A telecom trainer resigned from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office after she was arrested for drug-related offenses, deputies said.

Gwendolyn Laughery, 41, of Winter Haven was taken into custody and booked into the Polk County Jail Wednesday, according to a news release. 

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office received a tip from a concerned citizen that Laughery may be in possession of illegal drugs. A K9 officer conducted a sniff of her vehicle and alerted officers to the presence of drugs. A search of the vehicle turned up two glass pipes and a glass bowl containing a small amount of methamphetamine, an arrest affidavit states. 

Laughery later told detectives she had been using methamphetamine and marijuana for the past few months, deputies said. 

Detectives also spoke with Laughery’s boyfriend, 36-year-old Jeremy Owens, who surrendered a box containing several used needles, plastic bags, a spoon with burnt methamphetamine residue and a small amount of marijuana, according to an affidavit. 

Deputies said the box was kept in the bathroom in reach of Owens’ three children who were home at the time. 

Owens was arrested and charged with Possession of Methamphetamine, Negligent Child Abuse, Possession of Paraphernalia, Storing Controlled Substance in a Dwelling, Possession of Marijuana.

According to deputies, Owens has a lengthy rap sheet including charges of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Resisting, Grand Theft, Felony Petit Theft among other charges. 

He’s being held in the Polk County Jail without bond. 

Laughery is charged with possession of methamphetamine, a felony and paraphernalia, a misdemeanor. She has no previous arrests, online records show.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said Laughery was hired by the agency in September of 1994. She began working in the Telecommunications Center in June 1996. Laughery resigned from the sheriff’s office during an interview with detectives, deputies said. 

She was released from jail on a $1,500 bond.