ATLANTA — It’s been nearly a year since the first of several inmates were caught sneaking booze, drugs and cellphones into a federal prison camp in southeast Atlanta.
New video and photos provided by an inmate to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows that the contraband continues to flow into the camp along McDonough Boulevard as recently as this weekend.
Despite a new warden and promises to crack down on contraband being carried into the low-security prison, prisoners enjoyed a raucous party with music and a makeshift bar on New Year’s Eve.
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On video obtained by the AJC, one inmate could be seen pouring mixed drinks for fellow prisoners who walked around with cups in hand, laughing and talking loudly.
The inmate who provided the images -- whom the AJC is not naming because he fears reprisal for coming forward -- said this weekend that another prisoner retrieved a backpack containing alcohol and marijuana.
"It seems like, at this point, the inmates are running the asylum and quite literally so. I mean, they're holding frat parties and they're mixing shots," said Georgia State University law school's Jessica Cino.
The new warden has been on the job about three months. A spokesperson sent the following statement:
"Contraband is always a concern at our institutions regardless of security level. We are always looking for ways to enhance our detection, and deterrence efforts."
Cino says she's still worried.
"It certainly undermines the criminal justice system and the integrity and exactly what we use prisons to reinforce, which is punishment, not Weekend at Bernie's," she said.
CLICK HERE to read Rhonda Cook's entire report on myAJC.com.