Alabama: Wiregrass Daily News reported that Mobile Metro Jail guard Timothy Lee Scarbrough, 39, was arrested on September 9, 2024, and charged with first-degree sodomy for the alleged sexual assaulting of a detainee who was still under the effects of anesthesia after eye surgery. Scarbrough had been employed for less than a year and had no prior disciplinary record when the detainee woke to find the guard molesting him. Evidence from a sexual assault kit and witness statements led to Scarbrough’s arrest and termination. Sheriff Paul Burch said that two guards normally accompany a detainee to a hospital, but budget constraints only allowed him to send only one. Nevertheless, his investigators determined the detainee’s claims were credible. Scarbrough now faces 10 years to life in prison if convicted.

Alabama: An unnamed state Department of Corrections (DOC) guard was arrested on October 9, 2024, on charges of smuggling methamphetamine into Holman Correctional Facility (CF) in Atmore. Alabama Public Radio reported that the 48-year-old allegedly smuggled the drugs to an prisoner, also unidentified, at the maximum-security lockup, which hold’s most of those condemned prisoners waiting on the state’s death row.

Arizona: State prisoner Jacob Purdue confessed to assaulting two guards at the Arizona State Prison Complex-Lewis in Buckeye on September 3, 2024. One guard lost sight in one eye, according to KPNX in Mesa. Purdue blamed poor prison conditions and disrespectful treatment by staff. His violent history dates back to his 1995 convictions for burglary, aggravated robbery and gang involvement. Just a month before the assault, he was found guilty of promoting prison contraband. Yet he was housed in a close custody environment, one level below maximum security. Carlos Garcia, Executive Director of the Arizona Peace Officers Association (ACPOA) criticized the state Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, and Reentry (DCRR)for this practice that he called “overriding”—classifying prisoners one level below where their records show them, in order to reduce the need for more guard staff. DCRR denied that charge. However, data from the summer of 2024 indicates a significant shortage of guards statewide.

Australia: Former guard Amber Clavell, 25, avoided prison time when sentenced on October 9, 2024, after she admitted smuggling drugs to a prisoner who got her pregnant, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Clavell was caught smuggling methamphetamine and tobacco into the Geoffrey Pearce Correctional Centre for her partner, Mark Kennedy, a convicted armed robber. Prosecutors called for a prison sentence as a deterrent to other potentially corrupt guards, but Clavell instead got an intensive community corrections order and 200 hours of community service. The court considered her lack of previous criminal history, emotional vulnerability, and inadequate training as mitigating factors; testimony revealed that Clavell was given a training manual, told to read it and then “fake it until you make it.” Penrith District Court magistrate Stephen Corry remarked that her “lack of professional qualifications and training was a major contributing factor” to her offense. “She was thrown in the deep end and told to kick [her] legs and swim,” he said. Clavell, expecting Kennedy’s child, has two other kids under age five.

California: A convicted killer serving several concurrent sentences was brutally beaten to death by fellow prisoners in the recreation yard of Calipatria State Prison on September 26, 2024, The Independent reported. Alberto Martinez, 46, was pronounced dead shortly after the incident. Suspects Tyler Lua, Jorge Negrete-Larios and Luis Beltran were placed in restricted housing pending an investigation. Their motive for the attack remains unknown, but state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) officials speculated that it may be related to Martinez’s past actions or gang affiliations. Martinez had been sentenced to death for first-degree murder but was moved to general population after Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) issued a moratorium on executions in 2019. The three suspects are also serving lengthy sentences for violent crimes

California: A suspected cluster of fentanyl overdoses at the Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail killed an unnamed 32-year-old detainee on October 8, 2024. The Los Angeles Times reported that another seven detainees, aged 18 to 68, were hospitalized; they were also unnamed. Detainee Donald Booker contacted PLN on October 17, 2024, to report that the number dead may have risen, but that has not been confirmed.

California: The Sacramento Bee reported that CDCR officials are investigating the death of prisoner Kyle Cooper on October 12, 2024, as a homicide. The 50-year-old was found in his cell at California State Prison (CSP) in Sacramento with severe head trauma and taken to a hospital where he died. Cellmate Rahshan Mackey, 38, was placed in solitary confinement; he arrived at CSP in 2021 to serve 23 years for involuntary manslaughter, picking up an additional two-year sentence in 2024 for assault with a deadly weapon. Cooper’s death was the third suspected homicide at New Folsom in just four months. In July and August, prisoners Randy Schlaepfer and Darryl W. Hudson were also killed. Staff witnessed both attacks but failed to intervene in time to prevent their deaths.

