Prison Corrections Officer Accused Of Smuggling Contraband

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) – An Alabama corrections officer faces charges of bribery and making false statements after prosecutors say he accepted money from inmates in exchange for contraband at a prison in Aliceville.

Prosecutors say in court records that Eric C. Pendleton was a supervisor for materials handling at the federal correctional facility in Aliceville, a prison for female inmates.

Pendleton’s lawyer, Thomas Spina, said his client’s character and history are “totally inconsistent with the behavior that he has acknowledged doing in this instance.”

Prosecutors say he received payments from inmates to smuggle contraband such as tobacco into the prison.

They say he gave inmates the items, and made arrangements for the inmates and their friends and relatives to send payments to a home he owns in Tuscaloosa County.