More Than 100 Federal Prison Workers Arrested Over Crimes Such As Sexual Abuse, Murder
A sign stands at the U.S. The Federal Bureau of Prisons Correctional Complex, where convicted Israeli spy Jonathan J. Pollard is housed, on April 1, 2014 in Butner, North Carolina. Pollard, a former Navy intelligence analyst serving a life sentence for spying for Israel more than a quarter century ago, could be released under the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Sara D. Davis/Getty Images

Bureau of Prisons has been found to be a hotspot for abuse, graft, and corruption, with more than 100 federal prison workers being arrested over such crimes.

Those who have been arrested, convicted, or sentenced for crimes since the beginning of 2019, includes the case of a warden indicted for sexual abuse; an associated warden charged with murder, and guards taking cash to smuggle drugs and weapons, according to an Associated Press News report.

There were also reports of supervisors stealing property such as tires and tractors.

The federal Bureau of Prisons has an annual budget of around $8 billion. The agency has failed to suspend officers who themselves had been arrested for crimes in some cases.

Federal prison workers were involved in criminal cases against Justice Department personnel in recent years.

Out of the 41 arrests this year, 28 were of BOP employees or contractors. The Federal Bureau of Investigation had just five, while the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives each had two.

The Justice Department said that it will not tolerate "staff misconduct, particularly criminal misconduct."

The department also noted that it is committed to holding accountable any employee who abuses a position of trust.

Bureau of Prisons Abuse

U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona of the Northern District of Alabama said that sexual abuse of prison inmates by federal corrections officers is intolerable, according to a Justice Department News release in October.

Escalona was referring to Eric Todd Ellis's case, who was a corrections officers sentenced to 18 months in prison and five years of supervised release.

Ellis earlier pleaded guilty to one count of sexual abuse of a ward and one count of tampering with a witness.

Ellis knowingly engaged in a sexual act with a female inmate while in the back of the laundry room of the prison. He was at the time on duty and acting in his capacity as a corrections officer.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said that prison employees who abuse their positions of power to sexually assault inmates will be held accountable.

One incident includes a teacher who pleaded guilty in January to falsifying an inmate's high school equivalency, according to a U.S. News report.

A chaplain also admitted taking at least $12,000 in bribes to smuggle Suboxone, which is used to treat opioid addiction.

The chaplain also smuggled marijuana, tobacco, and cell phones. The said person also left items in a prison chapel cabinet for inmates to retrieve.

The warden of a federal women's prison in Dublin, California, was also arrested in September and indicted this month on charges that he molested an inmate several times.

The warden also scheduled times where he demanded the inmate to undress in front of him and collected a series of nude photos of her on his government-issued phone.

The warden was identified as Ray Garcia and was placed on administrative leave after the FBI raided his office in July.

Garcia allegedly told the woman that there was no point in reporting the sexual assault as he was close friends with the person who would investigate the claims of abuse.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Corrections employees having sex with inmates - from ABC15 Arizona