After it was signed into law in 2003, the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), 42 U.S.C. ch. 147 § 15601 et seq., remained unused for a decade while standards were developed and implemented to curtail rape and sexual assaults at prisons and jails nationwide. At that time, the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC), publisher of PLN and Criminal Legal News, submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) criticizing the proposed standards and calling them flawed and insufficient.

That criticism proved prescient when a sexual abuse scandal erupted at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, in early 2022. As PLN reported then, there were so many federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) staffers accused of sexually assaulting prisoners—including coerced and non-consensual intercourse, oral sex, fondling and voyeurism—that the lockup earned a new nickname: the “rape club.” [See: PLN, May 2022, p.28.]

For 103 prisoners who sued BOP for the abuse that they suffered, the nightmare finally came to a resolution on December 18, 2024, when the federal court for the Northern District of California approved a nearly $116 million settlement—the largest payout in BOP history.

Ten Staffers Charged, Seven Convicted So Far

Although allegations of sexual misconduct by BOP staffers at FCI-Dublin date back decades, the latest incidents occurred between 2019 and 2021. During testimony before a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing on December 13, 2022, then-BOP Director Colette Peters acknowledged that the agency faced a “culture of abuse and a culture of misconduct.” But details of what prisoners suffered at the “rape club” prove that to be a vast understatement.

The warden at FCI-Dublin when the scandal broke, Ray J. Garcia, was a 32-year BOP veteran. He had arrived at the facility in November 2020, and his duties included supervising PREA audits. He was also a serial sexual predator. After one victim came forward accusing Garcia of sexual abuse, investigators found pictures of nude prisoners on his government-issued cellphone. That resulted in his arrest in September 2021 on federal charges of forcing women to strip and then fondling, penetrating and taking photos of them.

Apparently convinced that a jury wouldn’t believe the prisoners he was accused of abusing, Garcia went to trial. He also made the tactical mistake of testifying, which exposed him to cross-examination by prosecutors. When they were through, jurors convicted him on December 1, 2022, of seven counts of sexual abuse and one count of lying to federal investigators. Sentencing was held in March 2023, when the disgraced former warden received a 70-month prison term. At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers told him, “You entered a cesspool and then did nothing about it. You just went along with the ride and enjoyed the cesspool yourself.” See: United States v. Garcia, USDC (N.D. Cal.), Case no. 4:21-cr-00429. [See also: PLN, Jan. 2022, p.30; and Feb. 2023, p.62.]

While Garcia was the highest-ranking BOP staff member charged in the scandal, other employees engaged in even more appalling misconduct. Former chaplain James Theodore Highhouse coerced sex from prisoners by appealing to their Christian faith, telling them that the Bible endorsed sex and that God wanted them to be together. He pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a ward and, in November 2022, he began serving a seven-year sentence—more than double the recommendation in the federal sentencing guidelines.

“It’s hard to come up with the right words to describe how egregious an abuse of these victims this was,” stated U.S. District Court Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr., who also ordered Highhouse, 49, to register as a sex offender following his release from prison. See: United States v. Highhouse, USDC (N.D. Cal.), Case No. 4:22-cr-00016. [See also: PLN, Nov. 2022, p.54; and June 2023, p.60.]

Prison technician Ross Klinger pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a ward on February 10, 2022; he had been charged with giving money and gifts to three prisoners to induce them to have sex with him. He also reportedly offered to marry them and father their children. Following his transfer to work at another lockup, he used an email address under another name to stalk one of his victims. Klinger, 38, agreed to testify against his former colleagues in exchange for a lenient sentence of one year on home-detention. When she reluctantly went along with it on January 24, 2024, Judge Gonzalez Rogers bemoaned that Klinger’s “conduct was particularly horrifying to [his] victims.” See: United States v. Klinger, USDC (N.D. Cal.), Case No. 4:22-cr-00031.