Florida: A former federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) guard at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Miami pleaded guilty on October 7, 2024, to wire fraud, after stealing $46,500 from a pandemic relief loan program. According to the Miami Herald, Eshwar Mohabeer, 45, admitted to submitting a fraudulent loan application to the Small Business Administration (SBA) in 2020, claiming to own a transportation and day tour business. The SBA then granted the loan under the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, which Congress passed to provide relief during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Mohabeer used the money for personal expenses rather than business overhead. Investigators found that Mohabeer had not filed a required form for a transportation business and that his reported income was far below the amount he claimed on his loan application. When questioned by federal agents, Mohabeer admitted to submitting the bogus application and using the loan proceeds for personal purposes. He has paid back the full amount of the loan but faces a potential sentence of six months in prison; he remains free on bond until sentencing in January 2025.

Georgia: Former Fulton County Jail guard Karmen Bailey, 31, was arrested and charged with multiple counts of bribery and contraband delivery on October 4, 2024, WSB in Atlanta reported. She allegedly took $17,000 in bribes to deliver pills and other contraband to jail. She had been employed by County Sheriff Pat Labat since September 2023 until her resignation on August 27, 2024. Investigators tipped off by detainees found that Bailey was working with the family and associates of at least five other detainees to smuggle the contraband, which she hid on a meal tray to deliver to the detainees’ cells. She remains jailed on four counts of violation of oath, two counts of bribery and two counts of obtaining/procuring/giving prisoners prohibited items without authorization. The investigation is ongoing.

Georgia: Three former guards at Riverbend Correctional Facility were sentenced to 10 years in prison and five years of probation on October 9, 2024, after being convicted of smuggling drugs and cellphones into the state prison, which is privately operated for the state DOC by The GEO Group, Inc. Natashia Seals, Tierra Harrison and Shanell Brown were found guilty of trading with prisoners, making false statements, and violating their oaths as public officers, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The three were acquitted of more serious charges, including trafficking methamphetamine, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and crossing guard lines with drugs. They were also convicted of racketeering, but the judge vacated that charge when no guilty verdicts were returned on the other charges. The guards helped each other smuggle contraband through the prison’s screening system, leaving it in a restroom trash can for prisoners to retrieve and sell. After an unnamed prisoner was found with contraband, investigators uncovered the scheme and found it had been ongoing for at least eight months.

Hawaii: Former state DOC guard Anthony Pereira II was sentenced on October 9, 2024, to life in prison with the chance of parole for murdering his mother, KITV Island News reported. As PLN reported, the former training officer at Oahu Community Correctional Center held Barbara Pereira captive in their home and then fatally shot her in the head in June 2016. Prior to the murder, he had also held his girlfriend captive for three days. Despite claims of mental distress, the court found him guilty, agreeing with prosecutors that his mental state did not justify his actions. [See: PLN, Aug. 2024, p.62.]

Hawaii: Honolulu Civil Beat reported that on September 26, 2023, an Arizona court sentenced Miti Maugaotega, Jr., for the 2010 murder of Bronson Nunuha, a fellow Hawaiian prisoner held at Saguara Correctional Center, a private lockup contracted by CoreCivic for prisoner overflow from the Hawaii Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. In 2014, the firm paid an undisclosed settlement of a wrongful death claim filed by Nunuha’s family with the aid of the Human Rights Defense Center, PLN’s publisher. [See: PLN, May 2015, p.12.] Arizona prosecutors sought the death penalty for Maugaotega, who carved the name of his UFO prison gang into Nunuha’s corpse; the jury deadlocked on that before agreeing on a sentence of life without parole—once the prisoner completes his original Hawaii sentences in 2207 (not a typo).

India: A police informer from Labour Colony was arrested on October 15, 2024, for aiding and abetting the escape of two prisoners five days earlier from a lockup in Haridwar, near the Himalayas.The Times of India reported thatSunil Kumar, cousin of one of the prisoners, helped the two escape during a religious theatrical play known as Rameela. Costumed prisoners who participated in the highly revered event included Pankaj, a gang member sharpshooter serving a life sentence for murder, and Rajkumar, an accused kidnapper; they were dressed as Vanara Sena monkeys when they used a ladder to scale a wall and flee. Following the escape, the deputy jailor and five jail staffers were suspended. The two prisoners remain at large.

