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Abu Ghraib, Iraq
August 6, 2011 AP
The ringleader of Abu Ghraib detainee abuses was released from jail
Saturday after serving 6 1/2 years at Ft. Leavenworth military prison. Army
Spc. Charles Graner, 42, kicked off an international incident after photos
showing him and soldiers under his supervision abusing Iraqi detainees were
released in 2004. Graner was convicted of offenses that included ordering
prisoners to masturbate while soldiers took photos, stacking naked
detainees into a pyramid and knocking out a prisoner with a punch to the head.
His release to the supervision of a parole officer shocked Iraqis. "He
was charged with a crime that shocked the international community, and then
he was released," Hana Adwar, an Iraqi human rights activist, told the
Associated Press. "I believe that such an act is an attempt to deceive
and blind the Iraqi nation," Adwar said. Seven other members of
Graner's 372nd Military Police Company, including Pfc. Lynndie England,
mother of a child he fathered while on deployment, and Spc. Megan Ambuhl,
who he married after his conviction, also pleaded guilty or were convicted
of prisoner abuse. Christopher Graveline, a former Army prosecutor, said
Graner was a manipulative bully with bad-boy charisma in his 2010 book
"The Secrets of Abu Ghraib Revealed". Graner, who worked as a
private corrections officer before his stint as an Army reservist, will
finish his obligation to the Army in 2014, said an Army spokeswoman.
May 22, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
A senator has made a Department of Justice review critical of operations at
the Santa Fe County jail part of the ongoing controversy over America's
management of prisons in Iraq. A Department of Justice review in
March 2003 had harsh words for management of the Santa Fe County jail by
Utah-based Management and Training Corp., criticizing MTC's medical care
for inmates and concluding some conditions violated their constitutional
rights. Former New Mexico corrections secretary O. Lane McCotter is
an MTC executive and was named by Attorney General John Ashcroft to help
rebuild Iraq prisons last year. McCotter's role in Iraq prisons--
including at Abu Grhaib, where abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. military
personnel has sparked a scandal-- has come under congressional
scrutiny. Senator Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., in particular, is
making an issue of McCotter's work in Iraq and why he was chosen to go
there. A statement provided by Schumer's office reviews McCotter's
employment history, including his resignation as Utah prison director in
1997 after a mentally ill inmate died after spending 16 hours strapped to a
chair. Schumer's news release also calls attention to the Justice
report criticizing MTC's management of the Santa Fe County jail, and notes
that the New Mexico Corrections Department also raised concerns about the jail.
"While McCotter's company was under state and Department of Justice
investigation, Attorney General Ashcroft selected him to serve as one of
four civilian advisers to oversee the reconstitution of Iraqi
prisons," Schumer noted. "Why Attorney General Ashcroft
would send someone with such a checkered record to rebuild Iraq's
corrections system is beyond me," Schumer said.
May 21, 2004 Miami Herald
Although several cases of prisoner abuse by civilians in Iraq have been
referred to the Justice Department for possible prosecution, the FBI has
not yet been asked to investigate any of them, Director Robert Mueller said
Thursday. What Mueller told the Senate Judiciary Committee seemed to
indicate that the probe into whether independent contractors or CIA officers
killed prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan is moving more slowly than on the
military front, where one soldier has already been court-martialed and
others have been charged. While the faces of military police have
been splashed all over the news, the names of almost all civilians involved
-- employees of other government agencies and civilian contractors -- were
deleted from Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba's report on the abuse at Abu
Ghraib. Mueller also said lawyers for the Justice Department and
Defense Department are wrestling with jurisdictional issues. Any crimes at
the prison would have been committed on foreign soil against foreign
citizens, creating complicated legal questions. Also Thursday, Sen.
Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., called for a Justice Department probe into two
members of a U.S. group sent to Iraq in May 2003 to help with the
reconstruction of Abu Ghraib. Lane McCotter, a former corrections chief in
Utah, and John Armstrong, who led the prison system in Connecticut, were
part of a team picked by Attorney General John Ashcroft and others in the
Bush administration.
May 21,
2004 New York Times
The use of American corrections executives with abuse accusations in their
past to oversee American-run prisons in Iraq is prompting concerns in Congress
about how the officials were selected and screened. Senator Charles E.
Schumer, Democrat of New York, sent a letter yesterday to Attorney General
John Ashcroft questioning what he described as the "checkered record
when it comes to prisoners' rights" of John J. Armstrong, a former
commissioner of corrections in Connecticut. Mr. Armstrong resigned last
year after Connecticut settled lawsuits brought by the American Civil
Liberties Union and the families of two Connecticut inmates who died after
being sent by Mr. Armstrong to a supermaximum security prison in Virginia.
In his letter, Mr. Schumer requested that the Justice Department conduct an
investigation into the role of American civilians in the Iraqi prison
system. Another official, Lane McCotter, who was forced to resign as
director of the Utah Department of Corrections in 1997 after an incident in
which a mentally ill inmate died after guards left him shackled naked to a
restraining chair for 16 hours, was dispatched by Mr. Ashcroft to head a
team of Americans to reopen Iraq's prisons. After his resignation in Utah,
Mr. McCotter became an executive of a private prison company, the
Management and Training Corporation, one of whose jails was strongly
criticized in a Justice Department report just a month before the Justice
Department sent him to Iraq.
May 12,
2004 The Nation
In 1997 a 29-year-old schizophrenic inmate named Michael Valent was
stripped naked and strapped to a restraining chair by Utah prison staff
because he refused to take a pillowcase off his head. Shortly after he was
released some sixteen hours later, Valent collapsed and died from a blood
clot that blocked an artery to his heart. The chilling incident made
national news not only because it happened to be videotaped but also
because Valent's family successfully sued the State of Utah and forced it
to stop using the device. Director of the Utah Department of Corrections,
Lane McCotter, who was named in the suit and defended use of the chair,
resigned in the ensuing firestorm. Some six years later, Lane McCotter was
working in Abu Ghraib prison, part of a four-man team of correctional
advisers sent by the Justice Department and charged with the sensitive
mission of reconstructing Iraq's notorious prisons, ravaged by decades of
human rights abuse. While McCotter left Iraq shortly before the current
scandal at Abu Ghraib began and says he had nothing to do with the MPs who
committed the atrocities, his very presence there raises serious questions
about US handling of the Iraqi prison system. It's bad enough that the
Justice Department picked McCotter--whose reputation in Utah was at best
controversial and at worst disturbing. But further, the Justice Department
hired him less than three months after its own civil rights division
released a shocking thirty-six-page report documenting inhumane conditions
at a New Mexico jail, run by the company where McCotter is an executive. Then, on May 20, in a case of unfathomable irony,
Attorney General John Ashcroft announced that McCotter, along with three other
corrections experts, had gone to Iraq. The very same day, Justice
Department lawyers began their first negotiations with Santa Fe County
officials over the extensive changes needed at the jail to avoid legal
action.
May 11, 2004 AP
A former New Mexico corrections secretary helped to reopen an Iraqi prison
that is now the center of a prisoner abuse controversy. O.L.
"Lane" McCotter, who was corrections secretary from the late
1980s to the end of 1990, was in Baghdad from May to September last year overseeing
the reconstruction of the Abu Ghraib prison. The prison is where pictures were taken of naked
Iraqi prisoners piled on top of one another and positioned by American
soldiers in pretend sex acts. McCotter said his primary duty in Iraq was to evaluate the
structural status of the prisons. McCotter's tenure in this state ended
with some controversy. In October 1988, a court-appointed prison monitor
accused state prison officials of erasing a portion of a videotape of a
prison disturbance to cover up acts of brutality against inmates.McCotter
left New Mexico to run the Utah Corrections Department. But he resigned in
1997, two months after a mentally ill inmate died after spending 16 hours
strapped to a restraining chair. After that incident, McCotter went to work
for a Utah-based private prison company, Management & Training Corp.,
which operates the Santa Fe County jail.
May 10, 2004 Salt Lake Tribune
The Abu Ghraib prison, where U.S. military police were photographed abusing
and humiliating Iraqi prisoners, was rebuilt under the supervision of two
former Utah Department of Corrections directors. Gary DeLand and O.
Lane McCotter say they were told the project -- financed with money
confiscated within Iraq -- would not be used to detain prisoners of
war. McCotter has first-hand experience with controversy over how
prisoners are treated. He resigned as Utah prison director in May 1997,
within two months after a mentally ill inmate died after spending 16 hours
strapped naked to a restraining chair.
Arizona Department of Corrections
Jan 29, 2015
azcentral.com
An inmate's death Monday at a private prison near Kingman has prompted an
investigation from the Arizona Department of Corrections, according to a statement
from the agency. Neil Early, 23, was serving a sentence for two counts of
organized retail theft and drug paraphernalia charges from 2011 in Maricopa
County. Early was sentenced to a 5-year prison term in May 2012 after
having previously served less than a year in 2010 for for theft charges.
Arizona State Prison-Kingman
Kingman, Arizona
Management & Training Corporation
2010
escape at Kingman an issue for MTC’s bid: August 11, 2011, Bob
Ortega, The Arizona Republic. Expose on MTC
Cathy Byus, et al vs. MTC, et al: March 17, 2011, 30 pages: Wrongful death suit
involving the murder of Linda Haas by escapees from MTC's Arizona State
Prison Kingman.
Rachel Maddow stay on it http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show/#38700092
Rachel Maddow kicks butt http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/38685023#38685023
Jun
12, 2021 kjzz.org
Arizona Budget Proposal Assumes New Private Prison Beds Will Cost More
Than Public Facilities
Zach
Perrino was incarcerated in both public and private prisons throughout
Arizona. He says he never felt safe in any of them, but there was a time
during a violent 2015 riot at the Kingman prison when Perrino truly feared
for his life: "I remember kind of making peace with myself,"
Perrino said. "You know, this is probably where my story ends."
Thirteen people were hospitalized and more than 1,000 prisoners, including
Perrino, were moved to different facilities. He said the private prison,
run by Management and Training Corporation, was short staffed, and the
administrators had been cutting corners and reducing programming.
"They just kept taking stuff away, taking stuff away. And then they
just started locking the yard down," he said. "So
we would get locked down for two, three weeks at a time - controlled
movement - and people just got upset and they had enough, you know."
After the riot, the state gave the Kingman prison contract to another
company, the GEO group. Kingman is one of six private prisons Arizona
contracts with to hold people in state custody. In addition to Geo Group
and MTC, which still runs the Marana prison, the state also contracts with
CoreCivic. Two decades ago, just a few thousand prisoners in state custody
were housed in private facilities. But that number has steadily grown over
the years. In 2016, there were 6,400 prisoners in the private prisons,
which was 18% of the total population. Five years later, 7,200 prisoners
are in private prisons, making up 20% of the total population. And soon,
the state will shift even more incarcerated people into private facilities.
In his 2020 State of the State address, Gov. Doug Ducey announced plans to
close the Florence prison, one of the oldest prisons and home to death row
inmates and the execution chamber. While Ducey claimed shuttering the
prison ultimately will save taxpayers money, the state plans to spend
millions of dollars in the coming years to transition thousands of
prisoners from Florence and into private facilities. At a recent House Democratic
Caucus, members of the state Legislature were trying to figure out exactly
how much money that transition is going to cost. Joint Legislative Budget
Committee Staff member Geoff Paulsen told lawmakers "The actual,
literal increase to the private prison per diem line item as a result of
this policy is about $25.4 million." The increase comes from higher
per diem rates, which are the cost to house one prisoner for one day. While
per diem rates vary by facility and by security level, the most recent average
cost estimate from the Department of Corrections for the public prisons is
$71 per day. According to Paulsen, the JLBC analysis of the new budget
found "this spending plan assumes a $85 per diem for these new private
prison beds." The DOC budget also calls for an additional $16 million
for existing private prison contracts, to pay for staff salary increases
and rising costs of healthcare. At the caucus, Representative Diego
Rodriguez asked JLBC staffer Paulsen where that $16 million figure came
from. "Is this simply a process where the private prison vendors
submit their requests and then we just - grant it?" Rodriguez asked.
"Yes," Paulsen responded, "they do, sort of, reach out with
a request for increases to their contracted rates." Rodriguez said he
was concerned that there was no documentation provided to justify the
increase in Department of Corrections spending on private prison contracts
"Because we don't have a good track record in Arizona of holding the
Department accountable for, really, hardly anything it does." State
law used to require the Department of Corrections to submit a report every
two years on the cost comparisons between private prisons and state
prisons. But the Legislature repealed that mandate in 2013. "I firmly
believe it was eliminated because they knew that if the people of Arizona
were actually given the hard numbers, they would see that we are in fact
paying more for private prison beds than what it would cost us to handle
this traditionally governmental duty in house," Rodriguez said. The
contracts between Arizona and the private prisons contain occupancy
guarantees ranging from 90% to 100%. This means, no matter how many people
are actually in the prisons, the state is obligated to pay for a set amount of beds. Rebecca Fealk, program coordinator for
American Friends Service Committee of Arizona, said private prisons, by
their very nature, are more focused on generating profits than providing
safe and secure living conditions for incarcerated people. "It doesn't
make any sense, especially with the recent decline in Arizona's prison
population, to increase the Department of Corrections' budget or sign onto
another problematic private prison contract," Fealk said. A
spokesperson for the GEO Group said the new funding will "help to
ensure proper staffing and the continued delivery of high-quality
services." CoreCivic and Management and Training Corporation declined
to comment. Alexandra Wilkes is a spokesperson for the Day 1 Alliance, a
trade association for the private prison industry. She said private prisons
can be flexible partners to the government system, to relieve overcrowding
and help during transition periods like the closure of Florence. "At
the end of the day, it's the government setting the contract," she said.
"And the contractor has to adhere to the terms of the contract -
that's the heart of the relationship." Zach Perrino said it took him a
long time to realize how that relationship impacted him. "My misery
was profited off of," Perrino said. "My hurt and my pain - someone
cashed a paycheck off that." Perrino thinks there's a better way to
use state resources. "Why don't we invest in people?" he asked.
"If we spent more money treating mental illness and drug addiction, we
wouldn't need public or private prisons."
Dec 5, 2015 azcapitoltimes.com
Family of man attacked in Arizona prison files lawsuit
PHOENIX (AP) — The family of a man
who died after being attacked inside an Arizona prison in January filed a
multimillion-dollar lawsuit Thursday against the state, a private prison in
Kingman and others. The suit, filed Thursday in Maricopa County Superior
Court, alleges that “the actions and inactions of the prison and medical
staff at Arizona State Prison in Kingman constitute deliberate indifference
to the serious medical needs of and the wanton infliction of pain upon Neil
Early.” Early had been serving a five-year sentence for theft and
possession of drug paraphernalia. He died in a hospital days after being
sexually assaulted and beaten in a minimum security unit at the privately
run correctional facility near Kingman. In May, Early’s parents and young
son filed a claim — a precursor to a lawsuit — seeking $7.5 million in
damages from the state. The suit filed Thursday by a Phoenix law firm
representing Early’s estate seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive
damages and “the additional goal of effecting lasting change in the private
prison system.” Early lay
unconscious in his bunk Jan. 16, bleeding with a fractured skull when
prison medical staffers were called, according to the claim and suit. They
both state that Early’s injuries weren’t properly assessed and emergency
responders weren’t summoned for nearly two hours. When he arrived at
Kingman Regional Medical Center, doctors had him airlifted to a trauma
hospital in Las Vegas where he died Jan. 19. The claim and suit also allege
that the state failed to protect Early from a prolonged beating and sexual
assault or to care for him properly afterward. Arizona Department of
Corrections officials didn’t immediately reply to a call Thursday night
seeking comment on the suit. But DOC spokesman Andrew Wilder previously
said the department can’t comment because of the pending claim. In addition
to the state, the claim also names prison operator Management Training
Corporation and a private prison health provider.
Oct
7, 2015 mohavedailynews.com
11
charged in Kingman prison rioting
KINGMAN
— Eleven inmates at the Arizona State Prison-Kingman have been indicted on
charges relating to the unrest that occurred July 1 in the Cerbat Unit of
the private prison in Golden Valley, the first of three days of rioting
that heavily damaging the prison. The charges include participating in a
riot, a class 2 felony; destruction of or injury to a public jail, a class
5 felony; criminal damage, a class 4 felony; and aggravated assault on
corrections officers, class 4 and 5 felonies. The 11, who were not
identified in a news release sent Tuesday afternoon by the Mohave County
Attorney’s Office, will be transported for arraignments in Mohave County
Superior Court in Kingman on Oct. 19 and Oct. 20. Deputy Mohave County
Attorney Rod Albright said that while many more inmates participated in the
riots, only those who could be positively identified were charged.
Additional charges will be filed in connection with the riots on July 2 and
July 4 in the Hualapai Unit, he said. However, fewer inmates in that unit
will be charged because the cameras were broken more quickly than those in
the Cerbat Unit, according to Albright, preventing authorities from
positively identifying many of the participants. Names of inmates charged
cannot be released until they are served with the indictments. The cases
were investigated and submitted by detectives with the Arizona Department
of Corrections based in Winslow and Phoenix. The unrest in the 1,900-inmate
Cerbat Unit, for minimum-security risk prisoners, began when guards
attempted to break up a fight between inmates. The next day, a disturbance
began at the 1,300-inmate Hualapai Unit, for medium-security prisoners, and
two days of rioting damaged much of that unit, forced relocation of more
than 1,000 prisoners from the Golden Valley facility to prisons elsewhere
and ultimately led to the Arizona Department of Corrections ending its
contract with prison operator Management and Training Corporation. he
prison remains open and the state has taken bids for a new operator.
Aug 28, abqjournal.com
PHOENIX — A report shows five veteran Arizona Department of Corrections
officials assigned to monitor operations at a private prison were
apparently unaware of brewing discontent among inmates or concerns about
guard overtime and understaffing before riots broke out in July.
Corrections Director Charles Ryan says the department will assess the role
its monitors play in overseeing its six private prisons. But he lays much
of the blame for the riots that led to extensive damage at the state prison
in Kingman on the operator, Management and Training Corp. The Centerville,
Utah-based company disputes many of the findings in a report that led Gov.
Doug Ducey to order its contract cancelled. The monitors spent the majority
of their time inspecting the facility, dealing with inmate classification
and discipline and doing required paperwork.
Aug
26, 2015 kdminer.com
Kingman prison contract canceled in wake of unrest; new operator sought
KINGMAN
- The state has canceled its contract with private prison operator
Management and Training Corporation and is moving to find another
contractor to take over Arizona State Prison-Kingman following a riot and
other disturbances at the Golden Valley institution in early July. "I
just got off the phone with Director Ryan ... and the recommendation is to
cancel the contract with MTC," said state Sen. Kelli Ward on
Wednesday. Charles Ryan heads the Arizona Department of Corrections. Ward
said the state and MTC came to an "amicable" agreement to end the
contract and that ADOC is expected to release the results of its
investigation of the riots sometime today. Ward also said the intent is to
reassign the contract and all beds at the Cerbat and Hualapai units will
remain in place. The agreement also calls on MTC to finish repairs to the
prison, which sustained severe damage during three days of unrest beginning
July 1. "The good news is the current employees will remain employed.
The only thing we don't know at this point is who will be their new
employers," said Ward. On Tuesday, the American Friends Service
Committee, a nonprofit organization, released its findings regarding the
disturbances. The most significant and persistent problem at the prison,
which has been plagued by riots and one deadly escape for the past several
years, is understaffing, according to the report. Correctional officers and
other employees are underpaid, under-trained, have low morale - and are
unwilling or unable to properly manage a prison, especially during inmate
disturbances. More than a dozen prison employees and inmates were injured
in three incidents that were not related. The group, which was founded by
Quakers more than 90 years ago, focuses on criminal justice reform. The
report said members of the corrections department's Tactical Support Unit
were "unnecessarily violent and disrespectful" to prisoners when
they responded to a riot and two other disturbances in early July. Members
of the unit reportedly injured several prisoners - after the riot was over
- and other prisoners did not injure them. Correctional officers also
mistreated inmates by relying on pepper spray and other heavy-handed
approaches to behavior management, according to the report. "We based
our report on letters from inmates, interviews with family members and
former staff members," said Caroline Isaacs of the Arizona chapter of
American Friends Service Committee in Tucson. Isaacs also said that while
officers used overly aggressive tactics to control inmates and caused high
levels of resentment by doing so, the guards also were accused of bringing
in some of the "readily available" illicit drugs. The report criticized the department of
corrections for failing in its responsibility to "properly manage its
contractor, detect and correct problems and hold MTC accountable for
persistent problems." Those include a high rate of assaults and
frequent lockdowns at the facility. "We must not be fooled
again," said Isaacs. "No new contract should be signed until a
thorough evaluation of Kingman and the five other privately operated
prisons under contract demonstrates that these facilities are safe,
cost-effective, humanely run and accountable to the public." Ward said she had somewhat mixed feelings
about contracting management of prisons to for-profit businesses.
"There are always pros and cons," she said. "Privatizing
generally is better for taxpayers. The government can't manage anything.
Look at the VA and Obamacare, so I think privatizing is always better, but
only as long as they do it well."
Aug
1, 2015 phoenixnewtimes.com
POOR LIVING CONDITIONS SPARKED KINGMAN PRISON RIOTS
A
three-day riot at an Arizona private prison that sent 13 people to the
hospital and led to the relocation of more than 1,000 inmates earlier this
month was driven, in part, by poor living conditions, according to the
prisoner rights organization Middle Ground Prison Reform. In a letter
delivered to Governor Doug Ducey on Friday, the nonprofit outlines
complaints obtained from family members of inmates housed at Arizona State
Prison-Kingman, including allegations of violence and inadequate access to
food and medical care. “Contrary to the belief of many in prison
administration, government, and media, most prison disturbances are not the
result of inmate organization; they are due to administrative
disorganization,” writes Donna Leon Hamm, executive director, and James
Hamm, director of legal services. “When administrative or program staff are
not accessible to inmates, or act as though their attention to the inmate’s
issues or problems is a nuisance … tension builds up.” Issa Arnita,
director of corporate communications for Management & Training Corp.,
the Utah-based company that operates the prison, says an initial
investigation into the riot shows "it was caused by a small group of
inmates attempting to harm another offender." "A full
investigation is underway to determine what led up to the unrest," he
says. Middle Ground describes a violent atmosphere rife with drug dealing
that is enabled by staff misconduct and improper security practices. “Some
staff are reported to be regular importers of controlled substances, which
are provided to inmates who subsequently sell them on the yard,” they write.
“The introduction of drugs on any prison yard facilitates the problems
associated with drug dealing, extortion, debt repayment, threats, and
assaults.” Fighting among inmates is “routine” at Kingman, Middle Ground
reports, which suggests the Arizona Department of Corrections system of
classifying inmates “is not working in an acceptable manner.” Private
prisons in Arizona are authorized to house only minimum- and medium-custody
inmates, but former and current department employees tell New Times that more
dangerous inmates are frequently reclassified in order to fill beds the
government has contracted to pay for. “Is the department simply ‘winking’
at its own classification scheme?” Middle Ground asks. Staff frequently
uses pepper spray, not just to control fighting, but as “acts of cruelty,”
and kick inmates when they are handcuffed on the ground, defenseless,
according to the report. In one case, a Muslim inmate returning from
Ramadan prayers was maced and beaten when he asked for a meal to break his
fast. Middle Ground also alleges that food is of poor quality and is not
being delivered in a timely manner. If inmates have a visitor, they are not
served breakfast or lunch, presumably because family members are expected
to purchase them food from a vending machine in the visitation area. “It is
an invalid assumption that all prison visitors possess the money to
purchase vending machine foods for an inmate, especially at the exorbitant
prices charged,” they write. “If an inmate arrives at visitation at 9 a.m.
and leaves at noon, he should be provided both breakfast and lunch by the
prison.” Inmates are also frustrated about the difficulty of obtaining
medical care, according to Middle Ground. One woman tells New Times, for
example, that her husband was prescribed Oxygen for severe migraines but
was not allowed to use it. When he complained of lockjaw, he was “ignored”
and “made to believe that he was being a hypochondriac." Another
family filed a legal claim against the state for failing to get Neil Early
prompt care after he was sexually assaulted and beaten at Kingman. It
allegedly took prison administrators two hours to call emergency
responders. He later died from his injuries. In the letter, Middle Ground
calls on Ducey to examine, not only “What can we do to punish the
perpetrators?” of the riot, but also, “Did we contribute to the cause of
this riot?” and “How can we change things to avoid another riot in the
future?” In particular, the group asks for an investigation of the
Department of Correction’s inmate-classification process, and the private
prison administration’s approach to violence, food, temperature control,
and visitation practices. “Business as usual is unacceptable now,” they
write. “There is strong likelihood that signs of unrest at the Kingman
prison had been brewing long before the July 2015 riots. But if
administrators don’t care or aren’t skilled enough to notice, then
something is terribly wrong and needs to be corrected.”
Jul
18, 2015 havasunews.com
Prison guard at center of Kingman riot kills himself
GOLDEN
VALLEY - A corrections officer who was at the center of a riot July 2 at
Arizona State Prison-Kingman committed suicide early Wednesday morning at
his home in Bullhead City. Bullhead City Police spokeswoman Carina Spotts
said officers responded to the 30-year-old man's apartment at about 1:15
a.m. after his wife called to report he wanted to commit suicide. Officers
reportedly watched the man walk into his home from the balcony when they
arrived at his apartment and then heard a gunshot. The man reportedly used
a 30.06-caliber rifle to shoot himself.
Spokesman Issaa Arnita of Management Training Corp., the Utah
company that manages the private prison in Golden Valley, confirmed the man
was in an altercation with an inmate when he used pepper spray to control
the prisoner, an act that may have helped spark the destructive riot that
injured nine correctional officers and four inmates over four days of
unrest at both the Hualapai and Cerbat units. The most serious incident is
the one in which the man was involved. The riot occurred at the medium
security Hualapai Unit, which is closed while the facility is cleaned and
repaired. Inmates virtually destroyed four of five housing units at the
roughly 1,500-bed prison and nearly 1,200 of them have since been moved to
other detention centers in and outside of Arizona. "The answer is
yes," said Arnita, director of corporate communications, when asked if
the man was at the flashpoint of the riot, which broke out at about 8 p.m.
and lasted for several hours. What Arnita refused to address, for a number
of reasons, is the man's motivation to end his life. Inmates reportedly had
a growing list of complaints, including what one recent employee said was
their belief officers were engaging in "excessive use of Tasers and
pepper spray" when less severe means to respond are available. Her
story will be published in Sunday's Daily Miner. Arizona Department of
Corrections spokesman Bill Lamoreaux said the department was unable to
comment on the man's suicide or what might have been his motive, given the
ongoing nature of the investigation. "We don't know what led to his
death," Arnita said. "It's up to the police to determine that.
The state doesn't know because they're still investigating so it seems
people are drawing conclusions based on hearsay." Arnita said in an email that the man's
death was tragic. He also refused to comment on what might have led him to
commit suicide. "We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our
colleague and friend," said Arnita. "Our hearts go out to his
family for their great loss. It is not appropriate for us to speculate
regarding the motive behind his death. We are fully cooperating with police
in their investigation into this tragic situation." The man had been a
corrections officer at the prison since December of 2012, said Arnita.
Jul 14, 2015 kjzz.org
Department Of Corrections Delays Bids For New Medium-Security Beds
The
Department of Corrections is extending the due date for private prison
companies to apply to build more beds. The two-month postponement allows
time for the state to further investigate the disturbances at the Kingman
State Prison. The Department had planned to start accepting bids for 2,000
new male medium-security private prison beds on July 22. The weekend of
July 4, multiple riots at the Management & Training Corporation
facility caused such severe damage to the Kingman prison that 1,168 inmates
have been temporarily relocated to county jails and other private prisons.
The Department of Corrections said in a statement the due date for bids has
been pushed back to allow for the assessment of the recent incidents to be
completed. Caroline Isaacs is an Arizona Program Director with the American
Friends Service Committee, a justice advocacy group. “This is a time to be
cautious and deliberate and not rush into another contract so that we can
ensure public safety and wise use of taxpayer dollars," she said.
“However, 60 days is simply not enough to truly determine not just what
occurred at Kingman, but whether the other contracts that we currently hold
with private operators might have similar problems.” Isaacs is advocating
the request for bids should be canceled altogether. Management and Training
Corp did not say whether it plans to submit a proposal for the new
medium-security beds. The new due date for proposals is Sept. 22.
Jul
11, 2015 trivalleycentral.com
Inmate sent to Pinal jail found with 31 meth bags
FLORENCE
— Authorities say an inmate recently transferred to the Pinal County jail
from the troubled Kingman state prison has been found with more than 30
small bags of methamphetamine. Pinal County Sheriff’s officials say new
charges will be filed against 20-year-old Geraldo Beltran-Torres. He’s
already serving a four-year sentence for possession of a dangerous drug.
The discovery comes a day after a 49-year-old female jail inmate, who
admitted using meth, died hours after being arrested. Her name has not been
released. Authorities said that while she was being booked into jail she
admitted to using methamphetamine before her arrest. The Pinal County
Sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Bureau has not determined if her drug use
contributed to the cause of death and no signs of foul play were
found. Beltran-Torres was among some
1,100 prison inmates recently transported from a private prison near
Kingman after recent riots rendered the facilities uninhabitable. The Pinal
County jail absorbed 380 of those inmates. The Arizona Department of
Corrections announced Thursday it has moved another 113 prisoners out of
the privately run state prison that was hit with days of unrest and rioting
to other county jails. PCSO authorities say each inmate underwent a strip
search during the transfer process and officials employed drug-sniffing
dogs to detect any contraband. A PCSO detention officer reported seeing
Beltran-Torres put something under his mattress and that led to the
discovery of the nearly 17 grams of methamphetamine in 31 small plastic
bags. Corrections spokesman Andrew Wilder says Wednesday’s transfers bring
the number of inmates moved from the Arizona State Prison-Kingman to 1,168.
The additional prisoners were sent to county jails in Apache, Navajo and
Santa Cruz counties, and nine to state prisons. The unrest began July 1 in
a 2,000-prisoner minimum security unit. Prisoners in the medium security
side of the prison holding 1,500 men revolted over the following three
days, trashing four of five housing units. The moves weren’t unexpected
because the prisoners were in temporary quarters. A Department of
Corrections team is investigating the unrest. Just 236 men remain in the
Kingman medium security facility.
Jul
7, 2015 azcentral.com
Pinal County will take 380 inmates after Kingman prison riot
The
Pinal County Jail will absorb 380 state inmates as part of a massive
withdrawal of prisoners from a private correctional facility near Kingman
where toilets, sinks and windows were destroyed in a series of weekend
prisoner riots. The Arizona Department of Corrections on Monday said it had
finished transferring 1,055 medium-security inmates from the Management
& Training Corp. prison after its private operator was unable to
squelch disturbances that required the state to send in a heavily armed
special tactical support unit to restore order. The state sent 675 inmates
from the Arizona State Prison Complex-Kingman to other private prisons,
including one operated by MTC in Texas. Pinal County Jail is the lone
publicly funded facility taking in evacuated inmates. Issa Arnita, an MTC
spokesman, said the Utah-based company would cover the costs of
transferring and housing the evacuated inmates. About 2,500 inmates — both
minimum- and medium-security — will remain in undamaged units at the
Kingman prison. Arnita said MTC still was investigating what caused the
riots. He said air-conditioning units were working properly and all food
had been approved by a dietitian and the state, dismissing speculation by
families of inmates on what may have triggered the disturbances. The
rioting was the latest in a string of problems at the private prison in
Golden Valley, about 20 miles west of Kingman. An inmate was beaten to
death earlier this year. Also, three inmates escaped in 2010 and were
recaptured, but two of them were later sentenced for killing a couple in
New Mexico. Records obtained by The Arizona Republic show the MTC facility
had the most inmate assaults and fights among the state's private prisons
every year from fiscal 2010 to 2014. In fiscal 2014, it accounted for 119
of the 161 inmate assaults in Arizona's six private prisons. The MTC prison
also had the most assaults on staff by inmates among Arizona's private
prisons every year from fiscal 2011 to 2014 ,
records show. In fiscal 2014, it accounted for 38 of the 41 private-prison
staff assaults. Gov. Doug Ducey's office and corrections officials released
photos Monday to The Republic showing extensive damage to sleeping areas,
restrooms and showers. The governor's spokesman said much of the MTC
medium-security unit was uninhabitable, primarily because of destroyed
porcelain toilets and sinks. Ducey has called for a full-scale
investigation of the riots. Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said porcelain
toilets and sinks are less costly than the stainless-steel sinks and
toilets his jail uses. "They cost more, but they are designed to
withstand some measure of abuse as well as excessive wear and tear,"
Babeu said. The Maricopa County Jail also uses stainless steel. Arnita said
the MTC Kingman facility was built in 2005 in accordance with state
corrections standards, adding that "porcelain sinks and toilets are
used in prisons all across the country depending on the age of the facility
and level of security." Porcelain sinks and toilets are common in
state minimum- and medium-security prisons, according to state prison
officials. Babeu and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio have been outspoken
critics of the state using private prisons, urging it to rely on county
jails to ease overcrowding. Arpaio said he wasn't asked to take in any
evacuated Kingman inmates. Other critics of private prisons say the
facilities are not adequately staffed and that operators build on the cheap
to increase profits. "This will make the case on its own that legitimate
law-enforcement agencies absolutely can and should be considered as a
viable option to house Department of Corrections prisoners," Babeu
said. "There are certain aspects of government that can be privatized,
but most members of the public have sincere reservations when it comes to
privatizing public safety." Babeu said his staff would work overtime
to accommodate the extra prisoners, whom he said could stay in Pinal County
for two months. He said Pinal County Jail typically houses 650 to 740
inmates. Babeu said incidents like the riots that occurred over the weekend
should encourage Ducey and lawmakers to reconsider whether more private
prisons are the answer to overcrowding. Arpaio agreed. He said his jail of
8,441 inmates hasn't had a major disturbance in more than 20 years.
"Anytime they want to use our facilities, I will do it as a favor for
the governor," Arpaio said. The state will begin accepting bids July
22 to bring another 1,000 private medium-security beds into its system in
the 2016 fiscal year, which began July 1, and an additional 1,000 the next
year, pending legislative approval. Daniel Scarpinato, Ducey's spokesman,
said the governor will review the findings of a DOC investigation into the
riots before making any decisions. Andrew Wilder, a DOC spokesman, said the
department has assembled an "assessment team" in Kingman to
determine what caused the riots. The team includes wardens and other
officials. "They will be looking at everything from staffing and
training to leadership. They will interview inmates and staff as they do a
thorough investigation," Wilder said. Wilder said 562 inmates have
been shipped to a private prison in Eloy operated by Corrections
Corporation of America. Another 113 inmates were sent to a Texas private
prison operated by MTC. Problems at the Kingman prison began Wednesday when
a small group of inmates tried to harm another inmate in the adjoining
minimum-security Cerbat Unit. The next day, inmates in the medium-security
Hualapai Unit were "non-compliant and caused significant damage"
in two housing areas. On July 4, inmates in the remaining three Hualapai
housing units caused additional disturbances and damage, according to MTC.
Jul 5, 2015 abc15.com
Arizona
prison hit with 3rd disturbance by inmates in 4 days
KINGMAN
- A third disturbance within four days broke out Saturday in a private
prison in Kingman, authorities said. Units with the Arizona Department of
Public Safety and the Mohave County Sheriff's Office were helping the
Department of Corrections with the unrest at Arizona State Prison-Kingman,
officials said. The law enforcement officers are providing security around
the perimeter of the prison. Inmates in the Hualapai dormitory were
"again refusing to comply with directives this afternoon," said
Andrew Wilder, spokesman for the Department of Corrections. By Saturday
evening, however, "all inmates were complying with directives,"
Wilder said. He said he did not have information on whether any inmates
were injured. Saturday's disturbance was not a riot, said Wilder, who added
that the cause of the disturbance remains under investigation. Corrections
officials on Saturday evening were screening the inmates and checking the
facility to make sure order was restored, he said. On Friday, about 700
inmates at the prison were moved to new locations after disturbances on
consecutive days left their housing units uninhabitable. Nine corrections
officers suffered minor injuries in the incidents at the prison, which has
had a long history of problems. No inmate injuries were reported. The first
disturbance occurred Wednesday at a minimum-security unit, followed by what
he described as an unrelated riot Thursday night at a medium-security unit
that took several hours to quell, Wilder said. Saturday's incident
"was clearly a significant disturbance, but it was not on a scale with
what occurred (at the prison) Thursday evening to Friday morning,"
Wilder said. In 2010, three inmates escaped from the prison after a woman
in a getaway car threw cutting tools over the fence and they broke out. The
inmates went on a violent crime spree that included the murders of an
Oklahoma couple during a camping trip in New Mexico. They were killed, and
their bodies were found burned in their trailer. The inmates were caught,
tried and received new prison sentences. The Management and Training Corp.
continued to operate the prison despite scathing criticism of its lax
security during the escape. An inmate at the prison — and the
minimum-security unit where the disturbance happened this week — was sexually
assaulted and beaten at the facility in January and died at a hospital
three days later, according to a legal claim filed by his family. The legal
action says emergency responders weren't notified for nearly two hours. The
inmate, Neil Early, was serving a five-year sentence for theft and
possession of drug paraphernalia after becoming addicted to heroin and
stealing video games. Arizona houses thousands of inmates in private
prisons, and the industry has come under fire for its large donations to
Republican politicians.
Jul 4, 2015
Arizona: State moving inmates out of damaged MTC
prison
|
Friday, July 3, 2015
ASP-Kingman Requires Relocation
of Approximately 700 State Inmates
|
KINGMAN (Friday, July 3, 2015) – As the result of
a riot at the Hualapai Unit at ASP-Kingman, a private facility operated by
Management and Training Corporation (MTC), ADC Director Charles Ryan, in
accordance with state law, has ordered the relocation of approximately 700
inmates into other correctional facilities. On the evening of July 1,
inmates at the ASP-Kingman private prison participated in a major
disturbance in the minimum-security Cerbat Unit. On the following evening
of July 2, inmates at the medium-security Hualapai Unit engaged in rioting
-- unrelated to the July 1 event -- causing severe property damage. The
prison is secure and the situation is under control. All employees and
inmates are safe and accounted for. However, since two of the five housing
units are uninhabitable, inmates will have to be relocated in accordance
with the statute. Pursuant to A.R.S. Section 41-1609(E)(2), and
following notification of Governor Ducey and Attorney General Brnovich,
Director Ryan is exercising the statutory authority to house inmates in
either an existing public or private institution. During the two incidents,
a total of eight prison staff were treated for minor injuries and released
from a local hospital. The private prison at Kingman will remain on
lockdown status until further notice.
Jul 2, 2015 azcentral.com
6 guards assaulted in Kingman prison melee
Emily
L. Mahoney, The Republic| azcentral.com 10:11 p.m. MST July 1, 2015
Inmates
assaulted six prison guards Wednesday night at Arizona State Prison-Kingman
and unrest continued into the night, according to the state Department of
Corrections. Corrections officers received minor injuries when attacked by
multiple inmates just after 6 p.m. Wednesday, said Bill Lamereaux,
spokesman for the department. He stopped short of calling the incident a
prison riot. Five officers were treated at the prison and one was
transported to a local hospital for treatment, Lamereaux said. The unrest
was ongoing as of 9:30 p.m., Lamereaux said. Officers were working to put
the inmates involved "on lockdown" for the rest of the night. The
incident took place in a minimum-security unit that houses about 2,000
inmates, though there was no immediate word on how many inmates were
involved, Lamereaux said.
Jul 2, 2015 kdminer.com
Updated: 10 officers injured during Kingman prison altercation
KINGMAN - Ten officers at the state
prison complex in Kingman received minor injuries while quelling a
disturbance Wednesday, according to the Arizona Corrections Department. The
officers were injured Wednesday evening in the 6 p.m. hour while breaking
up an altercation in which a group of inmates chased another inmate at the
privately operated complex's Cerbat minimum-security unit, Department
spokesman Andrew Wilder said. Five injured officers were treated at the
scene, Wilder said. One officer was treated at Kingman Regional Medical
Center, and after inmates were locked down in their housing another four
officers were treated at the hospital. All officers were released Wednesday
night. The circumstances of the altercation and number of participating
inmates weren't immediately known and the department's security staff is
investigating, the spokesman said. Trish Carter from the Mohave County
Sheriff's Office confirmed that MCSO, the Department of Public Safety, the
Department of Transportation and the Kingman Police Department assisted by
establishing an outer perimeter in the event an inmate escaped or
assistance was needed. Deputy Chief Rusty Cooper confirmed that the Kingman
Police Department sent three officers to assist. KPD also doubled its patrol
shift as a preventative measure, but "everything was pretty
quiet." Golden Valley Fire Department personnel responded to provide
medical care and as a "precautionary measure," according to a
department statement. The scene was cleared by MCSO at around 1 a.m. The unit has approximately 1,900 inmates.
May
29, 2015 azcentral.com
Family of slain Arizona private-prison inmate seeks $7.5M
Story
Highlights
• The
family of an inmate slain in private prison near Kingman is seeking
millions in damages.
• Claim
says inmate was sexually assaulted at Management & Training Corporation
private prison.
• Death
occurred at the same private prison where three inmates escaped in 2010.
The
family of a 23-year-old inmate killed inside a private prison near Kingman
is seeking $7.5 million from the state and Management & Training Corp.,
the correctional facility operator.
The
notice of claim — a precursor to a lawsuit — was filed this month,
following Neil Early's death in January. Arizona Department of Corrections,
which was named in the claim, has ruled Early's death a homicide. The claim
said Early was in a minimum-security unit and was sexually assaulted as
part of the attack. It also says that the attack "appears to have been
premeditated by a well-known criminal gang that engages in illicit activity
throughout the ADOC prison system," and that prison personnel failed
to adequately treat Early for his injuries. Scott Zwillinger, attorney for
the Early family, blamed the attack on a lack of security at the private
prison. "They cut corners at every turn because it's a for-profit
prison," Zwillinger said. "They are more concerned about the
profit margin than doing what they need to do to make sure safety is in
place. The amount of violence and gang activity and drug use that goes on
there suggests a lack of security and misclassification of inmates."
The claim states that Early's tenure at Arizona State Prison-Kingman was
"rife with gang violence," and his goal was "simply to
survive." Zwillinger said his clients are suing the state because
Arizona contracts with Utah-based Management & Training Corp. to house
inmates in the Golden Valley facility. Issa Arnita, a spokesman for the
company, said MTC could not comment because of potential litigation. Andrew
Wilder, a Corrections spokesman, also declined to comment on the claim. But
he added that the investigation into Early's death is ongoing. Three
inmates escaped from the same prison in 2010. Two of those escapees later
were tied to the murder of a couple in New Mexico following the escape. The
Early claim also alleges that the Department of Corrections has failed to
release "internal investigatory documents and/or findings in
connection with the assault and death of Neil Early." Early was
serving a five-year sentence for organized retail theft and drug
paraphernalia violations. He was scheduled to be released April 1, 2016,
the claim said.
Mar
14, 2015 reviewjournal.com
KINGMAN,
Ariz. — A woman who aided in a northwest Arizona prison break that led to
the 2010 slaying of a vacationing couple in New Mexico said Monday she was
too scared at the time to have stopped the violence. But the escape from
Arizona State Prison in Golden Valley didn’t go the way she was promised,
48-year-old Casslyn Welch said. She never dreamed the plot to free her
fiance, who is also her cousin, and two convicted killers would bring
bloodshed. “What happened was never, ever, ever supposed to have happened,”
Welch said in a phone interview from the Mohave County jail in Kingman.
“There was not supposed to be any harm or any tragedy to any human being
whatsoever. “We were supposed to go off into the wild, wild West and
disappear,” Welch said. “We would be gone and off the grid and never
surface again.” Welch is serving a 40-year federal prison term for her New
Mexico convictions on weapons, conspiracy and interference with commerce
offenses. She is scheduled to receive a concurrent 20-year sentence
Wednesday for her Arizona convictions. Her fiancee, Charlie McCluskey,
first spoke of the plan about a month before the getaway, Welch said. On
July 30, 2010, she parked away from the prison perimeter to avoid detection
before approaching the facility on foot and delivering wire cutters that
were used to snip through a fence. McCluskey was serving a 15-year-sentence
for attempted murder and other crimes when he and convicted killers Tracy
Province and Daniel Renwick fled the prison into the desert darkness. After
splitting from the others Renwick ended up locating the 1996 Chrysler
Concorde that Welch had stocked with weapons, cash, changes of clothes and
other provisions. Renwick drove off alone, only to be captured following a
shootout with officers in Colorado some 28 hours after the escape.
McCluskey, Province and Welch forced truck drivers they abducted on a highway
outside the prison to drive them to Flagstaff where the drivers were turned
loose. U.S. Marshalls said McCluskey’s ex-wife picked up the group there
and drove them to Payson, Ariz., about 115 miles south of Flagstaff.
McCluskey’s mother then drove the trio to Phoenix before they left Arizona.
In New Mexico they abducted Gary and Linda Haas, both 61, who were sleeping
at an Interstate 40 rest area. McCluskey is serving a life sentence for
shooting and killing the retirees, who had been on their annual vacation
from Tecumseh, Okla. Their charred remains were found Aug. 4, 2010, in
their camper trailer that McCluskey torched after they were killed. “Oh
God, and how he put them through torture and terror was unexcusable,” Welch
said. “If I would have been brave enough to stand up to Charlie and tell
him ‘no,’ it would have been a million times different. They would have had
their families and the truck drivers would never have been terrified.” But
Welch said her cousin’s demeanor changed noticeably moments before the
killings. “I looked at Charlie’s face and he was not the kid that I grew up
with,” Welch said. From New Mexico the odyssey headed north to Wyoming
where Province was dropped off about a mile outside Yellowstone National
Park. After his Aug. 9, 2010, arrest Province told authorities he had
intended to ingest heroin then head into the wilderness to be eaten by a
bear. Welch and McCluskey were taken into custody at an eastern Arizona
campground 10 days later. Just six weeks before the escape, Welch had been
caught smuggling drugs into the Golden Valley prison that the Centerville,
Utah-based Management & Training Corporation operates through a private
contract with Arizona. Welch admitted bringing heroin into the facility
three times and that she had agreed to work as an informant before
returning to facilitate the escape. Only through escape-related publicity
did the general public and local law enforcement authorities learn that 117
convicted killers were incarcerated at the Golden Valley facility
originally constructed to house DUI offenders. Embracing spending the rest
of her life behind bars, Welch said the state of Arizona shoulders some
blame for the Haas murders by tempting killers confined by inadequate
security. “Now I’m a lifer. I understand the philosophy now,” Welch said.
“You have to keep killing the (inmate’s) hope. You can’t let us have any
hope. And when they took those guys and put them over in that little
playpen…that gave them hope.”
3/11/2015
kdminer.com
KINGMAN
- A tearful Casslyn Mae Welch was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in prison
for her key role in the 2010 escape of three men from Arizona State
Prison-Kingman that led to the murder of an Oklahoma couple. Welch was the
last of four people to be sentenced and Wednesday's hearing closed the book
on a tragic case that began more than four and a half years ago. "I
deeply apologize to all of my victims," said Welch in a soft voice,
when Judge Steven Conn gave her the opportunity to speak. Welch began to
cry and paused for a moment before she added, "Nothing was supposed to
go wrong or bad." But bad things did happen in the days following the
July 30, 2010 escape of John McCluskey, her cousin and significant other
who was serving a 15-year term for attempted murder and other convictions.
With him were Tracy Province and Daniel Renwick, both convicted killers who
were serving a life sentence and 44 years, respectively. The term Welch
received in Mohave County Superior Court was likely academic, as it's
possible she will never set foot in an Arizona prison. Convicted last
summer for her role in the shooting deaths of Gary and Linda Haas in New
Mexico shortly after the escape, Welch was sentenced to a 40-year-term in
federal prison. While Conn technically sentenced the 48-year-old woman to a
total of more than 40 years - two 20-year terms for armed robbery and a
30-month term for escape, her actual sentence is two decades, because Conn
honored the plea agreement Welch signed in 2011. The deal called for her
Mohave County sentences to run concurrent with one another, and that also
they run concurrent to her federal sentence. According to the federal
Bureau of Prisons, Welch is due to be released in 2045. "I wish I
stopped it before I even started it," she said. On the night of July
30, 2010, Welch donned camouflage clothing and walked across the desert to
the prison fence. She had guns and cutting tools, which she threw over to
McCluskey and Province, who spent months plotting the escape. Renwick, who
was unaware of the plan, made himself part of it when he saw what was
happening. Renwick got to the getaway car Welch parked near the prison and
took off before the other three arrived. Left afoot, Welch, McCluskey and
Province walked several miles across the desert before they reached Interstate
40, where they hijacked two men resting in a parked tractor-trailer and
forced them to drive to Flagstaff. The men were released unharmed. Welch
pleaded guilty to two counts of armed robbery for the crime, one for each
victim. While that was a serious offense, Welch's fate was truly sealed
when the trio kidnapped the Haas couple, who were pulling an RV as they
headed from Oklahoma to Colorado for their annual vacation. McCluskey was
convicted of killing the couple and burning their RV with their bodies inside.
Welch and Province testified against McCluskey in his federal trial, but
prosecutors took little mercy on either of them once they pleaded guilty:
Province received a life term and Welch was given four decades. McCluskey
avoided the death penalty and was sentenced to life plus more than 230
years. Renwick was captured in Colorado less than two days after the escape
following a shootout with law enforcement officers. He is serving more than
60 years. Conn, also per an agreement with attorneys on both sides of the
case, gave Welch credit for more than 1,650 days she has spent in custody.
Feb
14, 2015 azcentral.com
Arizona
Department of Corrections criminal investigators are treating an inmate
death last month at a private prison in Kingman as a homicide. A DOC
statement Friday said Neil Early, 23, was injured during an altercation
with another inmate in January. He was taken by ambulance to a Las Vegas
hospital, where he was pronounced dead, officials said. The death occurred
at a medium-security prison operated by Management & Training
Corporation, based in Centerville, Utah. The company declined comment.
Three inmates escaped from the same prison in 2010. Two of those escapees
later were tied to the murder of a couple in New Mexico following the escape.
Early was held in a medium-security area where he was housed with other
inmates, according to DOC spokesman Bill Lamoreaux. The area where Early
was housed was a "dormitory style" housing area meant for
non-violent criminals, which according to Lamoreaux "complicates
things" in the investigation. Early was serving sentences for
organized retail theft and drug paraphernalia violations. DOC is
working with the Mohave County Attorney's Office in the ongoing
investigation, according to Lamoreaux. "The safety of the staff and
inmates at all Arizona prisons is ADC's first priority, and criminal
assaults are absolutely intolerable," Corrections Director Charles
Ryan said. "Every inmate death, no matter the apparent cause, is
investigated by the department's Criminal Investigations Unit. Upon review,
it is apparent that this inmate likely died as the result of injuries he
received in a physical altercation with at least one fellow inmate, which
would qualify this incident as a suspected homicide," Ryan said. Gov.
Doug Ducey and Ryan are asking the Arizona Legislature to approve $100
million in funding for the next three years for a new medium-custody,
3,000-bed private prison to deal with overcrowding.
Jun 4, 2014 kjzz.org
An
inmate who escaped an Arizona prison and murdered a couple from Oklahoma
was sentenced to prison Tuesday. Two of his accomplices were also sentenced
this week. John McCluskey, 49, and two others escaped from a private prison
near Kingman in 2010. McCluskey was charged by federal prosecutors in the
carjacking and murder of Gary and Linda Haas in New Mexico after his
escape. A U.S. District Judge in Albuquerque sentenced McCluskey to life in
prison plus a consecutive term of 235 years. On Monday, fellow escapee
Tracy Province was given five consecutive life terms without a chance for
release. Casslyn Welch, 44, McCluskey’s girlfriend and cousin, was charged
with aiding in the escape. She was sentenced to 40 years behind bars,
though local news media report her lawyers say she deserves a shorter term
because she pleaded guilty.
