Texas prison guards fired amid planted evidence allegations

A Texas prison supervisor has resigned and four guards have been fired amid allegations they orchestrated the planting of two screwdrivers in an inmate’s cell.

Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jeremy Desel tells the Houston Chronicle that the planted evidence “appears to be an isolated incident” at the W.F. Ramsey Unit in Brazoria County. Desel says the scheme began with one supervisor but that all parties involved didn’t show integrity.

The newspaper obtained copies last month of an email from Capt. Reginald Gilbert that ordered a quota for officers to write inmate disciplinary reports. Gilbert said any sergeants who missed their quota would face disciplinary consequences.

Prison officials abandoned the quota system weeks later, and the department launched an investigation after the newspaper’s reports.

Desel said Monday that the evidence-planting investigation is unrelated to the quota system.