Sting at Strickland home was stopped

April 30, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

High-ranking public safety officials stopped a valid contraband sting of inmates working at Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland’s home purely to save Strickland embarrassment, the state watchdog said Thursday.

The Ohio inspector general also found the program that allowed the inmates to work at the residence has deteriorated since Strickland took office. The inmates were often unsupervised and able to receive deliveries of contraband, such as tobacco products, in broad daylight outside the house in one of Columbus’ most exclusive neighborhoods.

The 48-page report criticized the decision by Public Safety Director Cathy Collins-Taylor to stop the sting, accused her of lying to investigators and said her agency went out of its way to thwart the probe.

The report also said senior public safety officials tried to mischaracterize the operation as a hazardous plan involving something dangerous thrown over a fence at the home that could put the governor and his guests at risk.

“The evidence in this case overwhelmingly shows that the patrol’s conveyance operation was routine, well-planned and safe, and that concern about protecting the governor from political embarrassment was a key factor in the decision to cancel it,” the report said.

The report said there was no evidence Strickland’s general counsel, Kent Markus, or chief of staff John Haseley — who was at the residence for dinner the night the sting was to take place — ordered the operation called off.

But investigators couldn’t decide whether questions asked by Markus and Haseley influenced Collins-Taylor’s decision.

The Public Safety department, which oversees the patrol, said it was reviewing the report and declined further comment.

Strickland said he believed officials acted in good faith but said anything meant to spare him embarrassment was unnecessary.

The report said it was forwarding its findings to the Columbus and Franklin County prosecutors for possible charges.

The report was bad political news for Strickland, a Democrat running for re-election in the fall, especially because of the reported problems with the inmate program.

Senate President Bill Harris, a Republican, said he was alarmed by the report and planned hearings soon.

In late December, prison investigators learned of a plan by Pickaway Correctional Institution inmate Douglas Brofford that involved his wife dropping off a “six pack,” presumed to be drugs or tobacco, at “Red’s House,” code for the governor’s residence, according to the inspector general’s report.

The plan apparently involved inmates working at the residence picking up the contraband and bringing it back to the prison, the report said.

The drop-off was to happen Jan. 10, the same day the governor and his wife were hosting former U.S. Sen. John Glenn; Glenn’s wife, Annie; and other guests for a dinner, the report said.

After prison investigator Scott Thompson tipped off the patrol, a debate ensued within the Department of Public Safety about the operation. Collins-Taylor decided to call it off Jan. 8 and instructed the patrol to tell Brofford’s wife, Angela, that she would be arrested if the operation went through, the report said.

The prisons department revoked Angela Brofford’s visiting rights Jan. 11 and found her husband guilty of breaking prison rules against smuggling drugs and using the mail for criminal activity, according to the report.

The report said the program allowing inmates to work at the residence was in disarray, with inmates walking outside the gates unsupervised and having access to tools such as knives and axes. Guards intercepted razor blades and utility knives from some inmates as they returned to prison, the report said.

It also said the residence was used to feed a flourishing prison black market in tobacco products that emerged after the state banned all smoking in prisons.

On Jan. 13, a groundskeeper found 30 pouches of tobacco stashed in the drop ceiling of a basement bathroom in the residence, the report said.

“Taken together, these incidents reveal an obvious lack of supervision of the inmates who work at the residence, as well as a willingness to ignore credible evidence that the governor’s residence has functioned as a ’mule station’ for the conveyance of tobacco and other contraband into a state prison,” the report said.

Public Safety Department officials tried to thwart the watchdog’s investigation by providing thousands of pages of documents that weren’t related to the investigation, the report said.

The report also said investigators found other security lapses at the residence that should be addressed.