Correctional officer among 26 indicted in prison probe

BALTIMORE — In the latest move to root out long-standing corruption in Maryland prisons, state and federal officials announced Thursday the indictments of 26 people, including a correctional officer who served as a high-ranking gang member.

The charges include attempted first-degree murder and smuggling contraband like drugs and cellphones into prisons.

Sgt. Antoine Fordham, a correctional officer whom authorities described as a high-ranking member of the 8-Trey Crips street gang, was the initial target of the probe and among those indicted. The indictment alleges Fordham oversaw much of the gang’s drug dealing activity at a Baltimore intersection.

Officials say Fordham and other members of the gang authorized or committed acts of violence to protect the gang’s turf and maintain gang discipline.

“He told another co-conspirator in a recorded call: ‘I’m going to tell you, cuz, the route I’m going, they’re going to have to build a statue out there with my face on it,’” Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said at a news conference.

The investigation grew to include additional gang members and another correctional officer, Phillipe Jordan, and other co-conspirators who authorities said were running a large-scale, contraband-delivery operation in Maryland correctional facilities, including Jessup Correctional Institution.

“Gangs are a blight on any community in which they operate. Not only were they involved in a drug-related shooting on the streets of Baltimore, but they also imported violence, drugs and other contraband into the prison system,” Frosh said.