Another leader of the Black Guerrilla Family and a co-defendant were sentenced this week in federal court. Fifty-seven-year-old Ray Olivis, also known as "Unc," received 11 years from U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles Jr. for racketeering conspiracy. Erik Ushry, 27, was sentenced to 57 months in prison on drug conspiracy charges.

Here's how the U.S. Attorney's Office characterized Olivis' participation: 

According to his plea, from 2006 through June 2010, Olivis was one of the leaders of BGF, enforcing discipline in the gang and directing and participating in the drug trafficking activities of the gang. It was forseeable to Olivis that during the conspiracy he possessed with intent to distribute between 700 grams and one kilogram of heroin. According to Ushry’s plea agreement, from September 2009 through April 2010, Ushry distributed between 80 and 100 grams of heroin in and around Baltimore as part of the conspiracy.
 
Specifically, while BGF leader and co-defendant Eric Brown was incarcerated, he extorted a fellow inmate for protection from violence at the hands of BGF members and assaulted another inmate who failed to make timely extortion payments to BGF. Brown and Olivis transferred some of the proceeds of BGF’s illegal activities, including drug trafficking and extortion, into prepaid debit card accounts. In addition, Brown arranged for contraband to be smuggled into correctional facilities through the use of couriers and corrections employees. Co-defendant Rainbow Williams delivered contraband, including narcotics, to corrections officers to be smuggled into correctional facilities, sometimes paying the officer for smuggling the contraband into prison. Williams even attempted to smuggle contraband into a Maryland correctional facility via a pair of tennis shoes, but he was discovered by corrections officials.
 
During intercepted phone conversations, Olivis and Williams discussed the day to day operations of BGF, violations of BGF protocols, and the sanctions that should be ordered against the members violating those protocols. In a phone conversation, Olivis and other BGF members discussed retaliating against a suspected informant and plans to assault an inmate who had been involved in the murder of another BGF member’s brother.

 
Eric Brown, the 42-year-old leader of the gang, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on August 18, 2011. Rainbow Williams, age 32, of Baltimore, was sentenced to 151 months in prison on August 30, 2011.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Gangs, Prisons
        

A man killed in a Maryland state prison in Cresaptown had been serving two life terms for imprisoning and trying to rape a Mount Vernon woman in 2000, according to court records.

Saleem N. Abdullah, 53, was found dead in his cell Thursday night in the Western Maryland Correctional Institution. State police said he died of asphyxiation, and that a fellow inmate was being held but had not yet been charged. No motive was given.

A correctional officer delivering mail in Housing Unit 4, a segregation unit at the prison, found the man unresponsive, state police said. He was pronounced dead at Cumberland Hospital.

The Sun wrote a brief story on Abdullah's conviction in 2003, saying he had attacked a 19-year-old woman at a Mount Vernon laundromat. He lived nearby, in the 2000 block of North Calvert St., had been on parole at the time for attempted murder.

More details on the homicide from Maryland State Police: 

Continue reading "Man killed in prison had tried to rape Mount Vernon woman" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 5:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: Crime elsewhere, North Baltimore, Prisons
        

The reputed leader of the Black Guerilla Family prison gang - who authorities say directed hits on enemies from behind bars while eating lobster and sipping Grey Goose vodka - was sentenced to 12 years in prison late Thursday, federal prosecutors announced.

Eric Brown, 42, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles Jr., and had faced a maximum of 20 years after pleading guilty on April 27. 

The case highlighted flaws in the state prison system, which the state's top corrections official said were unlike any he had faced in his career in other states. The seven-month investigation led to the indictment on drug and weapons charges of 24 people - including four state prison officers - who authorities believe are leaders or associates of the gang. Search warrants outlined how gang members were able to obtain heroin, direct hits on enemies through so-called "Death Angels" and conduct cell phone conference calls to arrange business with inmates around the state.