Klinger’s former supervisor at FCI-Dublin, guard John Russell Bellhouse, was initially charged with getting oral sex from a prisoner whom he called his “girlfriend,” bribing her with jewelry and use of his office phone. When he was arrested in November 2021, a superseding indictment added charges related to another victim, too. Bellhouse went to trial and was found guilty on June 5, 2023; the 40-year-old was sentenced that December to 63 months in prison for two counts of sexual abuse and three counts of abusive sexual conduct. See: United States v. Bellhouse, USDC (N.D. Cal.), Case No. 4:22-cr-00066. [See also: PLN, Jan. 2024, p.18.]

Despite the serious nature of their charges, Garcia, Highhouse, Klinger and Bellhouse had all been released on bond or to home detention after they were arrested and charged. The fifth BOP employee to be arrested in connection with the Rape Club scandal, Enrique Chavez, was a guard assigned to supervise the kitchen. He was accused of sexually abusing a prisoner in March 2022. Apparently he wasn’t paying attention, since that was after several other staff members, including Warden Garcia, had already been arrested and an investigation into sexual misconduct at the prison was underway. Chavez, 49, pleaded guilty on October 27, 2022, and he was sentenced to 20 months in prison in February 2023. See: United States v. Chavez, USDC (N.D. Cal.), Case No. 4:22-cr-00104. [See also: PLN, Feb. 2023, p.62; and July 2023, p.18.]

Another guard assigned to the kitchen, Andrew Jones, was charged with having oral sex and intercourse with three prisoners in 2020 and 2021 and then lying about it to investigators. He later admitted to sexually abusing two other victims, though he was not charged for that. Jones, 36, pleaded guilty to his charge on August 17, 2023, and three months later he received an eight-year prison term plus 10 years on supervised release. See: United States v. Jones, USDC (N.D. Cal.), Case No. 4:22-cr-00212. [See also: PLN, Jan. 2024, p.18; and April 2024, p.60.]

Former FCI-Dublin guard Nakie Nunley, 48, pleaded guilty on the same day that Jones did. A retired U.S. Air Force veteran, he supervised prisoners at a call center operated under contract to clients of UNICOR, BOP’s prison industry. He also coerced several of them into engaging in sex acts with him. His guilty plea included 10 counts of sexual abuse involving five victims. When he was sentenced to six years in prison on March 28, 2024, the judge called him “cruel” and “predatory,” as well as “perverse.” See: United States v. Nunley, USDC (N.D. Cal.), Case No. 4:22-cr-00213. [See also: PLN, Jan. 2024, p.18; and Apr. 2024, p.60.]

Two other FCI-Dublin employees were reportedly placed on leave on March 23, 2022, a day after former prisoner Andrea Reyes implicated them in the scandal during a TV news interview. One of them, guard Nicholas Ramos, 37, died by suicide on August 21, 2022. No charges were ever filed against him or the other guard, Sergio Saucedo.

The next employee charged was the one whom prisoners called “the worst”: Darrell Wayne Smith. The disabled U.S. Army veteran, whom his victims nicknamed “Dirty Dick,” was still employed by the BOP when he was arrested at his new home in Florida on May 11, 2023. Smith, 54, was charged with 15 counts of sexual abuse of a ward, aggravated sexual abuse and abusive sexual conduct; he was also accused of groping prisoners and having sex with two of them—once in a janitor’s closet.

One of Dirty Dick’s victims described him as a “pervert in its worst form.” He was fond of siting in the dark outside prisoners’ cells and watching them undress—often, bizzarely, while eating bananas. “Like every time we get out of the shower, opening a door, anything, he would be just standing right there looking, probably eating some bananas or something, just staring at us,” recalled former FCI-Dublin prisoner Linda Chaney.

Smith’s direct supervisor, unit manager Tess Korth, was disgusted by him, too. She reported his inappropriate behavior to then-Warden Garcia. But given that Garcia was engaging in sexual abuse of prisoners himself, it’s not surprising that Korth’s complaint accomplished nothing—except that she was later forced out of her job after reporting Smith, she said.

