By ANDRIA SIMMONS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/21/07

A former prison guard will spend the next five years on the other side of the bars for extorting money from an inmate.

After he is released from prison, Keith Beard, 23, will spend another five years on probation, prosecutors said Wednesday.
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Prosecutors say Beard confronted an inmate who was transporting a bag of laundry from one area to another inside of Phillips State Prison in Gwinnett County on Dec. 12, 2004.

Beard claimed to have found a plastic bag containing marijuana inside the laundry bag. He offered not to file charges if the inmate paid $5,000, said Niria Baggett, an Assistant District Attorney for Gwinnett County.

"He said 'what is it worth to you?'" Baggett said. "He said 'give me $5,000 and I won't write you up."

Beard then handed the inmate a cell phone and asked him to contact a family member to get the money. It was well known around the prison that the inmate, Darryl Butler, had just received a large settlement for a worker's compensation case, Baggett said.

Butler's sister, a school teacher from Camila, Ga., agreed to send a money order for $500 —all the money in her savings account— to an address provided by Beard to keep her brother out of trouble.

Butler complained to another prison guard about being blackmailed, but the prison guard blew him off, Baggett said. He then started writing letters to the Gwinnett County Magistrate Court and the District Attorney's Office.

The District Attorney's Office asked the GBI to investigate, and the GBI found enough evidence to support filing criminal charges against Beard.

Baggett said those who swear to uphold the law should be held to a higher standard.

"We took this case very seriously," Baggett said. "Prisoners are vulnerable because they don't have a voice. People tend not to believe them because they are a criminal."

A judge sentenced Beard Tuesday in Gwinnett Superior Court after a jury convicted him of two offenses related to the scheme — violation of oath of office and improperly influencing another.

Former prison guard guilty of extorting money from inmate | ajc.com

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