Henry Daily Herald

A Stockbridge man was sentenced Wednesday in federal court for smuggling cell phones and cigarettes, to inmates at the Fulton County Jail.

Former Fulton County detention officer, Derick Deshun Frazier, was sentenced –– by United States District Judge Orinda D. Evans –– to prison on charges of accepting a bribe to smuggle cellular telephones and cigarettes to inmates, according to officials.

Frazier, 32, was sentenced to six months in federal prison, to be followed by three months of home confinement, to be followed by two years of supervised release. The former detention officer pleaded guilty to the charge on Oct. 24, 2011.

The charges and other information presented in federal court on Feb. 18, 2011, showed that Frazier, while employed as a detention officer at the Fulton County Jail, accepted $400 from an individual working in an undercover capacity for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), to deliver two cellular telephones and two packs of cigarettes to an inmate in the jail.

On Feb. 21, 2011, Frazier delivered the telephones and the cigarettes to the inmate as planned. Later the same day, the contraband was collected from the inmate by investigators, according to United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.

“Cell phones in the hands of inmates pose a very grave risk to security of the jail, and can provide an avenue for inmates to commit more crimes, both inside and outside, the jail,” said Yates.

Detention officers face many hazards working in a correctional facility, such as the Fulton County Jail, said Brian D. Lamkin, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office.

“Temptation to profit from assisting these inmates, in violation of established department rules and regulations and the law, is certainly one of those hazards,” Lamkin said. “The degradation of security, and even the continuance of criminal conduct by the inmates while inside correctional facilities, are the realities when introducing prohibited items, such as cell phones, into jails and prisons.”

Fulton County Sheriff Theodore “Ted” Jackson said his office will continue to aggressively investigate and assist with investigations concerning allegations of criminal behavior by any employee on all levels within the agency, who is suspected of wrongdoing.

“The shame and dishonor that Mr. Derick Deshun Frazier brought upon himself should in no way reflect upon the majority of hard-working members of the Fulton County Sheriff's Office, who perform their duties with integrity,” added Jackson.