Unsupervised inmates at Marion Correctional Institution used two computers hidden in the ceiling to attempt identity fraud, an investigation from the state’s top watchdog found.
After finding the computers in July 2015, then-Warden Jason Bunting and other prison officials did not immediately notify the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Ohio Inspector General, as required by state policy.
Inmates Adam Johnston and Scott Spriggs obtained the computers through a program in which inmates disassemble old computers to be recycled, according to the inspector general’s investigation.
Cleveland nonprofit RET3 provided computers to Marion Correctional’s Green Initiative program. Inmates were only to disassemble computers, not refurbish them.
But prison employee Carl Brady told inmates to set aside newer computers from the program to keep for the prison. Brady said Bunting had approved inmate use of software to wipe the computers’ memory.
“I’ve had Jason personally tell me a couple times just — as long as they’re not getting outside the institution, I don’t care,” Brady told investigators.
Bunting told investigators he “knew obviously illegal activity was going on” but couldn’t explain why he didn’t report it to state authorities. He has since resigned from Marion Correctional.
The inmates connected the computers to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction network and created passes for inmates to access restricted areas in the prison. Investigators found software, videos, pornography and articles about making homemade drugs, plastics, explosives and credit cards on the computers.
Click here to read more of this story.
About Marion Online News