Jun
4, 2014 abqjournal.com
Cassie
Welch’s testimony for the government didn’t earn her much real world
benefit when she was sentenced Monday for her role in the carjacking and
murder of the vacationing Oklahoma couple Gary and Linda Haas on Aug. 2,
2010. Despite a defense request for a 20-year sentence and a prosecution
acknowledgement that she had provided “substantial assistance” against
co-defendants in the case, U.S. District Judge Judith Herrera found a
sentence of 40 years to be appropriate. Herrera calculated that Welch, 48
years old next month, would have faced life plus 85 years in prison had she
not provided assistance. But Mark Fleming, the San Diego attorney for Welch
in what began as a death penalty case against three defendants, told the
court that 40 years was a de facto life sentence for his client. He said it
amounted to the same as the life sentence for John Charles McCluskey, the
explosive prison escapee who was calling the shots when the Haases were
abducted from a rest stop in eastern New Mexico, and the one who shot them
and burned their bodies. Welch’s de facto sentence was also the same as
Tracy Province, who had a prior murder conviction from Arizona. Province
was sentenced on Monday to a life sentence, as expected. Prosecutors had
sought the death penalty against McCluskey at trial, but when jurors were
unable to reach unanimity on the punishment, his sentence automatically
became life in prison. His sentence is to be imposed officially today. At
Welch’s hearing, statements were made by the victims’ families, including
Linda Haas’ sister Sandra Morgan, who sat through most of the three-month
trial. Morgan said although Welch may not have pulled the trigger on her
sister and brother-in-law, she is as responsible as the others by arranging
for the prison escape of McCluskey and Province, and taking other actions
related to the carjacking. “She is evil. It’s plain and simple,” Morgan
said. Linda Rook, Gary Haas’ sister, called Welch “the enabler” whose actions
helped cause the tragedy and who, soon after her arrest, made mocking
comments about the murdered couple. But Casslyn Mae Choat Welch came from
generations of alcoholism and domestic violence, according to testimony
from defense mitigation specialist Laurie Knight and forensic psychologist
Eliot Rapoport. Welch was sexually abused by a stepfather when she was in
the eighth grade, raped by another family friend and constantly endured
isolation, domination or physical abuse. Rapoport diagnosed her with “abandoned
person syndrome,” formerly called Stockholm syndrome, in which the abused
person comes to identify with his or her tormentor. Welch’s attorneys also
played squirm-inducing recorded phone calls from McCluskey in prison to
Welch, working for minimum wage at his mother’s store, to underscore the
point that he was manipulating, berating and threatening her even while
behind bars – and making her apologize for perceived transgressions.
McCluskey apparently put out a contract to have the small trailer she lived
in next to his mother’s store burned. PROVINCE: Sentenced to life, as
expected: Province was sentenced minutes after Welch’s hearing ended to
five consecutive life sentences – to be served in a witness protection
program for federal prisoners – for his role in the slayings. “I’d like to
apologize to the friends and family of the Haases for all the pain I put
them through, that’s all I have to say,” Province said in remarks similar
to those offered by Welch. In his plea agreement, Province waived his right
to apply for compassionate release, so he is guaranteed to spend the rest
of his life in prison, said Richard Winterbottom, Province’s attorney.
Journal staff writer Ryan Boetel contributed to this report.
Dec
13, 2013 Albuquerque Journal News
Nine
jurors voted for death, and three voted for life. That means convicted
murderer John Charles McCluskey will receive a life sentence without
possibility of release, rather than death. After a process strung out more
than five months, the federal jury was in court just five minutes Wednesday
as the judge read their verdict form giving a life sentence to McCluskey. A
death sentence requires unanimity among the jurors, and they could not
reach that level of agreement during four days of deliberation. The 30-page
special verdict form asked jurors to look at 160 mitigating factors
weighing against death and seven aggravating factors weighing in favor of
death in the Aug. 2, 2010, kidnapping and murder of Gary and Linda Haas.
The retired couple had left Tecumseh, Okla., headed for a Colorado fishing
vacation when they were kidnapped for their travel trailer and pickup at a
rest stop on Interstate 40 in eastern New Mexico. They were shot about an
hour later at a remote site north of the interstate by McCluskey, according
to trial testimony and the jury’s verdicts in other phases of the
complicated federal death case. McCLUSKEY: Jury deadlocked after four days.
McCluskey, 48, had escaped just days earlier from a state prison in Arizona
with Tracy Province, also an inmate, and with the help of McCluskey’s
cousin and girlfriend Casslyn Welch, who provided money, supplies and
reconnaissance of the prison. Both were codefendants in the federal case
charging conspiracy to commit carjacking and murder and testified for the government
in exchange for life sentences. U.S. District Judge Judith Herrera, who
presided over the trial, invited jurors to meet with her in chambers
following the verdict and told them attorneys for the prosecution and the
defense would be anxious to hear about their deliberative process. “I think
that some jurors saw that John’s life has value,” said Theresa “Teri”
Duncan, who was appointed to represent McCluskey within days of the
murders. For example, she said witnesses told about what a great friend he
was when he was young and about his life in prison in Pennsylvania.
McCluskey entered that system in his mid-20s and remained until he was
older than 40, during which he was a prized, hard worker and an inmate who
counseled others to avoid the kind of trouble that can erupt in that
environment. She said other witnesses who knew McCluskey in Arizona “talked
about how respectful he was to older people.” Among them was Sissy Honea,
who told the jury about McCluskey sending her a card during the trial to offer
his condolences when her life partner died. “That meant something to her,”
Duncan said. “She brought John’s capacity for kindness up to the present.
That was one of the more compelling things that the evidence showed for the
right juror.” Gary Haas’ younger sister Linda Rook, reached by phone in
Oklahoma following the verdict, said she was in a state of shock after her
uncle – one of several family members who attended trial religiously –
called to tell her about it. “I’m just going to have to learn to accept it
some way,” Rook said. “He (McCluskey) already had a life sentence, so he’s
essentially getting nothing for what he did to my brother and
sister-in-law.” Rook brought her mother, Vivian Haas, to Albuquerque in
August to hear testimony in the guilt-innocence part of the trial. That
testimony began with the detailed escape planning from the northern Arizona
privately operated facility; the escape itself and subsequent hijacking of
two truckers in northern Arizona; the fugitive trio’s acquisition of another
vehicle before carjacking the Haases, mostly to get their roomy and air
conditioned travel trailer. Codefendants Province and Welch, who have been
promised a prison version of the witness protection program, testified
about what they called McCluskey’s unexpected, unnecessary and infuriating
shooting of the Haases and about their post-escape wanderings to Wyoming
and other parts. In a second phase, prosecutors proved the statutory
factors required for a death verdict. And in a final, “selection” phase,
prosecutors argued that McCluskey was such a danger that he couldn’t be
safely housed even in a federal prison and that he deserved to die for
killing a special couple. The defense brought in mitigation witnesses about
McCluskey’s life and social history. Despite the outcome, Rook said she was
appreciative of the jury’s work and that of prosecutors who’ve spent over
two years on the case. The official word, however, from acting U.S.
Attorney Steve Yarbrough was not disappointment. “The jury decided not to seek
death but they found him guilty of every count charged,” Yarbrough said.
“The process played out the way it was supposed to.” Asked if the millions
of dollars spent on a death penalty prosecution was worth it, Yarbrough
said that wasn’t his call. “It isn’t my decision. Congress passed the law
and the president signed it,” he said. “It’s ultimately the call of the
(U.S.) Attorney General, who looks at it in terms of other cases across the
U.S.” in pursuit of uniformity. The extensive jury verdict form asks each
juror to certify that race, color, religious beliefs, national origin or
gender of the defendant or victim was not a factor involved in reaching
their decision. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Greg Fouratt and Linda Mott and
Department of Justice Attorney Michael Warbel began selecting a jury in
July with Duncan, lead attorney Michael Burt of San Francisco and Ruidoso
attorney Gary Mitchell. All of them were paid for by the government. The
jury, plus four alternates, was drawn from throughout the state and
included some from southern New Mexico, three from northern New Mexico and
others from the Albuquerque and Rio Rancho area. There were three men and
nine women. McCluskey, who is being held at the Torrance County Detention
Facility, is expected to remain there until he is formally sentenced. No
date has been set. Mitchell said the defense team understands how tragic
the event was for the victim’s family, and offered condolences to them.
Duncan said she believes the McCluskey verdict “is consistent with New
Mexico attitudes toward the death penalty. “We’re just a state that values
life, and the verdict shows that we continue to show our commitment to
life,” she said.
Aug
22, 2013 The Washington Post
ALBUQUERQUE,
N.M. — The pile of ash and twisted metal looked like what was left of a
travel trailer, but a New Mexico sheriff testified Wednesday he had no idea
when he first saw the crime scene that the case was a homicide that
investigators would later link to two Arizona fugitives and their
accomplice. “What was really bad was within about a 100-foot radius of the
burned out frame, the trees were completely charred, even parts of the
corrals,” Guadalupe County Sheriff Michael Lucero told jurors. “It was a
mess.” The sheriff was among several law enforcement agents who took the
stand in the capital murder trial of John McCluskey, the last of three
defendants to be tried on federal carjacking and murder charges in the 2010
deaths of Gary and Linda Haas of Tecumseh, Okla. The retired couple, on
their way to an annual camping trip in Colorado, had been targeted for
their pickup truck and travel trailer after they stopped at a rest area
near the Texas-New Mexico state line on Aug. 2, 2010. Prosecutors say the
couple was forced at gunpoint to drive west along Interstate 40 before
being ordered to pull onto a lonely two-lane road. They were shot and then
the trailer was taken to a remote ranch in eastern New Mexico, where it was
unhitched and burned. Prosecutor Greg Fouratt showed jurors photographs of
everything from the trailer to the dirt road that led to the ranch. He also
played clips from surveillance video taken from a convenience store near a
highway exit that showed the truck and trailer headed toward the ranch that
afternoon. Less than 40 minutes later, the video shows the truck heading
back toward the interstate with no trailer. A ranch hand testified he
discovered the trailer along with three small dogs. Two of the pets were
rounded up and their tags led the sheriff to the Haases’ daughter. Lucero
testified that he thought he was dealing with a kidnapping. The case
changed when James Butterfield, a criminal investigator with New Mexico
State Police, got closer to the wreckage. “When I arrived at the wheels of
the trailer, I started looking down straight in front of me. Through my
training and experience, I recognized a skull and a femur bone,” he
testified. Other agents testified about finding the Haases stolen truck
hours away in Albuquerque. It was unlocked, the keys were in one cup holder
and a bottle of brake fluid was in another. Prosecutors planned to call
more investigators to the stand Wednesday afternoon. McCluskey’s
accomplices — his cousin and fiance Casslyn Welch and fellow inmate Tracy
Province — are expected to testify next week. Both face life sentences
after pleading guilty last year to charges stemming from the Haases’
deaths.
August
6, 2013 chron.com
ALBUQUERQUE,
N.M. (AP) — Federal prosecutors expect to seat a jury this week in the case
of an Arizona inmate who escaped from prison and is accused of killing a
retired couple who was traveling through New Mexico. Jury selection is in
its third week for John McCluskey. He's the last defendant to face federal
carjacking and murder charges in the 2010 deaths of Gary and Linda Haas of
Tecumseh, Okla. The Haases were headed to Colorado for an annual camping
trip when they were targeted for their truck and travel trailer. So far,
prosecutors and defense attorneys have retained 57 prospective jurors for
the panel. They are expected to whittle that pool to the final 12 jurors
Thursday. Opening statements are scheduled for Aug. 19. Prosecutors have
said the trial could last four months.
07/31/2013
connectamarillo.com
ALBUQUERQUE,
N.M. (AP) - Jury selection is in its second week for an Arizona inmate who
escaped from prison and is accused of killing a retired couple who was
traveling through New Mexico. John McCluskey is the last defendant to face
federal carjacking and murder charges in the deaths of Gary and Linda Haas
of Tecumseh, Okla. The Haases were headed to Colorado for an annual camping
trip when they were targeted for their truck and travel trailer. Lawyers
questioned 60 prospective jurors in the first week and retained 25. Some
were dismissed because of their firm views either for or against the death
penalty. Others had hardships that would prevent them from serving in a
trial that could last up to four months. Jury selection is expected to wrap
up by Aug. 9.
Jan 16 2013 The Associated Press
KINGMAN, Ariz. • The Utah company that operates the Arizona state prison at
Kingman says inmates assaulted two corrections officers in a disturbance
that a spokesman says was broken up quickly. Spokesman Issa Arnita of
Centerville, Utah-based Management & Training Corp. says fewer than a
dozen inmates were involved in the incident Saturday. He says the two
officers were released from a hospital after treatment for minor injuries.
Arnita says the inmates involved have been taken out of normal housing and
placed in detention. He says the Arizona Department of Corrections’
criminal investigations unit will investigate the incident for possible
criminal proceedings. A department spokesman did not immediately respond to
a request for information.
July 25, 2012 Kingman Daily Miner
Around 300 inmates at the Arizona State Prison staged a walkout Saturday
over cleanliness requirements, officials said. The 300 inmates were all
from the same dorm in the Hualapai unit and walked out into the yard all at
once, raising red flags among the guards, said Issa Arnita, information
officer for Management and Training Corporation that operates the private
prison. He said the walkout occurred during the hours that the inmates are
able to move freely between the dorms and the yard The inmates were
reportedly upset over what Arnita called "grooming issues," or
the cleanliness standards inmates are held to as required by the Arizona
Department of Corrections. Arnita said a complex administrator was sent to
speak with the inmates, who were reportedly satisfied with his response and
returned to their dorm 30 minutes after the walkout started.
May 4, 2012 KPHO
It was a prison break that made national news. Two convicted killers and a
third dangerous criminal broke out of a medium security private prison
facility in Kingman Arizona in July 2010. The escapees were eventually
caught after a nationwide manhunt, but not before an Oklahoma couple was
killed. The escape and murders that followed raised some serious questions
about private prison safety standards and whether new policies should be
put in place to prevent prison breaks from happening again. Two years
later, Arizona lawmakers have decided to go in a different direction.
Buried in the $8.6 billion budget proposal passed at the state Capitol this
week is a plan to "eliminate the requirement for a quality and cost
review of private prison contracts." It means there would no longer be
an annual review of how private prisons operate. House Minority Leader Chad
Campbell, D-Phoenix, voted against the new provision. "It's insanity,
that's the only way to describe this, removing the ability for the state to
do a cost and quality analysis of the private prison contracts that are
being funded by taxpayer dollars makes absolutely no sense whatever,"
said Campbell. Arizona currently has about a dozen privately operated
prisons. State Rep. John Kavanaugh, R- Fountain Hills, is the lawmaker who
proposed the plan to remove the review process. CBS5 asked Kavanaugh why
the change is good for Arizona. "Because it's a study that was bias
from the beginning and never used," said Kavanaugh."So rather
than have a report that is biased and nobody listens to and costs money to
produce. We simply eliminated it." According to Kavanaugh, the recent
reports on private prisons have been put together by state prison
officials, skewing the data.
January 20, 2012 Arizona Republic
One of the three men who broke out of Arizona’s Kingman prison in 2010, and
an accomplice, pleaded guilty Friday in a New Mexico federal court to a
host of charges in the murder of an Oklahoma couple during the escape.
Tracy Province, 44, took a plea agreement under which he’ll serve five
consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole. He pleaded guilty
to nine charges, including conspiracy, carjacking resulting in death, and
three counts of carrying and using a firearm during the commission of a
crime of violence, among others. Casslyn Welch, 45, pleaded guilty to eight
offenses, including conspiracy, carjacking and three counts of using a
firearm in a crime of violence. She faces a maximum sentence of life
imprisonment. They previously pleaded not guilty to all changes. If they
had been convicted, both could have faced the death penalty. Welch’s cousin
and fiancee, escapee John McCluskey, who allegedly shot to death Gary and
Linda Haas, is scheduled for trial in federal court in Albuquerque in March
2013. Federal prosecutors said they have not decided whether to seek the
death penalty.
September 24, 2011 Arizona Republic
Arizona's Department of Corrections needs to do more to improve security at
private-contract and state-run prisons, a report released Friday by the
state's auditor general concludes. The report credits the department with
making many significant improvements since the July 2010 escapes of three
prisoners from the Kingman prison. These improvements include revamping the
state's monitoring and inspection programs, which had failed to detect
obvious security flaws at Kingman before the escapes; new, tougher annual
audits of each prison; better security and reporting requirements in new
contracts; and stiffer requirements and better training for state monitors
who oversee private prisons.The audit called for further steps to address
ongoing security problems.
August 17, 2011 ABC 15
Family members of a couple allegedly murdered by two Arizona prison
escapees are speaking out against a proposed prison. The Haas family is on
a mission that they never wanted, but feel they need pursue. “It’s
something you think about everyday,” said Linda Haas Rook. Rook’s brother
Gary Haas and his wife Linda were murdered last year. Investigators believe
the killers are two men who escaped from a prison in Kingman just days
earlier. The Kingman prison is operated by the Management and Training Corporation,
which now has hopes to build prisons in San Luis and Coolidge. The Haas
family hopes to prevent the company from doing so. Linda Rook planned to
travel more than 1,400 miles with her husband and her mother to the public
hearing Tuesday night in San Luis to voice her concerns. “[MTC] needs to
right their wrongs,” she told ABC15 from her stopover in Scottsdale. MTC
has made several security upgrades to their facility in Kingman, and a
spokesperson said the company has a great track record with the state. If
MTC is approved to build the new prison, the company stated it plans to
bring about 500 jobs to the San Luis area.
August 17, 2011 Arizona Republic
Rep. Chad Campbell, the Arizona House minority leader, asked Gov. Jan
Brewer on Tuesday to temporarily halt a proposed 5,000-bed expansion of
private prisons in Arizona. Public hearings on the expansion continue this
week, with one held Tuesday in San Luis. It is among five communities where
four companies are bidding to provide the beds. The Arizona Department of
Corrections is expected to issue one or more contracts in late September.
But, as The Arizona Republic recently reported, the department has never
completed the biannual, cost-benefit analyses required by law to compare
private and public prisons. Corrections Director Charles Ryan said he
expects the first such analysis to be completed in January. In a letter to
Brewer, Campbell, a Phoenix Democrat, asked her to hold off on any new
contract until the analysis is ready and "after enhanced security,
training and monitoring policies are in place and shown to be effective at
all existing private facilities." Brewer could not immediately be
reached. At Tuesday's public hearing, the two companies bidding to build
prisons near San Luis - Management and Training Corp. and Geo Group Inc. -
tried to fight back against criticism of their records in Arizona and
elsewhere. MTC, in particular, was criticized for the escapes of three
prisoners from its Kingman prison last year. Two of those prisoners are
accused of kidnapping and murdering an Oklahoma couple, Gary and Linda
Haas. Vivian Haas, Gary's mother, has said little in public in the year
since the murders. But at the San Luis hearing, she spoke out. "I've
been through a lot of painful times in 81 years, even surviving the
terrible tornado that hit Joplin recently. But nothing compares to the pain
of having my kids brutally murdered because MTC couldn't do its job of
keeping criminals locked up," Haas said. MTC Vice President Mike
Murphy, who spoke before Haas, emphasized the 500 jobs and the tax benefits
he said the proposed prison would bring, and promised good security. Geo
Group similarly focused on jobs and security in its presentation.
June 26, 2011 Arizona Republic
Linda and Gary Haas pulled up at the rest stop on Interstate 40 in eastern
New Mexico to walk their dogs and tidy up. It was a sunny morning, already
hot, on Aug. 2, 2010. Linda was walking back to the pickup truck and camper
when two men came up behind her. One stuck a handgun in her back and warned
her in a low voice to keep quiet. As he ordered her in the passenger side,
the other man came up on the driver’s side and pointed his handgun at her
husband. Gary started to reach beneath his seat. “I wouldn’t do that if I
were you,” the man said roughly. Gary put up both hands. He did have a gun,
he said, but it was in the camper. The two men – escaped convicts John
McCluskey and Tracy Province, who had broken out of Arizona’s Kingman
prison three days earlier – clambered into the back seat of the Chevy
crew-cab pickup, shoving the Haases’ three small Shih Tzu dogs, Prissy,
Roxie and Bear, to one side. FBI affidavits, which record the later
confessions of McCluskey, Province and their companion, Casslyn Welch,
detail the story of what befell the Haases that day. “Drive,” ordered
McCluskey. Gary and Linda didn’t know it yet, but they had only minutes to
live. Documents show lapses | DOC faces security issues The most
fundamental duty for those who run prisons is to make sure dangerous
criminals stay behind bars. Eleven months after three convicts escaped from
Arizona’s Kingman state prison and an Oklahoma couple were murdered, both
the Arizona Department of Corrections and Utah-based Management &
Training Corp., which manages the prison under contract, have made sweeping
changes meant to prevent another escape. MTC says it has worked
cooperatively with the state to address problems at Kingman. After the
escapes and murders, it took eight months, and a formal threat by
Corrections Director Charles Ryan that he would terminate MTC’s contract if
it didn’t fix the problems within 90 days, before the company shored up
security at Kingman to the department’s satisfaction. Security flaws of the
same types as in the Kingman escape were found across the entire Arizona
prison system, according to records obtained by The Arizona Republic
through Freedom of Information requests. But the department has made some
broad changes, imposing tougher and more thorough standards for its annual
reviews of all state prisons, including those run by private contractors. A
department spokesman says it has improved its security tests, and Ryan now
requires that any Corrections employee appointed to monitor a contract
prison have experience running a prison unit. McCluskey, Province and
Daniel Renwick escaped the Kingman prison on July 30, 2010, with the help
of McCluskey’s cousin and girlfriend, Casslyn Welch, who tossed over the
fence tools that they used to cut their way out. Prison staff ignored the
alarm that sounded when the fence was cut because it had been
malfunctioning for 21/2 years, going off up to 200 times a shift. Gary and
Linda had been on their way to meet relatives for their 11th straight
summer campout at Pagosa Springs, Colo. High-school sweethearts, married
for 40 years, they’d spent a lot of time on the road since taking early
retirement in 2007 from the General Motors plant in Oklahoma City. They
were expecting their first grandchild in four months. Now Gary, at
gunpoint, drove west on the interstate. Casslyn Welch followed them in a
gray Nissan Sentra. Maybe, Gary suggested, the two men could just leave
them off the road somewhere and take his truck. They could unhook the
32-foot Cougar camper, if they wanted. McCluskey said that was just what
they’d do. He told Gary to pull off and drive north a couple of miles on an
old ranch road. Then he had him turn around and pull up by a big rusty
water tank. McCluskey waved them out of the cab with his .40-caliber
semiautomatic. Time to get the guns from the camper. As McCluskey and
Province got out, the three little brown-and-white dogs jumped out, too.
Welch came up from her car. McCluskey ordered Province to round up the dogs
while he and Welch took Gary and Linda into the camper to get Gary’s gun.
Five days after the escape, a Corrections team scoured Kingman to determine
what security flaws led to the escape. Their scathing assessment, described
in an internal Corrections memo, listed the broken alarm, eight burned-out
perimeter lights, other broken security equipment, and a lax, high-turnover
culture in which MTC’s green, undertrained staff and rookie supervisors
ignored alarms, left long gaps between patrols of the perimeter, left doors
leading out of some buildings open and unwatched, didn’t alert the state or
local police until hours after the escape, and failed in all manner of
basic security practices. The state’s monitor assigned to Kingman admitted
that in 14 months on the job he’d never read MTC’s contract to see what
they were supposed to do, and that he had no idea the alarm system was so
flawed as to be worthless. Ryan subsequently replaced that monitor, who was
fired. Going forward, Ryan said, only employees with administrative
experience running a prison unit would be given monitoring assignments. The
day after the escapes, Ryan suspended all prisoner transfers to Kingman
until it could pass inspection. Shortly afterward, he also ordered the
transfer of 238 medium-security inmates from Kingman to other facilities.
In a letter to Ryan on Aug. 13, 2010, 14 days after the escapes, MTC
formally admitted responsibility and agreed to work with the state to fix
the problems. It replaced the warden, complex administrator and chief of
security, all of whom resigned that week. The first of more-rigorous audits
ordered by Ryan was performed at Kingman in November 2010, three months
after MTC’s public promise to tackle security flaws. MTC had installed new
alarms, but they weren’t working properly and went off so often that staff
ignored them, auditors said. Problems with security lights and the control
panels continued. Inmates still weren’t wearing IDs. Auditors left tracks
in the sand along the perimeter fence to test the staff’s security
practices. They failed to notice them. Doors were left unsecured and
unmonitored; searches still weren’t being conducted properly. Inside the
camper, McCluskey ordered Gary and Linda to sit at the dinette. Gary told
them where to find his two guns, a .38-caliber revolver and a 9 mm handgun.
Welch put them in a bag and took them outside. The day they’d escaped from
Kingman, using guns Welch provided, the trio had kidnapped two truck
drivers in a semi to get to Flagstaff. According to the FBI affidavits,
McCluskey had wanted to shoot the drivers, but Welch and Province voted not
to, so they let the men go. Now, alone with Gary and Linda, McCluskey
considered for a moment. Then he raised his gun and fired a shot through
Gary’s temple. He turned and pumped three bullets into Linda. Province and
Welch ran to the trailer. Province opened the door. He could smell the
gunpowder. Blood had splattered everywhere. McCluskey asked Province to
help him drag the bodies, slumped at the table, away from the window. Bear,
Prissy and Roxie came in through the open door, getting blood on them. For
five months following the escapes, the Department of Corrections and MTC
sparred over fixing the problems at Kingman. Finally, on Dec. 29, Ryan sent
a long letter identifying the 31 most serious concerns, and noting curtly
that “a failure to cure all deficiencies” by March 29 would lead him to
terminate MTC’s contract. Ryan’s December letter noted that “from 2005
forward, there were 13 instances of large groups of inmates refusing
directives or chasing MTC staff off the yard.” Twice in October, large
groups of inmates had created “disturbances” over the food. Ryan said this
kind of inmate behavior was unacceptable. He noted that during the October
incidents, MTC staff couldn’t tell Corrections officials who the complex
administrator was, couldn’t find a number for the Mohave County Sheriff’s
Office “and didn’t have the presence of mind to dial 911,” leaving it to a
Corrections monitor on site to contact police. Ryan’s letter noted
continuing problems with MTC officers failing to control inmate movement,
with security devices not being repaired, with MTC failing one security
test after another. Ryan demanded better staff training and “sustained and
systemic improvement.” Not until March 21, eight months after the escapes,
did Ryan agree that MTC had fixed the problems. He also agreed to start
sending new inmates there starting a week later. Asked why it took so long,
Odie Washington, a senior vice president at MTC, replied in writing to The
Republic that MTC worked closely with the department to make improvements
at Kingman “and will continue to actively monitor and assess operations to
ensure we provide a safe and secure facility for the citizens of Arizona.”
State auditors also visited MTC’s Marana prison in March. The Corrections
Department hasn’t released that audit, saying it is not yet complete.
Province shoved the three dogs back into the Chevy truck. McCluskey, who
was covered with Gary’s and Linda’s blood, drove the truck and camper to a
gas station in Santa Rosa, N.M. Province and Welch followed in the Nissan.
As Province pumped the gas, Welch noticed blood dripping from the camper’s
back door. The trio drove back west on I-40, turning onto a dirt road until
they were out of sight of the highway, behind a barn. While Province
unloaded the dogs and dumped out food for them, McCluskey and Welch
unhooked the camper and doused the interior, including Gary and Linda’s
bodies, with liquor they’d found inside. Then they torched it. Two days
later, a rancher called state police, who found the blackened skeletons in
the remains of the trailer, and Prissy and Roxie waiting nearby. Prissy had
burns on her paws and back. Bear was never found. Guadalupe County Sheriff
Michael Lucero used the number on Prissy’s tag to reach Gary and Linda’s
only child, the pregnant Cathy Byus, in Oklahoma. She traveled to New
Mexico the next week, to identify and recover their remains. On Dec. 1,
Byus gave birth to a son, James, who will know his maternal grandparents
only through stories and photographs. Daniel Renwick, the third escapee,
who’d driven off in Welch’s car the night of the escape, was arrested after
a shootout with police on Aug. 1, in Colorado. Province was caught in
Wyoming on Aug. 8; McCluskey and Welch were arrested Aug. 19 at a
campground in eastern Arizona. McCluskey was convicted this month in
Kingman on escape, kidnapping and assault charges. He, Province and Welch
are expected to go to trial in New Mexico early next year on charges of
murdering the Haases. On March 17, Byus and several other relatives of the
Haases sued MTC, Arizona, and Dominion Asset Services, the company that
built the Kingman prison, alleging gross negligence. At Kingman, MTC
receives $62.16 per inmate per day from the state – about $79 million a
year at full capacity, or $64 million a year at its current population of
2,823, which is 80 percent of capacity. Meanwhile, MTC is bidding to manage
another 5,000 contract prison beds in Arizona. The Department of
Corrections expects to make its recommendation on an award next month.
June 17, 2011 AP
An Arizona inmate whose escape sparked a three-week national manhunt last
summer was sentenced Friday to 43 years behind bars for breaking out of
prison and abducting two truck drivers whose big rig was used as a getaway
vehicle. John McCluskey's sentence came the same day a Mohave County jury
found him guilty of escape, kidnapping, aggravated assault and other
charges in his July 30 break from the medium-security Arizona State Prison
in Golden Valley. Authorities said McCluskey, a second inmate and their
accomplice went on to kill Gary and Linda Haas, of Tecumseh, Okla., who
were traveling through New Mexico on their way to an annual camping trip in
Colorado. The couple's family members watched Friday as McCluskey requested
that he be sentenced sooner rather than later. He was ushered back into the
courtroom a short time later, shackled at the wrists and ankles and wearing
a red jumpsuit. "What we were really pleased with was that he,
himself, decided that today was a good day to be sentenced and get this
over with. Personally, I feel it's the first right thing he has done,"
Linda Rook, whose brother was killed, told The Associated Press in a
telephone interview. Prosecutors said McCluskey, 46, and two other inmates
escaped with the help of Casslyn Welch, who threw cutting tools onto the
prison grounds and supplied the men with guns, money and a vehicle.
May 8, 2011 The Daily News
The 2010 escape from a prison near Golden Valley did not have to happen,
Mohave County Sheriff Tom Sheahan told the group assembled at Saturday’s Colorado
River Republican Forum meeting. It happened because security protocols were
not followed and it took longer to catch three escapees and a woman who
helped them because information was slow in getting out to other parties,
including the sheriff’s office, he said. About 15 people were assembled to
hear Sheahan’s description of what happened and what prison operator
Management and Training Corp. has done and is doing to prevent a repeat.
While staff at Arizona State Prison-Kingman knew that Daniel Kelly Renwick,
John Charles McCluskey and Tracy Alan Province were missing at 9 p.m. July
30, Sheahan said, the sheriff’s office wasn’t alerted until 10:30. When
sheriff’s officials asked prison staff for the escapees’ names or even
races, he said, prison officials were unsure. “They were all wearing
orange,” Sheahan recalled being told. The retelling led to chuckles in the
Scooter’s meeting room, but the sheriff said it was far from funny at the
time. The sheriff’s office set up a command post inside the prison to
spread information as it became available, Sheahan said. The inmates’
behavior early in the escape, as described by Sheahan, seemed to suggest
that a quick response by prison staff and law enforcement could’ve led to a
quick capture of McCluskey, Province and Casslyn Mae Welch, who allegedly
planned the breakout together. Sheahan said Welch left a getaway vehicle
containing clothing, weapons, cash and extra gasoline in the desert.
Renwick, who Sheahan said “just ended up coming along because he felt like
escaping,” found their getaway vehicle and drove off, leaving the others
stranded. Province, McCluskey and Welch then allegedly walked about four
miles to Interstate 40 and kidnapped and assaulted two truckers. They later
allegedly murdered an Oklahoma couple in New Mexico and face the death
penalty in that matter. Sheahan said the inmates used wire cutters thrown
by Welch into the prison to cut a three-foot hole in the fence, which he
said should have been spotted rather quickly, as guards are supposed to
drive the perimeter road every 15 minutes. Inside the prison, Sheahan said,
lax security was well evident. “There were alarms that never worked,” he
said. “There were doors propped open with rocks.” Sheahan said the escapees
had no inside help. “No officers were implicated at all,” he said. “There
were just officers not doing their jobs.” He also thought it unwise to have
the inmates allowed alone outdoors at night to walk dogs. Province and
McCluskey were in a dog training program at the prison. Sheahan said the
prison is supposed to house minimum- and medium-security inmates, but
Province and Renwick were convicted murderers and McCluskey had been
convicted of attempted murder. Local authorities were not notified that
such inmates were being housed there, he said. After the escape, Sheahan
said, the state Department of Corrections nixed the housing of certain
types of convicts at the Golden Valley prison, including not housing
inmates convicted of murder, attempted murder or murder conspiracy.
March 17, 2011 Arizona Republic
Family members of an Oklahoma couple allegedly slain by a trio of
escaped Arizona inmates have filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against
the state, as well as the operator of the private prison near Kingman and a
company that helped build the 7-year-old facility. Cathy Byus, the daughter
of Gary and Linda Haas, filed the lawsuit Thursday morning in Maricopa
County Superior Court. The legal move came less than six months after the
Haas' surviving family members filed a $40 million notice of claim against
the state and Management & Training Corp., the Utah-based company that
operated the private prison from which the inmates escaped. Thursday's
lawsuit expands the liability to Dominion Asset Services, because the
family's attorneys claim the company improperly installed a faulty alarm
system at the prison from which the inmates escaped. "The purpose of
this lawsuit is to get justice," said Jacob Diesselhorst, attorney for
the family. "Not just for this family - the whole public is at risk."
The Haas' murders came in the midst of a nationwide manhunt for the escaped
inmates and their accomplice that unfolded over three weeks in late summer
2010. An Arizona Department of Corrections review of the facility following
the escape found numerous deficiencies with training and equipment,
including an alarm system that issued false alarms so frequently that staff
members began to ignore them. Authorities believe inmates Daniel Renwick,
John McCluskey and Tracy Province escaped from the prison on July 30 after
McCluskey's fiancée, Casslyn Welch, threw cutting tools over the prison's
fence, allowing the inmates to snip through the chain link fence
surrounding the facility. It was more than two hours before prison staff
notified state corrections officials of the escape.
January 29, 2011 AP
An inmate who escaped an Arizona prison last summer and allegedly went on a
crime spree was taken to New Mexico on Saturday to face capital murder
charges, the U.S. Marshals Service said. Tracy Province, 42, was flown from
Kingman to Albuquerque. He was sentenced in Kingman on Friday to more than
38 years in prison on charges of escape, kidnapping, armed robbery,
aggravated assault and weapons misconduct stemming from crimes in Arizona
after his escape. The sentencing cleared the way for him to be sent to New
Mexico to face the murder charges in the deaths of Gary and Linda Haas of
Tecumseh, Okla. Authorities say Province, John McCluskey and Daniel Renwick
escaped from a medium-security prison in Kingman on July 30. Authorities
say McCluskey's fiancÃe and
cousin, Casslyn Welch, helped the men by throwing cutting tools over the
prison's perimeter fence, allowing them to flee into the desert. The escape
sparked a nationwide hunt, and all four were recaptured within three weeks.
Province, McCluskey and Welch all face capital murder and carjacking
charges stemming from the Haas' killings.
January 28, 2011 AP
One of three inmates who escaped from the state prison in Kingman last
summer is scheduled to be sentenced Friday. Tracy Province pleaded guilty
earlier this month to state felony charges of escape, kidnapping, armed
robbery, aggravated assault and misconduct with weapons. Province will be
sent to New Mexico after he's sentenced on the Arizona charge. He faces
capital murder and carjacking charges in the deaths of an Oklahoma couple
there. Province was captured without incident in northwestern Wyoming in
August after he dropped by for Sunday services at a church and was
recognized by a woman who chatted with him.
January 7, 2011 Phoenix New Times
The mother of prison escapee John McCluskey's been sentenced to seven
months in prison for helping her son and two other inmates evade
authorities after they escaped from prison last summer. Maricopa County
Superior Court Commissioner Steven Lynch could have sentenced Claudia
Washburn to 2 1/2 years behind bars under a sentencing range laid out in a
plea agreement reached in November. Washburn admitted to sending money to
her convict son and his two accomplices after they escaped from a Kingman
prison on July 31. That money was used by the cons to fund what became a
multi-state nightmare for authorities, as the cons crisscrossed the western
half of the United States following their escape. While on the run,
McCluskey, his cousin/fiancee Casslyn Welch, and escaped inmate Tracy
Province, are accused of murdering an Oklahoma couple on vacation in New
Mexico.
January 3, 2011 The Daily News
The operators of a privately run prison near Kingman have reimbursed Mohave
County for the capture of three inmates who escaped from the prison in
July. Management and Training Corporation reimbursed the county Nov. 14
about $23,587 for costs associated with the capture of Tracy Alan Province,
John Charles McCluskey and Casslyn Mae Welch. Province, McCluskey and
Daniel Kelly Renwick escaped from the state prison July 30 with the help
from Welch. MTC will reimburse the county for additional costs once
Renwick’s case in Colorado is resolved and returned to the county, Deputy
County Manager Dana Hlavac said. The cost does not include the cost to
prosecute and defend the inmates along with the cost to incarcerate the
inmates and court costs to try the suspects. Those costs will not be known
until the cases are resolved. Those costs are paid through the county’s
general fund, Hlavac said.
December 30, 2010 AP
Federal prosecutors in New Mexico have begun steps to seek the death
penalty against two Arizona prison escapees and a woman who allegedly
helped them escape. A federal grand jury on Wednesday returned a superseding
indictment against John Charles McCluskey, 45; Tracy Allen Province, 42;
and Casslyn Mae Welch, 44, who are accused in the murders of Gary and Linda
Haas, both 61, of Tecumseh, Okla. Their bodies were found in August with
their burned-out recreational trailer near Santa Rosa in eastern New
Mexico. The superseding indictment incorporates the 13 counts of the
original indictment, but adds a notice of special findings under a law that
allows the death penalty after consideration of mitigating and aggravating
factors for people found guilty of a crime eligible for the death penalty.
“It’s part of the procedural steps we have to go through” to preserve the
right to seek the death penalty, Elizabeth Martinez, a spokeswoman for the
U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Mexico, said Thursday.
November 5, 2010 AP
Inmates housed at a privately run prison in Golden Valley in northwestern
Arizona tossed rocks and caused a minor disturbance Thursday night. Mohave
County Sheriff's deputies responded to the prison near Kingman just before
9 p.m. A sergeant at the prison advised the sheriff's office that several
inmates in the yard were causing a disturbance by throwing rocks at prison
staff. Deputies immediately established and maintained a roving perimeter.
Prison staff got the situation under control at 10:30 p.m. This is the same
privately run prison where three dangerous inmates escaped last July.
November 5, 2010 Kingman Daily Miner
Mohave County is holding prison officials to their word that it be
reimbursed for costs related to the July 30 escape of three inmates. The
county has sent its first bill to Management and Training Corporation, the
operator of the private prison located just outside of Kingman, in the
amount of $23,587.68. Deputy County Manager Dana Hlavac said the charges
are primarily for manpower and mileage fees incurred by corrections staff
and the Mohave County Sheriff's Office. Hlavac said the fees are from the
time of the escape to the time of the captures of Tracy Province on Aug. 9,
and John McCluskey and alleged accomplice Casslyn Welch on Aug. 20. Charges
incurred by Mohave County for Daniel Renwick, the third inmate who was
caught in Colorado two days after the escape, will be billed after he is
extradited to Arizona once his Colorado charges are resolved. Renwick
continues to be held in the Garfield County jail on charges of shooting at
police and ramming a patrol car with his SUV before he was caught. His
arraignment there has been pushed pack to Nov. 26. It is not known when he
will be returned to Arizona. Calls to Garfield County about their possible
reimbursement were not returned by deadline. Hlavac said the $23,000 bill
to MTC does also not include legal fees and jail costs for McCluskey,
Province and Welch, who are being held at the Mohave County Jail on various
escape-related charges. The jail, along with the Mohave County Attorney's
Office and the Legal Defenders Office, have all been instructed to keep a
running tab for costs associated with the three. That would include all of
the money spent by the county in housing them. Hlavac added that
reimbursement for those expenses would not be sought until the conclusion
of their cases here. Under terms of the emergency assistance portion of its
contract with the Department of Corrections, MTC is held liable for the
cost of resources associated with escapes. It is not known whether those
costs will be borne by the company directly or by an insurance carrier. MTC
spokesperson Carl Stuart said his company has received the bill and that
payment will be forthcoming. The Department of Corrections is seeking more
than $78,000 from MTC for expenses incurred by its Offender Operations
Division and Inspector General Bureau.
October 31, 2010 Joplin Globe Sun
A Joplin woman is among the relatives of an Oklahoma couple, allegedly
slain by two escaped prisoners from Arizona and an accomplice, who are
seeking $40 million in damages, according to notice of claim letters the
family’s attorneys have mailed to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and other
officials in that state. Letters sent last week by attorneys for the
relatives of Gary and Linda Haas, of Tecumseh, Okla., allege that their
Aug. 2 deaths in New Mexico were the result of “a long series of egregious
errors and omissions of gross negligence” by the Arizona Department of
Corrections and officials at the Arizona State Prison at Kingman, where the
inmates escaped July 30. The Haases, who grew up in McDonald County, had
been planning to return to Southwest City, where they had property, after
losing their jobs in Oklahoma when a GM plant shut down, Linda Rook told
the Globe after their deaths. Rook, of Joplin, is a surviving sister of
Gary Haas. In August, the couple were heading out west on a camping trip
when they were abducted and killed. ‘Slipshod security’ -- The attorneys’
letters allege that Arizona corrections officials and the prison’s private
operator, Utah-based Management and Training Corp., “set the stage for and
permitted the careless and slipshod security environment” at the prison
that allowed the inmates to escape and allegedly kidnap and kill the
victims. MTC is liable for punitive damages in the case, according to
notice of claim letters sent to company officials. The notice of claim
letters were mailed on behalf of the Haases’
daughter, Cathy Byus, and the mother, sister and two brothers of Linda
Haas. Their attorney, Jacob Diesselhorst, said Thursday that the claim
letters are required before a wrongful-death lawsuit can be filed against
the state. Diesselhorst said Arizona officials have 60 days to respond.
Contacted over the weekend, Rook declined to comment and referred questions
to a Joplin lawyer, John Dolence, who is representing her in the matter.
The Globe’s efforts to reach Dolence on Sunday afternoon were unsuccessful.
A spokesman for Gov. Brewer, Paul Senseman, did not immediately return a
call seeking comment. A spokesman for MTC, Carl Stuart, said the company
does not comment on pending litigation.
September 27, 2010 Havasu News-Herald
A Golden Valley prison will get a new prison administrator within a few
weeks, the facility’s officials said Monday. Management & Training
Corp. staff members were informed Friday via e-mail that Jerry Sternes
would be appointed as complex administrator, and Neil Turner as warden at
the Hualapai unit. Al Murphy, MTC’s corrections vice-president, sent the
e-mail. Sternes has more than 25 years experience in corrections and
recently retired as complex administrator at the Arizona State Prison in
Yuma, which is a 5,000-bed prison, according to the e-mail. Turner is a
returning MTC employee who worked at a correctional facility in Grafton,
Ohio. He has 20 years experience, according to the e-mail. Turner will
replace former unit warden Lori Lieder, who resigned following the escape
of three prisoners, Daniel Renwick, John McCluskey and Tracy Province, from
the prison July 30. Carl Stuart, MTC communication director, wrote Monday
in an e-mail that Darla Elliott, former MTC/Arizona State Prison — Kingman
complex administrator, “was placed on administrative leave by MTC sometime
in mid-August … Ms. Elliot remains an employee with MTC. She has not yet
been reassigned. She will not be returning to the Kingman facility.”
Sternes will take her position. Charles Ryan, Arizona Department of
Corrections director, presented Mohave County Supervisors with an overview
of it internal investigation into the prison break Sept. 20 in Kingman.
Although the investigation continues, it has exposed factors contributing
to the escape including human error, a faulty perimeter security system and
opportunistic inmates, according to earlier reports. After the escape, an
investigation showed that prison officials neglected to inform state
legislators, Mohave County Board of Supervisors and Mohave County Sheriff’s
Office about facility changes. This neglect violated state law and the
prison’s contract. In 2005, the prison failed to notify authorities when it
changed status from a minimum-custody DUI prison to a
minimum/medium-custody prison, which means it could house more dangerous
criminals. MTC failed to notify authorities again in 2006 and in 2008 about
prisoner movement and contract status amendments linked to the prison’s
addition of a 2,000-bed complex. In 2007, the first murderers were
transferred to the prison near Kingman, according to earlier reports. Local
authorities did not know. “It was almost unbelievable these people
(murderers) had been out there,” said Mohave County Sheriff Sheahan
recently. “I was surprised at the amount of high-risk criminals.” Tracy
Province is currently in custody at the county jail in Kingman, Sheahan
said. “(Province’s) comments were something to the effect that he was
somewhat surprised he was transferred to this type of prison,” Sheahan
said. Province came to ADC in January 1993, and was serving a life sentence
for murder and robbery in Pima County at the time of his escape, according
to earlier reports. On the night of the escape, by the time prison
officials had reported the incident to law enforcement authorities the
prisoners were “long gone,” Sheahan said. According to ADC information, MTC
determined the three inmates missing around 9 p.m. but didn’t alert MCSO
until 10:19 p.m. “At that time, (MCSO) dispatchers were trying to fill out
the information for statewide and national dispatch,” Sheahan said. “(MTC)
didn’t event know (the inmates’) names after the individuals had been
missing an hour-and-a-half.” When dispatchers asked MTC officials to
describe the escaped prisoners, all MTC conveyed was that they were wearing
orange. The prison also gave sheriff’s deputies photographs of the escapees
that were nearly 20 years out of day, Sheahan said, adding this added to
his agency’s frustration with the facility.
September 15, 2010 Arizona Republic
From start to finish, the three inmates who broke out of a Kingman prison
and the girlfriend accused of helping them really didn't have much of a
plan and often were winging it, with disastrous results. That's the picture
that emerges from a U.S. Marshals Service report on the July 30 breakout
and the extensive manhunt it prompted. Case of escaped Arizona inmates --
The report details interviews with the first two inmates who were
recaptured. The interviews were conducted in part to help authorities track
down the other two fugitives: John McCluskey and his girlfriend, Casslyn
Welch. McCluskey and Welch were captured at a campground in Arizona. Inmate
Tracy Province was arrested earlier in Wyoming. They are in jail in
Kingman. They face murder charges in the shooting deaths of two tourists in
New Mexico. The other inmate, Daniel Renwick, was arrested after a gunfight
with authorities in Colorado and remains in jail there. The report blacked
out the names of the two suspects who were interviewed and those of the
various investigators who spoke with them. But the dates and locations
indicate investigators were talking with Province and Renwick, partly in an
effort to find the other two. The report said investigators discounted
Province's comments due to inconsistencies. The statements, if true, say
there wasn't much of a plan for what would happen after the escape, set up
via a cellphone borrowed from an imprisoned drug dealer. The problems
started almost immediately after the three inmates cut their way out of the
prison with tools that police say were tossed inside by Welch, who had
arrived toting a rifle. The escapees couldn't find a Chevy Blazer that was
filled with food and clothes - necessities for life on the run. They all
split up to search for the SUV. Renwick found it and headed for Colorado on
his own, the report said. The report said there was "no definitive
plan'" of where to go. Plans to stay at a cabin in Safford fell
through immediately when the owners were home. McCluskey, Welch and
Province wound up driving around the Southwest. At one point, authorities
say, they kidnapped the two tourists in New Mexico. The report said the
three decided they would "fight to the death" or kill one another
if confronted by police. Province told investigators that the three slept
in the car but that he would be kicked out when the other two wanted to
"be alone." The report said he eventually asked to be dropped at
Yellowstone National Park, where he planned to get high and kill himself
because he couldn't live outside jail and didn't want to die inside. The
report said he lost his nerve and drifted around until caught. He was
arrested in Wyoming. Renwick said he got into the shootout in Colorado
because he wanted to die but couldn't kill himself due to a promise he had
made to his mother. The report said he looked bewildered when asked about
the carjacking and double killing in New Mexico. He agreed to talk only
about his own role in the escape, the report said, because he feared being
killed in prison if he talked about the others. He tried to find the others
before taking the Blazer, the report said, adding he had no idea where to
go or what to do. The report quoted him as saying the group planned to go
to Arkansas to enjoy its mild winters and "old-fashioned"
pawnshops, which they considered easy to rob. They would "pull a
couple jobs'" there, and split up. He said another fundraising scheme
was to steal semitrucks. They would avoid trucks with GPS trackers and tie
up drivers in secluded parts of truck stops so they could have the rigs
longer.
September 14, 2010 Courthouse News
The Arizona prison breakout that led to the killing of two campers was
caused by "lax procedures and incompetent management" of the
private prison operator in Kingman, the mother of one of the victims says.
Vivian Haas, whose son, Gary and his wife were shot to death, claims that
Management and Training Corp. admitted in an Aug. 13 letter its
responsibility for the escapes, and that the circumstances "were
shocking and egregious." Haas claims that one of the escaped inmates,
John McCluskey, killed her son and his wife in New Mexico in the days after
the escape. Haas says the private prison operator "had duties to
protect the general public in employing proper incarceration policies and
procedures to assure that violent offenders stayed locked up and away from the
general public." McCluskey was sentenced to 15 years in 2009 for
attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault, and discharge of a
firearm, and was sent to the private prison, according to the complaint.
His fellow escapee Tracy Province was sentenced in 2009 for murder and
robbery, and escapee Daniel Renwick was sentenced to two 22-year sentences
for second-degree murder, the complaint states. On July 30, McCluskey,
Province, and Renwick escaped from the Kingman prison through a door wedged
open by a rock, "climbing one improperly protected fence, hiding
behind an inappropriate building in 'no-man's land,' and cutting through
the wire of a second chain link fence," according to the complaint.
Haas says that Management and Training Corp.'s officers failed to check an
alarm that sounded when the men cut through one of two security fences
surrounding the prison. She says the alarm system set off false alarms so
often that the guards ignored them. Haas adds that the "perimeter
fencing was substandard," and that patrols of the perimeter "were
scattershot at best." Light poles around the prison were routinely
burned out, and "intrusions by outsiders near the fence perimeters
were common." On Aug. 2, McCluskey and Province, allegedly with help
from Casslyn M. Welch, "confronted" Gary and Linda Haas while
they were "in or near their pickup truck towing a camping
trailer." Gary and Linda Haas were traveling from Oklahoma to
Colorado. McCluskey and Province ordered Gary and Linda Haas into the
truck, and forced Gary to drive to the west, his mother says. McCluskey
directed Gary to leave the highway and drive to a secluded area, then took
the couple into the camping trailer and "brutally shot them, killing
each of them," Haas says. McCluskey, Province, and Welch then
allegedly drove the camper on the highway until they noticed blood leaking
out of the trailer door. The escapees and accomplice "drove to a
remote location, disconnected the trailer and intentionally set fire to the
trailer with the bodies of Gary and Linda Haas still inside,"
according to the complaint. Haas says the escapees abandoned the stolen
truck in Albuquerque. Province was captured on Aug. 9 in Meeteetse, Wyo.
McCluskey and Welch were captured on Aug. 19 in the Apache-Sitgreaves
National Forest. On March 22, 2004, the Arizona Department of Corrections
awarded a contract to Management and Training Corp. to operate the private
prison which was "designed and constructed for 1,100 minimum security
beds and 300 medium security beds to house DUI inmates," according to
the complaint. Haas seeks punitive damages for negligence and recklessness.
She is represented by Christopher Zachar.
