Former jail guards arrested, charged with smuggling

Sheriff says three gave unauthorized supplies to inmates.

Three men who once worked inside the Lucas County Jail found themselves in handcuffs Friday after they were arrested on federal charges alleging they smuggled contraband to inmates.

Robert Hobson, 31; Marcus Henderson, 32; and Matthew Wiegand, 39, previously resigned their jobs as corrections officers.

Lucas County Sheriff John Tharp said his office launched an investigation into the alleged contraband smuggling, then asked the FBI to assist. What resulted were federal indictments that charge Hobson with two counts each of extortion and providing contraband in prison, all felonies.

In November, 2015, Hobson, who was hired in March 2015 and resigned in January 2016, allegedly accepted bribes in return for providing synthetic marijuana and tobacco to inmates.

Henderson, who worked for the sheriff ’s office from August 2013 until July 2016, was indicted on single felony counts of extortion and providing contraband in prison. In June 2016, he allegedly took bribes to provide a cellular phone and tobacco to inmates.

Wiegand was indicted on a misdemeanor charge of providing contraband in prison for allegedly giving tobacco to an inmate in May 2017. He had worked for the sheriff ’s office for nearly 10 years before resigning that month.

Tharp called the allegations “a slap in the face” to the great majority of his employees who do their job with honesty and integrity.

“I personally think it’s disgusting. I really do,” he said. “We have a lot of good people. This is not representative of the majority of people working in the corrections center.”

He said it was “disheartening” that those who work in the judicial system would break the law.

“We would expect that when people take an oath and raise their hand, they would know that they are expected to step up and do the right thing and be a good representative of the community,” Tharp said.

The U.S. Marshals Service arrested the three men Friday. Each was arraigned in U.S. District Court before Magistrate Judge James Knepp who allowed them to be free on unsecured bonds.

Each pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Freeman told the court the extortion charge carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison, while the contraband charge carries a maximum penalty of a year in prison.

Freeman said the misdemeanor charge Weigand faces carries a maximum prison term of six months.

According to internal affairs records, during his employment with the sheriff ’s office, Wiegand was sustained on four separate violations of abuse of sick time. He also was sustained on an administrative charge of interfering with justice after he wrote a letter to a Lucas County Common Pleas judge on behalf of an inmate prior to sentencing.

He is the son of former Toledo police Deputy Chief Thomas Wiegand, who retired in February 2017.