Two Broward Sheriff's Office detention employees were arrested after officials said they were caught giving confidential inmate information to a bail bondsman.
The employees - 48-year-old Erika Ragin and 54-year-old Marie Gary - along with the bail bondsman, 43-year-old James Mitchell Jones, were arrested Wednesday, BSO officials said.
Ragin and Gary face one count each of unlawful compensation or reward for official behavior, offenses against users of computers, computer systems or computer network, and employee in a jail receiving a benefit of a bond.
Jones faces two counts each of bribery, offenses against users of computers, computer systems or computer network and employee in a jail receiving a benefit of a bond.
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The investigation began in 2019 when the FBI received an anonymous tip claiming a BSO employee was providing confidential agency jail inmate information to Jones, the owner of Out On Bail in Fort Lauderdale.
Detectives identified Ragin and Gary as the two employees accessing inmates’ emergency contact information in the Jail Management System database, officials said.
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The two provided the information to Jones, who used it to contact the inmates’ emergency contacts to solicit business for his bail bonds company, officials said.
In exchange for the confidential information, detectives said Jones would occasionally provide Ragin and Gary compensation in the form of food or small amounts of cash.
Ragin, who has been with the department since 2000, and Gary, who has been with the department since 1996, have been suspended with pay.
"It is unthinkable to me that a pair of trusted public servants would sell out their careers for any reason, let alone a few measly bucks," Sheriff Gregory Tony said in a statement. "The actions of these two employees are truly despicable and are not a reflection on the valiant and commendable work done by the vast majority of BSO employees who serve and protect this community each day."
