A member of the Bloods street gang in New York who was released to home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic is back in prison for not following social distancing guidelines.
Katarra Jackson, 37, who is facing drug charges, was released from federal lockup on April 13 but was only out of prison for four days before prosecutors revealed she was not abiding by the terms of her release, according to Fox News.
Prosecutors showed Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Joanna Seybert photos of Jackson not wearing a mask and making contact with different people just hours after she was released from prison.
“As the photos clearly demonstrate, Jackson interacts with multiple different people, in multiple different vehicles and entered a deli without any attempt to protect herself and, more importantly, others, from the possible transmission or contraction of COVID-19,” prosecutors wrote in a letter to Seybert.
She also failed to get a coronavirus test, which was one of the stipulations of her being allowed to serve time at home.
Jackson was able to get released initially because she claimed to suffer from health problems that would increase her risk if she contracted the virus. Despite that, prosecutors said she was seen “repeatedly smoking cigarettes.”
“The court’s decision to quickly revoke Ms. Jackson’s bail and remand her back to custody demonstrates the serious and urgent need for social distancing and the wearing [of] a mask when in public to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus,” Jackson’s attorney Anthony La Pinta said after she was reimprisoned.
Several inmates have been released from lockup because of the pandemic. Some correctional systems across the country have seen large outbreaks at their facilities.
