Alabama: On Sunday, June 15, 2025, state Department of Corrections (DOC) guard Airika Dorsey was arrested for allegedly smuggling food to a prisoner at St. Clair Correctional Facility, according to WABM in Birmingham. The DOC confirmed that Dorsey was caught in the act and subsequently booked into the St. Clair County Jail in Pell City. She faces third-degree charges of promoting prison contraband. Dorsey immediately resigned from her post and bonded out of jail. The DOC said that its investigation was ongoing, and further charges could be filed.

Alabama: James C. Burden, a Barbour County Jail guard, was arrested on May 30, 2025, and charged with two counts of promoting prison contraband. Burden worked as a jailer at the same Clayton lockup where he was being held on a $5,500 bond, according to WRBL in nearby Columbus, Georgia. No other details were available, but in a post to his Facebook page, Sheriff Tyrone Smith warned that contraband smuggling “is not and never will be tolerated and there will be consequences!”

Alabama: WAFF in Huntsville reported that former Morgan County jailer Kimberly Woodruff was accused of using jail trustees to pass notes and a vape pen to her brother, who is a detainee in the jail annex. Woodruff was arrested on July 1, 2025, and subsequently fired during an ongoing investigation into the contraband smuggling. She was charged with a misdemeanor and freed on $300 bond. Woodruff, who was in charge of the jail kitchen, had worked for six years under Sheriff Ron Puckett. She was scheduled to be arraigned in September 2025. 

Australia: A young guard was reportedly sexually assaulted by a prisoner wielding a makeshift knife at the privately operated Adelaide Remand Centre on May 5, 2025. The Daily Mail reported that the unnamed guard had turned to secure a door when the prisoner, who was also not identified, sexually assaulted her, allegedly threatening to “slit her throat” and harm her family if she raised an alarm. Incredibly, management with Serco, the prison’s private operator, asked the guard to return to active duty the very next day. Serco confirmed the incident and stated that the matter was referred to South Australia Police for investigation. 

California: The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced that Deputy Probation Officer Michael Solis, 59, was arrested and charged with multiple felonies on June 10, 2025, for allegedly smuggling controlled substances into a juvenile detention facility. Prosecutors accused Solis of conspiring with a minor to sell alprazolam (Xanax) to fellow juvenile detainees being held at Barry J. Nord Juvenile Hall in Sylmar, where Solis was assigned. He allegedly smuggled the highly addictive drug into the lockup between May and August 2023, using the detained juvenile to sell the pills. District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman charged Solis with two counts of conspiracy to possess and smuggle the drug for sale, as well as two counts of possession for sale and bringing a designated controlled substance into a juvenile hall. If convicted, Solis faces up to three years in state prison.

Connecticut: Scott Robert Tardy, 31, a state DOC prison guard and ex-U.S. Marine, pleaded guilty on July 2, 2025, to federal charges of cyberstalking, making false statements, and obstruction of justice, for allegedly using encrypted apps to threaten an FBI agent and his wife. According to NBC News, the guard lived a “double life,” secretly operating under the alias “slimybanana” in anti-government online chat groups, where he urged others to locate and burn down the couple’s home, wishing for them to “cook to death.” Prosecutors revealed that Tardy shared maps and photos of the victims and their home in online posts, in which he also fantasized about torturing the agent’s wife. Despite being warned by investigators, they say he also destroyed his phone and made false statements to them. Tardy entered his plea before U.S. District Judge Joe Anderson; at sentencing he faces up to five years in prison per charge. The DOC said that Tardy was hired as a guard on September 11, 2020, and worked at the Hartford Correctional Center. He was placed on administrative leave with pay on July 3, 2025. 

District of Columbia: On July 1, 2025, a D.C. Superior Court jury convicted Kelvin Powell, 63, a former guard at the city’s Youth Services Center, of 16 counts of sexual abuse of a 17-year-old detainee. Powell, who served for 15 years as a youth development representative, exploited his authority over three months in late 2021 to manipulate other guards to leave him alone with the victim in unmonitored rooms. But some security cameras caught him anyway, and prosecutors presented footage showing Powell groping the victim. Despite defense claims that the allegations were fabricated to bolster a civil lawsuit, and that the victim was untrustworthy because of her rap sheet, the jury deliberated for less than five hours before finding Powell guilty of abusing his position to groom and repeatedly assault the detainee. Powell, previously on home release, was jailed pending sentencing in September 2025, when he could face nearly 38 years in prison. 

