Lawton prison inmates join woman charged in contraband plot

A pair of Lawton Correctional Facility inmates joined their alleged accomplice in being charged for a plot to bring a pair of shoes loaded with wax marijuana into the prison.

A tip about a cellphone inside the facility led investigators to make the discovery.

Oklahoma Department of Corrections Agent Travis Crawford began investigating Marquise D. Marquard, an inmate at the prison, 8607 SE Flower Mound. Road, on Aug. 6 after a contraband cellphone was seized from his cell. Messages inside the phone revealed conversations with April Dawn Cramer between Aug. 2 and 6 about bringing marijuana into the prison, Crawford stated.

Photos showed small containers with wax marijuana inside and conversations revealed they would be concealed in a pair of size 10 men’s shoes to be brought by Cramer, the affidavit states.

Cramer came to visit Marquard on Aug. 6 but, due to prison staff being alerted to the scheme, she was unable to pass the drugs and said she would return on Aug. 12 to pass the package to another prisoner, Richard Tyler Gaither, according to Crawford.

Recordings of Gaither and Cramer from the prison telephone revealed they discussed the price of $400 worth of wax would be turned into $2,500 behind the prison walls, according to the affidavit. Cramer would eventually arrive at the prison Aug. 20.

When she arrived, a K-9 drug dog alerted positive to drugs on Cramer. At first, she denied having contraband. During an interview, she admitted the shoes she was wearing were intended for Gaither, the affidavit states. She then invoked her right to an attorney and was arrested.