Among the four dozen Georgia prison guards arrested as part of the FBI's Operation Ghost Guard were three former correctional officers at Phillips State Prison in Buford.
A total of 46 current and former correctional officers, as well as two civilians and one inmate, were arrested Thursday in the latest phase of an undercover federal investigation targeting contraband and criminal activity in the state's prisons, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Atlanta.
The three guards from Buford and their charges are as follows:
- Michael Bostic, 32, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, formerly a Correctional Officer at Phillips State Prison, has been charged with accepting bribe payments to smuggle contraband into a prison, with accepting bribe payments to protect drug transactions, and with attempted drug trafficking.
- Patrick Coleman, 43, of Tucker, Georgia, formerly a Correctional Officer at Phillips State Prison, has been charged with accepting bribe payments to smuggle contraband into a prison, with accepting bribe payments to protect drug transactions, and with attempted drug trafficking.
- Justin Gennings, 29, of Port Royal, South Carolina, formerly a Correctional Officer at Phillips State Prison, has been charged with accepting bribe payments to smuggle contraband into a prison.
Since September, about 130 people including prison employees, inmates, former inmates and others accused of helping them have been indicted in the effort.
