TROUBLES DEEPEN AT NEW PRISON IN TOLEDO

Drug Find Is Latest In Series Of Problems

At least one inmate at Toledo's new state prison may have been able to buy
more than candy bars and greeting cards at the commissary. In a supply
locker, investigators recently found two sandwich bags of suspected marijuana.

It's part of the most recent allegations of wrongdoing at the Toledo
Correctional Institution - from the presence of marijuana contraband to
sexual contact between staff and inmates.

At least two managers are under investigation at the two-year-old prison.

Warden Khelleh Konteh said most of his staff is "excellent," and wrongdoing
will not be tolerated.

"This is a new place, [and] it takes a while for people to realize what can
be tolerated and not to be tolerated," he added. "A couple of bad apples
should not put a blemish on other employees."

In one of the most recent cases of misconduct, investigators found 97 grams
- - about 3.5 ounces - of suspected marijuana in a supply locker in a
restroom of the prison's commissary office June 25. The restroom was locked
with limited access to the keys, said Cassandra Brewster, a trooper with
the Ohio Highway Patrol.

At least one manager has been placed on paid administrative leave pending
the outcome of the investigation. Investigators believe the manager knew
about the marijuana, but it is unclear if she was involved with the alleged
drug transaction.

On the street, that quantity of marijuana would be worth about $485, but
inside the facility, it could be sold to inmates for three to five times
that amount. One inmate has emerged as a primary suspect in the case,
though the investigation continues, the trooper said.

It was unclear how far-reaching the suspected operation was or how the
inmate would have obtained cash. Caroline Haack, the warden's assistant,
said inmates can have money sent to them or can earn money working inside
the prison, but all money must go into a debit system operated by the prison.

"They shouldn't have access to cash, but they got it anyhow," Trooper
Brewster said. Charges have not yet been filed.

That probe then led to unrelated allegations of sexual contact between
inmates and at least two female staff members, the trooper said. She
declined to give details, but said charges are pending in that case.

In a third investigation, a unit manager who oversees a block of inmates is
accused of using a prison computer to download a video of musician R.
Kelly, who is accused of producing and distributing child pornography. The
video is the source of a pending criminal case against the performer in
Chicago.

Trooper Brewster, who is assigned criminal investigations inside Toledo
Correctional Institute, said the manager also is being investigated for
allegedly sending personal e-mails and making long-distance personal phone
calls.

The allegations are not unique to the facility, said Ohio Highway Patrol
Sgt. Mark Rogols.

"What Toledo is going through happens elsewhere," he said, adding that
Toledo's problems are most likely more high profile because it is new and
still in the public eye.

Meanwhile, TCI employee Lois K. Serfozo, 42, of 907 West Broadway, Maumee,
pleaded no contest to dereliction of duty, a second-degree misdemeanor. A
corrections officer found Ms. Serfozo partly clothed with a food-service
inmate.

She was referred to a first-offender program run by the court. If she
completes the program successfully, the case will be dismissed and her
record cleared. Ms. Serfozo resigned from the $37,600-a-year job Dec. 16.

Still pending is a case in which several employees are accused of setting
up a fight between inmates and a case in which a guard is charged with
punching another in the thigh during roll call.