CAMDEN COUNTY, Ga. — (Note: The video above is from a related report.)
A former Camden County jail inmate will spend another 20 years in prison after providing drugs to a fellow inmate, leading to his overdose death, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
According to a news release from the DOJ, 36-year-old Joshua Swing of Kingsland was sentenced to 240 months in prison after pleading guilty to distribution of fentanyl. A judge also ordered Swing to pay $12,919.52 in restitution to the victim's family, and to serve three years of supervised release after completing his prison sentence, the release says.
There is no option for parole in the federal prison system.
Investigators said an autopsy found the victim died from acute fentanyl intoxication. The Camden County Sheriff's Office called the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office as an outside agency to investigate after the victim, an inmate at the Camden County Detention Facility identified as J.D., was found unresponsive in his cell in May 2020.
The victim later died, and investigators interviewed other inmates and reviewed security camera footage, which led them to determine Swing sold the drugs to J.D., the release says.
In his guilty plea, Swing admitted providing the fentanyl to the victim and agreed to paying restitution to his family in the amount of his funeral expenses, according to the release. Swing's prior criminal record was "extensive," the release says, including past felony drug convictions in state court.
Just five days before J.D.'s death, Swing was booked into the Camden County Jail on charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, the release says.
“Overdose deaths in the United States reached an all-time high in the past year, as fentanyl continues to be a growing, deadly threat to users of illicit drugs – particularly highly addictive opioids,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Estes in the release. “It’s especially alarming when this dangerous drug penetrates even inside secure jail walls, in this case killing an inmate who thought he was ingesting heroin.”