SerpApi.Org
For at least five years, former South Carolina prison guard Lowanda Atkinson took in more than $550,000 in bribe money from prisoners, using some of it to buy an $80,000 Lexus, patronize high-end designer stores and have “Brazilian butt lift” plastic surgery, according to federal prosecutors.
But she got a reality check Wednesday afternoon at the federal courthouse near downtown Columbia.
That’s when Atkinson, 52, a Kershaw County resident, pleaded guilty to one felony count of being part of an “honest services” wire fraud conspiracy before U.S. District Judge Sherri Lydon in a 45-minute hearing. “Honest services” fraud has to do with a public official being illegally paid for some act, thus depriving the public of the official’s impartial duty.
According to prosecutors, Atkinson used bags of potato chips to hide and smuggle hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of items like “cell phones, cell phone accessories, tobacco and controlled substances” into the prison, according to the charging document in her case, called an information.
Atkinson, who will be sentenced in December, is subject to a maximum 20 years in prison. However, since she has no criminal record, her sentence will most likely be substantially less than that.
The 16 years Atkinson worked at various state prisons included her last stint at Lee Correctional Institution in Lee County, where she became a vital “conduit” for a thriving smuggling operation, assistant U.S. attorney Samantha Usher told Judge Lydon.
“She was the gatekeeper of all property entering the correctional facility,” Usher told the judge.
Evidence in the case against Atkinson included testimony from some of her fellow conspirators, cell phone extraction data from her and other conspirators’ phones and various financial records, Usher told the judge.
Atkinson even used her children’s Cash App accounts to store some of her bribe money, Usher told the judge.
The former guard “spent lavishly” and used some of the bribe money to get a “Brazilian butt lift,” Usher told the judge. Such a lift is a cosmetic surgery procedure that uses a body’s own fat to shape a person’s rear end, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgery.
Atkinson used her position as a correctional officer to be assigned to the Lee prison property room where she smuggled contraband items, including narcotics, in exchange for bribes from prisoners, an information in the case said.
“Despite her oath to serve as a corrections officer, in which capacity the public entrusted her to detect and deter contraband schemes at Lee, Atkinson accepted numerous bribes to allow contraband to move through the property room she operated,” the information said.
Atkinson sold her contraband to two inmates, who then resold it to other inmates at the prison, according to evidence in the case.
Officials talk about the case
In a press conference after the hearing, U.S. Attorney Bryan Stirling said Atkinson specifically sought to work in the Lee Correctional Institution property room, where she could have a freer hand to carry out her smuggling enterprise.
In addition to her “Brazilian butt lift” surgery, Atkinson spent bribe money on “chin liposuction” plastic surgery, Stirling told reporters.
Atkinson only made about $47,000 as a prison guard, so the $80,000 Lexus and $20,000 Kia she bought with bribe money were more than double her salary, Stirling said.
Atkinson abused her “position of trust to bring contraband into the facility, making things more dangerous for inmates,” Stirling said.
Contraband can spark violence inside a prison by leading to fights over the forbidden objects, Stirling said, adding the deadly 2018 Lee Corrections riot where seven inmates died and 17 were injured began as a fight over contraband.
FBI assistant Special Agent in Charge José Charriez said the investigation into Atkinson and her accomplices was part of the Bureau’s prison corruption initiative “working exactly as designed” to uncover an ongoing criminal enterprise “both inside and outside prison walls.”
“Contraband puts the prison staff and prisoners alike at risk and opens the door to further criminal activity,” Charriez told reporters.
State Department of Corrections director Joel Anderson said the prison system has upgraded its security features to make such smuggling like Atkinson carried out less likely to succeed now.
“We do bag checks, we have X-ray machines,” Anderson said. “We have systems where the officers have to come through. Their bodies are X-rayed, just like at the airport.’’
Security staffing has also been enhanced at the department’s maximum security prisons, Anderson said.
Officials said the investigation that uncovered the conspiracy started in 2022. They refused to say what triggered the probe. “We’re not going to go into how we got wind of this,” Stirling said.
Investigating agencies were the FBI and the Corrections Department.
Prosecutors in the case are Elliott Daniels and Usher.
Atkinson is represented by Rep. Seth Rose, D-Richland, a Columbia criminal defense lawyer.
Rose told The State newspaper after the hearing that Atkinson used some of the money to help her severely autistic son for whom she is a single parent, sending him to a special needs school.
“She made a terrible mistake,” Rose said. “She’s never been in trouble her whole life and she is extremely remorseful.”
Rose is likely to elaborate on Atkinson’s situation at the sentencing hearing in December.
Four others in the conspiracy pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud.
They were: Jason Brown, 43, an SCDC inmate; Adriana Conyers, 37, of Sumter County; Christopher Hickman, 46, of Richland County; and Mary Ann Hickman-Brown, 64, of Clarendon County.
Two other men have also been charged but have not pleaded guilty.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
