3 correctional officers arrested for smuggling cash into Polk Co. prison

Three correctional officers are accused of smuggling cash into the Avon Park Correctional Institution, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. 

In September, investigators learned that a correctional officer or officers may have been bringing contraband into the facility. 

Later on in the month, an undercover detective, posing as a prison inmate’s relative, met with Officer Jules Loya, 33, and gave him two packs of 305 cigarettes, two cell phone SIM cards and $400 in cash to smuggle into jail. Loya was supposed to keep $250 of the $400 given to him in exchange for him bringing in the remainder of the money, SIM cards, and cigarettes. 

Loya went to the jail later that afternoon and set off a metal detector, investigators said. He told staff he had to go back to his car, and threw the items in a trashcan, but kept the cash, authorities said.

Loya was arrested and charged with one count of introduction of currency to an inmate, a felony, and one count of unauthorized compensation, a misdemeanor offense.  He has a previous arrest for knowingly driving with a license suspended or revoked, deputies said. 

Authorities say another officer, Nathan Lucy, 23, met with an undercover detective twice. He was given a total of $360, $260 of which he was told to keep.

Both times, Lucy went into work and gave money to an inmate.  The cash was identified through a serial matching number and confiscated by DOC personnel, detectives said. 

Lucy is charged with two counts of introduction of currency to an inmate, a felony, one count of unauthorized compensation and one count prison employee receiving unauthorized compensation, both misdemeanor offenses.

On Oct. 9, detectives said an undercover detective gave Officer Victor Medina $600, $300 of which he was told to keep. The next day, he handed an inmate $300. The cash was identified through a matching serial number and Medina was arrested.

He is charged with one count introduction of currency to an inmate, a felony, and one count unauthorized compensation, a misdemeanor. 

Medina has posted $1500 dollars bond. Loya is still in custody and being held on $2500 bond and Lucy is in custody with a $3,000 bond.

“The Florida Department of Corrections Office of the Inspector General did an outstanding job working with us in this investigation. It is our intent these officers are held accountable for their illegal conduct,” said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. 

The Florida Department of Corrections released the following statement: