FROM DOUG HOWARD
US ATTORNEY’S OFFICE – MIDDLE DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
Montgomery, Alabama – Tuesday, the United States Attorney’s Office and the United States Marshals Service for the Middle District of Alabama announced that a federal grand jury in Montgomery, Alabama, returned a three-count indictment charging former Montgomery County Detention Facility (MCDF) Correctional Officer Mario Avery, 43, with conspiracy to provide contraband to an inmate in prison, bribery, and providing contraband to a federal inmate.
The indictment alleges that Avery conspired with others to provide a federal inmate at MCDF with prohibited items. The indictment further alleges that Avery accepted cash in return for smuggling contraband into the detention facility and in fact provided the contraband to the inmate in November of 2022.
The United States Marshals Service arrested Avery on Monday, August 28, 2023. Avery is scheduled to make his initial appearance in federal court later this afternoon. If convicted on all three counts of the indictment, Avery faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The United States Marshals Service investigated this case, with assistance from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Counts is prosecuting the case.
