BY Robert Patrick
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. LOUIS — Police and federal agents searched the St. Louis Justice Center on Thursday morning after three guards were arrested on federal charges accusing them of smuggling heroin to inmates.
Police dogs, metal detectors and boxes of gear were taken into the building, at 200 South Tucker Boulevard. But neither the St. Louis police nor the federal Drug Enforcement Administration would say what, if anything, was revealed.
Earlier in the morning, authorities arrested James Lamont “L” Moore, 36, and Peggy Lynn “Pumpkin” O’Neal, 48, at the end of their overnight shifts as corrections officers. The two appeared in federal court later in the day, still wearing their blue uniforms; Moore had turned his official shirt inside-out.
A third defendant, Marilyn Denise “Peaches” Brown, 54, was arrested at home. She arrived in court in a pink and white housecoat and slacks. She sat with her hand over her eyes, rocking her head back and forth after appearing in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Terry Adelman.
The charges claim they accepted money to deliver heroin, but there were no details of how much money, to how many inmates or who the inmates were.
The indictments follow the release in March of a scathing report by the American Civil Liberties Union that quoted unidentified current and former staff at the Justice Center and at the Medium Security Institution, 7600 Hall Street, who said guards were smuggling drugs and abusing inmates.
Reditt Hudson, the ACLU official who wrote the report, said he was not surprised by Thursday’s charges. “I really think it’s the tip of the iceberg, and St. Louis should brace itself because there’s ... more coming out.”
Hudson said that the smuggling had been going on for years and was “fairly common knowledge.” He said that corrections officers who complained or reported the smuggling were the subject of retaliation to block scrutiny of jail operations that could expose “other corruption.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith would not comment on when the drug investigation began or what other investigations may be under way. But the incidents cited in the indictments are all dated before the release of the ACLU report.
Goldsmith faulted the ACLU for not bringing its concerns to law enforcement first, and said its report had put an undercover operation, law enforcement agents and cooperating individuals at risk.
“We were shocked and surprised when the ACLU had the press conference,” Goldsmith said.
Hudson responded that the ACLU had weighed those factors but decided to move ahead because inmates were at risk.
City records show that O’Neal has worked for the city Department of Corrections since 2005, Moore since 2006 and Brown since 2008 - although they gave different dates to Adelman. Each earns $1,281 every two weeks.
All asked the judge to appoint lawyers for them.
Adelman, whose 15th-floor courtroom overlooks the Justice Center, told the three they would be released on $10,000 bond and be subjected to random drug testing like any other drug case defendant.
None of them could be reached by a reporter for comment after their release.
Moore and Brown were indicted on a single felony count of attempted distribution of heroin; O’Neal was indicted on two counts.
Moore allegedly brought heroin into the jail on Jan. 22 and O’Neal on Jan. 29, the indictment says. Brown brought the drug in on Feb. 15 and March 2, it claims.
City officials said guards undergo background and fingerprint checks before being hired. They have to pass through a metal detector at the front entrance on their way to work and are subject to random pat-down searches.
The city budget calls for 377 correctional officers - 207 at the Justice Center and 167 at the Medium Security Institution, commonly called the workhouse.
Four other officers have run into trouble for smuggling in recent years, said Ed Rhode, spokesman for Mayor Francis Slay. Three were arrested in an internal affairs sting in 2004, and another was fired for bringing in tobacco.
Rhode would not comment on the indictments, other than to thank police and DEA in a statement that says, “The investigation and indictments should send a strong message that we have not and will not tolerate this kind of conduct.”
Copyright 2009 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.