Former inmate pleads guilty of using drones to smuggle drugs into prison

A former inmate faces more time behind bars after pleading guilty to charges related to a scheme in which he reportedly used a drone to smuggle marijuana into his old prison.

John Travis Ross, 34, pleaded guilty last month in the Mississippi Southern District Court to possessing marijuana with the intent to distribute, the Department of Transportation announced.

Authorities indicted Ross in July 2021 on charges related to use of a drone to smuggle controlled substances and contraband into a prison in Rankin County, Miss., where he was an inmate.

Ross was caught with Joshua Ray Corban, then 18, when the drone they were allegedly operating got caught in the prison's security net in August 2020, WAPT reported at the time.

Mississippi Department of Corrections officials said the drone was carrying two ounces of marijuana, a cell phone with chargers, headphones and several lighters.

Ross was on parole at the time of the incident, and he now faces a maximum of 5 years in prison, The Vicksburg Post reported.