More than 100 federal prison workers have been sentenced, convicted or sentenced for crimes they’ve committed on the job –– including a warden and associate warden who’ve been indicted on charges of sexual abuse, and murder.
Since the beginning of 2019, the number of prison workers facing chargers of their own is staggering, an investigation led by the Associated Press shows. Federal prison workers make up less than one-third of the Justice Department’s workforce, but are two-thirds of the criminal cases against DOJ employees.
Of the 41 arrests of DOJ employees made just this year, 28 were from the the Federal Bureau of Prisons, five were FBI workers, and the DEA and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives each had two.
Prison guards have reportedly been caught taking cash under the table to smuggle in drugs, contraband and even weapons. Some charges include theft, with federal prison supervisors being caught stealing equipment from the facility.
The AP’s investigation revealed the charges, but also how the prison employee system allowed the unlawful acts to slide and continue.
In the case of one Mississippi federal prison worker –– whose job was to investigate misconduct of other employees –– the prison allowed him to keep his job even after he was arrested for stalking and harassing fellow employees. He was even put in charge of investigating a staff member who had accused him of a crime.
The report comes as the Biden Administration makes a push to fix internal issues with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, including the conditions of its facilities.
The DOJ release a statement to the AP saying it “will not tolerate staff misconduct, particularly criminal misconduct.”
The department added that it’s “committed to holding accountable any employee who abuses a position of trust, which we have demonstrated through federal criminal prosecutions and other means.”
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