Correctional officer in Stewart County sentenced for inmate drug distribution
James Royal, 43, will serve six months in prison and two years of supervised release for drug distribution
From Staff Reports
CUTHBERT — U.S. Attorney G.F. “Pete” Peterman III announced Thursday that James Royal, a correctional officer from Cuthbert, has been sentenced to prison for distributing marijuana to inmates.
Royal, 43, was sentenced Thursday in Columbus by U.S. District Judge Clay D. Land to serve a total of six months imprisonment, followed by two years of supervised release. He has also been banned from seeking or obtaining further employment in law enforcement, Peterman said.
Peterman said Royal worked as a correctional officer at the Stewart County Detention Center in Lumpkin. He said evidence showed that Royal smuggled marijuana into the facility to various detainees who arranged to have the correctional officer paid via Western Union transfers.
Royal collected the money at a convenience store in Cuthbert after friends or relatives of the detainees transmitted the money, Peterman said.
The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Melvin E Hyde.
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