ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Marquet Johnson, a former private prisoner transport guard who repeatedly sexually abused female pretrial detainees, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for violating the civil rights of a woman he raped at gunpoint during a 2019 prisoner transport between New Mexico and Colorado.
“A transportation officer, Marquet Johnson, had one job: to transport me safely,” said the victim, who asked to be identified only by her initials T.P., in a statement read to the court. “Instead, the defendant raped me, forcing himself on me and putting a gun to my face. He took what was not his to take, and I will never be the same.”
Johnson, 44, of West Memphis, Arkansas, worked as a driver and guard for Inmate Services Corp (ISC). He admitted in his plea deal to raping two other women in addition to T.P. during prisoner transports.
Federal investigators identified a total of 15 victims from multiple states that Johnson subjected to various forms of sexual assault.
Two of those women testified at his sentencing, and others, including T.P., sent in victim impact statements asking the court to impose the greatest sentence possible.
> Attorney of woman raped by guard during prison transfer shares victim's impact statement
“There is no sentence this court can give you that will erase the trauma you’ve caused me,” wrote T.P., whose statement was read aloud by her attorney.
“You violated the public trust with people who could not protect themselves,” said Federal Judge Kea Riggs as she sentenced Johnson to the maximum 30 years allowed under the plea agreement. “There is nothing worse.”
‘I don’t want to do this’
Johnson came under investigation in 2019 when T.P. was picked up at the Santa Fe, New Mexico jail to be transported on a warrant to Delta County, Colorado.
According to court records, she was loaded into a white van that held three male detainees.
About an hour into T.P.’s transport, the van stopped in Albuquerque to drop off the three men, leaving her alone with the guards.
A few minutes later, around 5:50 a.m., the van stopped at a gas station with an attached Carl’s Jr. restaurant.
The other guard went inside to buy breakfast, and that’s when Johnson ordered T.P. into the back row of the van and climbed in after her. He removed her ankle restraints and loosened her handcuffs, leaving her belly chain in place.
T.P. told the guard that she was unsure what was going on, but that she did not want “to do this.”
In response, Johnson pulled out a short black gun, rested it on his lap, and told T.P. that he wanted her to cooperate, “otherwise, it was going to get ugly.”
He then raped her while holding his gun against her cheek, she said.
Afterwards he ordered her to quickly pull up her pants. She was still doing so when the other guard came back with the breakfast burritos.
The other guard got in the driver’s seat and Johnson stayed in the back row with T.P.
In her statement to the court, T.P. wrote, “Please put yourself in my shoes. My life flashed before my eyes. I felt a gun pressed to my head. There was a heavy body on top of me penetrating me without my consent. On top of it all, the defendant had the audacity to put a piece of paper in my back pocket and say, ‘Here’s my number. Call me when you get out.’”
When dropped off at the Delta County jail, T.P. told the booking officer about the attack and requested a rape kit.
DNA from that rape kit was matched to Johnson after federal investigators served a search warrant on him.
The FBI investigation would discover T.P. was far from being alone.
A history of rape
When the FBI began investigating, they identified 14 other women with eerily similar accounts to T.P. They revealed Johnson sexually assaulted them while they were being transported on out-of-state warrants.
Six of those women said they were attacked after T.P. reported being raped by Johnson.
When FBI agents served a search warrant on ISC headquarters in Arkansas, they discovered the company had received warning about Johnson’s behavior toward female detainees prior to T.P.’s attack.
Eight months before T.P. was transported, Johnson picked up a young woman named Laura in Indianapolis to be taken to Munfordville, Kentucky. Laura was six months pregnant.
According to the federal criminal case against Johnson, when the van stopped at a rest stop, Johnson told the woman, “Damn, girl. I didn’t get to see you when they picked you up, but I see you now.”
After all the other detainees were dropped off, Laura was alone in the van with the guards.
Johnson then climbed into the back-bench row beside the woman, removed her handcuffs and began pawing at her, rubbing her shoulders and upper thigh, telling her he was attracted to her and had never been with a pregnant girl. He then repeatedly asked if he could use her belly as a pillow.
Laura repeatedly said no. Johnson swore at her and then climbed back into the front of the van.
When she was dropped off in Kentucky, Laura told a jailer what had happened.
