Ten accused of racketeering in Cambria County Prison
Cambria County CO, nurse among those indicted by grand jury
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Ten individuals, including a corrections officer and a nurse, have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Johnstown on charges of racketeering inside the Cambria County Prison.
Named in the indictment are: James Johnson-Ross, 26, of Altoona; Jessica Niebauer, 34, of Altoona; Lakesha Stith, 45, of Johnstown; Ashley Aguilar, 26, of Phoenix, Ariz.; Mikal Davis, 48, incarcerated at Indiana County Jail; Marcos Monarrez Jr., 26, incarcerated at FDC Philadelphia; Monique Valencia, 29, of Phoenix, Ariz.; Blake Young, 36, incarcerated at SCI Laurel Highlands; Asiah Young-Atwell, 30, of Johnstown; and Carlos Zamora, 29, incarcerated at Northeast Ohio Correctional Center.
The 10 have been accused of violating racketeering laws, including acts of bribery conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute various controlled substances, Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced Monday.
The two-count indictment was returned July 22 and unsealed Monday.
According to the indictment, from July 2023 to Dec. 19, 2023, Stith, Davis, Johnson-Ross, Monarrez, Young, Young-Atwell and Zamora conducted and participated in the affairs of an enterprise through racketeering activities inside the prison.
The indictment alleges that Stith, a corrections officer hired on May 15, 2023, and Young-Atwell, a medical staff nurse hired on March 20, 2023, received bribes from inmates Davis, Johnson-Ross, Monarrez, Young and Zamora in exchange for bringing contraband -- including controlled substances such as K2 (a Schedule 1 synthetic cannabinoid), Tetrahydrocannabinol (a Schedule 1 component in cannabis) and Suboxone, cellphones, security tools and cigarettes -- into the prison.
Stith and Young-Atwell hid the contraband in lunch bags and containers in order to smuggle it through the prison's screening system and then delivered the contraband items to various locations throughout the prison. These locations included the prison's medical department, which contained private examination rooms without security cameras; numerous pre-arranged stash locations such as storage closets where inmates could later retrieve the hidden items; and the cells and housing units of inmate defendants.
The indictment also alleges that Stith and Young-Atwell engaged in personal/intimate relations with the inmates and warned of planned cell searches, as well as other inmates "snitching" on the contraband activity.
Inmates charged in the indictment allegedly had weapons to protect the contraband and threatened violence against inmates accused of "snitching," the report states.
The inmates used the contraband phones to coordinate smuggling and contraband trafficking with Stith, Young-Atwell and individuals outside of the prison (including Aguilar, Niebauer and Valencia, each of whom are charged in a separate count of conspiracy to commit money laundering in relation to the racketeering activity) who facilitated their contraband trafficking activities.
The inmates and co-conspirators also sold these phones and other contraband items to other prison inmates at substantial profit.
The indictment states that the "going rate" for a nurse to smuggle contraband cellphones into the prison was an average of $600 per cellphone, while the "going rate" for an inmate to purchase a contraband cellphone once it was in the prison was an average of $10,000 per cellphone.
In another example, the indictment states that the average retail price for Suboxone is between $5 and $20 per strip, depending on the dosage. Inmates charged in the indictment could purchase the strips for $75 each and then resell them to other inmates for $250 each, a profit of more than 300%.
Stith and Young-Atwell received payment from inmates and outside facilitators via mobile payment services such as Cash App, the indictment states.
"It is extremely dangerous when individuals employed within our prison systems choose to abuse their authority at the expense of the safety and well-being of inmates they are charged with overseeing," Rivetti said in a statement. "Not only did the correctional officer and medical staff member in this case engage in inappropriate personal relations with inmates and accept bribes for sneaking contraband into the prison, which the defendant inmates then sold to others at a substantial profit, but they also provided confidential information."
Special Agent in Charge of HSI Philadelphia Edward V. Owens said the investigation revealed the significant threat posed by transnational criminal organizations within correctional facilities.
"The successful outcome of this operation is directly attributable to the effective interagency cooperation between Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania and the Federal Bureau of Investigation," Owens said.
Cambria County District Attorney Greg Neugebauer said prisons have unique security challenges that are complex and require all involved to act in accordance with the law and procedures.
"When it became apparent that certain individuals within the Cambria County Prison were engaging in corrupt activities, prison leadership, the Prison Board and law enforcement took appropriate steps to contain the problem and worked alongside our federal partners to ensure that these perpetrators of criminal activity were brought to justice," Neugebauer said.
The law provides for a maximum total sentence of up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both.
Assistant United States Attorneys Maureen Sheehan-Balchon and Shaun Sweeney are prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.