Former Etowah corrections officer sentenced; former Calhoun CO arrested
The culmination of the Lauderdale County inmate escape was not the only news involving former county corrections officers accused of overstepping the boundaries of their jobs.
On May 10, a former Etowah County corrections officer pleaded guilty to custodial sexual misconduct in a 2017 case.
Anthony Ryan Bowen, 45, received a three-year split sentence; he will serve 12 months, followed by supervised probation. The plea agreement noted the prosecution would not oppose probation.
On May 10, Calhoun County Sheriff Matthew Wade announced the arrest of a jailer who'd been on the job for a month, stemming from investigation into a contraband conspiracy.
It was the sixth arrest of corrections officer, he said, in his six years as sheriff, related to contraband in the jail.
Pierre Bernard Jones was charged with second-degree promoting prison contraband and conspiracy to commit a controlled substance crime. He was one of six people charged, Wade said, after he developed a conspiracy to bring drugs into the county jail in exchange for money.
Wade said jail staff received information that led to the investigation.
"In today's world, it is easier than ever to electronically transfer money," the sheriff said. The others arrested were family members or significant others of inmates.
"Jones’ month-long employment with the sheriff’s office did a lot of damage to the integrity of the position of corrections officer and the facility as a whole,: Wade said. "This type of event occurs on occasion just as we have just seen play out in another Alabama county."
Lauderdale County Assistant Director of Corrections Vicky White died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound May 9 in Evansville, Indiana, when U.S. marshals rammed the Cadillac in which she and capital murder suspect Casey Cole White tried to escape into a ditch.
Authorities say Vicky White sold her house at a loss, filed her retirement and faked a mental health evaluation to get Casey White out of the jail April 29 and took off. U.S. Marshals caught up to the duo after 11 days on the run, resulting in Casey White's capture and Vicky White's death.
Contact Gadsden Times reporter Donna Thornton at 256-393-3284 or donna.thornton@gadsdentimes.com.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Former Etowah jailer sentenced; Calhoun CO faces contraband charge
