Ex-MS Coast probation officer guilty of extorting offenders for drugs, sex acts
A former Mississippi Department of Corrections probation and parole officer in Jackson County pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal charge of extortion under the Hobbs Act.
Steven Wood, from Ocean Springs, entered the plea to a bill of information charging him with the crime. As part of his plea, he admitted to getting drugs from offenders he supervised and producing sexual videos and sexually oriented photographs of at least five offenders under his supervision as an MDOC probation and parole officer.
He is facing a sentence of up to 20 years and a fine of up to $250,000 at his sentencing, which will be held in September in federal court in Gulfport.
According to the charging document, Wood allegedly took pictures and made videos of the sex acts with the targeted offenders in exchange for his promises to them that he would not take any action against them for any alleged probation or parole violation. Those crimes occurred between 2022 and August 2024.
Federal prosecutors charged him with witness tampering as well for an incident in October 2024. According to the records, Wood approached the victim in Harrison County and threatened, intimidated, and “corruptly persuaded” them to avoid speaking with investigators handling his case.
Authorities charged Wood with extortion under the Hobbs Act, a law enacted as one of the ways to combat racketeering and labor-management disputes and to prosecute alleged public corruption.
In text exchanges between Wood and the alleged victims, he often cited how he could send the victims to prison if they didn’t do what he wanted.
In one exchange with one of the victim’s mothers, she told Wood she knew he was getting her daughter, who did not use drugs, to find drugs on the streets to give to Wood.
“This is her mother, and I think it is very wrong of you to do the things you have been doing to my daughter,” the mother wrote. “Yes, she told me, and I think I am going to have ... talk to your boss today (about) how you are bribing my daughter to give you drugs and threatening (to) transfer her and scare her. She can’t handle (it). “
“That ... is wrong ... to ask her to do something that she has charges for,” the mother continued. “I‘ll be seeing ... your boss today.”
In another response from the girl’s mom, she wrote: “And on top of that, you are trying to pay for .... sex. What .... does my kid look like ... a dope or prostitute?”
Michael Crosby, Wood’s attorney, stated that his client has a history of methamphetamine and opiate use and was later accepted into a treatment program.
Wood has been jailed since his arrest.
This story was originally published May 21, 2025 at 1:47 PM.
