Latest news with #FultonCountyJail
Daily Mail
09-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Female jail worker, 56, 'caught trying to have sex with inmate' and claims SHE'S the victim
A female jail worker in Georgia has been fired and hit with a string of criminal charges after she was allegedly caught half-naked in her office with an inmate last month - but she insists she's the victim. Vickie Lynn Frantz, 56, was booked into the Fulton County Jail on Monday on charges of criminal intent to commit a felony and trading with inmates without the warden's consent. Frantz was allegedly working as a purchasing assistant at the Atlanta Transitional Center on June 30 when a security guard allegedly spotted her sneaking an inmate into her office - where he says he witnessed sexual activity about to take place, WSB-TV reported. 'Accused Vickie Frantz committed criminal attempt to commit custodial sexual assault by allowing an inmate of the Georgia Department of Corrections into her office, then taking off her pants to allow sexual activity,' an affidavit obtained by the outlet said. 'But a security staff member intervened before any sexual acts occurred. Vickie Frantz was caught in her office lying on an inmate bed mat with no pants on and an inmate standing over her.' She was also accused of smuggling contraband into the prison for another inmate - allegedly accepting a $50 in exchange for five packs of cigarettes. Frantz waived her first court appearance on Tuesday, and her bond was set at $30,000. Despite the accusations, Frantz's lawyer claims her client is the one who has been wronged. 'She was under duress, and she was threatened with her life actually to comply with the demand by the complaining witness,' assistant public defender Jae Kim said in court Tuesday, according to WSB-TV. 'My client is the victim of the whole situation and yet she is falsely accused of those charges.' Atlanta Transitional Center provides felons who are near the end of their sentences with a place to live and work as they prepare for life after prison. A spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Corrections confirmed to WSB-TV that Frantz was hired in March 2024 and terminated on July 7 - the day of her arrest. 'As we continue to demonstrate, we maintain a zero-tolerance policy for individuals who choose to ignore their oath and jeopardize our non-negotiable mission of public safety,' Joan Heath, the department's director of communications, told the outlet. 'Actions of this individual does not reflect the hundreds of Officers who are committed each and every day to ensuring the safety of the public and the safe operations of our facilities.' The Daily Mail has reached out to the Georgia Department of Corrections for additional comment.
Washington Post
19-06-2025
- Washington Post
Former Georgia jail guard abused inmates with Taser and lied about it, authorities say
ATLANTA — A former Fulton County jail guard has been indicted on federal civil rights charges after prosecutors said she used her Taser abusively against three inmates and then lied to cover it up. Khadijah Solomon, a 47-year-old Fairburn resident, pleaded not guilty to the six-count indictment in federal court in Atlanta on Tuesday and was released on bail. The troubled jail where Solomon worked has been under a federal civil rights investigation for the past two years and was also the site where Donald Trump surrendered on election interference charges in 2023.
The Independent
18-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Former Georgia jail guard abused inmates with Taser and lied about it, authorities say
A former Fulton County jail guard has been indicted on federal civil rights charges after prosecutors said she used her Taser abusively against three inmates and then lied to cover it up. Khadijah Solomon, a 47-year-old Fairburn resident, pleaded not guilty to the six-count indictment in federal court in Atlanta on Tuesday and was released on bail. The troubled jail where Solomon worked has been under a federal civil rights investigation for the past two years and was also the site where Donald Trump surrendered on election interference charges in 2023. A lawyer for Solomon didn't immediately respond to an email and phone call seeking comment on Wednesday. The June 11 indictment said Solomon used her Taser 'without legal justification" against separate inmates at the Atlanta jail on Jan. 16, Jan. 25 and Jan. 27. The indictment alleges that Solomon then wrote reports falsely justifying what she did. In reality, sheriff's office investigators said body-worn camera video showed the pretrial detainees were compliant and not resisting. In the Jan. 16 incident, sheriff's office investigators said Solomon approached an inmate who was kicking his cell door and said she was about to 'pop' him before opening the cell and using the Taser on the inmate. Investigators said Solomon then stunned the inmate twice more. She later claimed in her report that the inmate 'was getting ready to throw' a tray at her. The sheriff's office in February announced that it had fired Solomon and two other jail officers — Chantrece Buggs and LaQuondria Pierce — arrested them, and charged them with state crimes including aggravated assault and violating their oath of office. Solomon, a jail sergeant, was also charged with cruelty to inmates and false statements or writings. At the time, investigators said Pierce had used her Taser without justification on an inmate on Feb. 13 and that Buggs had encouraged Solomon's violence. No federal charges against the other two were announced, and neither has yet been indicted in a state court. Pierce has the same lawyer as Solomon and he didn't respond to requests for comment. Natalie Ammons, a spokesperson for Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat, said the sheriff's office had worked with the FBI in the Solomon case. 'On three occasions, Khadijah Solomon allegedly tased Fulton County Jail detainees without a legitimate purpose, causing each of them pain and injury," U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said in a statement. "Abuses of power of this kind are unconstitutional, erode our community's trust, and will be prosecuted.' The U.S. Justice Department in July 2023 opened a civil rights investigation into jail conditions in Fulton County, citing violence, filthy living quarters and the in-custody death of a man whose body was found covered in insects. That investigation found that jail officers didn't receive adequate training and guidance on the use of force and were found to engage in 'a pattern or practice of using excessive force' against people in county custody. The Justice Department and Fulton County officials announced in January that they had entered into a court-enforceable consent decree. An independent monitor was appointed in February to oversee that agreement.
