Julians ECI package

associated with the alleged drug smuggling operation at eastern correctional institution – we find more troubling facts that point to just how widespread this operation may have been. although 80 people were indicted – tonight47 abc’s julian sadur who has covered this case since the beginning -brings you more information about a a select few inmates – who were allegedly responsible for moving hundreds of thousands of dollars of contraband. pod although no one person can be claimed as the quote ring leader in this alleged drug smuggling operation – it appears three inmates may have played major roles in facilitating the movement of drugs into the prison and bribing correctional officers to bring it in. today — we focus on inmates – joseph branch – known as sandtown – inmate zachary martin known as dice and troy johnson. . just one last note – all the evidence we bring to you – a are allegations by the united states attorney – meaning these correctional officers, inmates and their alleged facilitators are all presumed innocent until they’ve been proven guilty in a court of law. track facilitated through phone conversations – made on smuggled in phones – and conversations with crooked correctional officers – three inmates managed to work with at least 18 different people to bring in pounds of contraband. all of this allegedly resulting in over hundreds of thousands of dollars illegally changing hands through money orders – such as pay pal. the inmate that seemed to have the longest reach – zachary martin a-k-a dice- who was housed in the east compound of e-c-i. according to federal documents – dice’s operation involved at least three correctional officers and six people on the outside. he got so big – documents say he called eci his jail – and told a friend it only took him a couple months to lock the whole prison down. on the other side of the prison – the west compound it appears joseph branch a-k-a sandtown – was a big player. although it appears sandtown wasn’t as big as dice — he may have had more access to inmates – documents showing he used his job as a clerk – which gave him free range to other places of the prison – to allegedly freely move contraband to those in need. sandtown worked with at least two co’s and two other inmates – and several on the outside – but it seems his main accomplice – was c-o kimberly rayfield – whom he had personal relationship with. rayfield would smuggle in contraband – such as pornographic material and synthentic weed for him — she would also allegedly manage his finances on the outside. in return – sandtown helped his alleged lover – pay off her credit card bills – sometimes as much as 2,000 dollars. pod the third inmate – troy johnson – was like sandtown in that he worked with several people – but relied on one person to mainly facilitate his operations. documents show that johnson even made calls to people he knew were going to be locked up – and asked them to smuggle in contraband. telling one person quote to load up five or six hundred suboxone strips into his body before he came to eci because people would quote sell their souls for it. reporting in studio – julian sadur – 47 abc now federal authorities have said that their investigation is still ongoing – so there’s a chance that these inmates may have had more connections than what was mentioned in the court documents. for more on julian’s coverage of this – including the violence that was associated with this operation just head to our website 47 abc>. in salisbury – police announce the arrest of three people stemming from