In April, news broke that inmates were running the asylum that is the
Baltimore City Detention Center. A sweeping federal indictment alleged
widespread smuggling and implicated 25 defendants—including members of
the Black Guerrilla Family gang and 13 female correctional offers—in an
elaborate scheme that brought drugs, cell phones, and other contraband
into the facility.

But that wasn’t the most shocking aspect of the case. Prosecutors
maintained that officers not only participated in the scheme, they also
took orders from gang members and had sexual relationships with them.

“I make every final call in this jail and nothing goes past me,” gang
leader Tavon White said during a phone conversation recorded by
investigators.

White allegedly impregnated four prison guards and pocketed as much
as $15,000 a month selling contraband behind bars. The scandal shook the
already beleaguered correctional system, became national news, and put
Gov. Martin O’Malley, who’d pledged to improve the prison system, on the
defensive.

When O’Malley praised the indictments as “a positive development,”
critics pounced and some observers speculated the scandal could dog him
for years and possibly diminish his chances for a 2016 presidential bid.
At press time, White, three other defendants, and seven correctional
officers had pleaded guilty.

“This is my jail.” —gang leader Tavon White