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Press Release
LAKE CHARLES, La. – Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced that an Oakdale woman was sentenced last week to 12 months and one day in prison for receiving bribes for smuggling cell phones and tobacco into the Federal Correctional Institution at Oakdale.
Billie A. Holmes, 55, of Oakdale, La., was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Donald E. Walter on one count of bribery of a public official. The defendant was also sentenced to two years of supervised release. According to the January 17, 2017 guilty plea, Holmes worked as an education contractor for FCI Oakdale. From September 2014 to May 2015, an inmate paid Holmes thousands of dollars to smuggle cell phones and tobacco into the prison. In January of 2015, another inmate informed law enforcement that he had been approached by an inmate who offered to sell him a cell phone for $1,600. Upon further investigation, it was learned that Holmes worked with that inmate to smuggle contraband into the prison. During the investigation, Holmes was recorded making plans to smuggle in a cell phone. Financial records also showed $4,200 in wire transfers to Holmes between November 2014 and December 2014.
The U.S. Department of Justice-Office of Inspector General investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert F. Moore prosecuted the case.