A Midlands prison officer who sent explicit photographs to a drug dealer dubbed the 'Latvian Pablo Escobar' has been jailed for eight months. Jahvine Kwamba, 21, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, admitted two counts of misconduct in a public office after engaging in an inappropriate relationship with inmate Roberts Sokolovs while working at HMP Fosse Way in Leicestershire during 2024.
Kwamba covered her face with a large black holdall as she arrived at Leicester Crown Court on Friday, August 7, to avoid reporters. Prosecutor Rawaid Javed told the court that sexually explicit photographs and messages were exchanged between the pair on Snapchat, even after Sokolovs was moved to an immigration removal centre at Gatwick Airport in June 2024.
Extent of the illicit relationship
The court heard there were 5,441 contacts between the pair on Snapchat while at HMP Fosse Way, and a further 4,211 contacts while Sokolovs was at the removal centre. Sokolovs was never interviewed about the relationship because he was deported to Latvia five months later. Kwamba denies any physical sexual contact, but the prosecution said it is 'sceptical' about that claim.
Financial transactions also featured prominently in the case. Kwamba received five payments totalling £1,495 from Sokolovs's mother, Zita Sokolova, 53, between March 18 and July 2, 2024. An additional 18 payments totalling £4,665 were sent to her by his sister, Venera Sokolova, 20, during the same period. Kwamba also sent seven payments totalling £660 to the sister between March 27 and July 1, 2024.
Mr Javed noted there were 'no obvious patterns' to the transactions. The first payment of £500 from Zita Sokolova in March 2024 was spent on food and clothing, not transferred.
Defence cites naivety and immaturity
Sam Ponniah, defending, said Kwamba had shown 'significant levels of naivety and immaturity'. At the time, she was just 19 and had been a prison officer for around four months, yet was put in charge of 64 prisoners. Mr Ponniah said she was 'well in over her head' and living alone in an unfamiliar area.
"She speaks about the fact when she first got this job, being away from home, she was in an area she was unfamiliar with and living by herself," Mr Ponniah said. "She has real and substantiated remorse for her actions, it is clear from her letter that one of the things that weighs heavily on her is ruining a job she thought she was doing well at… she knows she has thrown that all away." Kwamba now works at a car rental company, he added.
Judge's sentencing remarks
Sentencing, Judge Timothy Spencer KC said Kwamba had exposed herself to risk of blackmail and coercion. He told her: "You had extensive training, it was drummed into you the importance of high standards, professional contact and maintaining integrity and not exposing yourself in the way a relationship with a prisoner would. You knew from the start that any money at all, let alone over £6,000, was exposing you to the same sort of risk I identified and that the transfer of any amount was utterly wrong."
The judge said he suspected Kwamba was 'pretty lonely and vulnerable', adding: "You were easy prey and easy pickings for Roberts, who obviously decided he could exploit you. It's implicit that you were of good character, not just in a sense of having no convictions but you did well in this job and it is a tragedy you have thrown it all away. Your life has been turned upside down, your life has been on hold for two years. Your prospects, if not for this case, would have been promising."
Family involvement and sentences
Sokolovs's mother and sister, both from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, admitted transmitting or causing the transmission of an image by electronic communications from inside HMP Fosse Way between February 24 and June 3, 2024. The court heard Venera Sokolova was in contact with her brother while he was in prison 191 times, while his mother had 33 contacts with him.
In a voluntary police interview in November 2024, Zita Sokolova said she would send her son money while in prison but could not say when she found out Kwamba was a prison officer, claiming her son told her Kwamba was going to 'help him'. Venera Sokolova said she knew Kwamba as her brother's girlfriend but did not know she was a prison officer, and was asked to contact her by her brother.
Jonathan Dunne, defending the Sokolovas, said mum-of-six Zita came to the UK in 2006 and works in a factory making cables. Venera joined her mother when she was three and had to give up her job as a dinner lady when pregnant with her young son. Mr Dunne said: "When women of good character come before the courts, there is invariably a man behind it. We know Roberts had access to a mobile phone in prison. They maintain they did not realise [Kwamba] was a prison officer. They never met her, they just thought she was his girlfriend. If one looks at the reality, [Roberts Sokolovs] is a county lines drug dealer and the women are being told to send money in."
Zita Sokolova was handed a four-month prison sentence suspended for one year and ordered to pay £400 costs. Venera Sokolova was given a 12-month community order with a requirement to attend 15 probation appointments.
Impact on the justice system
Addressing all three defendants, Judge Spencer said: "This case strikes at the heart of any functioning criminal justice system, including a functioning prison system, where those running a prison can have some confidence that discipline and good order is maintained and not continually undermined. You, in your different ways, have all contributed to the undermining of that system of law and order and each of you have struck at the heart of the maintenance of law and order in this country."
To the Sokolovas, he said: "If you ever had any illusions about how serious this is, those illusions have been dispelled today. What you did was extremely serious. Allowing illicit phone contact with a prisoner is fundamentally wrong. You must have known you were contributing to that but you will both go home tonight. You could not have come closer to following [Kwamba] through the door." He added: "You, Zita, are obviously older, you should have known better. Venera, you were very young at the time, I think you have done a lot of growing up since your arrest and I don't want to hamper your life chances. Regard this as a chance, both of you, don't waste it and don't come anywhere near the criminal justice system again."
