Former SCDC captain accused of accepting $200K in bribes to sneak contraband to inmates (2024)

COLUMBIA— A former South Carolina prison captain is accused of accepting more than $200,000 in bribes over the course of several years to smuggle in cellphones and other contraband to inmates.

A federal grand jury recently returned a 15-count indictment against the former corrections officer, 46-year-old Christine Mary Livingston, and an inmate, 33-year-old Jerell Reaves, for bribery, conspiracy, honest services wire fraud and money laundering.

Reaves was known as "Hell Rell," and Livingston was known as "Hell Rell's Queen," according to the court filing.

Livingston worked at the South Carolina Department of Corrections from September 2005 to November 2021, according to the indictment. She served as a corrections officer and was promoted to captain in 2016.

As captain, Livingston was responsible for supervising and managing the security operations at the prison facility she was assigned, including the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia.

In 2018, she conspired with Reaves, who was incarcerated at the Broad River Correctional Institution on a voluntary manslaughter conviction, court filings say. He paid Livingston at least $42,600 in bribes, according to the indictment.

But Reaves was just one of about a dozen inmates and their associates from whom Livingston accepted bribes, according to the indictment.

Livingston had around 14 peer-to-peer payment accounts, including Cash App, which were under pseudonyms and linked to financial accounts under her name.

Altogether, she accepted more than $200,000 in bribes over the years and smuggled in at least 173 cellphones, as well as headphones, screen protectors, phone chargers, SIM cards and other types of contraband, according to the indictment.

The FBI Columbia Field Office and SCDC Office of the Inspector General investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elliott B. Daniels will be prosecuting.

“People who wear badges and are sworn to uphold the law should be held to a higher standard,” SCDC Director Bryan Stirling said. “This woman broke the public trust in South Carolina, making our prisons less safe for inmates, staff and the community. We will absolutely not tolerate officers and employees bringing contraband into our prisons, and I’m glad she is being held accountable.”