Friday, February 23, 2007
Former Guard Takes Stand In Drug Smuggling Trial
A federal prison guard charged with smuggling drugs into the prison testified today that she did so because she feared that her life was in danger. 31 year old Alice Marie Stapleton said inmate Kenneth Bates threatened to hurt her and those close to her if she didn’t smuggle drugs into the U.S. Penitentiary Big Sandy in Martin County. Stapleton, who lives in Johnson County, was charged last year with possessing drugs and conspiring to smuggle heroin, marijuana and cell phones to inmate Personne Elrico McGhee. McGhee’s mother allegedly met Stapleton at a Paintsville Motel on several occasions to pick up packages. An alleged co-conspirator in the case, Grady Perry of Fort Wayne, Ind., was sentenced today to eight months for conspiracy to provide a federal inmate with contraband and conspiracy to distribute heroin.
# posted by Justin Mullins @ 4:14 PM 