Florida: WTVJ in Miami reported that a Florida appeals court ordered a new trial on June 11, 2025, for Atoya Holmes, a former federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) guard previously sentenced to 13 years for fatally shooting boyfriend Verdell Goins in 2021. As PLN reported, Holmes was convicted of manslaughter despite claiming self-defense and a history of abuse. [See: PLN, Mar. 2024, p.62.]. However, the Third District Court of Appeal found “harmful error” in her trial when prosecutors introduced details about a 2017 incident in which Holmes shot her son; she was never charged with a crime, so her defense successfully argued on appeal that the evidence prejudiced the jury. Holmes was awaiting transfer to a Miami-Dade County jail while prosecutors considered their next move.

Florida: Kerontrez Lamar Kenon, 23, a former BOP guard at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee, was sentenced to one year in prison on June 30, 2025, after he pleaded guilty to engaging in a sexual relationship with an unnamed prisoner at the women’s lockup. The Tallahassee Democrat reported that Kenon, who worked at the prison in June and July 2023, was also ordered to serve five years of supervised release. Beyond the sexual misconduct, Kenon admitted to bringing the prisoner cigarettes and food, violating BOP regulations. He even assisted her in setting up a CashApp account for fellow prisoners to pay her for cigarettes that he smuggled to her. U.S. Attorney Jack Heekin denounced this “intolerable” abuse of power, vowing vigorous prosecution for guards who betray their oath. The case was investigated by the FBI and the Office of Inspector General of the federal Department of Justice (DOJ). 

Florida: After she allegedly bragged about smuggling fentanyl into the Lake County Jail, detainee Tiffany Danielle Skidmore, 35, now faces another 45 days in the lockup for contraband possession. The Leesburg News reported that a guard was tipped off on June 16, 2025, by another detainee who claimed that Skidmore had contraband. A subsequent search of her cell and person uncovered a pink baggie hidden in a menstrual pad; inside the bag were two smaller baggies, one of which tested positive for fentanyl. Skidmore initially claimed that the substance was crushed Xanax, which she had hidden during booking. Later she changed her story, claiming that she bought the fentanyl from another detainee. She was charged with introduction of contraband and possession of fentanyl, adding to her existing drug charges. Her bond was set at $5,000.

Georgia: Khadijah Solomon, a former Fulton County Jail guard, was charged in federal court with violating the civil rights of three detainees who were allegedly compliant when she tasered them in January 2025 and then falsified her incident report in an attempted cover-up. Body camera footage reportedly contradicted Solomon’s claims that the detainees were resisting, according to ABC News. The 47-year-old pleaded not guilty on June 17, 2025. Her indictment comes as the jail remains under intense federal scrutiny for widespread civil rights violations, including use of excessive force by guards—an investigation for which her defense lawyer, Devin Rafus, claimed that his client was “collateral damage.” Solomon, who was fired by the office of Sheriff Pat Labat, also faces state charges.

Georgia: On June 13, 2025, Clayton County Jail security specialist LaPorsha Williams was arrested during roll call. Atlanta News First reported, on charges of criminal attempt to commit a felony. Williams allegedly attempted to smuggle a cellphone charger to detainee Rodricus Martin by concealing it in a cereal box that she discarded into a trash can. Investigators discovered that Williams, 38, used the jail’s phone system to coordinate the dropoff with Martin. A search of his cell block following her arrest uncovered an iPhone, and Martin was charged with possession of that contraband, too. The jail’s new administrator, Maj. Michael Johnson, stated that Williams is now a detainee in the same lockup where she worked. 

Hawaii: Hawaii News Now reported that former Oahu Community Correctional Center (OCCC) guard Gilchrist Fernandez will avoid prison despite pleading guilty in January 2025 to importing and attempting to possess illegal aerial fireworks, as PLN reported. [See: PLN, Mar. 2025, p.61.] Fernandez, who arranged for 95 pounds of fireworks to be mailed to the OCCC under other prisoners’ names in 2022, received a deferred judgment from First District Court Judge Ronald Johnson on June 25, 2025. Fernandez argued for leniency at his sentencing hearing, citing his clean record, military service, and community involvement. His defense attorney argued that incarceration would put him at risk given his former role at OCCC. Prosecutors had sought 90-day concurrent prison terms, emphasizing the public’s right to expect more from correctional staff. However, the judge agreed to a four-year deferral, meaning the charges could be dismissed if Fernandez adhered to his sentencing terms. The decision came despite a push for accountability from the office of state Attorney General Anne E. Lopez (D).

