Augusta warden transferring to troubled prison in southern Virginia

Bill Atkinson, Petersburg Progress-Index
·2 min read
These images show some of the suspected drugs and homemade weapons seized by the Virginia Department of Corrections from the Greensville Correctional Center near Jarratt during a two-week period of searching.
These images show some of the suspected drugs and homemade weapons seized by the Virginia Department of Corrections from the Greensville Correctional Center near Jarratt during a two-week period of searching.

RICHMOND – The warden at Augusta Correctional Center is being transferred to Greensville County as part of a shake-up at that county’s prison following a turbulent year of inmate deaths and illegal substances finding their way inside Virginia’s largest prison.

David Newcomer is one of three new directors assigned to Greensville Correctional Center after large amounts of drugs, makeshift weapons and contraband were uncovered in a two-week search by the state Department of Corrections investigators. Newcomer will become Greensville’s warden, joining Kevin McCoy as lead warden and Frank Roach as assistant warden.

McCoy is moving over from the Sussex I State Prison, and Roach is coming from the Dillwyn Correctional Center.

The current Greensville leadership is being assigned to other DOC facilities, according to a statement Friday from DOC director Chadwick Dotson.

There was no immediate word on who would fill the positions at Augusta, Sussex and Dillwyn.

Since July of last year, six inmates have died at Greensville, located near the town of Jarratt about 35 miles south of Petersburg. Three of those deaths were overdoses that occurred within 48 hours of each other.

Greensville Correctional Center cover art
Greensville Correctional Center cover art
Greensville Correctional Center cover art
Greensville Correctional Center cover art

As part of the investigations into those deaths, DOC conducted what it called “intensive searches” from Oct. 30 through Nov. 14.

Items confiscated from the searches include the following:

  • heroin;

  • cocaine;

  • buprenorphine strips;

  • THC and THC wax,

  • possible crack cocaine and spice; 

  • steroid tablets; and

  • unknown substances of assorted colors and textures.

“Security Staff employees also recovered 21 homemade weapons and 10 cell phones,” DOC said in the announcement. Cell phones are considered contraband inside Virginia’s prisons.

Searchers also found several pieces of handmade clothing, also considered contraband.

DOC said the shake-up in leadership is part of a “specific operational plan for addressing the flow of drugs and contraband into Greensville Correctional Center.”

Greensville currently has 2,424 inmates, the most of any Virginia prison.

“The Virginia Department of Corrections is taking several steps to ensure institutional safety and security at Greensville Correctional Center,” Dotson said in the announcement. “This drug and contraband shakedown will improve safety within the facility, which helps us to meet our goals of long-term public safety for the commonwealth. I thank Greensville Correctional Center Security Staff, the SRT members, and all who assisted with this massive operation.”

Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI.  

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Augusta warden transferring to troubled prison in southern Virginia