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Press Release

Former Federal Corrections Officer Pleads Guilty to Bribery

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Mississippi

 

Jackson, Miss - Former federal corrections officer Julius Pearson, 26, from Madison County, Mississippi, pleaded guilty today before Senior U.S. District Judge William H. Barbour, to bribery, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Harold Brittain.

The investigation revealed that, beginning in approximately August, 2016, Julius Pearson began smuggling tobacco into the Federal Prison in Yazoo County where he was employed as a corrections officer. Pearson was paid approximately ten thousand dollars by inmates and others for delivering the tobacco to inmates inside the facility.

Pearson will be sentenced on August 15, 2017, and faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Criminal Chief Patrick Lemon and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General.

Updated May 2, 2017