Associated Press
18-06-2025
- Associated Press
Former Georgia jail guard abused inmates with Taser and lied about it, authorities say
ATLANTA (AP) — A former Fulton County jail guard has been indicted on federal civil rights charges after prosecutors said she used her Taser abusively against three inmates and then lied to cover it up. Khadijah Solomon, a 47-year-old Fairburn resident, pleaded not guilty to the six-count indictment in federal court in Atlanta on Tuesday and was released on bail. The troubled jail where Solomon worked has been under a federal civil rights investigation for the past two years and was also the site where Donald Trump surrendered on election interference charges in 2023. A lawyer for Solomon didn't immediately respond to an email and phone call seeking comment on Wednesday. The June 11 indictment said Solomon used her Taser 'without legal justification' against separate inmates at the Atlanta jail on Jan. 16, Jan. 25 and Jan. 27. The indictment alleges that Solomon then wrote reports falsely justifying what she did. In reality, sheriff's office investigators said body-worn camera video showed the pretrial detainees were compliant and not resisting. In the Jan. 16 incident, sheriff's office investigators said Solomon approached an inmate who was kicking his cell door and said she was about to 'pop' him before opening the cell and using the Taser on the inmate. Investigators said Solomon then stunned the inmate twice more. She later claimed in her report that the inmate 'was getting ready to throw' a tray at her. The sheriff's office in February announced that it had fired Solomon and two other jail officers — Chantrece Buggs and LaQuondria Pierce — arrested them, and charged them with state crimes including aggravated assault and violating their oath of office. Solomon, a jail sergeant, was also charged with cruelty to inmates and false statements or writings. At the time, investigators said Pierce had used her Taser without justification on an inmate on Feb. 13 and that Buggs had encouraged Solomon's violence. No federal charges against the other two were announced, and neither has yet been indicted in a state court. Pierce has the same lawyer as Solomon and he didn't respond to requests for comment. Natalie Ammons, a spokesperson for Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat, said the sheriff's office had worked with the FBI in the Solomon case. 'On three occasions, Khadijah Solomon allegedly tased Fulton County Jail detainees without a legitimate purpose, causing each of them pain and injury,' U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said in a statement. 'Abuses of power of this kind are unconstitutional, erode our community's trust, and will be prosecuted.' The U.S. Justice Department in July 2023 opened a civil rights investigation into jail conditions in Fulton County, citing violence, filthy living quarters and the in-custody death of a man whose body was found covered in insects. That investigation found that jail officers didn't receive adequate training and guidance on the use of force and were found to engage in 'a pattern or practice of using excessive force' against people in county custody. The Justice Department and Fulton County officials announced in January that they had entered into a court-enforceable consent decree. An independent monitor was appointed in February to oversee that agreement.
New York Times
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
It's President Trump Again, This Time in Full Frame
President Trump has a new official photographic portrait — his fourth since 2017, two produced during administrative transitions and two in the first months of his nonconsecutive terms. We have come a long way from the Lansdowne portrait of George Washington, in which the Virginian general stands at his desk with stiff republican reserve. The new official image, shot by the government photographer Daniel Torok, presents the incumbent in tight close-up and obscure quarters. Its lighting is immoderate, its tone forbidding, but compared to the last one its subject's mood has actually brightened. For that previous portrait, released at the time of the presidential transition in January 2025, Mr. Torok used egregious spotlighting from below that gave Mr. Trump the mien of a horror movie villain. The ex-president become president-elect glowered and squinted, in marked imitation of his mug shot taken at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta. The new portrait, by contrast, displays a classically Trumpian tonal incongruity; for all the darkness, note the humor. The lighting is more head-on. Mr. Trump's shoulders are relaxed, his affect has softened. His neutral expression is moderated by a slight warmth in the eyes — a classic pose that a younger generation, following the supermodel Tyra Banks, knows to call 'smizing.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
