The FBI found that one guard, and one inmate, had a smuggling business relationship. Not a struggling, no... a SMUGGLING business
A corrections officer at an Otay Mesa state prison smuggled contraband to an inmate, including a custom gold and diamond grill for the prisoner’s teeth, in exchange for thousands of dollars worth of bribes, according to a newly unsealed indictment.
Hugie used “his position as a corrections officer to work for the inmates inside the facility rather than the public,” Stacey Moy, special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Diego-area field office, said in a statement. Also named in the indictment was the inmate, 26-year-old Shawn Brown, and two of his brothers, both Fresno residents.
While investigating the alleged bribery, federal agents learned that same inmate, Shawn Brown, at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility also coordinated a fraud scheme targeting fraudulent COVID-19 unemployment benefits, totaling about $1.4 million and received more than $695,000 in cash payouts, according to prosecutors.
While investigating the alleged bribery, federal agents learned that same inmate, Shawn Brown, at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility also coordinated a fraud scheme targeting fraudulent COVID-19 unemployment benefits, totaling about $1.4 million and received more than $695,000 in cash payouts, according to prosecutors.
But all that was a side note to the assaults by prison guards on inmates in wheelchairs
Attorneys for the inmates with disabilities had asked the judge to issue an order mandating body cameras for correctional officers after documenting widespread physical abuse of the inmates, the Los Angeles Times reported.
"Body cameras have never been used in California prisons. This is a very important order to help put an end to physical abuse and broken bones of those with physical disabilities at this most dangerous of prisons," attorney Gay Grunfeld told The Times. Her law firm, along with the Prison Law Office, represents the plaintiffs.
Soon, another court case examines evidence of abuses across the state prison system and seeks to implement the use of body cameras across 35 prisons
54 declarations were filed with the court case, declaring officers are throwing people out of wheelchairs, punching deaf people when they cannot hear spoken orders, beating people with disabilities who request help carrying heavy packages, closing cell doors on people who use walkers and wheelchairs, and attacking suicidal people when they ask for mental health care. Broken bones, shattered teeth, bloodied faces, and concussions are routine. Those who complain about mistreatment become the officers’ next victims or are tagged with discipline for “resisting”—even when they have intellectual disabilities or are otherwise too fearful to dispute the charges.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (“CDCR”) has known of profound problems at RJD and other high-security prisons for years. In 2015, California’s Inspector General recommended installation of cameras to combat violence at High Desert State Prison. In 2016, Plaintiffs’ counsel began notifying CDCR of horrific allegations of misconduct at RJD. In 2018, CDCR’s own auditors and Plaintiffs’ counsel each wrote to CDCR regarding significant reports of abuse of people with disabilities.
CDCR sent a “strike team” to conduct more than one hundred interviews withincarcerated people on one yard at RJD. Investigators heard over and over again that officers were targeting people with disabilities with violence, hiring incarcerated people to assault other incarcerated people, retaliating against anyone who dared speak up, and engaging in “gang-like” activity.
Despite evidence of criminal assaults, not a single officer has been criminally charged
CDCR sent a “strike team” to conduct more than one hundred interviews withincarcerated people on one yard at RJD. Investigators heard over and over again that officers were targeting people with disabilities with violence, hiring incarcerated people to assault other incarcerated people, retaliating against anyone who dared speak up, and engaging in “gang-like” activity.
Despite evidence of criminal assaults, not a single officer has been criminally charged
This country isn't any better than that. It's just as corrupt as this. Prisons, and police, are protected by the courts, and the only people committed to stopping the human rights crimes committed by those with badges, are their victims, and the family of the victims, and convicted felons in prison do not get interviewed by the press, do not contribute to the re-election campaigns in order to get dinners with mayors, governors, etc. You know, the people who run the prisons.
And this is the same system that weekly has to acknowledge the innocent people that were fraudulently convicted, and kept in prison for decades.
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