Two correctional officers from the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility were arrested Tuesday for allegedly smuggling contraband into the jail, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner announced at a press conference.
Roderick Price, a corrections officer since 2006, and Christina Ingram, hired in 2023, are accused of smuggling cell phones and packets of Suboxone — a medication for opioid use disorder – into the facility for profit, according to Assistant District Attorney Joe Lanuti.
The two acted independently, prosecutors said. Both face charges including corrupt organization, criminal conspiracy, dealing in illegal proceeds, and possession with intent to deliver.
The investigation, led by the city’s Gun Violence Task Force (GVTF) and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), began after a cell phone was discovered on someone in custody for gun and kidnapping charges by ATF special agent Timothy Hartman.
Lanuti said that corrections officers received cash or digital payments from incarcerated people and their families to smuggle cell phones, chargers, AirPods, and narcotics into the jail. The items were then sold for profit inside the facility, he said.
“We have seen instances where inmates will use contraband cell phones to intimidate and contact victims and witnesses of crimes,” Lanuti said. “They will also use these cellphones to communicate with other co-conspirators outside of the jail.”
Bill Fritze, who supervises the GVTF, emphasized the task force’s commitment to ongoing investigations inside Philly jails.
“If you’ve been arrested for gun violence, we’re going to watch you while you’re in custody,” Fritze said. “And if we uncover other crimes, we’re going to charge you with those crimes.”
Prisons Commissioner Michael Resnick said his department will continue efforts to uncover more of this type of activity and is working to ensure people involved are prosecuted, particularly correctional officers who “betray the public’s trust.”
Broader concerns about Philly jails
The arrests come as Philadelphia jails face increased scrutiny over staffing shortages, healthcare delays, and unsafe conditions.
Last week, a 41-year-old man died in a cell at the Police Detention Unit, where his body was allegedly found alongside drug paraphernalia following his arrest for narcotics possession in Kensington.
In September, two others died at Curran-Fromhold: Amanda Cahill, 31, who was also arrested for narcotics possession in Kensington, and Michael McKinnis, 61.
Multiple firsthand accounts allege that Cahill and others incarcerated near her were calling for medical attention for hours before her death. The Defenders Association said McKinnis’ unit was left without a guard overnight, and described the incident as an “inexcusable but predictable outcome” of the jail’s ongoing staffing shortages.
Since 2018, at least 26 people have died in Philadelphia’s jails from drug-related incidents, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer analysis.
Others have died of alleged medical neglect.
The family of Louis Jung Jr., 50, who died in 2023 of Diabetic Ketoacidosis at Curran-Fromhold, is suing the city and its prison healthcare provider, YesCare, for alleged wrongful death and medical neglect. Another family is also suing the city over the death of 22-year-old Rahsaan Chambers, who died while incarcerated at Curran-Fromhold.
In August, a federal judge ordered the city to pay $25 million and address jail staffing shortages, citing violations of a 2022 settlement over "horrendous" conditions.
Noah Barth, prison monitoring coordinator for the Pennsylvania Prison Society, criticized the focus on scanning mail for contraband while drugs continue entering facilities through other means.
“This is done supposedly to stop the flow of exactly this contraband, yet there is no reported information on the effort's effectiveness,” he said. “In other words, we know that drugs are still getting into the prisons – this is one example of how."
Although Barth said incarcerated individuals often wait weeks or months for medical care, he dismissed the notion that Suboxone smuggling reflected a treatment gap, calling it a “crime of profit, convenience, and predation.”
Resnick pointed to the department’s overdose prevention program, which connects incarcerated individuals with medications for opioid use disorder, as a “national model.”
“I don't think other jurisdictions do it as well as we do,” he said.
Resnick acknowledged a need for more correctional staff, but described the prison system’s healthcare unit as having “a functional vacancy rate.”
In an interview with Kensington Voice earlier this year, Bruce Herdman, chief of medical operations for the Philadelphia Department of Prisons (PDP), attributed challenges in timely access to medications for opioid use disorder to a shortage of correctional officers.
“You need an officer to let somebody out of the cell to go to medical,” Herdman said.
Kelsey León, an organizer with the Community Action Relief Project (CARP), a Kensington mutual aid group, said some people who use drugs in Kensington have relied on a black market of Suboxone to manage their untreated withdrawal while incarcerated.
León described the black market as a symptom of the challenges incarcerated people face in accessing medical treatment.
“Our community is accustomed to taking matters into their own hands in the absence of access to appropriate medical treatment,” León said. “To say that Pennsylvania is a leader in MOUD access in jails and prisons does not mean very much if there is inadequate staff to identify and treat medical issues, as we have seen in the death of Amanda Cahill, Michael McKinnis, and the recent death of a man in custody last week.”
When asked whether he was concerned more correctional officers could be selling drugs inside the city’s jails, Krasner acknowledged concerns. “Yes, I am concerned,” Krasner said. “I think everybody should be concerned in every jurisdiction about that issue.”
There have been 67 arrests for drug possession in Philadelphia jails in 2024, according to the DAO’s public data dashboard.
Have any questions, comments, or concerns about this story? Send an email to editors@kensingtonvoice.com.
