Pubdate: Thu, 21 Aug 2003 Source: Fayetteville Observer (NC) Copyright: 2003 Fayetteville Observer Contact: http://www.fayettevillenc.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/150 Author: Robert Boyer, Staff writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States) JAILERS CHARGED WITH OFFENSES Two Cumberland County jailers were charged Wednesday with having sex with inmates and selling alcohol, drugs and other items. Latoya Christel Swartz was charged with nine counts of furnishing controlled substances and nine counts of possessing controlled substances. She is charged with four counts of sexual activity by a custodian and three counts of trading contraband with inmates. Swartz, 25, of the 7500 block of Overbrook Drive, is accused of providing liquor, food, prescription medicine, cigars and pornographic magazines to inmates and having sex with them. Promises Malloy Ward, 24, of the 6400 block of Starbrook Drive, is charged with seven counts of trading contraband and one count of having sex with an inmate. Investigators say Ward wrote letters to an inmate, had sex with him and gave him a cell phone. Bail was set at $1 million for Swartz; $1.2 million for Ward. They were suspended with pay July 3, when the investigation began. Sheriff Moose Butler said the jailers "do not represent the people who work in this jail day in and day out. "We've got good people. We've made mistakes." Ward and Swartz had worked as sworn officers at the jail since Sept. 30, Butler has said. He said Wednesday that pre-employment background checks on Ward and Swartz showed no problems or prior criminal records. Sheriff's Maj. Sam Pennica said the women began at the old jail and moved to the Detention Center when it opened in February. The jailers worked in permanent detention pods that house male inmates who are awaiting trial on felony charges, including murder. Jailers work alone in the pods, Pennica said. He said it appears that Ward and Swartz did not conspire with one another to bring in contraband. Butler said jailers are trained "that they don't get personally involved with inmates." He said investigators discovered that the alleged offenses had been going on for seven months. Inmate Requests Inmates asked for items and gave Ward and Swartz money to buy them, Pennica said. The jailers, he said, kept any money that was left over. Pennica said the items became "bargaining tools for inmates." Butler said the jailers carried the items in handbags. Jailers can no longer carry bags into the pods. "We basically had to put procedures in place that say, 'We don't trust anybody,'" he said. The jailers were fired last week, Pennica said. They had been out of the state. Neither woman would comment on the charges. They were being held in the Harnett County jail Wednesday and are scheduled to appear in Cumberland County Court today. Pennica said prosecutors will ask a judge to sign an order sending the women to Women's Prison in Raleigh to await trial. Pennica said at least two more people may be charged when the State Bureau of Investigation and deputies finish the probe. Pennica said the investigation will continue for at least two weeks. - --- MAP posted-by: Jackl