“Dirty Dick” went to trial in March 2025, and a dozen of his victims testified against him. His attorney argued that the prisoners shouldn’t be believed because they were convicted felons—a common defense tactic when prison staffers are charged with misconduct. The jury, consisting of 10 men and two women, deadlocked; a mistrial was declared on April 14, 2025, and another trial was scheduled for September 15, 2025. PLN will update the results when the trial concludes. See: United States v. Smith, USDC (N.D. Cal.), Case No. 4:23- cv-00110. [See also: PLN, July 2023, p.17; and Jan. 2024, p.18.]

The most recent charges were handed down on June 25, 2025. Former guard Jeffrey Wilson, 34, was charged with five counts of sexual abuse of a ward, a prisoner identified as “C.S.,” in a prison medical room between March 14 and August 16, 2022. Former fellow guard Lawrence Gacad, 33, was charged with abusive sexual contact with another prisoner identified as “S.L.” between March 1 and June 14, 2022.

S.L. is one of the named Plaintiffs in the class-action suit that was settled, and Gacad was one of the named Defendants. If found guilty, both he and Wilson face lengthy prison terms and hefty fines—though it’s doubtful they will be fully imposed, based on the sentencing history of other “rape club” staffers.

In fact, the DOJ press release announcing the charges took pains to identify the victims as female prisoners—as if their sex played a significant role in the crimes against them. It didn’t, of course; rape is a crime of violence committed by one person exercising domination over another, and any competent legal professional knows that. Pointing out their sex only serves to blame the victims for the sexual abuse that they suffered.

Investigations, Staff Changes Ensue

Prison officials routinely describe incidents of staff sexual misconduct with terms like “isolated,” blaming the abuse not on a corrupt system but on one “bad apple.” The gross abuses committed by BOP employees at FCI-Dublin were not isolated, however; they were part of a culture of systemic, pervasive sexual violations committed by prison workers responsible for keeping prisoners safe. If they were the actions of bad apples, then there were plenty of bad apples in the “rape club” barrel.

It’s important to remember, too, that the sexual abuse occurred despite the existence of PREA standards that had been in effect nationwide for over five years. Among all prisons in the United States, FCI-Dublin had the highest number of staffers charged with sex offenses. But the criminal prosecutions were just the beginning.

Following Warden Garcia’s arrest and abrupt departure, Thomas Ray Hinkle took over the leadership position at FCI-Dublin. He didn’t last long, though. Hinkle, as it turned out, had openly acknowledged that he beat Black prisoners when employed as a guard in Colorado in the 1970s. He also described the sexual abuse suffered by prisoners at the “rape club” as “consensual”—although as all competent corrections officials know, prisoners are unable to give legal consent due to the immense power imbalance between the keepers and the kept. In a stunning example of the “Peter Principle”—that workers are promoted to their highest level of incompetence—Hinkle was named to head the BOP’s Western Region in February 2022.

Even members of the union representing federal prison guards, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), were displeased, and they picketed outside Hinkle’s office, as PLN also reported. “The regional directors are the same. The people in central office are the same,” stated Edward Canales, President of the AFGE chapter at FCI-Dublin. “How do we expect change when [it’s] the people who are in office that make this environment toxic? It doesn’t make any sense.” [See: PLN, Feb. 2023, p.62; and Apr. 2024, p.60.]

Indeed, when BOP administrators commit misconduct themselves, it fosters an environment where guards and other line staff feel that they can engage in abusive behavior, too—or at least be subjected to less scrutiny. However, guard unions have also “repeatedly pushed for additional federal prison funding, highlighting what they say is an inadequate amount of money” needed for pay increases, staff retention and infrastructure repairs, as the Associated Press reported. Yet it’s unclear how more funding would curtail sexual abuse by staff; if guards who are inclined to rape prisoners are paid more, they would simply be higher-paid rapists.

Once Hinkle left FCI-Dublin, he was replaced by Warden Thahesha Jusino, until she retired near the end of 2023. Next in line was Art Dulgov—who lasted as warden only until March 11, 2024. That’s when he and Associate Warden Patrick Deveney, along with an unidentified guard captain, were walked off the job for unspecified reasons during an FBI raid on FCI-Dublin. Dulgov was replaced as warden by N.T. McKinney, a Deputy Regional Director, on an interim basis; McKinney, in turn, was later replaced by Charles Hubbard as acting warden.

