BALTIMORE – A tip from a concerned prison guard has turned into the single largest federal case in Maryland’s history: 80 people including corrections officers, inmates and “outside facilitators” have been charged with orchestrating a vast contraband smuggling enterprise that involved trading drugs, pornography, tobacco and cellphones to state prisoners for money and sex.
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Two federal indictments unsealed Wednesday allege a sweeping racketeering scheme infiltrated the Eastern Correctional Institution in Westover – Maryland’s largest state prison – and that it involved 18 prison guards, 35 inmates and 27 civilians who helped with the flow of drugs and other contraband.
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Authorities say state investigators and counterparts from the FBI cracked the case by relying heavily on wiretaps.