Relatives of Fulton County inmates said an exortion scheme by other inmates is ongoing at the jail. | Guido Coppa/Unsplash
Relatives of Fulton County inmates said an exortion scheme by other inmates is ongoing at the jail. | Guido Coppa/Unsplash
Inmates at the Fulton County jail face abuse and intimidation by violent criminals demanding money, relatives of the prisoners said in a recent Fox 5 Atlanta report.
Reports of the purported scheme that centers on the jail's commissary first began to surface earlier this year, with family members of the victims insisting they were forced to put money into the accounts of other inmates in order to keep their loved ones safe, the report said.
Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat noted that the incidents point to a climate of "dangerous" overcrowding, adding that it is one of the primary reasons he is seeking political support to construct a new, larger prison facility.
In a phone call recording obtained by FOX 5 Atlanta between a relative and a young inmate, the targeted prisoner pleaded for his relative to send money for his tormentor, who could be heard in the background of the call. As the recording played on, the relative could be heard warning his victimized loved one, "It is not going to stop."
The Fulton County Sheriff's Office has the recording, and Labat said his investigators attempted to get to the bottom of it to determine if criminal charges were necessary, Fox said.
Family members are affected by the extortion scheme because they are depositing money into the commissary account, FOX 5 reported.
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