South Carolina Prison Guard Supervisor Pleads Guilty to Smuggling, Bribery
A former high-ranking guard with the South Carolina Department of Corrections (DOC) pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy on February 3, 2025, for her role in a smuggling and bribery scheme at Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia.
As PLN reported, former Cpt. Christine Mary Livingston was accused in April 2024 of taking over $219,360 to smuggle at least 173 contraband cellphones to prisoners over a five-year period before her November 2021 resignation. Prisoner Jerell “Hell Rell” Reaves was also indicted in the scheme for allegedly furnishing the guard at least $42,640 of the bribes she was paid. After she was put under investigation, Livingston resigned from her job and its $56,797 annual pay, ending a 16-year career with the DOC. [See: PLN, Oct. 2024, p.31.]
Now 47, Livingston admitted accepting bribes which actually totaled over $279,000 from at least 45 prisoners and three of their family members between 2018 and 2021, while she was supervising other guards at the lockup. In exchange, she smuggled contraband to the prisoners that included not only cellphones but also SIM cards purchased on Amazon. While running the contraband scheme, Livingston also used 14 fake peer-to-peer payment accounts linked to her personal bank accounts from which she paid for personal items and cryptocurrency.
Livingston was also reportedly in an open relationship with Reaves, earning her the nickname “Hell Rell’s Queen.” Nevertheless, she was promoted to supervise security at the prison.
Reaves, 33, pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme in September 2024. He was sentenced on January 21, 2025, to five years in federal prison, the first four running concurrently with a 15-year state sentence for voluntary manslaughter he is serving for the fatal 2015 shooting of John Floyd, as the victim sat in a car parked outside a Marion convenience store. He was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay a $100 special assessment.
Sentencing for Livingston is set for June 30, 2025, when she faces up to 20 years in federal prison. However, in exchange for her guilty plea, federal prosecutors agreed to recommend up to eight years in prison, followed by supervised release, as well as $250,000 in fines, plus asset forfeiture up to the full value of the bribes that she took.
Additional source: The State
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