| Guard In Private Prison For
Federal Cooperators Arrested on Corruption
Continues Without Bail
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
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SDNY COURTHOUSE,
March 6 -- Three former
correction officers at the GEO
private prison in Queens, New
York in which Federal
cooperators are detained were
arrested on March 5 and at 9
pm presented in the U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Magistrates Court.
The
charges involve taking bribes
in order to smuggle in drugs
and a cell phone.
Assistant
US Attorney Maurene Comey
began with the first of the
three defendants, saying that
a $50,000 bond had been agreed
to by defense counsel from
Sullivan &
Cromwell.
Then for
defendant Khari Faison,
defense lawyer Sabrina Shroff
said he should be released
without bond. She said Faison
already lost his job at the
GEO private prison, and that
he was arrested that morning
at his new job, at
Target.
AUSA Comey
emphasized to the week's
Magistrates Court Judge, Kevin
N. Fox, that Faison has broken
his trust as a corrections
officer and so should sign the
bond to be released.
Shroff replied that a private
prison is different that a
court, and that the Bail
Reform Act does not support
this use of bond.
Judge Fox,
who had denied Shroff's
request to release another
client earlier in the evening
- Inner City Press was the
only media at these
proceedings - seems to have
agreed.
He ordered Faison
released on his own
recognizance, without bail or
bond. This was upheld despite
AUSA Jessica Lonergan's appeal
on March 6, see below.
By constrast both Jermaine
Harmon and Compton Richmond
were required to sign $50,000
bonds.
AUSA Comey
asked Judge Fox to stay his
decision as to Faison to
permit an appeal to the Part I
judge. Judge Fox
denied the request, telling
AUSA Comey she could appeal in
the morning.
In fact,
the appeal was at 4 pm before
SDNY Part I Judge Daniels, and
it was argued by AUSA Jessica
Lonergan who again emphasized
that Faison had breached trust
as a private prison guard.
Shroff for
her part asked why the
prosecutors had insisted on
arresting Faison at Target,
putting his job there in
jeopardy, rather than allowing
him to surrender like most
white (collar) defendants.
Judge
Daniels agreed, saying he
would not change the bail
conditions accepted by Judge
Fox. With the reversals by
Judges Nathan and Cote, it
left Judge Fox 1 and 2, or 1
out of 3, for the day. And
there will be more days.
The case is
US v Faison, et al, 20-mj-2109
(Fox).
***
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