MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — Three guards at Riverbend Correctional Facility in Milledgeville were convicted last Wednesday for smuggling contraband into the prison, Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney Tammy Coffey says.
In a two-day trial, the three officers — Tierra Harrison, Nastashi Seals and Shanell Brown — were convicted of trading with inmates, making false statements and violating their oaths.
They were each sentenced to 15 years with 10 years in prison, Coffey said.
The conviction underscores the proliferation of contraband into Georgia prisons, which has long been a major issue for the Georgia Department of Corrections.
“Certainly, with the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit, we take this kind of crime really seriously," Coffey said. "These officers took an oath to uphold the law, to protect the law, to enforce the law - but they have not done that. They themselves broke the law.”
Coffey says that the guards conspired together to smuggle cellphones, tobacco, marijuana and other contraband into the prison. They were caught in November 2018, but Coffey says that the guards had been smuggling contraband since March 2018.
In surveillance footage, the guards were caught going into the staff dining and kitchen area of the prison and dropping a variety of contraband — ranging from cellphones to marijuana to tobacco — in a bathroom trash can.
Once dropped off, Coffey says that an inmate, Juan Shy, would enter the bathroom, empty the trash and then stash the contraband.
Another inmate, Antonio Banks, was also a part of the scheme.
He had been caught with contraband on him during a search, Coffey says. She says they had back-tracked to figure out where the contraband had come from and eventually caught the entire scheme on camera.
But they also discovered this was not the first time the guards had done that.
“There were several dates where this same type of behavior – this same pattern of behavior – took place,” Coffey said
On multiple occasions, Coffey says either Harrison, Seals or Brown would drop contraband in the bathroom during the period between March 2018 and November 2018.
Then, immediately after, Shy would enter the bathroom right after one of the guards had been in there.
"It definitely showed the pattern of what was going on," Coffey said.
Banks and Shy both plead guilty to drug possession with intent to distribute, Coffey said. They were each sentenced to 20 years with seven years in prison.
After the guards' convictions, Coffey says she hopes people see the danger contraband poses to inmates, guards and the community at large.
“I hope the message is we take this seriously," Coffey said. "Our circuit is not going to tolerate this.”
Each guard had been a law enforcement officer for at least five years.
Seals took her oath in March 2013, Harrison took her oath in April 2013 and Brown had been a law enforcement officer for over 12 years, getting certified in 2006.
