Drugs, sex and cellphones: What really goes on inside N.C. prisons?
Who: Charlotte Observer investigative reporter Ames Alexander has been covering the N.C. prison system since 2009. In 2015, a team of reporters, including Gavin Off and Elizabeth Leland, joined him to take a much deeper look into corruption inside the state’s prisons.
Alexander and Off joined us on this week’s CharlotteFive Podcast to give us a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the investigative series that resulted from their reporting.
What: “Wrong side of the bars?” the five-part series published by the Charlotte Observer June 2, “found that a hidden world of drugs, sex and gang violence thrives inside North Carolina’s prisons – and that officers who are paid to prevent such corruption are instead fueling it.”
The investigation found that prison guards were making thousands of dollars by selling cellphones, drugs and other contraband to inmates; that guards were allowing gang violence or attacking prisoners themselves; and that prison officials were having affairs with prisoners. The series tells the story of a gang leader who ordered a killing from prison using a smuggled cellphone and another who was sleeping with a prison substance abuse counselor and had a pet poodle, which sounds like something straight out of “Orange is the New Black.” Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up.
Read the full investigation here.
Anything else?
– We started the podcast on a lighter note, naming our favorite day trip locations within a couple of hours of Charlotte.
– We also discussed Ryan Kalil’s spoof of Cam Newton’s birthday video and how it affects their chances of winning the Super Bowl this year.
– And we told you what you should be doing this weekend. (We actually gave you two options, because we’re cool like that.)
The CharlotteFive Podcast — presented by The Charlotte Observer and powered by OrthoCarolina — is a weekly podcast that aims to get you Charlotte Smart, Fast with fun, interesting and useful news about the city. It’s hosted by Corey Inscoe and Sarah Crosland, and produced by Richard Brooke and 2Waves Media.
You can find The CharlotteFive Podcast on Soundcloud, iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and TuneIn. You can follow us on Twitter @Charlotte_Five, on Instagram @cltfive, and on Facebook, and you can shoot us an email to charlottefive@charlottefive.com.
Photos: John D. Simmons/Charlotte Observer
This story was originally published June 6, 2017 at 11:55 PM with the headline "Drugs, sex and cellphones: What really goes on inside N.C. prisons?."