Former Ridgeland corrections officer pleads guilty to smuggling contraband.

A former Ridgeland corrections officer pleaded guilty in federal court Sept. 19 to reportedly accepting bribes to smuggle contraband and now faces up to five years in prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Jamal Early pleaded guilty to using an interstate facility to facilitate bribery, a news release said. Early pleaded guilty to accepting bribes to smuggle tobacco and a synthetic narcotic into the Ridgeland prison.

U.S. Attorney Sherri A. Lydon said Sept. 23 that Early, Frank Pridgeon, Miguel Williams, Catherine Prosser, Holly Mitchem, Robert Hill, Ebonynisha Casby and Sharon Johnson Breeland, all former employees of the South Carolina Department of Corrections, have pleaded guilty in federal court to offenses associated with accepting bribes to smuggle contraband into state facilities.

“Those who violate the public trust by taking bribes to smuggle dangerous contraband into our prisons endanger inmates, prison staff and the general public,” Lydon said. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our partners at SCDC will not rest until we have rooted out the corruption in our prison system.”

https://www.blufftontoday.com/news/20190930/former-ridgeland-corrections-officer-pleads-guilty-to-smuggling-contraband