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Pot Sandwich Smuggling Brings 3-Year Sentence For Ex-County Jail Inmate

By DNAinfo Staff | October 31, 2017 3:11pm | Updated on October 31, 2017 3:48pm
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CHICAGO — A man has been sentenced to three years in prison in a plot to provide drugs and alcohol to inmates at Cook County jail — a plan that was thwarted when a guard was caught with two sandwiches stuffed with marijuana, federal officials said Tuesday.

Prince "Primo" Johnson of Chicago was one of three inmates who conspired with two women to bribe Cook County Jail guard Jason Marek to try to bring the sandwiches, laden with three ounces of dope, into the jail in June of 2013.

The smuggling scheme uncovered what the feds said was a "broader conspiracy" that brought charges against the guard, the three inmates, two civilians, and a Chicago police dispatcher.

Their aim was to distribute marijuana, cigarettes, tobacco, alcohol, food and other contraband into the jail, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's office of the Northern District.

Marek was given $200 to bring the pot inside the jail, officials said. According to the charges, an ounce of marijuana could be sold for $1,000 inside the jail.

Johnson's girlfriend, Stephanie Lewis, who worked as a Chicago Police Department dispatcher while trying to help Johnson in the smuggling scheme, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to one year and five months in April. She allegedly used a law enforcement computer to assist the extortion and drug distribution conspiracy.  

The corrections officer Marek, also known as “Murder” and “Murda,” of Orland Park, pleaded guilty in December of 2015. His sentencing status wasn't immediately available.