Pubdate: Fri, 22 Aug 2003
Source: Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Copyright: 2003 The Sun-Times Co.
Contact:  http://www.suntimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/81
Author: Steve Warmbir
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)

3 FORMER PRISON GUARDS CHARGED WITH PROVIDING SEX, DRUGS, GADGETS

Some inmates at Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet got service with a
smile, and then some, prosecutors alleged Thursday.

They got cocaine and heroin.

They got a camera or cell phone service.

They got sex.

Three former prison guards--one of them a woman who allegedly dallied with
killers--were charged in the scheme, prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney
Scott Levine. A reputed drug dealer who allegedly funneled narcotics to some of
the crooked guards also was charged.

"You don't want a person serving a life sentence for murder to have the
comforts of home," said U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, referring to the
example of the camera. It was unclear what the prisoners were using the camera
for.

One guard, Robert Goodner, 28, of Chicago, was a Gangster Disciple and simply
lied on his job application to the Illinois Department of Corrections in August
2000, federal prosecutors alleged.

Goodner had no criminal record that would raise red flags when he applied at
the department, a corrections spokesman said.

Goodner was the first target of investigators, based on information from the
corrections department. He bought two ounces of crack cocaine from an
undercover agent Dec. 12, 2002.

Goodner allegedly distributed drugs to numerous prisoners, many of them gang
members. For one prisoner, a fellow Gangster Disciple serving a life sentence
for murder, Goodner got 32 grams of heroin, 42 grams of crack, 7 grams of
cocaine and 71/2 ounces of marijuana, some of which the inmate passed on to his
fellow prisoners, the feds said.

Goodner allegedly got about $715 from the inmate's colleagues outside of prison
for his role as middleman.

Goodner decided to cooperate with the feds and gave up another allegedly
crooked guard, Tanya Flowers.

Flowers, 32, of Chicago, allegedly had sex with at least two inmates, including
one who was serving a life sentence for murder.

While Flowers was having sex with the inmate in the bathroom of an inmate
housing unit, another prisoner, who is a leader of the Four Corner Hustlers
street gang and was convicted of murder, rape and kidnapping, stood guard to
give the pair privacy.

Flowers also had sexual relations with another guard, Steven King, 25, of
Chicago, whom she gave up to the feds, along with alleged drug dealer Pharoah
Spencer, 26, also of Chicago, according to court records.

Flower's actions closed down the investigation of King and Spencer after she
admitted to King in April that she was cooperating with the FBI.

Agents, though, are continuing to work the case and more prosecutions are
expected.

"We'll figure out how big it is when we get to the end of it," Fitzgerald said.

Roger E. Walker, the recently appointed head of the state prison system, vowed
to root out corruption but when pressed, he offered no specifics on how he
would change the scandal-plagued system.

Walker declined to explain how a prisoner could have a cell phone, with a
battery charger and headset, for six months without being discovered.

For criminals, having a cell phone in prison presents a ripe opportunity
because pay-phone calls from prison are routinely tape-recorded, authorities
said.
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