September 7, 2010 AP
The woman accused of helping three inmates escape from the state prison in
Kingman has pleaded not guilty to drug charges. Casslyn Welch entered her
plea Tuesday in Mohave County Superior Court. She faces six counts of
narcotics violations for the drugs she's accused of bringing to the
medium-security prison in June. Authorities say a random search of Welch
and her vehicle turned up marijuana, heroin and drug paraphernalia. Welch
was visiting John McCluskey, her cousin and fiancee, at the time and lost
her visitation rights but not her phone privileges. Authorities say she
wasn't immediately jailed because she agreed to become an informant. She
was charged following the July 30 escape of McCluskey and two other
inmates.
September 3, 2010 Arizona Republic
The first legal action in the Arizona prison breakout that led to the
killing of two campers has been filed against the state and the operator of
the private prison. Vivian Haas, the mother of murder victim Gary Haas,
filed a $10 million claim against Arizona and a wrongful death lawsuit
against Management Training Corp., the company that operates the private
prison near Kingman where three fugitives escaped on July 30. The notice of
claim is a required precursor to a lawsuit. Police believe one of those escaped
inmates, John McCluskey, murdered Gary Haas and his wife, Linda, near Santa
Rosa, N.M. in the days following the escape as the fugitives grew weary of
traveling in a car and targeted the Haas' for their camping trailer. The
escape led to a nationwide manhunt that stretched from Arizona to the
Canada border. The claim against Arizona notes the state's failure to
maintain custody of the inmates, to properly train and supervise personnel
at the prison and to promptly notify law enforcement officials in the area
after the escape. "I have conveyed my condolences to the Haas family
and friends, however, I cannot comment on pending litigation,"
Department of Corrections Director Charles Ryan said in a statement.
Management Training Corp. could not be immediately reached for comment.
Reviews of the July 30 incident have painted the picture of a prison where
detention officers became lackadaisical and predictable in their movements
and where equipment failures- including false alarms- were so common that
they were frequently ignored. Detention officers failed to check an alarm
that sounded when McCluskey, Tracy Province and Daniel Renwick cut through
one of two security fences ringing the privately run prison near Kingman.
Investigators have said McCluskey's fiancée, Casslyn Welch, threw cutting
tools over the fence to the men who snipped through chain link and barbed
wire to flee into the desert. It was more than two hours before staff at
the private prison notified the state corrections officials of the escape.
By then, Renwick was making his way north to Colorado while McCluskey,
Province and Welch were on their way to hijacking a truck near Kingman and
forced the drivers to take them to Flagstaff. Renwick was captured two days
after the escape after he exchanged gunfire with police in Colorado. After
allegedly receiving help from relatives in Arizona, McCluskey, Province and
Welch made their way east, ultimately ending up at a rest stop in New
Mexico where, according to statements Province gave investigators, they saw
61-year-old Gary and Linda Haas, an Oklahoma couple taking an annual
camping trip. After days on the road in a cramped sedan, the fugitives
decided to target travelers with a camping trailer and the Haas' fit the
bill. Province told investigators that he and McCluskey forced the couple
into their truck at gunpoint while Welch followed behind. They all ended up
in a remote area near Santa Rosa where McCluskey shot the Haas' in their
trailer, according to court documents. The fugitives set fire to the trailer
in an effort to hide the evidence. A rancher discovered the burned trailer
on Aug. 4.
August 27, 2010 Payson Roundup
The would-be Bonnie and Clyde fugitives who’d led police on a wild,
three-week chase began talking soon after their capture in the Apache-Sitgreaves
National Forests last week. When Apache County Sheriff’s Office deputies
took Casslyn Welch’s silver .38-caliber revolver, Sgt. John Scruggs warned
the other officers not to touch it for fear it was a murder weapon,
according to court documents. John McCluskey “That’s not the murder
weapon,” now-captured fugitive John McCluskey, both Welch’s fiance and
cousin, told the officers. “The murder weapon is in the tent.” After police
recaptured the convicts who escaped from a private prison near Kingman on
July 30, allegedly with Welch’s help, the clues to their escape and crime
spree have quickly emerged. The frightening tale included an easy escape
through an unguarded fence, a lost getaway car, a fateful vote that saved
the lives of two truckers, two aimless and improvised alleged murders and a
narrowly averted gun battle at the end. McCluskey and Welch, along with
escaped murderer Tracy Province, allegedly caused the deaths of Oklahoma
couple Gary and Linda Haas as the couple drove through New Mexico on
vacation. The fugitives had grown tired of sleeping in a sedan and decided
to find a camper. Later, while tracking the bloody trail with
Province after his arrest, police eyed bloodstains from the camper that had
seeped onto the asphalt of a Phillips gas station off Interstate 40 in
Santa Rosa, N.M. Police had captured Province in Wyoming about a
week-and-a-half after his escape, as he held a hitchhiking sign that read,
“Casper.” Once in custody, Province helped police piece together his time
on the run, the blood stains, an eerie breadcrumb in a warped version of
Hansel and Gretel. The courtroom drama of McCluskey and Welch, the two
fugitives who evaded capture the longest, has just begun. McCluskey,
Province and Welch have all pleaded not guilty to their lists of charges.
The court has appointed public defenders for the men, and Flagstaff
attorney Stephen Glazer will represent Welch. All three are held on $1
million bail on Arizona charges including escape in the second degree,
kidnapping, armed robbery and aggravated assault. McCluskey and Province
also face charges of misconduct involving weapons. In New Mexico, the
fugitives face charges for carjacking the Oklahoma couple with the
intention of causing their deaths. McCluskey and Province face other
charges connected to the killing, and each of the three could receive the
death penalty. Although Mohave County now has custody of the fugitives, Tom
Henman, a supervisory deputy U.S. Marshal out of Phoenix, said this week
that officials there would have to coordinate with New Mexico to see “who’s
going to get first dibs.” Claudia Washburn, McCluskey’s mother and owner of
the Jakes Corner Store in Tonto Basin where Welch worked, now sits in
Maricopa County Jail on charges of hindering prosecution and conspiring to
commit escape after she allegedly gave the fugitives money or supplies.
Payson attorney Harlan Green will represent Washburn, whose preliminary
hearing was set for Thursday, but no other details were available by press
time. Welch, 44, had been working in Jakes Corner until she allegedly threw
wire cutters over the prison fence to free her beloved and his two friends,
Province and Daniel Renwick on July 30. Authorities captured Renwick the
next day in Colorado. Just the month before, Welch avoided jail time by
agreeing to become an informant after authorities found marijuana, heroin
and drug paraphernalia during a random search of Welch and her vehicle, the
Associated Press reported. Welch reportedly told authorities that people
associated with a white supremacist group were paying her to smuggle heroin
into prison. Henman, the U.S. Marshal, said this week that McCluskey had
ties to the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang. Four days after arriving in
Mohave County Jail after the escape, McCluskey was taken to Kingman
Regional Medical Medical Center after cutting his neck and wrists with a
Bic razor. The lacerations were serious, but not life threatening,
according to the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office. After receiving treatment,
McCluskey returned to his high-security level single cell in jail. The
courtroom drama is just beginning, and the sordid details of the crime
spree are emerging. A complaint filed in the U.S. District Court of New
Mexico outlines how the three prisoners’ escape allegedly led to car-jacking
and murder. Immediately after the escape, Renwick became separated from the
crew while the group tried to find the car that Welch had parked in the
desert. Welch had packed the car with food and clothes, and had bought two
.40-caliber semi-automatic handguns for the escape. But then Welch couldn’t
find it. Instead, they hijacked two men driving an 18-wheeler at gunpoint
and forced them to drive to Flagstaff. In Flagstaff, the trio voted whether
to kill the truckers. McCluskey, just escaped from a 15-year sentence for
attempted second-degree murder voted to kill them while Welch and Province
voted to release them. McCluskey then somehow “secured” a gray Nissan
Sentra and the group stopped in Safford before driving to New Mexico,
according to court documents. In New Mexico, Province noticed that the car
had an expired license plate, and the crew stole another one. By Aug. 2,
all three had tired of driving and sleeping in the sedan. They agreed to
find a camper or trailer to steal. At a rest area, McCluskey and Welch eyed
Gary and Linda Haas, thinking them a good “prospect,” according to the
complaint. The Haases were camping near Santa Rosa on their way to Colorado
as they had every year for more than a decade. The couple had concealed
weapons permits, and typically carried at least one gun with them. But on
the morning of Aug. 2, when McCluskey and Province took their places behind
Linda as she walked to her truck, no gun would save her. The fugitives
forced Linda into the truck’s passenger seat as Welch acted as a lookout.
Gary reached down as if to retrieve something from under the seat. Province
saw him, and said, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” The fugitives
ordered Gary to drive west on I-40, and eventually directed the truck to a
secluded area between Tucumcari, N.M., and Santa Rosa. McCluskey and Welch
made Gary and Linda hand over their two guns, which had been in the camping
trailer, while Province stayed outside. Welch joined Province outside, and
several gunshots rang out with McCluskey still inside. According to the
complaint, McCluskey shot Gary once in the head and then turned the gun on
Linda, who he shot three times. McCluskey told investigators he felt
compelled to kill the Haases if the fugitives were to remain free.
McCluskey and Province scooted the bodies down in the trailer so nobody
could see them from outside, and then the fugitives drove the truck and the
trailer — dead bodies inside — back on the highway to the Phillips 66 gas
station, where they would leave that telltale bloodstain. Meanwhile,
Province followed McCluskey in the Sentra with stolen plates. After gassing
up, McCluskey found a spot off the highway and unhitched the trailer.
Inexplicably, they quickly decided to abandon the trailer that they’d
allegedly committed two senseless murders to obtain. With Welch’s help, the
two found liquor in the trailer and poured it on the floor before lighting
a fire with matches. Province had dumped out food for the dogs, and the
three left the Haases as their bodies burned. Later at a shopping center,
Province and McCluskey wiped the truck with paper towels and brake fluid,
hoping to remove their fingerprints. Welch took blankets, Province took a
backpack, and the three drove away in the Sentra. By this time, Province
had asked the engaged cousins to drop him off at Yellowstone Park. Police
arrested Province soon after in Meetetese, Wyo., reportedly the day after
singing “You’re Grace is Enough,” with other churchgoers in the small town
outside Yellowstone. He carried the backpack stolen from Gary and Linda
Haas. McCluskey and Welch would remain free for about another week. News
reports placed the couple anywhere from Canada, where the Royal Mounted
Police searched, to Arkansas, where a beauty salon robbery was briefly and
incorrectly linked to the fugitives. But on Aug. 19, a Forest Service
ranger was patrolling the Gabaldon Campground at the base of Mount Baldy
back in Arizona where their terrible journey had begun. When the ranger
spotted the couple, McCluskey walked behind a tree, trying to hide,
according to court documents. The ranger also noticed bullet holes in a
nearby tree. He jotted down the license plate number, and realized it was
stolen. Later, McCluskey told police he was sorry he hadn’t killed the
ranger when he had the chance. Authorities covertly watched the couple,
closing off escape routes, while an arrest team assembled. Shortly after 7
p.m. on Aug. 19, officers from the U.S. Forest Service, Arizona Department
of Public Safety and the Apache County Sheriff’s Department apprehended the
fugitives and ended the nationwide manhunt. Welch pulled her silver
revolver out from behind her back, pointing it at police, according to
court documents, before realizing police outnumbered her. McCluskey was
lying in a sleeping back outside the tent where he’d hidden his guns.
Later, he told the officers he would have killed them.
August 25, 2010 Silver Belt
The Arizona Department of Corrections has confirmed that any decisions over
bids submitted by four companies to build private prisons here in our state
have been delayed because of security issues raised about a privately
operated prison in Kingman last month where the breakout of three violent
convicts occurred on July 30. Barrett Marson, Director of Communications
for the state agency, told the Arizona Silver Belt, efforts to add an
additional 5,000 private prison beds has been stalled because of concerns
which have developed on how the medium-security private prison was being
operated in Kingman. He said representatives of each of the four companies
that submitted proposals to build and operate private prison complexes
housing ADC inmates will be called in for more questioning about their
proposals. When asked, does this mean these proposals will have to be re
advertised and go out for bids again? Marson said that decision has not
been made at this time. The companies submitting proposals to the Arizona
Department of Corrections, which have been under review since May 28th,
were Management and Training Corporation ( which owns and operates the
private prison at Kingman along with another facility in Marana and 24 Job
Corps Centers in the U.S), GEO Group Corrections, Corrections Corporation
of American and Emerald Correctional Management Company. Emerald, in its proposal , submitted plans to build a 1,000 bed medium
prison in the city of Globe between the Gila County Fairgrounds and the San
Carlos Reservation line. The controversial Emerald project has been
endorsed by the Southern Gila County Economic Development Corporation but
is now actively being opposed by a group of merchants and local citizens.
All top officials of Utah based Management and Training Corporation who
were operating the company’s medium security prison at Kingman either were
terminated or removed to other job assignments as a result of a report
released by the Arizona Department of Corrections on Thursday citing
numerous security flaws at the correctional facility. Among the flaws was
the private prison’s alarm system. Some 89 false alarms reported at the
correctional facility on July 30th, the day the three convicts walked out.
Ryan’s agency claims there was no maintenance on these prison alarms for
the past two years and responding to these alerts was not a priority with
prison workers who had become “desensitized” to false alarms. Too, turnover
of employees at the Kingman private prison had been high resulting in a
lack of training. One official of Management and Training Corporation
indicated she was working with a staff that was basically 80 percent new
due to the turnover problems. It was further reported that an excessive
delay occurred in discovering the escape of the three convicts ( two convicted of murder, one a double homicide) and
notifying law enforcement. In addition, it was found that operational
practices at the prison after led to a gap of 15 minutes or longer during
shift changes along the outside perimeter fence.
August 25, 2010 Private Corrections
Working Group
Today, the Private Corrections Working Group (PCWG), a not-for-profit
organization that exposes the problems of and educates the public about
for-profit private corrections, called for overhaul of the Arizona
Department of Corrections’ (ADOC) oversight of the for-profit prison
industry, including: • An immediate halt to all bidding processes involving
private prison operators and a moratorium on new private prison beds • Hold
public hearings during the special session to address the problems with
for-profit prisons in Arizona • Enact other cost-cutting measures that not
only save money but enhance public safety, like earned release credits,
amending truth in sentencing, and restoring judicial discretion. This
action came about after the ADOC released a security audit on August 19th
concerning the July 30 escape of three dangerous prisoners from a private
prison in Kingman operated by Management and Training Corp. (MTC)
(Coincidentally, that same day the last escapee and an accomplice, John
McCluskey and Casslyn Mae Welch, were captured without incident at a
campground in eastern Arizona. The other two escaped prisoners, Tracy
Province and Daniel Renwick, had been caught previously in Wyoming and
Colorado). Ken Kopczynski, executive director of PCWG, condemned MTC for
the numerous security failures that led to the July 30 escape. “If MTC had
properly staffed the facility, properly trained their employees and
properly maintained security at the Kingman prison, this escape would not
have occurred. But because MTC is a private company that needs to generate
profit, and therefore cut costs related to staffing, training and security,
three dangerous inmates were able to escape and at least two innocent
victims are dead as a result,” Kopczynski observed. “That is part of the
cost of prison privatization that MTC and other private prison firms don’t
want to talk about.” The murders of an Oklahoma couple, Gary and Linda
Hass, whose burned bodies were found in New Mexico on August 4, were tied
to McCluskey, Welch and Province. While MTC said it took responsibility for
the escape, vice-president Odie Washington acknowledged the company could
not prevent future escapes. “Escapes occur at both public and private”
prisons, he stated, ignoring the fact that most secure facilities do not
experience any escapes – particularly escapes as preventable as the one at
MTC’s Kingman prison. According to the ADOC security audit, the prison’s
perimeter fence registered 89 alarms over a 16-hour period on the day the
escape occurred, most of them false. MTC staff failed to promptly check the
alarms – sometimes taking over an hour to respond – and light bulbs on a
control panel that showed the status of the perimeter fence were burned
out. “The system was not maintained or calibrated,” said ADOC Director
Charles Ryan. Further, a perimeter patrol post was not staffed by MTC, and
according to a news report from the Arizona Daily Star, “a door to a
dormitory that was supposed to be locked had been propped open with a rock,
helping the inmates escape.” Additionally, MTC officials did not promptly
notify state corrections officials following the escape and high staff
turnover at the facility had resulted in inexperienced employees who were
ill-equipped to detect and prevent the break-out. According to MTC warden
Lori Lieder, 80 percent of staff at the Kingman prison were new or newly
promoted. Although the ADOC was supposed to be monitoring its contract with
MTC to house state prisoners, the security flaws cited in the audit went
undetected for years. Ryan faulted human error and “serious security
lapses” at the private prison. Arizona corrections officials removed 148
state prisoners from the MTC facility after the escape due to security
concerns. “I lacked confidence in this company’s ability,” said ADOC
Director Ryan. Although it’s a small corporation, since 1995 over a dozen
prisoners have escaped from MTC facilities in Utah, Arizona, Texas, New
Mexico and Eagle Mountain, California –where two inmates were murdered
during a riot in 2003.
August 23, 2010 Arizona Republic
After three violent criminals escaped from a private prison last month in
Kingman, state officials began asking why they had been assigned to a
medium-security facility. John McCluskey, Tracy Province and Daniel Renwick
escaped July 30 after an embarrassing series of security lapses at the
prison, operated by Utah-based Management and Training Corp. All three have
been captured, but their escape is likely to spur further discussion on how
to classify inmates' security risks and decide where to house them. Both
public and private prisons use the state's classification system, but the
Arizona Department of Corrections already has pulled some inmates from the
Kingman facility as it rethinks how it assigns risk. Arizona assigns
inmates a number from one to five, with five representing the highest risk,
based on their crimes. Depending on their score, inmates are assigned to
one of four custody levels: minimum, medium, close and maximum. Over time,
an inmate's classification can be adjusted up or down based on the inmate's
behavior in custody. The system works when used properly, said Tom Rosazza,
a consultant and former state corrections director. But the system can also
mean that more violent offenders can wind up in less-secure facilities
depending on their behavior. Although they were in a medium-security
facility at a private prison, McCluskey, Province and Renwick qualified as
dangerous offenders. Renwick was a convicted murderer. Province killed a
man in 1991 by stabbing him 51 times. McCluskey was sentenced in Arizona
for attempted murder and had a previous armed-robbery conviction in
Pennsylvania. "My first thought was, 'What the hell were those guys
doing at that (Kingman) place?' " Rosazza said. Their cases are not
unique. There are more than 1,400 inmates serving time for murder in
medium-security settings in Arizona, including 796 with life sentences.
More than 100 were housed at the prison near Kingman, the only private
facility in Arizona to house murderers. Province entered the prison system
with a maximum "five" rating when he reported to serve his life
sentence in 1993 but was moved down to a "three," or medium
security, by 1997. Renwick followed a similar path through the system,
while McCluskey entered custody as a medium-security inmate for firing a
shotgun into a Mesa home in 2009. Authorities allege the trio escaped with
help from Casslyn Welch, McCluskey's cousin and fiancee. The escapees are
believed to have cut their way through a fence. Alarms were ignored
because, according to state officials, prison guards thought they were
false. Renwick was recaptured Aug. 1 in Colorado after a shootout with
police. Province was caught Aug. 9 in Wyoming. McCluskey and Welch were
caught Thursday evening in Apache County and are suspected along with
Province of being involved in the murder of an elderly couple in New Mexico
shortly after the escape. Because of the three inmates' possible
post-escape crimes, the classification issue likely will come up in any
future lawsuits against the state or a prison operator, Rosazza said.
"That would be the first thing I'd look at," he said. Arizona
officials control what factors are used in determining prisoner
classifications and, based on those classifications, decide which
facilities prisoners are held in. Although the former fugitives escaped
from a private facility, the state will bear some liability in any court
action because it is responsible for prisoners sentenced in Arizona.
"The state doesn't contract away its responsibility," Rosazza
said.
August 22, 2010 Arizona Republic
Arizona puts more of its inmates into privately run prisons every year,
even though the prisons may not be as secure as state-run facilities and
may not save taxpayers money. Lawmakers began using private prisons to ease
overcrowding and have supported their use so aggressively that today, one
in five Arizona inmates is housed in a private facility. Many inmates from
other states also are housed in private prisons in Arizona, but the state
has little information about who they are and limited oversight of how they
are secured. The state has 11 privately operated prisons. A high-profile
escape of three Arizona inmates last month from a Kingman-area private
prison, which spurred a nationwide manhunt and is believed to have resulted
in two murders, raises questions about the industry's growth and the degree
of state oversight. The last fugitives in that escape were caught Thursday,
and the state's prison director has promised changes to the private sites
that house Arizona inmates. State leaders in recent years have pushed for
more privatization and have blocked efforts to regulate the industry, which
has invested heavily in local lobbying and contributed to political
campaigns. Last year, officials approved a plan to hand over the operation
of nearly every state prison to private companies. The plan was repealed only
after no credible bidder came forward. This year, lawmakers approved 5,000
new private-prison beds for Arizona prisoners. Data suggest that the
facilities are less cost-effective than they claim to be. A cost study by
the Arizona Department of Corrections this year found that it can often be
more expensive to house inmates in private prisons than in their state-run
counterparts. A growing industry -- Arizona's use of private prisons dates
back to the early 1990s, when lawmakers, grappling with overcrowding in
state facilities, authorized the construction of a 450-bed minimum-security
prison in Marana to house drug and alcohol abusers. The prison is owned and
operated by Management & Training Corp., the Utah-based company that
also operates the Kingman facility where the three inmates escaped. Since
then, Arizona has increasingly relied on for-profit operators to manage its
own inmates. It also has allowed private companies to import prisoners from
other states. Rapid growth began in 2003 and the years immediately
following, when Arizona was again wrestling with prison overcrowding. To
ease the shortage, Republican lawmakers agreed to build 2,000 new prison
beds, compromising with a reluctant Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat, to
make half of them private. Around the same time, nearly a dozen other
states grappling with the same issues began shipping their inmates to
private facilities elsewhere in the country. Arizona, with cheap land and a
receptive political climate, became a go-to destination for private-prison
operators, who began accepting inmates from as far as Washington and
Hawaii. Today, Arizona houses 20.1 percent of its prisoners in private
facilities, according to state data from July. Exactly how many inmates are
here from other states is unclear. Last year, lawmakers took the
unprecedented step of exploring the privatization of almost the entire
Arizona correctional system, passing a bill that would have turned over the
state's prisons to private operators for an up-front payment of $100
million. The payment would have helped the state close a billion-dollar
budget gap. The bill, which also included a host of changes related to the
state's budget, was signed by Gov. Jan Brewer, but the language relating to
prison privatization was repealed in a later special session. The state now
has an open contract for the construction and operation of 5,000 new
private-prison beds. Arizona's reliance on private facilities coincides
with operators' increasing national political activity in hiring lobbyists
and donating to political campaigns. The ties between the companies and
Arizona elected officials - which go back nearly a decade - have become a
campaign issue in this year's gubernatorial race. Tennessee-based
Corrections Corporation of America, the nation's largest operator of
private prisons, runs six in Arizona, three of which house inmates for U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Brewer's critics have suggested that
she signed Senate Bill 1070, and has advocated for privatization of some
prisons, in part to benefit CCA's bottom line. Democrats have called on
Brewer, a Republican, to fire "aides" associated with the prison
company. That includes HighGround, a Phoenix consulting and lobbying firm
managing Brewer's gubernatorial campaign. The firm counts CCA among its
clients. Brewer's official spokesman, Paul Senseman, also used to lobby for
CCA. Campaign finance reports filed earlier this year show that eight
executives with CCA contributed $1,080 of the $51,193 in seed money Brewer
received for her gubernatorial campaign. CCA also gave $10,000 to the
"Yes on 100" campaign, which backed a temporary,
1-cent-on-the-dollar increase in the state's sales tax. Brewer was the
chief advocate for the tax, which was approved by voters in May. In an
interview with The Arizona Republic, Brewer said those connections have not
influenced her policy decisions. She said she never felt pressured by any
of her advisers. "It's absolutely political posturing and
rhetoric," Brewer said. "I find it very disappointing. We have a
bed shortage here in Arizona, and we have to come up with some way to
incarcerate (criminals). The best way, the least expensive way, is to do it
with private prisons." The industry's political connections have
extended to other Arizona politicians. According to a 2006 report from the
National Institute on Money in State Politics, the private-prison industry
gave to the campaigns of 29 of 42 Arizona lawmakers who heard a 2003
proposal to increase state private-prison beds. Between 2001 and 2004, the
industry contributed $77,267 to Arizona's legislative and gubernatorial
candidates, the vast majority through lobbyists paid to represent their
interests at the Legislature. In most cases, donations ranged from a couple
of hundred dollars to as much as $2,500. Lax oversight -- The state
Department of Corrections has varying levels of oversight of Arizona's
private-prison network. Some prisons house criminals convicted in Arizona.
The Corrections Department regulates those facilities, though
private-prison critics question whether those facilities maintain the same
safety standards as their state-run counterparts. Other private prisons
house inmates from other states or on behalf of the federal government.
Arizona does not dictate what kinds of inmates they may accept, nor the
manner in which they are secured. In those situations, private-prison
operators work with their outside-government partners on training
specifications and other operational details. They report to Arizona only
the names, security classifications and number of inmates housed at their
facilities. State stat- utes do not require private operators to provide
Arizona officials details about the crimes the prisoners committed or
escape data. In 2007, two convicted killers sent from another state stole ladders
from a maintenance building and climbed onto a roof at a private prison
outside Florence. Brandishing a fake gun, they climbed over the prison
walls and escaped to freedom. One was caught within hours, but it was
almost a month before the other was caught hundreds of miles away in his
home state of Washington. As with the Kingman breakout, the 2007 escape
drew attention to the largely unregulated growth of private prisons in the
state, particularly prisons that house other states' inmates. To address
security concerns, a bipartisan bill drafted by Napolitano's office in 2008
and introduced by Republican state Sen. Robert Blendu would have required
private prisons to be built to the state's construction standards. The
proposal also would have ended the practice of private prisons importing
murderers, rapists and other dangerous felons to Arizona. And it would have
required the companies to share security and inmate information with state
officials. After an initial flurry of activity, the bill died. "The
private-prison industry lobbied heavily against that bill, and they were
successful," said Michael Haener, Napolitano's lobbyist at the time.
Blendu later left the Legislature, and the bill was not reintroduced. What
little regulation private prisons have in Arizona stems from a series of
escapes in the late 1990s. In response, the Legislature passed a law
requiring the reimbursement of law-enforcement costs from private-prison
operators in the event of an escape. Arizona laws also require companies to
carry insurance to cover law-enforcement costs in cases of escape, to
notify state officials when they bring new prisoners into the state and to
return out-of-state prisoners to their home states to be released. But
there are no penalties if the companies don't comply. Costs questioned --
Notwithstanding lawmakers' concerns about security, private prisons gained
favor in part because of the promised savings they could deliver to a
cash-strapped and overcrowded prison system. Yet studies have questioned
whether those savings are real. In making their pitches, private-prison
companies played on the desire of many lawmakers to shift more state
services to the private sector. Direct cost comparisons between for-profit
and public prisons can be difficult, however. According to the National
Institute of Justice, private prisons tend to make much lower estimates of
their overhead costs to the state for oversight, inmate health care and
staff background checks. Officials at public prisons often argue that the
state winds up paying a higher cost for those services than is advertised,
mitigating savings that private prisons are built to deliver. A study this
year by the Arizona Department of Corrections found that when various costs
are factored in, it can be more expensive to house an inmate in a private
prison than it is to house one in a state-run prison. The cost of housing a
medium-security inmate is $3 to $8 more per day in a private prison,
depending on what assumptions are made about overhead costs to the state, the
study found. Travis Pratt, a professor of criminology and criminal justice
at Arizona State University, said there is no evidence that private prisons
save government agencies money, even though they typically promise up-front
savings. To maintain profit margins, Pratt said, companies often cut back
on staff training, wages and inmate services. "Cost savings like that
don't come without consequences," Pratt said. "And that can
present a security risk that's elevated." Odie Washington, a senior
vice president at Management & Training Corp., acknowledged Thursday
that the Kingman prison employed an inexperienced staff. "We have a
lot of very young staff that have not integrated into very strong security
practices," Washington said. Private-prison operators disagree with
Pratt's assessment, contending that they can deliver services efficiently
and safely. "That's one of the more frustrating misconceptions out
there for us that we have to repeatedly respond to," said Steve Owen,
director of public affairs for Corrections Corporation of America. Owen
said it is CCA's "general experience" that private prisons can
save states and the federal government 5 to 15 percent on operational
costs. The company also can build facilities more cheaply, he said. CCA is
contractually required to meet or exceed training requirements that states
they work for set for themselves, Owen said. In addition, the company has
made sure its prisons in Arizona comply with accreditation standards put in
place by the American Correctional Association, a Virginia-based trade
group. Many communities, meanwhile, eagerly welcome private prisons because
the facilities generate jobs and economic activity. CCA prisons in Florence
and Eloy, for example, employ 2,700 people. Last year, the company paid $26
million in property taxes, Owen said. What's next -- Lawmakers from both
parties have called for hearings into what went wrong in Kingman.
Presumptive Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry Goddard has said he
would push to bring back the 2008 private-prison bill. Goddard also is
calling for an immediate re-evaluation of the system used to classify and
place inmates in facilities. The five-tiered system, which allows some
violent criminals to migrate to lower-security facilities for good
behavior, met with bipartisan criticism in the wake of the escapes. Two of
the three inmates who escaped from the medium-security Kingman prison had
been convicted of murder. Goddard said the three recent escapees never
should have been in a medium-security prison. Charles Ryan, director of the
Department of Corrections, announced Thursday that the state would slow its
bidding process for the 5,000 new private-prison beds pending additional
review. Brewer has said little publicly about the escape but told The
Republic last week that she is committed to holding prison operators
responsible for mistakes they made. She said she has ordered Ryan to
conduct a "complete review to make sure that inmates are appropriately
secured and in the right kinds of facilities." While Brewer remains
confident that private prisons are well suited to house less-violent
offenders, she said: "What has happened is unacceptable, and I am
absolutely pushing for more accountability."
August 20, 2010 Arizona Star
An executive with the firm that runs the private prison from which three
dangerous inmates escaped promised Thursday to beef up security but said
that's no guarantee it won't happen again. "Escapes occur at both
public and private," Odie Washington, a vice president of Management and
Training Corp., said while noting it's incumbent on the company and state
to do whatever is necessary to close those security gaps prisoners can take
advantage of. But a security review of the MTC-run prison near Kingman,
released Thursday, reveals that what Washington referred to as
"gaps" were more like chasms. As a result, State Corrections
Director Charles Ryan has ordered 150 of the highest-risk prisoners
removed. The report shows the prison perimeter-alarm system was essentially
useless. Bulbs showing the status of the fence were burned out on a control
panel. Guards were not patrolling the fence. And a door to a dormitory that
was supposed to be locked had been propped open with a rock, helping the
inmates escape. Washington, however, said that's not the fault of the
corporation. He said company employees at Kingman never told anyone at the
corporate headquarters about the problems. Ryan admitted his own audit
team, which had been to the prison before the July 30 escape, "didn't
see or didn't report" the shortcomings. All that is significant
because the three inmates escaped when an accomplice tossed them wire
cutters and they made a 30-by-22-inch hole that went undetected for hours.
Of particular concern to Ryan is the fence. "What was found were
excessive false alarms," Ryan disclosed, noting over 16 hours on July
30 there were 89 alarms. "The system was not maintained or
calibrated." The result, he said, was employees were
"desensitized" to the alarms going off, and it took 11 to 73
minutes for staffers to check out problems and reset the alarms. "That
is absolutely unacceptable," he said. The last of the three inmates, a
convicted murderer, along with an accomplice, was recaptured Thursday
night. The other two were recaptured, but not before they were linked to
the deaths of an Oklahoma couple who were in New Mexico. "This is a
terrible tragedy, and the department and the contractor have a lot of work
to do," Ryan said. The findings prompted Ryan to put limits on what
kind of criminals can be housed at the facility. Until now, the 1,508-bed
medium-security section has included people convicted of murder. His order
removes, at least from Kingman, anyone convicted of first-degree murder,
anyone who attempted escape in the last decade and anyone with more than 20
years left on a sentence. All told, 148 inmates were taken from the
facility. But Ryan would not rule out allowing murderers back in the prison
after he is satisfied that security has been upgraded. He defended the
classification system that allows convicted murders - and even lifers - to
serve their time in medium-security prisons. Gov. Jan Brewer sidestepped
questions about the system, saying it was in place long before she became
governor in January 2009. "It is something that maybe should be reviewed,"
the governor said Thursday, but added, "That classification is used
across America." Ryan said he remains convinced there is a role for
private prisons. About 6,400 of the more than 40,000 people behind bars in
Arizona are in private prisons. Another 1,760 Arizona prisoners are at an
out-of-state facility. The Republican-controlled Legislature remains very
much in favor of private prisons, as does Brewer. That support hasn't
wavered because of the escape. Brewer said the report from Ryan underscores
her belief the escape was caused by human error, and nothing inherent in
private prisons. "It's very obvious those alarms should have been
responded to," the governor said. But the problems that Ryan sketched
out go beyond the actions - or inactions - of guards. Washington admitted
there are "significant construction issues" with the perimeter
fence and the alarm system that will have to be handled. And Ryan found
flaws with the entire way MTC allowed the facility to be operated. For
example, he said no one was making regular checks along the fence to look
for breaches. And Ryan said guards were "not effectively controlling
inmate movements" within the prison system. Other flaws included
inmates not wearing required ID badges, grooming requirements being ignored
and proper searches of people going into the facility not being done.
Casslyn Welch, the woman accused of providing the wire cutters and a
vehicle, was banned from the prison after she was caught trying to bring in
drugs. But Ryan said prison officials still allowed her to talk to inmates
on the phone, making it possible for her to help plan the breakout. Welch
and John McCluskey, her fiancée and cousin, were caught Thursday night in
northeastern Arizona. Tracy Province and Daniel Renwick have been recaptured.
Another problem is that the design of the prison allows anyone to drive up
close to the facility. Corrections officials want traffic routed away from
the fence.
August 20, 2010 AP
An unattended campfire and a suspicious forest ranger led to the arrest of
two of the most wanted fugitives in the U.S., ending a three-week
nationwide manhunt that drew hundreds of false sightings, authorities said.
John McCluskey fled July 30 with two other inmates from a private prison in
northwest Arizona and evaded authorities in at least six states before
being caught Thursday evening just 300 miles east of the prison.
Authorities arrested McCluskey, 45, and his alleged accomplice Casslyn
Welch, 44, at a campsite in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in
eastern Arizona. Welch, who is McCluskey's fiancee and cousin, reached for
a weapon but dropped it when she realized she was outgunned by a swarming
SWAT team, said David Gonzales, U.S. marshal for Arizona. Officers
apprehended McCluskey without incident after finding him lying in a
sleeping bag outside a tent. He told authorities he had a gun in his tent
and would have shot them if he had been able to reach for it. It was a
peaceful close to a manhunt that authorities had said was likely to end in
a bloody shootout between officers and desperate outlaws who fancied
themselves as a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde. "The nightmare that began
July 30 is finally over," Gonzales said. The fugitives' ruse began to
crumble about 4 p.m. Thursday when a U.S. Forest Service ranger investigated
what appeared to be an unattended campfire, Gonzales said. He found a
silver Nissan Sentra backed suspiciously into the trees as if someone were
trying to hide it. The ranger had a brief conversation with McCluskey, who
appeared nervous and fidgety. A SWAT team and surveillance unit surrounded
the campsite and swarmed on the fugitives, Gonzales said. McCluskey told
officers he wishes he would have shot the forest ranger when he had the
opportunity, authorities said.
August 18, 2010 AP
Past audits of the Arizona state prison where three inmates escaped last
month gave the facility high marks and revealed few issues with security or
staff training, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.
The escape on July 30 has put corrections officials and the operator of the
privately run prison under intense scrutiny in recent weeks. But if there
was an indication of any widespread security problems at the facility that
houses minimum- and medium-security inmates, it doesn't show in the
internal audits. On security issues, the audits showed overall compliance
rates of 98.8 percent in 2007, 99.9 percent in 2009 and 99.5 percent in
2010. Nearly 2,870 areas of security were audited over the three years and
37 were marked as noncompliant. One security issue was tagged in 2006. No
audits were done in 2005 or 2008 because of fiscal constraints, said
Arizona Department of Corrections spokesman Barrett Marson. No independent
audits of the Kingman prison have been done. The audits instead are
conducted by a team of about 15 made up of staff at the corrections
department and the prison who are considered subject matter experts. The
audit team evaluates areas of the prison that include security, training,
medical, food service and business for compliance with the state contract
and other orders. A yearly schedule of audits is available in July, giving
prisons advance notice, Marson said. Ken Kopczynski, executive director of
the Private Corrections Working Group, said it's difficult to tell whether
the audits are a true reflection of the operations at the prison without
attached documentation to support the findings. The group advocates against
private prisons he said typically overwork, underpay and don't properly
train the staff. "Audits are used a lot of times to make things look
like they're OK," he said. "Maybe they are OK. I doubt it."
Corrections Director Charles Ryan has said the prison operator would
correct the security deficiencies that contributed to the escape of John
McCluskey, Tracy Province and Daniel Renwick. Criminal and administrative
investigations into the escape are ongoing. McCluskey's fiancee and cousin,
Casslyn Welch, is accused of throwing wire cutters over a perimeter fence
that the men used to slice their way out and flee. Welch's visitation
privileges at the prison were terminated after a random search in June
during a visit to McCluskey turned up what was believed to be heroin. Welch
told investigators that she was paid by members or associates of a white
supremacist group to smuggle the drug into the prison but didn't say who it
was intended for. State legislators have urged corrections officials and
Gov. Jan Brewer's office to release the results of a security review done
following the escape. Corrections officials said the report still is being
written and should be released this week.
August 14, 2010 Santa Fe New Mexican
Lost in the Bonnie and Clyde tale of Arizona fugitives on the run for two
weeks is the grisly slaying of an Oklahoma couple whose bodies were found
in a burned-out travel trailer on a remote ranch in Eastern New Mexico.
Police have linked the deaths of Gary and Linda Haas last week to the
inmates and the woman who helped them escape, but they are keeping a tight
lid on what happened as the couple traveled to an annual camping trip with
friends in Colorado. Family and friends say they have no idea how the
Haases' paths would have crossed with escaped convicts John McCluskey and
Tracy Province and their accomplice, Casslyn Welch. Blood inside the
couple's pickup — found days later in Albuquerque — makes the family
certain of one thing: The 61-year-olds put up a fight. "So much of the
story has been the bad guys this and the bad guys that," said Cathy
Byus, the Haases' daughter. "That's important too. We want them out
there too, but we don't want people to forget the human side of this."
August 13, 2010 USA Today
An Arizona fugitive's accomplice was acting as a drug mule for a white
supremacy group and agreed to become a police informant weeks before she
helped him escape from prison, authorities said Friday. Casslyn Welch, and
her fiance and cousin John McCluskey, are now considered among the most
wanted fugitives in America after authorities say Welch helped McCluskey
and two other men escape from the Arizona State Prison in Kingman by
throwing wire cutters over a fence. Daniel Renwick and Tracy Province have
since been captured. Welch was visiting McCluskey at the medium-security
prison in June when a random search of Welch and her vehicle turned up
marijuana, heroin and drug paraphernalia, Mohave County sheriff's
spokeswoman Trish Carter said. Welch wasn't jailed because she agreed to
become an informant, and she provided information about the suppliers of
the drugs, Carter said. Welch told investigators she was being paid by
members or associates of supremacists to smuggle heroin into the prison as
she had successfully done three times before, but she declined to say who
the items were intended for at the prison. Fidencio Rivera, chief deputy
U.S. marshal for Arizona, said authorities believe Welch and McCluskey have
minimal ties to white supremacy groups in or out of prisons and "we're
not expending much resources on that right now." Investigative efforts
were focused Friday in Arkansas, where Welch has family, and Montana, where
the two were last seen Aug. 6, but Rivera said the pair could be anywhere.
They are financing their getaway by committing crimes along the way and
using their experience as long-haul truck drivers, Rivera said. "Our
stance is they're being very reactionary at this point and time, playing
off the cuff," he said. A reward of up to $35,000 is being offered for
information leading to their arrest. They are believed to be traveling in a
1997 Nissan Sentra that is gold, gray or tan in color, and authorities say
that the two likely will become more dangerous as the manhunt continues.
Marshals are asking travelers at truck stops along highways and in
campgrounds across the nation to watch out for the couple, who may have
dyed their hair and otherwise changed their appearance. "We know
they're out there and they're committing crimes out there to get
money," Rivera said. "They have limited funds, they're sleeping
in their car, they're staying at rest stops, campsites. They're not using a
whole lot of money." Marshals and border officials in Montana are
following up on what leads they have, but there have been no developments
in the past few days, said Rod Ostermiller, Montana's acting U.S. marshal.
"At this point in time, just because of the time frame we're working
with, we're expanding way beyond Montana," Ostermiller said Friday
afternoon. Welch is facing a growing list of charges since the July 31
escape, including kidnapping, armed robbery and aggravated assault. She was
charged last week with six counts of narcotics violations for the drugs
she's accused of bringing to the prison. Welch told investigators in June
that the marijuana belonged to her, Carter said, but she picked up what she
was told was heroin packaged in balloons from two men in Phoenix and was
paid $200 each time she smuggled it into the prison, according to police
records. On the night of the escape, Welch had packed a getaway car nearby
with cash, weapons and false identification, Rivera has said. But Renwick,
Province, McCluskey became disoriented and could not find the car after
they cut through the prison fence. The group split up, and Renwick found
the vehicle and drove off, leaving the other three to hijack a
tractor-trailer and head to Flagstaff. Renwick, who was serving time for
second-degree murder, was arrested after a shootout with law enforcement in
Rifle, Colo., two days after the escape. The rest of the group was linked
through forensic evidence to the deaths of an Oklahoma couple whose bodies
were found in their charred camper in eastern New Mexico last week,
authorities there said.
August 11, 2010 AP
The manhunt for a fugitive from Arizona and his fiancee shifted from
Montana to Arkansas after they were suspected of holding up a beauty supply
store there Wedneday morning, the U.S. Marshal's Service said. A couple who
robbed Kut and Curl beauty salon in Gentry, Ark., fits the description of
John McCluskey and his fiancee, Casslyn Welch, said David Gonzales, the
U.S. Marshal for Arizona. The town of about 2,000 is in northwest Arkansas,
nearly 1,600 miles from the small Montana town where the pair was last
spotted on Sunday. The Benton County Sheriff's Department said it is
investigating the robbery, but U.S. Marshals there haven't positively
identified the couple. "We're trying to use any means possible —
surveillance cameras, anything possible to determine (their
identifications)," said Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Gary Gray of the
Western District of Arkansas. "Right now, Benton County is working
this incident as a crime that happened in their jurisdiction. In the event
it is tied to something else, we're all working together on this."
McCluskey, 45, and Welch, 44, have eluded capture since he and two other
inmates escaped from an Arizona prison on July 30. Welch's mother lives near
Gentry, authorities said. Welch was last spotted Sunday at a restaurant in
St. Mary, Mont., on the eastern border of Glacier National Park and
authorites thought the couple may be trying to cross into Canada. Interpol
issued an international alert for the two Wednesday. Since then,
authorities had not had any credible leads in the northern Montana valley
near the Canadian border, where Glacier National Park meet the vast, open
Great Plains.
August 9, 2010 FOX
Questions surround the escape of three violent convicts from a prison in
Kingman, casting a shadow on Arizona's relationship with the private prison
industry. Officials are reviewing security measures at private prison
facilities, and are looking into the future of private prisons in our
state. "My concern about this has been the manner in which the
facility was operated. I do not believe that the physical plant itself from
which these inmates escaped was the issue, it is the performance of the
staff that concerned me," says Chuck Ryan, Arizona Department of
Corrections Director. State Attorney General Terry Goddard is calling for a
break in new contracts with private prison companies, until security issues
can be ironed out and a review of their relationship with the DOC is
undertaken. "We have basically turned a very significant direction in
our state towards more and more private prison operations without looking
at the consequences. I'm afraid those consequences have been put in very
stark relief by the escape of three violent prisoners," says Goddard.
Ryan told us he's in the process of reviewing his team's findings at the
facility but offered no further comment on what the future may hold for the
state of Arizona and its relationship with MTC. "Until we review their
findings and their recommendations it would be premature to comment further
about that," says Ryan. Guards at private prisons do not carry weapons
and are not trained law enforcement officers. The three convicts escaped on
July 30 -- one alarm never sounded and it remains to be seen whether prison
guards went to check the second alarm. Prison staff didn't realize they
were missing until a 9 p.m. head count, which was five hours after they
were last accounted for. The local sheriff's office wasn't alerted until
more than an hour later, and state corrections officials found out about
the escape at 11:37 p.m. House Democrats are calling for a special session
to address security issues with private prisons. The governor's office has
not yet sent a comment.
August 9, 2010 Arizona Daily Sun
Authorities in Arizona have charged two women with helping convicted felons
after they escaped from prison in the northwestern part of the state. The
Arizona Attorney General's Office on Monday charged 42-year-old Diana Joy
Glattfelder and 68-year-old Claudia Washburn with hindering prosecution and
conspiracy to commit escape. Glattfelder lives in Prescott Valley and is
the ex-wife of escapee John McCluskey. Washburn, of Payson, is McCluskey's
mother. Both are accused of providing money, supplies or transportation to
the inmates and their alleged accomplice, Casslyn Welch. It was not clear
if the women had attorneys. Three violent inmates escaped from a prison
near Kingman last month. Two have been captured but authorities say
McCluskey is still on the run with Welch.
August 9, 2010 PCWG
Who’s Guarding the Private Prison Guardians? At about 9:00 p.m. on
Friday, July 30, alarms began to go off at the Management and Training
Center’s (MTC) Arizona State Prison at Golden Valley, near Kingman. Other
alarms appeared to be defective and didn’t sound. Only when an evening
count was taken was it apparent that three extremely violent inmates had
escaped. The Mojave County’s Sheriff’s Office was finally notified of the
escape at 10:20 p.m. Another 80 minutes elapsed before MTC notified state
officials with the Arizona Department of Corrections. The media wasn’t
alerted until mid-morning on Saturday, and thus the public was not informed
about the dangerous escapees until that time. Casslyn Mae Welch, the first
cousin and fiancée of prisoner John McCluskey, allegedly had been caught
smuggling drugs into the MTC-operated prison. That night she threw bolt
cutters over the fence to McCluskey and his partners in the escape, Tracy
Province and Daniel Renwick. Welch then distracted a perimeter guard to
cover their getaway. Province, a neo-Nazi, and another recent parolee had
stabbed a robbery victim 51 times in 1991. Renwick ambushed and killed his
ex-girlfriend and her father in 2000. McCluskey had attempted to kill a man
and an arresting officer in 2009, but his shotgun jammed. Around midnight
on July 30, McCluskey, Welch and Province hijacked a semi-truck parked by
the highway in Kingman, kidnapped the drivers and forced them to drive to
Flagstaff, 150 miles away. They released them about 5:00 a.m. on Saturday
and then fled, possibly aided by another accomplice. On August 1, an alert
sheriff’s deputy in Rifle, Colorado spotted Renwick driving a Ford Bronco.
A quick-thinking police officer chased and disabled the SUV after shots
were fired at his cruiser, capturing Renwick. Three days later a pickup
belonging to Gary and Linda Hass, a 61-year-old vacationing Tecumseh,
Oklahoma couple, was abandoned in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Their cremated
remains were found at a burned-out camper a hundred miles east in Santa
Rosa on August 7. Forensics evidence has tied their deaths to the MTC
escapees. Police used On-Star to locate the missing pickup. From there, the
police believe the killers headed north to Yellowstone National Park. Tracy
Province was captured in Meeteetse, Wyoming on August 9 – eleven days after
the escape. A massive manhunt for Welch and McCluskey continues,
concentrated in Yellowstone. Arizona Dept. of Corrections Director Charles
Ryan laid the blame for the escape at MTC’s feet. “My concern is that the
staff at this prison may have been lax in doing their job, and that
probably created the opportunity so that they could escape,” he said. On
Memorial Day there had been a riot at the MTC-operated Golden Valley
facility. News of that disturbance also was delayed, and the scope and
severity of the incident were substantially minimized. Additionally, MTC’s
Marana prison near Tucson rioted on February 10, 2010, resulting in
injuries among both prisoners and staff. Although it’s a small corporation,
since 1995 over a dozen prisoners have escaped from MTC facilities in Utah,
Arizona, Texas, New Mexico and Eagle Mountain, California where two inmates
were also murdered during a race riot. There has been no explanation
regarding MTC’s responsibility for uncorrected security failures and the
amateurish lack of timely notification that may have prevented this most
recent tragedy. It is yet another example in a long history of lapses and
failures of oversight that is pervasive in the private prison industry,
where the motive of companies to generate profit by cutting corners leads
to incidents that endanger public safety. Until for-profit private prison
companies and the lawmakers who support them are held accountable,
avoidable tragedies such as the recent MTC escape are certain to recur.
Unfortunately, any reforms will come too late for Gary and Linda Haas. The
Private Corrections Working Group (PCWG) is a non-profit citizen watchdog
organization that works to educate the public about the significant dangers
and pitfalls associated with the privatization of correctional services.
PCWG maintains an online collection of news reports and other resources
related to the private prison industry, and holds the position that
for-profit prisons have no place in a free and democratic society.
www.privateci.org. For more information, please contact: Ken Kopczynski,
Executive Director Private Corrections Working Group 1114 Brandt Drive
Tallahassee, FL 32 (850) 980-0887 kenk@privateci.org
August 9, 2010 MSNBC
One of two convicted killers who escaped from an Arizona prison has
been captured in Wyoming, law enforcement officials said Monday. Tracy
Province, 42, was arrested Monday morning while walking in the small
Wyoming town of Meeteetse, about 80 miles from Yellowstone National Park,
said David Gonzales, U.S. marshal for the Phoenix area. At the time of the
arrest, Province was carrying a hitchhiking sign with "Casper,"
the name of a town in east-central Wyoming, written on it, officials said.
He also had a 9mm handgun in his possession, Gonzales said. At first the
man denied he was Province, then admitted his identity and said he was
"relieved this manhunt was over for him," Gonzales said. The
other escapee and a suspected accomplice remained on the loose. The search
for them was centered in an around Yellowstone and intensified after
authorities said they linked one of the inmates to a double homicide in New
Mexico. The U.S. Marshals Service said earlier that information indicates
Province, John McCluskey and Casslyn Welch might be hiding in portions of
the park that span Montana and Wyoming, though investigators believe
Province had separated from McCluskey and Welch. The fugitives reportedly
have ties to white supremacist groups, MSNBC analyst Clint Van Zandt said
Monday, and could be seeking sympathizers to help them flee the law.
August 8, 2010 CNN
Authorities believe two Arizona prison escapees and their alleged
accomplice may be in the Yellowstone National Park area of Montana and
Wyoming, based on recent information, the U.S. Marshals Service said
Sunday. John Charles McCluskey, 45, and Tracy Province, 42, are described
as armed and dangerous. They have been at large since fleeing an Arizona
prison on July 30. A third escaped inmate, Daniel Renwick, 35, was arrested
the day after the escape in Rifle, Colorado, where he got in a shootout
with police.
August 7, 2010 AP
The mother of one of three inmates who escaped from a northwestern Arizona
prison was arrested Saturday after authorities suspected she helped two of
them. Claudia Washburn, 68, was arrested at her home and place of business
in Jakes Corner south of Payson on charges of conspiracy to commit escape,
hindering prosecution and facilitation to commit escape, said Thomas
Henman, supervisory deputy at the U.S. Marshals Service. He said Washburn
is the mother of John McCluskey, who escaped from the medium-security
Arizona State Prison near Kingman with Tracy Province and Daniel Renwick on
July 30. Authorities believe McCluskey’s fiancee and cousin — 44-year-old
Casslyn Welch of Mesa — helped the inmates escape by throwing wire cutters
over the prison fence. Henman said Washburn is suspected of giving
financial and other types of support to help McCluskey, Province and Welch.
