Man pleads guilty to trying to smuggle contraband into Lawton Correctional Facility

Instead of facing a Comanche County jury, an Okmulgee man pleaded guilty to an ill-fated attempt to get contraband, including more than 17 ounces of methamphetamine, into the Lawton Correctional Facility.

The trial was scheduled to begin Friday in the Comanche County District Court. Instead, Nickelus Edward Smith, 31, pleaded guilty to a felony count of aggravated trafficking in illegal drugs after former felony convictions, records indicate.

Comanche County Chief District Judge Grant Sheperd sentenced Smith to 25 years under the Oklahoma Department of Corrections with 18 years to serve in prison and seven years suspended, records indicate.

Smith was arrested in September 2022 following the report of a man trespassing on the prison property, 8607 SE Flower Mound Road. He was found walking near a prison-owned home, the probable cause affidavit states.

A mesh bag was discovered near the northeast corner of the prison containing 77 grams of marijuana, 1,765 grams of raw tobacco, six cellphones, a pair of earbuds and eight cellphone charging cables, according to the affidavit. Another corrections officer identified it as a bag Smith was seen carrying earlier.

Smith told investigators he’d left eight packages wrapped in black and camouflage tape near the prison, the affidavit states. Two of the packages got hung up on the prison’s fence.

The two bags were concealed by shrubs in the grass. One bag contained three packages wrapped in camouflage tape and another had four packages wrapped in black tape. Inside the first bag’s packages were 250 total grams of marijuana along with two pounds of tobacco, several cellphones, chargers, earbuds and six grams of methamphetamine, as well as screwdrivers, razor blades and lighters, the affidavit states.

More cellphones and contraband were found in the second package along with a vacuum-sealed bag containing 466 grams (16.45 ounces) of meth, another with 188 grams of meth, and the third with 1,055 grams of meth, as well as over 450 grams of marijuana, several packs of rolling papers and packs of cigarettes, according to the affidavit. Smith’s cellphone also was found in the grass.

Smith’s two prior felony convictions are from Okmulgee County from April 2015 for possession of a sawed-off shotgun and forcible sodomy, records indicate.