BY TERRY FLYNN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
BURLINGTON -- A group of inmates enjoyed some clandestine after-dinner cocktails Thursday night at the new Boone County detention facility, but they're paying the price in the jail lock-up now.
Jailer John Schickel said 13 inmates at the detention center on Bullitsville Road were found to have consumed an alcoholic beverage in one of the dormitories about 10:30 p.m. Thursday.
"Some prisoners smuggled four quart bottles of an imitation lemon juice from a storage cabinet in the kitchen to one of the dormitories," Mr. Schickel said Friday.
"The imitation juice had a very high alcohol content, as well as artificial flavoring, lemon oil and water. Apparently the inmates mixed it with water or soft drinks."
A deputy jailer making a routine check smelled alcohol when he entered the dormitory.
He brought in a portable breath testing machine and determined that 13 inmates had consumed alcohol.
"This is obviously a violation of the inmate honor code we have established at the work camp," Mr. Schickel said. "As a result, the entire facility is being punished. I don't believe 13 people can participate in activity like this and the rest of the facility not know about it. They should have reported it and tried to stop it."
There were over 50 inmates in the work camp Thursday night. The 13 who were found to have alcohol in their systems are now in the main jail facility in a lockdown mode with no privileges.
The remainder of the inmates at the work camp have also lost all their privileges, according to Mr. Schickel. "They are confined to the barracks with no privileges, and are only allowed to leave for work details."
The work camp houses non-violent prisoners serving sentences for crimes such as multiple DUI convictions and non-support of children. It is a minimum security facility which is operated more like a military barracks with sleeping facilities in dormitories. Mr. Schickel said he also had to assume some of the responsibility for the incident.
"We purchased the juice because it was on sale as a discontinued item from our principal food supplier," he said. "I was totally unaware of the alcohol content, and I take responsibility for not knowing. We have (inmates) here who have serious alcohol abuse problems. Obviously, someone was checking contents on labels in the kitchen."
Asked when he would remove the 13 inmates from lockdown at the main jail and return privileges to all the work camp inmates, Mr. Schickel replied, "When I'm in a better mood."