Gang associates established a publishing company and have been selling a handbook written by the gang's leader in Maryland, Brown, court documents allege. Titled "Empower Black Families," authorities say the handbook is designed to help new members learn about the gang. It costs $15 for inmates and $20 for non-inmates.

Here's some of our articles on the gang. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 12:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Gangs, Prisons
        

A Maryland prison has banned a book written by an inmate serving a life sentence, citing "security reasons."

In a memo circulating the Internet, the warden of the Maryland Correctional Training Center in Hagerstown said that "Marshall Law - The Life & Times of a Baltimore Black Panther" the autobiography of inmate Marshall "Eddie" Conway was being banned and should be "confiscated and disposed of ... at the inmate's expense" if found. Prison officials confirmed the authenticity of the memo.

David Rocah, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, called the book ban "flagrantly unconstitutional." 

The book came out in April, and for years there has been a campaign by supporters to get Conway, the convicted killer of Baltimore Police Officer Donald Sager, pardoned. Conway has maintained his innocence.

Rick Binetti, a spokesman for the state prison system, said the book was banned because it featured pictures of inmates without proper notifications being made to the victims of their crimes.

Continue reading "Maryland prison bans lifer's book" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 4:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Prisons
        

An officer at a prison in Jessup suffered a broken jaw and cheekbone during an attack by an inmate, and another officer at the Baltimore City jail was sexually assaulted by a detainee, according to state prison officials.

The first assault occurred Monday at the Maryland Correctional Institution at Jessup. Authorities said the officer was trying to move an inmate from one housing unit to another about 2:20 p.m. when he was hit. It took six to eight other officers using Mace to subdue the inmate, officials said.

On Saturday, prison officials said a correctional officer at the Baltimore City Detention Center reported being sexually assaulted by a detainee. Authorities said an investigation is underway and a person of interest is being questioned. No further details were released.

The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services reports that serious assaults by inmates on officer has fallen over the past few years, with down 50 percent since 2007. Attacks involving sexual offenses are down 35 percent during that same period.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Confronting crime, Downtown, Prisons
        

Anne Arundel County prosecutors will seek life in prison without parole for Perry Roark, a reputed founder and leader of the violent prison gang Dead Man Inc., who was recently charged with first-degree murder in the 1994 death of another prisoner, The Sun's Andrea Siegel reports.

Roark, 42, a muscular man with a long ponytail, was notified Thursday in Anne Arundel County Circuit court during a hearing to set his trial date, of the possibility that he will never be freed. A trial was scheduled to start March 26, 2012, and is expected to take two weeks.

“We look forward to a fair and speedy trial and the vindication of our client,” said Assistant Public Defender Michael Morrissette.

Roark was to have been released from 25 years in prison several months ago, worrying law enforcement officials, who blocked his freedom with the murder charges. DMI has spread outside Maryland prisons in the Baltimore area as well as outside the state. Dissension among the mostly white membership led to permitting members to exit in April 2009 without penalty.

Before his expected release from prison several months ago, Roark was indicted in the beating death of inmate George Hartman, who was officials say was fatally beaten in the now-closed Maryland House of Correction.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Gangs, Prisons
        

The Washington Post reports on a news program produced by prison inmates in Hagerstown:

Porter is a convicted rapist. Williams is an armed robber. Their audience, not measured by Nielsen, is 2,000 or so murderers, rapists, robbers, forgers, car thieves and muggers at a Hagerstown prison. Their goals are not unlike Diane Sawyer’s: Tell viewers things they don’t know. Given the setting, most of their news is local.

“We have some very, very interesting facts coming up,” Williams says, his voice echoing off the cinderblock walls in a storage space doubling as a newsroom.

The newscast at the Maryland Correctional Training Center, or MCTC, is one of several such programs in the state’s prisons, and experts say they know of few other efforts like it in the United States. The newscasts put a modern spin on a jailhouse journalism tradition that dates to the 19th century, when Jesse James’s gang was known, among other things, as a group of influential and incarcerated newspapermen.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Prisons
        

Five correctional officers at the city’s booking center, including a high ranking official with 16 years experience, have been indicted on charges of assault for allegedly beating a female inmate, the state prison system said on Monday.

