FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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BALTIMORE, MD – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced today that former Correctional Officer Sergeant Awungjia Rita Atabong, Correctional Educator Lakesha Murry, and Correctional Officer Kathyrn Hawes were sentenced after pleading guilty for their involvement in three separate contraband smuggling schemes operating at Jessup Correctional Institution (JCI) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The investigations were led by the Maryland Office of the Attorney General’s Organized Crime Unit and the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS).
“When correctional staff smuggle contraband into our prisons, they endanger the health and safety of their colleagues and the incarcerated people entrusted to their care,” said Attorney General Brown. “These defendants abused their authority to bring prohibited items into Jessup Correctional Institution, undermining prison security for their own profit. Our Office will hold accountable any public servant who betrays the people and institutions they are sworn to protect.”
“The guilty pleas entered by these former employees send a clear message that misconduct and corruption within our correctional institutions will not be tolerated,” said Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services Secretary Carolyn J. Scruggs. “Any staff member who chooses to engage in criminal activity or compromise the safety and integrity of our facilities will be held accountable and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I want to once again commend our detectives and investigators for their outstanding work that led to the apprehension of the guilty and, in so doing, protected the public and the integrity of our correctional system.”
Correctional Officer Sergeant Awungjia Rita Atabong, a 13-year veteran correctional officer, repeatedly smuggled drugs into JCI on behalf of multiple incarcerated individuals. Atabong regularly met with associates acting on behalf of incarcerated individuals, receiving contraband packages that she would subsequently smuggle into the correctional facility. Atabong communicated with the inmates using their contraband cell phones and was paid thousands of dollars over several smuggling trips. In one particularly egregious act, Atabong abused her position by tipping off an incarcerated individual that members of DPSCS’s contraband interdiction team were engaged in an active operation.
On July 14, 2025, police executed a search warrant at Atabong’s residence in Anne Arundel County, and recovered a large amount of contraband packaged to be smuggled into JCI. The items seized included 200 pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine, a plastic bag containing 19.65 grams of the stimulant drug 3,4-Methylenedioxy-α-cyclohexylaminopropiophenone, 7,911 pills containing MDMA and methamphetamine, 78 grams of cannabis, 55 grams of THC-9, 54 grams of psilocin, 733 strips of buprenorphine, tobacco, cellphones with charging cords, and a variety of other items such as rolling papers and lighters.
On May 5, 2026, Atabong pleaded guilty to conspiracy to deliver contraband and misconduct in office and was sentenced by the Honorable Mark W. Crooks to a total of 10 years of incarceration, suspending all but 18 months, to be followed by three years of supervised probation.
Correctional Educator Lakesha Murry exploited her position to smuggle drugs, food, and other contraband into JCI for incarcerated individuals in exchange for money and luxury items, including a Gucci bag. Murry communicated directly with some of her incarcerated students using a contraband cell phone, taking specific requests for prohibited items. Murry also coordinated bringing in contraband food items. Murry would hide items on her person and then distribute them to her conspirators while in the JCI classroom. Security footage captured Murry kissing one of her incarcerated students on at least one occasion. On June 9, 2025, Murry passed cigarettes and 5 pieces of paper soaked with synthetic cannabis to incarcerated individual Kevin Glover while they were in the JCI classroom. On April 21, 2025, a search of incarcerated co-conspirator Allen Mitchell’s cell phone uncovered messages between Mitchell and Murry discussing Murry’s delivery of unauthorized food to Mitchell.
On May 15, 2026, Murry pleaded guilty to conspiracy to deliver contraband and misconduct in office and was sentenced by the Honorable Mark W. Crooks to a total of five years of incarceration, suspending all but 90 days, to be followed by three years of supervised probation.
Correctional Officer Kathyrn Hawes was engaged in an inappropriate relationship with an incarcerated individual, Artemis Booker. Hawes coordinated with multiple incarcerated co-conspirators through texts and calls from their contraband cell phone. Among the items she provided was a watch, which she sent photos of to Booker’s contraband cell phone. When investigators searched Booker’s cell, they recovered the watch as well as other prohibited contraband, including a flash drive and tobacco. Upon her arrest at JCI in connection with this indictment, Hawes was found to be hiding additional contraband on her person that she had smuggled into the facility.
On February 5, 2026, Hawes pleaded guilty to misconduct in office and was sentenced by the Honorable Stacy W. McCormack to a total of three years of incarceration, suspending all but the time served, to be followed by three years of supervised probation.
Between February 2026 and April 2026, five inmate co-defendants pleaded guilty to charges including possession of a contraband cell phone and conspiracy to deliver contraband.
The remaining JCI inmate co-defendants, Tavon Williams and Kevin Glover, have a trial date set for May 21, 2026, and May 28, 2026, respectively.
A criminal indictment is merely an accusation of wrongdoing, and a defendant is presumed innocent until the State proves the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
In making today’s announcement, Attorney General Brown thanked his Criminal Division, specifically Division Chief Katie Dorian, Organized Crime Unit Chief Paul Halliday, and the Investigations and Prosecutions Support Unit Chief Zachary Norfolk and Assistant Attorney General Colin McDaniels, who are prosecuting these cases. Attorney General Brown also thanked DPSCS for their partnership. Finally, Attorney General Brown thanked the State’s Attorney for Anne Arundel County Anne Colt Leitess for assisting with this prosecution.
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