Last week, a Lexington County jury found Ronald Jospeh Bonnette guilty on all three charges: Aiding a Prisoner in Escape, Conspiracy, and Providing Contraband for allowing an inmate to access illegal narcotics.
Bonnette was employed as a contractual work release supervisor. Presiding Judge Donald B. Hocker sentenced Bonnette to an 18 month prison sentence in the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
Assistant Solicitors Robert Elam and LeAnna McMenamin prosecuted the case for the Eleventh Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
The prison work release program is a beneficial program designed to provide low-risk, non-violent, “short-timer” inmates with gainful employment. Trained and qualified inmates work outside the prison during the day, at narrowly restricted job sites from which they cannot stray, while under the watchful eye of trained civilian supervisors. They return to their prison in the evening.
Bonnette worked for a private company that contracted with the S.C. Department of Corrections to provide landscaping services to numerous businesses. As a work release supervisor, Bonnette allowed one particular inmate to stray from his work release job sites and visit private residences where illegal narcotics were provided to both Bonnette and the inmate.
An anonymous tip to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department led veteran detective Shannon Dykes to investigate the allegations. Detective Dykes secured GPS data from the work truck assigned to Bonnette and the inmate which verified the violations and unlawful activity.