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Feds: 80 charged in prison racketeering, drug conspiracies

prisonBALTIMORE (AP) — Federal authorities say correctional officers at Maryland’s largest prison for years helped scores of inmates smuggle narcotics, tobacco, pornography and cellphones into the facility in exchange for money and sex.

A pair of sweeping federal indictments against 35 inmates, 18 jail guards and 27 “outside facilitators” was unsealed Wednesday.

Officials have scheduled a news conference in Baltimore for Wednesday afternoon to discuss the indictments.

The indictments allege a racketeering scheme at the East and West compounds of the Eastern Correctional Facility that involved smuggling heroin, cocaine, MDMA, ecstasy and Suboxone, among other narcotics, into the jail in exchange for cash, money orders and in some cases, sexual favors. The indictments say guards were able to bypass security screenings and deliver the contraband to inmates in their cells or at pre-arranged “stash” locations.

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