A former private prisoners transport officer has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for raping multiple pretrial detainees. The US Department of Justice reports that 45-year-old Marquet Johnson was sentenced to 30 years in prison and five years of supervised release. Johnson will be required to register as a sex offender.
Court documents indicate that Johnson worked as a prisoner transport officer for Inmate Services Corporation. Johnson would pick up individuals arrested on out-of-state warrants and transport them back to the jurisdictions where the warrants were issued. Johnson and a transport partner picked up a female pretrial detainee from a jail in Santa Fe, New Mexico to transport her to Delta County, Colorado on November 4, 2019.
At a rest stop in New Mexico, Johnson raped the victim at gunpoint while his partner was away from the van. The Department of Justice reports that Johnson admitted the victim did not consent and his conduct included the use of a dangerous weapon and aggravated sexual abuse. Johnson also admitted that she was not the first or last pretrial detainee he sexually assaulted during an ISC transport.
In July 2019, Johnson was transporting a prisoner from Spencer, Indiana to San Marcos, Texas. During a stop at ISC headquarters in West Memphis, Arkansas, Johnson forced a detainee to perform oral sex on him. In August 2019, Johnson was transporting a female detainee from Baker County, Oregon to Warrensburg, Missouri.
In Missouri, Johnson stopped the van at a motel where he raped the victim. Then, Johnson brought the victim back outside and forced her to perform oral sex on him. Marquet Johnson was sentenced to 30 years in prison and five years of supervised release.
Jay Skelton is an independent crime journalist with a passion for covering the uncovered and the under covered.