Renwick was arrested Aug. 1 in Rifle, Colo. following a brief car chase and
shoot-out.
August 7, 2010 AP
Two men who escaped from a private Arizona prison and a woman thought to
have helped them have been linked to the investigation of a couple’s
killing in New Mexico, authorities said Saturday. New Mexico State Police
spokesman Peter Olson said Tracy Province, John McCluskey and Casslyn Welch
were linked through forensics but he declined to provide specifics. He
declined to say whether police believe the three were responsible for the
killings, adding that “we don’t know how involved they are.” Province,
McCluskey and Daniel Renwick escaped from the medium-security Arizona State
Prison near Kingman on July 30 after authorities say 44-year-old Casslyn
Welch of Mesa threw wire cutters over the perimeter fence. Renwick was
arrested in Colorado on Aug. 1. The prison is managed by a Utah firm,
Management & Training Corp., of Centerville. The badly burned skeletal
remains of Linda and Gary Haas, both 61, of Tecumseh, Okla., were found in
a charred camper on Wednesday morning on a remote ranch in Santa Rosa in
eastern New Mexico. Olson said a car belonging to the couple was found 100
miles west in Albuquerque on Wednesday afternoon.
August 4, 2010 AP
The three inmates didn't seem to arouse the least bit of suspicion when
they sneaked out of their dorm rooms and rushed to the perimeter of the
medium-security prison. Alarms that were supposed to go off didn't. No
officers noticed anything amiss. And no one was apparently paying attention
when the violent criminals sliced open fences with wire cutters and
vanished into the Arizona desert in their orange jumpsuits. The series of
blunders surrounding the escape and the state's practice of housing
hardened murderers and other violent criminals in private, medium-security
prisons have placed Arizona corrections officials under intense scrutiny in
recent days. Two of the fugitives remained at large Wednesday as the
manhunt entered its fifth day. Authorities believe the inmates have left
Arizona and were heading east with a girlfriend who allegedly threw the
wire cutters over a fence and fled with two of them. Arizona Department of
Corrections Director Charles Ryan said he met Wednesday with
representatives of the Utah-based prison company Management and Training
Corp. and that they "have been assured that MTC is committed to
addressing and correcting the security deficiencies that contributed to the
escape." Ryan said a corrections security team at the prison was
completing a comprehensive evaluation, and he would meet with MTC next week
to finalize a plan. Investigators were focused on how the inmates managed to
go undetected for several hours around the time of the escape and why three
violent criminals were allowed in a medium-security prison in the first
place. An Arizona lawmaker said the state needs to overhaul its inmate
classification system, which allowed the prisoners to get put into the
medium-security lockup despite their violent pasts. Corrections officials
said their prison behavior was good enough that they downgraded the
inmates' threat risk, clearing the way for placement in the facility.
"One thing we might have to look at is saying if you're convicted of a
crime that is as serious as murder, that you are always considered a high
risk," said David Lujan, a state lawmaker who unsuccessfully sought to
regulate the types of inmates held in private prisons. "They may be a
moderate risk to the staff when they're inside. But when you see what
happens outside afterward, obviously, they're more than a moderate risk to
the public." The Arizona State Prison in Kingman sits amid nothing but
a dusty field, three miles from a major east-west interstate highway. It
opened in 2004 and was designed to house repeat drug and alcohol offenders
and set them on a path to rehabilitation, but eventually grew to include
more serious offenders in a separate unit. That was where Daniel Renwick,
36, Tracy Province, 42, and John McCluskey, 45, plotted their escape.
Province was serving a life sentence for murder and robbery, including
allegations that he stabbed his victim multiple times over money. Renwick
was serving two 22-year sentences for two counts of second-degree murder,
and McCluskey was doing 15 years for attempted murder, aggravated assault
and discharge of a firearm. Authorities originally said McCluskey was
convicted of murder, when it was in fact attempted murder. Province has a
dozen prison disciplinary infractions since 1996 — many of them
drug-related. He worked in the prison's kitchen, while Province and
McCluskey worked in the prison dog kennel, where they trained the animals
for adoption. The trio last was accounted for at 4 p.m. Friday, said
Department of Corrections spokesman Barrett Marson. Staff noticed the men
missing in a head count and after electronic sensors along the perimeter
fence sounded around 9 p.m. The local sheriff's office wasn't notified of
the escape until 10:19 p.m., and state corrections officials weren't called
until 11:37 p.m. "I think there was a concern by everyone that it was
after the fact," said Trish Carter, a spokeswoman for the Mohave
County Sheriff's Office. "Time is of the essence during this type of
incident. The faster you get there, the more likely you're able to catch
these inmates who escaped the facility." The three hopped a fence in
the area of the dog kennel and used wire cutters that McCluskey's fiancee,
who also is his cousin, had thrown over a fence to cut through two
perimeter fences and flee. Carl Stuart, a spokesman for MTC, indicated that
the dog program might have to be suspended because of the incident. He
declined to comment further on security at the 3,508-bed prison. Province,
McCluskey and his fiancee, 44-year-old Casslyn Mae Welch of Mesa, kidnapped
two semi-truck drivers at gunpoint in Kingman and used the big rig to flee
to Flagstaff, police said. Renwick was captured Sunday after an early
morning shootout with an officer in Colorado. Ryan has said "lax"
security may have created an opportunity for the men to escape, and
authorities are looking into whether prison staff members might have aided
the inmates. Ryan also has said the prison contractor will "be on the
hook" for costs associated with finding the fugitives. The fugitives
were among more than 115 inmates housed at the medium-security unit where
others convicted murderers were held. Under their classification, they were
considered a moderate risk to the public and staff. They weren't allowed to
work outside the prison and were limited in their movement within the
prison walls. The men were in orange jumpsuits when they escaped, which
should have been easy to spot against the desert backdrop, said Kristen Green
of Phoenix, who visits an inmate at the prison. "Guards should be on
top of this, people in the control room should be on top of this," she
said. "There's no way that they should have missed these guys, three
of them going through a fence? This was pretty well planned."
August 3, 2010 AP
Three convicted murderers escaped a privately run prison in Arizona by
using wire cutters that a woman threw over a fence, a state Department of
Corrections spokesman said Tuesday. Officials also said prison staff didn't
realize the inmates were missing Friday until after sensors on the
perimeter fence sounded and a 9 p.m. head count, which came five hours
after the three were last accounted for by prison staff. The woman who
authorities say helped in the escape is Casslyn Mae Welch, 44, of Mesa —
the fiancee and cousin of John McCluskey, one of the three inmates. She was
waiting outside the prison in Kingman as the inmates breached a perimeter
fence with the wire cutters and escaped, said department spokesman Barrett
Marson. A security camera captured Welch driving a blue sedan around the
facility that holds minimum- and medium-security inmates. Corrections
Director Charles Ryan has said "lax" security created an
opportunity for the men to escape. He's scheduled to meet with
representatives of the prison operator, Utah-based Management and Training
Corp., on Wednesday, Marson said. "We are going over everything that
happened during the night of the escape, and many issues will be addressed
with MTC," Marson said. A spokesman for MTC, Carl Stuart, declined to
comment on security at the 3,508-bed facility. The local sheriff's office
wasn't alerted until more than an hour after prison staff discovered the
three were missing, and state corrections officials found out about the escape
at 11:37 p.m., Maroon said. Daniel Renwick, 36, was captured Sunday in
western Colorado. Tracy Province, 42, the 45-year-old McCluskey and Welch
had kidnapped two drivers of a semi-truck in Kingman early Saturday morning
and traveled in the rig to Flagstaff, where they left the drivers unharmed,
authorities said. The three remain at large and are believed to be together
in Arizona, said U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Thomas Henman. Province
was serving a life sentence for murder and robbery, and McCluskey was
serving 15 years for second-degree murder, aggravated assault and discharge
of a firearm. Renwick was serving a 22-year sentence for second degree
murder. Renwick was being held Tuesday in a Colorado jail on suspicion of
attempted first-degree murder, vehicular eluding, possession of a weapon by
a previous offender and felony escape. His bail is set at $2.5 million.
Ninth Judicial District Attorney Martin Beeson in Colorado said his office
is reviewing the case and will decide whether to file charges by Aug. 11.
"He's presumed innocent," Beeson said. "But if what we have
seen in the reports is true, then I would say you're not going to come into
my jurisdiction, shoot at officers and not be taken to task for it. My
intent is, if we have business to do, we will do it, and accomplish it, and
then we would be glad to turn him over to whomever wants him."
According to an arrest affidavit, a Garfield County, Colo., sheriff's
deputy noticed a vehicle with its lights off in a church parking lot and found
that it matched the Arizona license plate of a Chevy Blazer connected with
the fugitives. Another officer noticed the vehicle pulling out of the
parking lot and chased it for three miles on an interstate until Renwick
slowed down and exited. Renwick shot through the rear window of the Blazer,
and Rifle, Colo., police Officer William Van Teylingen said he heard
objects hitting his car. Teylingen rammed Renwick's vehicle, which came to
a stop in a hotel parking lot. Teylingen's airbag activated in his cruiser
and by the time he got out, Renwick was lying on the ground behind the
cruiser. Teylingen found a rifle in the Blazer and a hole in a headlamp on
his cruiser.
August 3, 2010 AFSC
The escape of three prisoners from the Kingman prison on Friday July 30,
2010, highlights continuing concerns about the management of state prison
facilities by for-profit corporations, according to the American Friends
Service Committee (AFSC). The Kingman facility is run by Management and
Training Corporation of Ogden, Utah. MTC also runs the Marana Community
Correctional Center, and is one of four prison corporations that have
submitted bids to the Arizona Department of Corrections to build and
operate up to 5,000 new state prison beds. This incident comes on the heels
of a riot at the Kingman facility in June in which eight prisoners were
injured. The escapes are being blamed on lax security and a failure to
follow proper protocol. The prisoners reportedly were able to sneak out of
their dormitory and cut through a perimeter fence without being detected.
"You get what you pay for," said Caroline Isaacs, Director of the
AFSC's Arizona office. "These for-profit prison corporations are
primarily concerned about the bottom line and making money for their CEO's
and shareholders." Isaacs charges that the companies cut corners
everywhere they can, but primarily on staff pay and training. The result is
a facility with high turnover rates, where the staff is inexperienced and
the prisoners have nothing productive to do. Such a prison is unsafe for
the inmates, the guards, and the surrounding community. This is not the
only Arizona private prison scandal to make headlines recently. A prison
run by Corrections Corporation of America in Eloy was recently on lockdown
after prisoners from Hawaii rioted over an Xbox video game. When a staff
member attempted to intervene, he was severely beaten, suffering a broken
nose, broken cheekbones and damage to his eye sockets. The incident was the
latest episode in a history of violence that has plagued the facility. Two
prisoners are facing a possible death sentence in the fatal beating of
another inmate there last February. These types of incidents are
"alarmingly common" in privately operated prisons, Isaacs says,
citing patterns of mismanagement, financial impropriety, abuse, and medical
negligence. Further privatization of Arizona's prisons will be a financial
boondoggle for a cash-strapped state and a nightmare for the host
communities, she warns. "Arizona's legislature needs to take a good
look at the track record of these companies before they spend any more of
the taxpayers' money on this failed experiment."
August 3, 2010 KGUN9-TV
When a prison inmate escaped--who killed a woman's husband and daughter,
she says 19 hours went by before the Arizona Department of Corrections
informed her she could be in danger. KGUN 9 wants to know why. Daniel
Renwick was one of three inmates who escaped from a privately run prison in
Kingman. For Vicki Walker learning that Renwick escaped brought back a
world of bad memories. "He murdered my husband and my daughter, "
she said. "They were in their vehicle and he shot them, leaving my
grandson who was 14 months. Kaleb now is ten." The way she heard of
the escape made things worse. A son in law in another state saw it on the
news and called her. Mrs. Walker says, "As a victim I'm supposed to be
notified right away if there's an escape or if he's released and I did not
hear from Department of Corrections for 19 hours." KGUN9 News asked
Arizona Department of Corrections director Charles Ryan what went wrong.
Ryan said, "The Department was also not advised immediately about the
escape by Management Training Corporation and it's unfortunate it took as
long as it did."
August 3, 2010 Arizona Republic
When the man who plunged a knife 51 times into their loved one received a
sentence of life in prison in May 1993, Bryan Knoblich and his mother hoped
they would never hear Tracy Province's name again. In 1991, Province and
David Rodacker were on leave from jail when they attacked Norman Knoblich,
57, as he closed his coin-operated laundry business in Tucson. The pair
left Norman dead and took only his wallet. Nineteen years later, Bryan
Knoblich and his mother are again on the lookout for his father's killer.
Province, 42, John McCluskey, 45, and Daniel Renwick, 36, escaped from a
privately run medium-security state prison in Kingman on Friday night.
"My first thought was, 'Are you kidding?' " Bryan said, recalling
when he heard Province's name on the weekend news. "He's a twisted
guy. Why weren't they in a maximum-security facility?" It's a question
Mohave County supervisors and other officials are asking as authorities
continue their search for Province and McCluskey. Renwick was recaptured
Sunday in Colorado. "It's one thing when it's vehicular homicide and
you're drunk," County Supervisor Buster Johnson said Monday of such
prisoners. "But these people shouldn't be allowed anywhere else but in
(maximum security)." While the manhunt continues, officials with the
county, the Arizona Department of Corrections, and Management and Training
Corp., the Utah-based company that operates the facility, are studying how
the men penetrated several layers of security. Unarmed prison officials
sounded the alarm about 9 p.m. after Province, McCluskey and Renwick missed
their head count, Johnson said. An hour passed before the Mohave County
Sheriff's Office was notified that the men somehow had made their way
through locked doors and avoided surveillance cameras, ground and fence
sensors, guard towers and roving ground patrols before cutting a hole in
fencing near a dormitory. Officials are now investigating whether the
escapees had inside help. "That's the question," Johnson said.
"With this whole situation, this does bring up some concerns."
Authorities believe the men were assisted by McCluskey's fiancee, Casslyn
Welch of Mesa. They are believed to have hijacked two semitrucks and driven
to Flagstaff before purchasing a car in Goodyear. Renwick was captured in
Rifle, Colo., following a shootout with local authorities. No one was hurt
and Renwick was booked into the Garfield County Jail. Although state
officials have said all three men were serving time for murder, court
records show McCluskey was serving 15 years for attempted murder after he
fired a shotgun into a Mesa home in March 2009. He told police he would
have killed his target had his weapon not jammed, records say. "He
(McCluskey) also indicated that he would have shot the officer who detained
him," court documents state. The Kingman facility holds 3,508 inmates,
according to Carl Stuart, a Management and Training Corp. spokesman. Of
those inmates, 117 are serving life sentences, with 57 being housed on
first-degree murder and 60 on second-degree murder convictions, according
to state corrections officials. The facility is classified as a
medium-security prison, meaning it houses "inmates who represent a
moderate risk to the public and staff," state Corrections Department
Director Charles Ryan said in a release. Prison officials are seeking bids
to add an additional 5,000 beds at the prison, which means the facility
could house inmates from other states, Johnson said.
August 1, 2010 AP
A convicted murderer who escaped Friday with two other men from an Arizona
prison fired a bullet at Rifle police before being arrested early Sunday
morning, police say. Lt. J.R. Boulton said no one was injured during the
incident, in which Daniel Renwick, 36, was then apprehended after an
officer used his car to ram the vehicle the man was driving. Renwick was
arrested after first drawing the attention of a Garfield County sheriff’s
deputy in the Rulison area. Renwick was one of three convicts who
authorities say escaped Friday evening by cutting a hole in a fence at an
Arizona state prison. The other two and an accomplice remained at large
Sunday, authorities said. Arizona Department of Corrections spokesman
Barrett Marson said authorities there have no information leading them to
believe the other escapees are in Colorado. Rather, information from law
enforcement suggests they are still in Arizona, said Charles Ryan, director
of the Arizona Department of Corrections. Boulton said Renwick was alone
when he was arrested. Marson said the other two inmates should be
considered especially dangerous because of the nature of their convictions.
Officials identified them as Tracy Province, 42, who was serving a life
sentence for murder and robbery, and John McCluskey, 45, serving 15 years
for attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault and discharge of a
firearm. Marson said the men are believed to be with Casslyn Mae Welch, 44,
who is suspected of aiding in the escape. Renwick is being held without
bond in the Garfield County Jail, the Sheriff’s Department said. He was
arrested on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder, vehicular eluding
and escape. The escapees kidnapped two semitrailer drivers at gunpoint in
Arizona and initially used their truck to flee, authorities say. Boulton
said he believes Renwick was arrested in a Chevy S-10 Blazer. Rifle police
believe that the vehicle is owned by an acquaintance of Renwick. The
Garfield County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release that a
sheriff’s deputy noticed a suspicious vehicle in the Rulison area, and
while the deputy was trying to get behind the vehicle on Interstate 70 and
check the license plate, the driver’s behavior became more suspicious. The
driver got off at the west Rifle I-70 exit, dispatchers confirmed with the
deputy that the vehicle was associated with the Arizona escape, and the
deputy prepared to pull over a high-risk vehicle, the Sheriff’s Department
said. Rifle police were dispatched to the west Rifle exit at 12:16 a.m.
Sunday. The driver left as they prepared to approach and drove east on
I-70, refusing to pull over, then exited at the main Rifle interchange.
Boulton said the driver fired a shot that struck the front of a patrol car
before police rammed his vehicle. He then surrendered without incident,
Boulton said. Boulton said he believes at least two Rifle officers and a
sheriff’s deputy were involved in the arrest. “They did everything they
should have done. Everybody got to go home,” he said. The Sheriff’s
Department said deputies used dog teams at the scene and there was no
indication that other escapees were in the area. Renwick and the others
escaped from a medium-security prison in Golden Valley, Ariz., Marson said.
Renwick was serving two consecutive 22-year sentences for second-degree
murder for shooting a father and his daughter, Marson said. His sentence
expiration date was 2043. KOLD TV in Tucson reported that the daughter was
Renwick’s ex-girlfriend. Police spent much of Saturday using helicopters
and dogs to search for the three men. At about 5 a.m. Saturday, the group
kidnapped two drivers of a semitrailer in Kingman, Ariz., and forced them
at gunpoint to drive two hours east to Flagstaff, said Flagstaff police
Sgt. James Jackson. The group left the drivers, unharmed, in the truck at a
stop just off Interstate 40 and then fled. “The truck drivers were lucky to
get away unscathed,” Jackson said. “I mean, they’ve been convicted of
murder and they’re escaping from prison.” Authorities said Welch was seen
at the prison before the escape driving a blue 1996 Chrysler Concord car
with Arizona license plate ABL7584. Authorities urged anyone with
information on the escaped prisoners to use caution and call police
immediately. Province was last seen wearing dark blue jeans, a dark purple
polo shirt with red stripes and white tennis shoes. McCluskey was wearing
light-colored blue jeans, a white button-up shirt with horizontal and
vertical blue stripes, and white tennis shoes. Management and Training
Corp. of Centerville, Utah, operates the prison where the escape occurred.
The company operates 17 correctional facilities in Texas, New Mexico,
Arizona, California, Idaho and Ohio, according to its website. Ryan said
Sunday that the escape is under investigation. “We have great concerns that
there was laxness on the part of security staff at this private prison, but
I’m going to allow the investigation to run its course,” said Ryan, who
plans to meet with prison officials in the next day or two.
July 31, 2010 AP
Three prison inmates convicted of murder escaped from a northwest
Arizona prison Friday after cutting a perimeter fence. Helicopters and
police dogs searched for the men, who were found missing Friday evening
from the Arizona State Prison in Golden Valley. The men are considered
armed and dangerous. Flagstaff police believe the men kidnapped two people
at gunpoint in the Kingman area, left them in Flagstaff and continued in an
unknown direction. The missing prisoners are: Tracy Province, who was
serving a life sentence for murder and robbery; Daniel Renwick, who was
serving 22 years for second-degree murder; and John McClusky, who was
serving 15 years for second-degree murder, aggravated assault and discharge
of a firearm. Police also believe the men got help from a woman named
Casslyn Mae Welch and may still be traveling with her. Anyone with
information on the escaped prisoners should call police immediately. They
were last seen wearing orange prison jumpsuits.
June 2, 2010 Arizona Daily Sun
State prison officials are investigating the circumstances of a brawl at a
privately run prison in Kingman that left eight inmates injured. The fight
in a minimum security unit of the Arizona State Prison-Kingman involved
black and white inmates, some using padlocks wrapped in socks as weapons.
Department of Corrections spokesman Barrett Marson says Monday's
altercation lasted nearly 45 minutes. A spokesman for prison operator
Management and Training Corporation says no staff members were hurt. Of the
eight inmates taken to a hospital, seven were released after treatment and
one hospitalized for a non-fight related condition. The prison remained on
lockdown on Wednesday.
June 2, 2010 Kingman Daily Miner
The Cerbat unit of the Arizona State Prison-Kingman was on lockdown Tuesday
following an incident on Memorial Day. Carl Stuart, spokesperson for
Management and Training Corporation, which operates the prison, said a
fight broke out among inmates in the east yard of the minimum security
Cerbat unit around 1 p.m. Monday. He said it is unclear how many inmates
were actually involved in the fight since the vast
majority were simply spectators. The fight lasted nearly 45 minutes and was
between black and white inmates, according to Barrett Marson, director of
communications for Arizona State Prison. Some of the inmates used padlocks
wrapped in socks as weapons. Eight inmates were taken to the hospital
following the fight. Seven were observed and released, while an eighth
inmate was treated for a condition unrelated to the fight. No staff members
or guards were injured, according to Stuart. Officials are still
investigating what caused the altercation to break out. Stuart said the
lockdown was a precautionary measure and would last indefinitely. Inmates
in the Hualapai unit were on restrictive movement, meaning that all
non-essential activities, such as rehabilitation classes, were temporarily
suspended.
Bay Correctional Facility
Oct
28, 2022 mypanhandle.com
Florida
agency releases few details on inmate’s murder
Ed.
Note: After posting our initial story we received a statement from
Florida’s Department of Corrections. We have posted that statement at the
bottom of this story.
PANAMA
CITY, Fla. (WMBB) — The Florida agency that oversees private prisons has
confirmed an inmate died, but almost nothing else, following a week of
questioning about the situation. News 13 learned this week that an inmate
was killed last week at the Bay Correctional Facility. The facility is run
by a private corporation, Management, and Training Corporation. Especially
concerning, were reports that the facility is understaffed and that
contributed in some way to the death. We called the warden about the
situation who did not return our call. We then emailed Florida’s Department
of Corrections and got a response from Florida’s Department of Management
Services. The agency said they would release no information about the death
because of an exemption in Florida’s Public Records Law. After we persisted
Debbie Hall, the communications director with the Department of Management
Services issued this statement: “We can confirm that an inmate died at Bay
Correctional Facility, which is managed by Management and Training
Corporation on behalf of the state. The Florida Department of Corrections
is the lead investigative agency. Due to the open and active investigation,
we are unable to provide names or any additional information at this time.” It remains unclear whether
or not the conditions at the prison are unsafe because of
understaffing or other issues. After posting our initial story Florida’s
Department of Corrections sent us a statement.
“The incident you are referring to is currently under investigation by the
Office of the Inspector General,” wrote Paul Walker, the press secretary
for the Florida Department of Corrections. “Due to the open, active
investigation information is limited at this time. Once the investigation
is complete, more information will be available to the public. Feel free to
check back periodically for updates.” This new statement does not answer
our questions about the staffing and safety issues at the facility.
Benson, Arizona
July 28, 2004 News-Sun
Moving forward on funding a $25 million detention center, the Greater
Benson Economic Development Corporation has elected its officers and
created bylaws. The group drew a lot of controversy when it was created
by the City Council on July 7. Leading the new corporation is David DiPeso,
unanimously selected as president. Councilman Ted Amox, is five
president; Beverly Stepp, is secretary; Mike Montroy is the treasurer.
Serving as second vice president will be Dr. Mark Kartchner.
"They want to build this thing as soon as possible so that's the
reason for this hurry," Amox said. "I think Cochise County is the
most likely candidate in the United States for a facility like
this." City Manager Boyd Kraemer said the city of Benson can't
borrow the money to fund the facility without voter approval, which is
where the corporation comes in. The plan is for the group to borrow
$25 million through revenue bonds, which will supposedly be paid for over
the next 22 years, through profits from detainees being held at the
facility anywhere from three to nine months. Once the debt is paid, the
City will own the facility. The benefit of this plan, Kraemer said,
is that the city is in no way liable and taxes won't increase to pay for
the facility. Kevin Pranis, a criminal justice policy analyst for
Justice Strategies in New York City, said he's been studying privately
owned detention centers for the last two years and to say there is going to
be no risk to the city is "laughable." "If bonds go
into default the investor is never the one to get hurt," Pranis said.
"This may be successful, but if it's not, someone is going to have to
pay and the city will be right in the middle of it. The investors have the
money to file the lawsuits and fight it. The city doesn't, and will
probably end up paying for it. The city isn't an expert in bond laws or
with the detention-center market. There are no guarantees."
Neither the city nor Matador has contacted the U.S. Marshals office about
using the Benson facility. Brian Nernex, assistant chief deputy of
the U.S. Marshals office in Tucson, said he found out about the proposed
facility through the San Pedro Valley News-Sun article on July 14 and the
office has not committed to using it. Pranis said its common for
privately owned facilities to not only leave the public out of the process,
but also the law-enforcement agencies that are said to be behind the
project. Besides the Marshals office not being contracted, Cochise
County Sheriff Larry Dever has also been left out of the loop.
"I have not been talked to directly," Dever said. "With
something as big as this it does surprise me that they haven't even talked
to the Marshals office."
Borallon
Correctional Centre, Queensland, Australia
A TENDER for the state's two privately-run prisons is not a
criticism of the current operators, the Queensland Government said today.
Corrective Services Minister Judy Spence said new tenders to run Borallon
and Arthur Gorrie correctional centres, valued at a total of $200 million,
would ensure taxpayers got value for money. "It is not about the
performance of the current operators,'' Ms Spence said. The Arthur Gorrie
jail has been under fire in recent years over a number of deaths in
custody, security failures and assaults on prisoners by staff. Borallon
made headlines four years ago when a report showed it had the highest rate
of illicit drug use in the state, with almost one in three prisoners using
drugs. Four companies will be invited to tender: GEO Group Australia Pty
Ltd, GSL Australia Pty Ltd, Management and Training Corporation Pty Ltd and
Serco Australia Pty Ltd. GEO currently operates Arthur Gorrie, and
Management and Training Corporation operates Borallon. Ms Spence said the
contracts would be for five years, with an option for Queensland Corrective
Services to extend them for a further five years. The tenders will be
evaluated in the first half of next year with new contracts to start on
January 1, 2008. An independent probity auditor has been contracted to
oversee the entire project.
February 22, 2004
OFFICERS at a privately-run prison in Queensland will
walk off the job again over the next two days. Prison officers at the
Borallon Correctional Centre, near Ipswich, will lock prisoners in their
cells during six-hour stoppages tomorrow and on Tuesday in a dispute over
enterprise bargaining negotiations The prison is operated by the
US-based prison company Management and Training Corporation (MTC), under
contract to the Queensland Government. Last week, about 500 low and
medium security inmates were locked in their cells for two hours on Monday
and Tuesday morning. The prison officers' union, the Liquor,
Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union, said it would increase the
length of the stoppages if the dispute dragged on. About 150 prison officers have been calling for a six per
cent annual pay rise over the next two years but MTC offered an increase of
just 1.9 per cent a year. MTC also wants
to reduce prison officers' sick leave entitlements to six days a year from
eight in the last agreement which expired last month. LHMWU spokesman Ron Simon said the union would also ban
overtime at the prison. "Each week
we've increased the length and intensity, of the walkout," he said.
"This time our members are stopping twice for six
hours and imposing a two-week overtime ban, commencing Monday
morning." (Townsville Bulletin)
February 9, 2004
INMATES at Borallon Correctional Centre near Ipswich
will be placed in lockdown mode tomorrow and Tuesday as prison officers
strike in support of increased wages and benefits. Almost 500 low and
medium security inmates at the privatised prison will be locked down and
managed under a skeleton staff structure for two hours from 8am (AEST)
tomorrow and on Tuesday, while members of the Liquor Hospitality and
Miscellaneous Union (LHMU) rally for a pay increase. The prison has been run by US firm Management and Training
Corporation (MTC) since September 2000, under contract to the Queensland
government. About 150 prison officers,
whose current enterprise agreement expired last month, are calling for a
six per cent annual pay rise over the next two years in addition to paid
parental leave and income protection. (Townsville Bulletin)
August 14, 2001
Drugs and illegal 'home brew' have been discovered during random searches
in Queensland's prisons. Four prisoners have also lost open security
classification after testing positive to drugs. Two prisoners already
in custody are facing charges after random searches uncovered drugs at
Borallon Correctional Centre and illegal brew at Borallon and Woodford
Correctional Centres. (ABC News)
Bradshaw
State Jail, Texas
Jun
26, 2020 news-journal.com
State
to idle Bradshaw State Jail in Henderson; more than 200 workers will be
laid off
The
company that runs Bradshaw State Jail in Henderson plans to lay off 229
employees as the Texas Department of Criminal Justice will idle the prison
on Aug. 31 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Management & Training Corp.
made the announcement in a letter dated Monday to the Texas Workforce
Commission to comply with the U.S. Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act.
The TDCJ website shows the facility has 266 employees. The letter, signed
by Christina Pignateli, labor and employment counsel based at MTC corporate
headquarters in Centerville, Utah, cited an effort by the TDCJ to change
how it moves and brings in inmates to reduce exposure to the COVID-19
pandemic. "This has resulted in a nearly 25% decline in inmate
population," Pignatelli wrote. "MTC expects this decline in
population to continue. Moreover, due to COVID-19 the educational
programming has been limited." Pignatelli was unavailable for comment
Thursday. “Based on these multiple unforeseeable business circumstances,
MTC was unable to give full notice of the reduction in force to 23
employees,” she wrote. “These employees will be permanently laid off
effective July 3, 2020. The remaining staff will be laid off effective
August 31, 2020.” John Clary, executive director of the Henderson Economic
Development Corp., said he met Thursday morning with MTC representatives to
discuss the difference between idling and shutting down the prison.
"The main thing to know is the state is idling the plant, which is
very different from closing the plant." Clary said. Clary said the
prison population in Texas and throughout the nation is declining. He said
inmates at Bradshaw State Jail serve short sentences for nonviolent crimes.
MTC took over operations at Bradshaw in September 2017 after CoreCivic lost
its bid for renewal.
Jul 11, 2017 news-journal.com
MTC to take over Bradshaw State Jail after 13-year company loses bid
UPDATE: The private prison company that operates the East Texas
Treatment Facility in Henderson plans to hire a majority of the 192
employees at another company that lost a bid to renew a contract for
operating the Bradshaw State Jail, also in Henderson. Issa Arnita,
spokesman at the corporate headquarters of Management & Training Corp.
in Centerville, Utah, said in a statement current employees of CoreCivic
“will not have the first right of refusal, however as I mentioned we plan
to rehire the majority of employees and will work to find a good fit for
them.” Arnita said MTC will hire approximately 240 employees after taking
over the Bradshaw State Jail Sept. 1 while explaining MTC will operate food
services at the jail. A subcontractor currently provides the service. MTC
will take over operations of the jail because the Texas Board of Criminal
Justice reported June 30 that it awarded a contract for two years, with
renewal options, to the company. CoreCivic, formerly known as Corrections
Corporation of America, held the contract since Jan. 16, 2004, according to
Jason Clark, public information director at the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice. Because CoreCivic lost its bid for renewal, it sent a
WARN letter dated July 3 notifying the Texas Workforce Commission that it
“must lay off its employees” at the Bradshaw Jail beginning midnight Aug.
31. “There are 192 employees who will be affected by CoreCivic’s cession of
operations at this facility,” states the letter from Andrea Cooper, senior
director for human resources compliance at corporate headquarters in
Nashville. “We have enclosed a list of affected positions, to include job
titles and totals for each job classification. Please note there are no
applicable bumping rights for the employees.” Cooper and other CoreCivic
officials were unavailable for comment Monday. Cooper sent the letter to
comply with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which
requires employers planning major layoffs to give two months of notice to
the workforce commission. Upon notice of any mass layoffs or plant closings
in Texas, workforce commission agencies, including Workforce Solutions East
Texas, can act quickly to provide Rapid Response Services and minimize the
effect to local economies by helping employees to transition to new
employment, according to commission spokeswoman Lisa Givens. Services
include crisis counseling, financial planning assistance, stress/change
management, résumé and application preparation, job search help, labor
market and career information, and interview preparation, she has said.
Meanwhile, MTC will expand its presence in Henderson by taking over the
Bradshaw State Jail, which Clark said houses about 225 inmates incarcerated
by state offenses such as drug and property crimes. MTC has 424 employees
at the East Texas Treatment Facility at 900 Industrial Drive in Henderson,
according to a company fact sheet. It has a capacity of 2,320 inmates who
take a variety of educational, vocational and substance abuse and
life-skills courses that MTC says are designed to prepare them to re-enter
society.
November 25, 2003 Texas Lawyer
Private prison-management corporations and their employees may be sued
under §[1983 by a prisoner who has suffered a constitutional injury. FACTS:
Billy Rosborough is a prisoner in the Bradshaw State Jail, a Texas prison
owned and operated by defendant Management and Training Corp., a private
prison-management corporation. Defendant Chris Shirley is a corrections
officer employed by MTC at the jail. Rosborough sued MTC and Shirley under
42 U.S.C. §[1983 alleging that he was subjected to cruel and unusual
punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment when Shirley maliciously
slammed a door on Rosborough's fingers, severing two fingertips. Rosborough
also alleges that Shirley displayed deliberate indifference to Rosborough's
resulting serious medical condition. In addition, Rosborough alleges that
MTC is liable under 42 U.S.C. §[1983 for its
improper training and supervision of Shirley. Rosborough supplemented his
federal action with state-law negligence claims.
Bridgeport
Correctional Center, Bridgeport, Texas
June 27, 2010 Wise County Messenger
A new management company will take over the Bridgeport Correctional
Center beginning Aug. 31. The 520-bed facility has been managed by GEO
Group Inc., since the center opened in August 1989. GEO was reawarded a
three-year contract from Sept. 1, 2005, and also had two, one-year
renewals. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice conducted a competitive
bid process, and Management & Training Corp. won the seven-year bid.
"There's a technical review of the bid and a financial review of the
bid," said Jason Clark, public information officer for the TDCJ. Clark
said that the reviews are done separately by different committees.
"They score those reviews and compile the scores and a recommendation
is made to the TDCJ."
Central
North Correctional Centre, Penetanguishene, Canada
November 8, 2006 The Mirror
About 90 per cent of jail employees will continue on at Central North
Correctional Centre when the jail moves from private to public, this week,
and provincial officials say that will ensure a smooth transition.
"We've got a lot of experience in the institution that we're going to
be keeping. So, when it comes down to the actual transition, it's going to
be largely handing over files and inventory and also switching over to
ministry operating procedures," said Stuart McGetrick, senior
communications coordinator for the Ministry of Community Safety &
Correctional Services. "Since we've got the staff and the management
already in place, largely, it's going to be a fairly straight forward
process to transfer a public operation." Ministry officials have been
at CNCC all week to prepare for the transition on Nov. 9. Staff have been
briefed in the processes and procedures of public sector jails but
McGetrick admits that doesn't mean there will be a complete switch this
week. He does, however, credit Management and Training Corporation and the
union for their assistance. "We're very fortunate that we've had
excellent cooperation from MTCC and OPSEU in the lead up to the
transition," he said. "We really anticipate a very smooth transition
process."
September 27, 2006 NUPGE CA
The staff at the only private adult jail in Canada will be public
employees again in November, ending a failed five-year privatization
experiment launched by the Conservative government of former Ontario Premier
Mike Harris. The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE) has
reached an agreement with the province on the procedures to make the
transfer when the contract given by the Tories to Utah-based Management
& Training Corporation (MTC) to operate the Central North Correctional
Centre in Penetanguishene expires. OPSEU President Leah Casselman said that
she is pleased that an agreement has been reached and hopes that the
transition will be a smooth one. “Our first concern was always the members currently
working at the facility,” Casselman said. “There is still work to be done,
but the major transition issues have fortunately been dealt with.”
August 25, 2006 The Mirror
Not enough staff at Central North Correctional Centre led to the murder
of inmate Minh Tu on May 5, 2004, charges a Penetanguishene woman. Richard
Quansah was found guilty of first-degree murder and recently sentenced to
life in prison without parole for 25 years for killing Minh Tu, after an
argument over a board game while the two were inmates at the
Penetanguishene prison operated by Management and Training Corporation
(MTC). Sharon Dion, chairperson of Citizens Against Private Prisons, told
The Mirror she is surprised more violence has not occurred at the
privately-operated jail because of ongoing problems and lack of staff to
deal with them properly. Dion is known locally and internationally for her
knowledge about privatized prisons, and has lent her expertise to the
Ontario government, as well as correctional organizations throughout Canada
and the United States. She says she was contacted by several upset
correctional officers after the May 2004 stabbing who told her that a CO
was given a note from an inmate that said there was a knife in the unit and
a 'killing' would take place. However, a lockdown and search failed to
locate the weapon so inmates were allowed out of their cells. Tu was
murdered soon after. "Management was warned that this was going to
happen," said Dion. "They shouldn't have allowed inmates to come
out of their cells until something was found or more investigation was
done. And, of course, because of the outcome, that proves the theory."
July 26, 2006 Midland Free Press
There is one Central North Correctional Centre (CNCC) employee
guaranteed a job once the province takes over operations. Facility
administrator Phill Clough has accepted employment with the ministry,
beginning Nov. 10. Ministry spokesperson Stuart McGetrick and CNCC
confirmed the offer and acceptance to The Mirror. Meanwhile, negotiations have
begun between the province and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union
(OPSEU) for correctional officers at Central North Correctional Centre
(CNCC) to keep their jobs when the province takes over the operation of the
facility. Senior officials from the Ministry of Community Safety and
Correctional Services met with OPSEU's Ministry Employee Relations
Committee (MERC) team to discuss the future of more than 200 correctional
officers at the jail. The meeting took place on July 17 and lasted for a
good part of the day. According to OPSEU spokesperson Don Ford, the initial
meeting was simply to lay out each side's priorities for further talks.
"First of all, (our) priority one is to make sure that the people who
are currently working at the jail continue to work at the jail after the
transition," he told The Mirror. "From that point forward, we
would also look for whatever seniority they've accumulated under the
private employer to also continue on to the ministry." Community
Safety & Correctional Services Minister, Monte Kwinter announced in
April that the privately-run jail will be transferred into the public
sector when the contract with Utah-based Management & Training
Corporation is up on Nov. 10. To date, employees have not been told of
their fate. When he made the announcement, Kwinter told The Mirror that the
province would work with MTC to make the transition as seamless as
possible. He also said there would be more job opportunities once the jail
is in the public fold. "We need personnel to run that facility and
we're going to have an increase in personnel because we're going to staff
it up to the level that we do in (Lindsay)," he said. "So, what
is going to happen, obviously, there will be opportunities for more
jobs." Although Ford spoke to The Mirror, he cautioned that OPSEU will
not report on the progress of the meetings with the employer. "We are
treating this no differently than we treat bargaining," he said.
"We're meeting with the employer and we're not going to give a status
update on those talks, other than to say, 'We're talking.'"
May 24, 2006 Midland Free Press
Small and quiet, with dark hair and eyes, eight-year-old Sharon
Desjardins never asked for much. What she wanted, she worked hard to get -
and she wanted that baby squirrel more than anything. A boy in her class
had raided its nest and was showing off the tiny black rodent in the
schoolyard. The young girl was known for stepping in and protecting weaker
students when they were being picked on, because it was the right thing to
do. This was another one of the poor souls she was out to save. She
promised him a dollar if she could have it. It was the mid-60s and a dollar
was hard to come by. Desjardins begged and borrowed what she could,
counting up her pennies and pleading with her mom to part with spare change
until she had enough to save the pet she would later name 'Chipper.' She
lets out a hearty laugh as she tells the story. "It was house trained,
I'm not kidding you. I have pictures of it sitting on our hands, on our
shoulders ... It would scratch to get in the door and scratch to get out to
the bathroom," she said. "My mother was wonderful; she let me
have pretty well any animal that I wanted." More than 40 years later,
Desjardins' married name is Dion and Chipper is long gone; but there is
still a small bowl of shelled peanuts sitting on her kitchen counter. If
there is anyone with the patience and tenacity to train a squirrel, it's
this woman who has fought tirelessly to see Canada's first and only
privatized adult jail brought into public hands. Her kitchen is larger and
brighter than the one in the small Water Street house in Penetanguishene
that she grew up in, as the youngest of three children to Bernice and
Gordon Desjardins. That house, full of troubled memories of an alcoholic
father and a childhood spent in poverty, is markedly different than the
stylish and welcoming home she has created for herself and her family. Some
of the happiest times of Dion's life have been in this room, with family
and friends gathered on barstools, comfortable leather furniture or around
the large dining room table. This is what means the most to her, she
confides, looking around the room at framed pictures of herself and her
husband of 30 years, Ray, their two children and grandchildren. Her posture
is relaxed, her smile warm and her brown eyes have lost their intense look
of defiance that marked seven long years of battling the provincial
government and corporate America. It's over; Central North Correctional
Centre is going back into the public fold. While it looks like she can rest
in Canada - for now, at least - she has accepted several invitations to
speak throughout the U.S. She admits the last several days since she
received the call from Queen's Park that the province would not renew its contract
with Utah-based Management and Training Corporation have been emotionally
exhausting. "It's elation ... something I just can't explain and at
times I'm afraid I'm going to fall when it's done ... Of course you don't
do it for the accolades, but I guess it just feels so good and I'm just so
pleased that the right decision was made by the Liberal government."
Though she admits, sometimes, even family took a backseat to the fight.
"My convictions were so strong that I couldn't let anyone away with
the nonsense that was happening," she said. The scrappy Metis woman
has been called tenacious, a defender of the defenceless, passionate, and
some names that aren't exactly flattering by those who oppose her. But by
all accounts, she brushes off these labels. She says she is simply a woman
who cares about the small community she was born and raised in, and the
people who live there. She flashes a wide smile showing off straight,
polished teeth surrounded by her trademark pink lips, and is unapologetic
when she explains why she continues standing up for what she believes is
right. "What I would like to see is money spent on social programs.
Getting children in high-risk families help so they don't go through that
revolving door. Prison privatization will just enhance that because that's
what they want; that's how they make money. I just couldn't stand for our
Canadian standards and values to be harmed in that way." She credits
her tough childhood for making her survivor. "I guess I've always
stood up for myself and I guess that's the one credit I can give to my
father; that life made me want to survive. Nothing's been given to me.
"So, I go for what I feel I want to have. It's a good thing," she
says, adding, "I look at my (past) life as a positive not something negative."
Beyond the back gate of her yard is Fuller Avenue, a road that has gotten
much busier in the past seven years; a road that leads to Canada's
first-ever private prison - a five-year pilot project of the former
Conservative government that failed. When the leaves have fallen from her
neighbours' trees that shroud her backyard, Dion can see the edge of the
prison property from her kitchen window. She has never been against CNCC's
location or the jobs it brought to Penetanguishene. Ray is a psychiatric
nurse at Oak Ridge, Ontario's only maximum-security forensic program
located at the Mental Health Centre Penetanguishene, right beside the
prison, and she knows having incarcerated people in local facilities can
work. The fight against privatization took her to the United States, where
she is a member of the Private Corrections Institute, to Queen's Park,
where she passed on information she had about private prisons and
Management and Training Corporation, and to countless meetings and rallies
where she eloquently spoke about prison privatization. "What I love
about Sharon is she always comes prepared," Liberal MPP Dave Levac
recently told The Mirror. "She's factual. She's not emotional about
it. She brings passion to the situation, but I have to tell you that she's
probably one of the most prepared people I've ever dealt with and worked
with." At times, feeling left out of the evaluation process between
Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay and CNCC, she didn't stop
calling politicians until she was heard. Towards the end of the process,
they even started calling her. The last four-and-a-half years that the jail
has been open have been marked by inmate deaths (Jeffrey Elliott and Lorne
Thaw), stabbings, beatings of inmates and correctional officers, low
staffing levels, and numerous security issues, she says. Although it's
acknowledged that these incidents also happen in publicly-run jails
throughout Ontario, Dion didn't want to accept it as the status quo. She
continually asked the ministry tough questions and worked hard to keep the
issues in the public eye. It wasn't always easy, but she admits to only a
handful of times when she felt like it was a lost cause. There were even
times, she confides, to feeling like she was in over her head, as a woman from
small-town Ontario. Those thoughts never lasted long. "Of course I
felt that way, but because of the knowledge that I had, I had the courage
to do what I'm doing," she says, drawing herself up higher on the
sofa. "It's the truth. I don't get paid for this. I'm not making it up
because I have documentation and that's the power. It's simple. Anybody
else could have done it." But no one else took the lead. Dion was one
person amongst dozens at a public meeting in 1996. At the time, the
Conservative government hadn't even decided that Penetanguishene would host
one of two 'super jails' the province was proposing, but a rumour about
privatization was brought up. Dion didn't know anything about prison
privatization and began to research the issue. What she discovered she
didn't like. It pushed her to dig deeper and talk to more people in the
United States that had experience in the private prison system. In 1999,
when the government announced Penetanguishene's jail would be run by a
private company, she began her crusade against privatization and started
Citizens Against Private Prisons. "I have extremely strong
convictions, when I know the issue and I've taken the time to educate
myself on them. There's no way I would ever let anyone tell me different,
because I know the truth," she says, her voice indignant. "Every
time I would ask questions of the past government, I would basically know
the answer and I'd know I was lied to and that just (gave) me more
determination." Although she has often been at the forefront of the
cause, she notes that there were always people she could count on to help,
specifically her mother and Ray, Midland resident Dawn Marie Horn, friends
and colleagues at the Private Corrections Institute, members of OPSEU and
Brant MPP Levac. Of course, there were also the employees who had the
courage to speak to her. Although she was sometimes a sounding board for
inmates and their families, she has never professed to be an inmate
advocate. When would she find the time? When she wasn't writing letters,
organizing rallies or public forums and publicly speaking against
privatization, Dion operated her own used clothing business (she has since
retired), volunteers in Aboriginal Services at the Mental Health Centre
Penetanguishene and is a competitive a capella four-part harmony singer
with the Barrie Chorus, where she is also the assistant director. Two years
ago, she also completed five university credits towards a degree in
Aboriginal Education. Still, she took countless calls from inmates, wives
and hysterical mothers with sons inside the walls of CNCC, and helped the
father of Jeffery Elliott - the inmate who died in hospital in 2003, after
receiving a cut to his left ring finger while at CNCC - throughout the
inquest into his horrific death. They will not forget what she has done,
nor will some employees at CNCC who disagreed with the way the prison was
operated. Her phone has been ringing incessantly since April 27, when the
Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services announced the jail would
be publicly run as of Nov. 10. Many CNCC employees, politicians, residents
and union officials have left messages - among them, a heartfelt message
from a former inmate, thanking her for her unwavering determination and for
giving a voice to inmates like him. She can't seem to erase this one. As
she re-plays the emotional recording, her eyes tear up. Then she smiles.
It's a very good day.
May 3, 2006 The Mirror
Opponents of private prisons throughout the world are heralding the
provincial Liberal government's decision to bring Central North
Correctional Centre into the public fold. "This is a very large
victory, not only in Canada, but across the world," said Brian Dawe,
executive director of Corrections USA, a non-profit coalition of corrections
professionals from Canada and the U.S. "This is the very first time,
anywhere in the world, that any governmental agency has undertaken an
actual apples-to-apples comparison of the two public and private prisons.
No one has ever, anywhere else, designed two identical prisons for the sole
purpose of determining whether or not the private industry should be
involved in corrections or it should remain a public function." The
Liberal government announced its decision to transfer the operation from
the Utah-based Management and Training Corporation to the public sector on
April 27, after a five-year study compared the privately-run prison with
its publicly-run twin in Lindsay, Central East Correctional Centre. During
that time, Dawe said a world spotlight has been on Penetanguishene. He
noted this precedent-setting move will catch the attention of governments
in the rest of Canada, the U.S., and beyond. Dawe gives a lot of credit to
Penetanguishene resident Sharon Dion, who has been fighting privatization
of the jail since 1999, when the former Conservative government under Mike
Harris announced CNCC could be privatized. "She deserves an incredible
amount of credit for her dogged perseverance on behalf of all of the people
in, not only her neck of the woods, but across Canada and around the
world," he said.
April 28, 2006 The Mirror
Canada's only privately-operated jail will return to the public sector
in the fall. Although cost was a factor in the decision of whether or not
to keep Penetanguishene's prison privately run, in the end, lower costs
offered through Management & Training Corporation (MTC) of Utah wasn't
enough to maintain its role as the operator of the Central North
Correctional Centre (CNCC). Community Safety and Correctional Services
Minister, Monte Kwinter announced yesterday that the jail will be
transferred into the public sector when the contract expires Nov. 10, 2006.
"Our concern was to make sure we were providing a facility that was
adequately looking after the people that we have responsibility for, the
inmates, that we make sure their health-care provisions are provided for;
that we make sure their recidivism rates (are minimized)," Kwinter
said in a telephone interview with The Mirror shortly after the decision
was announced. "We want to make sure that there is integration back
into the community and there is adequate
facilities to do that, and adequate personnel resources to do that,"
he said. "When we took a look at it, we just found we were getting
better results (at Central East Correctional Centre). Mind you, it's going
to cost us more money - but everything is a trade off. Overall, we felt the
citizens of Ontario would be better served with this facility being back in
public hands." Although the decision is disappointing for MTC, public
relations director Peter Mount says the private operator will continue to
work with the ministry. "We're going to work and continue to work very
closely with our partners at the ministry, especially during this
transition period," Mount said. "Our responsibility is and always
will be the safety of the public, the staff and the inmates. That's going
to continue during the transitional period." For local resident Sharon
Dion, who has campaigned against the privatization of the prison since it
was announced in 1999, the decision came as a welcomed surprise. "It's
such a triumphant day for Canada," said Dion, who received a call from
Queen's Park shortly after the decision was made. "I'm really praising
the Liberal government for making the right decision."
April 28, 2006 Midland Free Press
Canada’s first privately operated adult prison is being turned over to
the province. Central North Correctional Centre, which opened in 2001 and
has been run by Management and Training Corporation since, will be operated
by the provincial government, effective Nov. 10, 2006, when MTC's five-year
contract expires. The Ministry of Community Safety and Corrections made the
announcement Thursday after completing a report comparing CNCC with its
physical twin in Kawartha Lakes, which is publicly run. A decision on the
prison's future was needed six months prior to the current contract
expiring. "On just a cost basis the (private operation) was more
economical," corrections minister Monte Kwinter told Osprey News
Thursday afternoon, "but that reflected on the outcome.
"Management and Training Corporation was in material compliance with
the (existing) contract, but there's no question that health care was
delivered better at the Kawartha Lakes facility and that integration was
better at the Kawartha Lakes facility," Kwinter said. "We have a
responsibility to make sure we provide adequate resources, and while
there's no question there were some benefits from this exercise that we
could learn from," he said. "The evidence clearly indicates that
the public facility produced better results." The province opened CNCC
under a private-public partnership after a Conservative overhaul of
Ontario's prison system in the 1990s. CECC opened soon after with the idea
of comparing the facilities based on cost effectiveness and performance.
