Apr. 19—A former state prison guard who is a key defendant in a massive alleged drug trafficking ring based largely in Glynn County pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Brunswick.

Desiree M. Briley, 26, of McRae-Helena, a former prison guard, now faces up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, methamphetamine.

She is one of three defendants who have pleaded guilty in the case. Charlie A. Moody and Alexa A. Foster have also entered guilty pleas that have been accepted by the court, said Barry Paschal, public affairs officer for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Georgia.

Briley was arrested in January as part of Operation Ghost Busted, a federal case that netted 76 arrests, some of whom were already in prison, for allegedly trafficking drugs through a white supremacist street-gang enterprise that was operating out of Glynn County. The operation was to distribute methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin and alprazolam in Southeast Georgia and Northeast Florida.

"Desiree Briley played a key role in enabling members of the Ghost Face Gangsters to operate a massive drug trafficking operation inside and outside Georgia's prison system," said U.S. Attorney Steinberg. "Her actions compromised the security of the facility she was sworn to protect, and threatened the safety of every person in the community where this conspiracy distributed illegal drugs."

Briley was a key defendant in the case as a conduit to move contraband in and out of state prisons, a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office said. She was training to become a K9 handler at the time of her arrest, which would have put her in a position to more easily move contraband through the prisons, the release said. Briley was accused in the federal indictment charging all 76 defendants of conspiring with inmate James D. NeSmith, 25, who currently is serving a life sentence for murder at Telfair State Prison.

"Briley betrayed the trust placed in her by the Georgia state prison system through her illegal and potentially dangerous activity," said Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. "This extensive investigation proves that the FBI will not tolerate public corruption, especially by fellow law enforcement officials who choose their own personal gains over protecting the people they were sworn to protect."

The case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces. The task forces' goals are to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.

Agencies involved in the investigation include the FBI Coastal Georgia Violent Gang Task Force; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Marshals Service; the Georgia Bureau of Investigation; the Georgia Department of Corrections; the Georgia Department of Community Supervision; the Glynn County Police Department; the Brunswick Police Department; and sheriff's offices from Glynn, Pierce, Camden, Wayne, Treutlen, McIntosh, Toombs, Telfair, Dodge, and Ware counties.

The case is being prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer J. Kirkland and Criminal Division Deputy Chief E. Greg Gilluly Jr.