Lexington prison smuggling case results in third guilty plea

A third person has pleaded guilty in a scheme to smuggle contraband items such as cigarettes and cell phones into the federal prison in Lexington.

Stephanie Dukes pleaded guilty Friday in federal court in Lexington to one felony charge of bribing a public official, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Dukes was romantically involved with an inmate at Federal Medical Center Lexington named Keith Griffith when she took part in the scheme between May 2015 and May 2016, according to a court document.

A person identified only as J.S. collected money from inmates’ families and gave it to Dukes, who used it to buy items inmates are barred from having.

A court document listed the contraband as tobacco, cell phones, dietary supplements, MP3 players and synthetic marijuana.

Dukes delivered the contraband to James Carrington, a corrections officer at the prison, and paid him to smuggle it to Griffith and an inmate named Amai Rawls, according to her plea agreement.

Carrington, who was an officer at the prison from March 2011 to last Aug. 16, pleaded guilty to taking $11,500 in bribes.

He is scheduled to be sentenced in September and faces up to 15 years in prison. Rawls also pleaded guilty to taking part in the scheme and faces up to a year in prison.

Griffith is charged with conspiracy to bribe a public official; bribery; conspiracy to bring in contraband; and possession of contraband.

The most serious charge carries a top sentence of 15 years. Griffith is scheduled for trial in August.

This story was originally published July 1, 2017 at 4:59 PM with the headline "Lexington prison smuggling case results in third guilty plea."