Prison guard faces drug charge

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A prison guard faces a felony drug charge after he was caught trying to bring 6 ounces of marijuana to work with him, authorities said.

Michael Cook, 38, was arrested Monday and charged with distributing marijuana into a prison. He told investigators he had brought drugs to the Missouri State Penitentiary one other time, Cole County Sheriff John C. Hemeyer said.

"On the outside, it may not seem like much, but people on the inside have been killed over 6 ounces of this stuff," he said.

Cook's arrest was the result of an investigation by Missouri Department of Corrections investigators and a local drug task force. He has been a guard at the prison for about six years.

After his arrest, Cook provided information that led to a search warrant at a Springfield apartment, where a man and a woman were arrested on drug charges, Hemeyer said. The pair have not yet been charged, but authorities claim they also smuggled marijuana into the prison.