Commencement ETC PC

10/29/2025

Crystal Janelle West and William Eugene Romero were arrested on 10/05/2025. West is charged with manslaughter and Romero is charged with criminally negligent homicide.

According to the source, an inmate lit fire to a mattress inside the cell and was non-compliant to commands to put his hands in the food tray slot opening to be put in restraints, prompting officers to call for a supervisor.

West, a sergeant, assessed the situation and asked Romero, a lieutenant, for next steps. Romero did not want the food tray slot opened and told West to leave it closed, according to the source.

The source said West came back an hour later, opened the food tray slot and smoke was billowing out of the cell.

West then walked away and told the inmate that she would not pull him out of the cell and would not open the door. The source said West refused to help in any way.

The source said West came back an hour later and the inmate was unresponsive and was unable to be revived.

West and Romero are no longer employed at the prison.

Two correctional officers have been charged after allegedly refusing to let an inmate out of his burning cell, which led to his death.

10/28/2025

The Federal Communications Commission approved a proposal allowing state and local prisons in South Carolina, and nationally, to block illegal cell phone usage by inmates.

In a unanimous vote 9/30/2025, the FCC passed a rule permitting state and local correctional facilities to use a targeting technology that will jam illegal cell phone communications by inmates. The vote comes amid a years-long effort to curb crime on the streets facilitated by orders issued from incarcerated crime bosses.

While federal prisons have long been afforded the ability to jam illegal cell phone usage, state and local prisons have not.

A 2024 study by the Urban Institute, for example, found that prison authorities recovered more than 25,000 cell phones across 20 state prisons in a single year.

The FCC’s approval now allows state and local prisons to block illegal communications from inmates that have been used to facilitate crime.

10/28/2025

University of New Mexico's Law & Mental Health Lecture Series continues every Tuesday at 1pm EST. Today, Leeza Rojas, PsyD, Sierra Stillwater, PsyD, Jasmine Raysor, PsyD, and Sanam Monjazeb, PhD are presenting “Competency to Stand Trial Evaluations in Washington."

10/28/2025

10/28/2025

Fourteen former corrections officers and staff no longer face criminal charges related to the violent overnight cell extractions that resulted in serious injuries to two inmates at New Jersey’s women’s prison in January of 2021.

A Superior Court judge dismissed the indictment of the former officers and staff on Thursday, citing delays, errors and “prosecutorial mismanagement” by the state.

In a 60-page decision, Judge Christopher Garrenger dismissed the indictment with prejudice, meaning prosecutors cannot bring these charges again. Garrenger stayed his ruling for 45 days to give the state the opportunity to appeal.

All of the officers and staff had been charged with official misconduct and tampering with public records and 11 of the 14 were charged with second degree aggravated assault.

The judge decided not to dismiss the indictment without prejudice so that prosecutors could present the charges to a new grand jury, as typically occurs, because that would “perpetuate, rather than resolve” the constitutional violation of the defendants’ right to a speedy trial, Garrenger said.

Judge rejects indictment brought after violent action in women’s prison

10/27/2025

Onondaga County Sheriff Toby Shelley said the wrong inmate was released from jail last month, leaving deputies scrambling to re-arrest the person and put them back behind bars.

Sheriff Shelley said Deputies Melvin DeJesus, Luke Fiumara, Gerard Wagner, and Sergeant Eric Rhoda have a collective 65 years of experience doing this job.

They are all facing disciplinary action. The deputies will lose four paid vacation days for their involvement and the sergeant will lose five, plus his position in the booking department at the jail.

"These inmates don't look anything alike. The one that's supposed to get released has blue hair, and the one that does get released has blonde hair," said Sheriff Shelley. "Throughout the whole process, this is never caught."

They also show the inmate tried to tell deputies that the personal items they gave back to her along the way didn't belong to her. Another indication that something was not right. She was still released.

A spokesperson for the Sheriff's Office said the right inmate was released from the jail.

Although initially charged with escape, prosecutor Kali Benjovsky said her office decided not to prosecute Phillips for the deputies’ mistake. She said she could not prove Phillips had the intent to escape or possess the drugs.

“They just kept telling her she was getting released,” Benjovsky said. “So she just went along with the process.”

Onondaga County Sheriff Toby Shelley said the wrong inmate was released from jail last month.

10/27/2025

The family of a man who died after being restrained in an Ohio county jail said Tuesday that they have reached a $7 million settlement agreement with the county and are pushing officials there to prevent something like the death from happening again.

A lawyer for the family of Christian Black, who died March 26, said Montgomery County has taken responsibility and officials there have indicated they would take steps, such as adding inpatient beds for people in need of mental health help.

But the lawyer, Michael Wright, also told reporters at a news conference that he and Black’s family want to see more, such as jail officers charged and convicted in their son’s death.

Christian Black’s mother, Misty Black, said the settlement in the family’s lawsuit against Montgomery County doesn’t end her pursuit of justice for her son.

Black died two days after he was taken to a hospital. The county coroner’s office has said that Black likely died from positional asphyxia, which happens when the chest can’t expand, starving the body of oxygen. His death was ruled a homicide by the coroner.

The family of a man who died after being restrained in an Ohio county jail said Tuesday that they have reached a $7 million settlement agreement with the county and are pushing officials there to prevent something like the death from happening again.

10/27/2025

10/24/2025

, Jonathan Mann, 39, of Vidalia, pled guilty in April 2025 to filing a false tax-related document for the 2018 tax year.

Mann was also ordered to pay $84,638 in restitution, representing the amount of tax he owed on the unreported income.

Court documents revealed that Mann failed to inform his tax preparer of the income received by his construction business between 2017 and 2019

Instead, Mann deposited these checks in his bank account or cashed them directly, resulting in him paying significantly less in federal income tax over that period, officials said.

He was also ordered to pay more than $80,000 in restitution.

10/23/2025

, Walter Joey Drew, 43, of Kite, Georgia, was found guilty of exploiting minors aged 13 to 17 by secretly recording them in various states of undress at his gym and home, according to officials.

He was sentenced to 27 years in prison for s*xual exploitation. A judge also ordered Drew to register as a s*x offender, pay a $1,500 fine, pay $800 in special assessments, and serve 20 years of supervised release upon completion of the prison term.

According to court documents, Drew used his smartphone to record a 13-year-old girl while she was drying off n**e in a bathroom at his home. Officials said he uploaded the photos to his Apple iCloud account. The victim was a friend of Drew’s teenage children.

Authorities said the 43-year-old also recorded videos of the minor in a private tanning-bed room at the now-closed Legacy Performance Center in Lyons, Ga., where he was an owner.

He saved and uploaded multiple s*xually exploitive screen captures from these videos to his iCloud account.

Drew was accused of recording at least six other teenage children in the federal case and faces related state charges in Toombs County. He also faces additional charges for separate conduct at a previous home in White County.

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10/23/2025

, Hardaway principal Maurdrice McNeill was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation for a non-school related criminal charge.

According to McNeill’s attorney, all charges against him have been dismissed, and he has been fully cleared by court officials.

In a statement, McNeill’s attorney says “Mr. McNeill feels and even stronger commitment to his community and is choosing to focus on his future.”

A spokesperson for the Muscogee County School District says McNeill will resume his role as principal of Hardaway High School, effective immediately.

According to McNeill’s attorney, all charges against him have been dismissed, and he has been fully cleared by court officials.