A prison guard is charged with taking thousands of dollars to smuggle contraband, including heroin and other drugs, into the lower-security camp adjacent to the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta.
According to a criminal complaint filed Friday in U.S. District Court, Dirk Antonious Engram was willing to bring things to inmates in exchange for cash.
An intermediary for an inmate told the FBI of Engram’s alleged operation that had been going on most of the summer, according to authorities.
Engram allegedly offered to bring in drugs and other controlled substances into the prison for a price, according to FBI spokesman Stephen Emmett and the complaint filed in court on Friday.
An intermediary appearing to be working between an inmate and Engram wore a wire to the first meeting with the prison guard a week ago, according to federal authorities.
The first meeting, on Sept. 4, FBI agents watched as Engram took an envelope containing $3,000 in exchange for a package, according to the complaint. The contents of that package were not described in the court filing.
A second meeting scheduled for Thursday was in the parking lot of the Sam’s Club on Clairmont Avenue near Interstate 85.
According to the criminal complaint, the informant and Engram were in the informant’s car when the guard took what he believed was a small amount of heroin to deliver and a $2,000 payment. The complaint said Engram promised to make the delivery Thursday evening, once he was at work.
As he was walking to his car, Engram saw the FBI agents and ran a short distance before he was arrested.
Engram waived his rights and told agents in an interview that he had taken a total of $5,000 to bring contraband into the facility, the complaint said.
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