DONALD Trump is expected to head to Georgia today where he will surrender to cops after being indicted on conspiracy and racketeering charges.
The ex-president, 77, will be fingerprinted and have his mugshot taken by cops when he turns himself in at the Fulton County jail in Atlanta.
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The eyes of the world’s media are on the jail – a week after Trump was slapped with his fourth indictment.
But, it’s not the first time that Fulton County Jail has been under the spotlight.
The facility is currently the subject of a Department of Justice probe where officials are investigating the conditions inside the jail.
Trump is expected to be whisked through the jail when he arrives, but some of the inmates are Fulton County Jail have been held at the facility for months.
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LaShawn Thompson died in a cell at Fulton County Jail in September 2022 and his family’s lawyers Ben Crump and Michael D. Harper said his cell was found in “deplorable conditions," per a press release.
Thompson had insect bites in his ears, mouth, and nose and over his body, per the attorneys.
The inmate was holed up in a cell located in the psychiatric wing and died after three months at the Fulton County jail.
Crump and Harper released harrowing pictures that showed the cell covered in garbage and strewn with waste.
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Harper said the jail cell Thompson was holed up in “was not fit for a diseased animal.”
Dr. Roger A. Mitchell Jr., a former chief medical examiner in Washington DC, produced an independent autopsy that claimed Thompson’s death was the consequence of “severe neglect," as reported by CBS.
The report said: “The death of Mr. Lashawn Thompson resulted from severe neglect evidenced by untreated schizophrenia, poor living conditions, poor grooming, extensive and severe body insect infestation, dehydration, and rapid weight loss."
At the time he entered the jail, Thompson weighed 180 pounds but when the autopsy was conducted, he was just 148 pounds.
Officials in Fulton County conducted an autopsy and their report alluded to a “severe bed bug infestation.”
Brad McCrae, Thompson’s brother, urged for a thorough probe examining his sibling's death.
'SEVERE NEGLECT'
He said: “No inmate should be housed in those conditions.”
Shocking statistics have revealed that in one of the jail’s units, 100 percent of inmates suffered from lice or scabies, as reported by ABC News.
The DOJ launched its probe after allegations of unsafe and unsanitary conditions had surfaced.
Pat Labat, the Fulton County Sheriff, told the Fox affiliate WAGA: “We have been putting a Band-Aid on this.” He has called for a replacement jail facility.
Footage has captured the extent of the crumbling walls, and burst water pipes have left cells flooded, as reported by the ABC affiliate WSB.
Recalling one flooding incident, he said: “We had people walking around like they were in the middle of the Chattahoochee [river].”
Inmates have claimed they’ve been bitten by what they think was vermin.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland said: “People in prisons and jails are entitled to basic protections of their civil rights.”
CRUMBLING JAIL
DOJ officials have said their probe is to ensure inmates are safe – even when they have been taken into custody.
The investigation was announced just weeks before Trump was indicted.
Trump has been hit with a raft of indictments in recent months after officially launching his 2024 presidential campaign in November last year.
He has been charged over allegations that he tried to overturn the 2020 election.
Georgia was one of the key states that Trump came up short in.
Trump has been accused of several conspiracy charges, soliciting a public official to violate their oath, making false statements and writings, and violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) law.
The indictment alleges that Trump and his allies refused to accept the election loss and “knowingly and wilfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome” in Trump’s favor.
Trump, who vehemently denies the raft of charges, has until August 25 to surrender under the terms of the indictment.
Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he will “proudly be arrested” in Atlanta.
He is expected to surrender - a day after his former lawyer Rudy Giuliani turned himself in to the cops.
Labat has warned that Trump will be treated like any other defendant who is processed at the facility.
Mae Bullard, a former Fulton County captain deputy-sheriff, told New York Magazine it’s likely other inmates will be locked down while Trump is being processed.
Secret Service agents have been locked in talks with officials at the jail over whether they can keep hold of their weapons.
Meanwhile, cops will fingerprint Trump and his mugshot will be taken.
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Bullard said: “They’re going to get him out as soon as possible.”
The former cop estimated that the entire process is expected to take “anywhere from 30 minutes.”
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