A former Fulton County Jail detention officer pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to drug and bribery charges associated with a scheme to smuggle contraband inside the jail, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced.
Brian Shelby Anthony, 31, of Atlanta, was charged with attempted possession with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana, and accepting bribes of more than $26,000 to facilitate the distribution of drugs inside the jail and other locations, authorities said.
He is the fourth former Fulton County law enforcement officer to recently plead guilty in federal court. They all were arrested by FBI agents in June 2011 during a morning roll call at work.
"There is zero tolerance for the smuggling of contraband at the Fulton County Jail," Fulton County Sheriff Ted Jackson said in a news release. "Internal procedures have been established to address this issue as well as improving security for our employees, inmates, and visitors.”
According to the information presented in court, Anthony accepted bribes from an undercover FBI agent to deliver fake marijuana, cellphones and cigarettes to an inmate in February and April 2011.
Also, in May and June of that year, Anthony, while in uniform, provided protection for what he believed to be cocaine deliveries in Atlanta, Lawrenceville and Norcross in exchange for bribes totaling $25,000.
“It is bad enough when a law enforcement officer falls to the temptation to cash in on his badge, even once. This former officer sold his badge over and over again in different types of crimes without any apparent regard for the public’s safety," U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said in a prepared statement.
Anthony is scheduled to be sentenced March 26.
In November, former detention officer Akil Scott, 32, of Lithonia and former sheriff's deputy Marvie Trevino Dingle, 34, of Lithonia pleaded guilty to drug and extortion charges in the smuggling scheme.
In October, former detention officer Derick Deshun Frazier, 32, of Stockbridge, pleaded guilty to accepting a bribe to smuggle contraband inside the county jail. Frazier was sentenced to six months in federal prison in January.
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