Price Waterhouse Coopers, a consulting firm, conducted a comparison review
on CNCC and CECC for the province over an extended timeframe. Part of that
review shows the public prison rated higher than CNCC in eight of 10 performance
categories, including security and community impact. CNCC spokesperson
Peter Mount said he was surprised by the decision of the government not to
renew the company's contract and called it “disappointing." “We will
begin the process of talking to staff right away,” said Mount, adding the
U.S.-based company intends to continue working with the province until its
contract expires. "We have a responsibility and we will continue to
live up to that responsibility," he said. "We will work closely
with the government to ensure safety is looked after." Simcoe North
MPP Garfield Dunlop, who has been a proponent of the private jail and who's
also the Conservative corrections critic, wasn’t thrilled by Thursday's
announcement. “The Liberals are in power and they have the ability to do
this," he said. "I’m going to live with the decision, but I just
hope they’ll provide us with the numbers.” In September of 2004, Dunlop
estimated that having the jail run by a private operator saved taxpayers
more than $20 million annually, according to financial figures he had seen
at the time. "I think there was a substantial savings there. I'd like
them to show me in black and white, without fudging the numbers, what it
actually was," he said. "That should be something that's available.
What's to hide?" For Penetanguishene resident Sharon Dion, an opponent
of privatized prisons, was pleased by the government's decision to go
public. "It's an enormous victory. I couldn't be more pleased. It's a
great day for all Canadians," said Dion, of Citizens Against
Privatized Prisons. "I was a little concerned at times about this
review, but I think the consultation was done in an honest manner on the
government's part." Kwinter said details still need to be ironed out,
but the province plans to provide 91 additional staff at the
Penetanguishene prison when it takes over in November.
April 27, 2006 The Star
Canada's only privately run jail is going public again. Ontario
Correctional Services Minister Monte Kwinter says an analysis of the
Penetanguishene prison showed it was saving the province money under
private operation. But Kwinter says there was a human cost. He says
health-care services weren't as good for prisoners, and offenders were more
likely to repeat. Kwinter says it will cost the province $2 million more
per year to run the 1,200-bed prison. The jail, north of Toronto, went
private under Ontario's previous Conservative government.
April 27, 2006 Government of Ontario
Ontario will transfer the operation of the Central North Correctional
Centre in Penetanguishene to the public sector, Community Safety and
Correctional Services Minister Monte Kwinter announced today. "After
five years, there has been no appreciable benefit from the private
operation of the Central North Correctional Centre," said Kwinter.
"We carefully studied its overall performance compared with the
publicly operated Central East Correctional Centre in Kawartha Lakes, and
concluded the CECC performed better in key areas such as security, health
care and reducing re-offending rates. As a result, the government will
allow the contract with the private operator to expire." Management
and Training Corporation Canada (MTCC) was chosen to operate the Central
North Correctional Centre in May 2001 as part of a five-year pilot project.
During that period, the Central East Correctional Centre - which is
identical in design - opened as a publicly operated facility. The pilot
project was to determine if there was any advantage to private operations
of correctional services in Ontario. "We acknowledge that MTCC was in
material compliance with the contract," said Kwinter, "but the
evidence clearly indicates that the public facility produced better results
in key performance areas." The contract with MTCC ends on November 10,
2006. Over the next six months, the ministry will work with its partners,
including MTCC and bargaining agents, to ensure a safe and smooth
transition of CNCC's operations to the Ontario Public Service.
April 21, 2006 The Mirror
Once a staunch supporter of the privatization of the Central North
Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene, Simcoe North MPP Garfield Dunlop
now says he is not fighting to keep the jail privately operated, but will
accept whatever decision the Liberal government makes in May. "I'm the
guy in our caucus that wore the jail and I don't intend to go back into
that battle again," he told The Mirror. "If the government
decides to keep it private, then I will be fully supportive of the operator
and will do whatever I can to help them out. If the government decides to
go public, I will work with the public system and do my best." Dunlop
says he never felt supported by the provincial Conservatives when they were
in power, regarding the privatization of CNCC, but instead felt he was left
"carrying the full load" of the decision. "... I can't see
myself, once again, fighting very very hard to keep it private when I
didn't get a lot of support for privatization in the first place,
particularly from my party and even from the community, in a lot of
ways," he said. "I think that was fairly clear. I don't think
that was any kind of a mystery. No one came up and said that to me, but
when privatization was talked about, before the decision was made, I knew
if there was a privatized jail, I would get it because I'm the new guy down
there. I don't know anybody. That's just the way politics is." The MPP
fought hard to garner support for it, against the opposition of most of the
Penetanguishene council of the day and members of the community. "I
guess I do feel, a little bit to this day, a little let down that I didn't
get more support for privatization," said Dunlop, who noted that many
people supported the idea to him face to face, but would not go public with
their support.
March 10, 2006 The Mirror
Central North Correctional Centre employees worried about their fate
met secretly Wednesday night with OPSEU officials. "Rumours have been
circulating in the institution that if the public service takes over the
jail, all of these people are going to be out of work because the public
service correctional officers will come in and (take their jobs),"
said Don Ford, a spokesperson for the Ontario Public Services Employee
Union, who attended the meeting. Between 50 and 70 employees attended the
two-hour meeting, organized by members of OPSEU Local 369. Employees are
concerned about what will happen to them if the jail is made public, or if
the present contract is not renewed. Staffing levels continue to be a
concern for correctional officers at CNCC. Pete Wright, president of OPSEU
Local 368 at CECC, says the Lindsay prison - Penetanguishene's physical
twin except publicly operated - has 245 full-time and 80 part-time (called
unclassifieds) COs. According to union representatives at CNCC,
Penetanguishene's prison has approximately 210 full-time and 30 part-time
correctional officers. "A lot of the questions we got from the members
at Central North were operational questions as to how they operate on a
daily basis and how we operate," said Wright. "I think they were
shocked to hear some of the things that they take for granted that we don't
allow at Central East ... I think staffing levels are one of the major
concerns." Although Wright says violence is inherent at every jail,
it's usually offender on offender. He says Lindsay has not had any murders
at its facility (inmate Ming Tu was stabbed to death at CNCC) and no
correctional officers have been beaten, unlike the Penetanguishene prison,
where a correctional officer was severely beaten in 2003 and another CO was
stabbed in the neck by an inmate in 2005.
February 20, 2006 NUPGE
Correctional employees represented by the Ontario Public Service
Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE) are pressuring Liberal Premier Dalton
McGuinty to make good on a 2003 election promise to return the Ontario
superjail in Penetanguishene to the public sector. A petition, being
circulated by the union's ministry employee relations committee (MERC),
cites a litany of serious problems within the jail, which has been operated
since it opened in 2001 by an American company - Utah-based Management and
Training Corporation (MTC). The firm was granted a five-year, $170-million
contract to operate the 1,184-bed institution. It is the first
privately-run superjail anywhere in Canada. The deal was negotiated, over
widespread protests, by the former Conservative government of Premier Mike
Harris in 2001. It is due to expire later this year unless renewed by the
province. McGuinty pledged when he was elected in October 2003 not to renew
the contract. He also declared that "private jails are a failed
experiment and have no place in Ontario." OPSEU says problems
experienced under MTC management at the Central North Correctional Centre
in Penetanguishene include the following: • a major riot due to lack of
food, clothing and medical care, costing the taxpayers hundreds of
thousands of dollars in repairs; • the death of a 20-year-old due to lack
of proper medical care; • four inmate stabbings, an inmate murder and the
beating of correctional officers, over period of months - all caused by
insufficient staffing levels; and • the loss of $1.1-million a year in
business taxes that the operators have been exempted from paying to the
municipality.
February 3, 2006 The Mirror
A former manager at the Central North Correctional Centre says he has major
concerns about the well-being of employees and inmates at the jail. Former
CNCC Sgt. Martin Speyer, 29, alleges inmates receives a poor diet and
medical care, and staff is bullied by senior management inside Canada's
only privately-run adult prison. Speyer was fired by Management &
Training Corporation (MTC) on Jan. 11, after being on administrative leave
since Dec. 20, 2005. In his dismissal letter, the company alleges he was
dishonest, he spoke negatively about the institution in public, he
negelected his duty; made misleading statements; and was involved in a
criminal act or negative behaviour. Speyer refutes the allegations, saying
he was, until October 2005, considered a model employee - one who received
numerous letters of commendation and gratitude from prison officials, and
was even Correctional Officer of the Year during the first year of
operation. Speyer says it wasn't until he filed a complaint against another
manager in October 2005, and became more outspoken about employee issues
that he fell from grace. "They are bullied, absolutely bullied,"
he says. "They are scared every day. When the staff come in, they are
afraid of losing their jobs. The key phrase that is used all the time there
is, "I'm one report away from being fired." Medical care is an
issue at the jail that has been highlighted in the media since it opened.
(Medication) is not done properly, pure and simple," says Speyer.
"These guys are not getting the medication they deserve. As a
sergeant, I don't know how many times my staff have been in situations
where they have encountered violence from an inmate that's acting out
because they don't get proper medication. Special dietary needs not being
met is also a concern raised by Speyer. Paula King, executive director of
Elizabeth Fry in Simcoe County, says the organization has had to advocate
for pregnant women whose dietary needs were not being met. "We have
had to go to bat for pregnant women who have not received the proper
amounts of milk and fresh fruit (as per ministry guidelines)," says
King. Speyer first became disenchanted with the organization during the
American Correctional Association accreditation process in September 2004,
he says. One of the most frequently cited reasons by correctional
facilities to seek accreditation is to demonstrate to interested parties
that the organization is operating at professional standards. When MTC
sought its accreditation, Speyer says he was in charge of making sure the
prison looked the way it was supposed to during the process, organizing
crews that worked steadily to make it look like the kitchen and bathrooms
had been regularly cleaned. "We had crews going through to extra scrub
the toilets (with drills that had scrub brushes on the end) so they looked
like they were scrubbed on a daily basis, although they hadn't been touched
(for a long time)." He says he and others were asked by senior management
to take cleaning chemicals, extra tools and extra medical supplies out of
the prison to ensure MTC met with ACA standards. A letter dated Dec. 17,
2004 by then-acting facility administrator Phill Clough, thanked Speyer for
his 'above and beyond' commitment to the accreditation, but the process was
the biggest letdown Speyer had ever felt in his professional life, he says.
"It wasn't something that anyone could say that they're proud of
but...I believed from day one what it (the accreditation) was supposed to be
for. I believed that once we achieved this certain standard that we weren't
going to go back to the old ways," he tells The Mirror. "So, when
I was taking this stuff out of the institution, I was thinking this is
going to be that much better for the staff. Then, once we had the
accreditation on the wall, it went back to how it was." Speyer has
joined Citizens Against Private Prisons in its fight to have the provincial
government not renew MTC's contract, which comes due in the fall of 2006.
The government has to make its decision by May.
February 1, 2006 The Mirror
A petition will soon be delivered to Queen's Park asking that Premier
Dalton McGuinty publicly promise to not renew the Management and Training
Corporation (MTC) contract at the Central North Correctional Centre (CNCC)
in Penetanguishene. Sharon Dion, chairperson of Citizens Against Private
Prisons, has created a petition that cites alleged issues at the jail,
including lack of food, clothing and medical care, insufficient staffing
levels; and MTC's exemption from paying the Town of Penetanguishene
business taxes. She expects about 15,000 signatures once the petition
becomes available electronically. She plans to give the petition to Brant
Liberal MPP Dave Levac - a vocal opponent of private prisons - in March so
he can present it in the Ontario Legislature. McGuinty made promise not to
renew jail contract at Penetanguishene Council. When then-Opposition leader
McGuinty visited Penetanguishene Council with Levac, before the jail was
open, he promised that a Liberal government would not renew the contract
with Utah-based MTC. "We are trying to draw the attention of the
Liberal government so that they keep their promise," Dion said.
"That's the ultimate goal." Dion says she has received calls of
support from correctional officers at the Central East Correctional Centre
(CECC) in Lindsay and the Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton which
are publicly-operated. "Also, what's not included in the per diem rate
is all of the hidden costs of prison privatization, like ambulance and
hospital costs, escorts, and lawsuits that some inmates and their families
have against MTC, First Correctional Medical and the Province of Ontario,
in the case of Jeffrey Elliott's death."
December 30, 2005 The Free Press
Three of the four people charged in connection with the killing of an
inmate in 2004 at Central North Correctional Centre have pleaded guilty to
lesser charges. Minh Tu, 28, died the morning of May 5, 2004 at Huronia
District Hospital in Midland, two hours after being admitted following an
altercation in one of the living units at C.N.C.C. A post-mortem
examination determined Tu died as a result of a stab wound. Tu was being
held at the superjail on a warrant for extradition to the United States
where he had been facing drug charges. He had been at CNCC for about two
months prior to his murder.
December 16, 2005 The Mirror
A local woman has taken her fight to Queen's Park to have Central North
Correctional Centre publicly operated. Sharon Dion of Citizens Against
Private Prisons met with MPP Liz Sandals, parliamentary assistant to Monte
Kwinter, Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, on Monday
to discuss her concerns about Management and Training Corporation. She also
met with Brant MPP Dave Levac in a separate meeting. Levac was the Liberal
Opposition Critic for Corrections when the Tories were in power and was a
vocal opponent of the privatization of the super jail in Penetanguishene.
"My goal was to remind the Liberal party of their promise to end the
private prison culture in Ontario," Dion told The Mirror. "I
provided Ms. Sandals with paperwork to enlighten her of the patterns and
practices of the documented mismanagement of MTC, both here and in the
U.S." There is one year left of the province's current five-year
contract with MTC but, as per contract stipulations, the government must
decide by May 2006 whether to extend the contract for another year; extend
the contract up to five years, based on an agreement of financial terms;
re-tender the contract; or return the prison to the public service. During
the meeting with Sandals, Dion talked about inmate deaths, violence and
staff issues at the privately-run facility. "We talked about the
inadequate health care that caused the death of Jeffrey Elliot, the
stabbings, the murder, riot, staff safety, low staff levels and high staff
turnover, and (correctional officer) Dwight Stoneman's brutal
beating," she noted. Levac praised Dion for her preparedness.
"Sharon has been tenacious as always. What I love about Sharon is she
always comes prepared," he said, noting he's hopeful the jail will
become publicly operated. "She's factual. She's not emotional about
it. She brings passion to the situation but I have to tell you that she's
probably one of the most prepared people I've ever dealt with and worked
with."
November 16, 2005 The Mirror
The province will have to decide whether or not Management Training
Corporation (MTC) is meeting its service contract responsibilities, and if
it wants the Utah-based company to continue to run the Central North
Correctional Centre (CNCC), by May. There is one year left of the current,
five-year contract but as per contract stipulations, only six months for
the government to decide whether to extend the contract for another year;
extend the contract up to five years, based on an agreement of financial
terms; re-tender the contract; or return the prison to the public service.
According to Brian Low, Executive Lead, Alternative Service Delivery with
the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, the contract
decision-making process has begun and will continue into the new year.
Consultants from Price Waterhouse Coopers will interview people from key
groups to ensure the information the government has is accurate. While
members of Council, chamber of commerce, board of monitors at the jail, and
Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services will be interviewed,
members of community groups, like Citizens Against Private Prisons, will
not be included. "It's disappointing they're not coming to speak to me
because I have been doing private prison research for five years and it's
important that this new government knows the character of the company
they're working with," said Sharon Dion, chairperson of Citizens Against
Private Prisons. "I have scathing reports about Management and
Training Corporation in the United States. This government needs to know
there are major problems with MTC in the United States and First
Correctional Medical who (also) runs our medical unit." Low says the
government already has information from Dion and others who have made their
views clear. Dion has been involved in the debate for five years - even
before the decision was made to run the jail privately - and remembers a
public promise made in 2001 by then-Opposition leader, Dalton McGuinty,
when he paid a visit to Penetanguishene Council. "I want to make sure
they uphold their promise, that it's going back into public hands (if the
Liberals come into power)," she said, noting that she will soon meet
with the parliamentary assistant to Monte Kwinter, Minister of Community
Safety and Correctional Services, to discuss her findings, at Queen's Park.
When considering whether to extend the MTC contract, Dion wants the
government to take into consideration the deaths, violence, and one
instance where the wrong inmate was released, over the past four years. But
Low cautions that the incidents must be put in perspective.
August 19, 2005 The Mirror
Property taxes topped the list of issues that members of Penetanguishene
Council talked about with the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional
Services at the AMO Conference this week. Council members want Management
and Training Corporation (MTC), the Utah-based company that operates the
Central North Correctional Centre (CNCC), to pay property taxes, estimated
at just over $1 million each year. Currently, the town receives payment in
lieu of taxes of $75 a bed - similar to what government-run facilities such
as hospitals and publicly-run jails pay. "We don't think that's
enough," said Deputy Mayor Randy Robbins from the AMO Conference.
"We've laid our cards on the table of pursuing what every other
business is doing in the province of Ontario. They're not exempt from
paying those property taxes. We'd like to see them thrown into the real
world with everybody else." While this may be the first time council
has officially talked to Monte Kwinter about the issue, it's been an
ongoing concern since the provincial Conservative government announced it
would seek a private company to operate the jail. Of the approximate $1
million in property taxes, about $660,000 would come to Penetanguishene
while the remainder would go to the County of Simcoe. "We tried to
explain that if Fuller Avenue needs to be rebuilt because of the traffic
that the facility is generating, we don't have that kind of money,"
said Robbins. "We would like, if it's the choice of the ministry to go
with a contract extension (with MTC), that they pay taxes that we could put
into reserve for when those roads need to be rebuilt." The possibility
of the contract being extended with MTC was also a hot item on the agenda
during the 20-minute meeting on Monday. Robbins, along with councillors Dan
LaRose, Debbie Levy, Anne Murphy and Doug Leroux, asked that the
municipality have a seat at the table when the province compares CNCC with
the publicly-run jail in Lindsay and evaluates MTC's performance.
August 17, 2005 Midland Free Press
Correctional officers at the Central North Correctional Centre are still on
the job after voting 84 per cent in favour of a new, four-year collective
agreement on Friday. According to OPSEU Local 369 bargaining team
chairperson, Sean Wilson, the new contract contains "99 per cent"
of what the members wanted. "We have an agreement on making sure we
have breaks to maintain our sanity in order to work there. Under the Health
and Safety Act, we've launched some processes to increase the staffing
levels," said Wilson, who couldn't go into further detail. "Once they enshrine our breaks and
stuff in the collective agreement they have no choice but to increase the
staffing levels in order to do that."
August 9, 2005 Newswire
Correctional officers employed at Canada's only private adult jail will
vote Aug. 12 on a tentative agreement reached today at 9:30 a.m. The
bargaining team is recommending that the staff of Central North
Correctional Centre, members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union
Local 369, ratify the agreement. "This is a good deal for our members
and we recommend it unanimously," said Sean Wilson, chair of the union
bargaining team. Details of the contract will be available after the
ratification vote is held. The previous contract expired on Dec. 31, 2004.
August 5, 2005 The Mirror
If there is a strike at the Central North Correctional Centre, members of
Penetanguishene Council are satisfied there is a plan in place to deal with
it, says Mayor Anita Dubeau. "Council was relatively satisfied that
certainly there is a plan in place," Dubeau told The Mirror. "I can't
share the details with you, but it did give council a good opportunity to
ask the necessary questions and (Management and Training Corporation)
answered as best they could." Most of Wednesday night's special
meeting was held in camera because staffing levels and security measures
were discussed. Council members and some residents have been concerned
about how the prison will continue its day-to-day operations safely if some
200 correctional officers walk off the job on Aug. 12. OPSEU has confirmed
that they are going back to the mediation table with MTC on Monday, Aug. 8.
"Less than 50 MTC managers are available to replace 200 striking
correctional officers," Sean Wilson, chairperson of the union
bargaining team, said in a press release.
August 3, 2005 The Mirror
A Penetanguishene resident says she believes members of municipal council
should be apprised of the procedures and policies that will be involved in
securing the Central North Correctional Facility, in the event of a strike
by OPSEU correctional officers on Aug. 11. Sharon Dion, the Canadian
liaison for The Private Corrections Institute in Florida and chairperson of
Citizens Against Private Prisons, has expressed her concerns about the
safety of the community in a letter to council, dated July 26. "There
seems to be many unanswered questions regarding who will be securing the
facility in the event of a strike. The ministry's office advised me the
issue would be dealt with between (Management and Training Corporation) and
the union. On the contrary, union representatives have stated that no
public service workers will be utilized during a strike," wrote Dion.
Although he expresses similar concerns, Deputy Mayor Randy Robbins said he
is not sure what council can do. "Sure, we are (concerned about the
possible strike)," Robbins told The Mirror, before he had an
opportunity to read the letter. "We've been through a few strikes with
OPSEU with the mental health centre and it's always a concern. Not knowing
the contingency plan heightens that concern. We'll have to see. It's not as
if we can send our people up there. What can we do?" But Dion wants
assurances the plan will be implemented properly. "I do understand the
importance of not making public staffing numbers for security reasons, but due
to the fact that this American company does not have other institutions in
Canada to draw upon, (it) could jeopardize the safety of our
community."
August 3, 2005 The Mirror
It's difficult for Dwight to remember exactly what happened on Dec. 17,
2003, after he was beaten by an inmate at the Central North Correctional
Centre. "I just turned slightly with my body to say (to the inmate),
'There's the door,' and when I did, I don't remember anything else for
probably three or four minutes," said the correctional officer,
hesitating slightly to gather his thoughts - a side effect from the severe
beating he received. "During that time, I was taking all kinds of hits
to the body and the head. I was basically blacked out but standing up; I
hadn't fallen to the ground. There was a point at which I came to. Part of
me, almost a primal instinct type of thing, told me to stay up or you're
going to die, and I thought I was having a massive heart attack."
According to Dwight, that day he was teamed up with a new female correctional
officer on her first day of work in Unit 1, while a third officer was
pulled off the unit to work elsewhere. Another officer was stationed inside
the control pod. While Dwight went into the unit alone to approach the
inmate, who would not go into his cell as directed, his partner stayed
outside the locked unit, as is correct procedure. But Dwight says there
should have been more officers in the unit. "There shouldn't have been
just the two of us. There should have been probably four or five and this
is the shortcomings of private prisons," said the 57 year old, who was
a police officer for 34 years with Toronto Police Service and the OPP
before coming to CNCC as a correctional officer. "They've got to
economize some way and there's only so many paper clips you can save. The
only other area you can cut back on is either meals or the officers on
duty." It's incidents like this - and the stabbing of a correctional
officer three times in the neck by an inmate several weeks ago - that union
officials say prove higher staff levels and tighter security measures need
to be in their new collective agreement. The previous contract expired Dec.
31, 2004. Correctional officers voted 95 per cent in favour of rejecting an
offer by Management and Training Corporation Canada (MTCC), the Utah-based
company that operates the private prison. More than 88 per cent of the
correctional officers turned out to vote on July 21. Unlike correctional
officers in the Ontario Public Service who cannot strike because they are
covered by the Crown Employee Collective Bargaining Act, which requires
that a negotiated essential services agreement be in place prior to a
labour disruption, CNCC officers can go on strike if they do not reach a
collective agreement. MTC and its employees are covered under the Labour
Relations Act, which has no legislative requirement for an essential
services agreement.
August 3, 2005 OPSEU
Correctional officers employed at Canada’s only private adult jail will
walk off the job at 12:01 a.m. Aug. 12 if no agreement is reached for a new
collective agreement, says the Ontario Public Service Employees Union
(OPSEU/NUPGE). On July 21, members of OPSEU Local 369 voted 95% to reject
the last offer made by Utah-based Management and Training Corporation, the
company hired by the former Conservative government of Premier Mike Harris
to run the institution. OPSEU President Leah Casselman says wage issues
have been mostly agreed upon. However, issues such as staffing levels and
time off remain outstanding. “Our members are still looking for parity with
their public sector counterparts,” Casselman says. “We will not allow this
American company to run the jail at standards that are below jails in the
rest of the province.” Unlike publicly-operated jails, there is no law
requiring members to provide essential services during a strike or lockout.
Sean Wilson, chair of the union bargaining team, says this should be a
concern for both the jail and the community. “Less than 50 MTC managers are available to replace 200
striking correctional officers,” Wilson adds. “There aren’t any trained
teams available to deal with riots or other disturbances should they
arise.”
July
13, 2005
Bargaining representatives for the Ontario Public Service Employees Union
Local 369 at the Penetanguishene private superjail have recommended that
their members vote to reject the final offer tabled by the employer today,
July 13. The contract offer affects over 200 correctional staff at the
facility. OPSEU members will vote on the employer offer on July 21. A rejection
will give the union a strike mandate, and a strike date is expected to be
set for mid-August. The previous contract expired Dec. 31, 2004. OPSEU
President Leah Casselman said that the contract offer doesn't come anywhere
close to what her members need in their next collective agreement: Parity
with public sector correctional workers. Currently, workers at the facility run by
Utah-based Management and Training Corporation earn two per cent less per
hour than their public sector counterparts and receive fewer benefits and
less time off. Sean Wilson, chair of the union bargaining team, says this
is unacceptable.
July 8, 2005 Simcoe.com
JAIL GUARD STABBED - OPP charged an inmate at the Central North
Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene after an attack in a staircase.
Police said, on Monday, June 27, a 22-year-old correctional officer was
grabbed by an inmate, and stabbed in the neck with a sharpened object. The
officer was able to run away and went into a secured area. Another officer
was threatened with death before the inmate calmed down. An 18-year-old
Brampton man was arrested and charged with attempted murder, assaulting a
peace officer, threatening death and breach of probation.
May 27, 2005 Midland Free Press
As a wrongful death suit slowly makes its way through the courts, Tom
Elliott believes the privately operated jail in which his son contracted
blood poisoning should become a public institution. Elliott's son, Jeffrey,
died from blood poisoning in August 2003, after cutting his hand on a food
hatch at the Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene. The 1,184 bed facility is operated by Management and
Training Corporation (MTC) of Canada, and it's parent company based in
Centerville, Utah. In September, a coroner's inquest ruled the 20-year-old
Beachburg man died accidentally. Elliott and his family are seeking
$150,000 in damages in a wrongful death suit launched against the Province
of Ontario, MTC and First Correctional Medical. Elliott said he is
unwilling to negotiate a settlement with the three parties. "It is not
a money issue. I'm not concerned
about money," he said. "I will settle for nothing less than a
public apology, to let the public know that this wasn't right." "There
is no money to be gained out of this," Elliott added. "I want to
make the public understand that it could be their son or daughter."
May 20, 2005 Midland Free Press
Central North Correctional Centre was locked down this week after a bullet
was found Saturday in a washroom at the jail. The washroom where staff
found the bullet was located in the front administration area of the
prison. "It's obviously a strange place to find a bullet," said
correctional officer Sean Wilson, president of OPSEU Local 369, which
represents more than 200 guards. "The one thought is, if there's a
bullet, is there a gun?" Guards issued a work refusal Saturday and a
Ministry of Labour inspector was summoned. Ministry spokesperson Bruce
Skeaff said the first work refusal was aired Saturday morning. That’s when
a bullet and razors were found inside the prison, though he was unable to
provide a location for where the razors were discovered. The jail was
locked down — and remained so at press time — by the employer as the work
refusal unfolded. A ministry inspector determined the workers had no right
to issue the work refusal and the situation was downgraded to a complaint.
A search was ordered, and the inspector advised that staff be instructed
and trained by the employer to do such.
May 18, 2005 The Mirror
A bullet and razors were found at the jail in Penetanguishene, but no
gun has yet been located. Inmates at the Central North Correctional Center
remained in lockdown yesterday as correctional officers searched for a gun
believed to be hidden within the jail. On Saturday May 14, a bullet and
razors were found in a washroom at the Penetanguishene jail, and
correctional officers believed the bullet wouldn't be there without a
pistol. Correctional officers asked for the jail to be locked down until
the gun was found, but The Mirror was told management refused. "We
were called at 11a.m. with a work refusal by 275 correctional officers at
the facility," said Bruce Skeaff, ministry of labour spokesperson.
"It was a disagreement between the workers and management in regards
to the search of the facility."
May 17, 2005 Midland Free Press
Management and Training Corporation jettisoned the word 'acting' before
Phill Clough's title earlier this month as he was named the new
administrator at Central North Correctional Centre. Clough had been acting facility
administrator since former jail boss Doug Thomson — who'd run the prison
since July 2001, four months before CNCC opened its doors to inmates —
resigned last November.
March 18, 2005 Midland Free Press
Tom Elliott continues to seek justice for his dead son Jeffrey. A pretrial
has been scheduled for the end of April for the $150,000 wrongful death
suit launched by the Elliott family against the Province of Ontario,
Management and Training Corporation (MTC) of Canada, and First Correctional
Medical. The purpose of a pretrial is to bring the parties together to
discuss the case and the issues to be presented in court. The lawsuit was
filed months before the jury in the Ontario coroner’s inquest ruled in
September that Jeffery Elliott died accidentally while at the Central North
Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene. The 20-year-old Beachburg man died
from blood poisoning in August 2003, after cutting his hand on a food hatch
at the jail operated by MTC, a private company based in Centerville, Utah.
Jeffery had less than a month remaining on his one-year robbery sentence
when he died. “I still stick by the same thing. It’s not a money issue it’
about principle,” said Mr. Elliott, explaining why he launched the lawsuit.
“It was obvious in Jeffery’s case it was a lack of treatment (that caused
his death). It was a tragedy.” Elliott
said he would agree to withdraw his lawsuit if the jail was placed in
public hands.
February 25, 2005 Midland Free Press
One inmate has his ear ripped off and another was stabbed several times
with a three-inch screw nail in separate incidents, Saturday at Central
North Correctional Centre, according to prison sources. Sources said the
first altercation was prolonged because of a computer failure in the unit
which prevented the doors from opening, forcing the crisis team to take the
long way around. The first incident, which happened midday, was an
inmate-on-inmate fight, and one of the prisoners "had his ear ripped
right off," said a correctional officer who requested anonymity.
Computer problems have plagued the prison for months and have led to work
refusals by guards, citing their safety was compromised. The officer said
the recent failure was isolated to one unit, adding staff are becoming
increasingly frustrated by door and computer malfunctions. The Free Press
recently reported that the ministry had paid for computer upgrades. "The
computers being fixed, that's a crock," said the guard. "They
give us all kinds of excuses. It's obvious we've got big-time
problems." The second incident happened Saturday evening when about 32
inmates were being escorted from the chapel back to their unit. A fight
erupted and one of the prisoners used a screw nail as a weapon, said the
guard. One of the inmates sustained "several" puncture wounds to
the head, chest and side, said the officer, who estimated the screw nail
was about three inches long and about 3/8 of an inch thick. They said the
inmate was treated in the prison medical unit.
February 15, 2005 Midland Free Press
Work refusals by correctional officers last year at Central North
Correctional Centre were not the catalyst for the installation of new computer
hardware and software, says a ministry official. Julia Noonan, spokesperson
for the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services' corrections
branch, confirmed there were computer upgrades at CNCC just before
Christmas. The local prison was plagued by computer malfunctions last fall,
including a crash that reduced central control to half-capacity and led to
a prisonwide lockdown. At the time, guards said this created a dangerous
scenario in the admission and discharge area. Other maladies included door
and interlock failures, intercom glitches, as well as loss of camera
control, audio alarms and duress signal failures.
December 7, 2004 Midland Free Press
An inquest into the death of a Central North Correctional Centre inmate
begins Dec. 13 at the Midland courthouse. Joseph Balog, 20, of Barrie,
collapsed Sept.29, 2003, within three hours of arriving at the
Penetanguishene jail. He was taken
to Huronia District Hospital where he died two hours later.
November 29, 2004 Midland Free Press
A correctional officer at Central North Correctional Centre was arrested
Sunday and charged with drug-trafficking and breach of peace for allegedly
selling cocaine and marijuana inside the so-called superjail. This is the
second guard this year to face drug-related charges. Following a year-long
investigation, Southern Georgian Bay OPP arrested the guard Sunday at
around noon, said Const. Greg Chinn. A 37-year-old Oro-Medonte Township man has been charged with
trafficking a controlled substance and breach of peace. The arrest marks
the second time this year that a guard has been charged with a drug-related
offence. In March, a 29-year-old correctional officer from Penetanguishene
was arrested on his way to work by the OPP and charged with drug
trafficking, breach of trust and threatening after a month-long
investigation by the provincial crime unit. However, ministry spokesperson
Tony Brown said it's up to Management and Training Corporation — the
Utah-based company that has a five-year contract to run the jail — to deal
with the situation.
November 19, 2004 Midland Free Press
The Free Press has learned that a recent work refusal issued by a
correctional worker cites more computer problems at the superjail, but a
Ministry of Labour inspector deemed it did not pose immediate danger to the
guards. The work refusal was issued by a correctional officer in the early
morning hours of Nov. 4. Ministry
of Labour spokesperson Belinda Sutton said the work refusal was called in
after three alleged computer crashes the night before, and correctional
officers said it posed a threat to their safety. Sharon
Dion, a member of the prison's Community Monitoring Committee and an
advocate for the abolishment of private prisons in Canada, said she is at
her wit's end regarding continual defects within the jail. "This is
absolutely ridiculous," said Dion. "If (Management and Training
Corporation) cared about its correctional officers, they'd deal with this
promptly."
November 9, 2004 Midland Free Press
The first and only administrator to oversee Central North Correctional
Centre has resigned. Effective last Friday, Doug Thomson resigned his post
as facility administrator at the so-called superjail. Thomson started his
career in 1979, as a correctional officer in Ottawa, moving around the
province to other facilities. He was promoted through the ranks until
eventually becoming a superintendent. Thomson was hired by Utah-based
Management and Training Corporation to head up CNCC, Canada's first
privately run adult prison. He began the job in July 2001, and the jail
opened in November 2001.
October 29, 2004 Midland Free Press
This is in response to Management
& Training Corporation's diatribe ("MTC defends
accreditation," Oct. 22, 2004) about Brian Dawe's Oct 15 "Letter
of the Day" questioning the American Correctional Association (ACA)
accreditation of MTC's Central North Correctional Centre (CNCC). MTC's
Peter Mount never addressed any of the points Mr. Dawe raised. Instead, Mr. Mount resorted to a personal
assault on Mr. Dawe and his organization, Corrections USA. Not once did Mr.
Mount defend the credibility or the significance of ACA's accreditation.
Why didn't Mr. Mount just present evidence to counter the claims that: * ACA has never
failed an institution, during an accreditation audit? * ACA refuses to release the results of its
audits? * ACA ensures that positions
on its board and committees are filled with for-profit private prison
operators? * ACA has accredited some
facilities in the United States that have later been sites of excessive
staff-on-inmate violence? In January 2004, Abt Associates released a report
for the U.S. Department of Justice called "Government's Management of
Private Prisons." This report
says the following about ACA accreditation: Achieving ACA accreditation is
not an outcomes-based performance goal.
Rather, ACA standards primarily prescribe procedures. (Emphasis in original) The great majority
of ACA standards are written in this form:
"The facility shall have written policies and procedures on
..." The standards emphasize the important benefits of procedural
regularity and effective administration control that flow from written
procedures, and careful documentation of practices and events. But, for the most part, the standards
prescribe neither the goals that ought to be achieved nor the indicators
that would let officials know if they are making progress toward those
goals over time. I guess now Mr. Mount will be calling the Abt and the U.
S. Department of Justice zealots. However, it is nice to know that if there
is a riot at the CNCC, MTC may have the paperwork to show it has had a
riot. In full disclosure and before Mr. Mount attacks my commitment to the
fight against for-profit private prisons, I am the executive director of
the Private Corrections Institute, an advocacy group that presents the
"other side" of the story on private prisons. Don't take my word
about the horrors associated with profiteering of the incarceration of
human beings. PCI backs up its claims with documentation, without resorting
to character assassination. Ken Kopczynski, Private Corrections Institute
October 22, 2004 Midland Free Press
A jackknife was discovered in Unit 2 at Central North Correctional Centre,
Sunday afternoon, according to a prison employee. Prison spokesperson Peter
Mount could not confirm whether a weapon had been found. A union
representative and correctional officer inside CNCC, who requested
anonymity, said the discovery of weapons is growing tiresome and dangerous.
“Obviously we have a problem,” said the correctional officer. “They
(management) are finally admitting there is a problem, which has taken
about three years.” A few weeks ago,
correctional officers found a pocketknife after two inmates were stabbed
last month. Another inmate was stabbed to death in May. Fear
of weapons in Unit 6 ultimately led to a work refusal. Due to the possible
dangers, correctional officers issued their second work refusal in two
weeks. On Oct. 7, correctional officers issued a work refusal after the
central control computer was reduced to half-capacity; guards also had
concerns that duress signals in some of the living units may not have
worked properly had there been an emergency while the main computer was
down. With the recent
concerns over possible weapons in Unit 6, union representatives and
management could not come to an agreement about how to solve the problem,
so a Ministry of Labour health and safety inspector was called in. The
Ministry of Labour inspector ordered that Unit 6 be searched thoroughly. A ministry memo states, “The employer should
take every reasonable precaution to protect the (health and safety) of a
worker. The employer’s operating procedures require a mandatory
once-every-two-weeks search of the inmate living areas. This order applies
to Unit 6.” Correctional officers have repeatedly told management there
needs to be regular searches every two weeks, not monthly, as has been
happening. Belinda Sutton, a Ministry of Labour spokesperson, said the memo
essentially reinforced the jail’s existing policy. “The employer already had the search policy
of once every two weeks in place,” said Sutton. “The Ontario Ministry of
Labour issued an order for the employer to follow its own internal
procedure.” The prison’s biweekly search policy is “adequate,” said Mount,
though he would not comment further on how often searches are actually
conducted, citing potential security risks.
October 15, 2004 Daily Observer
The family of a 20-year-old Beachburg man who died after sustaining a cut
to his hand while serving time in Canada's only private jail is suing the
company that operates the institution and the province for $150,000. Jeffrey Elliott's estate, his father Tom
Elliott and his grandmother Elizabeth Elliott, are each seeking $50,000 in
general damages from Management and Training Corporation Canada and the
provincial government.
October 15, 2004 Midland Free Press
Central North Correctional Centre underwent a prisonwide lockdown last
Thursday after the jail’s main computer was reduced to half-capacity. A
malfunction to the prison’s central control computer system — believed to
be caused by faulty hard drives — led to a work refusal by correctional
officers. The failure made for
an unsafe environment in the admission and discharge area where about 40
prisoners were waiting entrance to the prison. According to sources
representing union interests inside the jail, only two of central control’s
four computers were operational. The malfunction meant opening
and closing of doors inside the prison would be slowed substantially, said
the correctional officer. The crash also put added stress on officers in
central control area. At that point a work refusal was issued, they said. “They
fix things fairly quickly when there’s a work refusal,” said the
correctional officer. This
is not a new problem, however. Both mechanical and technical glitches have
been ongoing for about six months, said the correctional officer. Six work
refusals have been issued in the past at the so-called superjail. Other
work refusals were issued due to inadequate searches and sub-par staffing
levels.
October 13, 2004 Midland Mirror
Another inmate has been stabbed at the Central North Correctional
Centre. On Oct.9, a
21-year-old man was sent to the Huronia District Hospital after he was
stabbed several times in his upper body, at approximately 8:30 a.m. This
is the third stabbing at the jail this year. An incident in May resulted in death, and
a stabbing occurred last month.
Peter Mount, communications director at the Central North
Correctional Centre, said jail isn't releasing any details and is
completing its own investigation. When asked by The Mirror if the super jail is a safe place,
Mount said there is no way to measure that. "There's no qualitative
measure of what's safe." While Mount said administration has a good
relationship with correctional officers, he did confirm there was a
'refusal-to-work' situation last week.
October 10, 2004 VRLand News
The O.P.P. are
investigating another stabbing at Canada's only privately operated
prison. At the C.N.C.C. facility in
Penetanguishene, a
21-year old inmate was stabbed several times.
September 29, 2004 The Mirror
At Monday night's council meeting, Midland Police Chief Paul Hamelin told
council the prevalence of crack cocaine in the community is on the rise,
and he attributed it to the Penetanguishene jail. "Our intelligence
officer reports that we are beginning to see a correlation between criminal
activity in our community, and the Central North Correctional Centre,"
said Hamelin. Through investigating cases of crack cocaine and other drugs
in the community, Hamelin has been in contact with officers in the Greater
Toronto Area (GTA), and said they have been able to trace some of those
cases back to the jail. Hamelin said he never guessed crime within Midland
would be on the increase as a result of the jail, which opened in 2001.
"This is not something we anticipated with the jail. In the beginning,
there were more concerns of (inmates) moving to this area, much like you
see in the federal system."
September 25, 2004 Toronto Sun
AFTER 24 hours of deliberations, a coroner's jury decided that the death of
inmate Jeffrey Elliott was accidental, but the young man's father says he
does not agree with the verdict. The decision, along with 11
recommendations, came after a two-week inquest that explored the details
behind the death of the 20-year-old Beachburg man. Elliott died a painful death last year from
blood poisoning after a small cut on his finger became horribly infected. Most
of the recommendations were directed at Canada's only privately run prison,
the Central North Correction Centre (CNCC) in Penetanguishene, where
Elliott was serving a one-year sentence. The jury asked for more stringent
hygiene methods, better medical record keeping and better education and
treatment of hand infections.
September 21, 2004 The Star
By the time an inmate at Canada's first privately run jail was sent to a
hospital, a tiny cut on his finger had become so seriously infected a lot
of the fat and tissue had been destroyed, an inquest has heard. "The
long tendons to the finger had also been eaten away by the pus,'' Dr. James
Lacey, a plastic surgeon who operated on Jeffrey Elliott, told the inquest
in Midland yesterday. Elliott, 20, cut his finger on the food hatch in the
door of a fellow inmate's cell at the Central North Correctional Centre in
Penetanguishene on Aug. 1, 2003. He died Aug. 29, 2003, of an acute
gastrointestinal hemorrhage resulting from septic complications of a hand
injury. By Aug. 9, Elliott's wound was seeping pus, indicating it was
"in an advanced stage" of tenosynovitus, a serious infection of
the tendons. But a doctor didn't see him until two days later, the jury heard.
September 16, 2004 Toronto Sun
Three days after a deadly infection began to spread its way through inmate
Jeffrey Elliott's body, he needed emergency care. Instead, an inquest heard
yesterday, prison medical staff pumped a multitude of antibiotics into him
for three weeks, which may have contributed to his slow, ugly death last
year. "They missed the boat ... he needed urgent emergency care and he
didn't get it," Dr. Paul Binhammer, a hand surgeon at Sunnybrook
hospital, told a coroner's inquest in Midland yesterday. He said medical
staff at Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene, Canada's
only privately run prison, didn't heed obvious signs of the deadly
infection that killed Elliott. Three days after the prison doctor put two stitches in his
finger on Aug. 1, 2003, he stuck his swollen hand out of his cell hatch to
show a passing nurse. He complained again a few days later. Both times he
was given Tylenol and ice.
September 14, 2004 Ottawa Citizen
After Day 1 of an inquest into the death of Jeffrey Elliott, it remains
unclear just how the 20-year-old acquired a cut on his finger that ended in
his blood poisoning death. Mr. Elliott, an inmate at Canada's first
privately run corrections facility, died in Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto
on Aug. 29, 2003, four weeks after sustaining the cut on the inside of his
right-hand ring finger. Mr.
Elliott had only 23 days left on a robbery sentence in the controversial
Central North Correctional Centre in Pentetanguishene, called the
"super-jail." The outcome of the inquest may have a bearing on
the future of Canada's first and only privately run corrections centre.
U.S.-based Management Training Company (MTC) is contracted by the Ontario
government to run the facility. Dr. Moran, a Barrie doctor who
visits the facility on Fridays, was at the correctional centre on the day
Mr. Elliott sustained the cut. Crown attorney David Russell questioned the
doctor's report, which states silk sutures were used for the wound, a
series of questions that went on for about an hour. "The jail has
never had silk sutures," Dr. Moran told the inquest, unable to provide
an explanation for the mixup.
September 10, 2004 Midland Free Press
Following a pair of stabbings at Central North Correctional Centre, an
anonymous correctional officer at the superjail said a lockdown and
subsequent search yielded a pocketknife, the same week a report was leaked
to the media about modicum staffing levels. Because of staff shortages,
searches aren't performed as regularly as they should be, said the
correctional officer. At least one anti-privatization supporter says the memo
should open the public's eyes once and for all about staffing levels inside
the jail. "The words come straight from one of their
administrators," said Sharon Dion, head of Citizens Against Private
Prisons Penetanguishene, and a member of the prison's community advisory
committee. "If it's a concern to them it should be a community
concern. The OPP is investigating
a pair of stabbings that happened last Saturday at CNCC. A 21-year-old
Toronto man received a puncture wound to his leg, and a 20-year-old man,
also from Toronto, sustained a puncture wound to his chest and a cut on his
thumb.
September 3, 2004 Midland Free Press
A draft internal
memo says staffing issues makes scheduling a nightmare and that the Central
North Correctional Centre is not in compliance with its contract with the
province. The internal draft memo from deputy of operations Phil Clough to
superintendent Doug Thomson said staffing issues mean shift scheduling
"doesn't meet the needs community escorts, particularly when they are
admitted to hospital." A guard and union spokesman from the
publically-run Superjail near Lindsay compared the Superjail to the
Titanic. Barry Scanlon, a guard at the publicly run superjail in
Maplehurst, and representative of the Ontario Public Service Employees
Union, said the institution was "ripe for disaster."Chronic
understaffing at Ontario's privately run superjail has led to inadequate
supervision of the maximum-security institution and of inmates escorted
into the community, the internal document suggests. Clough also wrote that
trying to schedule shifts properly was "an exercise in futility,"
raising concerns over public safety. "The present shift
schedule...doesn't meet the needs of community escorts, particularly when
they are admitted to hospital." Critics seized on the confidential review of staffing levels
as proof that Utah-based Management and Training Corporation which operates
the 1,200-bed Central North Correctional Centre was putting profits before
public safety. When the former Tory government announced the new jail would
be privately operated, it assuaged community fears by promising tough standards
a private operator would have to meet. Those standards - including minimum
staffing levels - were enshrined in a contract between the company and the
province that runs to 2006. However, the memo obtained by the union two
weeks ago and apparently written at the end of May or in early June,
indicates the company had failed to live up to its end of the deal.
"On a regular basis, we are not in compliance with the contract,"
it says bluntly. Dan Gregoire, a former guard at the jail, accused the
company of failing to come clean with the government and public.
"Please, for the safety of the community, the inmates and for the
staff...it's time to remove this private operator," said Gregoire.
Four people have died during their custody period at CNCC since May of
2003. A recent trail into the attack on an inmate in the prison yielded no
convictions, despite the attack taking place in the facility during a snack
period for the inmates. The victim was yanked out of the food lineup with a
pillowcase over his head and dragged to a cell, where he was stabbed more
than 30 times with the sharpened end of a pink toothbrush. He was also
kicked, choked and beaten. His legs
were placed over the bunk and jumped on by two or three other inmates,
leaving him with broken ribs and ankles, a concussion and multiple stab
wounds.
September 3, 2004 Midland Free Press
A draft internal
memo says staffing issues makes scheduling a nightmare and that the Central
North Correctional Centre is not in compliance with its contract with the
province. The internal draft memo from deputy of operations Phil Clough to
superintendent Doug Thomson said staffing issues mean shift scheduling
"doesn't meet the needs community escorts, particularly when they are
admitted to hospital." A guard and union spokesman from the
publically-run Superjail near Lindsay compared the Superjail to the
Titanic. Barry Scanlon, a guard at the publicly run superjail in
Maplehurst, and representative of the Ontario Public Service Employees
Union, said the institution was "ripe for disaster."Chronic
understaffing at Ontario's privately run superjail has led to inadequate
supervision of the maximum-security institution and of inmates escorted
into the community, the internal document suggests. Clough also wrote that
trying to schedule shifts properly was "an exercise in futility,"
raising concerns over public safety. "The present shift
schedule...doesn't meet the needs of community escorts, particularly when
they are admitted to hospital." Critics seized on the confidential review of staffing levels
as proof that Utah-based Management and Training Corporation which operates
the 1,200-bed Central North Correctional Centre was putting profits before
public safety. When the former Tory government announced the new jail would
be privately operated, it assuaged community fears by promising tough
standards a private operator would have to meet. Those standards -
including minimum staffing levels - were enshrined in a contract between
the company and the province that runs to 2006. However, the memo obtained
by the union two weeks ago and apparently written at the end of May or in
early June, indicates the company had failed to live up to its end of the
deal. "On a regular basis, we are not in compliance with the contract,"
it says bluntly. Dan Gregoire, a former guard at the jail, accused the
company of failing to come clean with the government and public.
"Please, for the safety of the community, the inmates and for the
staff...it's time to remove this private operator," said Gregoire.
Four people have died during their custody period at CNCC since May of
2003. A recent trail into the attack on an inmate in the prison yielded no
convictions, despite the attack taking place in the facility during a snack
period for the inmates. The victim was yanked out of the food lineup with a
pillowcase over his head and dragged to a cell, where he was stabbed more
than 30 times with the sharpened end of a pink toothbrush. He was also
kicked, choked and beaten. His legs
were placed over the bunk and jumped on by two or three other inmates,
leaving him with broken ribs and ankles, a concussion and multiple stab
wounds.
September 1, 2004 The Star
Understaffing at Ontario's only privately run jail means the facility's
U.S. operators are routinely violating their contract with the province, a
confidential company document says. The internal memo, prepared by
company officials at the Central North Correctional Centre in
Penetanguishene, highlights serious problems resulting from understaffing
and concludes: "We are in a situation where on a regular basis we are
not in compliance with the contract." The memo says the prison,
which opened in 2001 and is run by Management Training Corp. of Utah, has
too few staff to protect the public properly when prisoners leave the
prison. It states the "present shift schedule ... is not meeting
needs, is inefficient, has staff on shift where they are not needed and
insufficient staff where they are, doesn't meet the needs of community
escorts particularly when (inmates) are admitted to hospital."
The memo also says there was not even enough staff to provide proper
searches to keep drugs and weapons out of the maximum-security
jail.
August 31, 2004 The Star
Chronic understaffing at Ontario's privately run superjail has led to
inadequate supervision of the maximum-security institution and of inmates
escorted into the community, an internal document suggests. Critics
seized on the confidential review of staffing levels as proof that
Utah-based Management and Training Corp., which operates the 1,200-bed
Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene, was putting profits
before public safety. The memo, written by the jail's deputy of
operations Phill Clough to its superintendent Doug Thomson, outlines
numerous problems at the three-year-old facility. "Searches are
not being done in a systemic manner," the memo states. Clough
also wrote that trying to schedule shifts properly was "an exercise in
futility," raising concerns over public safety. "The
present shift schedule doesn't meet the needs of community escorts,
particularly when they are admitted to hospital." Barry Scanlon,
a guard at the publicly run superjail in Maplehurst, Ont., and
representative of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, said the
institution was "ripe for disaster." "We don't want
(guards) coming out in bodybags," said Scanlon. "Central
North Correctional Centre Titanic is what it is. It's just waiting for that
iceberg to come up." When the former Tory government announced
the new jail north of Toronto would be privately operated, it assuaged
community fears by promising tough standards a private operator would have
to meet. Those standards — including minimum staffing levels — were
enshrined in a contract between the company and the province that runs to
2006. However, the memo obtained by the union two weeks ago and
apparently written at the end of May or in early June, indicates the
company had failed to live up to its end of the deal. "On a
regular basis, we are not in compliance with the contract," it says
bluntly. "We have everything in place to address any compliance
issues as they emerge," said Adrian Dafoe. Still, New Democrat
Peter Kormos accused management of the facility of "recklessly and
consciously risking public safety," and called on the province to take
over the prison immediately. While no inmates have managed to flee
the facility, in August 2002, rioting erupted at the institution and almost
100 inmates almost escaped using a battering ram. There have been
about four or five deaths, including one who was knifed and another who
died from medical problems caused by a cut on his hand. Kormos
accused management of the facility of "recklessly and consciously
risking public safety" and called on the province to take over the
prison immediately. "It's become obvious that the private prison
experience has been a total failure," Kormos said. Dan Gregoire,
a former guard at the jail, accused the company of failing to come clean
with the government and public. "Please, for the safety of the
community, the inmates and for the staff it's time to remove this private
operator," said Gregoire.
