Woman arrested for trafficking with an inmate

NEW CASTLE, Ind. (WISH) - Police are investigating a possible trafficking incident after a New Castle woman was arrested.

Roberta Ashburn, 44, turned herself in at the Henry County Jail on a warrant. The warrant was a result of an Indiana State Police investigation into allegations she was trafficking with inmates at the New Castle Correctional Facility.

The investigation was started in early January when prison internal affairs contacted the Pendleton Post requesting an investigation.

Prison internal affairs investigators had developed information that Ashburn,an Aramark employee, had brought in tobacco and a cell phone to an inmate. Aramark is a private company that provides food service at the New Castle Correctional Facility.

In January Richard Rice, a former GEO employee at the prison, was also arrested for trafficking with an inmate, as well as possession of heroin and marijuana when he attempted to bring articles into the prison. This case was also a result of state police investigators working closely with internal affairs officers at the prison.

Ashburn is being charged with a Class C felony for trafficking with an inmate, an Indiana State Police release said.