“We cannot tolerate this type of behavior, here or in any of our correctional divisions,” said Gary Maynard, the secretary of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. “Even in a very difficult environment, correctional staff must always act with the highest level of integrity and professionalism.”

The charges stem from an incident in January at the state-run Central Booking and Intake Center, which processes arrestees. Officials said a 26-year-old woman who faced minor disorderly conduct charges was beaten several times and in several different locations in the facility.

In a statement released Monday, prison officials said that “a number of correctional officers used unnecessary and inappropriate force against the woman multiple times.” The victim was taken to a hospital and treated and release with no serious injuries, officials said.

The statement from Maynard said staff members did not report the alleged assault. In January, eight corrections officers, including the acting warden, were suspended. The warden has since retired and was not among the officers indicted.

Those indicted on charges of first-degree assault were identified as Larry Morris, a 42-year-old acting major; Kimberly Livingston, 31; Shannon Rivies, 24; Aleesha Edmond, 22; and Torrence Taylor, 23.

Here is a statement from state prison officials:
 

Continue reading "Correctional officers indicted in assault " »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Downtown, Prisons
        

From the Associated Press:

Maryland's prison agency says it has revised its policy of asking prospective correctional officers about their use of Facebook and other social media.

The agency said Wednesday that the revisions make it clear that any participation by job applicants in a review of their social media use is voluntary.

The revisions follow an American Civil Liberties Union complaint in January that an officer seeking to return to work after taking personal leave was directed to divulge his Facebook username and password as an employment requirement.

The prison agency says participation was always voluntary and that the policy revision makes that clear.

Here's the department's full news release on the topic from today:

Continue reading "State prisons agency revises social media policy for applicants" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Prisons
        

For those of you about to enjoy the first pitch of Opening Day at Camden Yards, remember that inmates helped make the park look pretty.

That's right, prisoners from the Eastern Shore Correctional Institution "stripped, sanded, re-stained and re-varnished players' lockers," according to a news release from the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.

And inmates from the Patuxent Institution in Jessup made signs and decals.

It's all part of Maryland Correctional Enterprises, which employees more than 2,000 inmates doing $50 million in business around the state. Inmates have planted trees at Antietam Battlefield and helped restore the shoreline along the Chesapeake Bay. Yes, they also make license plates, but they also sew every flag flown at state buildings.

In the past, inmates worked to shovel snow out of the M&T Bank Stadium, "allowing the Ravens to play within hours of a blizzard," and planted flower beds and shrubbery. The inmates are in the pre-release program, meaning they are nearing freedom and the program is designed to help them enter the real world.

For more details, read the statement from prison officials:

Continue reading "Inmates help spruce up park for Opening Day" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 1:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Prisons
        

The closure of the downtown prison known as Supermax has been hinted at for years and it happened slowly, with a dribble of prisoners, including five on death row, quietly moved elsewhere over the past two years. Most went to a new high-tech prison in Western Maryland.

The official end came Tuesday when the facility was turned over to the feds to be used as badly-needed pre-trial detention center. Finally, those awaiting trial in U.S. District Court in Baltimore can be held in one place, instead of scattered about the Northeast.

At left, a photo the cells in Supermax, taken by The Sun's Doug Kapustin, during a rare tour in 2008.

But nostalgia aside, Supermax had a frightening 21-year history -- two made-for-TV escapes and complaints of confinement more suitable for a gulag than an American prison. Inmates were held in lock down 23 hours a day in cells with tiny windows. There as the infamous "pink room" that had a hole in the floor for a toilet, no windows, in prisoners were shackled at the ankles and wrists and left in their underwear.

The feds called conditions inhumane. So did prisoner advocacy groups and eventually even state officials. A former state prison official said facilities like Supermax are needed, but the one in Baltimore should have been built away from the city and officials should have done more to help the inmates.

