A state investigator was arrested Wednesday after being accused of giving contraband to an inmate who allegedly killed two guards during a prison transfer escape in 2017.
Public defense investigator Lily Engleman faces a count of introducing contraband after she allegedly gave Ricky Dubose two small unknown items during a prison visit, the Georgia Public Defender Council told Channel 2 Action News. Authorities have not said what the items were.
Dubose is one of two convicts who escaped a prison bus in Putnam County in June 2017, allegedly killing two corrections officers.
RELATED: Georgia fugitive confesses to gunning down prison guards
Engleman allegedly gave Dubose the contraband Sept. 6 while inside the special management unit at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison near Jackson, Channel 2 reported. She’s accused of putting the items on the ground, which he then picked up and hid in his socks.
She was suspended by the Georgia Capital Defender’s Office, which is representing Dubose, after the arrest, pending the outcome of the investigation. The Georgia Capital Defender’s Office is a division of the Georgia Public Defender Council.
Dubose and his co-defendant, Donnie Russell Rowe, both face the death penalty in the deaths of Sgts. Curtis Billue and Chris Monica. They allegedly admitted to the crime before pleading not guilty last year, saying they would only plead guilty if prosecutors would reverse the decision to pursue the death penalty.
District Attorney Stephen Bradley has turned down that offer.
MORE: Inmate who escaped pleads not guilty to charges he murdered 2 guards
Credit: AJC File
Credit: AJC File
Before the escape, Dubose was serving 20 years for an Elbert County armed robbery and Rowe had been sentenced to life without parole for an armed robbery in Macon. They were being transferred to Butts County from Baldwin State Prison along with 31 other inmates when they escaped.
RELATED: Work continues on proposed reforms to safely transport inmates
The two escaped because their handcuffs were not "double locked" and the gate separating the inmates from the guards was not locked, Dubose admitted in interviews with investigators. In that interview, he admitted to being the shooter.
The two were caught in Tennessee after a three-day manhunt.
ALSO: Three Days on the Run: How the manhunt for Georgia fugitives unfolded
Engleman was booked into the Butts County Jail before being released on a $5,000 bond, Channel 2 reported. Her bond was granted by Magistrate Judge Megan Kinsey.
While her case is pending, she is barred from visiting any Georgia Department of Corrections property.
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