More than a dozen indicted in prison contraband smuggling case

More than a dozen people appeared in a Richland County court for a bond hearing on Friday morning in a prison contraband smuggling case.

All are charged with participating in a contraband smuggling ring.

“We know that contraband is a huge problem in our prisons, despite our best efforts to stem the tide these indictments allege that there was an extensive, sophisticated black market for contraband,” said Attorney General Alan Wilson, of South Carolina.

According to the indictments, the inmates, in cooperation with employees, family and friends, smuggled the contraband in using different means.

“Throwovers. That’s when contraband is simply thrown over prison fences and later picked up,” Wilson also said.

In addition to the” throwovers,” several people at Friday’s hearing were also charged with using a prison work program to not only bring in contraband, but to distribute it to different prisons.

“The inmates do all the jobs at the dairy from taking care of the cow, to milking the cow to packaging the milk. Then, all that milk is sent to a central location and then sent out to every facility in the SCDC system, so you see where I’m going that system was perfect to bring in contraband,” said Creighton Water, Chief Attorney, State Grand Jury.

The attorney general is calling the scheme “cash cow.”

The most common items smuggled in include tobacco, alcohol, drugs, and cell phones, which the Department of Corrections says is one of the biggest problems facing our prisons.

“The folks that are incarcerated at the Department of Corrections are physically behind bars. But, virtually they’re still among us conducting criminal activity as we see today,” said DOC Director Bryan Stirling.

Out of the 17 people involved in the smuggling ring, one is an employee, four are inmates, and the others are everyday civilians.

The dairy farm work program wasn’t the only program inmates used to get contraband in to the prison.

The indictments show that a food service bakery and inmates working on the state house grounds were also part of the scheme.

To give an idea of how much these items are worth in prison, Wilson says a cap of tobacco costs about $25 and cell phones cost hundreds of dollars.

“The indictments collectively contain 69 counts, consisting of 106 charges against 17 defendants,” according to a press release from the State of South Carolina’s Office of Attorney General Alan Wilson. “The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information regarding contraband in SCDC should contact SLED or the Attorney General’s Office.”

The release identifies the suspects as: