Ex-prison guard pleads guilty to bribery

TEXARKANA, Texas — A former guard at Texarkana Federal Correctional Institution pleaded guilty to bribery charges Tuesday and an inmate is expected to plead guilty in the case as well.

James Thompson, age unavailable, appeared Wednesday morning with lawyer Danny Cook for a change of plea hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven in Texarkana’s downtown federal building. Thompson pleaded guilty to an information charging him with conspiracy to commit bribery.

Thompson is free on a $5,000 unsecured appearance bond.

According to files in the case, Thompson conspired with an inmate to bring contraband into the prison in exchange for cash. The scheme allegedly began “on or before” August 2019 and continued through January.

Inmates arranged for Thompson to pick up cash payments and contraband including “tobacco, cell phones and other substances” from a post office box in Mount Pleasant, Texas, which Thompson smuggled into the prison.

“In furtherance of that conspiracy, I received at my post office box multiple packages each week that were addressed to Bobby Brown and contained cash and prison contraband,” Thompson’s factual basis states. “And instead of enforcing the law and protecting the staff and inmates at the institution, I then smuggled the contraband I had received into FCI Texarkana and gave it to Gomez for distribution to others. In total, I received at least $17,200.00 in bribe payments, $2200 of which consisted of United States currency that agents seized from me at my home.”