Kentucky prison employee who took bribes to smuggle drugs to inmates going to prison
A former supervisor at a Kentucky prison has been sentenced to 17 years and six months in prison for taking bribes to smuggle contraband to inmates.
Hank Williams, 56, pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and other drugs; taking bribes; and using the mail to further the commission of a felony.
Senior U.S. District Judge Joseph M. Hood sentenced Williams on Monday in federal court in Lexington.
Williams, of Floyd County, was a cook supervisor at USP Big Sandy, a federal prison in Martin County, when he began providing drugs and other prohibited items to inmates in return for payments, according to the court record.
The scheme came to light after prison officials searched the cell of inmate Librado Navarette in May 2019 and found contraband.
The investigation led to Williams, who admitted using fake names to get meth, marijuana, heroin, cell phones and other items shipped to his son’s house in Georgetown for him to pick up and smuggle into the prison, according to the court record.
Williams said he received more than $80,000 in bribes in about three and a half years.
Navarette has pleaded guilty but not been sentenced.
This story was originally published August 30, 2021 at 2:50 PM.
