LONDON, Ky. — Temeka Halliburton, 28, was sentenced today to serve three months in prison for conspiracy to introduce contraband into a federal prison and conspiracy to distribute heroin by United States District Court Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove, after pleading guilty in January of this year.

Halliburton, was part of a conspiracy to smuggle heroin into Eastern Kentucky and then into the United States Federal Penitentiary Big Sandy.

Alice Marie Stapleton, a former correctional officer at USP Big Sandy, would smuggle in prohibited items, such as marijuana and heroin, for inmate Personee McGhee, in exchange for money. Correctional officers and their belongings are not subject to search when they report for duty.

During the conspiracy, inmate McGhee would call his mother Clady McGhee, and ask her to pick up “legal papers,” code for drugs, from different individuals including Maria Mimms, on several occasions throughout late 2005 and early 2006.

Halliburton admitted in the course of her guilty plea that she drove Clady McGhee on at least two occasions to pick up items, including heroin, from Mimms in her hometown of Indianapolis, In. Halliburton and Clady McGhee would then travel to Paintsville, Ky. to meet Stapleton at a motel. Stapleton would pick up the contraband items in exchange for about $800 to $1,000 each time.

Mimms was found guilty by a federal jury for conspiracy to provide an inmate with prohibited objects, and conspiring to distribute controlled substances. She is scheduled for sentencing at 11 a.m. on June 8, 2007.

Stapleton’s sentencing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on June 8, 2007. Stapleton and Mimms each face up to 20 years in prison, a $1 million fine and three years supervised release.

Clady McGhee, 56, pleaded guilty in October of last year to conspiracy to provide an inmate of a federal prison with contraband items and possession of heroin with the intent to distribute, and was sentenced to three years probation in February of this year.

Personee McGhee, 36, pleaded guilty in October of last year to conspiracy to introduce contraband items into a federal prison and conspiracy to distribute heroin. He was sentenced to two years in prison, which will be consecutive to the life sentence he is currently serving.

Under federal law, Halliburton must serve 85 percent of her prison sentence and upon release, will be under the supervision of the United States Probation Office for three years.

The investigation was conducted jointly by the United States Bureau of Prisons - Special Investigative Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Robert M. Duncan, Jr, and Patrick H. Molloy, and Special Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Walasinski.