SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — 9 Investigates reporter Karla Ray learned the inmate caught having an inappropriate relationship with a female detention deputy inside the Seminole County Jail was also at the center of another scandal that forced two other corrections officers off the job.
According to a just-released internal investigation, the detention deputies promised the inmate a job in exchange for business connections outside the jail.
Former corrections Officer Michael Haymond said he was trying to help inmate Jonathan Golden, as well as sick kids and wounded veterans, through his business, "Warriors With Heart."
Instead, Haymond said he became the "fall guy" after the first internal investigation involving Golden embarrassed the sheriff’s office.
Golden was moved from the Seminole County jail to Orange County jail after an internal investigation revealed his romantic relationship and letters between former jail Officer Karli VanKleeck. A new investigation, sparked during that investigation, showed Golden was planning to go into business with corrections Officers Angelo Reyes Haymond.
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Haymond’s business, "Warriors With Heart," which is no longer active in the state of Florida, was aimed at raising money for ill children and wounded veterans through MMA fights. A pilot for a reality show and business plans found on an in-network computer were seized as evidence in the internal investigation.
Golden’s stepfather had connections to a Palm Beach businessman with whom the deputies arranged a meeting, 9 Investigates learned.
“He wants to do like a TV series and he wants to open up his own arena,” Golden said in one of the phone calls he made to family members while helping to set up the meeting with that potential investor.
“Mike told me that you know, as long as everything, everything goes through, you definitely have a job startable, starts you out at $50,000 a year salary,” Golden said.
It’s against the sheriff’s office policy to fraternize with criminals and a conflict of interest to have a second job or business without approval. Haymond and Reyes told investigators they did not know they were breaking the rules.
The corrections officers were also accused of violating policy by writing a letter to a judge in support of the inmate.
“Things are goin' good, and I think that everything's gonna work out to when I get out. There's gonna be opportunities that I've never had before,” Golden said during a phone call to a family member.
Haymond told Eyewitness News he was forced to resign. He plans to look for work in law enforcement in West Virginia, where he has relocated.
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