FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL OFFICER CONVICTED OF BRIBERY, SMUGGLING, AND DRUG CONSPIRACY

ATLANTA, May 13 -- The U.S. Department of Justice's Federal Bureau of Investigation Atlanta Field Office issued the following press release:

ATLANTA - Following a six-day trial, a federal jury convicted Patrick Shackelford, a former federal correctional officer, for accepting bribes and conspiring with inmates to smuggle narcotics and other contraband into the U.S. Penitentiary Atlanta ("USP-Atlanta") using an elaborate scheme through which visitors introduced contraband into the prison through a secret hole in the visitation area. Shackelford was immediately taken into federal custody upon entry of the jury's verdict on April 2.

"Instead of fulfilling his duty to safeguard a federal prison, Shackelford took bribes from inmates to facilit...