Justice Department Intervenes to Protect Prisoners from Life-Threatening Conditions at Orleans Parish Prison in New Orleans

Parties Close to Settlement to Conclude Investigation and Begin Process of Jail Reform Overseen by a Federal Court

The Justice Department announced today that it has moved to intervene in a class action lawsuit regarding conditions of confinement at the Orleans Parish Prison (OPP), a pre-trial and correctional facility in New Orleans.   The litigation seeks to address conditions that violate the U.S. Constitution and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.   The department seeks remedies to correct inadequate medical, mental health care and suicide prevention practices; failures to protect prisoners from physical and sexual violence; deficiencies in environmental health and safety; and inadequate language access services for Latino prisoners with limited English proficiency (LEP). 

 The United States seeks to join as plaintiff-intervenors in Jones v. Gusman, class action litigation that the Southern Poverty Law Center has brought on behalf of the men, women and youth confined to OPP, to protect them from abusive and unconstitutional conditions of confinement.   Both Sheriff Marlin Gusman, who oversees OPP, and the plaintiffs to the class action support the United States’ motion to intervene, to achieve a single, comprehensive resolution of the class action and the United States’ investigation of OPP.   The department’s investigation, initiated in February 2008, was brought under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act and language issues under Title VI.

 “The Justice Department has longstanding, serious concerns about the conditions at the Orleans Parish Prison. The constitutional violations we found affect the health and safety of prisoners, corrections officers and the community,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.   “Transforming the operation of the prison is a key component of the overall reform of the criminal justice system in New Orleans. Although we have moved to intervene in the pending litigation, we are hopeful that we can reach a negotiated resolution of this case in the near future, and put in place a comprehensive blueprint for sustainable reform.   We will continue to work in an expeditious fashion with the sheriff, the city of New Orleans and the private plaintiffs on this important case.”

 “The government’s intervention in this case will facilitate much needed reforms at OPP in the fastest and most efficient manner,” said James Letten, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana.  “The men, women and youth at OPP will benefit greatly from the comprehensive reform sought in this important intervention.”

 The department issued findings in October 2009 and April 2012.   Throughout that time, the department was engaged in discussions with the Sheriff to develop a set of comprehensible and sustainable reforms.   Necessary reforms will require improved policies, procedures, staff training and supervision to ensure that OPP protects prisoners from violence and sexual assault by staff and other prisoners; provides adequate mental health and medical care, including suicide prevention; provides language services to LEP prisoners; and provides adequate fire and environmental safety.

 The department has been working for some time with the OPP and community stakeholders on this negotiated settlement and is confident that it will serve as a comprehensive blueprint for sustainable reform.   The department’s work with both OPP and the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) reflects its continuing commitment to reforming the criminal justice system in New Orleans and across the country.  

 Additional information about the Special Litigation Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division can be found at www.usdoj.gov/crt/split/index.html .

Majestic Auto Repair Shop Owners Sentenced for Paying Police Officers Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars in Bribes

Auto Towing and Repair Shop Paid Police Officers to Steer Car Owners to Their Business Instead of Less-Expensive, City-Authorized Companies; in Some Cases, Repair Shop Vandalized Cars and Officers Falsified Police Reports to Increase Insurance Claims

BALTIMORE—U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced Hernan Alexis Moreno, age 32, of Rosedale, Maryland, today to 33 months in prison; and his brother, Edwin Javier Mejia, age 29, of Middle River, Maryland, to two years in prison for conspiring to commit extortion in connection with a scheme in which they paid over 50 police officers to arrange for their car repair company, Majestic, rather than a city-authorized company, to tow vehicles from accident scenes and make repairs. Judge Blake also ordered the brothers to pay restitution of $129,249.70 to the victim insurance companies.

The sentences were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Acting Special Agent in Charge Timothy P. Groh of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Acting Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Barksdale.

U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said, “We hope this case sent a clear message that police officers cannot take payments from private citizens in connection with their official duties.”

According to their plea agreements, beginning in 2008, the brothers agreed to pay Baltimore Police Department (BPD) officers Jhonn Corona and Rodney Cintron to contact them from accident and hit-and-run scenes for towing and repair services instead of contacting a city-authorized tow company. In exchange, Mejia or Moreno would pay the officers $150 to $300 for each vehicle that arrived at Majestic. These two officers began to recruit other BPD officers to participate in the scheme.

Moreno and Mejia knew that the BPD requires that police only use towing companies that are under contract with the city of Baltimore to provide towing services for the BPD and that BPD officers could not accept payments for using their authority to steer vehicle owners to Majestic for tow and repair services.

According to their plea agreements, by February 23, 2011, more than 50 BPD officers had joined in the scheme. Specifically, while responding to the scene of an accident, BPD officers would call Moreno on his cell phone and provide him with the details of the accident. BPD officers would persuade accident victims to allow their cars to be towed or otherwise delivered to Majestic by telling the victims that Majestic could tow the car, provide repair services, help with the insurance claim, assist in getting a rental car and waive the owner’s deductible. In some cases the accident victims’ cars were towed even if the vehicle was not actually disabled. Later, the BPD officer arranged to meet Moreno or Mejia to receive cash for steering the car owner to Majestic.

