A 30-year-old correctional cadet at Elaan Hunt Correctional Center was arrested Monday after a body scan before his shift turned up a cellphone and three blank sheets of paper, two of which tested positive for cocaine. Authorities later searched Jaunya Spiller’s car and found a loaded gun.
The arrest matters because Spiller was not a long-timer trying to hide a mistake. He had been on the job for less than four months before he was fired, and he now faces three felony charges: distribution of cocaine, introducing contraband to a penal institution and malfeasance in office. Spiller is the 13th employee at the facility to be arrested this year, a number that has put a sharper focus on what was coming through the gates and who was trying to bring it in.
Spiller, who was hired in March, told deputies during an interview that he planned to give the paper to an inmate. That detail sits at the center of why the arrest landed so hard. The scan did not just catch a cellphone on a staff member headed into the building; it uncovered paper that could be used to move cocaine into the institution, and the search of his car added a loaded firearm to the case.
The arrest also came as the facility was already under a broader crackdown that has swept up both staff and visitors. On Saturday, Shermaniqua Smith, 26, and Marshayla Blade, 23, were arrested after a routine screening while visiting the detention center found a bag of marijuana and pre-rolled marijuana cigarettes. Both were booked into the Iberville Parish Jail and each faces one charge of possession with intent to distribute marijuana and one charge of introduction of contraband into a penal institution.
Warden Travis Day began overseeing the St. Gabriel facility in January, and the Department of Public Safety and Corrections has said it has taken proactive measures and enhanced security across Louisiana’s facilities, including investment in advanced camera technology. Secretary Gary Westcott said under Day’s leadership, the center has intensified security measures and accountability efforts to restore integrity and protect the safety of staff, incarcerated individuals and the public.
But the numbers keep piling up around the same place. The Department of Corrections says an ongoing investigation requested by the agency remains open, and 34 additional civilians visiting the facility have also been arrested in 2026. That leaves the most pointed question not about whether the crackdown exists, but how a loaded gun and drug-laced paper still made their way to an employee’s car before he ever made it to work.
