CoreCivic inmate sues Trousdale Turner prison staff over alleged extortion
A Trousdale Turner Correction Center inmate serving time at a privately-run prison in Tennessee is suing the warden and staff for allowing gang members to assault him and extort money from his mother.
Filed in May in U.S. District Court in Nashville, the lawsuit claims gang members at the CoreCivic prison in Trousdale County threatened to assault inmate Charles Anderson if his mother and two family friends didn't send them money, then beat and sexually assaulted him anyway after he complained to prison staff.
Trousdale Turner already faces a federal civil rights investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for gang violence and murders.
The lawsuit names prison warden Vince Vantell, assistant warden Keith Huggins, investigator Robert Fohrd and a sergeant at the facility, which is run by the Brentwood-based prison operator under contract with the state of Tennessee.
U.S. Department of Justice opens investigation into CoreCivic Trousdale County prison
The filing says almost as soon as Anderson was transferred to Trousdale Turner in October 2023, he became the repeated victim of violence, with gang members stealing his property and threatening and inflicting violence on him. Gang members ordered him to buy back the stolen items in a well-known prison extortion scheme, according to the filing.
Anderson then instructed his elderly mother to pay gang members' affiliates outside the prison through mobile methods or a 'green dot' card or else he would be severely harmed or killed.
Gang members armed with shanks forced him to call his mother and ordered him to tell her to make payments between $40 and $150.
'These calls were placed from (Trousdale Turner Correctional Center) lines and presumably monitored by staff at TTCC,' the filing says.
When the inmate's mother couldn't afford to make the payments, he asked two family friends for 'protection' payments to 'preserve his life.'
The family friends told Fohrd about the extortion and threats, yet the staff member did 'nothing' meaningful to intervene or put Anderson in protective custody, the filing says.
In May 2024, the family friend sent multiple emails to the warden's office about the 'incessant' extortion, and at one point a prison official told the friend they were 'committed' to placing him in protective custody.
Yet in June 2024, Anderson was assaulted again, and in October 2024, he was sexually assaulted by at least four gang members with a broom handle. They claimed he owed them $1,000 for 'debt.' No staff members intervened, the filing says.
The victim received treatment at Nashville General Hospital in October, but when he returned to the prison, gang members attacked him again and poured 'scalding hot water' on his face as he slept.
Despite receiving medical treatment, he wasn't placed in protective custody and was attacked again and threatened if he didn't perform sexual favors for the gang members, which he refused to do, according to the filing.
A corrections officer recommended he be put in protective custody, and staff reviewed the request. After repeated complaints and a request to file a Prison Rape Elimination Act complaint, Anderson met with prison officials when Vantell told him it was 'okay if he was gay.' Anderson replied that he wasn't.
'This interaction was an attempt to cover-up the rape as a consensual act and escape liability for the defendants' acts and omissions,' the filing says.
The defendants denied his requests for protective custody, alleging he 'was not honest about why he needed protective custody' and 'became argumentative with the board' of prison officials.
In December 2024, Fohrd spoke with the inmate's mother and told her to pay the gang members 'one more time' to buy back his property and he would be put into protective custody. The filing says the phone call was made in the presence of Anderson and gang members.
'Because the defendants failed to stop gang violence and extortion directed towards Mr. Anderson and his family, the violence and extortion continues, without reprieve, even to present,' the filing says.
Since last October, the victim has received multiple disciplinary write-ups for refusing his cell assignment, because he believes 'segregation' is the only way to be protected from 'constant gang violence,' according to the filing. Yet he remains in the general population.
Vantell resigned as warden in April after being placed on involuntary administrative leave amid the Department of Justice investigation into inmate physical and sexual violence, as well as understaffing at Trousdale Turner.
The plaintiffs are represented by Moseley & Moseley Attorneys in Murfreesboro and Leanne Thorne in Lexington, Tennessee.
A CoreCivic spokesman said the company doesn't comment on pending litigation but added that 'the safety and well-being of every person in our care is a top priority for our leadership and the staff at our Trousdale Turner Correctional Center.'
