Congress investigates misconduct at prison
Bosses got bonuses where staffers say they suffered
A House committee launched an investigation into the federal Bureau of Prisons’ handling of “egregious” misconduct at the largest government-run detention facility — where the warden and other officials were awarded thousands of dollars in bonuses despite female staffers’ allegations of sexual harassment.
In letters to the BOP and the FBI, House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, highlighted the case of Antwon Pitt, who “repeatedly harassed and threatened staffers that he would rape and kill them” while
he served a 24-month sentence for robbery at the U.S. Penitentiary in Coleman, Fla.
Pitt was never prosecuted for his actions against prison staffers. After his release in 2015, he was convicted of raping a Washington woman. It is unclear, Chaffetz said in his letter late Wednesday, whether the BOP informed officials in charge of Pitt’s post-release supervision of his misconduct as an inmate.
Chaffetz’s letters cite reporting by The Washington Post, which highlighted Pitt’s case last year, and by USA TODAY, which reported last month that the BOP paid more than $2 million in bonuses to top administrators during the past three years. That included tens of thousands of dollars to four executives who held senior leadership posts at the Coleman prison where Pitt served time.
The payments — including a $34,000 bonus to Coleman’s warden, Tamyra Jarvis — spanned the time of Pitt’s incarceration and a sexual harassment lawsuit involving hundreds of current and former staffers, who alleged that prison managers failed to protect them from years of sexual harassment and threats from inmates.
Jarvis retired in January and was recently appointed corrections director in Escambia, Fla.
A $20 million settlement of the legal action is pending before a federal judge.
The bonus payments, especially those approved for top administrators at Coleman, prompted outrage from union officials who were instrumental in bringing the legal action on behalf of more than 500 female staffers.
Many of the women were subjected to sexually charged threats and abuse during the course of 16 years, according to court documents.
Sandra Parr, a vice president of the national union of prison workers, said the Coleman bonus recipients were aware of the problems at the prison “but did nothing to fix anything.”
“These people got bonuses off the backs of people who were actually dealing with the predators,” Parr told USA TODAY.
Joe Rojas, president of a union that helped gather much of the evidence in the harassment lawsuit, said there was “no justification at all — none that I can think of — for these people to be rewarded” with bonuses.
Bureau of Prisons spokesman Justin Long acknowledged the bonuses. He said they were authorized by the Office of Personnel Management guidelines.