4 Arundel detention center officers arrested

Charges include smuggling contraband to inmates; no others believed involved

“It appears a small number of people have let us down.”

Four Anne Arundel County detention officers have been charged with smuggling tobacco and other contraband to inmates at the Jennifer Road Detention Center in Annapolis.

Officers Grayling Jackson, 59, of Severn; Kenyatta Trotter, 41, of Gwynn Oak; James Newsome, 25, of Mechanicsville; and Catherine Windsor, 26, of Lothian were arrested Tuesday and face more than 60 charges among them, including bribery, misconduct in office and delivery of contraband. The most serious offenses carry maximum pen- alties of up to 12 years in prison.

“I am disappointed in the actions of these four detention officers,” said Terry Kokolis, superintendent of the Anne Arundel County Department of Detention Facilities. “Information pertaining to improper conduct will be thoroughly investigated and appropriate action, including criminal prosecution, will be taken.”

“It appears a small number of people have let us down,” said County Executive Steve Schuh about the arrests.

Officials said they launched an investigation after receiving a tip in late January about possible corruption at the facility. A grand jury indicted the four officers on Friday.

All four have been put on paid administrative leave pending court proceedings, Kokolis said. The four could not be reached for comment.

Officials said Trotter and Jackson are 17-year veterans of the department; Newsome and Windsor have worked for the department two years.

The officers allegedly smuggled loose tobacco, cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, fast food, lighters, matches, an e-cigarette and a cellphone into the detention center, police said.

The items were dropped off at locations within the facility, police said, then retrieved by inmates later. Police said the officers received money for the contraband.

The county has detention facilities on Jennifer Road and Ordnance Road in Glen Burnie. The facilities house inmates awaiting trial and inmates serving sentences less than 18 months. The Jennifer Road facility can house up to 631 inmates, Ordnance Road up to 432.

The department has about 400 employees, including 280 detention officers.

Over the past two years, state corrections officers working in Baltimore have been the subject of federal prosecutions regarding smuggling of contraband items, including drugs, prescription medications and cellphones in an operation involving incarcerated gang members.

Kokolis and other county officials stressed Tuesday that the alleged actions of the four Anne Arundel officers don’t represent the majority of detention facilities employees – nor are they an indication of a wider problem in the county.

Police spokesman Lt. T.J. Smith said “nothing of this magnitude” has happened at the Anne Arundel jail before, and officials do not believe other officers were involved.

County Executive Steve Schuh