She was instructed to write a statement which the jail sent to the transport company.
Federal investigators found that statement – recounting how Johnson inappropriately touched Laura – inside ISC headquarters when they served the search warrant.
“When individuals working in an official capacity violate the trust of their communities by abusing that power, they undermine the hard work of all officials,” said Special Agent in Charge Raul Bujanda of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office. “The despicable actions perpetuated by Johnson, against those he was entrusted to protect, have no place in society.”
Following the assaults, Johnson gave at least eight of his victims pieces of paper with his phone number. Prosecutors claim he did so as a reminder that he existed outside of the jail walls and that he was still out there, waiting.
Nowhere to Turn
A joint investigation by sister stations KARE 11 in Minneapolis and 9NEWS exposed how Johnson’s case is part of a nationwide failure to provide oversight of the shadowy industry of private companies contracted to transport prisoners across the country.
The reporting found the failure to regulate, both federally and by individual states, is fueling a systemic pattern of rape and abuse.
Those concerns were seemingly echoed by a high-ranking member of the Department of Justice following Marquet Johnson’s sentencing.
“This sentence shines a light on the private prisoner transport industry that countless law enforcement agencies across this country rely on to transport people who are arrested on warrants outside their jurisdiction,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in a recorded statement.
“These private companies often operate in the shadows of our criminal justice system where some officers have seized the opportunity to physically and sexually abuse vulnerable victims in their custody. This sentence highlights the abuses of this industry, the bravery of the victims who came forward to report that abuse and our commitment to seeing justice done for these victims.” Clarke said.
The loophole
The Interstate Transportation of Dangerous Criminals Act, also known as Jeanna’s Act, is the only federal law that provides guidelines or standards for the niche industry of private companies ferrying prisoners.
It was passed in 2000 after the killer of 11-year-old Jeanna North of Fargo, North Dakota escaped from a private prisoner transport company.
The act, which is supposed to be enforced by the Justice Department, is aimed at preventing prisoner escapes. However, it also sets basic training standards for guards and safety rules for the people being transported, which if violated can result in $10,000 fines.
The act requires, among other things, background checks for guards that include fingerprinting, a minimum of 100 hours of training, a female guard for female prisoners and specialized training in the area of sexual harassment.
Following Johnson’s sentencing, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Holland Kastrin declined to comment when asked in a press conference why ISC has not been charged with violating provisions of Jeanna’s Act – including failing to have a female guard and do the required training.
It’s a glaring example of how for the private transport companies, violating Jeanna’s Act carries little risk.
The law has been used just once, in 2013, to penalize a transport company that allowed a convicted sex offender to escape in North Dakota from an unlocked van.
In the 24 years the act has been in existence, the Justice Department has failed to take a single action to enforce the training and safety standards.
Why not?
The federal law has what legal experts describe as a major loophole. Jeanna’s Act specifically says the standards only apply to companies transporting “violent prisoners.”
There are no federal protections for non-violent people like each of the women sexually victimized by Marquet Johnson.
Lawsuits and reforms
Danielle Sivels of St Paul, Minnesota filed a federal lawsuit which claims Johnson repeatedly sexually assaulted her in rest stop bathrooms and then began contacting her while she was in prison serving time for probation violations.
Sivels’ attorneys, Paul Applebaum and Megan Curtis, claim Ramsey County failed to do basic due diligence when they awarded Johnson’s employer, Inmate Services Corp (ISC), a contract to transport inmates.
KARE 11 exposed that ISC was operating illegally without a license in Minnesota. It also tied the company and five of its guards to 21 sex assault allegations in the last 10 years where there’s already been a lawsuit, criminal charges or conviction.
The Minnesota House of Representatives voted unanimously to pass reform measures drafted by Rep. Brad Tabke (DFL – Shakopee), to revoke or refuse licenses to companies whose employees have committed sex crimes or used excessive force.
A vote is expected soon in the Senate.
To date, Colorado has taken no action.
ISC’s owner, Randy Cagle, refused to respond to questions – offering only profanity and threats during a phone call after a reporter knocked on the door of his Tennessee home and left a business card.
ISC appears to have gone out of business as lawsuits mount against the company by the sexual assault victims.
In sentencing Marquet Johnson, Judge Riggs said T.P.’s bravery put an end to his reign of terror.
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