Associated Press
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Nine employees have resigned or been fired as the result of a widening investigation into security breaches at a maximum-security Iowa prison, a spokesman said Friday.
Four former tower officers at Anamosa State Penitentiary were charged earlier this month as part of an FBI investigation into the smuggling of cellphones and drugs inside the prison. An associate who didn’t work at the prison is also facing charges, accused of supplying marijuana and prescription pills that officers used and traded among themselves and of assisting in sneaking cellphones to an inmate.
The tower officers had already left their employment when U.S. Attorney Kevin Techau announced the charges Oct. 6.
Since then, five more employees have departed as a result of the investigation at Anamosa, which houses about 1,000 male offenders in northeastern Iowa, spokesman Matthew Eivins said. He said they aren’t charged with criminal activity but the investigation found serious violations of “work rules that relate to security practices.”
After charges were filed against the four, “you had a ripple effect” in which other coworkers were implicated in problems, Eivins said. The case has shocked and disappointed the prison’s 317 workers, he said.
Danny Homan, president of a state employees’ union that represents correctional officers, said he was glad theDepartment of Corrections was taking the case “very seriously,” saying contraband presents a danger to officers.
“It’s extremely unfortunate that people had to get involved in an activity that not only violated state work rules but violated state law and possibly federal law,” he said. “I know that they are going to turn over every rock inside that prison to try and make sure that anyone involved in that operation is rooted out and will be looking for jobs somewhere else. That’s the way it should be.”
Cellphones are considered safety risks inside prisons because they can be used by inmates to facilitate criminal activity. Authorities have said the drugs were used by officers and it’s unclear whether any reached inmates.
Garrett Barton, a correctional officer of five years, has pleaded guilty to extortion and being an unlawful user of controlled substances in possession of a firearm. Court documents say he worked with an inmate’s girlfriend to smuggle in two cellphones last year in exchange for $200 cash, and regularly used marijuana and prescription drugs. Investigators say former guard Samuel Foster assisted him in the smuggling scheme and supplied marijuana and pills to Barton and others.
Prosecutors say Barton and three other former tower officers illegally possessed a semi-automatic assault rifle — which they used while on duty — while being unlawful drug users. Ethan Darrow, 29, pleaded guilty this month in federal court. The other two, Marques Maryland, 38, and Stephen Vogel, 28, have agreed to plead guilty to state drug charges.
Foster is being detained on drug and firearm charges. Court documents allege he is a longtime marijuana and prescription drug dealer, and a federal grand jury is expected to hear evidence against him this month. His attorney didn’t return a message Friday.
The investigation dates to November 2014, when a guard found a cellphone inside a public locker in the prison. An inmate later pointed officers to a second phone in another cell, saying his girlfriend bought the phones and worked with Barton to get them through security.
The girlfriend told the FBI she had conversations with an officer who called himself “Buddy” and arranged for the phones to be picked up from a rental car at an Anamosa motel where she was staying. Barton had Foster retrieve the phones and later contacted the girlfriend to make arrangements to smuggle “booster cards” to improve their reception, court records allege.
Meanwhile, Foster faced a separate investigation involving stolen construction equipment. Searches of a garage in North Liberty and a Cedar Rapids storage locker uncovered 1.5 pounds of marijuana, hydromorphone pills and stolen guns. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial on state theft and drug charges.