(LibertySociety.com) – When an unexpected suicide and an overdose involve prison guards that blew the whistle on alleged corruption at the same facility they worked for, it’s reasonable to wonder whether the unexpected deaths are merely coincidental.
According to The Sacramento Bee, Sergeant Kevin Steele shared information with his superiors about his fellow officers faking documents and planting evidence on inmates to receive more money in their paychecks. The incidents, which occurred at California State Prison in Sacramento, allegedly resulted in overtime for the guards in question to process the paperwork. After cooperating with officials and building a case, Steele died suddenly, and the coroner ruled his death a suicide.
Sgt. Kevin Steele’s suicide is the second recent death from within his elite California prison unit. https://t.co/JHaHG2ACaJ
— The Modesto Bee (@modbee) October 6, 2021
Not only that, but one year ago, another California State corrections officer, Valentino Rodriguez, supposedly died of an accidental fentanyl overdose after complaining about harassment and threats at work.
And those aren’t the only deaths associated with this Sacramento prison. In November 2020, a court in the Golden State indicted two former guards for their involvement in the death and subsequent cover-up of an inmate in 2016.
Prison guards are essential to the justice system because they ensure correctional facilities run smoothly. Doing so is no easy task. In fact, the job is so stressful that active and retired correctional officers tend to have a 10% to 14% higher suicide risk than the rest of the general population.
Could the pattern of corruption and death among people associated with the state prison be a mere coincidence, or is there potentially more there than meets the eye?
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