Prison Official Sentenced 20 Months in Prison for Smuggling Contraband into Petersburg Prison

Richmond, VA. — March 26, 2009 — Edward J. Goode, II, a.k.a. “Cleofus,” “Aunt,” “Cousin,” and “G,” age 39, of Midlothian, Virginia, was sentenced today to twenty months in prison. A case manager at FCI Petersburg, Goode pled guilty on August 28, 2008 for accepting a bribe to smuggle marijuana and cigarettes into the prison. Dana J. Boente, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Gene Morrison, Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Office for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General; and Jennifer Smith Love, Special Agent-In-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge Robert E. Payne.

The Indictment charged Goode with conspiracy, seven counts of providing marijuana to prisoners, and seven counts of accepting bribes for violating his official duty by providing marijuana to a prisoner. Goode’s codefendant, Gersham Canady was similarly charged with conspiracy, seven counts of obtaining marijuana in a prison, seven counts of paying bribes to a public official for violating his official duty. Canady was sentenced to 15 months in prison on December 15, 2008.

According to court documents the defendants’ smuggling operation, which lasted from the summer of 2006 until the summer of 2007, had three components: (1) a prison employee, namely Goode, who was willing to clandestinely introduce contraband into the prison; (2) at least one inmate, namely Canady, who would be willing to bribe Goode and actually receive the contraband; and (3) several people on the outside, usually friends and relatives of the inmates, who would obtain money and contraband and then make the delivery to Goode.

Court documents show that the defendants and conspirators engaged in numerous secretive activities, such as: (1) using code language during the BOP recorded conversations between Canady and the conspirators outside of the prison; (2) secret meetings occurring between the outside conspirators at random public locations determined only shortly before the actual meetings; and (3) the clandestine generation and transfer of money to purchase the contraband and pay the bribes, including the use of currency and difficult-to-trace Western Union Wire transfers.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Richmond Division, and the Inspector General’s Office. Assistant United States Attorneys David T. Maguire and George Metcalf prosecuted the case for the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.uspci.uscourts.gov.