Indiana: A former guard fired from the Henry County Jail in New Castle was charged on October 24, 2024, with federal civil rights violations for shooting a detainee in the spine with a pepper ball, the Muncie Star Press reported. During a cell search on February 13, 2024, Curtis Lavon Doughty, 27, was assigned to guard a group of detainees in the recreation yard; they were ordered to face a wall, but one turned his head, and Doughty shot him at point-blank range, injuring him. Other guards alerted a supervisor, and Doughty was then fired. The FBI investigated and charged Doughty with deprivation of rights under color of law. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in federal prison. Henry County Sheriff John Sproles has not commented on the case, but since taking office, more than five tort claims have been filed against his office for which the agency was dropped by Travelers Insurance in December 2023.

Italy: On October 2, 2024, a prison guard at Rome’s infamous Regina Coeli prison was arrested for embezzlement, according to Il Messaggero. The prison, once a convent, is notorious for holding thousands of political prisoners during Italy’s fascist years,1922-45; it has received visits from several Popes, who have washed prisoners’ feet. The unnamed guard, who was responsible for overseeing loading and unloading of food supplies, allegedly used his position to steal food intended for prisoners. According to investigators, the guard regularly appropriated tuna, cheese, mortadella, beverages, and oil, with a total value of around €1,000 ($1,073 USD). The goods were then resold to local businesses. The guard was placed under house arrest and suspended from duty pending further investigation.

Louisiana: A St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s deputy was arrested on October 1, 2024, and charged with bringing contraband into the local jail. Timothy Lazare, 36, faces charges including malfeasance in office and criminal conspiracy, according to Lafayette’s KLFY. St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz said detectives uncovered a plan with non-incarcerated accomplices to smuggle narcotics into the Parish Jail, where Lazare worked. Three detainees and a “courier” were also arrested but have not been named. This is the second recent drug-smuggling incident at the jail; four people, including two detainees, were arrested in July 2024 for attempting to smuggle synthetic marijuana into the lockup in Opelousas.

Louisiana: KALB reported that two Georgia residents were arrested on October 10, 2024, for flying a drone with a large amount of contraband into a federal prison in Grant Parish. Sharketie Leverette, 33, and Michael Eulin, 35, were accused of smuggling over $40,000 worth of tobacco, marijuana, THC vapes, cell phones and a stolen pistol into the U.S. Penitentiary in Pollok. The drone, which was over five feet wide, was recovered by prison guards on October 4, 2024, after it was observed dropping contraband on prison grounds. Leverette and Eulin were arrested less than a week later on charges, including distribution of marijuana and entering contraband into a prison. Eulin was also charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, illegal possession of a stolen firearm, distribution of marijuana and obstruction of justice.

Maine: The Portland Press Herald reported that former Cumberland County Jail guard Vinal Thompson filed suit against the Sheriff’s department on October 25, 2024, for wrongful termination. As PLN reported, Thompson was fired after a physical altercation with a detainee but acquitted of criminal charges related to the incident. [See: PLN, Feb. 2024, p.63.] His suit claims that Sheriff Kevin Joyce and County Manager James Gailey violated his due process rights by firing him without just cause. Surveillance video captured an altercation over a urine test that turned physical between detainee John Katula and Thompson, who claimed that he was attacked and that the Sheriff’s department failed to conduct a fair investigation when it disagreed that he acted in self-defense. Despite being cleared of criminal charges, Thompson faced disciplinary action from the sheriff’s department, leading to his termination in July 2021. He is seeking damages for lost wages, emotional distress, and other related costs.

Maryland: A fire broke out at Western Correctional Institution (WCI) in Cumberland on October 15, 2024, injuring a prisoner and a guard, WMAR in Baltimore reported. The incident caused about $500 in damages, prompting evacuation of an entire tier. The unnamed 43-year-old prisoner suffered severe third-degree burns and was airlifted to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. The guard, who was also unnamed, was treated for smoke inhalation and released from a local hospital. Six other guards sought medical attention for minor injuries.The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but officials indicated that it did not appear intentionally set.

Massachusetts: The Fall River Reporter said that state prisoner Roy Booth, 42, pleaded guilty on October 18, 2024, to brutally attacking a guard with free weights at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution (MCI) in Shirley in 2022. Booth was sentenced to 13-to-15 years in MCI Souza Baranowski for attempted murder, running consecutive to a life sentence he is already serving for a murder in Virginia, which transferred him to Massachusetts in 2021. The attack left Matthew Tidman permanently disabled, leading state lawmakers to propose “Matt’s Bill” to ban free weights in high-security prisons, as PLN reported. [See: PLN, Nov. 2022, p.65.] The bill, H 2422, remains pending.