Hawaii: Former BOP guard Mikael Rivera, 48, received an eight-year federal prison sentence on July 3, 2025, for sexually abusing three prisoners at the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu. KTVZ in Bend, Oregon, reported that Rivera, who began working as a guard at the lockup in 2014, coerced prisoners into sexual acts between 2017 and his arrest in 2018, exploiting his authority to leave cell doors unlocked, facilitating his assaults. Before ultimately admitting to his guilt in March 2025, he also fled custody, sparking a “days-long” manhunt that led to his recapture. U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright imposed an upward variance to sentencing guidelines, condemning Rivera’s “gross abuse of power” and stating, “You were supposed to help, to rehabilitate those in your care. Instead, you preyed on them.” The former guard was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release.

Idaho: Vanessa Day, 37, a former state DOC guard at the Idaho State Correctional Center, was handed felony charges of sexual contact with an adult prisoner on May 30, 2025, according to the Idaho Statesman. Day was accused of having sexual intercourse with an unnamed 31-year-old prisoner while on duty. The complaint listed multiple forms of genital contact, in violation of Idaho Code § 18-6110, which carries a potential life sentence. Under the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), incarcerated individuals cannot consent to sexual contact, making any such act sexual abuse. Day, who was the president of her training class, graduated in May 2024 from the state DOC academy. 

Kansas: Brice Berk, 36, a former jail guard with the Office of Cloud County Sheriff Ken Davis, was arrested by agents with the state Bureau of Investigation (KBI) on June 23, 2025, and charged with 12 counts of sexual exploitation of a child. According to WIBW in Topeka, the KBI investigation was initiated by a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. A search warrant then executed at Berk’s residence in March 2025 uncovered evidence of child pornography possession and distribution. That led to his termination from the Sheriff’s Office, which said that Berk turned himself in and was booked into the Republic County Jail on a $20,000 bond.

Louisiana: Darriana Burton, a former Orleans Parish jail employee who was reportedly the girlfriend of escaped detainee Derrick Groves, was arrested on June 9, 2025, for allegedly facilitating the mass jailbreak that freed him on May 16, 2025. USA Today reported that Burton was accused of conspiracy to commit simple escape. She was not a jail employee at the time of the breakout, having been fired in 2023 for allegedly bringing contraband into the jail, although those charges were later dropped. On her new charges, she was being held on a $2.5 million bond. As PLN reported, 10 prisoners initially fled through a cell wall; nine have since been recaptured, the latest being Antonie Massey on June 27, 2025. [See: PLN, July 2025, p.18.] Groves remained at large as of early July 2025, with a $50,000 reward on his head. State Attorney General Liz Murrill (R) vowed to pursue all who aided the escape. At least 16 alleged conspirators have been arrested so far, including another jail employee.

Louisiana: WDSU in New Orleans reported that Dillon Mike, 21, a guard at Jefferson Parish Correctional Center, was arrested on June 29, 2025, for allegedly attempting to smuggle drugs into the lockup. Mike, who had been employed for nine months, faces multiple charges including malfeasance in office, possessing contraband in a correctional center, and possession of Schedule III drugs with intent to distribute. He was fired immediately following his arrest, and he was being held at the same facility where he once worked on a $75,000 bond.

Nevada: The family of state prisoner Patrick Odale, 39 at the time of his death in December 2023 at Southern Desert Correctional Center, filed a lawsuit on June 25, 2025, accusing state DOC officials of excessive force, a cover-up, and destruction of evidence. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that the suit further accused the DOC and the Clark County coroner’s office of downplaying critical injuries and overstating drug involvement to conceal staff misconduct. As PLN reported, the death was ruled a homicide due to “positional and mechanical asphyxia” with drugs as a “major contributor.” [See: PLN, Oct. 2024, p.15.] However, Odale’s family claims that he was suffering an asthma attack, not a drug overdose, when guards pepper-sprayed, assaulted, and restrained him face-down instead of providing aid. James Urrutia of LJU Law filed the suit for Amy Estrada, the mother of Odale’s two children ages 15 and 12.

