Pubdate: Thu, 12 Jan 2006
Source: Daily Home, The (Talladega,  AL)
Copyright: 2006 Consolidated Publishing
Contact:  http://www.dailyhome.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1632
Author: Chris Norwood, staff writer
Note:  also listed as contact
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)

FCI OFFICER ARRESTED FOR GIVING MARIJUANA TO INMATES

TALLADEGA -- A corrections officer at the Federal Correctional
Institution was arrested Tuesday afternoon by the FBI on a charge of
attempting to provide or possess contraband in prison, according to a
press release issued Wednesday morning. Ronald Lee Hammonds, 35, of
Sycamore was arrested without incident in the Taco Bell parking lot in
Talladega at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, according to the press release.

According to Supervisory Special Agent Raymond C. Zicarelli, Hammonds
is accused of providing marijuana to prison inmates. The arrest was
made following an investigation that went on for more than two months.

Following his arrest, Hammonds was booked into the Etowah County Jail
in Gadsden.

Hammonds was brought before United States Magistrate Judge Paul W.
Green Wednesday. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the
Northern District of Alabama, he was subsequently released on a $500
bond, the standard bond amount in federal cases.

He will have a preliminary hearing Jan. 19, at 1 p.m., after which his
case will most likely be bound over to a federal grand jury.

Attempting to provide or possess prison contraband carries a sentence
that varies based on the nature of the contraband. Providing marijuana
carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.

FCI spokesman Charles Sansom said he could not comment on the arrest
because it was part of an ongoing investigation.

"We're very limited on what we can say," he said.

He did say that Hammonds had worked at the prison since July 18, 1999,
and had been assigned to various posts all over the
institution.

According to the press release, the U.S. Justice Department's Office
of the Inspector General, the Marshall County Drug Task Force, the
Talladega County Sheriff's Office, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the
Talladega Police Department and the FBI all participated or assisted
in Hammonds' arrest.

According to Zicarelli, the Marshall County Task Force got involved
because they are a participating agency, with the FBI, in the
Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force.

The Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General and the
Gadsden Resident Agency of the FBI are handling the ongoing
investigation.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin