Man who helped smuggle phones, other items into Jackson County jail gets prison time

A Kansas City man was sentenced to prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to smuggling contraband into the Jackson County Detention Center.

Marion Lorenzo Byers, also known as "Cuddy," 36, was sentenced to two years and three months in federal prison without parole, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri said in a release.

Byers admitted to conspiring with others, including a corrections officer, to smuggle cell phones and other items to inmates at the jail last spring.

Co-defendant Jalee Caprice Fuller, 30, of Independence is the former guard who pleaded guilty for her role in the conspiracy. She awaits sentencing.

Carlos Laron Hughley, 33, an inmate at the jail, and Janikkia Lashay Carter, 37, both of Kansas City, have also pleaded guilty and await sentencing.

Andre Lamonte Dickerson, another former guard, is also awaiting sentencing in a "separate but related case" after recently pleading guilty to two counts of using a telephone in furtherance of the unlawful activity of acceding to corruption. The charges are "related to a public servant taking a bribe in return for violating his legal duty," the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

This story was originally published May 23, 2018 at 5:26 PM with the headline "Man who helped smuggle phones, other items into Jackson County jail gets prison time."