Alabama Guard, Prisoners Among 13 Sentenced in Phone Scam and Drug-Smuggling Ring
On July 1, 2024, the last of 13 people was sentenced in a drug-smuggling scheme at Alabama’s Donaldson Correctional Facility that included five prisoners. The last of those, Otis “Big O” Bowers, 44, had been sentenced on April 4, 2024, to 235 months in federal prison, after he and fellow members of the Gangster Disciples prison gang admitted paying off former guard Wilson Brian Clemons with cash and gifts.
But that’s where their scheme took an unusual turn: The prisoners scammed Clemons’ bribe from The Home Depot, using gift cards that they fraudulently activated over contraband cellphones. The scheme began to unravel when state Department of Corrections (DOC) guards interrupted a drop at the prison in March 2022. Adam Demond Andrews, 35, was arrested shortly after leaving bags stuffed with heroin, cocaine, fentanyl, Delta-Nine-Tetrahydrocannabinol, plus over a kilogram methamphetamine, as well as Suboxone, Buprenorphine, THC gummies and over 3.2 kilograms of suspected marijuana. Cellphones, chargers, cables, memory and SIM cards were also recovered, along with a mobile hotspot, scales, lighters, tobacco products, shoes, jewelry and watches. Andrews pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 132 months in prison, followed by 120 months of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment. See: United States v. Andrews, USDC (N.D. Ala.), Case No. 2:23-cr-00147.
Clemons had been caught in November 2021, when fellow DOC guards watched him pull off the road outside the prison entrance, and K-9 dogs then alerted to drugs in his car. A search of the spot where he had stopped turned up bags containing cellphones, marijuana, and Xanax. He pleaded guilty in November 2022 and was sentenced to six months in prison and 36 months of supervised release in October 2023. He was also ordered to pay a $200 special assessment and forfeit $1,850 in bribes traced to Cash App accounts maintained under the names “Mario Lopez” and “My Grandaddy Otis.” See: United States v. Clemons, USDC (N.D.Ala.), Case No. 2:22-cr-00402.
Also in October 2023, Donaldson prisoner Terry Ray “Skitzo” Bradshaw, 39, received a 61-month sentence for playing “skit caller” in the phone scam: Using a contraband cellphone and spoofing technology, he impersonated a Home Depot executive and convinced employees to issue the cards. He and Bowers pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering, along with three fellow prisoners: Ricardo “Raul” Poole, Sr., 48; Kortney Jovan Simon, 43; and Ricardo Poole, Jr., 25. They admitted using contraband phones to activate the cards and purchase goods, which were picked up by three unincarcerated co-conspirators: Rhonda Thompson Poole, 49; Kiara Rashell Anderson, 32; and Rennita Renee Perry, 30.
Poole, Sr. ran the scam beginning in September 2020. He was sentenced to 210 months in prison in August 2023. Poole, Jr. got 15 months and a $200 special assessment in June 2023. Simon, a manager and supervisor in the conspiracy, was sentenced to 137 months in May 2023. Bradshaw, Simon and both Pooles also pleaded guilty to money laundering. Bowers and Poole, Sr. additionally pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute controlled substances. All five prisoners were ordered to serve 36 months of supervised release.
In November 2023, Perry was ordered to serve five months in prison and 36 months of supervised release, plus pay a $300 special assessment. Anderson and Rhonda Poole got 36 months of probation when they were sentenced in October 2023. The three of them and the five prisoners were ordered to pay restitution in an amount to be determined. See: United States v. Poole, USDC (N.D. Ala.), Case No. 2:22-cr-00345.
Additional sources: Trussville Tribune, WAAY, WBMA
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