Read more about the history of Supermax and a news story on it's transformation to a federal detention center. 

Posted by Peter Hermann at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Downtown, Prisons
        

Talk about turning the tables on the crooks.

State auditors have found that corrections employees in Baltimore have been regularly taking money from prisoners for their own use. The Sun's Yeganeh June Torbati reports today on a hearing in Annapolis where this practice was discussed:

Released last week, the audit found serious deficiencies in two accounts — a fund that contains inmate money, and another fund of public money used to finance small expenditures. The review found that the five Baltimore sites in the state prison system gave some employees easy access to blank checks and the signature plates needed to authorize checks drawn on the public account with no supervisory oversight; and perhaps as a result of those gaps, could not account for tens of thousands of dollars in missing funds.

The report also disclosed that some prison employees were drawing money from the inmate account to pay salary advances. While such advances, intended for newly hired employees awaiting their first biweekly paychecks, are allowed, prison workers were mixing the funds from the inmate and public accounts. There was no documentation to justify why some veteran employees were drawing advances.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Confronting crime, Prisons
        

The Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services sent out this alert a few hours ago:

Fifteen correctional officers have been placed on administrative leave while the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) conducts an administrative investigation into alleged misconduct relating to the use of excessive force.

The alleged misconduct stems from an incident involving a detainee at the Baltimore City Detention Center (BCDC) in late August of this year. No life threatening injuries were sustained by any detainees or officers during the incident.

Working with the Division of Pretrial Detention and Services (DPDS) and Detention Center administration, the DPSCS Internal Investigative Unit is heading up the investigation. If necessary, appropriate disciplinary action will be taken upon the completion of the administrative investigation.

Those placed on administrative leave may not necessarily face any disciplinary action, but are placed under this status because they may be material witnesses to the alleged incident.

“The Division of Pretrial Detention and Services has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to excessive use of force,” said DPDS Commissioner Wendell France today.

“The vast majority of our correctional officers are unsung heroes who are firm, fair, and impartial. Our mission is to protect the public, our employees and our offenders. Any activity not consistent with the DPSCS standards of conduct and professional accountability will result in swift consequences for those responsible.”

At this point, the Department cannot issue any further comment regarding the specific nature of the allegations because the investigation is ongoing.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Prisons
        

At the end of "An Omar Broadway Film," a documentary shot on a contraband video camera from within a New Jersey prison that aired on HBO in July, words flash on the screen that say Broadway is finishing his sentence for carjacking in Maryland. It took only a few clicks through the state's online court records to find out Broadway was at it again.

The Bloods member smuggled a camera into the gang unit of the Northern State Prison in Newark, and filmed for six months to show what he claimed was inmate abuse and deplorable living conditions. It was an incredible security lapse, and Broadway was shipped out of state so he could be someone else's problem. 

Court records showed Broadway was busted with a thumb-sized camera in early 2009 - prison officials downplayed the breach and said he hadn't recorded much. But that's only the camera they know about, Broadway told me in a phone call from the MCTC prison in Hagerstown. He's got hours of other footage showing how inmates in Maryland live the good life, from items approved by the Division of Correction such as video game systems and street clothes, to the things they smuggle in with the help of corrupt corrections officers. 

Read more about Broadway in today's story.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Prisons
        

Tracking probation violators is now easier, and can be done through e-mail. Take a look at this release from the state prison system:

The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) is making it easier for citizens to provide tips about offenders found on our Most Wanted website.  Through a new dedicated email, the public can now help track down the Division of Parole and Probation’s (DPP) most wanted violators with the click of a mouse or a quick text message.  The email address - DPPMostWantedTips@dpscs.state.md.us – can be found on the Most Wanted DPP Violators website.

The site, launched in June, contains individuals whose violation warrants have not been able to be served to date.  Photos, demographics and other known information about the Division’s top 25 outstanding warrants are highlighted on the page. A tip phone line, (410) 333-8732, is also still available. All information provided via phone or email will remain confidential.

