Four corrections officers became pregnant by one inmate

More than a dozen Maryland state prison guards helped a dangerous national gang operate a drug-trafficking and money-laundering scheme from behind bars that involved cash payments, sex and access to fancy cars, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

Thirteen female corrections officers essentially handed over control of a Baltimore jail to gang leaders, prosecutors said. The officers were charged Tuesday in a federal racketeering indictment.

Sex, drugs and prisoners were all involved in this recent FBI sting. The Washington Post’s Ann Marimow explains what was happening behind the prison walls.

The indictment described a jailhouse seemingly out of control. Four corrections officers became pregnant by one inmate. Two of them got tattoos of the inmate’s first name, Tavon — one on her neck, the other on a wrist.

The guards allegedly helped leaders of the Black Guerilla Family run their criminal enterprise in jail by smuggling cellphones, prescription pills and other contraband in their underwear, shoes and hair. One gang leader allegedly used proceeds to buy luxury cars, including a Mercedes-Benz and a BMW, which he allowed some of the officers to drive.

“The inmates literally took over ‘the asylum,’ and the detention centers became safe havens for BGF,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt, using shorthand for the prison gang’s name.

The indictment, unsealed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, puts the spotlight on the enduring power of gangs in jails and prisons. In particular, prosecutors were highly critical of Maryland’s facilities in Baltimore, with procedures and personnel that were “completely inadequate to prevent smuggling” and lacked “effective punishment.”

The Black Guerilla Family was founded in California in the 1960s but now operates nationwide in prisons and on the streets of major U.S. cities, including Baltimore. It arrived in Maryland’s prison system in the 1990s, according to the Justice Department, and is increasingly involved in narcotics trafficking, robbery, assault and homicides. By 2006, federal authorities say, the BGF had become the dominant gang at the Baltimore City Detention Center.

Gary D. Maynard, head of the Maryland agency that oversees the prisons, appeared at the Baltimore news conference where prosecutors announced the charges, and took responsibility for ongoing problems.

“It’s totally on me. I don’t make any excuses,” said Maynard, who was appointed by Gov. Martin O’Malley in 2007, when the prison system was experiencing a spate of inmate violence and corrections officers’ complaints of staffing shortages. “We will move up the chain of command, and people will be held accountable.” A spokesman said late Tuesday that all of the officers have been suspended without pay and that the department will recommend that they be fired.

At the center of the investigation was an alleged leader of the Black Guerilla Family, Tavon White, who prosecutors said fathered five children with four of the corrections officers — Jennifer Owens, 31, of Randallstown; Katera Stevenson, 24, of Baltimore; Chania Brooks, 27, of Baltimore; and Tiffany Linder, 27, of Baltimore — since his incarceration on attempted murder charges in 2009.

In one wiretapped cellphone call in January, White, 36, of Baltimore, told an acquaintance: “This is my jail. You understand that? I’m dead serious. I make every final call in this jail.”

The prison guards were among 25 defendants, including inmates and outside suppliers, charged with racketeering and drug conspiracy. Twenty of the defendants are also charged in a money-laundering conspiracy. Defendants made initial appearances in court Tuesday; they face maximum prison time of 20 years on the racketeering and drug conspiracy charges. The online court docket did not list attorneys for the defendants. One of the defendants was killed in a robbery, prosecutors said, in the hours before the April 2 indictment was filed.

Four years ago, federal authorities in Baltimore targeted the BGF gang at the state prison in Baltimore, sending its reputed leader to prison for 12 years. In that case, prosecutors alleged that gang members, along with four prison guards who were also implicated, ordered hits from their cellphones and enjoyed salmon and Grey Goose vodka that had been smuggled in.

But the scope of corruption in the current case, Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said, was stunning.

“Correctional officers were in bed with BGF inmates,” he said. “We need to be able to rely on people within law enforcement — to make sure they are on our side.”

Court papers that were made public Tuesday point to a highly organized, profitable smuggling enterprise within the Baltimore City Detention Center and several connected facilities, including the Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center.

According to an affidavit for search warrants for the homes of the prison guards, who were arrested Tuesday, gang leaders strategically recruited female officers who they thought had “low self-esteem and insecurities.”

Gang leaders also relied on other inmates, known as “working men,” whose jobs throughout the prison gave them greater flexibility to pick up and deliver contraband. Inmates then paid for the drugs and cellphones using 14-digit numbers from prepaid debit cards that had also been smuggled into the prisons.

Within Maryland’s detention facilities, staff workers are generally free to move within their assigned areas, according to department spokesman Rick Binetti. With identification, they can often move freely outside of their assigned locations.

In one instance, prosecutors described Officer Jasmin Jones allegedly standing guard outside a closet while Officer Kimberly Dennis had sex with inmate Derius Duncan.

Maynard said department policy prohibits such relationships between inmates and correctional officers but added that he was unaware of the specific allegations until the court documents were made public Tuesday.

Corrections officers also allegedly warned inmates about impending searches of cells, according to prosecutors. In January, White spread the word to other inmates in a cellphone call recorded by law enforcement: “I just got a message saying that they was going to pull a shakedown tonight. Let me call all these dudes in my phone and let them know.”

In prison, prosecutors said, White bragged about earning $16,000 during a slow month. Percocet pills that cost $10 outside the prison walls, for instance, went for three times as much behind bars. One-gram bags of marijuana sold for $50, a profit of about $1,000 per ounce, according to court documents.

