Federal prosecutors have indicted 23 individuals, primarily current and former inmates, in a sprawling scheme to smuggle drugs and cellphones into Georgia state prisons using drones, authorities announced Wednesday.
The indictments, unveiled on Tuesday in U.S. District Court after a grand jury handed them down last month, reveal that inmates allegedly used contraband cellphones to coordinate drone deliveries with outside associates. These drones were employed to transport marijuana, methamphetamine, and illicit phones into the yards of facilities such as Smith State Prison in Glennville, Telfair State Prison in McRae-Helena, and others over a five-year period starting in 2019, according to a press release from U.S. Attorney Jill Steinberg’s office.
Federal drug charges have been filed against all defendants, with only six not having been incarcerated during the smuggling operations outlined in the indictments. Prosecutors highlighted a trove of text and Facebook messages between the accused, including aerial images of the prisons and photos of packages in vacuum-sealed bags.
One message from an inmate in August 2021 advised, “Friday gotta be after dark won’t be able to get it until kitchen help go out for breakfast.” Another communication from January 2023 read, “We can do 2 on one battery and 2 on another battery. … I just need to know when you taking off and when the pack drop.”
In the course of their investigation, authorities seized 10 drones and 21 firearms.
The indictments bring renewed scrutiny to the named prisons, which have been plagued by violence and corruption in recent years. At Telfair State Prison, the warden was stabbed with a homemade weapon in March during a contraband search but fortunately was not seriously harmed. Smith State Prison faced a state investigation into contraband earlier this year, leading to the arrest and dismissal of its warden, Brian Adams, in February 2023.
The turbulence at Smith State Prison has continued, with two staff members falling victim to inmate violence. In October, a correctional officer died in the hospital after being assaulted at the prison. Then, in June, a kitchen worker was fatally shot by an inmate, who subsequently took his own life.
