Former Alabama Corrections Officer Arrested on Contraband, Bribery Charges

A 33-year-old former corrections officer accused of smuggling contraband to federal inmates for payment was arrested in a Walmart parking lot Tuesday.

The U.S. Marshals Service announced the arrest of Timothy Bernard Summerlin, a one-time Montgomery County corrections officer, WSFA reported.

Summerlin was charged in federal court with conspiracy to provide contraband to an inmate in prison and bribery of a public official.

Marshals allege Summerlin was paid to smuggle prohibited items to federal inmates while conspiring with multiple people, according to the outlet.

He had been employed at the Montgomery County Detention Facility for more than three years and is accused of smuggling contraband inside the facility up until February of this year. 

“Corrections officers are held to a high standard of integrity, trust, and honor,” Chief Deputy M. Dante Gordon said in a release. “This investigation has spanned over approximately seven months by my office and we are not done yet. There will be more indictments coming very soon.”

The investigation was headed by the U.S. Marshals Service for the Middle District of Alabama with support from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.