Crime & Safety
Ex-Corrections Officer Gets Prison Time For Smuggling Drugs
Federal prosecutors say Tiffany Cook was paid by an inmate to bring meth and marijuana into Hays State Prison in Chattooga County.
ROME, GA — A former Georgia Department of Corrections Officer offer has pleaded guilty to accepting a payment from a prisoner to smuggle methamphetamine and marijuana into a state prison.
Tiffany Cook of Summerville, who was charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute controlled substance, was sentenced to serve seven years and eight months in prison. Her sentence will be followed by five years of probation.
"Correctional officers compromise the safety of our nation’s prisons when they trade their badges for money," said U.S. Attorney Bjay Pak. "Prisons are supposed to be places where additional criminal activity is impossible, but this notion breaks down when officers participate in the crimes."
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According to federal prosecutors, Cook began working as a corrections officer in May 2010. Her tenure at Hays State Prison began in April 2017. Located in Trion, the male prison holds about 1,680 inmates.
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In early July, the state received information from an inmate that Cook was allegedly being paid to smuggle illegal drugs into the prison. Cook, 34, arrived at the Chattooga County prison to report for her shift and as she approached the time clock, she was asked to go to a conference room. Cook responded by saying she felt ill and wanted to leave the prison. However, she was detained by corrections officers, who searched their co-worker.
Those correctional officers uncovered more than 118 grams of actual methamphetamine (with a purity of 90 percent), and more than 150 grams marijuana from her bra and other areas of her body. After seizing the drugs, Cook was placed under arrest.
The case was investigated by the FBI and Georgia Department of Corrections. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey W. Davis, chief of the Public Integrity and Special Matters Section, prosecuted the case.
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