(WKYT) – An inmate at a Kentucky federal prison is one of 12 people charged in a scheme to use drones to smuggle contraband to eight prisons across the United States, including two in Kentucky.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Middle Georgia, 47-year-old Lametheus Douglas is charged with one count of conspiracy to provide contraband in prison.
He could face a maximum of five years if convicted.
Douglas is listed as an inmate at Federal Correctional Institute Manchester and Federal Medical Center Lexington, which were two of the prisons on the delivery list.
The others are:
- FCI Atlanta, GA;
- FCI Beckley, WV;
- FCI Jesup, GA;
- FCI Memphis, TN;
- Federal Correctional Facility, Petersburg, VA;
- FCI Pollock, LA;
- FCI Talladega, AL;
- FCI Yazoo City, MS
According to the indictment, beginning in September 2023 and continuing until May 2026, the defendants allegedly engaged in a conspiracy to use six drones to drop illegal contraband at least 38 times.
The contraband allegedly included: drugs, blades intended to be used as a weapon or for escape, cell phones and tobacco.
According to the indictment, the defendants used a former daycare center to store items and arranged the drops by communicating with prisoners using contraband cell phones to coordinate the drops.
Defendants would travel to the prisons and use drones to transport the items to a drop point.