Travis William Francis Venus
HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — A Department of Corrections officer was charged and accused of bringing methamphetamine, a pipe, chewing tobacco and vape pens into Guam’s prison.
Travis William Francis Venus, a 30-year-old DOC officer, was charged with promoting prison contraband after officers with the Guam Police Department responded to the prison Sunday, according to a magistrate’s complaint filed in the Superior Court of Guam.
Upon arrival, police spoke with a corrections officer who informed them that Venus “had brought illegal contraband into DOC at approximately midnight,” according to the complaint.
A bag Venus had in his possession was subsequently confiscated, searched and was discovered to contain four baggies of chewing tobacco, two vape pens, two small baggies of meth and a fabricated glass pipe with a bulbous end.
Venus told GPD officers that “he picked up food from a male in Mangilao to give to an inmate and didn’t know there was anything other than food inside the bag,” according to the complaint.
Venus was charged with possession with intent to deliver a Schedule II controlled substance as a first-degree felony, promoting major prison contraband as a second-degree felony, possession of a Schedule II controlled substance as a third-degree felony, and official misconduct as a misdemeanor.
If convicted of all charges, Venus could be sentenced to 36 years in prison, according to the Office of the Attorney General’s potential prison time report.
Venus was committed to DOC by Magistrate Judge Jonathan Quan on $25,000 cash bail Monday afternoon, the AG’s office magistrate summary report stated.
DOC response
Following Venus’ charging, DOC Maj. Antone Aguon stated in a press release the prison “launched an internal affairs investigation into the arrest” of Venus after DOC’s Special Operations Response Team conducted an administrative search of officers reporting for duty Sunday.
“When and if he is released by the court, the officer will be placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the internal investigation,” Aguon said of Venus, who has been employed by DOC since January 2020.
“The Department of Corrections takes these allegations seriously and will continue to ensure that every effort is taken to stop the introduction of contraband into its facilities,” Aguon added.
Moylan ‘troubled’
Since Attorney General Douglas Moylan took office in January, the OAG has filed first-degree felony charges against two visitors for allegedly bringing drugs into the prison.
Moylan told The Guam Daily Post bringing a first-degree felony charge and requesting $25,000 cash bail for employees such as Venus remains consistent with his office’s mission. A review of Post files show several officers, including six in one case in 2017, were charged with similar crimes. Several defendants, however, were released on a personal recognizance bond pending their trials and eventually served minimal prison time.
“This is consistent with our office to stop the transport of drugs into the prison by not only the visitors, but in this case, it appears that there’s a prison officer,” said Moylan. “This is the type of charges that we’re bringing out instead of this slap on the wrist.”
Moylan also said he was troubled by the fact a DOC employee was involved.
“I’m troubled by the fact that the guards are actually being caught with it, but our office is going to take this to the fullest extent of the law. We have to create deterrence. This is not right … because if you can’t trust these guards to be clean, then there’s a problem,” Moylan said.
Roundtable to be held
This afternoon, Sen. Chris Barnett, the chairman of the Committee on Education, Public Safety, and the Arts, will be holding a roundtable hearing at the Guam Congress Building to discuss issues facing DOC.
Barnett told the Post, after Venus was charged, contraband will be one of the topics on the agenda and something he personally will be asking about.
“I think the questions to ask, are we doing a better job of vetting these hires? Because it kind of seems like they all have the same story,” said Barnett, who thought the recent case was “disappointing.”
“It’s disappointing that we continue to see people in positions of authority abuse that authority, especially at the corrections setting,” Barnett said.
“Anybody in law enforcement knows that when you wear that badge it comes to being held at a higher standard, and I want to celebrate law enforcement that performs in accordance to that higher standard and I think we have to send a strong message to those who don’t,” Barnett adde
