Tavon ‘Bulldog’ White and the BCDC Corruption Scandal

Tavon “Bulldog” White was an inmate at the Baltimore City Detention Center who, between roughly 2009 and 2013, ran a drug and contraband smuggling operation from inside the jail as a leader of the Black Guerilla Family gang, recruiting correctional officers — four of whom he impregnated — to carry drugs, tobacco, and cell phones through the front door. The Tavon White Baltimore jail scandal ended with a federal racketeering indictment in April 2013, 40 convictions including 24 guards, a 12-year federal sentence for White, and the eventual demolition of the jail itself.

Who Tavon White Is

White had an eighth-grade education and a criminal record reaching back to the mid-1990s. He was convicted of second-degree murder in 1996, and while serving that sentence he joined the Black Guerilla Family in 2000.¹²

In 2009 he was arrested for the attempted murder of Devon Butler and sent to the Baltimore City Detention Center, held without bail. Two trials in that case ended with deadlocked juries before he was finally convicted of attempted second-degree murder and a handgun offense in 2013. Inside BCDC, he started as the BGF’s “lieutenant commander” and was promoted to “commander” in 2011, giving him authority over the gang’s operations across the facility.²

How the Smuggling Operation Worked

Under White, the BGF effectively controlled BCDC, the adjacent Baltimore Central Booking Intake Center, the Women’s Detention Center, and the Jail Industries Building. FBI Special Agent Stephen E. Vogt later said, “The inmates literally took over the asylum.”³

The operation smuggled contraband in and sold it to other inmates. Recruited correctional officers brought in marijuana, tobacco, Percocet, Oxycodone, Xanax, Suboxone, and cell phones, often walking the items through the main entrances. Some concealed contraband in their hair, clothing, or body cavities to defeat screening.⁴³ White used smuggled cell phones to run the whole network from his cell, deciding who could sell what, setting prices, and managing payments.

Money moved largely through Green Dot prepaid debit cards, which inmates and associates used to pay for contraband and move proceeds out of the facility.⁴ Profits paid for cars, jewelry, and a diamond ring. Inside the jail, White used inmates classified as “working men,” who had greater freedom of movement, to distribute contraband on the tiers.

His authority was close to absolute. In one intercepted call, he said: “This is my jail. You understand that. I make every final call in this jail… and nothing go past me, everything come to me.”⁵

The Four Pregnant Guards

The single most public detail of the scandal was White’s relationships with the women assigned to guard him. Four female correctional officers became pregnant by him: Jennifer Owens, Katera Stevenson, Chania Brooks, and Tiffany Linder. Owens, who had two of his children, had “Tavon” tattooed on her neck. Stevenson had the same name tattooed on her wrist.⁶ White gave at least three of the women gifts, including luxury cars.⁷

Testifying later, White described the officers as willing participants. “I didn’t have to,” he said of pressuring guards. “I had my children’s mothers, and plenty of other guards willing to do it for money.”⁸ Beyond the personal element, corrupt officers were operationally critical: they tipped White off about cell searches and canine sweeps before they happened. Intercepted calls in December 2012 and January 2013 showed Chania Brooks and Tiffany Linder making specific warnings to him.⁴

How the Case Was Built

Maryland state prison officials went to the FBI for help more than a year before the indictment was unsealed.⁹ Jail administrator Wendell France made the initial request in late 2010.¹⁰ Prison officials deliberately left White at BCDC rather than transferring him so the FBI’s work would not be disrupted; Maryland prison chief Gary D. Maynard confirmed the department agreed to keep him there as recently as three months before the indictment was unsealed.

The evidence came largely from wiretaps on the smuggled cell phones White used to run the operation. Those intercepts captured him directing gang activity and captured officers warning him about searches. On February 14, 2013, federal agents and 30 trusted correctional officers brought in from outside Baltimore ran surprise searches of the facility, going around the compromised local staff to collect physical evidence.⁴

The prosecution came out of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, then led by Rod J. Rosenstein.

Indictment, Plea, and Cooperation

A federal grand jury returned the racketeering indictment on April 2, 2013. It was unsealed on April 23, 2013, and roughly 170 agents and officers took part in the arrests and 15 search warrants that followed. The initial indictment named 25 defendants: 13 correctional officers, seven inmates, and five outside suppliers. Charges included racketeering conspiracy, drug distribution conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy.⁴ A superseding indictment in November 2013 brought the total to 44 defendants, including 27 correctional officers.¹¹

White pleaded guilty to a single count of racketeering conspiracy on August 6, 2013, before U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander. He admitted directing contraband smuggling through corrupt officers, membership in the BGF since 2000, and serving as its commander at BCDC from 2011 on.¹²

