A 33-year-old woman from Chicago is under a felony charge for allegedly sneaking a cellphone into the Cook County Jail’s medical facility. The phone was reportedly hidden in gauze on an inmate’s wound.
Dominique Smith-Montgomery, employed by Cermak Health Services at the jail, was apprehended on July 23. This followed a probe by the Cook County Sheriff’s Department of Investigations and Intelligence, as announced by the sheriff’s office on Monday.
The investigation began after a tip-off suggested that Smith-Montgomery might be involved in an improper relationship with a detainee. Authorities discovered that the two exchanged hundreds of phone calls, and Smith-Montgomery allegedly brought a cellphone into the jail and passed it to the detainee. A search of the inmate’s cell revealed a phone and other contraband, officials reported.
Once in custody, Smith-Montgomery reportedly admitted to hiding the cellphone in her underwear before entering the facility and later placing it in gauze on the man’s wound. According to the sheriff’s office, she claimed her actions were because she “liked him.”
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office has charged Smith-Montgomery with introducing contraband into a penal institution. She is currently free while awaiting trial. The investigation into the detainee who received the phone is still ongoing, as stated by the sheriff’s office.
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