A former Hays State Prison officer will serve five years for trying to smuggle methamphetamine into the building.
Mark Edward Jeffery, 34, of Fairmount, allegedly tried to sneak the drugs in through his "beverage container" last year, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia. Officers found the drugs during a search, and Jeffery pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute on Feb. 11.
U.S. District Court Judge Harold Murphy sentenced Jeffery on Friday to serve five years in prison. He will then serve three years on supervised release. Murphy also ordered Jeffery to pay a $100 special assessment.
According to the release, another corrections officer saw a large, rectangular object wrapped in black electrical tape inside Jeffery's beverage container on Feb. 7, 2018. The unnamed officer then told a supervisor. Officers then opened the container and found methamphetamine inside a plastic bag.
Officers also found 190 pills and vodka inside a water bottle, according to an indictment. The container also contained four cellphones, four phone chargers and one glass smoking "utensil."
Jeffery began working at Hays State Prison in Trion, Georgia, in April 2017.
"Correctional officers like Jeffery, who disgrace their badge, can expect to be prosecuted and join the prison population they were eager to accommodate by committing these crimes," U.S. Attorney Byung J. "BJay" Pak said today in a news release.