Prosecutor: Kansas Prison Smuggling Plot’s Scope ‘Alarming’

A federal prosecutor in Kansas says a prison drug-smuggling scheme in which seven people are charged actually may involve more than 90 inmates and dozens of outsiders who assisted them.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Tomasic recently has told a judge she assumes more Leavenworth Detention Center employees may be charged than the one already being prosecuted.

According to transcripts of the July 21 hearing in Kansas City, Kansas, Tomasic said “new targets” of the investigation are being identified “at an alarming rate.”

The 1,126-bed lockup is run under contract by the Corrections Corporation of America and is separate from the federal prison in Leavenworth.

The case is at the center of a legal storm over privacy rights involving prison recordings of confidential lawyer conversations with clients at the Leavenworth lockup.