Guard charged with drug smuggling at Eastern KY prison with history of problems
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- A state prison guard was charged with bringing illegal narcotics into the prison.
- Court records charge Joe Allen Cress with misconduct, promoting contraband and.
- Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex has ranked highest for smuggling reports statewide.
Kentucky State Police on Thursday charged a state prison guard with bringing illegal narcotics into the prison where he worked.
Joe Allen Cress, 60, was fired on Friday from the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex near West Liberty, state police said in a news release.
Court records in Morgan District Court show Cress is charged with first-degree official misconduct, first-degree promoting contraband and second-degree trafficking in a controlled substance.
Cress had 112 1/2 strips of Suboxone — a prescription medicine used to treat opioid addiction — hidden in one of his boots when he went through a security checkpoint at the prison, according to a police report. A search of his vehicle produced $3,000 in hundred dollar bills, according to the report.
An arraignment is set for May 26.
Since 2021, Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex has consistently ranked highest for smuggling reports among all Kentucky’s prisons, according to corrections data, the Herald-Leader reported earlier this month.
In March, the Herald-Leader reported that two guards at the prison are being prosecuted for allegedly trafficking drugs, including methamphetamines, as part of an organized ring involving inmates and an inmate’s mother.
“The Department of Corrections takes aggressive steps to control contraband from entering the facilities, including but not limited to frisk searches, the use of body scanners, only allowing clear bags inside and putting them through the belt x-ray machine, and limiting the number of personal belongings that employees can bring to work, among other protocols,” the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet said in a news release on Friday.
“These requirements apply to employees of DOC, visitors, vendors and contract employees,” the cabinet said.
This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 12:19 PM.
