Kodak Black’s Family Reportedly Plans to Sue Federal Prison Over Alleged Abuse
Written by SOURCE on January 23, 2020
The mother of Kodak Black has lawyered up.
On Wednesday, Marlene Simmons conducted a news conference alongside famed attorney Benjamin Crump, the lawyer who represented Trayvon Martin’s family in their case against murderer George Zimmerman. Simmons told reporters she had become increasingly concerned about Kodak’s safety, as he claims to have endured continuous abuse while behind bars.
The rapper detailed his experience in a lengthy Instagram post earlier this month, stating had been drugged, beaten, and denied a number of privileges. He specifically called out Miami federal prison officials Lieutenant F. Arroyo and Santiago Torres.
“Lieutenant F. Arroyo has been very vindictive towards me and I have a strong feeling it has something to do with me being set up, laced, bruised and brutally beaten two weeks before my court date,” he wrote, referring to a prison fight that took place in October. “There is a big conspiracy going on in this building on Me. Santiago Torres is using her position wrongfully in Miami FDC and is abusing her authority. She has been writing falsified incident reports on me, to take phone privileges that I get once a week while in solitary. Also, doing anything to take my gain time so that I come home literally when I am supposed to.”
Kodak—aka Bill K. Kapri—also claimed his girlfriend was taken off his visitation list, he was denied visitation with his mother around the holidays, was given an empty tray for New Year’s Eve breakfast, and is convinced that prison employees are mishandling his incoming and outgoing mail.
“I want to make sure my son is OK,” Simmons told the media, as reported by WSVN. “I want to make sure they don’t kill my son. If they kill my son, if my son dies, I’m going to kill myself too. My son, after God, my son is life to me. My son is everything for me.”
In November 2019, Kodak was sentenced to 46 months in prison for falsifying information when trying to illegally acquire firearms. Simmons and Crump said they had scheduled a welfare check at the Southwest Miami-Dade prison where Kodak was incarcerated; but hours before their Wednesday morning appointment, they were allegedly informed that Kodak was no longer at the facility and was being transported to a Kentucky prison.
“We believe they intentionally moved him, so he couldn’t meet with his attorneys,” Crump said. “… [Simmons] wants to make sure that while he’s in their custody, that he doesn’t end up dead, so she is very concerned as well as all of her family that these allegations are to be taken seriously.”
Simmons’ attorneys told NBC Miami that they intend to sue the Bureau of Prisons for violating inmates’ civil rights and failing to address the dangerous conditions within the facilities; however, he said his team will not file the lawsuit until after they speak with Kodak.
“When you have these instances of under funding and understaffed, well that makes prison’s dangerous,” Crump told the outlet. “So, if other inmates attack [Simmons’] son, who is a well known person, there are supposed to be guards who can handle a crisis situation.”
