Pubdate: Tue, 08 Oct 2002
Source: Decatur Daily (AL)
Copyright: 2002 The Decatur Daily
Contact:  http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/index.shtml
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/696
Author: Holly Hollman

PRISON GUARDS ARRESTED FOR ECSTACY, MARIJUANA

ATHENS - Limestone authorities arrested a prison guard Monday night after 
they said he picked up marijuana hidden in a candy bar wrapper.

Authorities arrested a second guard this morning after he and his cousin 
came to an Athens motel to sell ecstasy and party with girls, said Sheriff 
Mike Blakely.

Blakely and Limestone Correctional Facility Warden Billy Mitchem concocted 
the first setup to catch a guard that Mitchem suspected of smuggling drugs 
into the prison.

"We've been watching him for one to two months," Mitchem said.

An inmate at the prison helped authorities trick the guard, Leslie Harold 
Corsbie, 32, of 307 Grand St., Muscle Shoals. The inmate told Corsbie to 
call the inmate's brother to arrange a location to pick up the marijuana. 
Blakely said a narcotics officer pretended to be the brother and made an 
arrangement to stuff a Baby Ruth wrapper with marijuana and hide it along 
the roadside on East Limestone Road.

Blakely said Corsbie, who has worked at the prison a year, drove by the 
location five times in 11 hours before picking up the marijuana at 11 p.m. 
Monday. He told investigators he was going to sell the marijuana for $100 
to an inmate. Mitchem said the marijuana was worth $300 to $400.

The sheriff said Corsbie then gave investigators a tip about a second guard 
who was allegedly dealing drugs. Corsbie told the second guard, Marshall 
Dewayne Brown, 26, of 1002 Walter Hill Road, Madison, to bring ecstasy to 
an Athens motel so they could party with some girls.

Brown and his cousin, Thijuan Lamarcus Williams, 27, of Route 1 Box 65, 
Arlington, sold 10 ecstasy pills worth $350 to an undercover female officer 
at 1:45 a.m. today. Blakely and his officers were hiding in the bathroom. 
He said the undercover officer yelled, "Let's get naked and party!" to 
signal him that the buy was complete.

"It about scared them to death when she yelled that, and then when they saw 
us, they got a surprise too," Blakely said.

Authorities charged Brown, who has worked at the prison four years, and 
Williams each with distribution of a controlled substance. Bond isn't set.

Authorities charged Corsbie with first-degree illegal possession of 
marijuana and second-degree promoting prison contraband. Bond isn't set. "I 
feel like we've got several more (guards) involved, and we're going to bust 
them too," said Mitchem. "It hurts all of us in law enforcement when you 
bust a bad apple. These are a minority."

Mitchem said 80 percent of convicted felons are in prison for drug-related 
offenses.

"They still have a desire to obtain drugs," he said.

Blakely said that means money can tempt guards to provide the drugs.
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