White is also accused of using the money to buy cars for corrections officers to use.

Sen. Lisa A. Gladden (D-Baltimore), who works as a public defender in Baltimore when the legislature is not in session, said the large percentage of female corrections at the detention center contributed to the problem. “A lot of times, they become smitten with the inmates. [The inmates] talk really sweet and say really nice things, and the CO’s fall for them. You need to have a bunch of rough, ugly men.”

But Maynard, the state prison chief, said that the sex of the officers was not the issue. It is not uncommon, he said, for detention centers across the country to employ women. The issue, he said, was this particular group of “bad actors,” who were strategically targeted and were willing to break the law.


:smt081

 

Sex, money, drugs it's what runs the world. What can you say?

 

I'm still re-reading this shit!!

OMFG.:smt119 Can't wrap my brain around it.
How much juice did that one gang leader have to bend the minds of that many people?? People talk about being born with 'gifts', but the ability to read other people and get them to do exactly what you want them to is the most awesome talent of all.

I'm just in awe.

 

Quite easy for him, he has nothing but time and he picked on women with ultra low self esteem. Decent looking female CO's are super hard to come by. Plus these women were super attracted to his reputation and power.

 

Gives new meaning to the phrase "shoot the gift". I know, I'm dating myself, but you guys get where I'm heading with this.

 

go figure....nasty

 

Bingo. These kinds of women can be spotted a mile away. They're looking for any sense of worth and meaning and they find it in these "troubled souls". But getting pregnant and tattooing his name on their bodies? Some seriously stupid fuckers.

 

And occasionally there are people who just wallow in sloth and slackness. This guy probably looked like he was "keeping it real".

 

B'more isn't some backwater hick town unfamiliar with hardened criminals. The Wire was filmed there for a reason. Most of these women probably had prior experience in law enforcement, besides it's not only shocking he FUCKED at least four of these females and got them pregnant, the indictment says he at least 13(!!) female COs who did his bidding and gave him control of the jail.

Which also means he had male COs also in on the game.

That's more than targeting women with 'low self esteem'.
This dude was psychologically manipulating people who had no idea what was going on until it was too late and they were in too deep.

Just saying, you go to most prisons/correctional facilities nationwide, and maybe you hear of one or two female COs who become intimate with a prisoner. No dude has a harem of COs down for whatever.

 

I'm not doubting the fact that he had to have skill to control the volume of people he did, but its much easier to control a herd of weak women than it is to control 2 strong women. He knew who to target, and I believe that's why he had success. He was smart enough to recognize the weaknesses in those people, I'll give him that.

 

Craziness. I used to live, roughly, 2 blocks from this jail.

 

I know you have more to say about this than nasty.

oops.


They should write a movie about this particular situ, I think it would be an awsome story, drama and a bit of action.

 

Black Guerilla Family (BGF)...originally from Queens, NY (Kool G Rap is a member) didn't know their arms reached all the way down to B'More

I stand corrected, originally form Oakland, CA (circa 1966). Had no idea they were that big

 

Is there a news bit on youtube about this? Article is written odd.

 

[YOUTUBE]FS65uod-f7Y[/YOUTUBE]

 

My 2 Cents

Yeah Fresh I do got more to say.....

I worked in this field for years and I have seen some shit in my day that no man or woman will ever see with his or her own two eyes (or 4 if you wear glasses) and here is what I got to say....

Men and woman working in an environment such as jails or prison have to have 3 solid concepts in order to walk that fine line of good and evil....

1-you have to know who you are in your mind
2-you have to know who you are in your soul
3-you have to understand what respect is

All of it ultimately boils down to how we feel about ourselves. Self Esteem! You can not waltz into a jail or prison with a weak mind and soul. You have to respect yourself and know who you are inside and out. You have to be strong not in physical strength but in your mind. Knowledge is power....you have to be steps ahead of the game....you have to know and educate yourself on concepts such as games inmates play, watching and listening, and really what life behind the walls are all about.

I have had female partners with 15 years on and are banging boys in the crow bar hotel...these idiots have issues ....mental, emotional issues that can be overcompensated by those who say what they know can get to the mind of the opposite sex.

You have partners that act just like or worse than inmates. I really is sad. Its pathetic and seriously makes me wanna fucking throw up. There are men and women who do time for a short stint and come out a better person, but then there are those who can manipulate the pants off an officer and are evil.

I happens and there is not a dam thing we can do when they are initially hired. They fall off the band wagon and truely act a fool. Recently (in the last years) we had a sergeant with 10 years on who I worked side by side with and was down on his luck and he stole 7000 from the safe on camera to pay his bills.

This shit is gonna happen and no one can predict it. I will tell you this though, the fucks should be prosecuted. :smt019

 

In my gang days in the early 1980's I use to walk with my bros from Francis Street were I use to lived down to Eager Street where the jail is still there. This story was on FOX News. Bill O'Reilly almost blew a fuse. Geraldo Riveria who reported the story said this story if it was not for the Boston Bombing would have been a blockbuster story nationally. Bill want the person who runs the jailed fired and he want the Governor of Maryland to do so or he will force this action to get the Superintendent fired. I can say this about the brother knocking up those guards and getting them to do whatever he wanted and running the facility, he needs to write a book on how to be a business leader behind the jail bars. It will be a national best seller.