LITTLE VILLAGE — A former police dispatcher Wednesday pleaded guilty to helping her inmate boyfriend smuggle tobacco into Cook County Jail by tracking down the home address of a jail guard and threatening him if he didn't help.
Stephanie Lewis, 42, was working as a dispatch supervisor in 2013 when she used a city database to collect the guard's name, father's name and full street address based on a license plate, court records show.
Lewis then shared that information with boyfriend Prince "Primo" Johnson and another inmate, who together threatened the guard with "physical harm unless he smuggled [tobacco and] additional contraband" into the jail, U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon wrote in a plea agreement Wednesday.
Lewis pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion. Her sentence could include probation and/or up to 20 years in prison.
It all began in June 2013 when Johnson called Lewis, who worked for the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications, to tell her he was going to sell contraband inside the jail at 2700 S. California Ave., prosecutors said.
Lewis agreed to smuggle "hot air balloons," or bags of loose tobacco, with the help of Pearlisa "Wayne Wayne" Stevenson, prosecutors said. Stevenson's husband, Thadieus "Big Weasy" Goods, was an inmate who planned to sell contraband alongside Johnson.
But the sheriff's guard who'd been tapped to help, Jason Marek, threw away the contraband and kept his $100 bribe, prosecutors allege.
Johnson told Lewis the guard got cold feet when he realized Goods was involved, prosecutors said, because the man had a reputation for setting up people.
That's when Lewis and Johnson conspired to gain access to Marek's personnel information, prosecutors said. Johnson is accused of giving Marek's license-plate number to Lewis, who in turn pulled up the guard's name and home address in a city database.
According to prosecutors, Johnson and Goods then threatened to harm Marek unless he helped smuggle contraband and pay for the tobacco he destroyed, prosecutors said.
Lewis' plea brings to five the number of people convicted in the case, according to the Northern District of Illinois U.S. Attorney's Office.
Marek previously admitted to smuggling contraband (including marijuana and tobacco) into the jail by tucking it into sandwiches and sneaking them past security in May, before this incident, and June 2013.
Johnson, meanwhile, is still awaiting trial and has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here.
