A South Texas cop goes down for escorting drug shipments, a Colorado prison guard gets nailed carrying pens full of dope, and more. Let's get to it:

[image:1 align:right]In Canon City, Colorado, a former state prison guard was sentenced last Tuesday to two years' probation for trying to smuggle meth and opioids into the Fremont prison. Kyle Gotham Tatro, 33, pleaded guilty to one count of felony contraband after authorities stopped him on his way to work and seized four plastic pens. One contained 6 grams of meth, two contained 20 grams of opiates, and one contained nine blue oxycodone pills. Tatro admitted being paid $250 to deliver the drugs.

In Bessemer, Alabama, a guard at the William Donaldson Correctional Facility was arrested last Wednesday for his role in a conspiracy to smuggle drugs, cell phones, and other contraband into the jail. Wilson Brian Clemons, 32, faces one count of conspiracy and one count of using a facility in interstate commerce in furtherance of an illegal activity. He is accused of taking bribes to facilitate the smuggling and using a fake name to create an account on Cash App so he could accept bribes anonymously. Clemons went down in November 2021 after he tried to bring cell phones, marijuana, Xanax, cigars, and scales into the facility. Clemons also agreed to forfeit the money he made from the conspiracy. He's looking at up to five years in state prison.

In Brownsville, Texas, a former Brownsville police officer was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in federal prison for providing protection for what he thought was a load of methamphetamine being transported through the city. Jose Salinas had earlier pleaded guilty to trafficking at least one kilogram of meth over a March 2020 incident where he took $2,500 in cash for escorting drugs from a car lot he owed to a stash house he provided. He had parked a city police car in front of the stash house to protect the shipment.