East St. Louis Man Pleads Guilty to Providing Marihuana to a Federal Inmate and Making a False Representation to the Bureau of Prisons

Donald S. Boyce, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on November 15, 2016, Ricky J. McGee, 34, East St. Louis, IL, pled guilty to two criminal counts, namely: Providing Contraband to a Federal Inmate and Making a False Representation to the Bureau of Prisons. McGee faces a term of imprisonment of not more than five years, a fine up to $250,000, or both, and a term of supervised release of not more than three years on each count. McGee’s sentencing has been scheduled for March 1, 2017, in East St. Louis, Illinois.

On May 8, 2016, an officer monitoring the visiting room at the Federal Correctional Institution at Greenville, Illinois (FCI-Greenville) observed McGee, who was visiting an inmate, pass a Doritos bag to the inmate. Based on this behavior, the visit was ended and the Doritos bag that McGee had in his possession prior to passing it to the inmate was inspected. Inside that bag were eight small blue balloons that contained a green leafy substance that field tested positive for marihuana. In addition, the inmate, who was immediately placed in a dry cell after his visit ended so that his bowel movements could be monitored, defecated out two balloons that contained a green leafy substance which field tested positive for marihuana the next day.

A review of the videotape showedMcGee reaching into his pants pocket before exchanging Doritos bags with the inmate. Federal inmates are prohibited from possessing marihuana. The charge for making a false statement was based on McGee’s false representation on a Bureau of Prisons visitors’ form that he was not in possession of marihuana.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Prisons’ Special Investigation Section. The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Angela Scott.