Minnesota: The Looking at the Stars foundation brought a trio of classical musicians to Minnesota Correctional Facility in Stillwater on October 16, 2024, The Minnesota Star Tribune reported. Violinist Jonathan Crow, pianist Walter Delahunt and cellist Joseph Johnson provided a much-needed break from harsh prison life for about 100 prisoners; calling it “a ray of sunshine,” 68-year-old Dwight Bowers said, “I was in pure heaven. I had left this place.” Many prisoners in the audience had never experienced live classical music and were visibly moved.

Missouri: KOMU in Columbia reported that former Audrain County Jail guard Kyle McIntire, 23, was arrested and charged on September 28, 2024, with smuggling heroin to detainees. A fellow detainee reported seeing the detainees ingest a powdery substance on September 26, 2024, sparking an investigation that uncovered a scheme between McIntire, who smuggled the drugs, and, Jameera Keen, 26, a non-incarcerated accomplice who provided them. McIntire was fired and charged with delivering a controlled substance; he was jailed on a $10,000 bond. Keen was charged with conspiracy to commit a felony, possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. She was being held without bond at the jail.

Montana: Former Montana State Prison guard Thomas Blomquist pleaded not guilty on September 10, 2024, to a felony count of mistreating prisoners and a misdemeanor charge of official misconduct, KXLF in Butte reported.. Blomquist allegedly trapped the arm of an unnamed prisoner in a cell door food slot in March 2024 and then repeatedly kicked it shut, leaving him stuck there. A fellow guard had to find keys to free the man. The state DOC said that Blomquist is no longer an employee, but details of his separation were not provided.

New York: A Suffolk County jail guard was indicted on October 11, 2024, on charges of felony criminal sexual act and misdemeanor official misconduct, the Daily Voice Massapequa reported.

As PLN reported, Jason Middleton, 35, is accused of repeatedly luring the unnamed detainee into an area away from surveillance cameras between April and September 2023, coercing her once there to perform oral sex and threatening to plant contraband in her cell if she did not comply. [See: PLN, Jan. 2024, p.63.]. The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Public Corruption Squad investigated and arrested Middleton in November 2023, when he was suspended without pay. Following the indictment, he was placed on supervised release. If convicted, he faces up to four years in prison.

Oregon: An Umatilla County Circuit Court judge determined on October 22, 2024, that state DOC guard Jorge Morfin instigated a violent attack on prisoner Richard Michael Fay at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution in 2022, Oregon Public Radio reported. The judge also found that DOC failed to provide adequate medical care for severe injuries Fay suffered when he was “punched, kicked and strangled to unconsciousness,” according to court documents, leaving him with “a serious concussion, multiple broken ribs, chipped teeth, throat trauma and back injuries” that prevented him from standing and required hospitalization. Morfin, who remains employed at the prison, allegedly encouraged other prisoners to target Fay and other sex offenders. DOC said in a statement that its officials “take incidents like this extremely seriously.” But Judge Robert Collins Jr. found that DOC failed to provide Fay necessary medical treatment, including surgery for his fractured ribs and proper care for his brain injury.

Pennsylvania: A former guard at the Mercer County Jail in northwest Pennsylvania was accused of smuggling contraband to detainees on October 3, 2024, according to WKBN in nearby Youngstown, Ohio. Charles Arn, 54, faces charges of delivering a controlled substance, introducing contraband into a correctional facility and criminal use of a communication facility. He allegedly accepted bribes via Cash App for supplying detainees with chewing tobacco, vape pens and fentanyl. An investigation began after the jail warden suspected Arn and another staffer of selling contraband to detainees. The other employee resigned while Arn was arrested and charged. One of his locked-up customers said he was required to purchase four cans of chewing tobacco at $50 each time he made a fentanyl purchase—for $600—from the guard. Arn admitted only to selling candy to detainees.

Pennsylvania: A former BOP guard at the Federal Detention Center (FDC) in Philadelphia was sentenced on October 11, 2024, to three years of probation, including six months of home detention, and a $5,000 fine for smuggling mobile phones into the lockup. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania reported that Lee E. Moore, Jr., 36, abused his position between May and June 2020 to smuggle cell phones into FDC in exchange for bribes from a prisoner’s wife. Moore also tried to involve a second prisoner in a similar scheme by offering to smuggle or provide favors if the prisoner would pay him. A New Jersey resident, he worked at FDC for eight years prior to his June 2023 indictment.

