A North Carolina man formerly employed by the Bureau of Prisons at Federal Correctional Institution Petersburg pleaded guilty today to taking bribes to allow for the introduction of contraband into the prison.
Today’s guilty plea follows a former correctional officer’s plea last week for taking bribes as part of the same scheme.
According to court documents, Stephen Taylor, 48, then a case manager at FCI Petersburg, received more than $17,000 in Walmart-2-Walmart transfers from an inmate’s mother from March 2018 to March 2019. In return, Taylor permitted the introduction of contraband items into the prison—namely Suboxone, marijuana, cellular telephones, and tobacco.
In addition, Taylor received contraband and sums of cash from the inmate’s girlfriend.
Former correctional officer Shanice Bullock, 28, of South Hill, pleaded guilty on Feb. 9 for her role in the same prison bribery scheme. Specifically, Bullock took bribes from the same inmate’s mother to facilitate the introduction of Suboxone, marijuana, heroin, cigarettes, and cellular telephones into FCI Petersburg.
“Stephen Taylor and Shanice Bullock flagrantly violated their positions of trust as federal prison officials by engaging in a bribery scheme inside FCI Petersburg instead of safeguarding the security of the facility and protecting its inmates,” said Raj Parekh, acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Our office will continue to seek equal justice under the law and hold accountable government officials who corrupt their oaths and betray the public’s trust.”
Taylor is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 6, and he faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. Bullock will be sentenced on Aug. 11 and faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
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