July 9, 2004 Midland Free Press
Three men charged with severely beating a fellow inmate at the Central
North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene were found not guilty
Thursday. The jury at the trial got a glimpse of life behind the
high-wire fence of the so-called superjail. During the four-day
trial, which started June 30 in the Superior Court of Justice in Barrie,
the nine-woman, three-man jury was told that the victim Thomas Smuck, was
savagely beaten while serving time in the superjail for sexual assault and
forcible confinement. His attackers grabbed him while he lined
up for the evening snack - called jug-up - on April 27, 2002. They covered
his head with a pillow case and as he passed in and out of consciousness
dragged him into a cell where they stabbed him 47 times with a filed-down
toothbrush. Smuck told the court he didn't know who his assailants
were, but one sat on his chest while another punched him in the face.
Then, with his feet hanging over the edge of the bed, another jumped
repeatedly on his legs and broke both of his ankles.
May 20, 2004 Barrier Examiner
Four inmates at the Central North Correctional Centre were charged
Wednesday in connection with the death of another inmate earlier this
month. Minh Tu, 28, died from a stab wound on May 5. Police
continue to investigate the death of Tu, the fourth inmate to die at the
prison, commonly referred to as the superjail, in the last year.
Inquests have yet to be held to examine the deaths of two other
inmates.
May 11, 2004 Midland Free Press
Minh Tu has been identified by police as the Central North Correctional
Centre (CNCC) inmate who died last Wednesday in hospital following an
altercation with another prisoner. A post-mortem examination determined Tu,
28, died as a result of a stab wound. Tu is the fourth CNCC inmate to die
in the last year, and a coroner's inquests will be held into the death.
May 7, 2004 Midland Free Press
A male inmate wounded in an altercation yesterday at the Central North
Correctional Centre died two hours later in a Midland hospital. He is
the fourth inmate to die in the last year. Police from the Southern
Georgian Bay OPP detachment cordoned off the living unit at the
privately-run prison where the incident occurred to conduct an
investigation.
May 6, 2004 Toronto Star
An inmate has been stabbed to death at Ontario's only privately run
provincial prison, officials confirmed yesterday. "There was a
stabbing, the inmate was taken to hospital and he died and there is
currently an investigation into the incident," said Adrian Dafoe, a
spokesperson for Community Safety Minister Monte Kwinter. Central
North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene has been dogged by
controversy, including health and safety issues, since the maximum-security
jail opened in November, 2001. It is the first murder at the
jail.
March
22, 2004 The Mirror
A 29-year-old jail guard may be spending some time on the other side of the
bars after he was charged by police for bringing a controlled substance
into the workplace. The man, a correctional officer at the Central North
Correctional Centre, was arrested while driving to work on March 13, after
a month-long investigation by OPP. He has worked at the super jail for
approximately one year, and was charged with trafficking a controlled
substance, breach of trust by a public officer, and threatening.
Colorado Department of Corrections
February 28, 2006 Pueblo Chieftain
A private prison company is looking at Fremont County as the possible home
for two private prisons that could grow to a 4,250-inmate population. So
with nearly 8,000 inmates already living here, can the county take on more
than half that number in new inmates? Management Training Corp., based in
Centerville, Utah, is hoping so. The corporation runs private prisons
throughout the U.S. including Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, and now is
checking out Fremont County for two potential private prisons. Consultant
Nolin Renfrow, who retired from the Colorado Department of Corrections
after a 28-year career, is taking on the developer role in an attempt to
bring all the players together to make it happen."I was intrigued by
MTC - a private business, a refreshing group with solid credentials. They
are heavy into programs and working with the inmates and I am just
pro-corrections. . . . I believe there are certain people who need to be
locked up. "I hate the thought of turning some inmates loose if there
are not enough beds. So, here I am, hoping to oversee the programming,
designing and construction, then I'll turn the keys over to MTC,"
Renfrow said. MTC has decided to submit a proposal for both the two new
private prisons and hired Renfrow to come up with a plan.
Eagle Mountain Community Correctional
Facility, Eagle Mountain, California
March 21, 2007 The Press-Enterprise
Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, R-Cathedral City, reiterated her
opposition Wednesday to reopening a private prison at Eagle Mountain, a
remote community in Riverside County. The 500-bed facility closed in 2003
shortly after a riot that killed two inmates and injured dozens. This week,
Senate Republicans proposed reopening the prison as part of their plan this
week to reduce prison crowding. Garcia, whose district includes Eagle
Mountain, said she will only support using the prison as a minimum-security
facility staffed by state correctional officers. "I want to be clear
and direct -- I am adamantly opposed and will fight any effort to reopen a
private prison at Eagle Mountain under any conditions," Garcia wrote
in a letter sent Wednesday to Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary
James Tilton.
September 14, 2006 The Press-Enterprise
A Houston-based corrections company hopes to reopen a 500-bed lockup in
Eagle Mountain, three years after lawmakers closed the privately operated
prison. Riverside County officials confirmed Thursday that they've received
a proposal from Cornell Cos. for a 150,000-square-foot correctional
facility in the remote community near Joshua Tree National Park. Cornell
Cos. officials did not return telephone calls seeking comment this week.
The company's Web site says it operates 79 correctional facilities in 17
states, including California. Terry Thornton, spokeswoman for the California
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said the state has asked
contractors to submit their plans for operating 8,500 prison beds for men
and women. Information about the bidders and their proposals is
confidential until the state awards the contracts Nov. 17, Thornton said.
Plans submitted to Riverside County call for $27 million in new
construction at the Eagle Mountain site and say the project would create
150 jobs. County Supervisor Roy Wilson, whose district includes Eagle
Mountain, said officials have promised to fast-track Cornell's proposal to
help it meet strict state deadlines, if the company receives the contract.
But Wilson said he expects the project to be vetted before the county
Planning Commission before coming to the Board of Supervisors for
consideration. "They need some kind of economic development out
there," Wilson said. "It's a ghost town. It's in dire
straits." Five people live in Eagle Mountain. Mary Zeiler, resident of
Eagle Mountain for 36 years, said she was sorry to see the minimum-security
prison closed in 2003 when state lawmakers cut funding for the prison run
by Utah-based Management & Training Corp. Two months before its
closure, the prison, a converted supermarket, fell under scrutiny when two
inmates were killed and seven inmates were injured in a riot. Kay Hazen,
spokeswoman for Kaiser Ventures, said she had not seen Cornell's proposal
but that Kaiser welcomes any opportunity to use the prison as a solution to
the state's shortage of prison beds. Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia,
R-Cathedral City, said she would like to see the state house inmates there
but not under a private contractor. "I am not supportive of any
private prisons," Garcia said.
July 12, 2005
Riverside County Supervisor
Jeff Stone on Tuesday challenged the sheriff to come up with a better plan
than his own for relieving the county's overcrowded jails. Stone's
challenge came during his barbed exchange with Riverside County
Undersheriff Neil Lingle, in which Stone defended his idea of converting a
defunct Eagle Mountain prison into a county jail for $10.8 million. Eagle
Mountain resident Larry Charpied said he worked at the prison prior to its
closure and experienced several riots there, some of which resulted in multiple
inmates' deaths. The Eagle Mountain prison closed in 2003 when its private
operator lost state funding. "It was not safe and that's why the state
closed it," Charpied said.
November 29, 2004 Desert Sun
What was the result of the preliminary hearing for the eight men accused of
killing two fellow inmates during a race riot at the Eagle Mountain
Correctional Facility in October 2003? All eight men were held to answer charges in the deaths of
Master Hampton, 36, and Rodman Wallace, 39, both of Los Angeles County,
Nov. 1 after a preliminary hearing which stretched over a three-week
period, according to Riverside County court records. If the
defendants are convicted, they face the death penalty or life in prison
without the possibility of parole. The eight were charged after the 2003
prison riot during which several inmates were injured. One of the injured
inmates was Asian and the others, along with Hampton and Wallace, were
African-American. Their alleged attackers were Hispanic and Caucasian
inmates, according to Riverside County Sheriff’s Department reports. The prison, which was operated by the Utah
Based Management and Training Corporation, has since been closed due to
budget cuts.
October 15, 2004 Desert Sun
A preliminary hearing got under way this week in what could be the biggest
single murder case in California history in terms of the number of
defendants. Eight men are charged with murder in the deaths of two fellow
inmates at the former Eagle Mountain Correctional Facility during a race
riot a year ago. The eight were
charged after the October 2003 prison riot during which several inmates
were injured. The prison was closed two months later due to budget cuts,
said Margot Bach, a Department of Corrections spokeswoman. Eagle Mountain
was operated by the Utah-based Management and Training Corporation. Several
of the defense attorneys contend the deaths could have been avoided.
"Nobody from MTC was authorized to use force or weapons," said
Arnold Lieman, Mayfield’s attorney. A Department of Corrections officer had a key to the prison’s
weapons arsenal but worked days and was gone when the riot broke out,
Lieman said.
March 5, 2004
Fourteen men charged in an allegedly racially motivated prison riot that
killed two men in the Eagle Mountain Correctional Facility in October made
their first court appearance in the case Wednesday. Judge B. J. Bjork
set a March 17 arraignment date for the men whose charges range from murder
to assault. All 14 were arrested on warrants Tuesday. Three of the
men -- David Olivares, Peter Morales and Jason Hernandez --are charged with
two counts of murder each by the Riverside County District Attorney’s
office, reported Riverside County Sheriff’s Sgt. Frank Taylor of the
Central Homicide Unit. Anthony Rimoldi, Eric Lewis, Byron Mayfield,
Jose Rodriguez and Hector Careyo were each charged with one count of
murder, he said. Those eight also face special allegations that the
crimes were race related. Six others who participated in the melee at
the now closed Desert Center facility about 30 miles east of Indio were
arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon along with an
allegation for committing the offense while housed in state prison.
The men were charged after a four-month investigation conducted by the Riverside
County Sheriff’s Department in which more than 500 interviews were
conducted, Taylor said. During the investigation into the riot, which
killed two and injured six African-American inmates and injured one Asian
inmate, officials learned the incident was race related. (The Desert
Sun)
March 4, 2004
Eight inmates at a privately run prison were charged with murder Wednesday
in an October riot that left two convicts dead, officials said. The
four-month probe of Eagle Mountain Community Correctional Facility by
Riverside County sheriff's investigators and the district attorney's office
also resulted in six additional inmates being charged with assault with a
deadly weapon. "The evidence will show the defendants' behavior
was animalistic, primitive and racially motivated," said Riverside
County Deputy District Attorney Ulli McNulty, who is handling the case.
"The crime scene they left behind was death and
devastation." The 90-minute fight involving 150 inmates pitted a
group of Hispanic and white inmates against a group of black prisoners.
They fought with barbecue skewers, meat cleavers, table and chair legs, and
two-by-fours. Others fought with mop and broom handles. (AP)
January 5, 2004
The Eagle Mountain Community Correctional Facility, which used to house
more than 430 minimum-security prisoners, is one of three private prisons
forced to shut down as part of a decision by the Davis administration and
the state legislature. The private prison on Wednesday ended its
15-year run as the Chuckwalla Valley's biggest employer. The empty
facility, which was run by Centerville, Utah-based Management &
Training Corp., is owned by Kaiser Ventures, the former steel and iron ore
mining company that also owns the town of Eagle Mountain and land around
it. "This is it," prison security chief Clay Lambert said
by phone. "It's kind of sad. The people who lived and worked
here are realizing now that it's like breaking up a big family
almost." Most of the employees and their families lived in the
town of Eagle Mountain, a community created by Kaiser when it operated its
mine here until the early 1980s. The town had been boarded up for several
years before the prison opened. The families now living in housing
subsidized by MTC and Kaiser have to be out by Jan. 15, said Jan Roberts,
who manages Kaiser's mine reclamation project. "We can't operate the
town on an individual base without a cluster of people." (Press
Enterprise)
January 5, 2004
A company-owned mining town that died once in the early ’80s will become a
ghost town again today when the sole employer -- a private prison -- closes
its doors for good. "It’s sad to see Eagle Mountain go into a
ghost town twice," said Michael Keegan, facilities foreman for Kaiser
Ventures Inc. The industrial giant built Eagle Mountain in 1944 to
house miners and their families. When the iron mines closed nearly 40
years later, the town’s church, store and 337 company homes were left to a
slow decay. "A lot of people come back to reminisce, they bring
their grandchildren, and they’re sad to see how things have become,"
Keegan said. When the private Eagle Mountain Correctional Facility
opened in 1988, portions of the town gasped back to life. Kaiser
Ventures made some of Eagle Mountain’s homes inhabitable for prison workers
and their families. Under a contract with the prison’s operator, Management
& Training Corporation, families paid as little as $145 a month for a
three-bedroom home. Utah-based MTC provides about 16,000 prison beds
nationwide. While some prison employees found the isolated location
to be a sort of hell, others fell in love with the desolate desert and its
silence. The closest supermarket is about 60 miles away. "I love
it here. It’s a nice place for your kids. There is peace and quiet and at
night you can see every star," said correctional officer Lisa
Reynolds. She will hang up her uniform today after nearly 13 years at the
prison. Reynolds is moving with some of her friends and family to Redding,
but says she will miss Eagle Mountain. "I guess this pretty much
puts a lid on it," she said, stepping through the empty prison
barracks. Prison employees have 15 days to evacuate their homes. Keegan,
who works for Kaiser overseeing infrastructure for the community, estimated
it will take 90 days to fully shut down the Eagle Mountain community. Then
he, too, will be out of a job. A kindergarten through eighth-grade
school will remain open at least until June for the 20 or so children whose
families live in the outskirts of Eagle Mountain. Without this major
employer in the area, the school, the only school in the Desert Center
Unified School District, will likely have to lock its doors. If the
school closes, students remaining in the district will likely have to be
bused to the Palo Verde Valley, which means a three-hour round trip for the
K-8 students. Whether or not the hard scrabble mining-turned-prison
town will get a third crack at life remains to be seen. Los Angeles
County might eventually fill in the 1,500-foot-deep mining craters with its
trash if it can work through the technical and environmental
challenges. But as of Tuesday there were no takers for the bleak rows
of boarded-up houses, a secondhand prison and broken-down roads with red
winter weeds pushing stubbornly through the cracks. Riverside County
Supervisor Roy Wilson said he is hopeful the old prison might be used for a
drug rehabilitation center or something similar. "It’s a crying
shame. That private prison could handle prisoners more cost-effectively
than the state," Wilson said of the prison’s closure. At the prison --
a converted strip mall with free-standing buildings circumscribed with
razor wire -- prison employees and a handful of inmates worked to clear out
boxes of records, furniture and prison supplies. Bitterness over the
closure was tangible Tuesday. "We had been holding out hope,
even up to today, but it does not look good," said Clay Lambert, chief
of security at Eagle Mountain for 15 years. All of the
minimum-security prison’s 432 inmates were either shipped to state-run
prisons or paroled to community-based programs. Some of the 98 employees
will go to work for other out-of-state prisons operated by MTC. Many
in Eagle Mountain blame pressure from the powerful California Correctional
Peace Officer’s Association union for the closure of the facility, the only
private-run prison in the state where inmates have died. Two men were
killed when racial tensions broke out into a riot in October, in a
situation Lambert called "extremely unfortunate." Two other
privately operated prisons in California also will be closed today in Baker
and Mesa Verde. Those three prisons and two others -- Live Oak’s Leo
Chesney women’s prison and Wackenhut’s McFarland Community Correctional
Facility -- were targeted by the state Department of Corrections and former
Gov. Gray Davis for closure back in 2001. The Davis administration proposed
closing the five privately operated prisons as a budget-cutting move to
save $5 million from the state’s multi-billion dollar budget deficit.
The move to close the prisons fell apart shortly before they were then
scheduled to close on June 30, 2002. Jan Roberts, director of Eagle
Mountain Operations for Kaiser Ventures, said she was surprised at the
prison’s closure, despite its long struggle to stay open. "I
have a deep, profound disappointment," said Roberts. She has been in
Sacramento several times over the past three months lobbying for Eagle
Mountain’s survival. "I am working every day to find a use for
our facility and town site," she said. Roberts said she is outraged
the state would close down a prison that costs $38 a day less per prisoner
than state-run facilities. Each prisoner in state facilities costs
taxpayers an average of $28,000 a year. Prisoners at Eagle Mountain
were employed by Kaiser as day laborers at minimum wage to perform work in
the community. Some of that money was returned to victims’ assistance
programs and 20 percent to the state to cover their room and board.
"We are getting a double whammy," Roberts said. While Tip
Kindel could not deny the union has been pressuring the state to close
private operations like Eagle Mountain, the acting assistant secretary for
external affairs of the California Youth and Adult Correctional Agency said
union pressure was not the deciding factor in its closure. Most of
the prisoners in Eagle Mountain were minimum-risk parole violators serving
short-term sentences, Kindel said. Many, he said, would be better
served in community programs that cost the state about $2,100 a year, near
their family support systems and jobs. "The Department of
Corrections is trying to assist parolees to success. We want to find
community-based ways of taking care of them in a way that does not
jeopardize the community," Kindel said. Facilities like Eagle Mountain
could be operated for less, Kindel said, because they did not take in ill,
or high-risk inmates with greater needs and demands. As residents
prepared Tuesday to turn out the lights on Eagle Mountain, however, there
was a weariness with the bureaucracy they believed was forcing them from
their homes and jobs. "What town?" asked correctional
officer Ruben Hirst, when talking about the future of Eagle Mountain.
"This prison was the only thing that kept this area alive."
(The Desert Sun)
November 30, 2003
The gas station is shuttered and the old savings and loan long gone. The
movie house is dark, too. Some folks – driving through the quiet community
– no longer bother braking at stop signs. There's not much life left
in Eagle Mountain, a former mining camp deep in the Riverside County
desert. In a few weeks, the tumbleweeds may claim it for good.
At the end of December, state corrections authorities plan to shut off
funding for the community's last remaining industry – a privately managed
prison. And that, locals say, will mean the end of this once-vibrant
company town. "It just makes me want to sit down and cry,"
says longtime resident Connie Ottinger. The facility is among three
private prisons in California due to close Dec. 31 as part of what former
Gov. Gray Davis and legislators portrayed as a cost-cutting move.
Officials with the California Department of Corrections say fewer
low-security prisons – including a wave of private facilities that opened
in the late 1980s – are needed because of a steady decline in non-violent
offenders statewide. The Eagle Mountain facility, which houses 240
men, is run by Utah-based Management & Training Corp. under contract
with California officials. Many around town believe the closure
demonstrates the political muscle of the state prison guards union – the
California Correctional Peace Officers Association. The association has
long opposed privately run, nonunion prisons. Jeannette
"Jan" Roberts of Kaiser Ventures, which owns the community, notes
that privately managed prisons cost less to operate per inmate than public
facilities. "It does not make economic sense to close this
prison and close this town," says Roberts, operations director with
Kaiser and a longtime Eagle Mountain resident. "We shouldn't let the
union rule this state." Hoping for an 11th-hour reprieve,
Roberts and others are trying to persuade Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and
state lawmakers to keep the prison afloat. The rookie politician filmed one
of his action flicks – "Terminator 2: 3D" – in Eagle Mountain about
a decade ago. "GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER: PLEASE SAVE OUR SCHOOL
AND TOWN," reads a sign on the edge of the community. But with
the closure weeks away, folks here figure they may have little more than a
fool's hope. "All of our best efforts may not be enough,"
Roberts says. The town has faced extinction before. In 1983,
Kaiser Ventures shut down an iron mine that had been in operation since
World War II. Hundreds of miners left town, forcing the closure of a movie
house, gas station and other businesses. The prison opened five years
later during a statewide crackdown on crime. Today, about 350 people
reside in the remote community, renting houses provided by Kaiser. Most
work at the prison. Eagle Mountain is roughly 125 miles northeast of
San Diego. Savings to state Terry Thornton, a state Department
of Corrections spokeswoman, says the closure of Eagle Mountain, along with
two private jails in central California, will save the state nearly
$900,000 over the next four years. She dismissed concerns that the
closure is part of a power play by the guards' association, while a union
official called the idea "utterly ridiculous." Lance
Corcoran, a spokesman with the guards' association, says allowing a private
corporation to house state inmates only benefits the business, not the
public. "The commitment of private business is to the bottom
line, to a corporate board of directors," Corcoran says. "Public
safety should not go to the lowest bidders." According to state
corrections officials, the cost of housing an inmate in a privately managed
prison is $17,000 a year, compared to $28,000 in a state facility.
But Corcoran and others say the cost gap isn't as wide as it appears.
Unlike state prisons, private facilities are not required to fund the cost of
transferring prisoners and other key expenses. Dozens of Eagle
Mountain inmates were transferred out in October following a jailhouse riot
that left two convicts dead. The violent incident is under
investigation. The riot is believed to be the first of its kind at a
privately managed prison in California. Folks around Eagle Mountain
call the riot unfortunate, but hope state officials don't see it as another
excuse to close the prison down. Tears fall
Ottinger, 45, has lived in the area 35 years and is secretary at
Eagle Mountain School, a K-through-8 campus. She remembers when the iron
mine shut down and tears up at the prospect of the prison closure.
"I can't stand the idea of that happening again," she says.
She believes Eagle Mountain was an ideal place to grow up. Neighbors looked
out for neighbors. Kids biked around town and few worried for their safety.
Weekends were for barbecues. "People ask me why I would stay in
a place like this. And I say you don't know what it was like growing up
here." The school, which has about 50 students, has enough state
funds to stay open for the rest of the academic year. Kaiser has
proposed converting part of the old mine into a landfill, giving the
community another lease on life. But the proposal has been slowed by
environmental challenges. Carl Stuart, a spokesman with Management
& Training Corp., said his business has proposed the creation of a drug
rehabilitation center at Eagle Mountain. In the meantime, his company
is in discussions with the governor's office to save the prison. "We
haven't given up hope," he says. Roberts tries to stay upbeat
too, but knows the days may be numbered. Some prison employees are moving
out. Others have stopped watering their yards. "I've been the
eternal optimist," she says. "But it's very difficult to remain
optimistic." (The San-Diego Union-Tribune)
October 29, 2003 LA Times
More than 130 inmates have been transferred out of a privately run state
prison in eastern Riverside County after a weekend riot there left two convicts
dead and tensions at the low-security lockup unusually high. State
corrections officials said a melee Saturday night at the prison in Eagle
Mountain involved about 150 inmates and raged for 90 minutes before a
warning shot fired into the ground by an off-duty correctional officer
quelled the fighting. The deaths were the first violence-related fatalities
at any of the nine California prisons run by private corporations under
contract with the state, a corrections official said.
October 28, 2003
Two men were killed and seven others were injured during a riot at Eagle
Mountain Community Correctional Facility. The Riverside County
Sheriff’s Department said Sunday that the riot occurred shortly before 7
p.m. Saturday night. Deputies reported that one man died at the
prison and the other man died at John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in
Indio. The other injured inmates were taken to JFK, Desert Regional
Medical Center in Palm Springs and Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho
Mirage, according to the sheriff’s department. Deputies said the riot
started with an altercation between a group of white and Hispanic inmates
who reportedly attacked a group of black inmates at the facility. The
names of the two dead men have not been release pending notification of
their families. Autopsies have been scheduled for this week on the bodies
of the two inmates who were killed. Sheriff’s Department Central
Homicide Unit is investigating the case with help from deputies in the
Blythe, Indio and Palm Desert sheriff’s stations. Eagle Mountain
Community Correctional Facility is a private prison that houses male
prisoners for the state of California. (The Desert Sun)
August 27, 2002
Poor Bill Simon. even when he wins, he loses. It should be a
major coup when the Republican candidate for governor snags the endorsement
of one of the oldest and most respected names in Latino politics: the
Mexican-American Political Association, known as MAPA. After years of
voting increasingly Democratic, are California Latinos opening their minds
to Republicans? There is one interesting wrinkle in all of
this. Angel Diaz, a Delano businessman who helped round up support
for Simon among the chapter presidents who backed him last weekend, runs a
Central Valley political committee that raises money from individuals and
companies and distributes it mostly to Latino candidates. The group,
known as Adelante, appears to bean extension of the Maranatha Private
Corrections Co. and its top executive, Terry Moreland, who have given the
committee a combined $70,000 since 1999. With Davis having promised
the state's prison guards union that he would eliminate private prisons,
Maranatha and its allies have good reason to fear a second Davis term- and
thus to support Simon. So it could be that behind the veneer of
Latino politics, this was just a good old-fashioned business deal. As
usual, when all else fails to bring clarity in politics, follow the
money. (Sacramento Bee)
June 3, 2002
Eagle Mountain, named for
the rose-colored peaks on its northern edge,
fears it is on the brink of disappearing. Founded in 1947 as an outpost to mine iron ore, the
town managed to outlast the mine by converting old
miners' dormitories into a state prison in 1988.
But now the Eagle Mountain Community Correctional Facility
is one of five prisons scheduled to close at the end of June,
signaling not only the possible end of this windswept desert
community of 300 residents, but also the waning of a national
boom in prison building. After decades of growth, state prisons have become
a prime target of cutbacks. The reasons: the
national drop in crime, state budget shortfalls,
the easing of some strict prison policies, and changing public
opinion about how to handle criminals, particularly those
convicted of drug-related offenses. Nationally, $1 of every $14 in states'
general funds is spent on corrections, according to Vincent
Schiraldi, president of the Justice Policy Institute, a
Washington-based organization that advocates reducing incarceration
rates. So-called three-strikes laws, requiring violent offenders
convicted of a third felony to be held for 25 years to life without parole,
also being reconsidered. Throughout the nation, states are finding
ways to reduce the inmate population. (The Bradenton)
April 25, 2002
Eastern Riverside County residents pleaded with lawmakers Wednesday not to
shut down Eagle Mountain's sole industry, a private prison.
"This community will close," warned Jeanette "Jan"
Roberts of Desert Center. A Senate budget panel voted 2-0 to keep open
the Eagle Mountain prison, another in Baker in San Bernardino County and
three in the Central Valley. But the powerful state prison guards'
union and Gov. Davis want the five private lockups shut down after June 30,
when their contracts with the state expire. Craig Brown, a lobbyist
for the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, which
represents guards who work at state prisons, said the nine private prisons
mask their true cost by shipping chronically ill inmates back to the state Corrections
Department for care. (The Press-Enterprise
December 3, 2001
There is the "possibility" that the Department of Corrections
could reduce or pull on funding for the 438-bed Eagle Mountain Community
Correctional Facility. The stated reason is fiscal belt-tightening.
(The Press Enterprise)
Diboll Correctional Center
DibollTexas
Jul
21, 2014 kulturekritic.com
According
to the Lufkin Daily News, a roof collapsed last Saturday in the Diboll
Correctional Center in Lufkin, Texas, which is a privately run prison
facility owned by the Centerville, Utah-based Management & Training
Corporation (MTC). The report continues that 20 inmates received minor
injuries from falling wallboard, but 10 of those injured were transported
to local hospitals for treatment, and one is described as being in critical
condition after being airlifted to a Houston, Texas area hospital almost
100 miles away. The facility, which has a maximum capacity of 518 inmates
and houses minimum security prisoners, is less than 20 years old, so some
are asking why the ceiling would collapse, even if there has been a lot of
rain in the area recently. According to MTC’s official website, they
operate 22 prisons in eight states, the majority being in Texas and
Mississippi, as well as 21 Job Corps programs for the U.S. Department of
Labor. Prison warden David Driscoll, said that the collapse was probably
caused by the amount of rain that they have received over the last couple
of days. Issa Arnita, spokesperson for MTC added that 86 inmates were
inside the area when the ceiling collapsed, but the cause of the accident
is yet to be determined. Lufkin Fire Department Battalion Chief Jesse Moody
said that he couldn’t understand why the roof collapsed, even though there
had been a lot of rain because the facility is a relatively new building.
He added that prisoners were tagged according to the severity of their
injuries and taken for treatment using rapid transport protocol. Several of
the injured inmates were transported to Memorial Medical Center and
Woodland Heights Medical Center, both in Lufkin, said Sgt. Brandan Lovell
of the Diboll Police Department. According to MTC’s Major Ken Montgomery,
most of the remaining 85 inmates are being transferred to another prison
facility in Huntsville, Texas. He added that because the collapsed ceiling
was located in the middle of the day room, it wouldn’t be safe to leave the
inmates there at this time. The Weather Underground reported that Diboll
had received over six inches of rain five days prior to the collapse.
During the rescue operation, law enforcement officials searched ambulances
and fire trucks as they left the facility, in the unlikely event that an
inmate was trying to make a break for freedom.
Jul
19, 2014 lufkindailynews.com
Twenty
inmates were injured with 10 being transported to Lufkin hospitals when a
suspended ceiling collapsed in the dayroom of the Diboll Correctional
Center, a private prison in Diboll, Saturday morning, according to Warden
David Driskell. Driskell confirmed there were 87 inmates in the dayroom of
the facility at the time the ceiling collapsed. None of the injures
appeared to be life-threatening, according to an Associated Press report.
Sgt. Brandan Lovell of the Diboll Police Department said officers had set
up a perimeter around the correctional facility, which holds low- to
medium-security inmates. Off-duty correctional officers were on the scene,
along with officials from the Texas Department of Public Safety, the
Angelina County Sheriff’s Office, the Lufkin Police Department and the
Fuller Springs Volunteer Fire Department. The prison is at 1604 S. First
St. in Diboll. It is next door to another prison — the Duncan Unit, which
is part of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice system.
East Mississippi Correctional Facility,
Meridian, Mississippi
MDOC
Sticks with Private Prisons: Jackson Free Press, June 13,
2012. MDOC chooses MTC to take over where GEO failed. What are they
smoking?
Oct
5, 2021 meridianstar.com
Inmate had inside help with escape
A
Mississippi inmate, serving 15 sentences of life without parole, received
inside help making his escape, an investigation by the state Department of
Corrections has determined. On Sept. 10, Garnett Hughes, 33, who pleaded
guilty in 2014 to a host of charges that included kidnapping, sexual
battery, armed robbery, assault on a law enforcement and escape, broke away
from two correctional officers who had escorted him from East Mississippi
Correctional Facility in Meridian to his mother's funeral in Belzoni, more
than 150 miles away. The investigation has determined he was allowed to attend
the funeral, despite the fact the Mississippi Department of Corrections had
stopped allowing inmates to attend family funerals since the pandemic hit
in early 2020. If that act didn't raise enough suspicions, Hughes' record
did. He had twice escaped from the Alcorn County Detention Center while
awaiting trial. In addition, the 6-foot-1 inmate had assaulted a law
enforcement officer and was found guilty of grand larceny, armed robbery and burglary. Matthew Naidow, who worked as a
sergeant in security at the prison and has served as chief of security at
other prisons, said there is no way Hughes should have been approved for
funeral leave. "How do you let an inmate with two escapes, especially
a lifer, go like that?" he asked. "That's an automatic red
flag." Permission for a prisoner to attend a funeral requires top
approval, he said. "At a minimum, it would have to at least be
approved by the deputy warden of security." The investigation has
determined that the deputy warden okayed Hughes leaving the prison but
failed to have MDOC sign off on that decision. The deputy warden and three
other staffers have been put on administrative leave. The investigation has
found other troublesome details. Hughes reportedly hatched his plot behind
bars through an illicit cellphone that enabled him to call an Ohio woman
more than 6,200 times in just two months. Although officers had handcuffed
Hughes, he was out of those cuffs by the time they stopped for the funeral.
(Authorities reportedly found a handcuff key at the scene.) When officers
opened the door of the vehicle, Hughes bolted, and they were unable to
catch him. After reaching a relative's house, he was picked up by his Ohio
girlfriend, the investigation found. After a five-day manhunt, the U.S.
Marshals Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force arrested Hughes in
Akron, Ohio. He still had one handcuff attached to his wrist. He is now
incarcerated at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Rankin
County. The task force also arrested Yvette Mendoza, 51, identified as his
girlfriend. She was charged with felony obstruction. East Mississippi is a
private prison run by Management & Training Corp. A spokesman for MTC,
Issa Arnita, said the company takes the escape "very seriously. We are
investigating and will make any necessary corrective actions once the
investigation is complete." MTC also operates the Wilkinson County
Correctional Facility, which is under investigation by the Justice
Department after an internal report surfaced that gangs were running the prison.
Three other prisons are under investigation as well after stories by MCIR
and the Marshall Project. In the wake of that investigation, prison
violence and litigation, Gov. Tate Reeves appointed Burl Cain in 2020 to
reform Mississippi's prison system, saying, "I have every intention of
fixing our problems." He said he put "absolute full confidence in
Burl Cain's abilities to change the culture at the Mississippi Department
of Corrections." Until Sept. 13, MTC also ran the 1,000-bed Marshall
County Correctional Facility. Earlier this year, MDOC began bolstering the
staffing there because of shortages. By contract, MTC was supposed to have
a set number of correctional officers and their supervisors on each shift,
and when a mandatory position wasn't filled, the company was supposed to
repay the state the wages, plus a 25% penalty. But the Marshall Project
reported that MTC hasn't been doing that at Marshall County or its other
prisons, costing Mississippi taxpayers millions. Since 2020, MTC has paid
$540,721 in penalties for Marshall County, $595,879 in penalties for
Wilkinson and $133,716 for East Mississippi for a total of $1.27 million.
MDOC officials are also investigating allegations of gang violence at
Marshall County. On May 12, three inmates beat 40-year-old inmate Torrie
Ellis to death. "The inmates here not in gangs are tired of the gangs
and corrupted staff," an inmate told MCIR. He asked not to be named
for fear of retribution by the gangs. "These inmates are the reason
these things are happening," he said. "I hope something happens
soon, because it's a time bomb here."
Sep 15, 2021 clarionledger.com
Mississippi
inmate who escaped custody on the way to mother's funeral caught
900
miles away
Gabriela
Szymanowska
A
Mississippi inmate who escaped from two guards while being escorted to his
mother's funeral was captured Tuesday morning about 900 miles away,
according to authorities. Garnett Hughes, 33, was still wearing one
handcuff when surprised by U.S. marshals and arrested following a five-day
manhunt from Mississippi to Ohio. Yvette Mendoza, 51, of Ohio, identified
as Hughes' girlfriend, was arrested for aiding in the wanted man's escape,
according to a Mississippi Department of Corrections news release. The
6-foot, one-inch tall, 170-pound Hughes was convicted in Alcorn County in
2014 on two counts of kidnapping and sexual battery. He is serving at least
two life sentences at East Mississippi Correctional Facility in Lauderdale
County near Meridian. Hughes, who has escaped corrections officers at least
twice before, managed to get away again about 9:30 a.m. Friday as he was
being escorted from prison by two guards to the funeral of his mother,
Dorothy Mae Hughes, 54, in Belzoni, Miss. In November 2014, Hughes and
another inmate escaped from Alcorn County Correctional Facility after
overpowering a guard. Hughes also escaped in June 2014 and was captured
within eight hours. Hughes' attorney for Hughes' 2014 sentencing, Clay
Nails, said Friday he remembers Hughes well as Hughes pleaded guilty to two
life sentences. Nails said he has not spoken to Hughes since the
sentencing. Mississippi State Department of Corrections Investigative
Division Director John Hunt said the investigation into the escape is
ongoing. East Mississippi Correctional Facility is operated and managed by
private prison management firm Management Training Company, which is based
in Utah.
Jun
25, 2019
jacksonfreepress.com
Judge Weighs Whether Mississippi
Prison is ‘Excessively Harsh’
JACKSON,
Miss. (AP) — A federal judge sat through a monthlong trial last year over
conditions at a privately run Mississippi prison, but that wasn't enough
for him to make a decision on whether conditions are unconstitutional. Now
Senior U.S. District Judge William Barbour has dueling 80-page briefs to
consider as he tries to decide whether East Mississippi Correctional
Facility is excessively harsh, as a class action suit by prisoners alleges.
The briefs present starkly different views of conditions at the 1,200-bed
prison near Meridian, as well as sharp disagreement over what each side has
proved and what the legal standards should be for Barbour to make a decision. The case, filed in 2013, had been seen
as a key clash over the use of private prisons nationwide
, with the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty
Law Center pouring resources into representing prisoners. It twice made the
front page of The New York Times with its claims of Dickensian conditions
including fires, long stretches in dim solitary cells and untreated medical
conditions in a place where a majority of
prisoners have been diagnosed with mental illness. Barbour ordered the new
briefs after touring the prison late in the trial and concluding some
conditions have improved. He asked both sides to discuss what conditions
are like now, as opposed to when the suit was filed. The plaintiffs still
allege that East Mississippi violates the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel
and unusual punishment in seven different categories. That includes poor
health care and mental health care, an overreliance on solitary confinement
and use of force by guards, and a failure to keep prisoners adequately
housed and fed and safe from assaults. For example, when it comes to health
care, the plaintiffs say each of six prisoners who died in 2018 had "rampant"
missed medications, and the failures may have caused two of the deaths,
disputing the state's claims of improvements in making sure prisoners take
their medicines. The state, though, claims the plaintiffs have an outdated
view of the prison, at times sliding toward what seems to be a tacit
admission that conditions used to be unconstitutional but aren't any more.
"Plaintiffs still refuse to acknowledge any improvements to the
management and operations of East Mississippi Correctional Facility,"
Assistant Attorney General Krissy Nobile wrote for the state
. "Although plaintiffs refuse to concede any of the claims that
they pled six years ago, the court does not need their concessions to see
that the dire tale told by plaintiffs simply does not match the reality of
life at EMCF." But the plaintiffs say they don't legally have to prove
the conditions still exist, instead arguing officials must prove that
"not only that they have actually voluntarily ceased the
unconstitutional conduct, but also that it 'could not reasonably be
expected to recur.'" They also say the state's claims of improvement
are not adequately backed up by evidence. In some cases, the state says it
doesn't have to prove that things are good, only that it's trying to do its
job and thus not legally indifferent. In other places, the state argues
that the legal standard for finding mistreatment is high and that
plaintiffs ignore "the level of discretion correctional officials must
be afforded" when they do things like shoot bursts of pepper spray
through food tray slots that inmates refuse to close, seeking to force
compliance. It's easy to feel the dispute slipping into obscurity as the
wait for judgment continues. Prisoners remain, though. Lead plaintiff
Jermaine Dockery is still behind bars at East Mississippi, and is scheduled
to be in state custody until 2026 on an armed robbery conviction.
Jan 19, 2019
clarionledger.com
Mississippi prison inmate dies in hanging
MERIDIAN, Miss. — An inmate in a privately-run Mississippi prison has
died after he was found hanged in his cell. Lauderdale County Coroner
Clayton Cobler tells news outlets that guards at East Mississippi
Correctional Facility found the 34-year-old man Thursday evening. Guards
tried to resuscitate the inmate before he was taken a hospital, where he
was pronounced dead. Cobler didn't immediately identify the inmate. He says
the inmate's body was taken to the state crime lab in Pearl for an autopsy.
The prison just west of Meridian is operated by Utah-based Management and
Training Corp.
Apr 10, 2018 usnews.com
Mississippi Prison Comes Under Fire During Federal Trial
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The state of Mississippi has "abandoned its
responsibility to provide basic needs" to inmates at a privately run
prison that is excessively violent and fails to provide proper medical
care, an attorney for the prisoners said Monday. The American Civil
Liberties Union and Southern Poverty Law Center sued the state over
conditions at East Mississippi Correctional Facility, which is home to
1,200 inmates, 80 percent of whom have been diagnosed with a mental health
problem. The Mississippi Department of Corrections "receives report
after report and does nothing. That is the definition of deliberate
indifference," plaintiffs' attorney Erin Monju said in closing
arguments. Warden Frank Shaw testified during the five-week trial that the
prison follows protocol and the facility is no worse than any other.
Attorneys for the government defended the facility, including its regular
use of solitary confinement. "Coloring books and timeout isn't going
to work for criminals," defense attorney William Siler said. The
prison, located outside of Meridian, is operated under a contract with the
Utah-based Management and Training Corp. MTC is footing the bill of the
legal defense team, but lawyers are defending the state of Mississippi.
Plaintiffs say the state has been aware and complacent of the prison's
unconstitutional conditions. In a SPLC news release sent after Monday's
closing arguments, Jody Owens, SPLC's managing attorney for Mississippi,
said the state's Department of Corrections "allows this prison to fail
at even the most fundamental tasks." "The result is a place so
dangerous and so violent that it shocks corrections experts, yet the
department keeps handing taxpayer money to private companies to run the
prison and its services," Owens said. The state's attorneys said the
groups suing Mississippi have an agenda and want to litigate private
prisons out of business. "We need to get out of their (MTC's) way and
let them run their prison," Siler said. Privately run prisons can be a
political hot potato. Lawmakers often tout their lowered costs and better
performance than state-run facilities, but opponents point to
understaffing, health care cuts and a lack of transparency. One of Attorney
General Jeff Sessions' first orders in the Trump administration was to
reverse an Obama-era directive phasing out the use of private prisons. It
was perhaps an acknowledgement that the private prisons may be needed given
the administration's aggressive enforcement of drug and immigration laws.
Several inmates testified during the trial about the conditions inside the
prison. They described being jumped or shanked, sometimes in their own
cells, with little help from prison guards. Such inmate violence, the
warden said, is common. "It's the nature of prisons," Shaw said.
"It's the nature of the beast." But the inmates' attorneys argued
that the number of assaults at the prison is high and the result of
inadequate supervision because of the prison's short-staffing. And they say
guards abandon their posts and do not perform their minimum job functions.
Plaintiffs say this lack of supervision not only results in inmate
assaults, but also poses a risk in the case of medical emergency. Plaintiffs
say one inmate died this year after lying unconscious on the floor of his
cell amid his feces and urine, as other inmates banged on the housing
unit's door attempting to get medical assistance. Four other inmates have
died so far this year. Inmates regularly take extreme measures to get
officers' attention — lighting their cells on fire or cutting themselves
and reaching through their door's tray slot. In one video provided as
evidence by plaintiffs, guards did not respond to the scene of a cell fire
until five minutes after flames could be seen from outside of the cell.
Inmate Terry Beasley, who testified in March, said he has diabetes and can
go into shock and eventually die if his blood sugar drops too low. When
asked by plaintiffs how he feels knowing it can take guards minutes to
respond in emergency situations, Beasley began crying and said, "It's
scary." Inmates said they had seen cockroaches and mouse droppings
throughout the facility, particularly in the kitchen, and had to deal with
sewage backing up into cells and bathrooms. The warden blamed the plumbing
problems on inmates. "In most cases, when we have those issues, it's
inmate related. They've either flushed something down they shouldn't have
or torn something up," Shaw said. U.S. District Judge William Barbour
Jr. said he planned to take "several days" to issue a written
ruling.
Apr 4, 2018 motherjones.com
Mississippi Inmates’ Lawsuit Describes Violence and Neglect in a Private
Prison
“This is a trip back to the old days of prison conditions.”
Last August, when Terry Beasley and other inmates noticed a man had
died in his cell, they pounded on the window of their dayroom for at least
30 minutes. “Still wouldn’t nobody come on the zone,” Beasley recalled.
Finally, an officer opened the door to their housing area, allowing an
inmate to slip past and run to get help from the guard captain. Knowing how
long it took to get help in an emergency “made me feel kind of scared,”
Beasley said, “because I’m a diabetic, and you don’t know when my sugar might
drop.” Beasley described life inside the East Mississippi Correctional
Facility during the first week of a federal trial over conditions at the
for-profit state prison located 90 miles east of Jackson. EMCF is the
state’s designated facility for inmates with psychiatric needs, and around
80 percent of the prison’s roughly 1,200 inmates have been diagnosed with a
mental illness. Five years ago, prisoners there sued the Mississippi
Department of Corrections, claiming that its top officials had failed to keep
tabs on the prison’s corporate operators and allowed dangerous conditions
to go unaddressed. The prisoners’ class-action lawsuit describes a
crumbling facility with broken locks on cell doors, frequent assaults by
inmates, and a critical shortage of guards and medical staff. “It’s more
than inattention, it’s outrageous neglect and callousness. They get almost
no services.” “What I’ve seen at East Mississippi Correction Facility, I
have not seen for decades,” said Elizabeth Alexander, one of 13 attorneys
representing the inmates. “This is a trip back to the old days of prison
conditions.” The case went to trial in March after multiple failed attempts
to settle outside of court, according to American Civil Liberties Union
lawyer Carl Takei. It’s being heard by US District Judge William H.
Barbour, Jr., who will decide whether the state has been “deliberately
indifferent” to conditions at EMCF that posed serious risk of harm to
inmates. In their complaint, filed in 2013, prisoners claimed the state
prison commissioner and other officials had failed to hold the companies
that run EMCF accountable for “grossly inhumane conditions” that “cost many
prisoners their health, and their limbs, their eyesight, and even their
lives.” The inmates’ original complaint told the stories of multiple
prisoners who lit fires to obtain emergency medical attention. According to
EMCF records, 1,217 inmates and 47 staff members were injured by fires in
2016. In addition to Beasley’s testimony, deputy warden Norris Hogans
testified that as of February, inmates were still lighting fires outside
their cell doors three times a week. Hogans also testified about fights
that broke out on March 6, 2017, when the facility was supposed to be on
lockdown. All prisoners were supposed to be in their cells, yet security
footage shows more than a dozen inmates in two separate housing areas
milling around in common areas. In one pod, prisoners began fighting with
broom and mop handles; in the other, they kicked and beat a man and left
him lying on an elevated walkway. Guards did not enter either housing area
for around 30 minutes. Hogans said the prison did not investigate how so
many inmates were loose during the lockdown. According to the New York
Times, when the prison’s warden was asked if guards were able keep inmates
in their cells, he replied, “They do their best.” The inmates filed their
case the year before a corruption scandal swept through the highest levels
of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. In 2015, former state prison
Commissioner Chris Epps pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge after
distributing more than $800 million in contracts to prison companies while
receiving at least $1.4 million in bribes and kickbacks, mostly funneled
through a former state legislator to whom companies had paid thousands of
dollars in “consulting fees.” Those companies included Management and
Training Corporation, a Utah-based firm that received a contract from Epps
in 2012 to operate EMCF, and Health Assurance, a vendor that provided
medical and mental health care at the facility between 2012 and 2015. Epps
and his accomplice went to prison, as did the part-owner of Health
Assurance. MTC has denied any wrongdoing and maintained that it had no
knowledge that its “consulting fees” would be used to illegally line Epps’
pockets; it’s currently fighting a lawsuit from the state attorney general
over its role in the scandal. EMCF’s medical services are now provided by a
correctional health care company called Centurion. The inmates
lawyers say little has improved at the facility since Epps stepped down.
Takei argues that many of the issues at East Mississippi Correction
Facility stem from chronic understaffing and the state’s failure to require
MTC and Centurion to hire more guards and medical professionals. “Staff was
beyond short,” one guard wrote in a log book last year that was entered
into the trial record. “No staff to conduct or do security check.” EMCF
currently has no full-time psychiatrist, despite having a mental health
caseload of about 1,000 men. The Mississippi Department of Corrections,
which pays MTC $26 per day for each minimum-security inmate, denies that
the prison is understaffed. Understaffing is a common complaint at private
prisons. Yet the situation at EMCF is exacerbated by its prisoners’ mental
health care needs. Some of the most alarming testimony in the trial has
come from one of the plaintiffs’ expert witnesses, Terry Kupers, a
professor at the Wright Institute in Berkeley, California, and a nationally
recognized specialist on solitary confinement. After investigating the
prison’s segregation unit, Kupers testified that its conditions were the
worst he had ever seen. Jammed locks on cell doors left inmates free to
roam and attack others, and broken lights went unfixed, leaving inmates in
darkness for days. He found little record of mental health care
examinations or therapy. “It’s more than inattention, it’s just outrageous
neglect and callousness,” Kupers said in court. “They can’t get light
bulbs. They cannot get cleaning material. The damage from the fires is not
removed. The trash is not picked up. They get almost no services. They
can’t even get the attention of the officers.” Beasley worked as a porter
in the prison’s solitary confinement unit in 2016, cleaning the unit and sometimes
the cells. He testified that nearly every day, he saw prisoners who had cut
themselves stick their arms out of the food tray slots in their cell doors,
“blood just dropping everywhere.” Kupers’ investigation confirmed Beasley’s
stories. “I’ve never seen this degree of self-harm in a correctional
setting,” Kupers testified. He explained that many prisoners in solitary
became stuck in a cycle: They would attempt to escape isolation by cutting
themselves so they would be taken to the medical unit. There, they would
get some relief, but before long they would be back in isolation for a
longer stay because self-harm is a rule violation punishable by solitary
confinement. “The people with serious mental illness, I can say with a
reasonable degree of medical certainty their condition is going to worsen
under these conditions,” Kupers said in court. “They are going to have
worse disability, and they’re going to have a much worse prognosis. And,
God forbid, they will [attempt] suicide to a larger than excusable
proportion.” While the inmates’ complaint details frequent suicide
attempts, just one inmate has died as the result of suicide since 2012—a
fact emphasized by the state’s lawyers. (There have been many other
non-suicide deaths at the prison, including four so far in 2018.)
Throughout the case, the state has argued that conditions at the prison are
mostly acceptable and that the prison has made good-faith attempts to fix
its problems. “This is a prison; it’s not a daycare center,” W. Thomas
Siler Jr., a lawyer representing the state, said in his opening argument.
“Every prison everywhere, every expert is going to say it’s got its share
of problems.” The state’s legal team has also laid responsibility at the
feet of inmates, who it says “sabotage” the prison by jamming locks,
setting fires, and smuggling in contraband. “It’s just that kind of thing,
a constant effort of trying to stay ahead of the prisoners, and stay ahead
of what they’re doing to defeat whatever we’re doing to help keep them
safe,” Siler said. As evidence of the dire conditions at East Mississippi
Correction Facility has accumulated during the monthlong trial, Judge
Barbour has often appeared impatient with the inmates and their legal team.
He has urged prisoners not to “lollygag around” before they are transported
to court each morning and has admonished their lawyers for going into too
much detail about the poor conditions. “Suppose I tore up your pad of
questions. Could you question this witness? No,” the judge interrupted Eric
Balaban, another ACLU lawyer, after listening to Balaban question an expert
witness for several hours on March 22. “You’ve made your point. The mental
health in this prison is not good.” The trial is expected to conclude this
week, and Judge Barbour’s decision will follow in the coming weeks. If he
rules in the prisoners’ favor, he could force the Mississippi Department of
Corrections to develop a plan for addressing EMCF’s problems. If he sides
with the state, it will be up to prison officials to take action—leaving
prisoners like Terry Beasley waiting for relief.
Mar 22, 2018 clarionledger.com
Mississippi warden testifies on private prison conditions
A warden testified Tuesday that he saw reports that document what
plaintiffs argue are unconstitutionally abusive conditions at a Mississippi
state prison. The American Civil Liberties Union and Southern Poverty Law
Center are arguing that the state has been aware of dangerous conditions at
East Mississippi Correctional Facility. Defense attorneys, however, say the
conditions are acceptable, and that some prisoners' harm is self-inflicted.