South Dakota: On October 22, 2024, the state DOC emailed employees that Warden Teresa Bittinger would no longer head the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls. With less than two years on the job, her exit extends a pattern of leadership instability at the state’s largest prison, South Dakota Searchlight reported. Allegations of nepotism and sexual harassment went unaddressed by Republican Gov. Kristi Noem through the administrations of two wardens before Bittinger was hired in March 2023. In March 2024, there were two nights of disruptions at the prison as prisoners protested suspended tablet, texting and email services for prisoners without an end date because of an ongoing investigation. In September 2024, the penitentiary and Jameson Annex were placed on lockdown during yet another search for contraband, which lasted for weeks and disrupted daily routines for prisoners and staff. Bittinger’s exit adds to a list of DOC problems, including pushback from residents and environmental groups regarding a plan to build a new prison in Lincoln County.

Texas: In September 2024, three former Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) guards were indicted on felony charges related to alleged sexual misconduct with incarcerated women, the Killeen Daily Herald reported. Patrick Stuart Wood, Omar Garcia Travieso and Muhammed Salami were charged with violating the civil rights of a person in custody, a second-degree felony, for allegedly forcing unnamed prisoners to perform oral sex, as well as having consensual sexual intercourse with them. Investigations by TDCJ’s Office of the Inspector General found that one unnamed prisoner at the Christina Melton Crain Unit reported being coerced into performing oral sex by Travieso in June 2022 under threat of harm to a pet snail she kept in her cell. After another prisoner at Patrick L. O’Daniel Unit was found with hickeys on her neck, Wood admitted in August 2023 to engaging in consensual sexual intercourse with her multiple times. But he blamed the victim, claiming she pressured him for a relationship and he failed to resist because he “ran out of anxiety medication.” A TDCJ sergeant who searched his vehicle in the prison unit’s parking lot found handwritten notes in which the prisoner claimed she loved him and could not wait to be together when she was released in three years. No details about Salami’s alleged misconduct were provided, but he was charged with one count of bribery and two counts of violating the civil rights of a person in custody. None of the men currently works for TDCJ and all bonded out after their arrests.

Tennessee: A former Dyer County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) deputy was arrested on October 28, 2024, for attempting to smuggle drugs into the County Correctional Complex where he worked as a guard, according to WREG in Memphis. Tyrell Wallace, 40, faces multiple felony charges, including possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana and 26 grams of fentanyl pills—enough “to kill a few hundred people,” DCSO said. Additionally, Wallace was found with a loaded 9mm pistol and charged with possession of a firearm during commission of a felony. Looking for a silver lining in the cloud of bad news, County Sheriff Joe Box offered that Wallace was not trying to smuggle the gun into the jail, just the drugs. He also fired Wallace, who had worked at the jail three years. Wallace was freed on a $100,000 bond.

Washington: My Northwest reported that a 102-month sentence handed down to a former King County Jail guard on October 11, 2024. As PLN reported, Mosses Ramos, 40, was arrested in November 2023 for smuggling methamphetamine and fentanyl pills to detainees Michael Anthony Barquet and Francisco Montero. [See: PLN, Mar. 2024, p.8.] Ramos was found guilty of that charge as well as accepting a $5,000 bribe in return. Barquet also faces charges for drug smuggling and bribery; Montero is awaiting trial for a double homicide. Neca Silvestre, Katrina Cazares, and Kayara Zepeda Montero, three associates of the detainees, also pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme and are awaiting sentencing.

Wisconsin: Former Waupun Correctional Institution guard Sarah Ransbottom, 36, was the first of nine defendants to resolve charges in connection with the deaths of two prisoners at the troubled prison when she pleaded no contest on September 27, 2024, to a reduced charge of violating a law governing conduct by prison staff and paid a $250 fine, WLUK in Green Bay reported. The deaths of Donald Maier and Cameron Williams occurred during a prolonged lockdown at the prison, which has been plagued by staff shortages and allegations of mistreatment that have prompted a class-action lawsuit, as PLN reported. [See: PLN, Apr. 2024, p.11.] The U.S. Department of Justice is also investigating a potential smuggling ring. Ransbottom attributed the deaths to severe understaffing and excessive workloads, but she also admitted to falsifying logs to indicate that she had completed required rounds, a crucial task for monitoring prisoner health and safety. Vacancy rates for guards in 2024 have hovered near 50%.