FDLE Charges Three Wakulla Correctional Institution Employees
By: Stephen Crews
Updated: July 8, 2011
The
Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Office of Executive
Investigations and the Department of Corrections yesterday
charged three Wakulla Correctional Institution employees after an
investigation revealed criminal actions against inmates of the
institution. FDLE began investigating on March 24 after
receiving information from the Florida Department of Corrections' Office of Inspector General.
According
to investigators, an unidentified inmate made a disparaging remark
about Captain Megan Dillard which
resulted in Dillard allegedly falsifying 13 disciplinary reports against
13 different inmates. The false disciplinary reports resulted in a
loss of privileges and a transfer to a confinement dormitory.
While
the inmates were being transferred to the dormitory, Corrections
Officer Andrew Gazapian allegedly battered
one of the inmates by forcing him to the ground and then using a
chemical spray on him. Gazapian then falsified a report to say the
inmate was being combative and had bitten him on the left arm.
Investigation later revealed that the inmate was not being combative
and that Gazapian had bitten himself and blamed the injury on the
inmate.
After
this inmate was transferred to the confinement cell, he was again
sprayed three times with a chemical
agent for allegedly causing a disturbance in his cell. The
investigation revealed there was no disturbance and reports of the
inmate's actions had been falsified at the direction of Maj. Joseph.
Garrison.
Garrison,
39, of Crawfordville, was charged with one count of official
misconduct; Dillard, 31, of Tallahassee was charged
with 13 counts of official misconduct, and Gazapian, 23, of Tallahassee
will be charged with one count of official misconduct, one count of
fabricating physical evidence, and one count of battery.
Garrison and Dillard were arrested and processed at the Wakulla County Jail. Gazapian was located by FDLE out of state and
was ordered to turn himself in when he returns to Florida next week.
All of the inmates involved in this incident have been moved out of the Wakulla Correctional Institution.
The Office of State Attorney Willie N. Meggs, 2nd Judicial Circuit, will prosecute this case.
