A correctional officer at Donaldson Correctional Facility was arrested on Monday evening and charged with using his office for personal gain, according to the Alabama Department of Corrections and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
A spokesperson for the ADOC confirmed that Rickey Cunningham was arrested by the ADOC’s Law Enforcement Services Division at Donaldson Correctional Facility, where he worked as a correctional guard. Cunningham was eventually transported to the Jefferson County Jail a little after 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, where he was later released on bond after spending over five hours at the facility.
Information on the arrest released by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office showed that the crime Cunningham is alleged to have committed embezzlement, for which he received four charges.
The following day, Cunningham resigned from his position at Donaldson Correctional Facility, according to the ADOC.
Last month, a correctional captain and former lieutenant for the ADOC were arrested and charged with four counts, each of bribery and using an official position for personal gain. The arrests of Deaundra Johnson, the 43-year-old captain who worked at the Childersburg Community Work Center in Talladega County, and Centauria Olds, a 37-year-old former ADOC lieutenant, were part of “an ongoing criminal investigation” into the pair, according to a spokesperson for the ADOC, with additional charges possible as the investigation unfolds.
ADOC Commissioner John Hamm said at the time that the department is “committed to enforcing its zero-tolerance policy on contraband, particularly when it comes to policing our own” after the two were arrested.
Earlier this month, four former correctional officers at Limestone Correctional Facility were charged with bribery and ethics law violations, according to the Associated Press, with the charges stemming from the potential smuggling of contraband by those individuals charged.
