Four charged with extortion for smuggling contraband into jail

ATLANTA — A Fulton County sheriff’s deputy and three jailers in the Fulton County Jail were charged Thursday with extortion for their roles in accepting payments in exchange for delivering contraband to inmates in the jail, authorities said.

“As law enforcement officers employed at the Fulton County Jail, these men took an oath to serve and protect the public,” United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said in a statement. “Instead, they abandoned their oaths and sold their badges by taking payoffs to smuggling contraband to jail inmates and facilitate illegal drug deals on the outside. We are committed to vigorously prosecuting corrupt law enforcement officers who betray the public and their fellow law enforcement officers.”