Pubdate: Tue, 30 Oct 2001
Source: Greenville News (SC)
Copyright: 2001 The Greenville News
Contact:  http://greenvillenews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/877
Author: Tim Smith, Capital Bureau

TWO PRISON GUARDS GET 10-YEAR SENTENCES FOR DRUG SMUGGLING

COLUMBIA - Two former state prison guards who pleaded guilty in May to
conspiring to smuggle drugs to inmates were sentenced to 10 years in
prison Monday by a federal judge.

The prison terms are the stiffest yet for any guards charged in the
FBI's ongoing investigation into drug smuggling at Allendale
Correctional Institution.

The prison's former warden, Geri Miro, told U.S. District Judge
Cameron Currie Monday the drug case had created a "scar" that would
take years to heal at the maximum-security prison.

"This has been a very devastating thing for this institution," Miro
said.

Larry Cann, 29, of Bamberg and Michael Lee, 26, of Denmark, had faced
40 years in prison and fines totaling $2 million.

The men were indicted for conspiracy to distribute more than 50 grams
of crack cocaine to inmates. They pleaded guilty to conspiracy to
distribute between five and 20 grams of crack and assured prosecutors
they would cooperate in the probe.

But both men flunked FBI polygraph tests and lied to a probation
officer about facts in the case, Eric Ruschky, an assistant U.S.
Attorney, told the judge. According to a pre-sentencing report, the
men tried to smuggle 150 grams of crack into the prison, an amount
that could have earned each of them 24 years in prison.

Ruschky said a dozen inmates were prepared to testify against Cann and
Lee if the men challenged the sentencing report. Their lawyers dropped
objections to the report after prosecutors agreed to stipulate the
amount of crack involved was less than 20 grams.

Miro told Currie that bringing investigators into the prison to
investigate drug smuggling "is probably the hardest thing I've ever
had to do."

After pleas from both families, Currie said she will allow them to
report to prison after the holidays.

The FBI investigation began in 1998, said Ruschky, who declined to
release any more details about the ongoing investigation.

Randolph Murdaugh III, the chief state prosecutor for Allendale,
Beaufort, Colleton, Jasper and Hampton counties, has said he asked for
the federal investigation because he could not win convictions from
Allendale juries.

Eleven of 61 prison employees arrested over the last five years worked
at Allendale, records show. Seven of the 11 cases were drug charges.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Derek