WHEN A GUARD HATES A PRISONER - OR THE GREAT TORTILLA CAPER - THAT NEVER WAS
"Don't bother coming to work," she told me with a smirk, "We found the tortillas."
"Okay," I replied, "But there should have been a whole case of them."
Looking at me like I was something stuck on the bottom of her shoe, she tells me, "There was - and officer Akins fired you." She then closed and locked the cell door with a haughty satisfaction and walked jubilantly away.
It didn't start there. In fact, this had been going on for almost 2 years when I first started working in G Block - the Close Custody unit at the ISCC.
Although officially listed as the G Block Foyer janitor, my job entailed much more than the cleaning of floors and bathrooms. Shortly after I started working in that unit, guard Casey Moffett made clear his intense dislike for me, but for what reason he disliked me I never understood, and really didn't care.
Approximately 2 months after I started the G Block job in November, 2018, Moffett was transferred to a different post, out of sight - out of mind, but when he was transferred back to G Block in January, 2020, it became apparent that he was trying to push my buttons while staying barely within the bounds of his authority as a guard. Going directly to him, I did what I could to find out what his problem was with me, but he would never give me any answer that made sense.
G Block officers on other shifts who occasionally worked with Moffett would tell me how Moffett disliked - even hated me, had tried to get me fired on several occasions and had bad-mouthed me at every turn. Officers with whom I had once gotten along that started working the overnight post with Moffett slowly started to treat me with disdain, but once they moved to a post or shift where Moffett was not present, they regained their respectful attitude and [dare I say] liked and appreciated me. Many would regale me with tales of Moffett's ire and hatred for me, and several staff opined that the reason Moffett disliked me so much was that most of the staff liked, respected and trusted me - a prisoner - more so than him. They referred to Moffetts' co-workers, the few that seemed to have adopted Moffett's ways and attitudes, as "Moffetteers".
When C/O Tyler Brown started working the G Block post with Moffett, Moffett found in officer Brown a go-between, a patsy, someone he could manipulate to do his dirty work and therefore give Moffett plausible deniability in his sneaky deeds. Brown is, [let's be politically correct here], a bit "intellectually challenged" and according to staff in the know, was the Gilligan to Moffett's role of Skipper.
Brown had, on several occasions removed work equipment overnight from the G Block property area under the guise of it being contraband after being sent by Moffett to do so, mudane items that I used to perform my duties, and was certainly authorized to possess. I would retrieve the items from staff later in the day, or staff from the next shift would simply bring it back to me when they found it in the Pod Control, classroom, or office areas. Moffett and crew then took to rummaging through everything in the property area, leaving a mess for me to clean and straighten at least twice a week and throwing taken items directly into the (staff) trash rather than keeping them to be reviewed by the unit sergeant or designee and returned to me.
On Tuesday November 24, 2020 - 2 days before Thanksgiving - the menu called for prisoners to be fed corn dogs for supper, but for some reason, corn dogs weren't available, and kielbasa (sausages) were served instead. Due to the last minute change, there was not enough bread to serve with the kiabosa, so someone decided to instead serve tortillas in place of the bread.
Due to a large number of cell moves within the facility involving almost all inmate food service workers (among others) that particular day, the 6 supper food carts were late, staggered in their arrival on the unit by several minutes each, and the cart which carried the 3 cases of tortillas (2 cases of 144, plus an open case of unknown quantity to feed the unit capable of housing 336 men) was the last cart to arrive on G Block. The food service worker who delivered the cart provided instructions on what to do with the tortillas. Oh, and the tortillas were half frozen.
I opened a package of 12 tortillas (12 packages per case, 12 tortillas per package) from the open case and tried to peel them apart in the property area where the other workers and I would eat our meals while working, but to no avail (they just ripped). When I informed officer Chandler Young (no relation to Tanya that I know of) as he exited tier 3 that the tortillas had arrived, were to be passed out with the food trays - 1 to each man - and were frozen, he told me that [they] were already finished feeding several tiers, and that they weren't going to go back [now] and hand out the tortillas. I told him I would take care of them (just as I did almost every day whenever some food item was not passed out and left in the foyer by staff - sometimes for days if I did not remove them).
