BRENTWOOD — An employee at the Rockingham County Nursing Home was arrested on Thursday for allegedly buying Oxycodone that he planned to distribute to inmates at the county jail, the sheriff’s department said.

Scott Martin, 23, of 315 Main Street in Plaistow, was taken into custody outside of the county nursing home on Thursday at 11:30 a.m.

He was charged with sale of a controlled/narcotic drug and possession of a controlled/narcotic drug.

Martin, who worked in the nursing home’s laundry room, had regular contact with inmate “trustees,” who are allowed to work in the nursing home, according to Sheriff’s Major Al Brackett.

Martin allegedly made a plan to buy Oxycodone to hand off to the inmates so they could smuggle the drugs back to the jail, Brackett said.

“He was arrested outside with the drugs that he intended to give to inmates,” Brackett said.

The county nursing home is located on North Road in Brentwood, next door to the county jail and the sheriff’s department’s office.

Martin’s arrest was the result of a monthlong investigation by the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office Drug Task Force, according to Brackett.

Investigators have not yet revealed how they learned of Martin’s plan.

Brackett said that detectives continued working on the case Thursday, and that more arrests are expected.

Investigators say that Martin purchased the Oxycodone on Thursday. Martin was being held on $2,500 cash bail at the Rockingham County jail following his arrest.

No court date has been set for Martin.

He will be scheduled for arraignment in 10th Circuit Court in Brentwood. Both charges are felonies, punishable by up to 3½ to 7 years in state prison.

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