Fourth Individual Convicted In Scheme To Smuggle Contraband Into Lexington Federal Prison

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A federal inmate pleaded guilty today, to bribing a corrections officer at the Federal Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky (“FMC Lexington”) to smuggle prohibited items into the prison.

Keith Griffith, a 35-year-old federal inmate, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to introduce prohibited objects into a federal correctional facility and bribing a public official, making him the fourth individual convicted on charges relating to this scheme. On June 15, 2017, James Carrington of Winchester, Ky., a former corrections officer at FMC Lexington, pleaded guilty to bribery of a public official. That same day, another federal inmate, Amai Rawls, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to introduce prohibited objects into a federal correctional facility. On June 30, 2017, Stephanie Dukes of Louisville, Ky., pleaded guilty to bribing a public official. All four now await sentencing.

Between May 2015 and August 2016, Dukes purchased various items that federal inmates were not permitted to possess, at Griffith’s direction, and then paid Carrington to smuggle those items into FMC Lexington, where Griffith and Rawls were already serving sentences for federal offenses. Carrington would deliver the prohibited items to specific locations in FMC Lexington, where Griffith and Rawls would retrieve the items and personally use or consume the items or distribute them to other inmates. The prohibited items smuggled into FMC Lexington include MP3 players, cell phones, tobacco, dietary supplements, and synthetic marijuana.

Carlton S. Shier, IV, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; John F. Oleskowicz, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Office for the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General; and Amy Hess, Special Agent in Charge of the Louisville Field Office for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, jointly announce the convictions.

Griffith will appear for sentencing on January 10, 2018 at 11:30 am. He faces a maximum of 15 years in prison. James Carrington and Amai Rawls will be sentenced on September 29, 2017. Carrington faces a maximum of 15 years in prison and Rawls faces a maximum of 1 year. Stephanie Dukes will be sentenced on October 4, 2017, and she faces a maximum of 15 years in prison. The Court must consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the applicable federal statutes before imposing a sentence.