City Jail

A cabal of corrupt corrections officers and members of the Black Guerrilla Family gang enjoyed nearly free rein inside the Baltimore City Detention Center, federal authorities allege, smuggling drugs and cellphones into the jail and having sexual relationships that left four guards pregnant. An indictment unsealed Tuesday names 25 people - including 13 women working as corrections officers - who face racketeering and drug charges. Twenty of the accused also face money-laundering charges.

If the federal prison that gets Tavon White is anything like the last one I visited, even a charmer such as Bulldog will have a tough time recreating the life of the libertine he had at the Baltimore City Detention Center. White, a reputed leader of the Black Guerrilla Family prison gang, is accused of attempted murder; he's been on trial twice for that charge since 2009. Both trials ended in hung juries, and that explains why White, or "Bulldog," had enough time at the jail to get four of its correctional officers pregnant, one of them twice, according to recent federal indictments.

State corrections secretary Gary D. Maynard ordered polygraph tests Friday of top administrators and "integrity reviews" of every employee at the Baltimore City Detention Center in an effort to root out corruption at the jail. Maynard has moved his office to the facility from Towson to oversee a review of leadership, staff and operations amid allegations that the Black Guerrilla Family gang developed broad power inside the jail, a spokesman said. More than two dozen inmates and correctional officers in the city jail are charged in a scheme that officials say involved the smuggling of drugs and other contraband, including cellphones, into the facility.

As I assessed the situation at the Baltimore City jail, and the subsequent indictments that came down because of the corruption of a few, I realized that while the rosy portrait painted by Gov. Martin O'Malley may not have been as bright as he would have liked the public to believe, it certainly was nowhere near as gloomy as your recent editorial portrayed it ("O'Malley can't spin his way out of the jail scandal," April 30). It's easy to point the finger after the hard work has been done; as they say, "hindsight is 20/20.

No one calls the War of 1812 America's finest hour. But it had its moments. Resentful over treatment by the British and determined to enhance national sovereignty, Henry Clay and a small group of "War Hawks" in the Twelfth Congress pushed an unprepared country into war. There was reason for resentment. For years, Britain, desperate for sailors in its mortal battle with Napoleon, had stopped American ships and impressed their seamen. Though in theory only British subjects were to be seized, an estimated 6,000 Americans were taken between 1803 and 1812.

The U.S. Justice Department has returned to the Baltimore city jail and booking center to determine whether progress has been made since its investigators issued a scathing report three years ago decrying problems with medical care, sanitation and other troubling conditions for inmates. "They are looking to get an accurate understanding and update on the current conditions at the institution," said Karen V. Poe, a spokeswoman with the state public safety department. "It's not an adversarial situation.

Despite objections from youth advocates and some city lawmakers, momentum is building in the State House to construct a new 120-bed jail in Baltimore for youths who are charged as adults. Debate over the proposed jail has swirled in Baltimore and the halls of Annapolis since 2010, with state officials demanding more space for imprisoned youths and advocates saying the resources would be better spent on education and prevention. "I think that it has been studied enough," said Del. Adrienne A. Jones, after a House Capital Budget Subcommittee briefing on the project Wednesday morning.

Polygraph tests for three top officials at the Baltimore City Detention Center began Sunday, in an effort to determine the extent of the corruption federal investigators allege plagued the jail. Rick Binetti, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, declined to comment Sunday on the outcome of the polygraph tests for interim jail administrator Ricky Foxwell and two deputy administrators. The corrections department's internal affairs unit and Maryland State Police investigators administered the polygraphs, and the information gleaned from them could factor into potential disciplinary actions or the decision to prosecute.

A city jury convicted on Thursday a 41-year-old inmate in the 2006 stabbing death of a man that occurred in the Baltimore City Detention Center and led to policy changes at the facility. Matthew T. Evans, who has been in federal custody, was convicted of first-degree murder in the killing of Anthony E. Conaway, 41, who was being held on burglary charges when he was fatally stabbed March 13, 2006, at the city jail. The case, which has been postponed numerous times since charges were brought in 2007, went to the jury Tuesday, and jurors were to continue deliberating charges against Evans' co-defendant, Tivon Wright.

Until two weeks ago, detainees at the Baltimore City jail were wearing street clothes, despite rules forbidding casual attire. Previous administrations did not enforce the regulation. But after Wendell M. "Pete" France took over as commissioner of pretrial detention for Maryland's prison system in January, he ordered everyone at the state-run detention center and Central Booking to don jumpsuits. The inmates protested, and last month they began setting small fires in trash cans that soon numbered a dozen.

