A 34-year-old former state prison correctional officer was found guilty Wednesday of smuggling more than 200 grams of methamphetamine into the facility, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
Priscilla Frances Hall, of Springfield, was found guilty as charged of Trafficking in Methamphetamine (more than 200 grams but less than 400 grams). Circuit Court Judge Timothy Register set sentencing for Nov. 12. Under Florida drug trafficking statutes, Hall faces a minimum-mandatory sentence of 15 years and could receive up to 30.
Prosecutor Jeff Moore called six witnesses and presented evidence proving the defendant was in possession of the drugs when she reported for work at the Bay Correctional Facility, a privately operated state prison.
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The evidence showed Bay County Sheriff’s Office investigators were called to the facility March 22, 2023, after the defendant reported for her morning shift.
During a routine contraband check by her supervisors, she was asked to let down her hair, which was up in a bun. Supervisors found two bundles consistent with smuggling narcotics. Ultimately the defendant was found to be carrying four packages of what later tested positive as methamphetamine. Together the drugs weighed about 222 grams.
In a statement the defendant gave at the time that was played for jurors, she said an inmate had asked her to smuggle in the packages and she agreed.
Basford thanked Bay Correctional Facility officials for their diligence in discovering the drugs before they made it to the inmates, and the Bay County Sheriff’s Office for its investigation.
For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.