17 former Jail employees arrested, included a sheriff

 From the AP

FORT WORTH, Texas – A former sheriff and several ex-jailers were among 17 people named Friday in a 106-count indictment on charges ranging from having sex with inmates to bringing them drugs at a now-closed county jail.

Former Montague County Sheriff Bill Keating was charged with official oppression and having sex with inmates, according to the indictment. Keating was defeated in a primary election last spring.

Several female jailers were charged with having sex with inmates and bringing them drugs, cell phones and cigarettes, while several male jailers were charged with drug possession and with bringing inmates banned items, according to the indictment.

Several inmates also were charged with drug possession, according to the indictment.

State District Judge Roger Towery has sealed the names in the indictments until the suspects are arrested, but their jobs and charges were made public.

Keating’s attorney, Mark Daniel, told The Associated Press his client would surrender “in due time.”

The charges against Keating are “kind of silly in the face of the federal investigation, like piling on,” Daniel said.

Keating, 62, has pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights violation in an unrelated case involving the sexual assault of a woman. He is to be sentenced to up to 10 years in federal prison in May. Keating told a woman she would be jailed on drug charges unless she had sex with him.