Efforts To Promote The Integrity Of Maryland Correctional Institutions Continue

Maryland Prison Task Force's Work Leads to More Indictments

ANNAPOLIS, MD  – In 2011, Maryland officials spearheaded the creation of the Maryland Corrections Task Force, a partnership between federal, state, and local law enforcement personnel to combat gangs and root out corruption in Maryland correctional institutions.

Rod Rosenstein, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, stated, "Everybody in the task force anticipated it would result in the prosecution of a significant number of correctional officers."

As a result of coordinated efforts between federal, state, and local partners, an investigation was launched that led to the indictments in April 2013 of 25 individuals, including 13 correctional officers.

The Maryland Task Force continued its work after April, and today that case took another important step forward, as 19 additional individuals -- including 14 correctional officers -- were indicted. The charges filed today are part of the same case that was launched in April; it was filed under the same case number and will be heard by the same judge. As the U.S Attorney stated today, "The new charges focus on criminal conduct that occurred prior to April 2013."

"We express our gratitude for the continued good work and responsiveness of the U.S. Attorney's office and our federal law enforcement partners," Gov. O'Malley said. "Since April, we have redoubled our efforts to crack down on corruption and improve security at our correctional institutions -- protecting the integrity of our correctional institutions requires constant vigilance, and we continue to improve those efforts every day."

The attached document summarizes many of the significant actions we've taken since April 2013 to improve security and combat corruption at BCDC. One of the actions we've taken is to form a partnership with the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office and the Maryland State Police to create an anti-corruption investigations team called the City Corrections Investigative Unit (CCIU). CCIU is currently prosecuting 31 individuals (7 of whom are correctional officers). In fact, two of the correctional officers indicted by the U.S. Attorney's Office today are already being prosecuted by CCIU.