SC prison captain accused of selling confidential information – Daily Gazette South Carolina

Columbia – a former South Carolina prison captain has been charged with the sale of prisoners of confidential information, creating a risk to security, prosecutors said during a hearing on Thursday.

Leon Morel is up to 10 years in prison. Prosecutors say he received about $ 320 from at least one prisoner last year in exchange for surveillance staff and other sensitive information about how the state prisons work.

Morel had access to this information, including specifics such as members of certain gangs, through his work as an administrative captain at the Macdougall Correctional Institution in Ridge, said Assistant Prosecutor Stephen Lunance.

Previously, Morel was a lieutenant in charge of smuggling at the Lee correctional institution in Bishopville, according to the department.

“Many of this is confidential information,” Lunance said during the hearing of Morel’s bonds. “If this information is made, for the prisoner, it can be very detrimental not only for employees but also for the public.”

Morel maintains his innocence, said his lawyer, reporter Todd Rutherford. A graduate of the University of South Carolina without a criminal record, Morel was simply doing his job at the Department of Punishment and was incorrectly involved in the accusations, Rutherford, D-Columbia said.

“We ask him not to be punished for work at the Ministry of Correction,” the defense lawyer said.

In the past, prisoners used sensitive information to manage drugs and target people outside the razor wire, including correction staff. Morel is said to have not reported that prisoners use illegal mobile phones, often a way to communicate with the outside, even though they know about them, Lunance said.

Morel was accused of ethics violations, computer crimes, money laundering, misconduct, obstructing justice and public disclosure of confidential information.

Heath -Taylor’s judge has identified his $ 50,000 bond, according to the Ministry of Correction.

The investigation is ongoing. Employees are looking to find who Morel has communicated with and whether he has provided them with information that employees still do not know about, Lunance said.

“I can’t tell you what will come more, but I would imagine that there will be more fees that follow them as we continue this investigation,” Lunance said.