The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) rarely fires employees, preferring to offer them retirement or reassignment. Warden Lamine N’Diaye, who was in charge of notorious MCC New York at the time alleged child trafficker and admitted child pornographer Jeff Epstein hung himself, was criticized by then-Attorney General William Barr. Barr, appalled at the Epstein death, said at the Fraternal Order of Police conference just after the incident, "We are now learning of serious irregularities" at the MCC, where Epstein was found dead ...” and “[we] will get to the bottom of what happened and that there will be accountability.” In the end, two corrections officers were indicted (later entered into a deferred prosecution agreement) while nobody in executive management was charged. N’Diaye, who was never accused of any wrongdoing, was re-assigned after the Epstein incident to FCI Ft. Dix where he is today.
Retirement is another way out for the BOP when something goes wrong for an employee of the agency. There is less press and the tax payers can take on the responsibility for paying a pension for life in exchange for transparency of an indiscretion. However, in a Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service (FMCS Case No: 210121-03206, re: Rolando Otero), a BOP employee chose to go a route that allowed the public get a view of bad behavior inside the agency.
The FMCS provides mediation and conflict resolution services to industry, government agencies and communities. So when a union member in the BOP has a grievance, one way to work things out is through arbitration.
According to an order from an arbitration case, the BOP discharged Rolando Otero from his role as Safety Specialist at FCI Miami (a Low Security federal prison in Miami, FL) on December 14, 2020 discovering that he had violated the Standards of Employee Conduct through a “breach of information security, failure to protect sensitive information; misuse of inmate labor; and improper contact with an inmate’s family.” Otero, a 15-year veteran of the agency at the time, had duties including periodic inspections of the facility, responding to OSHA complaints and worker’s compensation claims at FCI Miami.
According to the FMCS order, on August 21, 2018, a BOP Safety Manager noticed Otero’s office door was closed, knocked, and an upon entering saw an inmate sitting at a computer preparing a spreadsheet of purchase orders for the department while Otero sat nearby. When the manager asked what was going on, Otero was speechless while the inmate stood and said, “I’m just helping out with some reports.” Those reports included filing injury and illness reports for BOP employees which contained things like name, address, social security information and related medical documentation ... things related to Otero’s job!
During an investigation, the BOP was shocked at the inmate’s “knowledge of computer programs and drives used at FCI-Miami, as well as his recollection of user names/passwords for Agency online accounts.” Otero, according to the findings of the investigation, was having inmates write emails, place on-line orders for supplies, search the BOP’s workers’ compensation data, take telephone calls for Otero, prepare Equal Employment Opportunity complaints and write correspondence to FCI Miami’s warden regarding a negative performance review given to Otero. Otero’s actions were so egregious that the BOP concluded that it was necessary to involve the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Justice. It was concluded that Otero “had granted him [an inmate] full use of his staff computer.” To keep the activities secret, Otero installed a chime he purchased from Amazon on the front door to the Safety Department, so he could be alerted whenever anyone entered the area. Monitored by lookout from the inmate population, the chime would be rung when anyone approached. Inmates were paid by Otero with food for their services.
It would not be until December 14, 2020, two years and three months after the initial reporting of the actions described here, that Otero was let go by Warden Sylvester Jenkins. Otero had a mediation hearing in May 2021 and the final decision to uphold the BOP’s termination was given a final ruling (order) on December 9, 2021.
Ortero’s Union representatives argued in arbitration that the BOP’s case had relied “heavily on inmates’ hearsay statements, which are due little weight, if any.” The mediator disagreed and upheld Ortero’s dismissal stating, “It is clear to me that his [Ortero] transgressions crossed several bright lines, as to which he was plainly on notice through established policies and training ... As a consequence, he placed the safety and security of the staff, inmates and the general public at risk and undermined the Agency’s mission of maintaining an orderly and well-run correctional environment.” There is no information as to whether the US Attorneys Office or the Federal Bureau of Investigation is involved in an active investigation of the incidents.
FCI Miami is no stranger to controversy. In November, Forbes reported about a rogue “fast and furious”-type operation that BOP employees had with inmates to track contraband brought in by other prison staff. There, four BOP employees were put on paid administrative leave and then allowed to return back to work in October 2021. In 2008, a corrections officer at FCI Miami brought a hand-held Sony Play Station with “Texas Hold’em” software into the prison for inmate entertainment. The officer said that the game did not constitute contraband pursuant to BOP policy. At a nearby BOP facility, FDC Miami, a warden, upon parking his car in the lot to go to work, was chased by OIG agents who were looking to question him about an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate. The warden ran, but was soon surrounded. An OIG investigation ensued, an OIG summary report was published and the warden kept on running ... to retirement.
