A prison officer who developed an inappropriate relationship with a convicted drug dealer who styled himself as the “Latvian Pablo Escobar” has been jailed for eight months. Jahvine Kwamba, 21, from Doncaster, began the relationship with inmate Roberts Sokolovs while working at HMP Fosse Way in Leicestershire. Leicester Crown Court heard Kwamba initiated contact with Sokolovs 1,367 times between February 24 and June 3, 2024. At the time, Sokolovs was serving a sentence for offences connected to a county lines drug network operating between Skelmersdale and Lincoln. Kwamba was arrested in July 2024 and later pleaded guilty to two counts of misconduct in a public office.
Sexually explicit messages exchanged
Prosecutor Rawaid Javed told the court that the relationship continued after Sokolovs was transferred to an immigration removal centre at Gatwick Airport. The pair exchanged sexually explicit messages and photographs using Snapchat. Sokolovs was subsequently deported to Latvia in November 2024 and was never interviewed by police in connection with the relationship. The court also heard evidence of thousands of pounds moving between Kwamba and members of Sokolovs’ family. Kwamba received five payments totalling £1,495 from Sokolovs’ mother, Zita Sokolova. She also received 18 payments totalling £4,665 from his sister, Venera Sokolova, between March and July 2024. Kwamba made seven payments totalling £660 to Venera during the same period.
‘Strikes at the heart’ of justice system
Defending Kwamba, barrister Sam Ponniah said she had demonstrated “significant levels of naivety and immaturity” and had been “well in over her head”. The court was told she had shown genuine remorse and now works for a car rental company. Sentencing Kwamba to eight months in prison, Judge Timothy Spencer KC said the offending “strikes at the heart of any functioning criminal justice system”. The judge said her conduct had also left her vulnerable to blackmail and coercion.
Inmate’s mother and sister sentenced
Two members of Sokolovs’ family were also sentenced over offences connected to the case. Zita Sokolova, 53, admitted transmitting, or causing the transmission of, an image by electronic communications from inside HMP Fosse Way. She received a four-month prison sentence suspended for one year. Venera Sokolova, 20, admitted the same offence and was handed a 12-month community order requiring her to attend 15 probation appointments.
Originally published by UKNIP.
