Alabama Prison Guard Brought 481 Grams Of Liquid Drugs Inside, State Agents Say

Prison staff search everyone coming through the gate. Police say one of their own brought the drugs in herself — 481.94 grams of them.

Shalonda Kelly, 37, worked as a security guard at Limestone Correctional Facility, the Alabama state prison in the Huntsville area. On October 9, agents with the state prison system’s Narcotics and Law Enforcement Services Division arrested her inside the facility, at work.

The seizure: approximately 481.94 grams of liquid synthetic cannabinoids, recovered following an investigation into suspected contraband activity — a figure verified across four newsrooms. Just over a pound of liquid contraband inside a state prison perimeter.

Kelly faces five counts: trafficking, custodial sexual misconduct, second-degree promoting prison contraband, use of office for personal gain, and conspiracy to commit a controlled substance crime.

That conspiracy count is the detail that should worry state investigators most — the charge itself asserts she wasn’t working alone.

And there’s a relationship angle: reporting indicates the investigation found Kelly was involved with an inmate, identified as Brandon Carr, who is serving time for robbery.

She was booked into the Limestone County Jail Friday morning — a few miles from the prison she’d worked at. Bond hadn’t been announced as of the latest reports.

Alabama’s Department of Corrections runs its own narcotics unit, and it was their investigation that caught her. Those investigations rarely stop at one name.

Oh Dang Really covers police and government misconduct cases as they develop. All charges are allegations until proven in court.