Published • loading... • Updated
Prison officer sentenced for starting relationship with 'Latvian Pablo Escobar' in jail
Kwamba admitted misconduct after 5,441 Snapchat contacts with Roberts Sokolovs and more than £6,000 in family payments, the court heard.
- On Friday, prison officer Jahvine Kwamba was jailed for eight months at Leicester Crown Court after pleading guilty to misconduct in public office and transmitting images from HMP Fosse Way involving prisoner Roberts Sokolovs.
- Sokolovs, who styled himself the "Latvian Pablo Escobar" and was imprisoned in 2022 for involvement in the "Jimmy Line" county lines drug ring, exchanged 5,441 Snapchat contacts with Kwamba at HMP Fosse Way and 4,211 after his transfer to Gatwick Airport in June 2024.
- Financial records revealed Kwamba facilitated over £6,000 in payments between March and July 2024 involving Sokolovs's mother, Zita Sokolova, and sister, Venera Sokolova, who pleaded guilty to transmitting illicit images from prison.
- Judge Timothy Spencer KC sentenced Zita Sokolova to a four-month suspended prison term with £400 costs and Venera Sokolova to a 12-month community order with 15 probation appointments, warning their actions undermined prison system integrity.
- Although Sokolovs was deported to Latvia in November 2024 without being interviewed, defense counsel Sam Ponniah argued Kwamba showed "significant levels of naivety and immaturity" while managing 64 prisoners alone after four months of employment.
Insights by Ground AI
7 Articles
7 Articles
Leicestershire prison officer sentenced for starting relationship with 'Latvian Pablo Escobar' in jail
Judge Timothy Spencer KC said he believed Jahvine Kwamba was "pretty lonely and vulnerable" as a then-19-year-old at HMP Fosse Way, adding: "You were easy prey and easy pickings for (Roberts Sokolovs), who obviously decided he could exploit you."
·United Kingdom
Read Full Article
Coverage Details
Total News Sources7
Leaning Left1Leaning Right1Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution67% Center
Bias Distribution
- 67% of the sources are Center
67% Center
L 17%
C 67%
R 16%
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
