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Investigation of prisons widens

The state seizes six prison employees' vehicles that may have been repaired or built with inmate labor.

By STEVE BOUSQUET
Published October 11, 2005

TALLAHASSEE - State law enforcement agents have seized vehicles and utility trailers belonging to six prison administrators and guards in a widening investigation of allegations that prison employees misused inmate labor and state equipment.

Search warrants recently executed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in six North Florida counties reveal a new phase of an investigation by FDLE and FBI agents that has placed the Corrections Department and leader James Crosby under intense scrutiny.

The prison system already is reeling from accusations of illegal steroid use among guards; indictments stemming from theft in a prison recycling program; the apparent suicide of a guard facing rape accusations; and an allegation that a former minor league pitcher held a no-show prison library job so he could play for the Apalachee Correctional Institution softball team.

The new documents show:

--A homemade trailer, designed for transporting lawn equipment, was seized from the Marion County home of a prison guard.

--A former inmate who served time at the Florida State Prison and nearby New River Correctional Institution kept a private journal detailing work he says he was ordered to do on trailers for guards' personal use. The ex-inmate drew investigators a picture of a trailer he said he built.

"The items that have been seized in connection with the search warrants are possible evidence for use in court," said FDLE spokesman Tom Berlinger.

One of the seized vehicles belongs to Clark, the former North Florida regional prison director who resigned in August. Pickup trucks were seized from Col. Richard Allen Frye Jr., an administrator at Apalachee Correctional Institution in Sneads, and Lamar Griffis, assistant warden at Santa Rosa Correctional Institution in Milton.

Details of search warrants, drawn from public records, show agents are interested in examining the radiator equipment and battery in Clark's 1993 Jeep Wrangler; an air conditioning unit, fan belt and battery in Frye's 1973 Ford pickup; and a towing hitch and trailer hitch from Griffis' 2001 Chevrolet pickup.

"I'm busy," Griffis said when contacted at work Monday. "I don't want to talk to you."

Clark and Frye could not be reached for comment.

None of the officers has been charged with wrongdoing.

Frye, 36, joined the prison system 12 years ago after working as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps security detail assigned to former President George H. W. Bush. He was suspended for 30 days in 1997 for destroying evidence, giving false testimony and other violations, but he appealed the suspension, was cleared and won full back pay.

In Frye's most recent job evaluation, in July, supervisor Al Solomon gave him outstanding marks, praising him as a "loyal and dedicated employee" and "a proven leader."

At the heart of the latest revelations are statements by a former inmate who told investigators he was required to build 10-foot trailers, using state-owned equipment in a prison welding shop for the personal use of correctional officers at the Florida State Prison in Starke and New River Correctional Institution in Raiford.

Records obtained by the St. Petersburg Times from the Marion County clerk's office include a photograph of a homemade trailer with extended metal sides made of steel tubing and a spare tire on the passenger's side.

The Times is not identifying the ex-inmate because law enforcement officials fear for his safety as a result of evidence he is providing.

The former inmate said he built a utility trailer for a correctional officer, Lt. Bobby Ruise, and that he kept a written journal in which he recorded the work, listing 14 dates in late 2002. He told agents he welded his name or initials in the trailers he built - leaving a permanent record of the illicit handiwork.

The former inmate told FDLE that Ruise told him "he needed a utility trailer to transport lawn equipment and supplies for his (Ruise's) lawn care business."

The ex-inmate told agents that Ruise supplied him with rims, tires, fenders, jack, winch and a light kit for the trailer.

FDLE agents confirmed that Ruise has a homemade trailer registered with the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles at his Citra home.

Reached at work Monday at a prison work camp in Levy County, Ruise said, "I don't care to answer any questions at this time."

Asked about allegations of a trailer made with state-owned property, Ruise said: "I don't know anything about it. I don't even own one."

Two more search warrants were issued in Bradford and Union counties for utility trailers fitting a similar description, but the identities of the employees could not be confirmed.

The affidavit says FDLE Inspector Travis Lawson and FBI Special Agent Alexander McDonald were steered to the former inmate in June by Theodore Foray, a former correctional officer who told agents he ordered the ex-inmate to remove Department of Corrections identification numbers from a fiberglass ladder.

"Subsequent to the removal of the identification numbers, the ladder disappeared," the affidavit states.

Foray, 45, of Lake Butler and another former prison guard, Paul Lamar Miller, 32, of Starke, were among several prison employees accused in June of conspiring to steal property and embezzle money from a prison recycling program.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said the two men worked for the Florida State Prison/New River Correctional recycling program and sold bales of crushed aluminum cans and other materials to a Jacksonville company.

Foray was indicted on June 6. The FDLE affidavit says Foray was interviewed by authorities June 24.

--Times staff writers Jim Ross and Curtis Krueger and researcher Carolyn Edds contributed to this report. Steve Bousquet can be reached at bousquet@sptimes.com or 850 224-7263.

[Last modified October 11, 2005, 01:57:17]