A federal judge subsequently noted the BOP had gone through multiple wardens without being able to find one “capable of understanding and responding to the gravity of the situation” at the prison. Yet still the staffing crisis persisted, with five more staff members placed on administrative leave on January 24, 2024, including a guard captain. Two months later, another dozen employees at the lockup were reportedly under investigation, as PLN reported. [See: PLN, Apr. 2024, p.60.]

Lawsuits Ensue

Meanwhile, the incarcerated victims of the rampant sexual abuse at FCI-Dublin began suing in federal court—not only for monetary damages but also seeking injunctive relief. The California Coalition for Women Prisoners and eight individual plaintiffs filed a class-action complaint against the BOP in August 2023, represented by attorneys with the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice and Rights Behind Bars in Washington, D.C., as well as Rosen, Bien, Galvan & Grunfeld LLP and Arnold & Porter, Kaye, Scholer LLP in San Francisco.

Rights Behind Bars brought suit on behalf of a dozen more prisoners on March 7, 2024. More suits on behalf of still more abused prisoners were also filed, including 29 by civil rights attorney Jaehyun Oh, a partner in the Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Office in New York City. Many of those additional plaintiffs opted into the eventual settlement of the class action.

The class action was assigned to Judge Gonzalez Rogers, who also presided over five of the criminal cases involving former FCI-Dublin staffers. The complaint raised claims not only related to gross sexual misconduct but also to retaliation against prisoners who reported it—including placement in segregation—as well as inadequate medical and mental healthcare for victims of sexual abuse.

The district court held a hearing on the Plaintiffs’ motions for class certification and a preliminary injunction in January 2024, in which Judge Gonzalez Rogers heard testimony about “the ongoing risks and occurrences of sexual assault, retaliation, and lack of access to basic human needs” at FCI-Dublin. The BOP waged a scorched earth campaign in response: Two weeks later, five prison employees were placed on administrative leave—including a guard captain who had testified for the BOP at the hearing.

On Valentine’s Day 2024, Judge Gonzalez Rogers conducted an unannounced tour of the prison, speaking with both staff and prisoners. One month later—and four days after the FBI raid—the district court granted Plaintiff’s motion for certification of a class consisting of “all people who are now, or will be in the future, incarcerated at FCI-Dublin and subject to FCI-Dublin’s uniform policies, customs, and practices concerning sexual assault, including those policies, customs, and practices related to care in the aftermath of an assault and protection from retaliation for reporting an assault.” On March 15, 2024, the district court also granted in part and denied in part the Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction. See: Cal. Coal. for Women Prisoners v. United States, 723 F. Supp. 3d 712 (N.D. Cal. 2024).

Pulling no punches, Judge Gonzalez Rogers called FCI-Dublin a “dysfunctional mess” that could “no longer be tolerated.” Additionally, she said, “because of its inability to promptly investigate the allegations that remain, and the ongoing retaliation against incarcerated persons who report misconduct, [the] BOP has lost the ability to manage with integrity and trust.” The district court noted that prisoners continued to face retaliatory acts “for making any kind of report, whether for malfeasance like sexual abuse or the enforcement of their rights, such as filing a medical complaint.” A common retaliation was segregating prisoners who complained in the Special Housing Unit (SHU), where they were held in solitary or near-solitary confinement.

While the district court was skeptical that a “pervasive” sexualized environment existed at the facility, there was ample evidence of retaliation by staff. For example, prisoners were subjected to cell searches, loss of privileges and strip searches after meeting with attorneys involved in the case. Additionally, “FCI-Dublin’s long history of using the SHU to inappropriately quell inmates’ First Amendment rights can no longer be countenanced,” the district court declared, observing that the use of segregation “to deter false reports [of sexual abuse] will have the perhaps unintended consequence of deterring incarcerated persons from making true reports.”

Further, the “zero tolerance” that BOP claimed for staff sexual misconduct was “not quite zero,” the district court wrote. Some employees accused of abuse, it turned out, were not placed on administrative leave. Based on these findings, Judge Gonzalez Rogers granted in part the class members’ motion for a preliminary injunction and appointed an onsite Special Master to monitor FCI-Dublin—the first time that a BOP prison had been subjected to such oversight by a federal court, as PLN also reported. [See: PLN, Apr. 2024, p.60].

