Pubdate: Sat, 26 Jan 2008
Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL)
Copyright: 2008 Orlando Sentinel
Contact:  http://www.orlandosentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/325
Author: Jim Leusner, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)
Note: Letters from newspaper's circulation area receive publishing priority

PRISON WORKERS ARRESTED IN SMUGGLING PROBE IN SUMTER COUNTY

Cigarettes, drugs and phones commanded a premium price  behind bars,
authorities say.

Even behind the walls of two high-security federal  prisons in Sumter
County, inmates can find the things  they enjoyed on the outside --
cigarettes, cigars,  cellular phones, drugs and even a knife.

On Friday, federal prosecutors and prison officials  announced
criminal cases that have quietly been filed  against nine employees at
the Federal Correctional  Complex in Coleman. An inmate and a
correctional  officer's girlfriend were also charged.

Most were accused of receiving bribes of up to $20,000  for smuggling
forbidden items into facilities there  since 2005, including marijuana
and heroin. Much of the  smuggling activity involved tobacco products,
which  were banned from federal prisons in April 2006.

"It was about money, all about greed," said First  Assistant U.S.
Attorney Carolyn Adams, the No. 2 person  in the U.S. Attorney's
Office for the Middle District  of Florida. "They could make $100 for
a pack of  cigarettes. It was about making what looked like easy  money."

The charges were filed against seven correctional  officers, a cook
and a drug-treatment counselor who  worked at the five low-, medium-
and high-security  prison facilities at Coleman.

They included correctional officers Timothy Dixon, 33,  of Wildwood;
Isidro Gonnell, 32, of Clermont; Jerald  Graham, 27, of Bushnell;
Calvin Williams, 30, of  Orlando; Luis Viera, 41, of Tavares; and
inmate Ivan  Vazquez-Alomar, 42.

All were charged with assorted bribery and contraband  smuggling
violations over the past few months in  unrelated cases. Some have
pleaded guilty while others  were named in indictments unsealed this
week.

The cases range from accusations of a $20,000 bribe to  Dixon for
cigarettes, cell phones and marijuana to a  $5,500 payment to Gonnell
for cell phones, tobacco,  marijuana and heroin.

Viera, a 12-year veteran federal prison guard who  worked in Puerto
Rico before transferring to Coleman in  2006, was accused of assisting
Vazquez in getting 12  cartons of cigarettes, two packs of cigars and
a knife  in exchange for more than $5,000.

Williams, a prison guard since 2001, was accused of  conspiring with
girlfriend Angel Jackson, 30, of  Orlando to pick up a cellular phone,
phone numbers,  cigarettes, watches and cash from families of inmates 
involved in the scheme in 2006 and 2007.

During one conversation with an inmate in November  2006, authorities
say, Williams agreed to smuggle  contraband in exchange for money and
stock market  investing advice. The following month, he opened a 
brokerage account and used $2,500 of the bribery  proceeds in it, the
indictment said.

Correctional officer William Blanton, 48, of Ocala was  charged with
having sex with a female inmate in 2005.  Prison cook Martin Flores,
35, of Orlando was charged  with accepting $12,000 in bribes for
cigarettes, while  prison counselor Kendra Russell, 41, of Tavares was
 charged with receiving $948 for marijuana brought into  a prison in
2005.

Correctional officer Alonzo Scurlock, 35, of Leesburg,  pleaded guilty
last month to smuggling cigarettes and  cell phones into a prison in
2006 for $10,000. Graham  pleaded guilty in November to attempting to
smuggle a  cell phone and cigarettes and was placed on two years' 
probation.

"At the times of these offenses, the correctional  officers could take
their own personal items into the  prison," Adams said. "Now, anyone
who goes into the  facility is subject to being searched."

The investigations were conducted by the FBI, Justice  Department's
Office of Inspector General and the U.S.  Bureau of Prisons. Adams
said the contraband created  security issues by allowing inmates to
call criminals  on the outside or use smuggled items for favors and 
payment, which could endanger prison workers.

Bureau of Prisons spokesman Felicia Ponce said the nine  corrections
employees have been fired or suspended or  have resigned. Corrections
officers earn between  $30,000 and $53,000 annually, she said.
Coleman's Web  site on Friday said it was in "urgent need of 
correctional officers."

Coleman employs 1,266 workers at five facilities and  houses nearly
7,500 inmates in the largest federal  prison complex in the nation.

"Despite our best efforts to select, hire, train and  closely
supervise the most suitable people for the job,  in very rare
instances employees still elect to violate  our policies and in some
cases, the law," Ponce said.  "Unfortunately, the actions of a few
detract from the  hard work and dedication of the vast majority of the
 staff at the complex."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin