Jail Employees With KKK Ties Plotted Former Inmate's Murder, Attorney General Says

The hits just keep on coming for the Florida Department of Corrections.

Several years ago, the department contended with two high-profile inmate deaths. In 2010, there was the gassing death of Randall Jordan-Aparo. The 27-year-old died after facing punishment in an isolation cell following a run-in with a prison nurse, the Miami Herald reported. That case sparked a number of investigations.

Then, in 2012, mentally ill prisoner Darren Rainey was given a shower so scalding his skin separated from his body, the Orlando Sentinel reported. That shower was meant as a form of punishment for defecating in his cell.

Last fall, state officials fired almost 50 prison employees for misconduct, including some allegations that inmates were beaten.

Now, Attorney General Pam Bondi has announced the arrests of two current DOC employees and one former one. Thomas Jordan Driver, 25, David Elliot Morgan, 47, and Charles Thomas Newcomb, 42, were all brought into custody Thursday, Bondi’s office announced in a media release.

The three men are identified as members of the Traditional American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan by Bondi’s office. They are also accused of plotting to kill a former inmate after his release. All three face a single count of conspiracy to commit murder.

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“The defendants plotted the murder as retaliation for a fight between the inmate, who is African American, and Driver,” the media release stated.

Driver and Morgan are current DOC employees. Newcomb is a former employee.

Details about the investigation are not yet readily available. Authorities have not identified the inmate in question nor have they said which state prison the trio worked at.

The investigation was headed up by Bondi’s office with help from Homeland Security Investigations, the Florida Department of Corrections Office of Inspector General, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a host of others.

The three men will be tried in Columbia County, where Lake City’s Columbia Correctional Institution is located.

Image via Shutterstock

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