IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Nine employees have now been fired or resigned amid a widening investigation into security breaches at a maximum-security Iowa prison.
Four former tower guards at Anamosa State Penitentiary were charged this month as part of a federal investigation into the smuggling of cell phones and drugs inside the prison. A fifth person who didn’t work at Anamosa is accused of supplying marijuana and prescription drugs that guards used and traded among themselves.
The tower guards had already left employment when U.S. Attorney Kevin Techau announced the charges against them Oct. 6. Since then, five others have departed as a result of the investigation.
Prison spokesman Matthew Eivins says the five others aren’t charged with criminal activity but the investigation found serious violations of “work rules that relate to security practices.”