Wendy Still, a former chief probation officer for Alameda and San Francisco Counties, was named Special Master, reporting to the prison on April 12, 2024. Four days later, apparently desperate to avoid court supervision and dismiss the class-action suit, the BOP informed Judge Gonzalez Rogers that it was closing the prison. As it rushed to do so, more than 600 prisoners were shipped to other BOP lockups nationwide. In the confusion, many prisoners reported lost property, denial of hygiene supplies, harassment and retaliation after being moved. News of the prisoners’ sexual abuse accusations and participation in the class-action case had traveled along the BOP grapevine, and staff used the transfers as a way to mete out their own form of revenge. “[B]eing an inmate of FCI-Dublin has definitely made all of us targets to such harsh treatments,” several prisoners sent to the Federal Detention Center (FDC) in Miami stated.

The district court wasn’t pleased with the ham-handed closure of the prison, calling it “ill-conceived” and “like Swiss cheese, full of holes.” In a letter to BOP Director Peters, members of Congress, including Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL), demanded answers for the “botched” closure and punitive transfers, as PLN reported. [See: PLN, July 2024, p.13.] The district court entered an order on May 8, 2024, requiring prison officials to provide status updates for each transferred prisoner to the Special Master and class counsel. As the district court warned, “the BOP cannot hide from or escape its obligations merely by closing FCI-Dublin.”

The DOJ attorneys representing the BOP and prison employees didn’t get the clear message the court was sending. On June 18, 2024, they moved to dismiss the class action, arguing that shutting the facility and moving all the prisoners had mooted the prisoners’ claims. The motion was flatly denied. “The notion that the constitutional injuries alleged by FCI-Dublin’s [prisoners] were comprehensively remedied by the facility’s closure strains credibility,” Judge Gonzalez Rogers wrote curtly. “Redressable injuries stemming from the [prisoners’] experiences at FCI-Dublin remain to be addressed, and the BOP is well aware of this fact.”

In the meantime, Still, the Special Master, had issued a report that described her findings and recommendations. In it, she cited “numerous operational, policy and constitutional violations” at FCI-Dublin, noting “the failure of [BOP] Central Office and Regional Office management to correct significant and longstanding deficiencies that had previously been identified in multiple audits and investigations.” Her report concluded, “It is unconscionable that any correctional agency could allow incarcerated individuals under their control and responsibility to be subject to the conditions that existed at FCI Dublin for such an extended period of time without correction.”

The parties subsequently entered into settlement discussions, with Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero serving as a mediator. Finally realizing that they had run out of options and could not escape liability for the well-documented sexual abuse, retaliation and other violations at FCI-Dublin, the Defendants agreed to a proposed consent decree that was filed with the district court on December 6, 2024. The BOP had announced the permanent closure of the prison the day before, abandoning efforts to rehabilitate its sordid reputation and culture of pervasive staff sexual misconduct.

Injunctive Settlement Terms

The landmark class-action settlement was bifurcated, with the first part of the agreement covering injunctive relief and the second addressing monetary damages. Because FCI-Dublin had since been closed, the class definition was modified to include “all people who were incarcerated at FCI-Dublin between March 15, 2024 and May 1, 2024, and all named plaintiffs”— which included all those who had been transferred to other facilities.

With respect to injunctive relief, the consent decree specified that the “BOP Director will issue a formal, public acknowledgement to victims of staff sexual abuse”—an important recognition of the violations that prisoners suffered of both their bodies and their civil rights. Colette Peters wouldn’t be making that apology, however, because she resigned—apparently under pressure—just hours after Pres. Donald J. Trump (R) assumed office in January 2025, as PLN reported. [See: PLN, Feb. 2025, p.10; and April 2025, p.51.]

To address issues related to the transfers when the lockup closed, the BOP must ensure that prisoners who were moved did not lose “good-time” sentence credits and were not placed in “non-earning status” for additional credits. Also, by July 1, 2025, the agency must provide a final decision on all property loss claims related to the transfers.

