For criminals: champagne, iPod or maybe a limo?
My good friends down at the Washington Post's new crime blog have a contest going, inspired after a couple of corrections officers got charged with smuggling iPods into a DC jail. The contest is to guess what songs the officers might have downloaded for the inmates.
I should've have though of that this past summer after the feds charged a gang and some corrections officers with smuggling food into prisoners in Baltimore. It was't just ordinary food, a step above normal prison slop, but lobster, champagne and vodka. At one point, the feds caught an inmate on a wiretap complaining that lobster wasn't available and he had to settle for salmon with shrimp and crab imperial. At least he got a "good cigar" to finish off his meal.
Maryland authorities say the same inmates eganged in fine prison dining also orchestrated at least seven killings and ran their drug business from inside their cells. They even had links to one of the troublesome bars Baltimore's police commissioner padlocked earlier this year.
I still think we have more entertaining crime here in Baltimore. I mean, city cops say they busted a gunman who tried to escape in a limo on Tuesday night. And I think lobster beats out a fully loaded iPod. What would you rather have in prison -- fine food or music?
Comments
Yeah, about that limo…the story says a man was seen "exhibiting characteristics of an armed person."
What does that mean?
Posted by: Cheap Jim | December 3, 2009 8:31 AM
This is one of the most serious problems in Maryland. The department of corrections is rampant with corruption and employees who are either gang members themselves, or assist gang members with whatever they need, either out of envy (to brown-nose a killer as if he were a role model) or fear (getting threatened by the inmates).
What good is the justice system if the criminals that are put away are free to run drug rings and order hits on people from inside? Not to mention they probably live better in jail than they do outside with the help of crooked guards. It does no good to work so hard to catch and prosecute a killer, and throw him behind bars, if he can indirectly kill or harm someone while he's in jail anyway... all the while sipping champagne and smoking smuggled-in dope. If I were a small-time criminal and I were broke, I'd want to go to jail. This pattern actually encourages crime. This is the exact opposite effect a correctional institution is supposed to have on society.
Until we overhaul the department of corrections, there's really no point in trying to revamp the police or prosecutors' offices. Because even if they catch & convict, the criminal seems to be losing very few freedoms
Posted by: Hank | December 7, 2009 1:19 PM
That is truly astonishing to hear. How can they smuggle ipods in, or perhaps I don't want to know. Either way, good read. Thanks!
Posted by: San Diego Limo | March 5, 2010 2:47 PM