Located near Meridian, the prison is privately operated under contract by
Utah-based Management and Training Corp. Warden Frank Shaw oversees the
day-to-day operations of the notoriously violent prison. Plaintiffs
presented evidence Tuesday of reports compiled by prison staff that
document conditions like inmate deaths and injuries and prison fires. Shaw
testified that he sees the reports before they are sent to the Mississippi
Department of Corrections. According to most recent reports presented by
plaintiffs, 78 inmates were injured in June 2017. Four inmates have died so
far in 2018, and one remains in intensive care. When asked whether he
considers this a large number of deaths in a year,
Shaw said, "Every corrections facility I've ever worked in has had a
certain number of deaths." Fires, qualified as major or minor, are
also documented. According to reports presented Tuesday, there were no
fires over 11 months. But several inmates have testified during the three
weeks of the federal trial that fires are started by inmates on a daily
basis, and plaintiffs have presented video evidence of such. Oftentimes,
fires are started in cells to get guards' attention. Shaw testified that
inmate fires are not documented. He said, "disaster fires" would
be reported. When asked if he considers fires started by inmates a
"major problem," Shaw said no. Video evidence of fires from 2016
and 2017 presented by prosecutors, he said, is outdated. Plaintiffs also
argued that much of the prison's violence can be attributed to insufficient
supervision. Several inmates have testified that guards were not present
during attacks or medical emergencies. Shaw testified he is ultimately
responsible for ensuring mandatory security posts at the prison are filled
"if at all possible." If guards leave their posts while on duty,
Shaw said they are disciplined "depending on how often it happens and
what the type of abandonment may be." In addition to the reports,
plaintiffs showed video evidence of several incidents involving prison
guards. In two incidents, they were standing back as an unrestrained inmate
assaulted another. Shaw said they did so to protect their own safety. In
other videos, guards used pepper spray to subdue inmates while they were in
their cells. The intention is to cause inmates pain, forcing them to
subdue. Pepper spray can irritate eyes and induce coughing. When asked if
cells are decontaminated after being sprayed before inmates are put back
inside, Shaw said there is not a "blanket policy on how to
decontaminate a cell." Sometimes a blower is used to air out the cell,
and other times, Shaw said keeping the cell door open is enough. Shaw is
one of the state's primary witnesses for the defense and will testify again
once it begins to make its case in the coming weeks.
Mar 15, 2018 jacksonfreepress.com
Sabotage, Death, Danger: Private Prison on Trial
JACKSON — Terry Beasley remembers a white guy locked in his cell in
East Mississippi Correctional Facility one night in 2017, dying. "He
was blue," Beasley, an inmate serving a life sentence for a
homicide-murder conviction, said in U.S. District Judge William Barbour's
courtroom on Friday, March 9. Some inmates started banging on their windows
to try to get the officers' attention, but it took more than an hour for
officers to come down to the man's cell from what he could tell from his
own cell that night, Beasley said. Eventually, medical staff and the
captain came into the zone and recovered the man's body."It made me
feel scared because I'm a diabetic, and you never know when your sugar
(could) drop," said Beasley, who is also asthmatic and diabetic.
Beasley used to clean out cells at the prison in Lauderdale County. On the
stand, he described life "in the zone" at one of Mississippi's
three private prisons in federal court. He testified that he misses his
morning insulin treatment "a lot" whenever the officer in the
tower does not let him out of his cell to go get the medication. The Southern
Poverty Law Center, the National Prison Project of the ACLU and two other
law firms brought a class-action lawsuit against the Mississippi Department
of Corrections back in 2013 due to conditions at EMCF. After the department
refused to settle twice, the case went to trial this month in what is
expected to be at least a month-long ordeal. Operated by the Utah-based
Management and Training Corporation since 2012, EMCF is one of three
private prisons in the state that MTC operates. MDOC is responsible for the
facility and stations a monitor there to track how the facility operates.
More than 80 percent of the inmates there are on some type of mental-health
medication or treatment protocol. The lawsuit alleges that conditions at
the prison violate the Eighth Amendment rights of prisoners housed there.
Attorneys must prove in court that inmates receive "cruel and unusual
punishment" as a result of being housed there. The State of
Mississippi hired two private law firms to defend MDOC in the case. Their
position is that the department is not "deliberately indifferent"
to the treatment of inmates at the prison. In his opening statement, W.
Thomas Siler Jr. encouraged Judge Barbour to go see the facility for
himself. He said EMCF has made great strides and changed a lot since MTC
took over the facility in 2012. "We disagree with their conclusion
that we're not adequately staffed," Siler said, noting that many of
the issues with the facility and with contraband are "issues caused by
sabotage by inmates." Attorneys defending the state asked the judge to
take anecdotal evidence with a grain of salt, emphasizing that the focus of
the case needs to be on whether or not the state has violated the Eighth
Amendment rights of prisoners. "Are any of the issues they're
complaining about current and ongoing?" Siler said. Warden Frank Shaw,
who runs the prison, is sitting in on the trial, and the State plans to
call him as a witness and use him to represent one of the named defendants
in the case. The lawsuit names Department of Corrections Commissioner
Pelicia Hall as well as Gloria Perry, the chief medical officer at MDOC,
and Archie Longley, the deputy commissioner of institutions. Shaw is a
Management and Training Corporation employee, however. The private company
is not a party to the lawsuit, however. "The state is responsible for
whether it's run properly, and that's what at issue," Judge Barbour
told the court last week. Inmates wore black-and-white striped bottoms,
chains around their waists jangling and white tops with the words
"MDOC INMATE" across the back. They sat right across the room
from the State's attorneys and Shaw. Attorneys representing the prisoners
plan to have at least two inmates in the courtroom every day throughout the
trial. They will call some of the prisoners as witnesses as the trial
unfolds. In the first week, the plaintiffs called nine witnesses, beginning
with Eldon Vail, a 35-year veteran corrections officer and operator from
Washington state. Vail visited the prison once in 2014 and again in 2016 to
evaluate the state of the prison, including safety, security and staffing
levels. "I concluded that it's a very dangerous facility," Vail
testified last week, saying that the "basics" were missing.
"There are not a sufficient number of correctional officers, and most of
their problems stem from that issue." Vail reviewed thousands of
documents and conducted interviews the plaintiffs' attorneys arranged. He
could not interview prison staff, however. MDOC keeps a monitor at the
Meridian private prison to report progress and inadequacies at the
facility. The weekly and monthly monitor reports confirmed and reinforced
his initial conclusion about the facility, he testified. "You see the
same kinds of issues occurring over and over again," he said. Staffing
concerns and who is responsible for what happens inside prison walls came
up repeatedly in testimony. The inmates who worked as porters in 2015 and
2016 cleaning cells testified to seeing fires daily and cleaning up blood
after inmates stuck their hands out of their cells' food slots or from
cutting themselves. The facility, like most prisons in the state, has a
contraband problem. In March 2017, visiting privileges at the prison were
suspended after back-to-back contraband shakedowns revealed that inmates
were posting on the Internet, presumably from contraband cell phones.
"MDOC officials searched a specific section of the facility after
learning of an inmate posting live on Facebook last weekend," a March
7, 2017, press release from MDOC says. Attorneys representing the State
said that a lot of incidents—from fires to contraband cell phones to
self-harm incidents—are the inmates' fault. How far responsibility
stretches to the State—and MTC's employees by extension—to keep the
facility in order is at the heart of the case. Eddie Pugh, an inmate who
sat in court all last week and testified Friday, described an incident late
last year when a new inmate came to his housing unit. Correctional officers
expected inmates to choose where the new inmate would live, Pugh said, and
when inmates refused to find him a place, they were put on lockdown.
"We were in the dark for three weeks; we were forced into the cells at
gunpoint," Pugh said in court last Friday. Pugh told the court about
how some inmates force others out of their cells and have to sleep on the
floor of other cells. "Do the gangs make that decision?" Judge
Barbour asked him. "To truly understand EMCF, you'd have to be there
more than one time...," Pugh responded. "Why shouldn't every man
have his own bed?" Barbour asked. "I agree with you," Pugh
said. "... Logic is not logic in this place." The trial continues
this week, as attorneys representing inmates have about two-and-a-half more
weeks of testimony to offer. Defendants will not take nearly as long, Siler
told the court.
Mar 14, 2018 clarionledger.com
Gangs 'running things' at private prison
After evidence in federal court Tuesday detailed problems with gang
members “running things” at the private East Mississippi Correctional
Facility, Mississippi’s contract monitor refused to discuss the matter on
the witness stand. After meeting with the monitor and lawyers, U.S.
District Judge William Barbour Jr. cited the sensitivity of the matter and
ordered reporters out of courtroom Tuesday morning for the rest of that
testimony because it involved inmates by name. In its lawsuit against
Mississippi, the American Civil Liberties Union and Southern Poverty Law
Center argue that the state has been aware of East Mississippi Correctional
Facility's unconstitutionally abusive conditions. The state’s defense
attorneys argue the prison conditions are acceptable and that some of the
prison’s ailments can be attributed to inmates’ self-sabotage. In a May 5,
2015, email, Vernell Thomas, who monitors the East Mississippi Correctional
Facility near Meridian, wrote that “several prisoners seem to be running
things, even though some are in (segregation) units," where inmates
are supposed to remain in their cells at least 22 hours a day. Thomas, who
is an employee of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, testified that
was a problem then, but not now. She reported repeatedly on problems of
cleanliness in 2014 and 2015. In March 2015, the American Correctional
Association gave a score of 100 to the prison, operated by Utah-based
Management and Training Corp. (Epps was a longtime ACA president.) “All
units have improved with the cleaning due to the ACA in March,” Thomas
wrote in an email. Inmates have complained in testimony about unsanitary
conditions and health care services. About 80 percent of the 1,200 inmates
at the facility are under some form of mental health care. A Clarion Ledger
series in 2014, “Hard Look at Hard Time,” detailed the problems of
corruption, violence against inmates and the power of gangs inside the
prisons. Then-Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps is now serving just shy
of 20 years in prison for running one of the largest and longest criminal
conspiracies in the state's history. Thomas used the word gangs in a series
of 2015 emails, complaining repeatedly to prison officials about the
unsolved problem. In a July 1, 2015, email, she wrote that gang members
were selling “drugs to offenders and staff is aware, but does nothing.”
When she visited the segregation unit, she saw an inmate, who had been
caught with cocaine, meth, marijuana, shanks and a sim card, outside his
cell, “working” the unit. She wrote that gang members and leaders assigned
to segregation units were being allowed to work outside those units
unsupervised. “These are 10 offenders who have been calling the shots/running
the offenders/staff here with the ability to move almost anywhere they want
to go,” she wrote in an Oct. 14, 2015, email. Until testimony was closed to
the media, she named the inmates, one by one, who were controlling each
pod. One inmate on the segregation unit “still runs things and staff,” she
wrote. “He even questions me.” When she removed a broom from the pod, she
wrote he replied, “You must not know who I am.” Another inmate, serving a
life sentence for murder, maintained “control even though he’s supposed to
be locked down constantly,” she wrote. Thomas wanted the gang members
transferred to other prisons. Other emails and reports by Thomas detailed
continuing problems with understaffing, cleanliness, lighting and leaving
out mops and broomsticks that could be used as weapons. "Staff are
leaving the pods unmanned," she wrote, later complaining, "When
are we going to correct this serious matter?" When visited the prison
at 2 a.m. on April 3, 2015, she found people missing from their posts,
including no one at the search desk. When she emailed Tony Compton, who
oversees the private prisons for the state Department of Corrections, he
replied, "Amazing what you find when they least expect you to come
in." During her testimony, Thomas struggled to come up with the
minimum number of correctional officers that the prison should have each
shift.Barbour, who will make the decision in the case, was puzzled, telling
her, "I frankly don't understand why you don't know what the exact
count should be." Plaintiffs’ lawyers asked Deputy Corrections
Commissioner Jerry Williams about EMCF’s staffing shortfalls (24 out of 30
of the day shifts lacking some mandatory staff positions in November 2016).
Defense lawyers challenged those numbers, saying the numbers in the
staffing reports weren’t actually correct. “That leads me to believe the
prison doesn’t know what they’re doing,” the judge said. “I don’t
understand why that is not accurate.” Defense lawyers told the judge that
just because no one is listed beside the mandatory positions doesn’t mean
the positions have gone unfilled. Williams was asked about the problems of
inmates jamming doors, sometimes getting out and assaulting other inmates,
which has happened at the private prison. Asked if the Corrections Department
had ever studied whether hardware should be installed to stop that problem,
Williams replied, “Not that I’m aware of.” Of the 97 reports Thomas filed
between 2014 and 2017, 88 cited the problem of inmates covering up their
doors and windows. Asked if it was a security risk for the windows to be
covered, she said yes and that she asked them to take it down if she was
inspecting, “and they put them right back up.” Asked if one reason for
keeping these windows clear would be to prevent rape, she replied,
“Anything can happen in prison.”
Mar 1, 2017 msnewsnow.com
Prison video shows contraband still a problem
JACKSON, MS (Mississippi News Now) - Smuggling illegal contraband like dangerous
objects, drugs and cell phones into jails and prisons is a common practice,
and it's traded among prisoners. The underground railroad includes prison
guards, family members, and outside contacts. Kordero Washington is at the
East Mississippi Correctional facility run by MDOC .
He was convicted of violent crimes; armed robbery, aggravated assault, and
receiving stolen property in Hinds County. His tentative release date May 2023.
We found Kordero Washington's Facebook page. Sunday, he shared Doughboi
Kaines live video that went public. Three inmates are in the prison cell.
One has a knee down on the floor. Another unidentified inmate records
himself on cell phone proclaiming
"Anything for that white girl, look at him y'all, no way. It's my turn. I get my slap. I get at
least one." What was apparently going down was a willing prisoner
allegedly taking a beating in exchange for drugs. One inmate puts baby
powder on his hand, the other holds up a bag saying they are about to do a
little routine, apparently for cocaine, called white girl.' The cell phone
video is laced with profanity, asking the inmate if he wants one more. He holds up a broken tooth, then he takes
another hit to the face. Near the end of the video one prisoner says to the
man who was hit repeatedly and knocked to the floor, "Here's a happy
customer. The man replied, "I am very happy." Then more laughter
and the inmate who appears to be holding up a small bag of white power
looks into the cell phone and say "Real no mercy for real. no mercy,
ain't playing ain't playing." We sent the video post to the
Mississippi Department of Corrections. They responded with the following
statement: An investigation is under way regarding the video in question.
The Mississippi Department of Corrections and MTC, which operates the
private prison, have several measures in place to keep cell phones out of
the hands of inmates. With the use of K-9, scanners and other security
measures, we are aggressively pursuing contraband, including cell phones
and illegal drugs daily. When we receive a report such as this, the agency
and MTC act swiftly to investigate. Any inmate caught with a cell phone,
drugs or any other contraband faces not only loss of privileges but also
additional criminal charges that could result in additional prison time.
This type of conduct is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.
Sep 30, 2015 clarionledger.com
Inmates
OK’d to sue state over prison conditions
A
federal judge cleared the way Tuesday for inmates to bring their lawsuit against
a private Mississippi prison with conditions described as “barbaric.” U.S.
District Judge William H. Barbour Jr. on Tuesday granted a request by
inmates represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, ACLU and attorney
Elizabeth Alexander to certify the class-action lawsuit against East
Mississippi Correctional Facility in Meridian. Jody Owens II, managing
attorney for the SPLC’s Mississippi office, called the decision “a major
step towards holding the state accountable and not allowing them to contract
their constitutional obligation away to support private prison
conglomerates. This ruling is a tremendous victory for a vulnerable class
of individuals who have endured unconscionable conditions far too long.” In
court filings, plaintiffs have described the private prison, which houses
many suffering from mental illness, as a facility where inmates are being
mistreated, beaten and exploited by gangs and others. The ligitation
alleges there is sex between officers and inmates, widespread contraband
and weapons, a “buddy” system where officers cover up the beatings of
inmates and the rehiring of former employees who used excessive force. In
November 2012, the president of Utah-based Management & Training Corp.
toured the institution and was quoted as saying “the living conditions were
awful.” MTC officials say they have made significant improvements since
they took over the prison in July 2012. Gabriel Eber, senior staff counsel
for the ACLU National Prison Project, called Tuesday’s decision “an
important first victory for our clients who’ve been suffering for years.
We’re hoping we can work with the state to resolve the litigation.” The
lawsuit is following in the steps of class-action litigation against the
Walnut Grove Correctional Facility and the State Penitentiary’s Death Row
and Unit 32. Last year, former Washington State Corrections Secretary Eldon
Vail, an expert for the plaintiffs, inspected EMCF and concluded it was “an
extraordinarily dangerous prison. All prisoners confined there are
subjected on a daily basis to significant risk of serious injury.” He
visited where some prisoners were kept in segregation, calling their
conditions “barbaric,” especially to those suffering from mental illness
(more than 70 percent of the 1,200 inmates), he wrote. “They are the worst
I have ever seen in 35 years as a corrections professional.” He said he
found defects in basic security, cell doors that wouldn't lock, a lack of
staff training and worse. In his report, Vail described “deep and systemic
problems” known “at the highest levels of the Mississippi Department of
Corrections for a considerable period of time. Those problems were
identified and described over two years ago in a letter from the ACLU to
Defendant Christopher Epps. MDOC has failed to take reasonable remedial
measures and to put in place effective monitoring mechanisms to end the
degrading, dangerous, and abusive practices at the facility.” In November,
Epps stepped down as corrections commissioner, and he has since pleaded
guilty to federal corruption charges, reportedly receiving $2 million in
bribes and kickbacks in office. Grace Fisher, a spokeswoman for the state
Department of Corrections, said Tuesday that the issue here “is not about
the merits, but whether the cases should proceed as one or several, and the
judge has ruled that these issues should be tried as one suit. We look
forward to trying the case as one lawsuit on its merits in court.”
July 25, 2014 blog.gulflive.com
MERIDIAN, Mississippi -- Two inmates could face
charges after injuring three prison guards in a fight at East Mississippi
Correctional Facility. Issa Arnita, a spokesman for prison contractor
Management & Training Corp., says three guards were moving a prisoner
to solitary confinement Thursday when the fight began. After guards told
the prisoner to gather his belongings, Arnita says the prisoner stabbed one
officer in the back with a homemade knife. As two officers used pepper
spray to subdue that prisoner, another inmate stabbed a second officer in
the back and arm. A third officer's hand was cut. The officers were treated
and released from a Meridian hospital. Lauderdale County Sheriff Billy
Sollie said deputies are investigating, but declined Friday to release
inmate names. A 2013 lawsuit was filed over the prison's conditions.
Jun
7, 2014 capecodonline.com
June
7, 2014 nytimes.com
JACKSON, Miss. -- Open fires sometimes burn unheeded in the
solitary-confinement units of the East Mississippi Correctional Facility, a
privately run state prison in Meridian, 90 miles east of here. Inmates
spend months in near-total darkness. Illnesses go untreated. Dirt, feces
and, occasionally, blood are caked on the walls of cells. For years, the
prison, the state's primary facility for prisoners with mental illnesses,
has been plagued by problems. When a previous private operator, the GEO
Group, left in 2012 after complaints to the state about squalor and lack of
medical treatment, hopes rose that conditions would improve. But two years
later, advocates for inmates assert that little has changed under the
current operator, Management and Training Corp., a Utah-based company.
Civil rights lawyers and medical and mental health experts who toured the
facility recently painted a picture of an institution where violence is
frequent, medical treatment substandard or absent, and corruption common
among corrections officers, who receive low wages and minimal training.
Photographs taken during the tour and obtained by The New York Times showed
charred door frames, broken light fixtures and toilets, exposed electrical
wires, and what advocates said were infected wounds on prisoners' arms and
legs, offering an unusual window into a prison at the center of a legal
controversy. “Photographs don't lie,“ said
Margaret Winter, associate director of the American Civil Liberties Union's
National Prison Project, which joined with the Southern Poverty Law Center
to file suit a year ago over conditions at the prison. “I've been doing
this for more than 20 years, and I'm pretty convinced that there is nothing
out there that has been made public that is this shocking.“ The Mississippi
corrections commissioner, Christopher B. Epps, who won praise several years
ago for reducing the use of solitary confinement in the state, and the
other defendants have denied the lawsuit's allegations. Epps declined to
answer questions about the prison but said by email that conditions there
had “improved tremendously“ since Management and Training Corp., or MTC,
began running it. “I have toured the facility and have seen the
improvements firsthand,“ he said. “We are
committed to running a constitutionally sound prison and look forward to
communicating that point in court.“ But current and former inmates
described an atmosphere in which prisoners lived in fear of attacks by gang
members allowed to move freely through prison units and were forced to beg
for basic medical treatment. They said some set fires - using contraband
matches or loose wires, according to advocates - to get the attention of
guards, who sometimes ignored the flames, simply allowing them to burn out.
Christopher Lindsey, 28, who was released from East Mississippi in July,
said in an interview that he had gone blind after months of not receiving
appropriate treatment for the glaucoma he has had since childhood. “I was
crying in the cell, my eyes were hurting, bloodshot red, and I was slowly
losing my eyesight,“ he said. Willie Hughes, 49,
who was released in December, said in an interview that an infected sore on
his leg had become gangrenous from neglect while he was in prison, and that
a doctor had told him after his release that he narrowly escaped needing
amputation. The 1,362-bed facility is one of five private prisons in the
state system; Mississippi, like other states, has turned to private
operators to cut costs. But advocacy groups that oppose the trend say the
for-profit companies often economize at the expense of inmate and public
safety. They point to private prisons in several states that have had
problems with violence, abuse or escapes that official reports attributed
to understaffing, lax security and poorly trained corrections officers. In
a deposition given in March to the lawyers for the plaintiffs in the
lawsuit, Matthew Naidow, a shift captain at East Mississippi, said that
conditions at the prison had improved since MTC took over the contract from
the GEO Group, but that low wages and high staff turnover contributed to
the persistence of security problems and corruption, which he said were
more prevalent than at other prisons where he had worked. Correctional
officers at the prison, he said, are paid around $10 an hour. “If you're
getting people off the streets from McDonald's,“ Naidow said, “you're going
to have a long road ahead of you to retain staff.“ Issa Arnita, a spokesman
for MTC, said the company could not comment because of the pending
litigation. LaGrand Elliot, senior vice president at Health Assurance, a
Jackson-based company hired to provide medical and psychiatric services for
the prison, also declined to comment. Dr. Terry Kupers, a psychiatrist in
Oakland, California, and an expert on the psychological effects of solitary
confinement, toured East Mississippi with the plaintiffs' lawyers in late
April. He said the mental health treatment he saw at the prison was
severely deficient. Inmates were given little therapy and had few
activities, and interviews with prisoners and a review of records indicated
that many were forcibly injected with Haldol, a tranquilizing antipsychotic
drug, even though “a lot of those people were not acutely psychotic at the
time of the injection,“ Kupers said. Record keeping was spotty or
nonexistent, with a “complete absence“ of accurate
diagnoses and no evidence of informed consent for treatment, Kupers said.
Mental health exams were sometimes conducted when inmates were asleep, and
self-injurious behaviors like cutting were an almost daily occurrence.
Medical care was also deficient, with inmates receiving delayed or
inappropriate treatment, according to a medical expert who reviewed inmate
records and was not supposed to discuss them publicly until a formal report
was released. One patient had a documented history of a slow-growing brain
tumor, but the tumor was not included on his list of medical problems at
the prison. A nurse noted that the inmate had reported having a brain tumor
- the prisoner “has a wild story to tell,“ the
nurse wrote - and ordered a muscle rub, ibuprofen and shampoo for him. At
the time of the review, the inmate had not been referred to a neurosurgeon,
the expert said. MTC, the third-largest private prison operator in the
country, runs 24 correctional institutions nationwide and holds the
contracts for three other prisons in Mississippi. Winter, the ACLU prison
project associate director, said the Mississippi Department of Corrections
bore the ultimate responsibility for the inmates at the East Mississippi
prison. Epps, the corrections commissioner, and other department officials
are named as the defendants in the lawsuit.
A judge will consider later this year whether to grant the
plaintiffs class-action status. Current and former inmates said security
was also an issue. They said corrections officers were complicit in or
turned a blind eye to contraband trading, and ignored inmate-on-inmate
violence. Hughes, who served time for a drug offense, said lockdowns were
frequent, as were stabbings and fights. Corrections officers, Hughes said,
often kicked food trays out of the hands of mentally ill inmates and did
nothing to stop prisoners from roaming the units or carrying on a brisk
trade in cigarettes, whiskey, cellphones and other commodities. “That was big money,“
he said. “They wasn't going to stop it.“ Hughes said he was once sent on a
cleanup detail to one of the solitary-confinement units - known to inmates,
according to the lawsuit, as the “dead man's zone“ or “dead area“ because
corrections officers did not often go there. “Guys was throwing fire, setting trays on
fire, flooding the cells, and the guards were just sitting there like
that's normal, that's OK,“ he said.
05/30/2013
aclu.org
East
Mississippi Correctional Facility is hyper-violent, grotesquely filthy and
dangerous. Patients with severe psychiatric disabilities go without basic
mental health care. Many prisoners attempt suicide. This video is the story
of a young man who succeeded. Privacy statement. This embed will serve
content from youtube.com. EMCF is a cesspool. Prisoners are underfed and
often held in rat-infested cells without working toilets or lights. The
prison is dangerously understaffed, and prisoners routinely set fires to
attract the attention of officers to respond to emergencies. Without
sufficient staff to protect prisoners, rapes, beatings, and stabbings are
rampant. And some of the most sadistic violence is inflicted on prisoners
by security staff. EMCF is supposed to provide intensive treatment to the
state's prisoners with severe psychiatric disabilities, but instead locks
many in prolonged long-term solitary confinement – often for years – and
denies prisoners even the most rudimentary mental health care services.
Medical care is grossly substandard. One prisoner is now legally blind
after EMCF failed to provide his glaucoma medications and take him to a
specialist; another had part of his finger amputated after he was stabbed
and developed gangrene. The Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC),
which ultimately bears responsibility, has known about these conditions for
years but failed to protect the health and safety of prisoners. In 2012,
the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center offered
to pay for an assessment of the system, but the Mississippi Department of
Corrections rejected the offer. Today, the American Civil Liberties Union,
the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Law Offices of Elizabeth Alexander
filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of prisoners at EMCF. The conditions at
EMCF are blatantly unconstitutional and we fully expect to prevail in the
lawsuit. We hope that MDOC Commissioner Epps will meet us at the
negotiating table very soon to finally end the horrors and suffering at
EMCF.
Mississippi:
MS DOC, MTC (former GEO) prison, East Mississippi Correctional
Facility
May
30, 2013 clarionledger.com
Mississippi’s
cash-strapped correctional system came under fire again this week with the
filing of a federal lawsuit claiming “barbaric conditions” at a prison for
the mentally ill. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern
Poverty Law Center filed the 83-page complaint against the state Department
of Corrections on Thursday in the federal court in Jackson. It alleges
numerous gross abuses at the privately-run East Mississippi Correctional
Facility near Meridian, which houses some 1,500 inmates. Among the claims
are that of a grime-covered facility reeking of feces where inmates spend
months in isolated darkness without access to showers or working toilets.
It says prisoners routinely are denied medication, ignored by the guards,
and use the rats that infest the building as currency to obtain goods and
services. “Each of these conditions, by itself, places prisoners at a
substantial risk of serious harm,” according to the lawsuit. “Taken
together, they create an environment so toxic that they threaten the physical
and mental health of all the prisoners exposed to them.” MDOC spokeswoman
Grace Fisher said the department doesn’t comment on allegations made in
pending litigation, but Commissioner Chris Epps said in a statement that
“negotiating will be one of the options we will explore regarding this
matter.” This isn’t the first time the ACLU has sued over the conditions at
a Mississippi prison. The organization filed suit in 2002 due to inhumane
treatment of death row prisoners at Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman
and again in 2010 because of abuses at the Walnut Grove Youth Correction
Facility. The Southern Poverty Law Center was co-counsel in the Walnut
Grove case. Both cases since have been resolved. But the situation at EMCF
“is the worst I’ve ever seen,” said Gabriel B. Eber, staff counsel for the
ACLU’s National Prison Project, who was in Jackson on Thursday discussing
the case. “And I’ve been in prisons all around the country.” The ACLU-SPLC
suit was filed on behalf of 16 inmates whose civil rights allegedly were
violated while in custody at EMCF. One of them, a 27-year-old man named
Christopher Lindsey, reportedly went blind after guards denied him access
to treatment for his glaucoma despite his repeated pleas for help between
2011 and 2013. Another inmate, William Eastwood, reportedly was raped
four-to-five times at knifepoint in February 2012 by prisoner who snorted
cocaine to stay erect during the ordeal. An officer summoned by Eastwood’s
cries left when the assailant told him everything was OK, the lawsuit says.
Other mentally ill inmates have committed suicide after guards ignored
repeated warning signs and, in some cases, had listed them in good
condition hours after they’d died. Crime in the prison has become so
rampant that Lauderdale County Sheriff Billy Sollie asked the state for a
full-time investigator to handle the case load, he said. As lead
law-enforcement agency for the county, the department must investigate each
felony occurrence on the property. “There have been repeated violent incidents,”
said Sollie, who also cited inconsistencies with the facility because of
its revolving-door management. Three different private contractors have
operated EMCF since it opened in 1999. The current operator is Utah-based
Management & Training Corporation, which was not named as a defendant
in the lawsuit. MTC also has a state contract to run Walnut Grove and the
Marshall County Correctional Facility in Holly Springs. MDOC entered into
all three agreements last year after the previous private company, the GEO
Group of Boca Raton, Fla., ended its management contracts for the three
facilities. MTC spokesman Issa Arnita declined to comment on the lawsuit
but said that, since taking over the prison, the company has been “working
very hard to improve the conditions and have made a lot of progress over
these past ten months.” On Thursday, family members of EMCF and Walnut
Grove inmates gathered outside the state Department of Corrections in
downtown Jackson to protest what they called inhumane treatment and the
oversight of prisons by private contractors. Holding signs with their loved
ones’ initials and a description of the alleged abuses they’d suffered
while in prison, the family members asked for justice. “I was assured that
while serving his sentence, my son would get the help he so separately
needs,” said Katie Autry while choking back tears. “This turned out to be
false. Since my son has been in east Mississippi, I have seen his mental
state – his mental state got worse, not better.” Autry declined to name her
son, providing only his age and initials – 28 years old and B.A . The state Department of Corrections lists a man of
the same age named Bilethon Autry serving a 24-year sentence for
manslaughter at EMCF. Autry said her son, who has bi-polar disorder and a
form of schizophrenia, had been denied medication for the first six months
of his sentence and repeatedly placed in isolation as a result of his
erratic behavior. “He has been in isolation, in chains, for the past three
months,” Autry said. “I saw him yesterday, and he looks horrible. He’s lost
probably 100 pounds.” Fisher couldn’t comment on Autry’s situation, citing
the federal HIPAA privacy rule. EMCF Warden Frank Shaw was out of the
office Thursday and couldn’t be reached for comment. EMCF was criticized by
a national correctional health-care expert in 2011 for inadequate
psychiatric staffing, according to the lawsuit. At the time, it had one
full-time psychiatrist at the facility. But one year later, the hours
dropped to two days per week after the state hired another for-profit
contractor, Health Assurance, to provide mental health and psychiatric
services at the prison. The lawsuit also alleges youth prisoners are housed
at the facility alongside adults and that, in at least one case, a 16-year-old
was raped while in the facility’s general population. “We have a moral
obligation to take care of our mentally ill,” said Jody Owens II, executive
director of SPLC’s Mississippi office. “This is fixible.” Owens said the
ACLU and SPLC raised their concerns with MDOC Commissioner Chris Epps last
year but got nowhere. He provided a copy of a May 15, 2012 letter
reportedly sent to Epps detailling the problems and asking for a response
within two weeks, but none was received. Epps said through his spokeswoman that
he never saw the letter. “We have sat down with the ACLU and SPLC on
numerous occasions in the past and have taken their suggestions on other
units,” Epps said in a statement. “Negotiating will be one of the options
we will explore regarding this matter.” The department had a $29.5 million
deficit during the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, and faces
additional budget crunches next year. It’s unclear whether funding has had
anything to do with the prison’s current situation, but Owens said it shouldn’t
matter. “Budget constraints,” he said, “doesn’t relieve constitutional
obligations.”
June 7, 2012 WTOK
MTC will officially take over operation at East Mississippi Correctional
Facility on July 9th. The company got its start working with young people
outside the corrections system. The Vice President of Corrections at MTC
explained the company's history via a video news release. "We started
30 years ago by providing training for young adults to succeed in
life," says Odie Washington, "we've taken that and applied it to
our corrections division. "All you are going to see is a change in the
name over the door," that's the opinion of Frank Smith, a private
prison watchdog, "it's not going to be a change in operations."
Smith works as a consultant for Private Corrections Working Group.
"The problem is there is such turnover that there is no mentoring
process so everybody is just kind of new on the job, and they don't know
what to do when the problems arise." MTC officials say they plan on
providing EMCF with all the resources it needs to operate effectively.
"We'll provide each facility the resources necessary for them to
operate safely and effectively," says Washington, and we look forward
to applying these high standards to our new Mississippi facilities as
well." Only time will tell whether MTC will have a successful run in
the Magnolia State.
June 7, 2012 AP
A Utah-based private prison operator will take over management of three
Mississippi correctional institutions beginning in July. Management &
Training Corporation of Centreville, Utah, has signed 10-year operating
contracts for the East Mississippi Correctional Facility near the Lost Gap
community beginning July 2; Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility in
Walnut Grove on July 9; and the Marshall County Correctional Facility in
Holly Springs on Aug. 13. Financial details of the contracts were not made
public. The announcement came Thursday by the company and the Mississippi
Department of Corrections. The Corrections Department and the GEO Group of
Boca Raton, Fla., in April agreed to end GEO's management contract at the
three prisons. At the time Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps told the AP
that the department felt it might get a better price if all three prisons
were presented as a package to other corrections management companies.
"The Mississippi Department of Corrections is looking forward to a
great partnership with MTC," Epps said in a statement Thursday.
"There is a need for different types of prisons, including state and
regional as well as private facilities in Mississippi. MTC will be held to
the same high standards as set by MDOC and I feel extremely confident that
MTC will do a great job." "We look forward to the opportunity to
work in Mississippi," said MTC senior vice president of corrections
Odie Washington in the statement. "We have partnered with state and
federal governments in operating correctional facilities for the past 25
years, and have a strong record of providing safe, secure and well-run
facilities."
East Texas Intermediate
Sanction Facility, Longview, Texas
September 30, 2005 Tyler Morning Telegraph
In other business Thursday, county commissioners allowed the sheriff to
move forward with plans to convert the Marvin A. Smith Regional Juvenile
Center to the Marvin A. Smith Criminal Justice Center. With the county's
jail population hovering around capacity, the county plans to take the
already-closed juvenile facility and turn it into a low-risk adult
detention facility in April. He also said after the meeting that Management
and Training Corp., which leases a total of 300 beds in the county's jail,
has been put on verbal notice that the county currently is not in a position
to renew its contract, which expires in February 2007. The sheriff said
officials are working with the company on finding a new place to house
those inmates when that time comes.
Gadsden
County Correctional Facility, Gretna, Florida
May 4, 2012 Tallahassee Democrat
Franzetta Mathis, 42, was arrested Thursday by the Leon County Sheriff's
Office on charges of grand theft and destroying evidence. Court documents
say she and another correctional officer were at Capital Regional Medical
Center guarding an inmate when another patient dropped her wallet. Mathis
then picked up the wallet and put it in her purse, the document said. The
patient later reported the stolen wallet, which she said contained about
$8,400. Hospital surveillance tape showed Mathis taking the wallet. When
she was questioned, the document says Mathis told police there was only
$100 in the wallet. After further questioning, she admitted that there was
about $7,100 in the wallet. Mathis also told police that she had burned the
wallet after taking the money, the document said.
April 27, 2010 Salt Lake City Tribune
Centerville-based Management & Training Corporation (MTC) has received
a three-year, $76.5 million contract to operate a 1,520-bed prison for
women in Quincy, Fla. The contract with the Florida Department of
Management Services goes into effect Aug. 1 and includes a pair of
renewable, two-year options. MTC already manages 16 private correctional
facilities in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas and, beginning
in June, Idaho. The contract to run the Gadsden Correctional Institution,
about 20 miles outside Tallahassee, marks the Utah company's entry into
Florida. "The company's experience working with female inmates in
other locations has provided us with the expertise needed at this site,"
said Odie Washington, MTC's senior corrections vice president. "MTC
believes in rehabilitating inmates by providing them with educational
opportunities. For nearly a quarter century we have helped inmates improve
their lives and to reestablish themselves as successful members of
society." MTC uses the Foundations for Life and Success for Life
rehabilitation programs to educate inmates, he noted. With the Florida
prison, MTC manages more than 24,000 correctional beds. The company also is
involved in operating 26 Job Corps centers for the U. S. Department of
Labor, serving 19,000 students annually.
Giles
W. Dalby Correctional Facility, Post, Texas
Feb
19, 2022 kcbd.com
Bureau
of Prisons will not renew contract with Dalby facility in Garza County
POST,
Texas (KCBD) - A major change is ahead for the Giles W. Dalby Correctional
Facility in Post. Garza County Judge Lee Norman was notified Thursday the
Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is not renewing the contract with Management and
Training Corporations (MTC), which manages the facility. BOP notified MTC
they will no longer need the Dalby facility because the BOP federally owned
units have bed space, and they no longer need private prisons. The end of
the contract will be June 30, 2022. "That brings us to a definite
crossroad," said Judge Norman. MTC corporate officials and Judge
Norman spent time in Post Thursday morning looking for a new source of
prisoners. Judge Norman said he and MTC want to keep the facility open,
even though the vendor is changing. MTC's core businesses are corrections, education and training, MTC medical, and economic &
social development. MTC operates 21 correctional
facilities in eight states. The Giles W. Dalby Correctional Facility
inmate population consists of people awaiting trial for violating federal
laws or those who have already been convicted of committing a federal
crime. Due to a law passed in 1997, the facility also confines offenders
who have been convicted of a felony in the District of Columbia. Under
certain agreements and special circumstances, the facility may also house
state inmates. It is a low-level security prison.
October
18, 2013 lubbockonline.com
A
former guard at a private prison in Post on Friday, Oct. 18, received two
years probation for accepting a candy bar from an inmate as a bribe. “You
know I’m giving you a break,” U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings said to
Cesar Ceja, after defense attorney Rod Hobson suggested a long probation
would achieve the same goals as a prison term would. Ceja replied, “Yes,
your honor, I do.” He faced a maximum prison sentence of two years. Ceja, a
guard at the Giles W. Dalby Correctional Facility, told investigators in
February 2012 an inmate offered him a bribe to bring contraband into a
prison. In that same interview, he admitted he’d accepted a Snickers candy
bar from an inmate in exchange for chewing gum. Many jails and prisons
classify chewing gum as contraband primarily because it can be used to jam
a lock keyway. The Dalby facility is owned by Garza County and operated by
Management and Training Corp., based in Centerville, Utah. The minimum
security prison is a federal contract facility that houses men who may be
awaiting deportation.
January 17, 2001 Lubbock
Avalanche-Journal
Sixteen federal prisoners confined to the Giles W. Dalby Correctional
Facility in Post filed a class-action lawsuit Tuesday alleging violation of
due process and their civil rights. The inmates, all immigrant aliens in
the United States, filed suit in U.S. District Court in Lubbock. Management
and Training Corporation runs the private prison, which contracts with the
federal government to house inmates. The lawsuit claims that Dalby inmate
receive inadequate medical care, food, rehabilitation programs and legal
supplies, among other complaints.
August 1, 2000 Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
A corrections officer suffered a concussion in a riot early Sunday morning
at a medium-security prison in Post after being struck by an object thrown
by an inmate, a county judge Giles Dalby said Monday. He said the riot started
on "Main Street," a wide outdoor sidewalk area that splits the
facility's two holding areas. According to Dalby, about 500 inmates
gathered on the sidewalk at about 8:30 pm. Saturday and began loitering and
making demands to the correction officers. "The officers were able to
talk them down to about 250 inmates," Dalby said. "When the
officers told them to lock up at around 12:30 am, some obeyed and some
didn't. A crowd of about 10 inmates stayed in the area." The inmates
then began to break wooden picnic tables and set them on fire. They also
pulled gutters off the side of the building and damaged seven surveillance
cameras, Dalby said. "That is when we pulled our people back to safety
and called the safety response team," Dalby said. According to Dalby,
the number of inmates involved in the riot swelled to about 200 as the
mayhem continued. The facility's response team was called in at about 1:45
am Sunday and dispersed the crowd in 9 minutes using tear gas, Dalby
said.
Graceville
Correctional Institution
Aug 18, 2021 dothaneagle.com
Management & Training Corporation taking over at Graceville CI with
Middlebrooks as warden
The company taking
over at Graceville Correctional Institution on Sept. 1 has assigned a
veteran warden with a long history in Jackson County to lead the prison.
The state of Florida will end its Graceville CI contract with the GEO Group
on that date and Management & Training Corporation (MTC) has been
selected to take the facility over. Scott Middlebrooks, who started his corrections
career 34 years ago as an officer at Apalachee Correctional Institution in
Sneads, came out of retirement to work for MTC a few years back, and is
leaving his post as a warden at one of the company's Mississippi facilities
to take the job at Graceville. A native of the Milton area, Middlebrooks
said he's looking forward to being back in Jackson County and that he and
wife Lesa are glad to be moving closer to their two grown daughters, who
still live near Milton. Middlebrooks was also once the warden of the
federal prison in Marianna. His wife's parents, Roy
and Barbara McCollough, live in Marianna.
Hood
County Juvenile Detention Center, Hood
County, Texas
February 1, 2006 Hood County News
The now abandoned county juvenile detention center drew attention from two
county judge candidates at the political forum Monday night for candidates
in the March 7 Republican primary. Precinct 2 county commissioner Charles
Baskett placed the blame on county judge Andy Rash for the loss of $837,00
in operating expenses at the juvenile detention center (JDC). Rash
countered that the county inherited the JDC problem and took action to try
and protect their credit rating. In addition to Baskett and incumbent judge
Rash, former Granbury mayor Rick Frye is also seeking election to the
position of county judge. Baskett said the juvenile detention center was
built by an outside contractor, who then leased the facility to the county.
The county then sub-leased the facility to MTC, the company that ran the
facility as a JDC for about a year. “At the end of a year, they had lost
$1.2 million. They (MTC) cancelled their lease with the county and left
town,” Baskett said. “I tried to find someone to come back in to run the
facility as a JDC. No one was interested. They couldn’t make the numbers
work. “Then the juvenile board came up with a budget, and it was put on the
commissioners’ court agenda to determine whether Hood County should run the
facility.” Baskett contends the center was supposed to be run by a private
enterprise, and that the county had no business getting involved in
managing the center. “It was a 3-2 vote to run the center on our own. We
had no obligation to do it,” Baskett said. “We ran it for a few months and
lost $837,000 before we had to discontinue. We held the lease. We could
have given it up. “They said they were worried about losing our bond
rating, and that’s why we should continue to operate the facility. We lost
it (bond rating) anyway. “We should have never tried to run that facility
ourselves. Now our bond rating is BBB.” “Had we terminated our lease and
not attempted to operate, both Standard and Poor, and Moody threatened to
lower our bond rating to BBB-,” he said.
Kyle
Unit, Hays County, Texas
March 16, 2008 Austin American-Statesman
Two men who escaped from a Kyle private prison were apprehended this
afternoon, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The two
men were apprehended while walking on County Road 158 about three miles
east of the facility, according to Jason Clark, a public information
officer with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Jeremy Trevino, 21,
and Justin Doty, 23, escaped from the Kyle Unit in Hays County over a wall
in the recreation yard shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday. Clark said the two
men were imprisoned there for parole violations. “Anytime an offender
escapes, we always work quickly to get them back into custody,” Clark said.
“You just don’t know what they’re capable of.”
Lake
Erie Correctional Institution, Conneaut, Ohio
November 2, 2011 Star Beacon
Corrections Corporation of America will apparently start from scratch in
its search for employees for the state prison it plans to acquire at the
start of the year. Just about every employee at the Lake Erie Correctional
Institution will be laid off effective Dec. 31, according to paperwork
filed last week with the state by Management and Training Corporation, the
Utah-based company that has operated the prison since it opened in April
2000. In a notice MTC filed with the Ohio Department of Job and Family
Services, it will “permanently lay off its employees” at LaECI and the
North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility, another prison operated by
MTC. The action will affect 271 people at LaECI, according to the notice —
the same number of people listed as employees on the Ohio Department of
Rehabilitation and Corrections web site. More than half of the workers, 142
employees, are correctional officers, according to the notice. The prison’s
two deputy wardens are also on the lay-off list.
September 1, 2011 All Headline News
The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections announced Thursday
the winning bidders in the $200 million privatization of prisons in
Ashtabula and Marion counties. Two out of three bidders won the contracts:
Corrections Corp. of America (CCA) of Nashville, TN, and Management and
Training Corp. (MTC) of Centerville, UT. The Geo Group Inc. of Boca Raton,
FL, was the losing bidder. The state of Ohio pushed through with the
announcement after a Columbus judge denied a restraining order by opposition
groups to halt the process. Five adult prisons out of the state's 32
corrections facilities were up for grabs. CCA will take over the operations
of Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Ashtabula County, while MTC will
manage Marion County's North Central Correctional Institution and the
vacant Marion Juvenile Correctional Facility. The MTC-operated North Coast
Correctional Treatment Facility in Lorain County will be turned over to
Ohio and merged with the state-operated Grafton Correctional Institution.
August 7, 2010 Star-Beacon
Officials at the Lake Erie Correctional Institution and Ohio State Highway
Patrol continue to investigate a fight one week ago, which landed 15
inmates in solitary confinement. The review is proceeding at a deliberate
pace, Rich Gansheimer, LaECI warden, said Friday afternoon. The probe will
not be rushed, to ensure a thorough job, he said. “We want to get to the
cause of it,” he said. “We want to get the guys responsible.” One inmate
was injured in a fight that began around 4:30 p.m. in one of the housing
units. He was taken to Ashtabula County Medical Center for treatment and
returned to the prison the same day. No corrections officers or prison
staff were injured, LaECI officials said. The fight was broken up without
the assistance of any outside agencies, according to reports. Prison
officials have declined to say how many inmates were involved or whether
weapons were used, saying those questions will be answered by the
investigation. OHP investigates all crimes that occur on state prison
property.
August 2, 2010 AP
The state is investigating a fight at a private prison in northeastern Ohio
that resulted in 15 inmates punished with solitary confinement. Department
of Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said Monday the
fight happened about 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Lake Erie Correctional
Institution. Smith says no guards were injured and that one prisoner was
treated at a local hospital for injuries and returned to prison the same
day. The prison system and the state highway patrol are investigating. The
prison run by Utah-based Management and Training Corporation is a minimum
and medium security facility with about 1,500 inmates.
May 18, 2005 AP
Ashtabula County's budget problems are so severe that dozens of crimes
committed at one of the state's two privately operated prisons aren't being
prosecuted. The northeast Ohio county doesn't have enough money to handle
all the crimes reported, Prosecutor Thomas Sartini said. Some crimes
reported at the Lake Erie Correctional Institution are being overlooked as
a result. "I don't like not to prosecute any case that's a legitimate
case," Sartini said. "I've always taken the position that we're
going to prosecute cases to the fullest extent, but if I've got one hand
tied behind my back, it's a little tough to do. So we're in a position
where we've had to make some calls. The only crimes consistently prosecuted
from the prison involve inmates assaulting guards or attempts to smuggle
drugs into the prison. State Highway Patrol records show that inmate
attacks on other inmates are usually overlooked. Prisoners aren't being
prosecuted for having weapons, either.
March 14, 2004
An inmate at the Lake Erie Correctional Institution was found badly beaten
Tuesday afternoon, officials said. The inmate, identified as Bobby
Donaldson, 22, was reportedly struck by a padlock placed inside a sock,
officials said. (Star Beacon)
January 24, 2003
CONNEAUT - The state
prison perched on Conneaut's East Side generated nearly $400,000
for the city's budget last year, nearly half of that in municipal
income-tax revenues, according to figures provided by Finance Director John
Williams. The information has been
relayed to Gov. Bob Taft, who on Wednesday confirmed he will close at least
one state prison to help heal a $720 million budget deficit. The Lake Erie
Correctional Institution in Conneaut has not been excluded, officials have
said. The medium-security prison is
operated by Management and Training Corp., of Utah, and MTC employees -
more than 250 people - paid nearly $125,000 in city income taxes, Williams
said. The prison also buys a huge
amount of water from the city. Water revenue from the prison was $88,000,
while sewer revenue was $159,000, Williams said. Conneaut counts on prison-related
revenues to help pay off its prison-related debt. To entice the Ohio
Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to consider a Conneaut site for
its first privately managed prison, the city offered gifts of land and
infrastructure. While the state contributed
more than $39 million to the prison project - primarily in construction
costs - Conneaut agreed to absorb nearly $2.1 million in expenses. The
city's expenses include sewer lines ($647,000), waterlines ($591,000), a
mandatory water tank ($532,000) and land ($309,000). Loans were obtained to
help the city handle the costs. The
city bought nearly 500 acres of land from USX Corp. and donated some 175
acres to the state for the prison. The balance of the acreage is home to
the East Conneaut Industrial Park and the city's compost site. State Rep. George Distel, D-Conneaut, has
said the loss of the prison would bankrupt the city since it would lose its
main method of repaying the prison debt. Distel has said he has shared
Williams' information with Taft's office. (The Staff)
Management
and Training Corporation, Ogden, Utah
Immigrants prove big business for prison companies:
August 2, 2012 By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ and GARANCE BURKE Associated Press.
Must read on immigration $$$.
MDOC
Sticks with Private Prisons: Jackson Free Press, June 13,
2012. MDOC chooses MTC to take over where GEO failed. What are they
smoking?
Top
Ten Industry Lies: Cell Out Arizona, August 22, 2011
2010 escape at Kingman an issue for MTC’s bid: August
11, 2011, Bob Ortega, The Arizona Republic. Expose on MTC
Cathy Byus, et al vs. MTC, et al: March
17, 2011, 30 pages: Wrongful death suit involving the murder of Linda Haas
by escapees from MTC's Arizona State Prison Kingman.
Rachel Maddow stay on it http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show/#38700092
Rachel Maddow kicks butt http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/38685023#38685023
Nov
22, 2022 texastribune.org
Prison
contractor MTC accused of billing Texas millions for inmate treatment
programs it didn’t provide
One
of the country’s largest private prison companies has defrauded Texas by
collecting millions of dollars for in-prison therapeutic programming it hasn’t
provided during the pandemic, a new complaint filed with the state auditor
claims. In 2020, as the coronavirus killed thousands of prisoners across
the country, a push to release more people eligible for parole was met with
firm resistance by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. It continued
requiring most prisoners approved for parole to first complete treatment
programming, which generally takes three to nine months and focuses on life
skills, substance abuse rehabilitation or treatment for those convicted of
sex offenses. But with sick staff and prisoners, Texas prisons largely kept
men and women confined to their cells or dorms, and people inside told The
Texas Tribune in 2020 that much of the required programming wasn’t
occurring. On Monday, prison rights advocacy group LatinoJustice alleged
that despite the lack of services, Management & Training Corporation
continued charging the state for the programs and forced prisoners to
falsify documents stating they had received treatment. “Instead of providing
group therapy sessions and one-on-one counseling with people enrolled in
the rehabilitation programs, MTC employees simply gave people paperwork to
do on their own time,” LatinoJustice senior counsel Andrew Case wrote in a
letter to the auditor presenting the complaint. “MTC then forced people to
fill out timesheets stating that they had received treatment from MTC
counselors that MTC had not provided,” Case continued. “People were
instructed by MTC staff that if they did not fill out the false timesheets,
they would be disciplined or lose their parole and be forced to return to
prison.” The complaint, citing state contracts, program reports and dozens
of interviews with incarcerated men and women, claims the fraudulent
practices are still occurring. MTC spokesperson David Martinson declined to
answer questions Monday, referring the Tribune to the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice. TDCJ spokesperson Robert Hurst sent a statement saying
the prison system would fully cooperate with the state auditor’s
investigation into the complaint, as well as launch its own internal
investigation. “As a result of [COVID-19] protocols, alternative treatment
plans were implemented to ensure that inmates remained in treatment and
that proper treatment in group sessions would take place with social
distancing requirements,” the statement read. The agency said compliance
with treatment programs was ensured with random site visits. This isn’t the
first time MTC, a private prison operator which also contracts with state prisons
for rehabilitation programming, has faced fraud allegations. Just last
week, Mississippi’s state auditor demanded MTC pay nearly $2 million for
improperly billing the state for thousands of unmanned prison guard shifts,
after an investigation by The Marshall Project. MTC said it had already
paid back penalty fees for not having enough workers under the terms of the
contract. LatinoJustice’s complaint focuses primarily on three Texas
prisons that contract with MTC for prerelease programming on substance and
alcohol abuse, which combined made the company more than $5 million from
March 2020 through this January. The advocacy group noted MTC overall holds
17 active contracts with TDCJ, worth more than $100 million. Contracts
between MTC and TDCJ require the company to provide a minimum amount of
group therapy, individual therapy and other
services. The requirements are also enshrined in state law. The programs
are meant to help prisoners transition into the free world, often with
programming related to their prison sentence. For Joshua Ladd, that meant
he had to undergo a substance abuse treatment program before he could be
released on parole for a methamphetamine-related conviction. But the
48-year-old said he didn’t get any help from MTC to stay clean on the
outside when he was transferred to the Gist State Jail for treatment in
April 2020. Instead of group or individual counseling, Ladd told the
Tribune, prisoners were handed work packets to fill out. And despite being
required to fill out forms indicating they received daily treatment, they
mostly just sat around and waited to go home. “Maybe once every other week,
a counselor would come in for an hour,” he said when employees finally
began entering the dorm filled with about 60 men. “One counselor just sat
there and said ‘I’m going to just give you the
floor.’ … She just sat there and read her book.” He said a sample timesheet
was taped on one of the dorm windows, telling them to mark off 20 hours of
direct treatment when all they’d received was paperwork. “It was just a
joke, a complete joke the whole way through,” Ladd said. “And it’s just so
disgusting that they get away with this stuff. ’Just sign here so we can
get paid.’” Ladd and several other inmates imprisoned in 2020 wrote
affidavits to pair with LatinoJustice’s complaint. But the allegations
don’t only apply to dropped programming during the height of the pandemic.
