Former Alabama Department of Corrections Officer Pleads Guilty to Bribery

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – John Paul Ketteman, 28, of Huntsville, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Liles C. Burke to receipt of a bribe by an agent or organization receiving federal funds.

U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona, Federal Bureau Investigation Acting Special Agent in Charge Christopher DiMenna, and United States Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Patrick Davis made the announcement.

According to the plea agreement, Ketteman was employed as a corrections officer at the Alabama Department of Correction’s Limestone Correctional Facility in Harvest, Alabama. Ketteman’s job duties included inspecting prison cells for contraband and supervising inmates. In the Fall of 2022, ADOC’s Law Enforcement Services Division began an investigation into contraband being smuggled into the Limestone Facility by corrections officers. As part of the investigation, Cash App records were obtained for Ketteman’s account. These records revealed that in less than three months in 2022, Ketteman was paid more than $10,000 to smuggle contraband into the Limestone Facility and to act as a lookout.  

Ketteman is scheduled to be sentenced on June 24, 2025.

The maximum penalty for receipt of a bribe by an agent or organization receiving federal funds is 10 years in prison.

The FBI and the United States Secret Service investigated the cases. ADOC’s Law Enforcement Services Division provided valuable assistance during the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney John M. Hundscheid is prosecuting the case.