By Noah Feit
The State
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A scheme to smuggle drugs into a federal prison in South Carolina failed when a drone crashed. The plan then backfired on the people involved, as two Georgia residents were sentenced to join an inmate behind bars in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Jerrell Antonio Roberts, 36, who is currently a federal inmate, along with Savannah, Georgia, residents Antoinette Tyeisha Ricks, 36, and Tyree O’Bryant Russell, 23, were sentenced to multiyear terms in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release. All three pleaded guilty to a scheme to smuggle methamphetamine into federal prison.
Russell was sentenced to 2 years behind bars and Ricks was sentenced to more than 3 years after each pleaded guilty to attempting to provide meth to a federal prisoner, according to the release.
Roberts had an additional 110 months (more than 9 years) added to his time in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to attempting to possess meth as a federal prisoner, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Roberts’ new sentence will run consecutively to the federal prison term he’s currently serving, according to the release.
All three sentences will be followed by a 3-year term of court-ordered supervision, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. There is no parole in the federal system.
The convictions stem from a Nov. 6, 2022 , incident at a federal prison in South Carolina where Roberts was locked up, according to the release.
In the early morning an unmanned drone crashed in the yard at the prison facility, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. The drone was equipped with a skyhook, which would enable it to carry something, and close to where the drone crashed, law enforcement officers found a package wrapped in electronics chargers, according to the release. The package contained approximately 38 grams of pure meth, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Additional investigation revealed that Roberts was working with Ricks and Russell to obtain meth for distribution in the federal prison, according to the release.
“Crime doesn’t stop when defendants enter the prison gates,” said interim U.S. Attorney for South Carolina Bryan Stirling said in the release. “Contraband smuggling schemes like this are not only illegal but dangerous, and the sentences handed down today reflect the seriousness of these crimes.”
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the FBI . Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Flynn prosecuted the case that was presided over by U.S. District Judge Joseph Dawson , according to the release.
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