New Jersey: A state DOC guard with seniority was arrested for allegedly accepting $2,000 in bribes to smuggle contraband into Northern State Prison. Christopher Santana, 32, was charged with bribery, official misconduct, and contraband smuggling, according to the New Jersey Monitor, after he was caught when he arrived for his shift on June 10, 2025, with vacuum-sealed containers of tobacco and liquid hidden under his vest. A search of prisoners suspected of ties to the scheme uncovered a cellphone, marijuana, tobacco, and suspected pills. Santana was suspended without pay, pending termination proceedings, and he now faces up to 25 years in prison and $315,000 in fines. At the time of his arrest, he was earning over $70,000 annually.

New York: Former Mid-State Correctional Facility guard Nathan Palmer, 29, pleaded guilty on June 13, 2025, to hindering prosecution and falsifying business records in connection with the fatal beating of 22-year-old prisoner Messiah Nantwi in March 2025. But WSTM in Syracuse reported that he faces only up to one year in jail per charge, after admitting to helping fellow guards cover up the killing and conspiring to falsify a use-of-force report. His plea followed another to similar charges by fellow guard Joshua Barlett, which PLN reported. [See: PLN, July 2025, p.43.] Palmer agreed to resign, forfeit his pistol permit, and testify against co-defendants, including two fellow guards, Jonah Levi and Caleb Blair, who are charged with second-degree murder; Palmer, Bartlett and the other six guards charged allegedly met with them at a local diner to coordinate a cover-up. Palmer’s sentencing was set for August 2025.

New York: A blockbuster federal lawsuit filed on June 24, 2025, alleges that Rikers Island jail medical staffers “effectively sterilized” 22-year-old detainee Ernest Oliver by negligently prescribing medication that caused a painful, five-day erection. Oliver’s lawsuit claims that he was prescribed Trazodone and Risperidone, both known to cause priapism, but that jail staff ignored his excruciating pain for five days after he began to suffer ischemic priapism, a medical emergency leading to permanent erectile dysfunction. The lawsuit also claimed that staff mocked Oliver after his return from Bellevue Hospital, where doctors attempted to drain and shunt his penis. See: Oliver v. N.Y.C. Dep’t of Corr., USDC (E.D.N.Y.), Case No. 1:25-cv-03516. 

New York: According to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, a state prison guard at the Queensboro Correctional Facility was indicted on June 24, 2025, for allegedly pilfering over $43,000 in workers’ compensation benefits despite being healthy enough to run a side hustle. Jahmelia Mattison John, 42, was arraigned on a 23-count indictment, including grand larceny, scheming to defraud, and multiple fraud and falsifying business records counts. Prosecutors allege that between June 2021 and June 2025, John falsely claimed on-duty injuries prevented her from working. However, an undercover operation reportedly caught her actively braiding hair for a side business that she advertised on social media. Employed as a guard for 17 years, she was released without bail and was due back in court in August 2025. 

North Carolina: The Greensboro News & Record reported that former Guilford County Jail guard Charles Leon Parker, 40, was charged with misdemeanor assault on June 27, 2025, after he allegedly punched a detainee in retaliation for an earlier attempted stabbing of another unnamed guard. That other guard was attacked with a homemade knife by another unnamed detainee while escorting Jose Freddy Flores-Martinez, 23, from administrative segregation on June 4, 2025. Though Parker was not involved, he later entered Flores-Martinez’s cell and struck him with a closed fist, causing serious mouth injuries and a cracked tooth. Parker was suspended and resigned during the subsequent investigation. He turned himself in on June 27, 2025, and was released on a written promise to appear. Flores-Martinez faced additional charges and remains jailed on a $5 million bond for a 2020 attempted murder.

North Carolina: On June 30, 2025, a federal prisoner murdered a jailer, hijacked a car, and led law enforcement on a multi-county chase, according to Law and Crime. Kelvin Simmons, 48, overpowered Cherokee County Detention Center guard Francisco Flattes, 56, at an orthopedic clinic where he had been transported for treatment, stealing the guard’s gun and fatally shooting him. A 911 caller described a chaotic scene after Simmons fired the gun in the clinic lobby and took a hostage. Simmons then fled in a hijacked vehicle, leading deputies and state highway patrol troopers through two counties before a standoff that ultimately resulted in his arrest. He had been incarcerated in federal prison in 2023 for bank robbery by force or violence and motor vehicle theft. But he faced additional charges for an escape attempt and was being held at the jail for sentencing. Flattes died from his wounds, so Simmons faces first-degree murder charges.

