Prison board fires Fayette County corrections officer who allegedly gave inmate pills
Custer
Lohr
Zimmerlink
Abraham
Members of the Fayette County Prison board have terminated the employment of a guard arrested earlier this month for allegedly providing drugs to a female inmate.
During Wednesday’s regular prison board meeting, the members entered into an hour-long executive session to discuss personnel matters and, when they returned, voted to terminate the employment of Michael Thomas Slater, 58, of Connellsville, effective April 25.
Slater allegedly gave prescription medication to inmate Shannon Nicholson, 37, while carrying on an apparent relationship with her until Nicholson was found with a large quantity of pills in her cell in March.
Uniontown City Police filed charges against Slater after Nicholson informed them that he allegedly supplied her with pills he picked up from a pharmacy.
Slater is free on $25,000 straight cash bond with a preliminary hearing scheduled in May.
Board members Fayette County Sheriff James Custer, commissioners Dave Lohr and Angela Zimmerlink and Controller Scott Abraham voted to terminate Slater’s position.
Board member and Fayette County Judge Steve Leskinen abstained from voting because the incident may be a legal matter before the Fayette County Court of Common Pleas.
Board members including Fayette County Commissioner Vincent Vicites and District Attorney Rich Bower were not in attendance.
In other business, the prison board unanimously voted to collaborate with the Fayette County Drug and Alcohol Commission for the Fayette County Jail Vivitrol Pilot Program.
The program has been initiated to reduce the risk or relapse and overdose for persons recently released from incarceration with alcohol and opioid addiction.
To be eligible, an inmate must be a Fayette County resident with an identified substance abuse disorder and be eligible for release from the prison within three months of a referral by the county’s adult probation or jail counselors.
The process begins when an inmate makes the request to a jail counselor, followed by an assessment to meet requirements including not having a medical condition that would be exacerbated by Vivitrol, which is medication that blocks opioid receptors in the brain to prevent relapses.
An approved inmate will go through bi-weekly counseling and be given the Vivitrol injection one week prior to being released as well as outpatient services.
Warden Jeffrey Meyers said the program is already in place and is based on similar programs out of Mercer and Washington counties.