Ex-correctional officer pleads guilty to charge

ST. LOUIS -- A former St. Louis city correctional officer pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal charge that he tried to distribute crack cocaine to an inmate. Bobby Peter Gipson, 48, pleaded guilty to a felony count of attempting to distribute a controlled substance. Gipson faces up to 20 years in prison and $1 million in fines when sentenced March 18. Authorities said that while working as a St. Louis Metropolitan Justice Center correctional officer in August 2004, Gipson agreed to sell crack cocaine to an inmate.