Oregon: The Washington County District Attorney’s Office reported that former state DOC guard Levi David Gray, 47, was sentenced to just 20 months in prison on May 23, 2025, after pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree custodial sexual misconduct. Gray supervised the Special Housing Unit at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility when he assaulted a 19-year-old prisoner in the only cell lacking surveillance cameras on May 23, 2023. Another prisoner overheard the assault and reported it. Surveillance video outside the cell showed Gray alone with the victim, in violation of policy at Oregon’s only all-female prison. Investigators then collected DNA evidence that confirmed the victim’s account. Despite such predatory abuse of his power, Gray received a sentence under two years, the maximum allowed under Oregon guidelines. He was also stripped of his certification and barred from working in a prison. The sentence is indicative of the inadequate penalties for custodial sexual abuse in Oregon.

Pennsylvania: The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that former Philadelphia Department of Prisons (PDP) guard Christopher Knight was indicted in federal court on May 27, 2025, for repeatedly using excessive force against five men incarcerated at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in 2023. Federal prosecutors alleged that Knight pepper-sprayed the prisoners while they were handcuffed, restrained, or complying with orders; one was lying face down with hands behind his back when sprayed twice. Knight then filed false reports to justify the assaults, stating that the prisoners resisted. The alleged abuse occurred amid a severe and deadly staffing crisis in PDP. Knight faces federal charges of deprivation of rights and falsifying records. 

Pennsylvania: According to WPXI in Pittsburgh, four people now face charges after a crossbow arrow packed with cocaine was fired at Fayette County Jail in June 2025. The projectile was launched from Route 21 but struck the building before reaching intended recipients inside. Jail staff discovered the arrow on June 6, 2025, four days after surveillance video that was later reviewed showed it hitting the facility. Investigators recovered “a significant amount of cocaine” from inside rubber glove tips found within the arrow. Two incarcerated individuals, Charles Smith and Alfonso Pugh, were accused of planning to intercept the contraband. Amanda Frey, Smith’s partner, and Seth Stepich, who was also not incarcerated, allegedly prepped the arrow during a video call with the prisoner hours before the incident, when Smith allegedly gave them instructions to fire it. This incident followed a March 2025 smuggling attempt in which jail detainees tried to reel in drugs with wires. The jail said it has since heightened security.

Rhode Island: Theresa Marie DiJoseph, a Massachusetts attorney who admitted to conspiring to smuggle K2-laced papers into the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Center, received a slap on the wrist on June 12, 2025: three years’ probation, including just six months of home confinement with GPS monitoring. WJAR in Providence reported that DiJoseph avoided prison time entirely despite pleading guilty to drug distribution, conspiracy, and providing prohibited objects to a prisoner; she also admitted to lying to the FBI during the investigation, as PLN reported. [See: PLN, Apr. 2025, p.62.] Prosecutors said that DiJoseph worked with others to sneak synthetic marijuana into the lockup, but she will have to complete only 100 hours of community service, reportedly from the comfort of her own home.

Scotland: The Scottish Sun reported that Peter Sugden, a prison guard who facilitated “paedo [pedophile] rehab courses” at HMP Edinburgh, was unmasked as a child sex offender himself. Sugden, 46, was caught in a sting by “paedophile hunters” who convinced him that he was exchanging lewd messages 13-year-old girl by phone during his lunch breaks. A police raid on his home reportedly uncovered images of sexual abuse, including bestiality. Sugden pleaded guilty to communicating indecently with a decoy and possessing child and extreme pornography. The 22-year veteran prison guard received a three-year community payback order on May 20, 2025, and was added to the sex offender’s registry. The court heard that Sugden had undertaken rehabilitation efforts, but Sheriff Craig Harris highlighted his “high degree of culpability,” noting that viewing such material fuels child abuse.

South Carolina: According to WYFF in Greenville, a former prisoner and a disgraced state DOC guard are now behind bars for conspiring to smuggle drugs into Tyger River Correctional Institution. Joshua Matthew Wolfe, 25, the former prisoner, received a six-year sentence on June 10, 2025, after pleading guilty to trafficking methamphetamine, intent to distribute marijuana, and furnishing contraband. His co-conspirator, former guard Kevin Leroy Howard, 37, was arrested in July 2023 while attempting to bring drug-filled cylinders into the lockup with his dinner. For that, Howard pleaded guilty to similar charges plus misconduct in office, earning him a four-year prison sentence on March 14, 2025.

