Ex-prison guard sentenced after admitting she took bribes allowing smuggled items in facility

A former guard at a private federal corrections facility was sentenced to prison after she admitted to accepting bribes to allow smuggled material into a prison.

Tiffany Fletcher, 36, of McRae, Ga., a former corrections officer and counselor at the privately operated McRae Correctional Facility, was sentenced to 12 months in prison after previously pleading guilty to Bribery, said David H. Estes, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. U.S. District Court Judge Dudley H. Bowen Jr. also fined Fletcher $1,500 and ordered her to serve three years of supervised release upon completion of her prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

“The illegal smuggling of contraband materials, particularly cell phones, represents a continuing threat to the safety and security of our nation’s correctional facilities,” said U.S. Attorney Estes. “We continue to partner with investigative agencies to combat the flow of contraband material into prisons.”

McRae Correctional Facility, in Telfair County, is operated by the private corrections company CoreCivic and houses male inmates under contract with the federal Bureau of Prisons. From June to December 2019, Fletcher admitted accepting bribes totaling $4,390 in return for “turning a blind eye” to smuggling and possession of contraband in the facility.

“We trust correctional officers to keep federal prisons safe and secure.  By accepting bribes and allowing contraband to enter the prison, Fletcher violated that trust and diminished the safety and security of the entire institution,” said James F. Boyersmith, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General Miami Field Office.

The case was investigated by the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General, and prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcela C. Mateo.