Video: Georgia Prison Inmate, Guard Accused of Phone Scam

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LEE COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) — A Georgia prison inmate and guard are accused of operating a phone scam posing as Lee County Sheriff’s Deputies.

Last week, Lee County Sheriff Jim Johnson warned about callers threatening residents with arrest for failure to appear for jury duty.

They were directed to buy a $700 prepaid credit card and send its number to an address or phone number.

Lee County got a break when investigators at Autry State Prison in Pelham, Georgia linked Guard Clarinda Clark and inmate Covian Camp to cell phones containing several Mississippi numbers.

Johnson says it’s one reason most jails and prisons have strict rules about cell phones.

“Because a lot of times there will be a relationship struck up between an inmate and an employee, and nine times out of ten, the employee is not changing the acts of the inmate, the inmate is changing the acts of the employee,” Johnson said.

The scam has also been linked to gang activity in California and New Jersey. Camp and Clark face a variety of state and federal charges in 11 states.

Clark already has been extradited to New Jersey to face two counts of theft by extortion and two counts of impersonating a law enforcement officer.