A Lee Arrendale State Prison employee is facing charges for allegedly providing prohibited items to inmates at the facility.
Officer Katlyn Rochell Harwell, age 26, of Martin was arrested on March 13 on five criminal warrants signed by Mountain Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge B. Chan Caudell.
The first warrant charges Harwell with violation of oath of office, alleging she entered the guard lines between January 1 and March 12 of 2024 with a cell phone and “an undisclosed quantity of Newport cigarettes and directly provided them to an offender in custody in exchange for money”, according to a Habersham County release.
Two of the warrants charge Harwell with possession of prohibited items by a state inmate, while the additional warrants charge her with trading with an inmate without the consent of the warden.
Harwell was booked into the Habersham County Detention Center in Clarkesville. She was released on March 15 after posting a $16,600 bond.
