SAN DIEGO — A San Diego County inmate was sentenced to nearly three years for bribing a corrections officer to smuggle a gold and diamond grill into prison.
Shawn Brown, a Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility inmate, received a 30-month sentence in federal court on Wednesday for bribing an officer to smuggle into prison dental molds and an expensive grill for his mouth.
The state corrections officer who helped Brown, Benito Jamar Hugie, was sentenced to 24 months in prison in March and was ordered to surrender to federal officials on May 6.
According to federal prosecutors, Hugie admitted that he smuggled a bejeweled grill into the prison in early 2020 and delivered it to Brown.
The gold and diamond grill was ordered by Brown from a jeweler in Houston using a smuggled cellphone. According to Brown’s plea agreement, the overall value of the bribery scheme was more than $30,000.
“Diamonds are not always your friend,” said U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath. “These schemes have cost Brown years of his life and Hugie his career and good name. Maybe regular teeth would have been a better option.”
Federal prosecutors said during the hearing U.S. District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo ordered Brown to forfeit the bejeweled grill to the government. Brown refused and said the grill was glued to his teeth.
“The government referred to a jail surveillance video that showed that the grill was, in fact, removeable,” federal prosecutors said.
WATCH RELATED: Power outage at Donovan State Prison
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