BY DAN HILDEBRAN
A former employee for the City of Lake Butler was arrested on July 23 after the Department of Corrections accused him of taking bribes to supply inmates with tobacco.
Corey Joseph Sweat, 25, of Starke, was arrested by Union deputies for smuggling contraband into a prison and bribery.
According to an FDC inspector general’s probable cause affidavit, the defendant was assigned to supervise a work crew for the city and, during that time, provided inmates with tobacco in exchange for cash delivered through a smartphone app.
The affidavit said a family member of one inmate tipped off inspectors.
The report outlined four cash payments from the family members or acquaintances of four different inmates to Sweat totaling $160.
Investigators also interviewed several inmates who told them the cash payments were for cigarettes.
Lake Butler City Manager Kimberly Hayes said that Sweat was no longer employed with the municipality when she began working for the city in January 2024.
In a separate case, Natavis D. Baynard, 42, of Quitman, Georgia, was arrested by Union deputies on July 23 for bribery of a public servant, smuggling contraband into a prison, and use of a two-way communications device to facilitate a felony.
According to court papers, Baynard, a former RMC inmate, acted as a go-between for a former correctional officer and several other inmates. The former correctional officer allegedly provided cigarettes to the inmates.