He then became the government’s central witness. Over a two-month trial that began in November 2014, he spent five days on the stand against two corrections officers, two inmates, and a kitchen worker who had not pleaded out.⁸ He described BCDC as “an upside-down world where inmates ran the prison and correctional officers took directions from the gang leader,” called the officers “willing participants,” and said of the chain of command: “Everything comes to me. Everything. They got to run it through me.” Asked why he was cooperating, he said, “When it is time to save your neck you will give up whether you have to give up.”¹³

The trial ended in February 2015 with five convictions — officers Ashley Newton and Travis Paylor, inmates Joseph “Monster” Young and Russell Carrington, and kitchen employee Michelle McNair — and three acquittals of officers Riccole Hall, Clarissa Clayton, and Michelle Ricks.³

Sentences

On February 9, 2015, White was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, along with a concurrent 20-year state sentence for the attempted murder conviction.² His federal sentence came in well below the 20-year statutory maximum because of his cooperation, which a federal prosecutor called an act of “great courage” against the gang that had put him in power.⁵

Of the 44 defendants, 40 were convicted. Thirty-five pleaded guilty, five were convicted at trial, and one defendant, Ralph Timmons Jr., was killed in a robbery before the indictment was filed. Twenty-four of those convicted were correctional officers.² Notable sentences included:

Joseph “Monster” Young, an inmate seen as White’s rival and expected successor as BGF leader at BCDC, received 15 years in federal prison for directing contraband sales and coordinating with outside suppliers.¹⁴
Correctional officer Travis Paylor received 76 months, and officer Ashley Newton received 51 months.¹⁵
Officers Taryn Kirkland and Adrena Rice each received 42 months.¹⁶
Officer Jasmine Thornton received 32 months for smuggling contraband, tipping off inmates about searches, and having a sexual relationship with a BGF leader.¹⁶
Officer Kimberly Dennis received 24 months.³
Officer Jennifer Owens, one of the four women White impregnated, was the first indicted officer to plead guilty, entering her plea to racketeering conspiracy on August 13, 2013. She admitted smuggling Percocet, Suboxone, marijuana, and tobacco into BCDC two to four times a week between 2010 and 2011.¹⁷

What Happened to the Jail

The scandal drove a set of institutional responses. A 14-member legislative commission issued 18 recommendations covering body scanners, replacement of manually operated corridor doors, expanded canine searches, and risk assessments for pretrial inmates.¹⁸

In July 2015, Governor Larry Hogan shut the Baltimore City Detention Center down entirely, citing its health, safety, and corruption problems.¹⁹ The Maryland Board of Public Works approved a $27.5 million demolition contract in June 2019, and demolition of 39 structures on the 8-acre campus was completed in August 2021. A few historical buildings were preserved, including the administration building, the warden’s house, and the Maryland Penitentiary’s administration tower.²⁰

The replacement, the Baltimore Therapeutic Treatment Center, is designed for 854 beds and is meant to combine detention and reentry with addiction, mental health, and medical treatment. It is estimated at about $946 million, the most expensive state-owned capital project in Maryland history, with a projected completion date of September 2029.²¹

1
Corrections1. Gang Leader Tavon White Pleads Guilty in Jail Scheme
2
U.S. Department of Justice. BGF Leader Tavon White Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison
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Prison Legal News. Forty Defendants Including 24 Guards Convicted in Widespread Corruption Scandal at Baltimore City Jail
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FBI. Thirteen Correctional Officers Among 25 Black Guerilla Family Gang Members and Associates Indicted
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WBAL-TV. Gang Leader Tavon White Sentenced in Baltimore Jail Scandal
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NPR. 1 Inmate Impregnated 4 Guards at MD Jail, Prosecutors Say
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CBS News. Four Female Prison Guards Impregnated by Same Inmate
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CBS News. Tavon White, Inmate at Center of Baltimore Jail Scandal, Gets 12 Years
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The Washington Post. MD Prison Officials Sought Help From FBI on Corruption, Gang
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Washingtonian. Making of Rod Rosenstein
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CBS News Baltimore. 14 More Corrections Officers Indicted in Connection With BGF
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U.S. Department of Justice. BGF Leader Tavon White Pleads Guilty to a Racketeering Conspiracy
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WBAL-TV. Gang Leader Speaks on How He Ran Jail
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U.S. Department of Justice. Inmate Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Baltimore Jail Racketeering Conspiracy
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U.S. Department of Justice. Former Correctional Officer Sentenced to Over 6 Years in Prison
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U.S. Department of Justice. Correctional Officer Sentenced for Baltimore Jail Racketeering Conspiracy
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U.S. Department of Justice. Correctional Officer Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Conspiracy
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CBS News Baltimore. Corruption Scandal Aftermath: New Plan Would Redevelop Baltimore City Detention Center
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CBS News Baltimore. Demolition of the Baltimore City Detention Center
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Maryland Matters. Board Approves $27.5 Million to Demolish Vacant Jail Facilities in Baltimore
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The Baltimore Sun. Replacing the Demolished Baltimore City Detention Center Could Cost a Historically High $1B