A Midlands man was arrested for flying a drone carrying contraband to a prison in Columbia, according to the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
Rodney C. Butler, a 34-year-old Sumter resident, was charged with providing contraband to an inmate and criminal conspiracy, the S.C. Department of Corrections said in a news release.
The incident happened April 16 at Broad River Correctional Institution, according to the release.
Butler’s charges involve flying a drone carrying contraband onto the prison yard, the S.C. Department of Corrections said. Information about what contraband was transported to the prison was not included in the release.
Butler coordinated the drop location and payment through text messages to multiple inmates who were using illegal contraband cellphones, the S.C. Department of Corrections said.
After a drone alert was issued at the prison, deputies with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department stopped Butler when he was in a vehicle, an arrest warrant shows. During a search, deputies found a DJI Inspire 2 which matched the type of drone that was identified in the prison’s alert, according to the arrest warrant.
“An analysis of the drone provided that the drone did fly over the prison on the incident date,” the arrest warrant said.
Butler was arrested Tuesday, Richland County court records show.
Bond was set at $15,000 on the combined charges and posted Wednesday, according to court records. Butler is scheduled to appear in court again Dec. 13, judicial records show.
Broad River Correctional Institution is a prison in Richland County on Broad River Road, near the junction with Interstate 20.
It is a male-only close (high-security) and medium-security facility “designed primarily to house violent offenders with longer sentences, and inmates who exhibit behavioral problems,” according to the S.C. Department of Corrections.
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