Bell County Woman Charged With Assisting Son and Prison Drug Ring With Trafficking

From WRIL - The Big One -

Five people have been charged with drug trafficking, official misconduct including engaging in organized crime at the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex. Kentucky State Police and the HIDTA Gateway Area Drug Task Force, arrested five people on twenty-two charges

Septemper 7, 2025, the facility contacted KSP which began a joint investigation into suspected drug trafficking, money laundering, promoting contraband and organized criminal activity.

It was determined that former correctional officers at EKCC, 32-year-old William Caudill and 34-year-old Dwayne Skaggs, distributed the illegal narcotics within the prison.

Additionally, two inmates - Shane Wilder serving a sentence out of Bell County and Challis Davis serving time out of Knox County - were also involved in distributing the drugs. The investigation further determined that 70-year-old Donnie Wilder of Calvin, Ky., mother of inmate Shane Wilder, assisted in facilitating the illegal operation.

On Monday March 16, 2026, KSP and HIDTA Gateway Area Drug Task Force charged all five individuals with promoting contraband 1st; trafficking in controlled substance 1st and 2nd; and engaging in organized crime.

William Caudill and Dwayne Skaggs were additionally charged with official misconduct and lodged in the Rowan County Jail as was Donnie Wilder.