More details:

Continue reading "Track probation violators with e-mail" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Prisons
        

State parole and probation officials unveiled this morning new technology to make it easier for cops on the beat to identify offenders on parole and probation:

"Livescan allows a parolee or probationer to be digitally fingerprinted, palm-printed, and photographed at one machine, with the confirmed identification information being transmitted quickly to the Law Enforcement Dashboard, a system that allows police officers to view an offender’s criminal history information from multiple sources within minutes on a single screen.

Livescan closes an information gap: until now, police agencies were not always able to immediately ascertain whether someone was under Parole and Probation supervision. Now, that important component of an offender’s record will show up as a reportable event on his or her “RAP” sheet within minutes after Livescan completes the process."

Here is the full statement from the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services:

Continue reading "New technology to help cops identify offenders" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Prisons
        

It all started innocently enough.

State prison officials sent six female inmates, described as non-violent, to a Howard County horse farm to clear pasture for abused animals. The inmates were all nearing thier release dates and had met all the criteria for the coveted work-release.

In the photo by The Sun's Ken Lam, Ziggy, a former Arabber horse, munches on Hay as Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services Secretary Gary Maynard, left, announces a partnership with Days End Farm Horse Rescue in which female inmates will be working on the farm doing landscaping with the eventual goal of caring for the rescued horses.

Only someone in the prison system forgot to tell the neighbors and the parents of the young volunteers that the inmates were coming, and understandable outrage followed and the program was put on indefinite hold. Then people started to wonder about the inmates themselves -- were they reall "non-violent"?

In today's crime scenes column, I try to answser that question. It's not as easy it may seem. One inmate I focused on, because she was the lead of a feature story on the program, a story that triggered the uproar, was in for second-degree assault on her boyfriend (complete story here).

Here's a bit about what I learned:

Continue reading "Horse farm and "non-violent" offenders" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Howard County, Prisons
        

It was one of those feel-good programs that come across reporters' desks nearly every day. This was from the state prison system: "Restorative Justice Benefits Women Inmates and Starving Horses."

A mix of crime and feel-good animal stories. Inmates helping abused horses at the Days EndFarm Horse Rescue in Howard County. A can't miss!

In this photo by The Sun's Kenneth K. Lam, Nelson Myers, left, a correctional officer, helps some of the inmates and volunteers unload bales of hay for the abused horses that. State prison inmates delivered 220 bales of hay from the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation to Days End Farm.

Here's what the news release said:

The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services today added yet another to its growing list of unique restorative justice inmate initiatives, putting a work crew comprised of female inmates at Howard County’s Days End Farm Horse Rescue. The inmates, from the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women (MCI-W) in Jessup, will begin with grounds maintenance and landscaping, and eventually move into equine care. “What we try to do with these restorative justice programs is not only give inmates skills and the chance to pay back the society they’ve harmed, but meaningful projects that really do make a difference in the lives of people -- and in this case, horses,” said DPSCS Secretary Gary Maynard.

Only state prison officials forgot to tell the neighbors of the horse farm, as well as the young volunteers who work there. Now, state officials have shut down the program, according to a story by The Baltimore Sun's Larry Carson.

The prisoners were four to six women, non-violent offenders who were close to being released. A little bit of communication and this all probably could've been avoided. The prisoners need to transition from jail to real life and the Days End Farm Horse Rescue needs help caring for help with the 70 abused and neglected horses in their care. The farm just took in a dozen more horses from a farm seized in Garrett County.

Here is more from state prison officials and some of the projects performed by inmates:

Continue reading "What were they thinking? Horse farms and inmates?" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: Confronting crime, Howard County, Prisons
        

It's no secret that most people in jail want to get out. But what if you can get out and you escape anyway?

