US lawyer allegedly poses as legal counsel for inmates and smuggles in phones
A U.S. lawyer was recently charged with two counts of conspiracy and three counts of introducing contraband into a correctional facility.
Daniel Sidney Dale – a 49-year-old lawyer from Terry, Mississippi – was accused of attempting to smuggle cellular phones and other prohibited items into a detention facility in Hinds County, Mississippi, said an article by the ABA Journal.
A Facebook post by Tyree Jones, Hinds County sheriff, said that Dale had been arrested last Aug. 8 and charged with the offences. Further charges and arrests would potentially follow, the post noted.
During visits, Dale allegedly posed as legal counsel for certain detainees and smuggled the phones and other contraband, according to the social media post. In the afternoon of Aug. 8, he was allegedly caught in an attempt to pass contraband items to an inmate and was taken in for questioning, the post added.
“Lawyer Dale, in a trusted position responsible for the constitutional rights of arrested suspects, jeopardized the safety and integrity of the Hinds County Detention Facilities and the public,” said the sheriff’s post on Facebook.
Court affidavits claimed that Dale conspired with two inmates in a smuggling operation covering two phones, two charger blocks for phones, a digital scale, cigarettes, and a substance suspected to be marijuana into the facility, said the article, citing WLBT.
Authorities arrested Dale, who has made 10 visits to the facility since June, after a prison video reportedly showed him passing the contraband to a detainee, WLBT also reported.
Bond for Dale was set at $75,000, said the Journal in its article.
