Prison officials ban peanut butter to stop contraband

Prison officials ban peanut butter to stop contraband:

Tennessee prison officials have banned peanut butter in their facilities because inmates were hiding guns, drugs and cell phones in the 18-ounce jars.

The ban came after an investigation revealed that George Hyatt, a prisoner in Knoxville, smuggled a cell phone into the prison facility where he was being held and used it to coordinate a deadly breakout while being transported to court last August.

“After today, any/all such containers shall be considered contraband and will result in disciplinary action,” George Little, Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Correction said in a statement.

Confiscation of the peanut butter jars followed the discovery of guns and drugs hidden in the jars. Inmates bought the sandwich spread from prison commissaries.

Prison officials plan to return the 4,600 18-oz. jars the department has on hand to the vendor and replace them with one-ounce condiment packets.

Related post: prison, break, inmates, banned, peanut, butter