Former Bureau of Prisons Correctional Officer sentenced to year in Federal Prison for accepting bribes from inmates to smuggle tobacco
Shauna N. Boatright, 36, of Fisher, Illinois, has been sentenced to one year and a day in federal prison after pleading guilty to accepting a bribe as a public official. According to court documents, for nine years, Shauna Boatright was employed with the United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, as a correctional treatment specialist at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana.
In late 2021, Boatright was assigned to monitor an inmate in the facility’s Residential Drug Abuse Program. Boatright told the inmate that she was in financial distress and asked him how she could make some money. Boatright agreed to take bribes to smuggle tobacco into the prison for the inmate. Inmates are prohibited from possessing tobacco in federal prisons. Boatright later took bribes to smuggle tobacco into the prison for a second inmate. After the inmates received the contraband, they directed their associates outside of the facility to transfer money to Boatright using CashApp. Between September 30 and October 27, 2021, Boatright received five CashApp payments from the inmates’ associates totaling $9,800.
Brondizio earns Volvo Environment Prize for research on linking rural, urban sustainability in Amazon
Eduardo Brondizio will be awarded the 2023 Volvo Environment Prize for his research examining human-environment interactions and how they’ve transformed the Amazon. Brondizio, Indiana University Distinguished Professor of Anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences, is the first Volvo Environment Prize laureate from IU.
The annual award recognizes those who have made outstanding scientific discoveries around sustainability. Three laureates have gone on to win the Nobel Prize. For nearly 35 years, Brondizio’s research has documented and analyzed the development and environmental challenges of the Amazon. He’s examined issues of land use, deforestation, climate change and food production, and their impact on different populations.
Brondizio seeks to understand how development policies, commodity markets and climate change impact the decisions of farmers, indigenous groups and urban residents in the Amazon. He works closely with communities and organizations there to form action-informed policies that will help them solve problems locally and make a difference in people’s lives.
Arts Commission seeks applications from artists for business training workshop, fellowship
The Indiana Arts Commission (IAC) is now accepting applications for the 2024 On-Ramp Creative Entrepreneur Accelerator Program. On-Ramp is a program for artists and creative entrepreneurs seeking training and resources around establishing or supporting an arts-based business in Indiana. Designed by Elaine Grogan Luttrull of Minerva Financial Arts, On-Ramp focuses on ten key business concepts for a successful creative career including defining value, business structure, identifying and marketing to customers, pricing strategy, marketing strategy, managing expenses and generating revenue, taxes, and planning.
The On-Ramp Creative Entrepreneur Accelerator is comprised of a three-day in-person intensive entrepreneurship and community engagement workshop and the opportunity to apply for up to $2,000 in fellowship funding to put the training into action. The 2024 On-Ramp workshop will be May 8-10, 2024, in Terre Haute, Indiana. The deadline to apply to participate is January 4, 2024.
Learn more about On-Ramp and how to apply.
This Week in Hoosier History
1926 – Betsy Palmer [Patricia Betsy Hrunek], American actress (Mr Roberts, Friday the 13th), born in East Chicago. She was an American actress known for her many film and Broadway roles, television guest-starring appearances, as a panelist on the game show I’ve Got a Secret, and later for playing the antagonist and mother of Jason Voorhees, Pamela Voorhees, in the first Friday the 13th film (1980).
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