Subject to bed availability and other factors, former FCI-Dublin prisoners shall be housed “in a facility as close as practicable to the class members’ primary residence, and to the extent practicable, in a facility within 500 driving miles of that residence,” the decree said, adding that prison assignments were also to be made “in the lowest security level facility possible.” Prisoners eligible under the First Step Act or Second Chance Act will be released to community placement “as soon as practicable after the class member becomes eligible.” Such releases will not be denied due to immigration status or solely due to the existence of a detainer filed by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The consent decree provides detailed procedures and protections for reporting retaliation, as well as physical or sexual abuse and PREA violations, including those reports filed at the Office of the Inspector General and the BOP’s Office of Internal Affairs. Prison officials shall inform class members when a BOP employee accused of abuse “is no longer posted within the class member’s unit” or “no longer employed at the facility,” as well as when “the agency learns that the staff member has been indicted on a charge related to sexual abuse at a BOP facility … or … has been convicted on a charge related to sexual abuse at a BOP facility.”

To address prior retaliatory acts by staff at FCI-Dublin, the BOP must now review all disciplinary reports issued to class members between January 1, 2020, and May 1, 2024. Those “that are found to contain due process, evidentiary, or other procedural violations” must be expunged. BOP must also adjust the prisoners’ security classifications, time credits and release dates accordingly.

If class members are placed in SHU, they must receive a copy of the administrative detention order or incident report within 24 hours and be provided with administrative remedy forms and confidential legal calls with class counsel. No class member may be put in SHU solely for low (400 series) or moderate (300 series) disciplinary violations unless required due to security concerns. If placed in non-punitive ad seg, per BOP policy, a prisoner must be afforded phone time, access to correspondence and visitation under the same rules applicable to prisoners in general population, plus seven hours of out-of-cell exercise per week, along with a “reasonable amount” of personal property and access to programming and commissary services.

The BOP shall also inform class members about the status of their requests or referrals for medical and mental healthcare, including estimated wait times. Clinical staffing levels and wait times for outside medical providers will be monitored. Interpreters must be provided for non-English speaking prisoners. Additionally, class members may make confidential calls to Rape Crisis Centers upon request which will not count against their allotted phone minutes. All class members will further be afforded confidential access to class counsel, including a free phone call at least once a week. A phone number for class counsel shall be added to all class members’ phone accounts and they will be able to place calls to that number “regardless of restrictions on phone access.” The BOP must likewise provide class counsel with “ongoing and timely access” to the class members wherever they are located. Preliminary approval of the consent decree was granted by the district court on December 20, 2024.

Enforcement and $116 Million Award

To enforce these settlement provisions, the district court appointed Still, the Special Master, to serve as a Monitor to oversee the agreement. All costs and fees incurred by the Monitor and her staff will be paid by the BOP. Moreover, the class members shall be allowed confidential communication with the Monitor via phone, mail and e-messaging, and the Monitor will have “the ability to inspect BOP facilities and interview BOP staff” as needed.

As Monitor, Still’s duties include reviewing concerns related to the class members, such as their medical and mental healthcare needs, PREA complaints, compassionate release requests, time credits, disciplinary incidents and SHU placements, as well as mistreatment during their transfers from FCI-Dublin. Class members may submit complaints concerning retaliation or staff abuse directly to the Monitor, who will issue monthly public reports on the BOP’s compliance with the settlement terms.

Prison officials were also required to appoint a Liaison, reporting directly to a BOP Deputy Director, whose sole duties are to ensure compliance with the consent decree. Jennifer Knox was appointed as the BOP Liaison.

Class counsel described the settlement agreement as historic and unprecedented. “It is the first time in BOP history that monitoring will be enforced by consent decree across over a dozen federal women’s prisons nationwide,” stated Amaris Montes, an attorney with Rights Behind Bars, who added that “[t]his reflects the lived reality of the class members in their lawsuit: the problems at FCI-Dublin were not unique to that facility, and the BOP has failed people in its custody across the country.”

