ATLANTA — A former federal correctional officer at U.S. Penitentiary Atlanta was convicted of bribery and conspiring with inmates to smuggle drugs and other contraband into the prison, authorities said.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Georgia, 51-year-old Patrick Shackelford, was taken into federal custody after a six-day trial ended with a guilty verdict on April 2, according to U.S. Department of Justice officials.
Officials say Shackelford, who worked as a plumbing supervisor, conspired with inmates from June 2018 through February 2019 to smuggle methamphetamine, marijuana, synthetic marijuana, tobacco, and cell phones into the medium-security facility.
The scheme involved a hidden room and voided area near the visitation section, officials said.
Shackelford is accused of helping inmates create a small passage under a restroom sink to receive contraband from visitors, then hid it in the plumbing shop and unlocked staff offices to facilitate distribution.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Sistla says Patrick Shackelford accepted bribes and worked with inmates to smuggle drugs and other contraband into the prison.
“It had been hidden in the ceiling above one of the offices in the plumbing department,” Sistla said.
In exchange for his assistance, Shackelford received $5,000 and pain pills from one of the inmates. Authorities later recovered more than a pound of methamphetamine, over a kilogram of marijuana, synthetic marijuana, tobacco, and several cell phones hidden in one of the largest contraband seizures in the prison’s history.
“Correctional facilities depend on the integrity of those entrusted to safeguard them,” said Peter Ellis, Acting Special Agent in Charge of FBI Georgia.
All of Shackelford’s inmate co-conspirators pleaded guilty to related charges, including conspiracy to commit bribery and possession of prohibited items in federal prison, officials add.
“Instead of fulfilling his duty to safeguard a federal prison, Shackelford took bribes from inmates and potentially endangered the safety of fellow officers and prisoners through his brazen conduct,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg.
Shackelford is scheduled to be sentenced in July of 2026. He faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison without parole.
