Four inmates at Georgia prisons are facing federal charges stemming from a scheme to smuggle narcotics into Hays State Prison by bribing a corrections officer, FBI officials say.
Jeffery Deroy Lewis, an inmate at Valdosta State Prison, along with Octavius Henry, Alexis Jay Stokley, and Khalid Eugene Mouton, inmates at Hays State Prison, and an accomplice, Jessica Corley Stokley, have been indicted and arraigned on federal drug trafficking and bribery charges.
“These inmates allegedly smuggled drugs and other contraband into the prison, putting guards and fellow inmates in danger,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “By using hidden cellphones to coordinate with conspirators, they sent and received payments via payment apps and prepaid cards, and allegedly bribed at least one prison official to allow illegal drugs to enter the prison community.”
“Prisons should be a place of rehabilitation, not a place to continue committing crimes,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “Illegal cellphones have emboldened inmates and their associates to engage in criminal conduct, sometimes with the help of law enforcement officials. It threatens both inmates and staff and the FBI will pursue these investigations no matter who is involved.”
“These defendants being charged demonstrate the collaborative efforts of state and federal partners to dismantle this conspiracy. The officer violated his oath and the public’s trust by contributing to this criminal activity within the prison system,” said Vic Reynolds, Director, Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges, and other information presented in court: From about June 2018 through October 2018, the defendants allegedly conspired to smuggle drugs, including methamphetamine, cocaine base, and marijuana, along with other contraband into Hays State Prison.
The inmates allegedly communicated via contraband cellphones and through coded email messages sent via the prison email system with conspirators outside the prison to arrange for drugs and other contraband to be dropped at the home of Voltaire Peter Pierre, a Hays State Prison corrections officer who FBI officials say later smuggled the packages into prison for distribution to inmates.
According to the FBI, the inmates then transmitted drug payments and bribe payments to Pierre through a combination of prepaid debit cards and a payment app.
Pierre pleaded guilty to trafficking methamphetamine, crack cocaine, and marijuana on Oct. 17, 2019.
Jeffery Deroy Lewis, a/k/a “2500,” 30, of Atlanta, Georgia, Octavius Henry, a/k/a “Forever,” a/k/a Robert Barrow, 33, of Atlanta, Georgia, Alexis Jay Stokley, 41, of Atlanta, Georgia, and Jessica Corley Stokley, 38, of Atlanta, Georgia, were arraigned on March 9, 2021, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Walter E. Johnson on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, and conspiracy to commit bribery after being indicted by a federal grand jury on February 16, 2021. Khalid Eugene Mouton, a/k/a Michael Howard, 42, of Atlanta, Georgia, is pending arraignment.
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This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan M. Christian and Calvin A. Leipold, III are prosecuting the case.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta recommends parents and children learn about the dangers of drugs at the following website: www.justthinktwice.gov.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
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