MTWT McDonough Prison culture, Softball Scandal

Christopher Sherman
Sentinel Staff Writer

March 18, 2006

TALLAHASSEE -- For years the Florida prison system was known as a place where family name often mattered more than merit. A father, son and grandfather could be found all working the same prison shift, "goon squads" doled out vicious beatings with impunity and softball was a ladder to power.

But now, the firing or forced resignation of 15 corrections employees, many of them high-ranking officials, has given rise to a new optimism among the rank and file that a no-nonsense interim corrections secretary is unafraid to go toe-to-toe with the good old boys.

James McDonough, a retired ! Army colonel, has replaced former Corrections Secretary James Crosby, who was forced to resign last month. A subsequent report by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement accused Crosby of trying to scuttle its investigation of the prison system by threatening one of his employees whose father heads FDLE.

"I will move as aggressively and rapidly as I can to unearth and uproot as much as needs to be exposed," McDonough told lawmakers recently.

And McDonough has his work cut out for him.

Scandals during the past year have included guilty pleas from several corrections officers in federal court for a steroid-distribution ring, two drunken brawls that included arrests of seven employees, and a grand-theft charge for an employee paid only to play on a prison softball team. There also have been federal charges against two employees involving the department's recycling program, and investigations into misused prison labor and state equipment.

With the wave ! of leadership changes, McDonough is fighting what he termed "a culture steeped in violence and brute strength and force."

In the high-stress prison environment where guards are susceptible to attack, insults and threats, an "us versus them" attitude prevails.

Rookies quickly realize that "the only thing standing between you and possible death is your colleagues," said Ron McAndrew, who spent 23 years in the department, rising from a corrections officer to warden before retiring in 2002.

Those who try to fit in adopt the appearance and swagger of the officers they perceive to be in charge. They talk down to inmates and don't hesitate to mete out violence at random, McAndrew said. He emphasized that relatively few corrections workers fall into this category.

A larger group does not participate but turns a blind eye, fearing retaliation. Some wardens condoned it, having advanced through the same ranks, McAndrew said.

Transfers are so common in the corrections system that it helps what McAndrew called a cancer of abusive "goon squads" to spread and avoid punishment.

"They infect another area," he said. "It's like carrying a disease."

The prison system has been described as "inbred" because of the extended families that link many of the facilities. For years the heart of the prison system was a cluster of lockups in rural north-central Florida that became known as the Iron Triangle.

Generations of families found jobs with the only employers in town. Crosby was an Iron Triangle product, growing up in the shadow of Florida State Prison. McAndrew tells of meeting a father, son and grandfather all working the same shift during one of his first days as warden of that prison.

Softball obsession

Perhaps McDonough's most perplexing discovery is the elevation of softball to fanatical levels within the department. Prisons formed employee teams years ago to give guards an outlet for their stress and build camaraderie. Over time it grew more competitive. Some wardens wanted the trophies and the bragging rights.

"I've been in the department for 20 years, and I still haven't figured out the obsession with softball," said Jim Baiardi, president of State Correctional Officers chapter of the Police Benevolent Association.

But the game has been a common factor in several investigations.

Last spring, three employees were arrested after a brawl at a Tallahassee softball banquet. One of those was Regional Director Allen Clark. A Crosby protégé who coached a softball team, Clark resigned in August and turned himself in to police in November on a felony battery charge.

In October, a former minor-league baseball player was arrested on a grand-theft charge after he told investigators he was hired to help the prison team win the department tournament but never worked. An internal department investigation released this week found that an assistant warden at Santa Rosa Correctional Institution was making false ID badges so non-employees could play on prison athletic teams.

Accounts were frozen

More news is surely on the way. McDonough, who couldn't be reached for comment late this week, has a committee studying various "club" funds estimated to be worth about $1.5 million that prisons used to fund extracurricular activities. McDonough froze the accounts shortly after his appointment. There also is an ongoing review of the department's contracts.

McAndrew, who at various times during his career has received threatening phone calls, had his tires slashed and said his Doberman pinscher was poisoned when he rocked the boat, is pleased by McDonough's early moves. He said hundreds of corrections employees he maintains contact with are optimistic.

"Everybody is amazed that he actually knows who all the bad apples are and has the fortitude to move them out of corrections," McAndrew said.

About 100 corrections officers cheered McDonough recently when he promised to crack down on nepotism and institute a merit-based promotion system.

McDonough is unlikely to be intimidated.

He was a boxing champion at West Point and has a political-science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Clinton-Lewinsky link

In 1998, while President Clinton was embroiled in the Monica Lewinsky scandal, The Wall Street Journal published a piece written by McDonough, then director of strategy for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. In it, McDonough criticized Clinton, his boss, for the infamous phone call with a congressman about sending troops into Bosnia, during which he allegedly had a sexual encounter with Lewinsky.

McDonough had been commanding troops in the Balkans at the time of the phone call.

A few months later, Florida's new governor, Jeb Bush, appointed McDonough to be Florida's first drug czar. He is the highest-level appointee remaining from that original Bush team.

McDonough recently conceded that he knew little about the intricacies of the prison system when Bush tapped him.

"I do know something about leadership and something about crisis management," he said.

"I don't wish to portray us as in crisis, but there are clearly difficulties in the department."

Christopher Sherman can be reached at 850-222-5564 or csherman@orlandosentinel.com .

After firings and arrests, a new state corrections leader is trying to reform the system.