Former FCI Employee Sentenced For Sexual Abuse

DUBLIN, CA —The eighth former correctional officer at FCI Dublin was sentenced for sexually abusing female inmates, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.

Andrew Jones, 36, of Clovis, was sentenced to 8 years in prison after pleading guilty to six counts of sexual abuse and making false statements. Jones admitted in a plea agreement that between July 2020 and June 2021, he sexually abused three female prisoners in locations all around the prison. The government argued in a memo that Jones “enforced silence and obedience” from prisoners through “violence and threats of violence.”

“Intimidation and insults on the one hand, and the flattery on the other, was aimed at cultivating pliant prisoners who Jones could abuse for his own sexual pleasure, while he remained safe in the belief that his misconduct would go unreported,” the memo continued.

Jones is the latest in many former FCI employees who pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of inmates. Nakie Nunley, another former prison guard who pleaded guilty at the same time as Jones, is facing up to 17 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to abusing five inmates. The former warden, Ray Garcia, was sentenced to nearly six years. The former chaplain, James Highhouse, was sentenced to seven years.

Three former guards have pleaded guilty to charges of sexual abuse, and another was indicted April 13. Authorities said they continue to investigate a prison that was widely known as the “Rape Club.”

“The egregious sexual abuse that took place at FCI Dublin was disgraceful and tragic, and the Justice Department will not rest until we have eliminated such misconduct from the Federal Bureau of Prisons,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. “As the defendant’s guilty plea and today’s sentencing demonstrate, FBOP employees who abuse their positions of authority and assault those in their custody will be held to account.”