Before the hot cart upon which the tortillas arrived was pulled onto the tier to feed the prisoners, I removed the 3 cases of tortillas and placed them on the property cages in the foyer before removing them later to the property room and placed them on a small plastic kitchen utility cart, upon which sat a full case of apples and a milk crate with a few bananas (leftovers from some earlier feeding). This cart (or any food in the room) would be removed either by Moffett and his crew overnight (these particular staff refused to allow me to have anything "extra" to eat, though they themselves would sit in the Pod Control and gorge themselves on inmate meals), taken to the kitchen with dirty trays collected the next day, or sent out with the lunch cart the next afternoon.
After all the G Block inmates were fed, staff realized they were short several trays (as happens quite often), and had to order food for the inmates that had not yet eaten. When the food service worker (inmate) arrived at G Block and dropped off the styrofoam trays, he was leaving with several more trays on a small plastic utility cart when I told him that I had 3 cases of tortillas that needed to go back to the kitchen.
The inmate worker informed me that he wasn't going directly to the kitchen, but to another unit (H Block) and actually needed more tortillas for H Block, so he would take our "leftovers" (a normal practice). Another G Block (tier) worker and I loaded 2 of the cases of tortillas (1 sealed, 1 opened) onto the bottom shelf of the small cart but there was no room on the top of the cart due to the trays. The worker told us he would stop by on his way back and pick up the other case - he didn't.
WEDNESDAY - 6 am. I picked up dirty trays off the floor of each tier from previous meals to return to the kitchen that morning, and, as per my usual routine, I collected and dropped off dirty laundry, mop heads, rags, (biological) hazardous waste and garbage, at different places in the facility, using a G Block wire cart. I noted the presence of the food in the property room, but I refuse to mingle food which (despite policies to the contrary) is likely to be redistributed for prisoners to eat, on a cart with garbage. It remained in the property room, to be placed on the outgoing lunch cart - again, as usual.
When I reported for work at approximately 10 am, I was informed by the Pod Control officer that there were a lot of moves going on, and that I should return later (a normal occurrence, though off-unit tier workers were allowed in this day to work that afternoon), thus the tortillas were not placed on the lunch cart or pulled off G Block by me as would have been done had I been working. When I reported for work later that evening, the supper (hot) carts had already been removed, and I was there for only about 15 minutes before leaving due to more prisoners being moved into G Block. I'm sure the tortillas were there, but I didn't take notice of them - I really had no reason to.
Sometime after 7 pm, Moffett, working in G Block Pod Control called me in to work. He asked me to prepare several cells to receive 20+ prisoners later that evening. I did - then I returned to my cell before count.
According to information provided to me weeks after my Thanksgiving firing, that Wednesday night, Moffett sent Brown to search the property room on the eve of their days off. When Brown noticed the case of (unopened) tortillas he reported them to Young and to Moffett. Moffett (or Young, it is still unclear) opened the case, laid the individual packages of tortillas out on a table, photographed them, sent the photos to several other staff, then contacted Food Service officer Jason Akins and reported that [they] had found a case of tortillas that Shackelford had stolen from the kitchen and brought to G Block. It was then suggested to Akins that he fire me from my G Block job for theft.
Without knowing any of the [actual] facts, Akins, who is also known to be easily manipulated, agreed to the suggestion, and Brown - at the direction of Moffett and/or Young - entered contact notes stating that I was fired for theft of food.
A new year has come and while there have been a few G Block staff that have seen me in passing, slowly filling in the blanks of what happened, none have made an effort to come see me, tell me [officially] what happened or why - and certainly no staff (from G Block or elsewhere) has attempted to intervene, or return me to my job.
One staff member did tell me however that the (G Block) unit Sergeant (Joshua Rankin) stated that he didn't have the time to review the camera footage to verify my "story" as told to him by 2 other G Block (tier) workers and a number of staff (who were witness to these events, events that I also recounted to the Sergeant via email) so as to reinstate me to my position. This, despite the time the sergeant took to hire a new worker, then have the new worker moved to another unit. A ten minute review of the facts (and cameras) would have not only exonerated me, but would have revealed the misconduct of Moffett and the Moffetteers.
In a Concern Form asking officer Brown on what basis he accused me of theft, he responded that the tortillas were found in my area, and that the tortillas should never have been in the unit (G Block). He then instructed me that future contacts should be addressed to C/O Akins, or the grievance coordinator. C/O Akins never responded to my Concern Form - so grievance(s) it is.
