Gwinnett Prison Workers Nabbed in Vast Corruption Probe

ATLANTA -- Residents of Lawrenceville and Tucker were among the dozens of Georgia corrections workers arrested Thursday in a massive corruption sting.

In all, federal authorities said Thursday that more than 45 current and former state corrections officers have been charged for helping smuggle contraband, including drugs, into Georgia prisons and for accepting bribes to protect the illegal flow of that contraband.

“It’s troubling that so many officers from state correctional institutions across Georgia were willing to sell their badges for personal payoffs from purported drug dealers,” U. S. Attorney John Horn said in a news release. “They not only betrayed the institutions they were sworn to protect, but they also betrayed the ideals that thousands of honest, hard-working correctional officers uphold every day.”

Among those arrested locally:

Michael Bostic, 32, of Lawrenceville,has been charged with accepting bribes to smuggle contraband into a prison, with accepting bribe payments to protect drug transactions, and with attempted drug trafficking. He is a former corrections officer at Phillips State Prison.

Patrick Coleman, 43, of Tucker, is also a former corrections officer at Phillips. He’s been charged with attempted drug trafficking, accepting bribes to smuggle contraband into a prison and accepting bribes to protect drug transactions.

Tavia Trammer, 34, of Lawrenceville -- also formerly a correctional officer at Phillips State Prison -- has been charged with accepting bribe payments to protect drug transactions and with attempted drug trafficking.

The arrests are part of an ongoing probe that has targeted corruption in Georgia’s prisons. In total, the operation has resulted in charges against about 130 prison employees, inmates, and non-incarcerated co-conspirators.

The cases are being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the Georgia Department of Corrections Office of Professional Standards.

During an investigation, the FBI found that correctional officers throughout the state were smuggling contraband that, in addition to drugs, included liquor, tobacco and cellphones, into state prisons. Many of the phones, authorities say, were used to commit wire fraud, money laundering, identity theft and drug trafficking.

Investigators then launched a series of undercover operations, through which the recent arrests were made, they said.