Prison officers jailed for smuggling, welcomed as ‘comrades’ by inmates

Oct 29, 2018 News

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What is it like to be a prison officer one moment, and an inmate the next?
Do you live in dread of the people you once guarded?
Are you threatened, jeered at…or are you welcomed as a comrade?
According to a senior prison official, prison officers who are convicted of smuggling contraband are treated well by other inmates, who perceive the ex-officers as being “on their side.”
And more ranks, including women, are risking dismissal and jail to smuggle contraband.
Statistics provided by the Guyana Prison Service and the courts show that between 2015 and October, 2018, two ranks, including a female, have served time, two were convicted, one is on remand, two are on bail, and charges were dismissed against one rank.

Ex-prison officer Joan Ann Erskine is among them.
In October, 2016, Erskine was caught with 298 grammes of cannabis at the New Amsterdam Prison. She was then charged with possession of the cannabis for trafficking.
Erskine, who was represented by attorney Tonia Clements, had pleaded not guilty to the charge.
However, two prison officers, a prisoner and a police rank testified against her.
It was alleged that on October 23, 2016, Erskine was observed collecting a black plastic bag from a car, which she placed into her bag.
In July, 2017, she was sentenced to 18 months in jail and fined $200,000.
She was told that she would be incarcerated for a further six months if she failed to pay the fine.
Prior to that, in July, 2014, 21-year-old prison officer Akeem Vyphuis, who had been a prison officer for three years, was nabbed while carrying a package containing 279 grammes of marijuana valued at $139,500 in the Georgetown Prisons.

Vyphuis reported that day for work via the main entrance of the prison compound and was shortly after seen by Cadet Officer Cameron throwing a package on the ground.
When it was checked, the package had five parcels, comprising 299 grammes of marijuana.
Three days after the bust, the ex-prison officer appeared before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry to answer to drug trafficking charge.
He denied the allegation and instead claimed that she had recapped that the ex-prison officer claimed that the Cadet Officer planted the drug on him.
The matter was sent to Magistrate Latchman for trial and she ruled that notwithstanding Vyphuis’ defence, she found him guilty as charged.
She said that the accused knew what was in the parcel since he threw it away when he saw the Cadet Officer.
During mitigation, the court heard that Vyphuis had never been charged prior to this drug trafficking case.
In handing down a 56-month sentence, Magistrate Latchman stated that she had considered the mitigating factors and that Vyphuis was a part of an organisation which plays an integral role in reforming offenders. She said that he, being in such a position, ought to have known better.
The Magistrate emphasised that there is need for the courts to act as a deterrent for others who may contemplate trafficking drugs. She revealed that thought was also given to the quantity of marijuana he was busted with as well as the prevalence of drug trafficking.
He was also fined GUY$418,500 – three times the street value of the drug.
Then in July, Vyphuis was joined by fellow prison officer,
Keith Azore.
On July 1, police were conducting a routine roadblock exercise in front of the Sparendaam Police Station, when a car, PNN 2045, approached them. The ranks stopped the car and in the vehicle were Azore, 25, and another passenger. The occupants were asked to exit the vehicle and Azore, who identified himself as a prison officer, came out of the car with a black haversack in his hand.
In a clear plastic bag in the haversack, police found a quantity of leaves, seeds and stems. Azore was cautioned arrested, charged and later convicted.
Last February, prison officer Jamal Carter was at the New Amsterdam Prison when he left the prison yard and went into the lunch room.
Some of his colleagues observed him carrying a white food bowl and a coat and acting in a suspicious manner.
He was questioned and searched and was found in possession of 20 packets of Pall Mall cigarettes and a quantity of leaves, seeds and stems.
The substance was tested and weighed and found to be 528 grams of marijuana.
The allegation is that he intended to take these things to his brother who is a prisoner.
Carter was also convicted and is presently incarcerated.
Last May, prison officers Cleveland Cross, 22, 24-year-old Abdul Parmasoo were also arrested on similar offences.
A release sent out by Director of Prisons Gladwin Samuels stated that both accused collected the parcel from a civilian while on duty at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
Ranks on the East Coast of Demerara set up an operation on the East Coast and stopped a bus the men were travelling in.
A search was carried out by police and the marijuana was found in a black bag in the possession of a prison officer. The two prison officers who were together were escorted to the Brickdam Police Station.
One of the prison officers allegedly admitted to collecting the item from a civilian to take for a prisoner and said that he was paid $20,000 to do so.
Nevertheless, both men were remanded to prison. They are out on bail awaiting the outcome of their case.
Earlier this month, prison officer Gladwyn King stood shackled in the Albion Magistrate Court as Magistrate Renita Singh had him remanded for allegedly attempting to smuggle marijuana and cigarettes into the New Amsterdam jail.
It is alleged that on October 3, King, 39, a father of six, and of Lot 331 Fort Ordinance, East Canje, was at the New Amsterdam Prison when he was held with 1,032 grams of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.
It was also alleged that King had 19 packets of cigarettes.
It is alleged that King conspired with inmates to secure the illegal items that were thrown over the prison walls. Arrangements were allegedly then made by him with the prisoners to secure the packages in the prison kitchen.
A middle manager acting on information prompted a search to be conducted, which subsequently led to the discovery.
Prison Director, Gladwyn Samuels in a release had stated that the officer admitted and accepted his involvement in the crime. The rank allegedly told Samuels that the items were to be delivered to a specific prisoner. The marijuana found was eventually checked and weighed by authorities and amounted to 1032 grams while the other items included 39 packets of cigarette.
King pled not guilty to both charges. Prosecutor Shinel Mathieson objected to bail on the grounds that King was caught on CCTV cameras and was fully attired in uniform.

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