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Atlanta Federal Prison Officer Convicted in Drug Smuggling Bribery Case

He faces at least 10 years in prison, with sentencing on July 20.

Overview

  • A jury convicted Patrick Shackelford after a six-day trial, and he was taken into custody immediately after the verdict.
  • Prosecutors said the 2018 to 2019 scheme used a hidden space by the visitation area and a hole under a visitors’ restroom sink to pass packages into the prison.
  • Shackelford let inmates move the contraband using plumbing carts and tools, allowed stashes in a staff office known as “Jamie’s office,” and escorted them through checkpoints.
  • Officials later found one of the prison’s largest hauls in the plumbing office ceiling, including over a pound of pure meth, more than a kilogram of marijuana, synthetic drugs, tobacco, cell phones, and $5,000 in cash.
  • He accepted about $5,000 and pain pills, and inmate co-conspirators Patrick Kirkman, Mitchell Arms, and James Hughes have pleaded guilty.