Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang today sentenced Chaz Chriscoe, age 40, of Owings Mills, Maryland, to 39 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for a racketeering conspiracy at the Jessup Correctional Institution (JCI).
The conspiracy included former correctional officers, inmates, and outside ‘facilitators,’ like Chriscoe, who paid bribes to correctional officers to smuggle contraband, including narcotics, alcohol, tobacco, and cell phones into the prison.
On May 3, 2021, JCI inmate Darnell Smith, a/k/a ‘Hook,’ age 40, pleaded guilty to his role in the racketeering conspiracy.
The sentence and guilty plea were announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Jonathan F. Lenzner; Acting Special Agent in Charge Rachel Byrd, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Secretary Robert Green, of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.
“Prison corruption does not just endanger the lives of correctional officers and of the inmates entrusted to their care and supervision, but of the entire community, as it allows inmates to direct criminal activity from their prison cells.” said Acting United States Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner.
According to their plea agreements, from at least 2017 until their arrests in 2020, Chriscoe, who also goes by the name ‘Cheese,’ and Smith conspired with JCI COs, inmates, and outside facilitators to smuggle contraband into JCI, including narcotics, alcohol, tobacco, and cell phones, in order to enrich themselves and protect and expand their criminal operation.
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Key Facts
- State: Maryland
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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