CoreCivic 5-22-25
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
UPI
26 minutes ago
- UPI
FBI warns of scam targeting foreign college students
On Monday, officials at the FBI's Philadelphia office said that college and university students studying abroad in the U.S. -- particularly Chinese citizens -- are at risk of an ongoing scheme that involves a foreign government impersonator. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo Aug. 4 (UPI) -- FBI officials in Philadelphia on Monday issued an advisory warning international college students about a scam that involves foreign impersonators. They advised potential victims to report it. Officials at the Philadelphia office of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation say that college and university students studying abroad in the United States -- particularly Chinese citizens -- are at risk of an ongoing scheme that involves a foreign government impersonator. "We are actively engaging with the public, academic institutions, and our law enforcement partners to identify and support those impacted by this scheme," Wayne Jacobs, special agent in charge of the FBI's Philadelphia Field Office, said in a statement. According to FBI officials, since 2022 the Philadelphia office has seen an uptick in criminal activity with actors attempting to make a victim believe they are a Chinese police officer in order to defraud them. A scammer will tell a victim they are under investigation for an alleged financial crime in China and will need to pay in order to to avoid arrest. The typically four-phase scam will see a fraudster call from what appears to be a legitimate phone number associated with a mobile telephone service provider. They will inform a victim their private information had been "linked to either a subject or a victim of a financial fraud investigation," officials say. They added that a criminal actor will involve another person who acts as a provincial Chinese police officer and will seek to apply further pressure in attempts to get a potential victim to "return to China to face trial or threaten them with arrest." "Criminal actors direct victims to consent to 24/7 video and audio monitoring due to the alleged sensitivity of the investigation and/or to demonstrate the victims' innocence," the FBI's Philadelphia field office stated Monday. "Victims are instructed not to discuss the details of the case, not to conduct Internet searches, and to report all their daily activities," it added. The bureau gave a similar notice last year about China-based imposters seeking to extort money from victims. Other scams in the past also have affected Chinese victims. In 2019, the Chinese mother of a Stanford University student expelled in the college admissions scandal said she was duped into paying over $6 million in the belief the money was for college-related costs. Jacobs, the FBI's Philadelphia field office chief, says the scams "inflict more than just financial harm." He said many victims "endure lasting emotional and psychological distress."
Miami Herald
43 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
AT&T, ordered to keep providing land-line service, takes fight to California legislature
Telecommunications giant AT&T, stymied last year by regulators in its bid to drop land-line service to California customers, is taking its battle to the state Legislature. And so far, the reception is much improved. Assembly Bill 470 would allow the company, which provides the vast majority of the state's landline service, to drop most of those customers, including nearly all of the hundreds of thousands in the Bay Area and millions around the state. It easily passed a floor vote in the Assembly in late June, and is now before the state Senate's appropriations committee. Berkeley hills resident Cynthia Larson, 63, an author who does not own a cell phone, is worried. "To me the landline is irreplaceable," she said. Even if Larson started using a cell phone, a fire or other natural disaster could disrupt internet and cell service, leaving her cut off from vital information. "Do I need to evacuate the house right now? Is the fire coming here right now? The landline is the standard for reliable communications. How many people is it OK to kill through this lunacy?" she asked. Because of its earlier monopoly status and state law requiring voice communications for all who want them, AT&T is for much of California the "carrier of last resort" or COLR - the utility required to provide phone service to anyone wanting it in its service area, unless another provider takes over the legal obligation. The bill aims to replace aging copper-wire landlines with phone service from cellular and cable providers. It would also force AT&T to significantly expand California fiber-based internet and phone service - with half the expansion in areas with poor internet and phone service - in exchange for breaking free of its obligations as a carrier of last resort under state law. "Right now we have 5% of Californians still using their copper lines," said Southern California Assembly Member Tina McKinnor, the bill's author. "Most of that is an older population. When we no longer have them with us, like my parents, we probably won't be 5%. We have to build up our infrastructure. There's no mandate making any other company build the fiber." Last year, the California Public Utilities Commission unanimously shot down a massively unpopular proposal by AT&T to scrap landline service for most of the Bay