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Florida Prison Guards Plead Guilty to Federal Cocaine Charges
As a result of plea agreements reached between April and May 2010, eleven Florida prison guards and five other defendants have pleaded guilty to federal cocaine possession charges. The arrests occurred following a two-year investigation into corruption at Florida prisons located in Palm Beach County.
The sixteen defendants entered into separate plea agreements that resulted in guilty pleas to either federal charges of conspiracy to possess cocaine or possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.
The investigation involved undercover FBI agents recruiting guards from Glades Correctional Institution, South Bay Correctional Institution and the Florida Road Prison. The guards, and five others who posed as prison guards, ran loads of fake cocaine out of Miami-Dade County for payments of $5,000.
Pleading guilty in federal court were Latess Hill, Jentle Chatman, Zedra Warner, Belinda Davis Brown, Tanika Wright, Samantha Wilkerson, Kenyetta Biggs, Elisha Allen, Melvin Brown, Antonio Key, Jason Miller, Marcus Pitre, Dondia Wilkerson, Pakesha McCray, Takisha Golden and Melissa Jefferson. All were sentenced between July and August 2010 to prison terms ranging from 21 to 57 months plus up to five years of supervised release.
The federal investigation coincided with a state probe that resulted in six prison employees being arrested on charges of bribery, introduction of contraband into a correctional institution and conspiracy. The prison staff members charged in state court included Sgts. Alanda Ray Shaw and Sheroen Lenard Dukes; guards Natasha Lacola Beckles, David Jermaine Stewart and Marlon Anthony Ellison; and substance abuse counselor Osmond W. Williams. Those cases remain pending.
Source: Palm Beach Post
The sixteen defendants entered into separate plea agreements that resulted in guilty pleas to either federal charges of conspiracy to possess cocaine or possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.
The investigation involved undercover FBI agents recruiting guards from Glades Correctional Institution, South Bay Correctional Institution and the Florida Road Prison. The guards, and five others who posed as prison guards, ran loads of fake cocaine out of Miami-Dade County for payments of $5,000.
Pleading guilty in federal court were Latess Hill, Jentle Chatman, Zedra Warner, Belinda Davis Brown, Tanika Wright, Samantha Wilkerson, Kenyetta Biggs, Elisha Allen, Melvin Brown, Antonio Key, Jason Miller, Marcus Pitre, Dondia Wilkerson, Pakesha McCray, Takisha Golden and Melissa Jefferson. All were sentenced between July and August 2010 to prison terms ranging from 21 to 57 months plus up to five years of supervised release.
The federal investigation coincided with a state probe that resulted in six prison employees being arrested on charges of bribery, introduction of contraband into a correctional institution and conspiracy. The prison staff members charged in state court included Sgts. Alanda Ray Shaw and Sheroen Lenard Dukes; guards Natasha Lacola Beckles, David Jermaine Stewart and Marlon Anthony Ellison; and substance abuse counselor Osmond W. Williams. Those cases remain pending.
Source: Palm Beach Post
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