DALLAS—Selena Ball, 30, of Desoto, Texas, was sentenced this afternoon by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle to 97 months in federal prison, following her guilty plea in April 2015 to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Ball, who was remanded into federal custody following her sentencing, was an Electronic Monitoring Officer for the Dallas County Community Supervision and Corrections Department. As part of her duties, she was assigned to monitor an inmate, co-defendant Patrick D. Lenard, 33.

The Court noted in today’s hearing Ball’s abuse of trust as a member of the Dallas County Probation Department, and the Department’s director testified as to the devastating effect the case had on her department.

Ball and 10 co-defendants, including Lenard, were charged in a November 2014 indictment with various felony offenses, including conspiracy, drug trafficking, kidnapping, firearms offenses, witness intimidation/tampering, and records destruction, stemming from their involvement in a violent drug trafficking operation (DTO) that operated in South Dallas and the Dallas County Jail. One of the co-defendants, Rodney Wynn, 34, of Kaufman, Texas, who was on the State of Texas’s most wanted list, was apprehended and is set for trial in January 2016. The remaining defendants have all pleaded guilty. To date, seven have been sentenced, receiving sentences ranging from 46 months to 210 months in federal prison.

According to documents filed in the case, Ball and Lenard were involved in a romantic relationship despite her position and despite the conflict this relationship created. Lenard convinced Ball to alter, modify or fail to report violations of his conditions of release. For example, Lenard was required to limit his travel to certain areas within Dallas to avoid contact with co-conspirators. Part of Ball’s responsibility was to review and identify locations Lenard visited as reflected in the GPS records from his monitoring bracelet. Ball, however, failed to report violations of these conditions by Lenard. In fact, Lenard violated his conditions of release by approaching, confronting and attempting to intimidate coconspirators and witnesses to a kidnaping.

From November 26, 2012, to approximately November 18, 2014, Lenard conducted and managed drug-trafficking activities form his jail cell in the Dallas County Jail. During that time, he called his co-conspirators, including Ball. On multiple occasions, Lenard and Ball had phone conversations regarding illegal narcotics transactions and money obtained from those transactions. Lenard instructed Ball to hide the drug proceeds, and in one conversation, Ball actively counted the drug proceeds. On some of the phone calls, other individuals were conferenced in and Lenard, Ball and the other individual would discuss illegal narcotics transactions and money obtained from those transactions.

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI and the Dallas Police Department led the investigation.

Deputy Criminal Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Calvert and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Errin Martin and P. J. Meitl are prosecuting the case.