By Carol Robinson
al.com
MOBILE, Ala. — A former south Alabama prison guard trainee has been sentenced to more than a decade in federal prison after he tried to smuggle drugs and other contraband into the lockup.
Terrence Dramon Tolbert, 40, of Brewton, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine in January. Southern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney Sean P. Costello on Friday announced Tolbert was sentenced to 135 months in prison – more than 11 years – followed by five years of supervised released.
Tolbert was a corrections officer trainee at Fountain Correctional Facility in Atmore when, on Feb. 24, 2020, a supervisor noticed that he was stopped on the side of the road at about 8:30 p.m.
The supervisor stopped and asked Tolbert if everything was okay, and Tolbert replied that he was waiting on a relative. The supervisor was suspicious about these circumstances, and left instructions to have Tolbert and his belongings searched when he arrived for his shift.
Investigators conducted the search as instructed, and discovered methamphetamine ice, marijuana, earbuds, a SIM card, cigars, two bottles of liquor and two knives, which Tolbert intended to smuggle into the prison and deliver to certain inmates.
The case was investigated by the Alabama Department of Corrections, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and the Department of Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gloria Bedwell.
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