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Mar 12, 2023

Correctional officer and 14 others indicted in contraband conspiracy

Contraband conspiracies involving drones and a Maryland correctional officer

Contraband conspiracies involving drones and a Maryland correctional officer have resulted in the indictments of 15 people following a months-long investigation last year that included wiretaps, according to Washington County court records.

The investigation of people in and outside of Roxbury Correctional Institution south of Hagerstown revealed the defendants' roles in three "separate and complex" conspiracies to smuggle illegal drugs and other contraband into RCI, according to the Maryland attorney general's office and court records.

At least one of those conspiracies involved using drones to fly contraband to the Roxbury Road prison complex and over the RCI prison fence, according to court records.

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Among the contraband the criminal enterprise worked to distribute inside RCI was Suboxone strips that contained buprenorphine, a synthetic opioid, according to indictments. Suboxone is used to treat opioid addiction, but also "can be abused to experience a high," according to the indictments. It is manufactured as a film similar to a breath mint strip and dozens of strips can be packaged in a small bundle.

Other contraband involved in the conspiracy includes fentanyl, methamphetamine, marijuana, synthetic marijuana, cellphones and chargers, tobacco, ratchets, security bits, phone antennae, card readers, phone cords and adaptors, USB cables, earbuds, thumb drives, smart watches, vape smoking devices and SIM cards, according to indictments.

Members of the criminal enterprise and their associates used coded language and frequently changed cellphone numbers and Cash App accounts, court records state.

Roxbury is a medium-security prison with approximately 1,575 inmates, according to the Maryland Department of Public Safety & Correctional Services.

Attorney General Anthony Brown and Public Safety & Correctional Services Secretary Carolyn J. Scruggs are expected to be outside RCI on Thursday for a news conference to announce the 15 indictments. Also expected to attend are law enforcement, including Washington County Sheriff Brian Albert, according to an advisory from the attorney general's office.

Among those indicted is correctional officer Temille Anike Ashby, 33, of Windsor, Md., who is normally assigned to the Jessup Correctional Institution in Anne Arundel County. Her indictment states she is a 10-year veteran dietary officer who occasionally worked overtime shifts in the Roxbury prison kitchen.

The indictment alleges Ashby helped defendant and then-RCI inmate Jamal Brown and a criminal enterprise by smuggling illegal drugs and other contraband into the prison when she worked those overtime shifts. She allegedly delivered the drugs and other contraband to Brown for further re-distribution inside RCI.

Among the charges Ashby faces are felony possession with intent to distribute buprenorphine and numerous misdemeanors.

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During a May 3 bond hearing in Washington County Circuit Court, Public Defender Robert Sheehan told Judge Brett R. Wilson that Ashby has been on leave from her position since mid-November and is no longer on active duty.

Wilson agreed with Assistant Attorney General Zachary Norfolk that the offenses were a step up from "hand-to-hand" street deals and Ashby had violated the oath of her office by helping get drugs into a "dangerous situation."

Wilson ordered Ashby held without bond until arrangements could be made for bracelet monitoring.

Ashby was released on personal recognizance on May 15, according to the online docket for her case.

Norfolk said Ashby used her position of trust in the conspiracy. He told the judge that law enforcement was able to stop an attempt to smuggle about 158 strips of Suboxone and four white sheets of chemical-soaked paper into RCI thanks in part to wiretaps.

On Nov. 5, Ashby brought the Suboxone and sheets into RCI with the intent to distribute and deliver them to Brown for further redistribution, the indictment states. When law enforcement stopped her, she tried to flush the contraband down a toilet. Officers intercepted the package.

Six days later on Nov. 11, Brown used his contraband cellphone to call Ashby.

"During the call, Ashby reflected on her situation and said, 'I chose to do it, and now I have to make my bed and lay in it,'" the indictment states.

Inmate Jose Tapia allegedly worked with other inmates and people on the outside to smuggle drugs and other items into RCI for distribution. This included coordinating with Guy Edward Austin Jr., 26, and Miya Ann Scott, 25, both of Baltimore, to fly contraband packages over the RCI fence using drones, according to indictments.

At least twice, a drone was covered or wrapped in material including outdoor green carpet on July 4 when a drone was flown over the prison fence, according to indictments. During Scott's May 3 bond hearing, Norfolk said a green tarp was used to cover a drone to help disguise it when it hit the grass.

On Sept. 6, Tapia allegedly used his contraband cellphone to text Austin to park at "Lappens rd something like that," according to Austin's indictment. That area is about a mile from RCI and where officers later found a drone that Austin and Scott allegedly crashed Sept. 6 on its way to RCI.

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The drone, found stuck in a tree in the 18800 block of Lappans Road on Oct. 24, had a package containing 176 Suboxone strips, over 12.5 grams of marijuana, almost 94 grams of THC, tobacco, a ratchet, security bits, phones, earbuds, electronic storage devices, cables, chargers and adaptors.

On Sept. 7, when Austin and Scott tried to fly another drone onto the RCI grounds for Tapia to pick up, officers found Scott holding a drone remote control while landing a drone, according to indictments. That drone's cargo included almost 119 grams of synthetic marijuana, drones, an electronic scale, and rolls of fishing line and duct tape.

Another way alleged conspiracists were passing along contraband was dropping it off at the University of Maryland Medical Center for an RCI inmate to pick up during his medical appointments, according to indictments.

Inmate Akeem Banks would go to the Baltimore hospital for his medical appointments and pick up the contraband, including drugs, according to court records. Then Banks would take the contraband back to RCI for redistribution.

The contraband was left in places like a treatment room or bathroom and, at least once, found in a custom-sewn pocket in Banks' underwear when he arrived back at RCI, according to court records.