Valhalla — Officials are investigating how an actor who plays Ghost on Power, visiting the Westchester County Jail was apparently able to take a photo with an inmate in a cell last week, lohud reported.
The Power Selfie, that is believed to be taken by Omari Hardwick, who played James St. Patrick, known in the streets as “Ghost,” owner of a popular NYC nightclub “Truth,” who is a major player in one of the city’s biggest illegal drug networks on the Starz series “Power,” and Westchester County inmate Matthew Draper from Lasalle Avenue in the Bronx, also known as “Mata.”
The picture has been circulated on the social media accounts of rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Power’s executive producer with the words, “Season 4 is gonna blow you away, Ghost and the real deal Mata. New York State of Mind…” at 10:08 AM on Thursday, October 21st. The post has since been taken down
50’s longtime friend and rapper Tony Yayo of the group G-Unit also posted and removed The Power Selfie on his page. The Power Fan page and The celebrity news website The Shade Room also posted The Power Selfie on their twitter account with the words, “Looks like next season of #Power is going to be interesting #FreeGhost. The Power Selfie then went viral with the hashtag #FreeGhost.
It was not immediately clear whether Hardwick was filming at the jail or there for another reason, Lohud reports. The show’s fourth season — being filmed now — begins with Hardwick’s character in jail, according to Entertainment Weekly.
A Dept of Corrections insider told BW that Karl Volimer, who is an Assistant Warden at Westchester County Department of Correction since September 1985 (according to his LinkedIn page) allowed Ghost and his friend who is an inmate in the jail to hang out on the 2nd floor multi purpose room.
“Warden didn’t have the actors go through mag and had them come in jail with phones,” the WCDOC insider tells BW
“The Department of Correction is aware of this matter and is conducting an investigation into it,” Justin Pruyne, deputy commissioner of the Westchester County Department of Correction, told Lohud Monday afternoon.
The warden allowing the actor to enter the jail without being search with his cell phone is problematic because contraband has been an issue at local jails and prisons, where authorities work to prevent visitors from smuggling banned items to inmates.
Lohud reports that, 47-year-old Draper, is being held at the Westchester County jail while he faces federal drug charges following an arrest on Oct. 5. He was taken into custody in Yonkers after an undercover operation revealed his plans to import and distribute cocaine from the Dominican Republic, prosecutors said in court documents.
Draper’s lawyer, Javier Alberto Solano, wrote in an email to The Journal News/lohud.com: “I have no idea how that photograph came about.”
“Certainly my client, as a prisoner, does not have the capability or means to take the photograph nor did he have anything to do with it being posted on social media,” he added. “While I appreciate the well wishes from 50 Cent and others, I am concerned that somehow Matthew is going to be detrimentally affected by this.”
Hardwick’s representatives could not immediately be reached by Lohud nor Black Westchester for comment.
No matter what comes of the WCDOC’s investigation was great promotions for Season 4 of Power because everyone can not stop talking about it and social media is blowing up over it. This is just the type of promotions to give even more street cred to the series where James “Ghost” St. Patrick, a wealthy New York night club owner who has it all, catering for the city’s elite and dreaming big, lives a double life as a drug kingpin. For the show’s marketing department its a win/win, who could ask for anything more.
Entertainment Weekly posted a Power Season 4 sneak peek titled: Ghost In Jail; “EW has a first look at Power season 4, which picks up after Ghost’s arrest at the hands of ex-girlfriend Angela Valdes (Lela Loren). And as one might expect from a guy who just last season was counting on getting out of the game, Ghost is none too happy about being falsely accused as a suspect in the death of FBI Agent Greg Knox (Andy Bean) in the season 3 finale. In fact, as seen in the photo above, Ghost looks shattered and close to the brink of crying – a scene pretty far removed from his days as a drug dealer used to settling scores with the flick of a handgun.”
Created and produced by Courtney A. Kemp and executive produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Power returns to STARZ during summer 2017.
AJ Woodson
AJ Woodson is the Editor-In-Chief of Black Westchester and Co-Owner of Urban Soul Media Group, the parent company, Host & Producer of the People Before Politics Radio Show. AJ is a Father, Brother, An Author, Journalism Fellow (Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism), Hip-Hop Artist - one third of the legendary underground rap group JVC FORCE known for the single Strong Island, Radio Personality, Hip-Hop Historian, Documentarian, Activist, Criminal Justice Advocate and Freelance Journalist whose byline has appeared in several print publications and online sites including The Source, Vibe, the Village Voice, Upscale, Sonicnet.com, Launch.com, Rolling Out Newspaper, Daily Challenge Newspaper, Spiritual Minded Magazine, Word Up! Magazine, On The Go Magazine and several others.