Additionally, Moreno and Mejia arranged with some of the officers to add damage to the vehicles in order to increase Majestic’s profit from the insurance payment in order to cover the cost of paying the BPD officers and the vehicle owner’s deductible payments to the insurance company. The BPD officer would then falsify the accident report to make it appear that the damage had been caused by the accident so that the insurance adjusters would not question the repairs performed by Majestic and paid for by the insurance companies.

Over the course of the scheme, the amount of loss resulting from payments made by Majestic to BPD officers and for insurance claims paid by the insurance companies for damage inflicted on vehicles was between $200,000 and $400,00.

Jhonn Corona and Rodney Cintron, both age 34, and 12 other police officers have pleaded guilty to the extortion conspiracy in federal court and one officer pleaded guilty in state court. One officer was convicted by a federal jury after a six-day trial. All 15 officers have been sentenced, receiving between eight and 42 months in prison. Corona received 30 months in prison, and Cintron received 42 months.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the FBI and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Tonya N. Kelly and Kathleen O. Gavin, who prosecuted the case.

U.S. Attorney’s Office Announces Closing of Criminal Investigation into Conduct of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office

PHOENIX—Ann Birmingham Scheel, acting on behalf of the United States due to the recusal of U.S. Attorney John S. Leonardo, announced today that her office is closing its investigation into allegations of criminal conduct by current and former members of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has advised Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery of its decision not to pursue state criminal charges related to the investigation.

Ms. Scheel commended the joint investigative efforts of the prosecutors and the FBI special agents who conducted the investigation.

Former Police Officer Sentenced to 96 Months in Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

The United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Blaine R. Handerhan, a former Mount Carmel Borough Police officer, was sentenced today in federal court before Senior United States District Court Judge William W. Caldwell for possession of child pornography. Judge Caldwell sentenced Handerhan to a 96-month term of imprisonment and ordered that he pay $75,000 in restitution. Handerhan was taken into custody following the sentencing to begin serving his prison sentence.

According to United States Attorney Peter J. Smith, Blaine R. Handerhan, age 56, of East Pennsboro, Pennsylvania, was indicted in October 2010 and pleaded guilty in October 2011.

The charges against Handerhan stem from an investigation into the distribution of child pornography by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Handerhan was identified by investigators and a search warrant was executed at his residence. His computer was seized and an analysis of it conducted by the Pennsylvania State Police identified 147,070 images and 1,252 video files of child pornography.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “Resources.”

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James T. Clancy.

Second Former Georgia Corrections Officer Pleads Guilty to Conspiring with Other Officers to Assault and Injure Inmates

Darren Douglass-Griffin, 35, a former member of the Correctional Emergency Response Team (CERT) at Macon State Prison (MSP) in Oglethorpe, Ga., pleaded guilty to a two-count bill of information charging him with conspiracy to violate the civil rights of inmates and falsification of records in a federal investigation, the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia announced today.

 In connection with his guilty plea, Douglass-Griffin admitted that he and other correctional officers assaulted and injured inmates in a series of incidents at the prison in 2010.   Douglass-Griffin indicated that correctional officers beat three inmates in separate incidents in order to punish them.   One inmate was beaten so severely that he had to be transported from the prison in an ambulance.

 Douglass-Griffin further acknowledged that he and other correctional officers tried to cover up MSP officers’ involvement in beating and injuring inmates.   Douglass-Griffin stated that other MSP officers told him to write false reports and to stick to their cover story when speaking with investigators.

 Douglass-Griffin faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.  

“The Justice Department will continue to vigorously prosecute correctional officers who violate the constitutional rights of inmates, and use their official position to try to cover up their crimes,” said Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Thomas E. Perez.

“We expect the men and women who work in our state prisons to exemplify professionalism and integrity – and the vast majority do,” said Michael J. Moore, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia.   “But when a small group of guards violate the civil rights of inmates in the facility and then actively try to cover that up, my office will have no tolerance for their conduct.”

This case is being investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Special Litigation Counsel Forrest Christian and Trial Attorney Tona Boyd of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, with the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia.

Former Kennedy Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Fraud Charge

PITTSBURGH—A resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of mail fraud, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

Frank A. Caligiuri, Jr., 42, of 916 Chestnut Ridge Drive, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15205, pleaded guilty to one count before Senior United States District Judge Maurice B. Cohill.

In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that in July 2009, Caligiuri, who was a Kennedy Township Police officer at that time, devised a scheme to defraud GEICO Insurance Company by falsely reporting that his Harley Davidson motorcycle had been stolen when, in fact, it had not. After receiving the insurance proceeds from GEICO, Caligiuri sold the motorcycle, but the sale was arranged and surveilled by federal law enforcement agents who were conducting an undercover investigation.

Judge Cohill scheduled sentencing for November 15, 2012, at 10:00 a.m. The law provides for a total sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offense and the criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

Pending sentencing, the court ordered Caligiuri to remain on bond.

Assistant United States Attorney Lee J. Karl is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Caligiuri.