sumter, which is 100 miles north of Charleston, was an employee at the Lee Correctional Institution. The 36-year-old worked as the prison’s canteen manager, who oversees the prison store and manages inventory.
According to Columbia local news station WIS 9, Smith was fired from her job after authorities reportedly found $2,500 worth of grillz — yes, you read that right, grillz— inside her car on Lee Correctional property. Grillz, or fronts, are decorative fashion accessories for your teeth, often made of metal, gold, or silver. (St. Louis rapper Nelly loved grillz so much he wrote a song about it in 2005. It went platinum and topped the US Billboard Hot 100.)
Nevertheless, warrants claim Smith allegedly conspired with others as part of a plan to bring grillz into the prison. She was arrested on Sept. 10 and has been charged with criminal conspiracy.
Folks on WLBT 3’s Facebook, who also posted the story, went in on Smith and the inmate.
“why in the world would she try to smuggle a grill in jail,” one person wrote with two laughing emojis. “where was he going?”
Another person asked, “So who did the imprints for the grills?”
“Richland county don’t play,” a second Facebook user commented. “You bout to join him on the other side for a while! how you send him a grill when you’re not even smiling.”
A fourth person laughed at “The things women do for men,” while a fifth person said, “Anyone involved with her go ahead and turn yourself in because she telling on everybody.” Someone else said, “I think it’s more to the story. What they gonnna do with grillz in jail.”
According to a recent United States Sentencing Commission report on prison contraband offenses, which reviewed data from 2019 to 2023, correctional officers and other prison employees accounted for a significant portion of contraband smuggling.
Almost 39% of cell phone smuggling cases were done by a prison employee, according to the report, as contraband is often discovered through a combination of physical searches, video surveillance, and snitching tips from other officers or inmates.
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