Man sentenced for smuggling contraband into prison through Milledgeville package plant

MILLEDGEVILLE, Georgia (WMGT/41NBC) – A Jackson man will spend more than 16 years in prison for moving contraband into state prisons through a meat packing plant in Milledgeville.

U.S. District Judge Marc Treadwell sentenced 39-year-old Brandon Ray to 200 months in prison.

Ray pleaded guilty to one count possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Two tipsters revealed Ray was dropping contraband at the GCI meat packing plant in Milledgeville.

Under surveillance, officers watched Ray enter the GCI plant at 4:00 a.m. on May 7, 2018. Officers watched Ray hide contraband underneath dumpsters next to the GCI building.

The defendant was arrested, and officers seized 1,287.2 grams of marijuana, 38 cell phones, 25 cell phone chargers, two blue tooth ear pieces, a quantity of cigarette tobacco, a digital scale and more than five grams of methamphetamine.

“The smuggling of drugs and contraband into our prison system is a direct threat to the safety of prison employees and prisoners, and undermines the very purposes of incarceration – deterrence, punishment and rehabilitation,” said U.S. Attorney Charlie Peeler. “As reflected by this stiff prison sentence, we will prosecute those engaged in distributing contraband into our prisons to the fullest extent of the law.”