Pubdate: Thu, 22 Jun 2006
Source: Miami Herald (FL)
Copyright: 2006 The Miami Herald
Contact:  http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/262
Author: Gary Fineout, Marisa Taylor and Mary Ellen Klas
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)

AGENT, GUARD DIE IN PRISON GUNFIGHT

As Federal Agents Prepared to Arrest Six Corrections Officers In
Tallahassee, One of the Suspects Pulled a Gun. The Ensuing Shootout
Left Him and an Agent Dead

TALLAHASSEE - The arrests of six federal prison guards were supposed
to go down quietly, with a group of federal agents showing up
unannounced at the detention facility early in the morning to take the
men into custody.

But something went badly wrong.

Within minutes of the agents' arrival at the Federal Correctional
Institution in Tallahassee on Wednesday morning, one of the six guards
about to be arrested got a revolver. Shots were exchanged between the
startled agents and the guard.

In seconds, 43-year-old prison guard Ralph Hill was dead. So was
William "Buddy" Sentner, a 44-year-old Orlando-based agent with the
Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General. A third
victim, a prison lieutenant whose name was not released, was seriously
injured and required surgery but was expected to survive.

"This is a sad day for law enforcement," FBI Special Agent in Charge
Michael Folmar said, standing just 50 yards from the site of the
shooting. "These agents were out just trying to do their job, trying
to do an arrest in a very controlled situation. It just didn't go down
exactly as planned."

Folmar said the guards did not know they were about to be arrested.
Guards in the prison are not supposed to be armed.

Left unanswered by the FBI and other federal officials: Who fired
first, how many shots were fired and where did Hill get his gun? A
check of Florida records showed that he once had a concealed-weapons
permit, but it expired in 1999. Folmar said an FBI "shooting review"
team was en route to Tallahassee and would attempt to piece together
what happened.

Sex-Related Charges

The arrests Wednesday morning followed a yearlong federal
investigation into lurid allegations involving six prison guards and
15 female inmates at the prison, a low-security facility that sits on
rolling hills just three miles from downtown Tallahassee and houses
nearly 1,500 inmates. The shooting occurred just outside the entrance
to the Federal Detention Center, which sits adjacent to the female
prison.

According to the indictment returned Tuesday, Hill and four other
guards engaged in "sexual contact" with eight inmates between
September 2003 and May 2005. The guards would often switch duties to
allow one of them to meet with an inmate. The guards also allegedly
forced other inmates to serve as lookouts and used cleaning products
"to destroy evidence of the sexual contact with inmates."

In exchange for sex, the guards gave inmates contraband, including
marijuana, alcohol and money, the indictment said. To keep female
inmates from snitching, the indictment said, they bribed them or
threatened to plant contraband in inmates' belongings or have them
sent to another prison farther from their families.

As proof that inmates could be tracked wherever they went in the
federal prison system, guards allegedly showed inmates information
from federal computers.

Named in the indictment unsealed in Tallahassee were six guards: Hill,
Alfred Barnes, Gregory Dixon, Vincent Johnson, Alan Moore and E. Lavon
Spence. They were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit
bribery, witness tampering, mail fraud and interstate transportation
in aid of racketeering. If convicted, they could face up to 20 years.

Within hours of their arrests and Hill's death, the five men, four of
them wearing prison guard uniforms, stood before a federal judge and
pleaded not guilty. The judge delayed a hearing on whether to release
the five after prosecutors told him a key witness for the hearing had
been "traumatized" by the morning shooting.

Attorney Stunned

Hill's attorney, R. Timothy Jansen of Tallahassee, said he was
"shell-shocked" when he learned that Hill had been shot and killed.

"When I get there, they say: 'Oh by the way, your client's been shot.
Oh, by the way, a federal officer is dead.'

"If he had a weapon at the jail, it would be improper," Jansen said.
"If he pulled a firearm, that police officer has every right to
defend himself."

Hill hired Jansen in November when he found out he was under
investigation, Jansen said.

The lawyer said he last spoke with Hill a couple of weeks ago and
didn't learn of the indictment until Wednesday morning, when he was
told by federal officials to head to the prison.

Teri Donaldson, an attorney with the law firm of Tew Cardenas who is
representing Spence, said her client surrendered peacefully to
authorities and was nowhere near the shooting. "Mr. Spence is very
upset about the loss of life," Donaldson said.

Armando Garcia, attorney for 42-year-old Barnes of Thomasville, Ga.,
emphatically denied his client had done anything wrong.

"We deny guilt and we're looking forward to trial," he said. "He's
a lifelong member of the community, he's married and poses no threat
to the community."
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake