ALEXANDRIA, La. - United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced that a federal jury found a former corrections officer at the Federal Correctional Complex in Pollock, Louisiana, guilty of accepting bribes to smuggle contraband.
Byron A. Wyatt, 38, of Marksville, Louisiana, was found guilty of two counts of bribery of public officials and witnesses. United States District Judge Dee D. Drell presided over the trial, which started Tuesday and ended Thursday. The jury returned a guilty verdict after deliberating for approximately an hour and a half. Evidence admitted at trial revealed that Wyatt worked as a corrections officer at the Federal Correctional Complex in Pollock where he accepted thousands of dollars in bribes from a prisoner in 2014 in exchange for smuggling contraband into the prison.
The defendant faces up to 15 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine for each count. Sentencing has been set for July 13, 2018.
The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Earl M. Campbell and Tiffany E. Fields are prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
