Pubdate: Fri, 22 Nov 2013
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Copyright: 2013 The Baltimore Sun Company
Contact:  http://www.baltimoresun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37
Author: Ian Duncan
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)

NEW CHARGES WIDEN JAIL CORRUPTION CASE

Federal Indictment Names 19 Suspects, 14 of Them Corrections Officers

Federal authorities have charged 14 more corrections officers with 
corruption at the Baltimore jail, adding new breadth to allegations 
that the Black Guerrilla Family essentially took over the downtown 
detention center.

The officers were among 19 suspects accused in indictments unsealed 
Thursday, deepening the scandal that broke in April with charges that 
two dozen officers, detainees and associates worked together to 
smuggle drugs and other contraband into the jail.

One of the officers charged this week is a K-9 supervisor and Army 
reservist now deployed to Afghanistan. Another is said to have 
maintained a romantic relationship with an inmate in a Hagerstown prison.

Prosecutors do not say the gang has continued its reign following the 
initial bust, but they say wiretaps and witness interviews have 
revealed just how much power the BGF accumulated.

As many as three-quarters of the approximately 650 officers at the 
Baltimore City Detention Center were involved in contraband 
smuggling, witnesses said in court documents, contradicting 
assertions by corrections department officials that the "overwhelming 
majority" of staff members at the jail were clean.

Some state lawmakers said Thursday that the latest allegations call 
into question whether state officials are moving fast enough to 
review possible gang ties among officers still working at the jail.

The allegations unsealed in April - packed with lurid details of sex 
behind bars and brazen boasts by gang leader Tavon White that he 
controlled the jail - set off widespread criticism of Gov. Martin 
O'Malley and the Maryland Department of Public Safety and 
Correctional Services.

Twenty-five defendants, 13 of them corrections officers, were charged 
in that indictment. Sixteen of them, including White, have pleaded 
guilty to racketeering.

After the original charges, state officials promised to stamp out 
corruption. In recent weeks, the department gave reporters a tour of 
the cleaned-up jail and published statistics they said show declines 
in smuggling and violence.

Gov. Martin O'Malley thanked federal authorities Thursday for 
continuing to investigate.

"Since April, we have redoubled our efforts to crack down on 
corruption and improve security at our correctional institutions," 
O'Malley said. "Protecting the integrity of our correctional 
institutions requires constant vigilance, and we continue to improve 
those efforts every day."

But a representative of the AFSCME unit that represents jail officers 
said the new indictments will shake the confidence of workers trying 
to get back to doing their jobs.

"It's really shocking because we thought this stuff had ended," union 
representative Archer Blackwell said.

The new court filings describe cellphones smuggled inside sandwiches 
and marijuana inserted into body orifices. They also paint a more 
detailed picture of the alleged activities of the BGF behind the 
jail's walls and the network of gang ties that prosecutors say were 
built up through smuggling deals and sexual relationships.

In a search warrant application connected to the charges, an FBI 
agent wrote that Officer Milshenna Peoples traveled to visit an 
inmate at Roxbury Correctional Institute in Hagerstown. She was 
captured on surveillance video being fondled under her pants, the agent wrote.

Another of the newly charged officers, Riccole Hall, was the roommate 
of a woman who has already pleaded guilty.

She allegedly had a relationship with an inmate who described her as 
his wife, and resigned after pictures of her - including one showing 
his name tattooed on her wrist - were found on the inmate's phone.

One source reported seeing Michelle Ricks, a sergeant, "sing her 
song" to pledge allegiance to the BGF, prosecutors said.

Ricks declined to comment. The other officers could not be reached 
and no attorneys were listed for them in court records.

Some of the officers named in the latest indictment had previously 
been sanctioned for suspected gang activity. Ashley Newton was 
suspended in 2011 after she allegedly let a group of inmates out of 
the cells and the inmates stabbed someone, an FBI agent wrote in filings.

Eight of the newly charged corrections officers have already left the 
department. Officials said the remaining six have been suspended.

The corrections department has begun its review of all employees at 
the jail. Security chief Shavella Miles was ousted after she failed a 
polygraph test, officials said. A new leadership team has been installed.

Miles, who says she was made a scapegoat, is seeking to be reinstated.

Del. John W.E. Cluster Jr., a Baltimore County Republican, said 
Thursday's charges did not seem to stem from the internal 
investigation. He questioned whether the department was moving 
quickly enough with its own review.

"If these people are saying that 50 to 75 percent of the corrections 
officers are dirty ... what is the internal investigation doing?" 
Cluster asked. "I don't care if they have limited opportunities [to 
commit crimes] now. ... If they did it before, they're going to do it again."

The FBI reiterated in court documents that the state's process for 
disciplining corrupt officers is ineffective and is exploited by gang members.

"They don't even really be firing [anybody]," corrections officer 
Jennifer Owens said in a telephone call that was intercepted by 
investigators, according to prosecutors. "Like they give people the 
option to resign ... for real."

Owens was indicted in April and has pleaded guilty.

Cluster, who is part of a legislative group formed to evaluate 
corrections security, said he plans to introduce legislation in the 
next General Assembly session that would make it easier to 
investigate and suspend officers suspected of smuggling.

The officers union fiercely opposes changes to state laws that protect members.

After the first indictment, the corrections department, state police 
and the Baltimore City state's attorney's office teamed up to develop 
further corruption cases. That partnership has led to several new 
charges, including accusations against two of the people named in the 
new federal indictment.

State Sen. James E. DeGrange Sr., one of the leaders of the 
legislative corrections commission, said the group plans to produce 
its final recommendations at a meeting in early December.

Its suggestions will likely include reclassifying some crimes as 
felonies and authorizing more corrections officers to make arrests, 
the Anne Arundel County Democrat said.

Most of the changes made at the jail so far have involved new 
procedures or technology to more effectively search people who enter 
the facility. In recent weeks, officials have shown off a 
sophisticated new surveillance camera system.

The department also plans to introduce technology to disable 
contraband cellphones, making it harder for gang members to 
coordinate their activities.

The result of the efforts, according to the corrections department, 
has been a decline in the number of assaults inside the jail and the 
amount of contraband being smuggled.
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