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| City jailer gets probation in escape of two |
| By stltoday.com - JENNIFER MANN |
| Published: 04/03/2012 |
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A corrections officer who lied about his rounds the day two inmates staged an escape from the St. Louis Justice Center worked out a deal with prosecutors that landed him probation on a series of misdemeanor charges. Mori Farrell, 52, had faced nine felonies of forgery and permitting escape, plus one misdemeanor charge of making a false report. He could have faced five to seven years in prison on each of those more serious counts. But in exchange for his guilty plea last week, prosecutors instead issued eight misdemeanor counts of making a false report, a charge that carries a maximum of six months in prison. St. Louis Circuit Judge Margaret Neill ordered a six-month suspended execution of sentence, which Farrell will serve on unsupervised probation. The city's two jails have been under heavy scrutiny because of a series of escapes — including the April 22, 2011, jailbreak of Vernon Collins and David White that Farrell was faulted for — and allegations of mismanagement. The events have prompted inquiries by aldermen and a jail administration shake-up by Mayor Francis Slay's office. But in a sign that troubles at the lockups are still being exposed, a former female corrections officer was charged Monday with having sex with a Justice Center inmate more than two dozen times last year in a security tower and a fifth-floor cell, where the inmate was being held in protective custody. The guard, Stephanie Rodgers, 31, already faces pending charges of smuggling cellphones into the jail. The incidents at the downtown Justice Center, and problems at the Medium Security Institution on Hall Street, have Alderman Greg Carter calling for a federal investigation. "Until they get someone in there who really knows what's going on, this is going to continue," Carter, head of the public safety committee, said Monday, adding that the problems aren't just with corrections officers but from "the top down." Public Safety Director Eddie Roth declined to comment other than to say, "We are working hard and expeditiously to make major and lasting improvements to the Division of Corrections — the overwhelming number of whose employees are dedicated and conscientious." Farrell was accused of lying to investigators and filing false records after the escape in April 2011. When he was charged with a series of felonies, Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce said the office was "committed to doing everything in our power to hold people accountable who, through their actions, make the community less safe." In a statement Monday, one of her top prosecutors, Rachel Smith, reiterated that sentiment — and noted that Farrell had provided evidence related to his charges and other information regarding the Justice Center. Carter, the alderman, said he was hesitant to comment on individual cases but believes Farrell should have gotten some prison time. Still, he added, "If he cut a deal to expose 10 or 15 other people over there, I'd say that's a deal that's needed." Farrell's attorney, Eric Barnhart, said Monday that officials initially suspected his client may have been involved in planning the escape. But as prosecutors delved into the case, he said, "the evidence started pouring in that there was no proof that he was in on this conspiracy. ... It was just a guard who was working at the wrong time under tough working conditions." Collins, 34, and White, 33, made their escape from the Justice Center in dramatic fashion. They used an access panel in the infirmary to reach a crawl space above the ceiling, then got by a metal barrier and broke a window, before scaling the outside of the downtown building with bedsheets that had been tied together. Read More. |
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