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Former Guard Pleads Guilty To Smuggling Cigarettes And Cell Phones Into Jackson County Jail

Andrea Tudhope
/
KCUR 89.3

A former guard at the Jackson County jail has pleaded guilty to corruption charges for taking a bribe to smuggle cigarettes, cell phones and phone chargers into the downtown jail.

Twenty-six year old Andre Lamonte Dickerson pleaded guilty to two of the four counts against him.

In a deal with the U.S. Attorney's office in Kansas City filed Wednesday, Dickerson admitted to accepting a $500 bribe in June of 2017 "for defendant Dickerson to smuggle two packs of Newport cigarettes, cell phone charger, and a cellular telephone" into the cell of a confidential informant, according to court documents.

Dickerson admitted to delivering the cigarettes, cell phone and charger to the cell of the informant at 1 a.m.

But Dickerson wasn't done and was prepared to offer the inmate an exclusive deal. Dickerson asked if the inmate "would be interested in paying him a monthly fee of $2,500.00. In exchange, defendant Dickerson would ensure C1 (confidential informant 1) would be the only JCDC (Jackson County Detention Center) inmate on the fifth floor to receive contraband cigarettes, narcotics, and telephones," according to the plea deal.

Dickerson faces 16 months in federal prison, according to court documents.

This is part of an ongoing FBI investigation into the Jackson County jail.

Sam Zeffis KCUR's Metro Reporter. You can follow Sam on Twitter @samzeff

You deserve to know what your taxpayer dollars are paying for and what public officials are doing on your behalf – I’ll work to report on irresponsible government spending in the Kansas City area and shed light on controversies that slow government down. And when you hear my voice in the morning, you know you’re getting everything you need to start your day. Email me at sam@kcur.org, find me on Twitter @samzeff or call me at 816-235-5004.
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