Just try to figure Davon Newton's saga today that led to him being shot. Yep, authorities say he tried to escape the Baltimore City Detention Center even though he had no reason to even try. And prson officals are just as perplexed as you will be:

Continue reading "Man shot escaping jail had no reason to escape" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 5:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

The state prison system is to announce Monday a new web site that highlights the top 25 parole and probation offenders:

The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) is taking public safety efforts to the web.  In an effort to gain the public’s help in tracking down the Division of Parole and Probation’s (DPP) most wanted parole or probation violators, today launched our Most Wanted DPP Violators website. 

The new website contains individuals whose violation warrants have not been able to be served to date.  Photos, demographics and other known information about the top 25 outstanding warrants are highlighted on the page.

While DPP does not issue violation warrants, which is done by the Maryland Parole Commission or the Maryland Court System, their Warrant Apprehension Unit (WAU) is responsible for capturing individuals for whom a warrant has been issued after violating the terms of their discretionary parole, mandatory release, or court ordered probation. The WAU is part of DPP’s Community Supervision Enforcement Program (CSEP).

Continue reading "Top 25 parole and probation offenders " »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Prisons
        

You don't remember Dwight "Knight" Gilmore, but back in 1991 he was a fairly big deal.

He got charged in a drug-related murder, got bailed out, then promptly got charged with shooting another man 10 times. At the time, police said they suspected him in another double shooting that left a man dead, again, allegedly committed while he was on bail. And, while free on bail, Gilmore became a victim, getting shot, and he appeared at one court hearing bandaged and braced.

Back then, he was an example of Baltimore's revolving door justice. Now, he's just a blur -- more horrific examples have repeatedly surfaced over the years. Convicted felons returning to crime after brief stints in prison hardly seems news anymore.

But Dwight "Knight" Gilmore is back, charged on Wednesday in a new drug case after Baltimore cops raided his home in Southwest Baltimore. Here's a brief tease of his record:

Continue reading "Convicted murderer busted in drug case" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: Breaking news, Courts and the justice system, Prisons
        

A four-year-old lawsuit alleging a broad pattern of abuse by Baltimore police and state prison officials appears to be nearing an end with a settlement. My colleague Justin Fenton reports today that the state and NAACP have agreed on closure to one part of the suit -- strip searches and the detentions of innocent people in jail (Baltimore Sun staff photo at left).

A second, more complicated part of the litigation alleging city police for years arrested many people without proper authorization is nearing completion, according to people involved in the case. Both issues target a zero-tolerance policing strategy that called for arresting people on the pettiest of crimes. Many complained they were innocent but got caught up in a broad web, and it led to overcrowded jails and detention centers.

Angry judges set people free when their hearings were delayed more than 24 hours and prosecutors complained that the cases being brought to them were weak. The city State's Attorney's Office declined to prosecute hundreds if not thousands of arrests, and even though thsoe people never got records, they still ended up being detained for hours in the dingy booking center.

The past practice has been criticized by the current police commissioner, Frederick H. Bealefeld III, as a bad way to police a city. He favors targeting guns and drugs and having his officers use common sense and discretion in enforcing so-called quality of life crimes. Justin reported:

In recent years, officials have trumpeted a steady reduction in arrests and arrests without charges. More than 108,400 arrests were made in 2005, a figure that dropped to 77,600 in 2009.

Here are some complaints spelled out in the lawsuit:

Continue reading "Agreement reached in lawsuit against police, prisons" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Confronting crime, Prisons, Top brass
        

Gov. Martin O'Malley will be on hand at a federal prison in Western Maryland today to watch the first test of a prison cell phone jamming device. Calls to block cell phone signals in prisons to thwart inmates from ordering hits on witnesses and running drug networks from behind bars is meeting stiff resistance.

Many cell phone companies view the initiative as unnecessary and say it could jam cell phones of legitimate customers outside the prison walls. In additions, some have said it would make the job of corrections officers more dangerous because they too would be unable to use the phones. Above is a picture of confiscated cell phones from a Maryland prison, taken by The Sun's Barbara Haddock Taylor.

