DUBLIN — Federal law enforcement agents searched the troubled FCI Dublin federal women’s prison on Monday, signaling a potential new front on the years-long investigation into allegations of rape and sexual misconduct among the prison’s staff.
A FBI spokesperson confirmed Monday morning that the agency “conducted court-authorized law enforcement activity at that location.” The spokesperson, Cameron Polan, provided no additional information.
The Associated Press reported that the prison’s warden, associate warden and a captain were removed from the facility, while more than a dozen FBI agents seized computers and documents.
The search comes as a federal district judge weighs whether to appoint a special master, or some other type of new regulatory entity, to oversee the scandal-plagued prison.
For years, the prison has been embroiled in allegations of a reputed “rape club” among guards that targeted inmates, along with accusations of repeated retaliation by guards against inmates who spoke up about the alleged misconduct.
At least eight staff members at all levels of the prison — from jail guards to the chaplain to the warden — were charged in recent years with sexually assaulting and harassing inmates. Most have either pled guilty or been convicted, including former Warden Ray J. Garcia, who was sentenced in early 2023 to nearly six years in prison for sexually assaulting women.
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Advocates for prison inmates filed a sprawling lawsuit in August accusing prison managers of ignoring decades of warning signs, retaliating against inmates for speaking out and providing insufficient mental and physical health care. They also asked U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to appoint a special master to oversee changes at the prison while the lawsuit winds its way to trial — a move that, if approved, would be unprecedented at a U.S. federal prison.
In late February, Gonzalez Rogers signaled a renewed interest in mandating some type of oversight for the prison. It came after a visit to the prison earlier that month, which left her increasingly worried about operations at the facility.
“I cannot personally be out there micromanaging Dublin,” said Gonzalez Rogers, who said she didn’t “trust either side” to provide entirely factual information about conditions there. “I certainly learned an awful lot by spending those nine hours out there. And I learned the perspective of each side is not wholly accurate or what my own assessment is.”
The judge added, “I don’t think that the concerns I have can wait a year.”
The advocates also asked for the lawsuit to receive class-action status, amid the filings of numerous other similar lawsuits against the prison system.
Check back for updates to this developing story.