Ex-prison employees, inmate punished in contraband scheme

Two former prison employees and a federal prisoner have been sentenced in connection with a scheme in which the employees supplied the inmate with contraband in exchange for money, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Former McRae Correctional Institution corrections officer Paul White, 42, of Hazlehurst, and former prison counselor Sandra Watkins, 39, of Cochran, supplied inmate David Stevens, 43, of Ghana, with marijuana, cell phones and other contraband in exchange for money, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office news release.

White and Watkins were paid hundreds of dollars wired through Western Union, according to the release. Stevens was sentenced to serve 21 months in prison Tuesday. His sentence will begin after he completes his current sentence for heroin trafficking. White also was sentenced June 10 to serve 21 months in prison. Watkins must serve 18 months in prison, according to the release.