Area and much of California. Critics charged the pullback would have stripped many older people and rural residents of a communications lifeline in power outages and disasters such as fires and floods. Now, the utility, which reported $12.3 billion in profit last year, even though it says its carrier-of-last-resort status costs it $1 billion a year, is banking on AB 470. "It most definitely is an end run around the PUC," said Regina Costa, telecom policy director at The Utility Reform Network, a San Francisco-based consumer advocacy group opposed to the bill. AT&T's president for California Susan Santana pledged in a statement last week that "no customer will be left without access to voice or 911 service." If AB 470 passes, the company will work with state leaders and residents "on policies that create a thoughtful transition to bring more reliable, modern communications to all Californians," Santana said. AT&T would move away from landlines in a "phased, multi-year approach, and "current copper services will be maintained until new technologies are available that are equally or more reliable," the company said. AT&T has found support for AB 470 among business and community groups and public officials, including San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan. His office did not respond to questions about his support for the bill, listed in the most recent legislative analysis of the proposed law. The bill would let AT&T end landline coverage in areas deemed "well served" because they have three alternatives for basic voice phone service, including a provider of wire-based service such as cable, and a provider that offers the Lifeline discount service for low-income households. In most areas, two of the alternatives would likely be cell phone services. McKinnor, whose campaign for the 2026 election received a $5,500 donation from AT&T according to state records, introduced the bill in February. A spokesperson for McKinnor said campaign donations "have no impact on legislation that Assemblymember McKinnor either authors or takes a position on." McKinnor said the bill would "create the largest union-built private investment in advanced fiber optic networks in state history and will ensure that all California households will continue to be able to make affordable, reliable telephone calls and connect with emergency services when they need it." McKinnor noted that during fires, landline customers cannot receive evacuation notices via text message. A dozen Bay Area assembly members voted for the bill. South Bay Assembly Member Patrick Ahrens said the bill "contains protections ensuring that no one will go without access to telephone service and improves public safety by making significant investments in public infrastructure." Assembly Member Gail Pellerin, whose district includes forested areas of Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties where many residents rely on landlines, declined to vote on the bill. Pellerin said in a statement she is focused on ensuring her constituents, "especially those in areas where internet service is not reliable, are not left without access to a landline should we remove COLR obligations." Pellerin said that at the time of the votes she "felt there was a discrepancy between the intent of the bill and the actual real-life applicability." If AB 470 passes, the California Public Utilities Commission would have to adopt a map designating well-served areas by Dec. 15, 2026. But TURN's Costa argues federal government maps to be used in creating the commission's map show areas where cable and wireless broadband are present, but millions of Californians there lack broadband and reliable cell service. Companies will not be required to provide service to every home, Costa said. A requirement for backup power for cellular or cable-based phone services applies only to fire-risk areas, despite California's history with floods and earthquakes, and loopholes mean many locations could still lose phone service during power outages, Costa said. Customers losing landlines could face higher costs from purveyors of alternative services, according to a report last month to the state Senate's committee on energy, utilities and communications. "Nothing limits these providers from raising their rates after a telephone corporation relinquishes its COLR duties," the report said. For customers in purportedly well-served areas who lose landlines and can't secure an alternative, the Public Utilities Commission would have to confirm the absence of options. "There is no way that people will understand what's going on," Costa said, "and there's no way that the commission has the resources to go out and verify throughout the entire state where there are verified alternative services." Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
CNBC
an hour ago
- CNBC
‘Everything is about to get really expensive': Small-business owners say Trump tariffs could force them to raise prices