Added Emily Shapiro, an advocate with the California Coalition for Women Prisoners and Dublin Prison Solidarity Coalition, “We will fight to ensure the agreement is fully implemented, and we will remain in daily communication with FCI-Dublin survivors and continue to demand their freedom, hold policy changes across the prison system, and ultimately, community-based alternatives to prisons and the gender violence they perpetuate.”

The terms of the consent decree apply to all class members wherever they are housed, and the settlement will remain in effect for two years—though the BOP can move for early termination by demonstrating “substantial compliance” after 18 months. Some provisions were not included in the settlement, such as issuing U-visas to non-citizen prisoners who had been subjected to sexual abuse at FCI-Dublin, which would prevent them from being deported after completing their sentences.

The injunctive relief provisions of the consent decree received final approval from the district court on February 27, 2025. That same day, the BOP settled the monetary damages claims in the class-action suit for $116 million—the highest amount ever paid in a prison-related case, surpassing even a $100 million award to female prisoners in Michigan who were subjected to systemic sexual abuse, as PLN also reported. [See: PLN, Dec. 2009, p.30.]

The 103 class members included in the damages settlement will receive an average payout of $1.1 million each. The settlement did not resolve all outstanding cases, and other lawsuits over sexual abuse at FCI-Dublin remain pending. Attorney’s fees and legal costs for class counsel have not yet been awarded but will be substantial. See: Calif. Coalit’n for Women Prisoners v. Fed. Bur. of Prisons, USDC (N.D. Cal.), Case No. 4:23-cv-04155.

Harrowing Details

The Manhattan attorney who represented many victims at FCI-Dublin, shared stories from 20 of them with PLN. Their identities were withheld, but the details of what they endured were horrific, easily justifying the amounts they were awarded from the settlement.

“Jane Doe 1” said that she was forced to expose herself on several occasions to a prison official matching the description of Warden Garcia, who also photographed her without her consent. He groped her on one occasion; another time he took her hand and placed it on his erect penis while propositioning her for sex. “Jane Doe 2” said that he forced her to perform oral sex on him—twice. The two prisoners were awarded $1,300,075.61 each. A third victim, “Jane Doe 15,” said that he forced her to strip and dance naked for him. She was awarded $360,000.

Four alleged victims of a guard matching Smith’s description said that he forced them to expose themselves on several occasions. “Jane Doe 3” said that he also fondled her while he masturbated and then digitally penetrated her and raped her. She was awarded $1,275,000. “Jane Doe 4” said that he repeatedly propositioned her for sex, also groping her genitals over her clothes. She was awarded $975,000. “Jane Doe 8” said that she was repeatedly fondled; the guard also digitally penetrated her on three separate occasions. She was awarded $755,000. “Jane Doe 10” said that she was digitally penetrated on five occasions—once anally—and forced to have sex with another prisoner while the guard watched. She was awarded $710,000.

Two more of his alleged victims, “Jane Doe 11” and “Jane Doe 12,” were groped, fondled and digitally penetrated, they said, and awarded $650,000 and $625,000, respectively. The first also said that another guard—who was not charged—repeatedly groped her and masturbated himself.

“Jane Doe 5” said that she was forced to perform oral sex on a kitchen guard who has not been criminally charged; he tried to rape her and digitally penetrated her when she fought back, she claimed. He also groped and fondled her, she said, forcing her to masturbate him. She was awarded $900,000.

Someone matching the description of Ramos, the guard who committed suicide, was accused by “Jane Doe 6” of repeatedly groping her breasts and rubbing his erection against her butt, while describing sexually explicit dreams he had about her. She was awarded $893,801.98.

A guard matching Nunley’s description was accused by “Jane Doe 7” of forcing her to have sex with another prisoner while he watched and masturbated. “Jane Doe 9” said that he made her masturbate him. Both worked for him in UNICOR when he digitally penetrated them, they said. They were awarded $755,000 each.

Three more victims said that he rubbed his genitals against them and repeatedly fondled them. “Jane Doe 16” added that his sexual remarks persisted daily. “Jane Doe 14” said that he also forced her to strip and bend over as he spanked her and narrated sexual fantasies about her. “Jane Doe 13” said that he forced her three times to have sex with another prisoner while he watched, also making the other prisoner digitally penetrate her. They were awarded $325,000, $375,000 and $500,000, respectively.

