Colorado prison wardens participated in racist, homophobic group chat

DENVER — At least two Colorado prison wardens participated in a racist, homophobic group chat on both personal and work cellphones for years, prompting an internal investigation into their conduct that has stretched for 15 months.

Warden Jeff Long and his brother, former Warden Ryan Long, participated in the derogatory group chat along with former Major Joshua Dorcey, former Corrections Officer Mike Sewell, Ryan Long’s son — who was not a prison employee — and a former corrections officer, according to a decision letter published by the Colorado State Personnel Board.

The group chat featured hundreds of messages that were “inappropriate, unprofessional, racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist and otherwise offensive and derogatory,” according to the decision letter, issued by Administrative Law Judge Keith Shandalow earlier this year after Dorcey challenged his disciplinary demotion.

The texts, which the letter says were discovered on Ryan Long’s state-issued cellphone during an unrelated administrative investigation, appear to explain why the two Long brothers and Dorcey were placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation in March 2025.

A third warden, Shane Stucker, was also placed on leave at that time and is mentioned in the decision letter as sending or receiving messages that would “bring discredit” to the Colorado Department of Corrections should the messages become public, though it was not immediately clear whether Stucker was a part of the group chat.

Officials with the Colorado Department of Corrections have refused to offer any details on the internal investigation since the men were placed on leave 15 months ago, and Shandalow’s decision letter is the first time any information on the nature of the alleged misconduct has been made public. The letter mentions several times how damaging the texts would be to the Department of Corrections should they become public.

The group chat included slurs used against gay people and Black people, according to the letter, as well as “memes and gifs making fun of the LGBTQ community.” Ryan Long shared video footage in the chat of one woman prisoner striking another, and video of prison staff using a Taser on a prisoner, according to the letter. Dorcey complained that a particular prisoner was a “POS” in one exchange and that a coworker was a “dbag” in another, according to the letter.

When an internal affairs investigator confronted Dorcey with the nature of his texts, he hung his head and called them “shameful,” according to the decision letter. He also defended his conduct in the group chat, noting that “most of the offensive text exchanges occurred on his personal phone, and that he was not the initiator of the ugliest messages,” the letter reads.

“He denied being biased or racist, pointing out that, in response to an inappropriate message, he texted, ‘It’s Juneteenth, show some respect,'” the letter reads. The letter did not include the message Dorcey was responding to.

Shandalow noted that Dorcey’s behavior was distinct from the “more egregious and prolific” participants in the chat. Internal affairs investigators found that it appeared the men in the chat played “PlayStation games together outside of work,” according to the letter.

Dorcey was demoted and returned to work Oct. 1. He was originally reassigned from the Sterling Correctional Facility to work in Denver, but successfully challenged that reassignment through the State Personnel Board, which affirmed his demotion but reversed the reassignment.

Stucker returned to work June 11 and is no longer listed as the warden of the Fremont Correctional Facility. He continues to hold the rank of warden, Colorado Department of Corrections spokeswoman Alondra Gonzalez said Monday.

She declined to comment on the specifics of the allegations, citing an “ongoing, active internal personnel investigation.”

“We strongly denounce any behavior that violates the dignity and respect every individual deserves,” she said in a statement. “The department maintains an absolute zero-tolerance policy for any actions that compromise our core values, our strict ethical standards or the public trust.”

Sewell said Monday that he was fired and that he’d been using his personal phone in the chat.

“It was a bunch of guys talking on their off time, and later I find out it is a state phone,” he said. “I took my lumps for it and I’m starting over.”

He declined to comment on the nature of the texts or content of the messages. Stucker, Jeff Long, Ryan Long and Dorcey could not be reached for comment Monday.

Jeff Long, warden of the Sterling Correctional Facility, remained on paid leave as of June 15, Gonzalez said. He earns an annual salary of $134,000.

Ryan Long, who had served as the warden of the Denver Reception and Diagnostic Center, retired April 1 after spending more than a year on paid leave.

The decision letter notes that “most of the inappropriate messages” did not come from Ryan Long, but that he received them on his state-issued phone and “did not correct the staff making the comments.”

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