"Everything is about to get really f---ing expensive," says Melanie Abrantes, an Oakland, California-based business owner who sells home décor. Abrantes is one of many CEOs of small and medium-sized consumer product businesses in the U.S. who say President Donald Trump's tariffs could force them to raise prices before the end of the year. Last week, Trump updated tariff rates for dozens of countries, ranging from 10% to 41% duties that go into effect starting Aug. 7. Goods that are considered to have been transshipped, or shipped through an intermediate country to disguise where they were originally made to avoid applicable duties, will be hit with an additional 40% rate. U.S. businesses that stocked up on inventory earlier this year are now starting to run out, they say. When they reorder from their overseas manufacturers, they'll need to pay steep import costs. "While inventory front-running has mitigated the need to raise goods prices, it will become increasingly difficult for businesses to absorb higher import duties as pre-tariff stockpiles dwindle," Wells Fargo economists wrote in a July research report. "We expect core goods prices to pick up further in the second half of the year as a result." Matt Hassett (who has no relation to the economist Kevin Hassett) runs New York-based startup Loftie. He had five months' worth of his smart alarm clocks in stock in April, when Trump first detailed his tariff plan, he says. Come September, Hassett will need to import a new batch from Loftie's manufacturer in China, he says. At the current 30% tariff rate, he says he'll likely raise the price of his popular $170 smart clock to $185, an increase of 9%. "A lot of people think this [tariff] situation is not as bad right now, because all of us business owners had inventory on hand," says Hassett. "It's only just starting to trickle down into actual [consumer goods] prices. I think there's been a false sense of ease about this." U.S. consumers will experience an overall average effective tariff rate of 18.3%, the highest since 1934, according to new estimates from The Budget Lab at Yale University. The tariffs are expected to cost U.S. households an average $2,400 in 2025, the nonpartisan research center said. Abrantes, who makes and sells items like bowls, planters and vases made from wood or cork, imports some of her products and materials from Portugal. She says she has already raised her prices by as much as $50 on some products and expects she may need to raise them again before the end of the year. She's considering simplifying her product line — selling fewer or less expensive items — to cut costs, she says. "I have a premium product that is for a very niche group of people," says Abrantes. "At the end of the day, consumers are not going to be splurging." Even small price hikes in an uncertain economy can push low- and middle-income consumers away from discretionary purchases or toward cheaper products, a 2024 Boston Consulting Group found. Small businesses tend to operate with slim profit margins. If consumers pull back, swaths of those companies could close, says Todd McCracken, president and CEO of the National Small Business Association advocacy group. "Retailers have been able to hold the line on pricing so far, but the new tariffs will impact merchandise in the coming weeks," David French, executive vice president of government relations at the National Retail Federation told CNBC on August 1. "We have heard directly from small retailers who are concerned about their ability to stay in business in the face of these unsustainable tariff rates." The "direct result of tariffs will be higher prices, decreased hiring, fewer capital expenditures and slower innovation," French said. The ripple effects could be substantial: Nearly half of working Americans are employed by small businesses, which represent 43.5% of America's gross domestic product (GDP), according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. For months, businesses have been scrambling to figure out a solution to their impending tariff charges. Trump has repeatedly suggested a simple one: Move your manufacturing to the U.S. But business owners and manufacturers say it's not that easy. Compared to their overseas counterparts, American factories cannot yet offer competitive prices and widespread production expertise. Building that ability could take at least three to five years — or longer — companies said in CNBC's April Supply Chain Survey. Kim Vaccarella is the CEO of Secaucus, New Jersey-based beach tote maker Bogg Bag. She says her company manufactures its products abroad because domestic options don't provide the same quality. Vaccarella says she plans to place her next inventory order around the end of the year from factories in China and Vietnam. She may raise prices then, she says, depending on the tariff rates at the time. "We're trying to salvage what we can of 2025," says Vaccarella. "We don't want to raise prices [but] then realize it's not enough to even cover a portion of the tariffs." Some small businesses are going into debt to stay afloat, says McCracken. Hassett has already borrowed money and used his personal savings to cover payroll for his company Loftie's nine employees in June, he says. Other CEOs are using more creative, albeit temporary, methods of funding. Busy Baby, a startup that sells baby mats and teething toys, faced a $35,000 tariff bill when restocking its inventory this past spring, says CEO Beth Benike. So she launched a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign, which raised $38,000, to cover the costs. Businesses can't rely on strategies like crowdfunding long-term. If current tariff rates hold, Busy Baby will add a 10% tariff surcharge to every checkout cart on its website upon its next inventory restock, says Benike. "I've been questioning, 'What is the American Dream?' because I thought I was living it," Benike says. "I served my country, I got an education, I bought a home, I started a business. ... This is not a dream anymore."