A kitchen guard who was not charged pulled out his penis and put it on “Jane Doe 17,” she said. She was awarded $300,000. “Jane Doe 19” said that he also engaged in unwanted touching with her on a daily basis, slapping her buttocks while making sexualized comments. She was awarded $280,000.

An unnamed paramedic who was not charged was accused by two other victims that Oh represented. Under guise of providing her medical treatment, he ordered “Jane Doe 18” to strip as he fondled her breasts on at least five occasions, she said. She was awarded $300,000. “Jane Doe 20” accused him of repeatedly ogling her body while making inappropriate comments and fondling her on at least seven occasions. She was awarded $230,000.

The Sad Conclusion: Nothing Unusual to See Here

While the consent decree entered in this case was indeed unprecedented, both in the scope of injunctive relief and the amount of monetary damages, the rampant staff sexual misconduct that led to the litigation was nothing unusual. Since PLN began publishing in May 1990, almost every issue has reported rapes or sexual assaults by employees at prisons, jails, juvenile facilities and other detention centers—both before and after the PREA standards were implemented. There have been so many reports of sexual abuse that PLN has run multiple cover stories compiling such incidents. [See, e.g.: PLN, April 2012, p.l; and Sept. 2013, p.1]. Having sex with prisoners is seen as a job perk by some staff members, while many others turn a blind eye to the abuse due to a longstanding code of silence among guards and other prison staffers.

There was also nothing unusual about the treatment of the FCI-Dublin employees charged with sexual misconduct. At least four of the eight staff members charged were released on bond or to home confinement despite the serious nature of the allegations against them. If the abusers weren’t prison officials, it’s unlikely they would have been granted pre-trial release.

Those convicted also received fairly lenient sentences, given their egregious conduct. None of the seven former staffers sentenced thus far received more than eight years in prison as punishment for raping and sexually assaulting prisoners under their custody and control. In any other context, such criminal acts would have resulted in much harsher punishment. But the FCI-Dublin Defendants apparently benefited from a “corrections employee” exception to lengthy prison terms.

This case involved another issue that’s typical in the prosecution of BOP staff members who are sued by the prisoners they victimize: the dual role of the U.S. Attorney’s office. Here, the U.S. Attorney vigorously defended the BOP in the class-action lawsuit, even as attorneys in the same office prosecuted FCI-Dublin employees whose actions led to the claims in the litigation. Even if the criminal and civil cases were firewalled by the U.S. Attorney, this apparent conflict of interest—which was identified by HRDC in its comments criticizing the PREA standards over a decade ago—raises serious concerns. Can the U.S. Attorney’s office effectively seek to hold prison staff accountable in criminal prosecutions when evidence in those cases can be used to support claims that expose the federal government to liability in lawsuits defended by the U.S. Attorney?

Although this case resulted in the prosecution of multiple BOP employees, plus extensive injunctive relief and a record amount in monetary damages, the underlying problem remains. This will not be the last incident involving systemic sexual misconduct by corrections workers, and BOP officials need to learn from their failure to protect prisoners from abusive staff members and from deficiencies in the existing PREA standards. Whether or not that happens now remains to be seen.

The $116 million damage award won’t come out of the BOP’s budget—it’s “just taxpayer money,” officials may rationalize. The former employees who were arrested and convicted will be replaced. And after the consent decree expires—in two years, if not sooner—it will be back to business as usual, unless there’s a change in the BOP’s culture of abuse and indifference. But until then attorneys who litigated the class-action suit will be scrutinizing the prison system.

“Without rigorous monitoring and enforcement, this [settlement] agreement is only words on paper,” observed Kara Janssen, senior counsel at Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld, LLP. “Class counsel will be closely watching BOP, going to the institutions, meeting with our class members, and will hold BOP accountable… This is the end of one chapter but much work remains for the next and we will be there to make sure it happens.”  

Additional sources: AP News, The Guardian, KTVU, New York Times