General Assembly leaders say a joint committee of top legislators will hear from corrections officials about alleged corruption at the Baltimore City Detention Center. The briefing, to be held in June, replaces a House Judiciary Committee hearing that had been scheduled for next week. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael E. Busch announced the joint public briefing of the Legislative Policy Committee by top corrections officials in June. Alexandra Hughes, a spokeswoman for the speaker, said the exact date of the briefing is expected to be announced next week.

I could not agree more with The Sun's editorial regarding Gov. Martin O'Malley and corruption in the city jail ("Spinning corruption," May 1). Governor O'Malley is running for higher office and is not taking responsibility for the corrections system corruption that has been going on for decades. Heads should roll and replacements be made, rather than allowing the current "leadership" to fix the system that is broken and needs rebuilding. Allowing the current secretary to continue in office sends the message that a Band-Aid is being placed on cancer.

Regarding your recent blurb about Family Fun Day, I noted the headline was a gloss on one of Gilbert & Sullivan's most memorable songs from the "Pirates of Penzance" ("This day, a policeman's lot was a happy one," April 29). That charming ditty concludes with the refrain "When constabulary duty's to be done, to be done, a policeman's lot is not a happy one!" "Pirates," which debuted in the U.S. in New York City on Dec. 31, 1879, has always been a favorite on this side of the pond - so much so that by the 1920s its chorus, "Come, friends, who plow the sea," had acquired new, rather scurrilous lyrics that are still well known.

UPDATE: O'Malley's spokeswoman, Raquel Guillory, said late Wednesday that the governor had a meeting with the mayor and discussed "the history of the case and the formation of the task force. " O'Malley thanked Rawlings-Blake for the city's participation on the Maryland Prison Task Force, which "made the case with state and federal partners," Guillory said. She added that the governor asked for the city's "continued  participation as we work to expand this beach-head and follow this case as far and high as it goes.

As critics of Martin O'Malley sensed a new political vulnerability, the governor insisted Tuesday that last week's indictment of inmates and correctional officers at the Baltimore City Detention Center was "a positive achievement" in Maryland's fight against violent gangs. A day after returning from a weeklong trade mission to Israel, O'Malley said that the state instigated and acted as a full partner in the federal investigation that found widespread corruption and smuggling at the city jail.

Gov. Martin O'Malley on Tuesday called last week's indictments of 25 inmates and correctional officers at the Baltimore City Detention Center "a very positive development" in the state's fight to dismantle violent gangs in state prisons. A day after returning from a weeklong trade mission to Israel, the governor told a State House news conference that he is standing firmly behind Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services Gary D. Maynard in the wake of a federal probe that found widespread corruption and smuggling at the city jail.

UPDATE: O'Malley's spokeswoman, Raquel Guillory, said late Wednesday that the governor had a meeting with the mayor and discussed "the history of the case and the formation of the task force. " O'Malley thanked Rawlings-Blake for the city's participation on the Maryland Prison Task Force, which "made the case with state and federal partners," Guillory said. She added that the governor asked for the city's "continued  participation as we work to expand this beach-head and follow this case as far and high as it goes.

Apparently Tavon White, the leader of the Black Guerrilla Family prison gang at the Baltimore City Detention Center, has been running the prison for some time ("Corruption alleged at jail," April 24). To connect the dots between violent crime, simply follow the money - it leads to the group's drug trafficking. Power, and the money that generates it, drive illegal businesses. Excitement, money and power are pumped up on sound systems and flat screen TVs across the country. That makes it sexy to sell and use drugs and even to be a gang member.

Marilyn J. Mosby, a former Baltimore assistant state's attorney and the wife of City Councilman Nick Mosby, told The Sun that she plans to run for Baltimore state's attorney next year. Mosby's confirmation of her intention to run in 2014 came as she alleged that the city prosecutors' office is partly to blame for the alleged corruption scandal unfolding at the city jail involving the Black Guerilla Family gang. Federal prosecutors said last week that an inmate named Tavon White awaiting charges for attempted murder, who has been in the jail since 2009, turned the facility into his own fiefdom, impregnating corrections officers and running a lucrative drug organization.

Apparently Tavon White, the leader of the Black Guerrilla Family prison gang at the Baltimore City Detention Center, has been running the prison for some time ("Corruption alleged at jail," April 24). To connect the dots between violent crime, simply follow the money - it leads to the group's drug trafficking. Power, and the money that generates it, drive illegal businesses. Excitement, money and power are pumped up on sound systems and flat screen TVs across the country. That makes it sexy to sell and use drugs and even to be a gang member.