Six federal prisoners, including one man from metro Atlanta and another from coastal Georgia, could have more time tacked onto their sentences after “lewdly exposing themselves” to prison staff, authorities said.
Tracy McCants, 35, of Jonesboro, and Doniel Porter, 30, of Brunswick, are two of the inmates at the Federal Correctional Institution in Jesup now charged with public indecency, a misdemeanor, prosecutors said Wednesday.
McCants is serving a sentence for conspiracy to possess more than 280 grams of crack cocaine with intent to distribute. Porter is serving a sentence for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.
Officials said an investigation showed the men exposed themselves to women employed by the prison.
Many of the men have prior records of lewdly exposing themselves to staff members,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia Bobby L. Christine said in a statement.
McCants is due to be released July 10, 2023. McCants’ scheduled release date is Dec. 24, 2021. The new charge could add up to 12 months to those sentences as well as a year of supervised release, Christine said.
According to officials, the number of incidents of indecent exposure by federal inmates has increased in recent years, leaping from about 850 cases in 2016 to about 1,269 in 2018.
“The number of incidents of inmate abuse of female prison staff is unacceptable,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s field office in Atlanta.
Others charged are:
- Lesly Richard, 28, of Los Angeles, serving a sentence for being a felon in possession of firearm, with a scheduled release date of Jan. 12, 2022;
- Henry Watson, 38, of Milton, Fla., serving a sentence for possession and distribution of more than 38 grams of cocaine and illegal possession of a firearm, with a scheduled release date of Oct. 31, 2028;
- James Thornton, 50, of Rock Island, Ill., serving a sentence for conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine, with a scheduled release date of April 29, 2022; and
- Patrick Turner, 34, of Margate, Fla., serving a sentence for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, with a scheduled release date of Oct., 24, 2028.
“These prosecutions should send a message to all inmates that this reprehensible behavior will not be tolerated – and will result in more time behind bars,” Christine said.