Tennessee: During the first week of June 2025, body camera footage released from the Monroe County Jail death of Elijah Lester Isbill revealed details that contradicted earlier official statements. WTVC in Chattanooga reported that Isbill, 74, appeared disoriented during his arrest on February 6, 2025, struggling with basic questions. Though emergency medical personnel were present, he was not hospitalized, and his daughter claimed that she was denied when she requested documentation that he refused medical care. She also claimed that her dad endured over nine hours in a restraint chair with a mesh hood over his head before his death. While the autopsy cited natural causes—cardiac arrhythmia—and not Isbill’s fractured ribs or contusions, Sheriff Tommy J. Jones, II fired one corporal, and let two deputies resign, suspending others as well, acknowledging that their behavior “does not align with the standards I uphold.” The state Bureau of Investigation (TBI) and the District Attorney continued to investigate and found a prior dismissed DUI arrest where Isbill exhibited similar symptoms. 

Tennessee: Also at the Monroe County Jail, guard Joshua Duncan was fired and arrested on June 23, 2025, after allegedly hiding contraband Suboxone in a Bible intended for prisoners and detainees. Sheriff Jones told WVLT in Knoxville that a transition coordinator discovered the drugs when the Bible was given to him to be passed to specific detainee, who was not named. An investigation then revealed that four individuals were involved in a scheme to distribute the drug. Duncan, employed just since September 2024, was terminated and charged with conspiracy to introduce contraband. Three detainees, Timothy Albert Fields, Gregory Ray Cathey, and Steven Stone Costner, Jr., were also charged. Duncan was the second guard fired from the jail this year for similar offenses; former fellow guard Cody Harrill was fired in May 2025 after a TBI investigation, as PLN reported. [See: PLN, July 2025, p.62.] 

Tennessee: On June 20, 2025, Judge Brody Kane sentenced former prison guard Kyle Buss, 33, to three years in prison for smuggling fentanyl, methamphetamine, and tobacco into the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center (TTCC) in 2022. The Tennessean reported that Buss claimed to believe he was carrying only tobacco and was manipulated by prisoners due to his low IQ. Judge Kane rejected that defense, though, citing Buss’ deliberate concealment of the drugs. Prosecutors presented other damning evidence, including surveillance photos of Buss removing taped contraband from his pants. On average, the office of District Attorney Jason Lawson indicts nearly six staffers annually for smuggling contraband or aiding in unauthorized prisoner phone use at the lockup, which is operated for the state DOC under contract by private prison giant CoreCivic. Lawson urged the state to assume control of the troubled prison. 

Texas: On June 6, 2025, the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) announced the arrest of Jose Derlis Munos, 26, a former guard at the private Karnes County Detention Facility. He faces federal bribery and smuggling charges, according to WOAI in San Antonio. Munos allegedly conspired with detainees and outside sources who paid him bribes to smuggle contraband, including marijuana, cigarettes, and drug-laced paper, into the lockup, which is operated for USMS by The GEO Group. Munos was apprehended without incident, following a joint investigation by the USMS, the FBI, and the DEA.

West Virginia: Ashley Toney, a former guard at Southern Regional Jail, received a six-year, six-month federal prison sentence on June 9, 2025, for her role in the 2022 beating death of detainee Quantez Burks, 37. As PLN reported, Toney earlier admitted that she failed to intervene as other guards assaulted the restrained and handcuffed detainee as punishment for attempting to leave his pod. [See: PLN, Mar. 2025, p.39.] Sentencing for three of them—Mark Holdren, Corey Snyder, and Johnathan Walters—was scheduled for July 2025.

Wisconsin: Taylor Schabusiness, who is serving life without parole for dismembering boyfriend Shad Thyrion, faces new charges for allegedly attacking a state DOC guard. Schabusiness, who is known for courtroom outbursts, including lunging at past attorneys, was warned against further disruptions when wheeled into a Fond du Lac County courtroom on June 3, 2025. She is accused of battery by a prisoner with a repeat offender enhancement for a July 2024 incident at Taycheedah Correctional institution, where she allegedly attacked a guard who intervened when she lunged at a nurse, then swung a metal table before being pepper-sprayed. The guard required hospital treatment. Schabusiness’ trial is scheduled for October 2025. Meanwhile, prospects for her appeal of her homicide conviction appear dim; her appointed attorney resigned, unable to find grounds for appeal, as PLN reported. [See: PLN, June 2025, p.62.]