Former FCI Dublin officer pleads not guilty, cites health issues

OAKLAND, Calif. - A former FCI Dublin correctional officer was arraigned with a second superseding indictment on Friday in Oakland, stemming from a national sex scandal at the now-closed federal women's prison. 

Darrell Wayne "Dirty Dick" Smith, speaking via Zoom in Florida where he lives, pleaded not guilty to the 14 sexual abuse counts the grand jury indicted him on. 

His attorney, Naomi Chung, thanked U.S. District Court Judge Donna Ryu for allowing Smith not to appear in Oakland, citing unnamed "health issues."

The exact charges against Smith include sexual abuse of a ward, abusive sexual contact, aggravated sexual abuse and deprivation of rights under color of law. 

In April, a judge declared a mistrial in Smith's first trial, after jurors were unable to reach a verdict. 

During the trial, Smith maintained his innocence, and his defense team argued that the women who testified against him were felons, motivated to lie, as many of them also won a portion of a $116 million settlement with the Bureau of Prisons, and there was no physical evidence to support their allegations.

Roughly a dozen women testified during the trial that Smith watched them shower, made them flash him and participated in various types of sexual acts with him. 

Smith is the only one of the eight former FCI Dublin correctional officers not to have been found guilty of similar crimes. The other seven, including the former warden, either all pleaded guilty to sex crimes or were found guilty by juries.

FCI Dublin is now empty.

The Bureau of Prisons shut down the all-women's prison in April 2024, after the then-director said she couldn't fix the problems or the culture there. 

Smith is headed to his second trial at the end of August.