I've filed a grievance in this matter - 2 of them actually (on 2 different matters related to the event of my firing). While I, like all Idaho prisoners, have no right to a job, this example goes to show how the ISCC operates every day - and now you know too.
After all the G Block inmates were fed, staff realized they were short several trays (as happens quite often), and had to order food for the inmates that had not yet eaten. When the food service worker (inmate) arrived at G Block and dropped off the styrofoam trays, he was leaving with several more trays on a small plastic utility cart when I told him that I had 3 cases of tortillas that needed to go back to the kitchen.
The inmate worker informed me that he wasn't going directly to the kitchen, but to another unit (H Block) and actually needed more tortillas for H Block, so he would take our "leftovers" (a normal practice). Another G Block (tier) worker and I loaded 2 of the cases of tortillas (1 sealed, 1 opened) onto the bottom shelf of the small cart but there was no room on the top of the cart due to the trays. The worker told us he would stop by on his way back and pick up the other case - he didn't.
WEDNESDAY - 6 am. I picked up dirty trays off the floor of each tier from previous meals to return to the kitchen that morning, and, as per my usual routine, I collected and dropped off dirty laundry, mop heads, rags, (biological) hazardous waste and garbage, at different places in the facility, using a G Block wire cart. I noted the presence of the food in the property room, but I refuse to mingle food which (despite policies to the contrary) is likely to be redistributed for prisoners to eat, on a cart with garbage. It remained in the property room, to be placed on the outgoing lunch cart - again, as usual.
When I reported for work at approximately 10 am, I was informed by the Pod Control officer that there were a lot of moves going on, and that I should return later (a normal occurrence, though off-unit tier workers were allowed in this day to work that afternoon), thus the tortillas were not placed on the lunch cart or pulled off G Block by me as would have been done had I been working. When I reported for work later that evening, the supper (hot) carts had already been removed, and I was there for only about 15 minutes before leaving due to more prisoners being moved into G Block. I'm sure the tortillas were there, but I didn't take notice of them - I really had no reason to.
Sometime after 7 pm, Moffett, working in G Block Pod Control called me in to work. He asked me to prepare several cells to receive 20+ prisoners later that evening. I did - then I returned to my cell before count.
According to information provided to me weeks after my Thanksgiving firing, that Wednesday night, Moffett sent Brown to search the property room on the eve of their days off. When Brown noticed the case of (unopened) tortillas he reported them to Young and to Moffett. Moffett (or Young, it is still unclear) opened the case, laid the individual packages of tortillas out on a table, photographed them, sent the photos to several other staff, then contacted Food Service officer Jason Akins and reported that [they] had found a case of tortillas that Shackelford had stolen from the kitchen and brought to G Block. It was then suggested to Akins that he fire me from my G Block job for theft.
Without knowing any of the [actual] facts, Akins, who is also known to be easily manipulated, agreed to the suggestion, and Brown - at the direction of Moffett and/or Young - entered contact notes stating that I was fired for theft of food.
A new year has come and while there have been a few G Block staff that have seen me in passing, slowly filling in the blanks of what happened, none have made an effort to come see me, tell me [officially] what happened or why - and certainly no staff (from G Block or elsewhere) has attempted to intervene, or return me to my job.
One staff member did tell me however that the (G Block) unit Sergeant (Joshua Rankin) stated that he didn't have the time to review the camera footage to verify my "story" as told to him by 2 other G Block (tier) workers and a number of staff (who were witness to these events, events that I also recounted to the Sergeant via email) so as to reinstate me to my position. This, despite the time the sergeant took to hire a new worker, then have the new worker moved to another unit. A ten minute review of the facts (and cameras) would have not only exonerated me, but would have revealed the misconduct of Moffett and the Moffetteers.
In a Concern Form asking officer Brown on what basis he accused me of theft, he responded that the tortillas were found in my area, and that the tortillas should never have been in the unit (G Block). He then instructed me that future contacts should be addressed to C/O Akins, or the grievance coordinator. C/O Akins never responded to my Concern Form - so grievance(s) it is.
I've filed a grievance in this matter - 2 of them actually (on 2 different matters related to the event of my firing). While I, like all Idaho prisoners, have no right to a job, this example goes to show how the ISCC operates every day - and now you know too.