Two former guards at the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex are facing criminal charges after prosecutors say they smuggled drugs into the facility for inmates.
Dwayne Lee Skaggs, 34, and William Chester Caudill, 32, are charged in Morgan Circuit Court with first-degree promoting contraband, first- and second-degree drug trafficking, official misconduct, and engaging in organized crime. No trial dates have been scheduled.
Authorities also charged two inmates — Challis Ray Davis, 44, and Shane A. Wilder, 42 — along with Wilder’s mother, Donnie G. Wilder, 70, in the alleged drug-smuggling operation.
Davis and Shane Wilder were already serving prison sentences for burglary and meth-related convictions but have since been transferred to other state prisons.
The medium-security Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex has faced multiple controversies in recent years, including allegations of physical and sexual abuse by staff that resulted in criminal charges and civil rights lawsuits. Four inmates also died at the prison within a recent five-month period, though officials have released limited information about those deaths.
Brandon Ison said organized drug smuggling by correctional officers is both surprising and troubling.
“I feel like I can understand inmates, in a way, who want to try to get drugs while they’re in prison. But when we’ve got officers on the job who go and do that, when they’re profiting off this stuff, then that’s something we definitely want to try to weed out,” Ison said.
“I have two state prisons in my jurisdiction, and then I have a county jail as well in Carter County. So drugs come into prisons and jails pretty frequently,” he added. “But you know, the majority of the time, it’s not the corrections officers bringing it in. It’s through the mail, it’s during visitation, it’s stuff like that.”
Neither Skaggs nor Caudill responded to requests for comment. Justin Janes declined to comment on the case.
The investigation became public after reporters obtained an internal affairs report from the Kentucky Department of Corrections through the Kentucky Open Records Act.
Investigators stopped Skaggs and Caudill on Sept. 7 as they arrived for work at the prison.
Inside Caudill’s lunchbox, authorities said they found 55.5 grams of crystal meth and 800 strips of Suboxone, a prescription medication used to treat opioid withdrawal.
Investigators believe the guards worked with inmates and their relatives, who paid them to bring drugs into the prison.
Beginning June 10, authorities monitored phone calls and letters in which inmates allegedly arranged for family members to meet the guards for so-called “dates” at stores and restaurants in London, about 90 miles southwest of the prison.
In those communications, investigators said Skaggs and Caudill were referred to as “the redhead” and “the big fat guy.” Authorities also noted references to money exchanges and “presents,” including what was called the “Mexican present.”
Surveillance video from several businesses in London, compared with prison work schedules, helped investigators identify the suspects.
During an interview with internal affairs investigators on Sept. 7, Skaggs admitted meeting with inmates’ family members and bringing dangerous contraband into the prison. Investigators said he later resigned and left the facility.
Caudill acknowledged that drugs were found in his lunchbox but refused to say where they came from. Investigators also found that his phone had recently searched for directions to a London Walmart, even though his hometown — located about two hours away — has its own store.
A grand jury indicted Caudill on Oct. 23, 2025, and Skaggs on Jan. 22.
Leave a Comment