Prison guards accused of taking bribes, drug trafficking

ATLANTA (AP) — More than 40 prison guards and officers in Georgia have been indicted on charges of accepting bribes and drug trafficking, the latest in a federal effort to crack down on contraband and criminal activity in the state’s prisons.

Since September, about 130 people — including prison employees, inmates, former inmates and others accused of helping them — have been indicted.

A majority of those charged were Georgia Department of Corrections officers accused of agreeing to protect a person they believed was a high-level drug trafficker. The indictments say the officers agreed to wear their uniforms during the drug transports to deter law enforcement interference.

The officers charged worked at nine different prisons.