Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh today announced the indictments of 13 individuals who participated in several smuggling schemes in the Maryland Correctional Institute for Women. Charges in the indictments cover five different smuggling attempts, including one that involved a DPSCS dietary sergeant. The investigation was led by the Maryland Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS).
“These individuals, inmates, and a correctional employee conspired together to smuggle illegal drugs into a Maryland correctional facility,” said Attorney General Frosh. “Trafficking drugs in the prison system, where order is paramount to keeping inmates and staff safe, is illegal and dangerous.”
“Any individual who facilitates the introduction of contraband into our prisons is putting our employees and the incarcerated population in great danger especially given the fact that contraband can lead to violence,” said DPSCS Secretary Robert Green. “We will not tolerate anyone or anything that endangers our employees and those in our custody and we will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.”
The investigation revealed that between June 2020 and February 2021, 6 inmates and 7 outside facilitators worked together to introduce large amounts of suboxone strips into MCIW. Suboxone smuggling is a lucrative criminal enterprise in Maryland facilities. The COVID outbreak and local supply and demand can cause $3 to $4 of Suboxone strips bought on the street to be sold between $200 to $400 dollars in jail. In total, approximately $140,000 – $280,000 worth of Suboxone strips were recovered during the course of the investigation.
Most schemes were intercepted by law enforcement or failed because of mistakes made by the conspirators. Schemes included an attempt to throw an orange filled with Suboxone into the compound and an attempt to smuggle drugs using specially prepared envelopes in inmate mail. Another included enlisting the aid of Dietary Sgt. Linda Lomax to conceal hundreds of strips on her person and walk through the front entrance of the prison. A scheme involving the attempted delivery of contraband through trash pickup was foiled when a non-conspirator inmate inadvertently threw the contraband in an area where the inmates could not reach.
The defendants’ arraignments will be set in Anne Arundel County.
In making today’s announcement, Attorney General Frosh thanked Organized Crime Chief Katie Dorian, Assistant Attorney General Paul Halliday, Assistant Attorney General Zachary Norfolk, and Detective Sergeant Michael Baier of the DPSCS. Attorney General Frosh also thanked Maryland State Police Superintendent Colonel Woodrow W. Jones, Maryland State Police, and State’s Attorney for Anne Arundel County Anne Colt Leitess for their assistance in this investigation.
A criminal indictment is merely an accusation of wrongdoing, and a defendant is presumed innocent until the State proves the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Indicted individuals:
- Harvey Barnes
- James Bryant
- Kenisha Burrel
- Brielle Ebanks
- Ciara KRS
- Linda Lomax
- Kayla Nelson
- Brittani Quigley
- Kelley Thacker
- Emanuel Walker
- Tiya Watts
- Angela Williams
- Anisha Williams
