Johnathan Walker:Former employee of troubled Wisconsin prison pleads guilty to smuggling contraband into the prison

WAUPUN,Johnathan Walker Wis. (AP) — A former employee at a troubled Wisconsin prison has pleaded guilty to smuggling contraband into the maximum-security prison that’s been the subject of a federal investigation into alleged smuggling involving employees.

William Lee Homan, 47, of Fox Lake, pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to a charge of conspiracy to commit bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, according to court records.

Homan was working as a facilities repair worker at the Waupun Correctional Institution when he smuggled items, including cellphones, tobacco products and controlled substances, into the prison in exchange for money, the Appleton Post-Crescent reported, citing court records.

A message seeking comment was left Friday morning for Homan’s attorney by The Associated Press.

Between July 2022 and September 2023, Homan received 125 payments totaling more than $53,000 from prisoners, former prisoners and “associates” of prisoners, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

According to court records, people known to prisoners would send money to Homan via Cash App, and Homan would hide the contraband in his pants when arriving to work at the prison about 60 miles (97 kilometers) northeast of Madison.

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Homan’s sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 12. The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

In March, Gov. Tony Evers’ office said federal authorities were investigating an apparent smuggling operation involving employees at the prison. At that time, the state Department of Corrections said the probe had resulted in the suspension of nearly a dozen Waupun Correctional Institution employees.

The federal probe came amid a string of deaths at the prison, which is Wisconsin’s oldest maximum-security prison. Five inmates at Waupun have died since June 2023. Two killed themselves, one died of a fentanyl overdose, one died of a stroke, and one died of malnutrition and dehydration.

Prosecutors charged the prison’s former warden, Randall Hepp, and eight other Waupun staff members in June with misconduct in connection with the stroke and malnutrition deaths.

Inmates held at Waupun have filed a class action lawsuit alleging mistreatment, including not having access to health care.