In September, Maryland prison officials spent a day testing similar equipment. The U.S. Congress is considering lifting a federal ban on blocking cell phone signals to allow limited deployment at prisons. Maryland authorities say that cell phones are among the items most confiscated from cells.

Here is a statement form O'Malley:

Continue reading "Governor helps test cell phone jamming at prisons" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Confronting crime, Gangs, Prisons, Witness intimidation
        

Gary D. Maynard, the secretary of Maryland's Public Safety and Correctional Services, is testifying in Annapolis today on a bill to turn having a cell phone in a prison into a felony worth up to five years more behind bars. At the moment, it's only a misdemeanor.

The issue has been a priority especially since the Carl Lackl case which a man behind prison walls was able to put a successful hit on a witness while using a pilfered cell phone. Since then, authorities have stepped up their fight against smuggled phones and there are attempts to change the law to allow police to block cell phone signals at prisons.

Last year, officials confiscated more than 1,600 cell phones from prisons across the state. Maynard is appearing before the House Judiciary Committee. Here is his testimony:

HB 78 - Criminal Law - Contraband - Telecommunication Devices – Penalties
House Judiciary 1/19/10 at 1:00 pm

Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee.  I am here today to support HB 78, a bill that will enhance the penalties for individuals smuggling cell phones into our correctional facilities. 

I have been involved in corrections for 39 years, working at the Federal Bureau of Prisons and in five states, serving in four of those as head of the corrections system. 

For those of us in this field, one of the most important functions is the security of our prisons and the overall safety, not only of the institution and the people inside, but of the community at large.  
 
One of the leading contributors to criminal behavior within our prisons has been gang activity.  Often times, these individuals seek out ways to continue to operate their criminal activity from prison – most often through the use of cell phones.    The introduction of cell phones within our prisons is growing at an alarming rate.

Phones can be brought into prisons in a variety of ways.  They are smuggled on or within an inmate’s body, by compromised staff, by visitors, tossed over the fences or walls, concealed within deliveries or shipments of food and supplies, or through contractors. 

Two years ago, a detainee who was housed within our Division of Pretrial Detention and Services was convicted of ordering the death of a young man in Baltimore.  He made the call from a smuggled cell phone within our facility. 

Victims and public officials are being threatened, harassed, and even killed by prisoners with access to cell phones across this country. 

Over the past 3 years, the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services has recovered over 3,600 phones in our institutions.    This is a result of a combination of enhanced security processes and the implementation of technology.  We have strengthened our screening process investing in Secure View Scanners, BOSS chairs, and X-Ray machines. We have developed stronger protocols for staff screening at entrance and have invested in a K-9 unit to detect phones. 

We have also looked to cell phone jamming, detection, and interference technologies to assist our security units. We hosted a demonstration in September, which received national attention to see how detection and interference technologies could assist our efforts. This past December, we followed up with another demonstration, piloting cell phone detection technology in three active prison facilities.  

We know this is not enough. We need to be able to more effectively punish those individuals who seek to circumvent the law and give these inmates the ability to communicate with the outside world and continue their criminal behavior. We can not allow another murder, or give them to ability to plan escapes or institutional violence any more. 

Under the current law, an individual caught smuggling a cell phone, or in possession of an unauthorized cell phone in our prisons is subject to a misdemeanor charge and up to three years imprisonment. 

This is just not a strong enough deterrent. We need to treat this as the serious crime that it is.  It is should be a felony like it is in other states like Florida and New Jersey who recently passed similar legislation to HB 78.

The passage of this bill, in addition to our enhanced security protocols will give us the tools necessary to continue to protect the public’s safety, as well as our staff members, and the offenders and detainees under our supervision. 

The panel here today will be able to speak directly to the security threats that cell phones present in our prisons, and the need for passage of HB 78.  We would appreciate your consideration of this important bill. 

Thank you.

Here is the bill:

Continue reading "Cell phones in prison could become felony" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
Categories: Prisons