Jamie Wachter: The Suwannee Democrat
A Suwannee Correctional Institution officer was arrested Friday, June 23, on charges of introducing contraband into a correctional facility, organized scheme to defraud and official misconduct after entering a relationship with at least two inmates.
According to a warrant authorized by Third Circuit Judge Lin Williams on Thursday, June 22, Mattie Gordie Hooker, age 44, of Lee, a corrections officer, delivered a cellphone into the secure facility at the the Suwannee Correctional Institution Annex to an inmate in April.
The warrant states that the suspect brought the cellphone after receiving payment for it through another inmate.
According to an affidavit for the arrest, the suspect is alleged to have also brought an inmate small caliber bullets in addition to the cellphone. The inmate allegedly told another inmate the suspect brought him both, saying the phone was being used to research how to make a “zip gun,” or a self-fashioned handgun.
On June 1-2, the suspect received a $40 wire transfer from an inmate’s family because the inmate was being extorted by other inmates that were known to be gang members according to the warrant.
According to the affidavit, it was alleged there were multiple wire transfers sent to the suspect ranging from $40 to $100.
Using information from recorded calls, authorities were able to track four transactions totaling $340 sent to the suspect through Money Gram’s transaction tracker, the affidavit states.
The extorted inmate’s family alleged to have sent more than $1,000 in wire transfers the past few months in an interview with authorities, the affidavit states.
On multiple calls, the inmate is heard telling his family that some of the gang members are next to him and he was being “put down on” or being extorted out of the money, according to the affidavit.
The suspect was known to be in a relationship with the leader of these inmates, the warrant states.
According to the affidavit, the suspect was alleged to have been having sex with an inmate in the officer’s station bathroom. The suspect also allegedly performed sexual acts on several of the gang members at one time and allowed one of the members to put a tattoo on her leg.
The affidavit further states that according to Walker Clemmons, the warden at SCI, the suspect allegedly told a former correctional officer that she was in a relationship with an inmate.
The suspect allegedly said the relationship began after the inmate sent her a letter and that she was in love with him and was waiting for him to be released so they could live together, the affidavit states.