One woman who is currently enrolled in an MTC behavioral prerelease program
at the Halbert State Jail said the practice has continued. Kathryn Theune,
32, said there is group programming, but it is led by prisoners, not MTC
employees. She said she has not received any individual therapy since she
was enrolled in September. “In addition, we are often brough[sic] to the
day room early in the morning to have an hour of ‘programming’ in which no
counselor is present,” Theune said in an affidavit last month. “We are not
allowed to leave the day room during this hour, and instead we sit in
silence for an hour after documenting that we were present.” The advocacy
group argues MTC did not stop providing programming to prevent further
spread of the coronavirus within prisons, but because it “realized it could
make more money that way.” LatinoJustice said it’s unclear how much TDCJ
knew about the reduction in services because the agency has battled in
court against the release of documents surrounding the programs and the
pandemic. The group argued such documents could “reveal the extent to which
TDCJ was aware of the fraud that MTC was committing.” “For example, if
these communications show that TDCJ was aware of MTC’s cuts in services,
but that it did not demand a reduction in what it had to pay, then TDCJ
bears responsibility for the fact that MTC charged for services never
provided,” Case wrote along with LatinoJustice attorney Norma Esquivel. The
Texas auditor will review the complaint, as it does for all fraud
allegations involving state funds, but it’s unclear when and what will
happen next.
Sep 15, 2022 sandiegouniontribune.com
Complaint alleges Calexico immigration detention officials use solitary
confinement as retaliation
Immigration
detainees at Imperial Regional Detention Facility say they have been placed
in solitary confinement after speaking out about conditions there. The
allegation is among several in a complaint filed Tuesday with the
Department of Homeland Security Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
through the help of a group of immigrant rights organizations. Detainees
said in the complaint that staff at the facility, which is located in
Calexico, falsified charges against them to send them to segregated
housing units — or solitary confinement — after they filed grievances about
staff behavior and facility conditions. One detainee said that he faced
retaliation after talking with officials from the DHS Office of Civil
Rights and Civil Liberties about issues at Imperial, and several detainees
said they were disciplined after participating in a complaint about the
facility’s air quality in January 2022. “We see the every
day cruelty of immigration detention. We see that folks speak up
about it. We see that there’s retaliation for doing so and still people
continue to resist and work toward shut down,” said PJ Podesta of
Innovation Law Lab, one of the organizations supporting the detainees.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the government agency responsible for
immigration detention, said Wednesday that it does not comment on pending
litigation. Management and Training Corporation, the private prison company
that runs the facility, said Wednesday that it would “vigorously defend
against claims of retaliation in this case.” “MTC does not condone or
tolerate retaliation against those who have brought concerns to our
attention,” said David Martinson, spokesperson for the company. He noted
that detainees should follow the official grievance process to bring
concerns to the facility’s attention. Immigration detention is civil
custody, so it is not supposed to be used for punitive reasons in the way
that criminal custody is used. Detainees are often waiting for their
immigration cases to progress through the court system. Ramon Dominguez
Gonzalez, who has been held at Imperial since January 2019 after being
transferred from prison, has filed numerous grievances and complaints
during his time at the facility, according to the complaint. That has also
made him a target, the complaint says. He has been in a segregated housing
cell since June of last year, Dominguez Gonzalez told the Union-Tribune. He
doesn’t know when he’s getting out. He said that hasn’t stopped him from
speaking up. “I would rather face the consequences than live the way that
we’re living,” Dominguez Gonzalez said. “If somebody files a grievance,
they’ll come and search people’s property, take people’s personal belongings.
I just can’t live under those circumstances, so I’m going to continue to
push and advocate against that type of stuff whether there’s retaliation or
not.” Part of his motivation, he said, is that many of the people held at
Imperial have recently arrived to the United
States. They do not know their rights, and they do not speak English, which
makes advocating for themselves difficult, he explained. As someone who has
been in the U.S. since he was a toddler, he feels that he’s in a position to advocate for better conditions. He is
currently fighting to keep his green card to remain in the United States.
In May 2021, Dominguez Gonzalez helped a fellow detainee write a grievance
against a facility staff member. The employee later came to his cell and
threateningly told him to stop helping people submit grievances, the
complaint says. Dominguez Gonzalez submitted a grievance about this
incident, as well, and after reviewing video footage, facility staff found
it to be true, the complaint says. In the spring of this year, Dominguez
Gonzalez went to see the facility’s dentist and requested a deep dental
cleaning, which the complaint says he hadn’t received in more than three
years during his time there. His request was declined, and he was escorted
back to his unit. Later, he received a write-up that said he had refused to
leave when his request was denied, according to the complaint. The same
employee who had threatened him presided over the disciplinary proceeding,
and Dominguez Gonzalez ended up being sent to solitary confinement, the
complaint says. Now he feels like his mental health has suffered more than
when he was in prison, he said. A therapist evaluated Dominguez Gonzalez in
July and found that he has post-traumatic stress disorder and post release
syndrome with symptoms including difficulty sleeping, loss of appetite,
difficulty concentrating and hyperawareness, the complaint says. The
complaint attributes much of this to the amount of time that Dominguez
Gonzalez has spent in solitary confinement. “I didn’t have these issues
before,” he said. “The last couple of years before I got out of prison I was doing good. I was adapting to go back out
to society, you know.” The complaint also details the case of a detainee,
Alvaro Galindo, who has spent more than 130 days in the segregation unit
after arriving at the facility in January of this year. That means he’s
spent more than half of his time at the facility in isolation. As a result,
the complaint says, Galindo’s health has deteriorated significantly. “I was
in a tough spot within myself, and the way they use solitary confinement
here just helped to make that worse,” Galindo told the Union-Tribune. “No
one in this facility for whatever reason they’re here should be subjected
to that.” The first time he was sent to solitary confinement, he was given
30 days because a guard threw away a bottle of soda that he was drinking,
and he retrieved the bottle from a garbage can, the complaint says. The
complaint notes that detainees are paid $1 per day for work at the facility,
so getting a bottle of soda from the commissary is a luxury for them. The
second time, he was sent to solitary on charges of fruit possession and
medication misuse that were ultimately determined to be unfounded, the
complaint says, but while he waited for the disciplinary proceedings, he
spent another 30 days in isolation. The third time, Galindo was sent to the
segregated housing unit after a fight with another detainee. Both were
given 15 days, but then Galindo was held longer, for about 70 days, the
complaint says. It notes that at the time, he had an open grievance against
the official presiding over his disciplinary proceedings because that
person had allegedly thrown away his personal photos. Now he’s back in
solitary for a fourth time, he told the Union-Tribune on Tuesday, for
another 30-day sentence because of a contraband write-up. While he’s been
in there, he’s seen other detainees get released from the segregated
housing unit in a week or less for the same offense, he said. “This is what
I’ve come to accept as my reality that in my time that I’m here, I’m going
to be sent here for the most minor things and expect that I’m going to be
given the fullest time possible,” Galindo said. When he was most recently
taken to solitary confinement, he said, he wasn’t given sheets or a blanket
until his second night there. He didn’t have any of his belongings except
the clothes he was wearing, and the cell was cold, he said. “No one should
have to be in these conditions,” he said. The complaint also alleges that
in some cases detainees did not receive adequate medical care as a
retaliatory practice to their speaking out. Donald Varela Fernandez, who
has been at the facility since September 2021, participated in the January
complaint about air quality inside the facility. He told the more recent
complaint authors that he believes the facility retaliated against him by
withholding medical care until he had deteriorated to an
emergency situation. The complaint says he spent months trying to
see a doctor at the facility because of increasing pain, decreased range of
motion in his limbs and burning sensations in his hands and fingers. The
complaint says that Varela Fernandez was misdiagnosed with arthritis by a
nurse practitioner even though a test for the condition came back negative.
It took more than four months before Varela Fernandez was allowed to see a
doctor, the complaint says. The next month, he was transported to the
emergency department at a nearby hospital, which transferred him to UC San
Diego Medical Center, where he had neurosurgery. When he returned to
Imperial, the complaint says, he was placed in a segregated cell that
didn’t have enough space for him to do the physical therapy exercises he’d
been given, and his discharge instructions were taken away. He was also
prevented from attending a follow-up appointment in August, according to
the complaint. “It’s pretty horrific,” said Mariel Villarreal, a senior
attorney with California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice who is
representing Varela Fernandez in his request to get out of immigration
custody. Villarreal said she has seen similar issues at other detention
facilities, as well as in the past at Imperial. That’s why the complaint
includes a call for Congress to shut down immigration detention facilities
entirely, she said. “This is not a new tactic or a new issue that’s arisen
at Imperial,” she said. “There is no humane or legal way to do this. That
has been proven over and over again.”
Jan 29, 2022 sandiegouniontribune.com
Immigration
detainees say there's contaminated air, water at Imperial Regional
Detention Facility
A
group of immigration detainees at Imperial Regional Detention Facility have
filed a complaint about conditions there, saying that toxic air,
contaminated water and mold growth are causing
health problems among those in custody. Supported by several
immigrant-rights organizations, the nine detainees sent an official
complaint to the Department of Homeland Security Office for Civil Rights
and Civil Liberties on Tuesday detailing their experiences and calling for
an investigation. The complaint also calls for an end to the contract
between Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency responsible for
immigration detention, and Management and Training Corporation, the private
prison company that owns and operates the facility. "Sometimes the
odors are unbearable, especially when we are supposed to be eating dinner.
I feel like they are doing it on purpose," Ramon Dominguez Gonzalez
told advocates in December, according to the complaint. "This is a
form of torture." Juan Carlos Sanchez Rivera told an advocacy group
that operates a detention hotline that the inside of the facility smelled
"like a sewer." Five of the detainees asked to remain anonymous
in the complaint because they feared retaliation. The complaint says that
detainees have tried submitting written grievances to staff at the facility
but that nothing has been done to address the issue. As with other types of
detention facilities, long-term immigration custody has certain
requirements and standards to follow. The complaint says that conditions at
Imperial Regional Detention Facility violate those standards. ICE's San
Diego office, which is responsible for overseeing conditions at the
facility, pointed to corrective actions taken after an Office of the
Inspector General reviewed the facility in December 2020 as evidence that
it is working to ensure compliance with detention standards. "ICE
remains committed to continually enhancing civil detention operations to
promote a safe and secure environment for detainees and staff," said
Marcus Johnson, spokesman for the San Diego office. Management and Training
Corporation did not respond to a request for comment. The area's air
quality has been an issue for years. The American Lung Association has
called out the county's high ozone and particle pollution in reports.
"While communities across Imperial Valley are affected by the toxic
and odorous air, individuals detained at Imperial are uniquely forced to breathe
this air while caged in cells that have little to no air filtration,"
the complaint alleges. The complaint says that a detainee reported dirt
coating the air conditioning vents, that there is brown dirt in a radius of
20 centimeters around the vent. "Dirt all around it - dirt, dirt,
dirt. They haven't cleaned this, since I don't know when," the
complaint quotes detainee Donald Varela Fernandez as saying. "You see
particles in the air as well, dirty air. In general, not just beside the
vent. There are people who have problems with respiration, for the same reason . bloody noses, due to the air
conditioning." Another detainee complained in a written grievance to
the facility's administrator that the "high interior building walls
are sheeted with dust, and the residue of dust covers every light fixture
and object inside this building." Multiple detainees reported
respiratory problems because of the air quality. In its December 2020
review, the Office of the Inspector General for DHS called on ICE to address
conditions at the facility, including "mold, rust, and peeling paint
in showers in detainee housing areas." ICE told the inspector general
that the issue in the showers had been addressed, including photographs in
its response to that report in which the showers appear cleaner. However,
detainees in the new complaint say that the mold was not actually addressed
and has continued to grow since then. The complaint says that the mold was
covered up with paint and quickly reappeared. Detainees also shared their
experiences with skin problems, hives and vision
issues that they believe stem from contaminated water at the facility. A
previous complaint to the Civil Rights and Civil Liberties office in July
2021 alleged that the water had visible contamination and tasted like
bleach.
Dec 25, 2020 sandiegoreader.com
ICE’s private prison in Calexico draws auditor’s ire
“Medical
checks insufficient to ensure proper detainee care”
A
Calexico detention center run for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
by a controversial Utah contractor has received a blistering review from
the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General, which
found that inmates "were held in administrative segregation for
prolonged periods of 22 to 23 hours a day, including two detainees who had
been held in isolation for more than 300 days." "We also
determined that parts of the facility were in poor condition, medical
checks were insufficient to ensure proper detainee care, medical grievances
and responses were not properly documented, and ICE communication with
detainees was limited." “Until ICE takes corrective action to address
these violations of detention standards, the facility will be unable to
ensure an environment that protects the health, safety, and rights of
detainees.” The December 18 report, based on a surprise inspection by
auditors to the Calexico facility in February, targets ICE's Imperial
Regional Detention Facility, operated by Management and Training
Corporation for the San Diego branch of ICE's Enforcement and Removal
Operations office. "At the time of our visit, [the Imperial Regional
Detention Facility] housed 626 ICE detainees with a facility capacity of
704 detainees. The detainee population then comprised 559 males, 63
females, and 4 transgender individuals." Regarding costs, "ICE
paid MTC $155.65 per day for each detainee held at [Imperial Regional
Detention Facility]," per the document. "During our visit, we
inspected IRDF facilities, including detainee housing units, food service
areas, medical care areas, and recreation and religious areas."
According to the report, "Medical staff regularly conducted medical
checks during detainee sleeping hours and spent only 10 to 15 minutes
completing the checks and documenting visits to 20 or more detainees.
Facility officials cited registered nurse staffing shortages as the reason
for the short visits. "The facility staffing plan shows there should
be nine full-time nurses and one part-time nurse, but there were only six
full-time nurses on staff, covering three shifts. By not thoroughly and
appropriately conducting medical checks, IRDF staff are not able to
adequately identify and address mental health or other medical concerns
affecting segregated detainees." Regarding a bevy of substandard
physical conditions at the facility, the audit says, "we observed
mold, rust, and peeling paint in showers in detainee housing areas."
Standard issue jail garments and shoes were "ill-fitting, stained, and
damaged," and “detainees told us they had complained of torn and
deteriorating mattresses, but the facility had not replaced them."
"In the food preparation and storage areas we found expired frozen
tortillas and turkey bologna, and moldy zucchini." According to the
report, ICE management has agreed to a list of six operational changes
proposed by the Inspector General's office to improve conditions at the
jail. A December 11 account published by USA Today reported that
Mississippi officials "failed to enforce contractual penalties that
punish short staffing" at a state prison operated by Management and
Training Corporation. "Instead, they continued to pay MTC the salaries
of absent employees, aka ghost workers." A company spokesman
“attributed staff shortages to low pay resulting from a state law that
requires private prisons to cost 10 percent less to operate than public
facilities, as well as the small labor pools near the rural prisons.”
During the latest federal election cycle the MTC PAC made a total of
$94,000 in campaign contributions, divided 50-50 among Democratic and Republican
lawmakers, according to the website OpenSecrets.org.
Jun 5, 2020 thedickinsonpress.com
Longtime
North Dakota corrections director resigns, takes job with controversial
private prison firm. More revolving door
Utah-based
Management & Training Corp., where Leann Bertsch will work as a senior
vice president, has faced a number of high-profile
lawsuits, alleging human rights violations in prisons, mismanagement of
facilities and engaging in corrupt contracts with a public official.
BISMARCK
— After 15 years at the helm, the director of North Dakota's prison system
has resigned her position with the state to take a job in the private
sector. Leann Bertsch was originally appointed to lead the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation in 2005 by then-Gov. John Hoeven, but both
of Hoeven's successors reappointed her to the role upon taking office.
Bertsch will formally leave the post at the end of July. "The strong
commitment to improve lives of the adults and youth committed to our
custody and supervision is reflected in the many reforms that include the
reduced use of restrictive housing, the increase in humanity by
incorporating the principles of normality and dynamic security, and
community involvement to make better neighbors rather than better prisoners,"
Bertsch said in her resignation letter. Gov. Doug Burgum commended the job
Bertsch has done with the department, saying she has "reshaped the
corrections landscape in North Dakota" with her innovative approach.
Bertsch has accepted the role of senior vice president of corrections for
Utah-based Management & Training Corp., a company with a troubled
history that runs more than a dozen private prisons and immigration
detention facilities around the country. The firm has faced a number of high-profile lawsuits, alleging human rights
violations in prisons, mismanagement of facilities and corrupt acts in
dealings with a public official. Three inmates escaped from an Arizona
prison run by the company in 2010. One escapee was later convicted of
murdering two people in New Mexico while on the run, according to the
Arizona Republic. A state report found the company's poor security measures
at the facility and general lack of organization to be responsible for the
prison break. Arizona later cut ties with the company after a riot at the
same facility, but the company's website shows it still operates one prison
in the state. In 2015, nearly 2,000 inmates rioted at a Texas "tent
prison" run by the company after years of complaints by inmates of
poor medical care and neglectful living conditions, according to Frontline.
Kayli Richards, a spokesperson for the North Dakota corrections department,
could not be reached for comment. Burgum appointed Dave Krabbenhoft, a
longtime state employee, to take over for Bertsch on an interim basis.
Krabbenhoft currently serves as the department's director of
administration. Bertsch is the second member of Burgum's cabinet to resign
in the past two weeks. State Health Officer Mylynn Tufte submitted her
resignation last week after three years on the job. Ambiguity still
surrounds Tufte's departure after Burgum would not directly answer whether
he asked for her resignation, however Burgum spokesman Mike Nowatzki
confirmed that Bertsch was not asked to resign and did so of her own
accord. hics and Compliance hotline (at no charge) or through the CoreCivic
website. Detainees are also informed of their right to be free from sexual
abuse and their ability to confidentially report any such abuse in frequent
town hall meetings. In this case, CoreCivic wasn't informed of the
allegation until nine months after it allegedly occurred, when the company
was contacted by these attorneys. The allegation was investigated by ICE
and the Harris County Sheriff's Department. The investigation determined
that the allegation was unfounded. CoreCivic will vigorously defend this
allegation in court.
Oct 1, 2019 miamiherald.com
“An inmate was
raped, impregnated by a guard. He was busted. His co-workers blame, harass
her.”
Anquanette Woodall’s third child was
unplanned. In spring 2016 an officer at Gadsden Correctional Facility
cornered her in a staff bathroom near the prison’s kitchen and raped her.
To cement her silence, the guard, Travis Hinson, said that he knew the
address for Woodall’s mother. Hinson ultimately pleaded guilty to sexual
battery, but not enough to spur the Florida Department of Corrections into
enacting much in the way of new policies to prevent sexual assault. During
her pregnancy, Woodall remembers getting messages from Gadsden. “To a
physical degree, it was fine, for a while,” said Woodall. “It was more the
comments, what was being said, calling me out by name — slut this, ho’
this, snitch — stuff like that.”
Mar 13, 2019 marionstar.com
Ex-prison guard to spend nine months
in prison for smuggling drugs into Marion prison
MARION — An ex-corrections officer was ordered to serve prison time
Tuesday after he admitted to trying to smuggle drugs into a Marion prison.
Joshua D. Borders, 24, of Galion, was sentenced Tuesday to nine months in
prison by Marion County Common Pleas Judge Warren Tom Edwards. The possible
prison terms the judge could have imposed ranged from nine months to three
years. Borders was working as a corrections officer at North Central
Correctional Complex, the privately-operated prison in Marion, when
officers searching him at the prison found packages of tobacco and
marijuana bound to his abdomen on Nov. 4, according to court records.
Borders is one of multiple ex-corrections officers charged within the last
nine months with trying to bring drugs into the private prison. Borders
pleaded guilty last month to illegal conveyance of drugs of abuse onto a
detention facility, a third-degree felony, in Marion County Common Pleas
Court. He told the judge Tuesday that he received $300 for agreeing to
bring the drugs into the prison. Prosecutors alleged he met with inmates'
family members to coordinate bringing the drugs into the prison in exchange
for money, according to court records. Borders told the judge Tuesday he
did not know that he was bringing marijuana onto prison grounds, but upon
questioning by the judge, acknowledged that he didn't want to know what was
inside the packages. There was about 159 grams of tobacco found in one of
the packages and about 145 grams of tobacco and nearly 21 grams of
marijuana found in the other package, according to an affidavit signed by
an Ohio Highway Patrol trooper and filed in court. Borders, his wife and
his attorney asked the judge for leniency Tuesday, pointing to Borders'
lack of a prior felony record, to his family support and to the burden it
would cause his family if he were imprisoned. Borders has three children,
one of whom is his wife's daughter whom he adopted, and a fourth child is
due to be born in September, they said. Through tears, his wife told the
court that she would struggle to provide for their children if Borders was
sent to prison and asked the judge to place him on probation. An Ohio law
that requires incarceration for prison workers who bring contraband onto
prison grounds does not apply to private Ohio prison staff. Edwards said
that Borders' crime was made more serious by the fact that he was a
corrections officer when he committed it. "You violated the public
trust here and there's a lot of controversy over private prisons," he
said. "I don't believe that the majority of prison guards ... would
ever engage in the conduct you engaged in." On top of the prison time,
Edwards also imposed a $600 fine. Borders was handcuffed at the end of the
hearing and was sent to the Multi-County Correctional Center until he can
be taken to prison. Other North Central Correctional Complex guards have
been accused of bringing drugs into the prison. In November, a 20-year-old
was sent to jail for 30 days after trying to bring 322 grams of marijuana
into North Central, where he worked as a corrections officer. A Richwood
man, who turns 21 Wednesday, is facing charges he conspired to bring
Suboxone and tobacco into the private prison as a corrections officer. The
allegations against Fisher stem from a sting operation carried out by the
Ohio Highway Patrol, which was acting on an inmate tip, according to court
records.
Nov 21, 2018 marionstar.com
Prison guard jailed for smuggling pot into Marion prison
MARION — A former corrections officer who smuggled marijuana into a
Marion prison has been sentenced to 30 days in jail and a year on
probation. He will avoid prison in part because an Ohio law that requires
prison time for prison workers who bring contraband to inmates does not
apply to private Ohio prison staff. John W. Corbin, 20, was indicted on a
mid-level felony charge after he was caught in July smuggling 322 grams of
marijuana into the North Central Correctional Complex, where he worked as a
corrections officer, drugs that his defense attorney said her client
mistook for tobacco, according to court records. Kelle Saull, the attorney
representing Corbin, described her client in a court filing as a "'wet
behind the ears' youngster" who was "manipulated" by the
prison's inmates. Saull said her client's employment at the privately
operated prison in Marion was Corbin's first "real job" out of
high school and that it proved not to be a good placement for him. The
defense and the prosecution both recommended that Corbin be placed on
probation. Marion County Judge Jim Slagle was somewhat reluctant to accept
the joint recommendation, pointing to two prior cases of North Central
prison guards smuggling drugs into the prison in which the judge imposed
prison time. "Under statute, but for North Central becoming a private
prison, this would be a mandatory prison term without any discretion by the
court," he added. Ohio law requires that any employee of the Ohio
Department of Rehabilitation and Correction convicted of Corbin's crime
serve a mandatory prison term. But Corbin was not a state employee, as he
worked for the private company that operates the prison: Management and
Training Corporation. The prison became privately operated in 2011.
"It's a lot more serious when we've got the staff who's there holding
a position required to enforce the rules ... conspiring with the inmates to
violate the rules. So that is about as serious as we can get on the illegal
conveyance," Slagle said. Corbin apologized for his actions and told
the court that he had learned a lot from the case. Corbin pleaded guilty
last month to a count of illegal conveyance of drugs of abuse onto a
detention facility, the third-degree felony that he was indicted on, in
Marion County Common Pleas Court. Authorities say that Corbin carried eight
wads of marijuana wrapped in electrical tape into the prison on July 9
after he was offered $100 to bring contraband into the detention facility.
In a court filing, Saull said that Corbin had agreed to bring tobacco into
the prison. Corbin told law enforcement that he received the wads after
meeting someone outside of his apartment complex on James Way, according to
an affidavit signed by an Ohio Highway Patrol trooper and filed in court.
In her court filing, Saull says that Corbin thought the wads contained tobacco
and that Corbin had never smoked marijuana and was not "immersed in
the drug culture." But in their affidavit, troopers alleged that
Corbin knew the wads contained marijuana, saying that Corbin admitted they
smelled like marijuana and that he opened one of them to see what was
inside. In her argument for probation, Saull pointed to Corbin's lack of a
prior felony record and to his cooperation since his arrest. Corbin's
criminal history includes two misdemeanor convictions, one for contributing
to the unruliness or delinquency of a child and one for obstructing
official business, according to court records. Corbin told the judge he has
been going to counseling every two weeks to learn coping mechanisms and
decision making skills and that he is taking medication for his mental
health. Ultimately, Slagle agreed to sentence Corbin to one year of
probation, though he tacked on 30 days of jail time. Corbin is serving his
jail time at the Multi-County Correctional Center in Marion and is expected
to be released on Dec. 8.
Jan 27, 2018 miamiherald.com
A prison promised a treat if inmates gave cash to charity. So where’s
the pizza?
When officials at a privately run women’s prison in North Florida
needed to sell tickets to the local heart association fundraiser, they went
to the closest captive audience they knew. If inmates and their families
bought tickets or made contributions to the annual event at the Gadsden
Correctional Facility, they’d be rewarded with pizza parties, ice cream
socials or a gourmet meal. But when the promised pizza never arrived after
the 2016 Heart Walk event, one inmate complained to a friend, who alerted
Rep. David Richardson, the Miami Beach Democrat and forensic auditor who
has conducted his own investigations of Florida’s troubled prison system.
Richardson asked the state’s Chief Inspector General to investigate: Did
the money ever get to the charity? Were inmates and their families
strong-armed into making contributions? Did the promised pizza parties and
gourmet meals ever get to the inmates? Was the offered trade an approved
policy and if, so, why? The CIG office took the case in May and in October
determined that the Gadsden prison was doing nothing wrong. They found the
flier advertising the Heart Walk rules, which promised, “If you or your
family donates in cash you will be invited to the following: $25.00 ice
cream social, $75.00 pizza social, $100 T-shirt that must be sent home,
$250.00 culinary meal.” Now, Richardson is demanding an end to the charity
for pizza events at the state’s largest privately run women’s prison,
saying that the activities — even if popular — are an inappropriate attempt
at forcing contributions from potentially unwilling donors. “My concerns
are not intended to demean the good work being done by any of the charities
benefiting from these activities but rather the manner in which the
fundraising occurs,” he wrote to Department of Management Services
Secretary Erin Rock this week. It is common for businesses to have
fundraisers for charity, “but it is customary for funds to be raised from
employees and others who make their decisions freely, and without the
promise of a reward in exchange for their contribution.” Auditors
interviewed 21 inmates who had donated the most money and concluded the
fundraisers were wildly popular, the report said. The fundraising tradition
had been going on for more than a decade at the prison, run by Management
Training Corp. of Centerville, Utah, and which currently houses 1,219
medium-security inmates. Auditors said they could find no record of
complaints from family members, prison staff or inmates — and they could
find no one to corroborate that the payments had to be made in cash. The
auditors did note that there were no formal policies authorizing the
fundraisers, or audit trails regarding the money. The funds were collected
from family members and from inmate accounts, according to the prison’s
accountant. One inmate had $1,000 deducted from her financial account for a
check paid to the American Heart Association, according to the audit. The
annual American Heart Association Heart Walk at the Gadsden prison was one
of the annual fundraisers held in 2016 and or early 2017 that the report
said raised $151,051 from inmates. Others included the American Cancer
Society’s Relay for Life, the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special
Olympics, the Gretna Elementary School Adopt-A-School program and a
Christmas Wishes fundraiser. The prison kept track of the money taken from
the inmate accounts that went to the charities, but it did not keep track
of how much of that money was outright contribution, and how much went into
purchases of items like trail mix and hygiene items, also sold at the
fundraisers. Todd Kuntz, regional director of the American Heart
Association in the Tallahassee area, told auditors the money from the
Gadsden prison Heart Walk made up 40 percent of the association’s annual
goal. He confirmed that money was received from both inmates and inmates’
family or friends. Kuntz also told auditors he has “reached out to other state
correctional facilities, but has been unsuccessful with getting them to
participate in the Heart Walk.” Then there was the issue of the prized
pizzas and meals. Auditors found that the promised “gourmet” meal for the
three teams deemed the winners of the 2016 Heart Walk didn’t get their meal
until April 2017, after Richardson had received the complaint. The menu:
pork chops, chicken, potatoes, vegetables and a dessert. The auditors
couldn’t verify if the pizza and ice cream parties occurred. The local Domino’s
Pizza reported that although it has been associated with fundraisers at the
prison for at least 13 years, it only provided pizzas for the Christmas
Wishes event in 2016. Richardson is not happy about the audit or the
response from the Department of Management Services, which is charged with
regulating private prisons. After months of trying to get them to
understand the inherent conflict when prison officials entice inmates into
making donations in exchange for favors, he got silence in return. In response
to the audit, MTC created a formal policy at the prison, authorizing the
fundraisers with permission. Last month, Richardson met with Rock and urged
her to ban the policy. After receiving no response, Richardson went public
with the case this week and wrote Rock asking for change. “There are 50
full-scale correctional facilities in the state of Florida, and many other
facilities that are focused on work-release and re-entry programs,” he
wrote. “It is worth noting that Gadsden is the only correctional facility
in the state of Florida where charity funds are raised from inmates and
their families and friends.” DMS spokesman Patrick Gillespie said the
agency “takes any allegations related to facility management extremely
seriously and remains committed to holding its private prison vendors fully
accountable to ensure the health, safety and enrichment of its inmates.” He
said that after Richardson’s complaint, the department ordered MTC to
“immediately suspend all fundraising activities” and after the inspector
general’s investigation, the department imposed a new policy for charitable
giving “including implementing a strict mandatory approval process and
project plan for charitable campaign administration” and updated its
contract to include the changes. “There are currently no charitable
campaigns taking place, nor any plans that have been submitted for review,”
Gillespie said. This episode is only the latest trouble at the prison where
conditions have included no hot water or heat for months. Last year,
Richardson called out the agency for allowing the prison to go for months
without hot water or heat, flooded bathrooms and water rations when the
septic tanks were jammed with food waste. He asked Gov. Rick Scott to
declare a state of emergency at the prison after two surprise inspections
by Richardson and investigators from the Department of Corrections found
unsafe and inhumane treatment of the 284 inmates. Scott refused. Richardson
asked for video tapes that would have “shined more light” on his list of
concerns. But, he noted, he was told “these tapes were destroyed in what
the contractor advised was an administrative error.” In his letter, he
expressed frustration that Rock has not demonstrated that there have been
“any corrective actions taken.” Michael Weber, former director of
specialized services for DMS, told auditors that the agency sanctioned the
fundraisers at the prison because it allows the inmates to “give back to
society.” Auditors couldn’t find anyone at the agency that is charged with
monitoring the private prisons who had heard any complaints of strong
arming. The auditors interviewed 21 of the inmates and reported that “they
wanted to participate in the fundraising activities held at GCF, and none
of the inmates interviewed believed they were compelled to participate in
the fundraising activities.”
Oct 15, 2017 .news4jax.com
Nurse charged with stealing drugs from Putnam County Jail
PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. - A nurse who worked in the Putnam County Jail is
facing drug charges after detectives said she stole antibiotics and other
medications from the jail. Tina Sue Anderson, 44, is charged with 10 counts
of possession of a prescription medication without a prescription, five
counts of theft, one count of practicing medicine without the proper license
and one count of distributing amphetamines. Anderson, who works for MTC
Medical, a Utah-based company contracted to provide medical care for
inmates in Putnam County, is being held on $137,000 bond. Detectives said
that after an inmate is released from the Putnam County Jail, any remaining
medication is supposed to be returned to the pharmacy for a credit. But
three weeks ago, deputies realized some of the medication was not being
properly disposed of. Drug and vice unit detectives investigated and found
that Anderson, who lives in Hawthorne, had taken antibiotics and other
non-narcotic medications out of the jail after inmates were released and
gave them to her family members, the sheriff's office said. Detectives said
Anderson also sold narcotic medication to a family member that she had
obtained with a lawful prescription of her own. Anderson was charged with
10 counts of medication possession because she had taken 10 different kinds
of medication not prescribed to her, detectives said. Anderson's nursing
license does not allow her to dispense medication without a doctor’s order,
which resulted in the charge of practicing medicine without a license. She
was also charged with several counts of theft for taking the medicines from
MTC Medical and was charged for selling her medication to someone. Putnam
County Sheriff's Office spokesman Capt. Hansel Woods said it's up to MTC
Medical whether Anderson will lose her job, but that if she is still
employed by the company, the sheriff's office would likely not allow her to
return to work at the jail. “At this point, we would prefer that she not
return here, but with that said, we have no control of her employment or if
she remains employed with them,” Woods said. News4Jax attempted to contact
MTC Medical for comment and to find out about Anderson's employment status,
but the company has not responded. It’s unclear who originally caught on to
the medication discrepancies and alerted law enforcement, but the sheriff’s
office said Anderson's company is cooperating with the investigation, which
is ongoing.
Sep 26, 2017 prisonlegalnews.org
HRDC/PLN Obtain Landmark Nationwide Censorship Settlement with Private
Prison Company
On July 24, 2017, the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC), the parent
organization and publisher of Prison Legal News, entered into a settlement
with private prison firm Management and Training Corp. (MTC), which has
contracts to operate detention centers nationwide. The settlement agreement
resolved what HRDC argued were First and Fourteenth Amendment violations
with respect to sending publications to prisoners at the company’s
facilities. HRDC filed separate federal lawsuits alleging that MTC, a Utah
corporation, had blocked the distribution of PLN books and other
publications sent to prisoners at the company’s Otero County Prison
Facility in New Mexico and North Central Correctional Complex in Ohio. HRDC
and PLN have published numerous articles critical of private prison
companies like MTC, accusing them of engaging in the systematic violation of
prisoners’ rights in their quest to generate profit. According to HRDC
executive director Paul Wright, “MTC has a policy and practice of censoring
the free speech of publishers and book distributors around the country. As
a for-profit, private prison company, it is shameful that they are being
paid by taxpayers to violate the First Amendment rights of publishers and
prisoners alike.” HRDC alleged that MTC’s “mail policy and practice bans
books sent by PLN and other senders to prisoners at the Otero Prison because
the books: (1) have not been pre-approved by Defendants; (2) the sender is
not on an approved vendor list; and/or (3) were not purchased through the
Otero Prison business office.... Defendants’ mail policy and practices
violate PLN’s First Amendment right to free speech, and its Fourteenth
Amendment rights to due process of law and equal protection.” The
settlement, which was reached shortly after HRDC’s second lawsuit was
filed, provides that MTC will modify its mail policy to permit the delivery
of unsolicited publications, including paperback books, magazines and
newspapers, “regardless of the identify of the publisher, vendor, or
distributor” and without using an approved vendor list. It also specifies
an appeal process whereby prisoners can challenge the rejection of such
publications, and provides that prisoners will receive notice if mail is
censored due to institutional safety. MTC committed itself to additional
staff training to ensure compliance with the terms of the settlement.
Further, the agreement requires MTC to pay $150,000 to HRDC for damages,
attorney fees and litigation expenses. Notably, MTC also agreed to comply
with the settlement terms at all of its privately-operated correctional and
detention facilities nationwide – this is apparently a first for a
for-profit prison company. HRDC was ably represented by HRDC general
counsel Sabarish Neelakanta, Laura Ives of Kennedy Kennedy and Ives in New
Mexico, Alphonse Gerhardstein in Ohio and Bruce John with Davis Wright
Tremaine in Seattle. The complaints and settlement are posted on PLN’s
website. See: Prison Legal News v. Management and Training Corp., U.S.D.C.
(D. NM), Case No. 2:16-cv-01174-KG-GBW and Human Rights Defense Center v.
Management and Training Corp., U.S.D.C. (N.D. Ohio), Case No.
3:17-cv-01082-JJH. If you are a PLN subscriber held in an MTC-operated
facility and any publications or books sent by PLN are censored or
withheld, please contact us immediately with documentation. We would like
to thank the prisoners who alerted us to censorship problems at MTC
facilities and provided us with copies of their grievances and complaints
along with MTC’s responses, which confirmed their illegal and
unconstitutional actions.
Jun 3, 2017
kcbd.com
State Prison in Brownfield closing after losing funding in State's
budget
Brownfield's city manager says they will lose about $250,000 because of the
closure of TDCJ's West Texas Intermediate Sanction Facility. It will also
cause 60 to 70 people to lose their jobs. This closure will also impact the
Rudd Unit in Brownfield. Those inmates are being relocated to other state
prisons so the Rudd Unit can be converted into an intermediate sanction
facility. "From an economic standpoint, it was hard for the city to
deal with an increase in staff, but I think as time goes on, and the West
Texas ISF closes, and the Rudd Unit absorbs it, it gives the city enough
time to try to bounce back from it," Charles Horsley, warden at Rudd,
said. "But initially, I think it was a big shock for the city."
Employees at the private prison were able to apply for jobs with the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice. "TDCJ had a recruiter come to West
Texas ISF and all of those that qualify will be relocated through TDCJ if
they meet those standards," Horsley said. 246 offenders have
successfully been moved to the Rudd Unit. "It was a little stressful
but our staff was very professional, we got them all moved, it was a
culture shock for some of them but I think it's going to work out,"
Horsley said. The offenders that were transferred to the Rudd Unit will be
separated from the rest of the population. TDCJ had to relocate 390
offenders to other units across the state to make room. The quick and easy
transfer from the West Texas ISF made the most sense. "The transfer
from the West Texas ISF to the Rudd Unit was a good idea logically because
the proximity of it," Horsley said. "Resource wise it was easy to
move the offenders probably 500 feet from one unit to the other and that
saved the state a lot of money because you didn't have to take them very
far, if there were some things that were missing you could go back and get
them." TDCJ officials say they are actively recruiting displaced
private sector employees in order to fill vacancies.
Mar 24, 2017 miamiherald.com
Florida’s largest privately-operated women’s prison is in danger zone.
Lawmaker wants Gov. Scott to act
Warning that inmate health and safety is at risk at the state’s largest
privately run women’s prison, Rep. David Richardson on Thursday asked Gov.
Rick Scott to use his emergency powers to replace the top officers and take
state control of Gadsden Correctional Facility. In a letter delivered late
Thursday, Richardson asked Scott “to direct the Florida Department of
Corrections to install a temporary warden, chief of security and other
resources you deem necessary to restore order and reverse what I can only
describe as a loss of institutional control.” In a letter, Florida Rep.
David Richardson asks Gov. Rick Scott to use his emergency powers to
replace officers at Gadsden Correctional. Richardson, a Miami Beach
Democrat and retired forensic auditor, has been on a one-man mission to
force change in Florida’s troubled prison system. After several surprise
inspections in the last month with investigators from the Department of
Corrections and the state’s Office of the Chief Inspector General, he
concluded that Gadsden prison faces “significant inmate health and safety
concerns” and that management has repeatedly retaliated “against inmates
for discussing matters with me.” Gadsden Correctional is a medium-security
prison that houses 1,544 female inmates and is one of seven privately run
facilities in the state. Gadsden is the only Florida prison managed by
Management Training Corp. of Centerville, Utah. Scott, whose staff was
briefed by Richardson on Wednesday about his concerns, said he had not seen
the letter and would not comment. Issa Arnita, communicators director for
Management Training Corp., told the Herald/Times that the company will
“continue to address the ongoing maintenance issues” but is “not aware of
any emergency action.” Department of Corrections spokesperson Ashley Cook
said the agency is conducting a health and safety inspection at the prison
but deferred all questions to the Department of Management Services, which
monitors the state’s private prisons. DMS spokesperson Maggie Mickler said
the agency has assigned staff to review MTC’s efforts in resolving
maintenance concerns and is reviewing claims involving inmate welfare.
“While maintenance work is ongoing, conditions at the facility are
improving,” she said. “DMS will continue to implement changes that enhance
the quality of the facility and the well-being of the inmates housed in
it.” Among the conditions Richardson observed during two surprise visits this
month: 55-degree temperatures in inmate cells; no hot water; care being
withheld from ill inmates; a tooth extraction without sedation; an inmate
who contracted pneumonia after being housed in a unit with no heat or hot
water; and reports that guards who impregnated inmates were allowed to
remain on the job. “These people are treated poorly,” he told the
Herald/Times. “And it all ties back to saving money.” During his March 10
visit with investigators from the Department of Corrections, including
Inspector General Lester Fernandez, Richardson said they observed “25
allegations of potential wrongdoing” and encountered two inmates who were
threatening to fight each other. He returned the following week with a
laser thermometer borrowed from his brother in the heating and
air-conditioning business and measured the units in Building A at 55
degrees at 12:30 p.m. Confinement cells in another dorm were 64 degrees.
Hot water had been turned off in the sinks of yet another dorm. “While some
of the concerns stem from much-needed infrastructure repairs, other
concerns stem from what appears to be overly aggressive contractor
cost-cutting measures that have resulted in conditions that affect inmate
health and safety,” Richardson wrote in his letter to Scott. Richardson
said he has heard several recurring complaints: meal quality was poor and
inadequate, clothing was rationed, and white inmates said that black
officers imposed harsher reprimands on them than black inmates. “I had one
teacher say under her breath say to me, ‘Please fix this place,’ ” he said.
Healthcare is a common concern, Richardson said. An inmate who had a
recurrence of a highly contagious rash on her face had not been allowed to
see a doctor, “so the inmates around her are very fearful they are going to
be infected,” he said. Another
inmate with a toothache saw the dentist and was told she needs a root canal
but, because she is scheduled to be released in four months, “the doctor
told her, he can either pull the tooth now or he will give her antibiotics
and when she is released she could pay for her own root canal.” He said he
told the deputy warden that he insisted she be given a root canal. “I told
them, in front of the inmates, that if they are withholding treatment that
I would not tolerate it.” In the last year, Richardson’s crusade has
revealed evidence of officer-on-inmate violence at youthful offender
facilities and officers withholding food from inmates. He persuaded the
Department of Corrections to close down Lancaster Correctional Institution,
a youthful offender prison. He uncovered “horrific” conditions at Columbia
Correctional, where toilets wouldn’t flush, showers didn’t work, a heating
system didn’t heat and deafening noise came from an exhaust fan. He also
discovered that Lake City Correctional Institution, a privately operated
prison run by CoreCivic of Tennessee, has overcharged the state at least
$16 million over the past seven years. At Gadsden Correctional, he found
that the 284 women housed in the C-dorm lived for months without hot water
or heat, faced flooded bathrooms daily and endured water rations when the
septic tanks were jammed with food waste. After a surprise visit to Gadsden
on Feb. 9, Richardson returned a week later with Chad Poppell, the outgoing
head of the Department of Management Services, which oversees private
prisons. Poppell, who leaves at the end of the month, subsequently removed
the state employee who serves as the on-site monitor, and the state’s chief
inspector general, Melinda Miguel, dispatched inspectors to assess the
safety and welfare of the inmates. Richardson now wants the warden and
chief of security replaced. “I don’t need to wait for an investigation to
start jumping up and down,” he said. “I have enough evidence, and I’m
convinced there is enough health and safety concern that this must be
treated as a priority.” Richardson said that when he told the Herald/Times
about the harsh and unsafe conditions at Gadsden Correctional in February,
he knew he would get feedback. But he didn’t expect the avalanche of emails
and phone calls from families — and even former officers employed by the
private prison operator. Richardson shared some of the emails. One mother
wrote that her daughter who is incarcerated at Gadsden has experienced
“black mold over her bed, flies swarming the chow hall” and “sometimes no
drinking water for extended periods of time.” Another mother wrote that
since Richardson’s visits, “ALL the inmates are now being punished for
embarrassing the prison. They no longer have any privileges, no canteen, no
microwave, no rec and minimal medical care.” Richardson has filed
legislation to shift management from the Department of Management Services
to the Florida Department of Corrections, but it has faced pushback from
lobbyists for the private prison industry. The bill has not gotten a
hearing.
Feb 19, 2017 clarionledger.com
An inmate is dead after a Saturday fight at the Wilkinson County
Correctional Facility.
Eric Heinz, 33, was pronounced dead at the prison shortly before noon
Saturday after being found unresponsive on the floor of his cell, according
to Mississippi Department of Corrections officials. They said a preliminary
investigation shows Heinz had suffered serious injuries during an alleged
fight with his cellmate. The name of the cellmate and the cause of death
have not been released. "The Mississippi Department of Corrections'
policy is to pursue the harshest penalties available in instances such as
this incident," Interim MDOC Commissioner Pelicia Hall said. "I
spoke to District Attorney Ronnie Harper earlier today and asked him to
pursue the death penalty, if it is legally available upon the conclusion of
our investigation." Heinz's body will be sent for an autopsy,
officials said. Heinz was serving a total of 20 years for armed robbery and
burglary/larceny of an unoccupied dwelling from Lowndes and Monroe
counties. He had been in prison since June 24, 2002. Wilkinson County
Correctional Center is a private prison in unincorporated Wilkinson County.
It is controlled by Management and Training Corporation on behalf of MDOC.
Feb 14, 2017 meridianstar.com
Private prison
firms deny wrongdoing in Epps kickback scheme
Several of the
companies being sued by Mississippi’s top prosecutor deny allegations they
participated in a bribery scheme that brought down the state’s corrections
commissioner. Last week, Attorney General Jim Hood said his office had
filed lawsuits against 25 companies and individuals he says illegally
profited from a plot former corrections Commissioner Chris Epps orchestrated
while leading the agency. In all, Hood has filed 11 civil RICO (Racketeer
Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) lawsuits against entities that he
says “defrauded” Mississippians “through a pattern of bribery, kickbacks,
misrepresentations, fraud, concealment, money laundering and other wrongful
conduct.” Two of the companies are among the largest private-prison
operators in the nation, including one that continues to do business in
Mississippi. Hood’s complaint against Utah-based Management and Training
Co. (MTC), which operates three facilities on behalf of the state of
Mississippi — in Lauderdale, Wilkinson and Marshall counties — charges that
the company had a “backroom” relationship with Epps and Cecil McCrory, the
Rankin County businessman and former state official recently sentenced for
his role as Epps’ co-conspirator. MTC operates East Mississippi
Correctional Facility in Lauderdale County. Hood said MTC had every reason
to believe that the consulting fees the company paid to McCrory were being used
to pay bribes and kickbacks to Epps on contracts worth $114 million. In a
statement, MTC spokesman Issa Arnita said the company is committed to
integrity and honesty in all its dealings.
“MTC was unaware of any wrongdoing or illegal activity during the
time we were awarded contracts to operate correctional facilities for the
Department of Corrections,” Arnita said. “We have, and will continue to
operate the three correctional facilities in a safe and secure manner for
the taxpayers of Mississippi. We are confident that after a thorough review
of the facts, it will become clear MTC has had no involvement in or
knowledge of any wrongdoing,” Arnita said. Hood makes similar allegations
against Boca Raton, Fla., based-GEO Group and a company it acquired that is
now defunct, Cornell Companies. GEO Group, the nation’s second largest
private-corrections firm, pulled out of Mississippi 2013. Hood asserts that
the GEO Group should have known the consulting fees it paid to McCrory were
used to pay kickbacks to Epps for $256 million in contracts with the state.
Pablo E. Paez, a vice president with the GEO Group, said the company was a
partner with the state from 1994 to 2012. “During our entire tenure as a
service provider to the state, our company was never aware of any
improprieties within the Mississippi Department of Corrections. In fact,
since the federal criminal allegations against Epps and McCrory first
surfaced, our company has openly and proactively cooperated with federal
authorities.” “We believe the allegations against GEO have no merit, and we
intend to vigorously defend our company with respect to this action, which
the State has also brought against a broad range of companies and
individuals,” Paez said in an emailed statement to Mississippi Today. The
federal government indicted Epps in 2014. Six people, including Epps and
McCrory, have pleaded guilty for various roles in procuring contracts whose
value totaled between $800 million and over $1 billion. Epps is awaiting
sentencing.
Hood wants those
involved to pay back the value of the contracts plus attorneys and other
fees because, he contends, the companies would not have been awarded state
business if not for participating in the bribery scheme. Several other
companies Mississippi Today contacted said they would cooperate with the
investigation but declined to comment further, citing the pending
litigation.
Feb 9, 2017 clarionledger.com
Mississippi AG files lawsuits in Epps bribery case
Attorney General Jim Hood announced Wednesday his office has filed 11
civil RICO lawsuits against all corporate and individual conspirators
connected to the prison bribery scandal involving former Mississippi
Department of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps. Hood is seeking damages
and punitive damages against the following individuals and
corporations: Epps; Cecil McCrory;
Robert Simmons; Irb Benjamin; Sam Waggoner; Mark Longoria; Teresa Malone;
Carl Reddix; Michael Reddix; Andrew Jenkins; Management & Training
Corporation; The GEO Group, Inc.; Cornell Companies, Inc.; Wexford Health
Sources, Inc.; The Bantry Group Corporation; AdminPros, L.L.C.; CGL
Facility Management, LLC; Mississippi Correctional Management, Inc.; Branan
Medical Corporation; Drug Testing Corporation; Global Tel*Link Corporation;
Health Assurance, LLC; Keefe Commissary Network, LLC; Sentinel Offender
Services, L.L.C. and AJA Management & Technical Services, Inc. “The
state of Mississippi has been defrauded through a pattern of bribery,
kickbacks, misrepresentations, fraud, concealment, money laundering and
other wrongful conduct,” Hood said. “These individuals and corporations
that benefited by stealing from taxpayers must not only pay the state's
losses, but state law requires that they must also forfeit and return the
entire amount of the contracts paid by the state. We are also seeking
punitive damages to punish these conspirators and to deter those who might
consider giving or receiving kickbacks in the future." However, some
of those named in Hood's case haven't been charged in the Epps' case.
Jenkins and Michael Reddix haven't been charged in the case. In addition to
Epps and McCrory, others charged are former state Sen. Irb Benjamin of
Madison; Teresa Malone, the wife of former lawmaker and former House
Corrections Chairman Bennett Malone; Texas businessman Mark Longoria; Dr.
Carl Reddix; business and government consultant Robert Simmons; former MDOC
insurance broker Guy E. "Butch" Evans; and prison consultant Sam
Waggoner. McCrory and Waggoner are the only two who have been sentenced.
McCrory received an 8.5 year sentence. Waggoner was sentenced to five
years. According to Hood's lawsuits, multiple corporations, including some
of the most prominent private prison contractors, paid millions of dollars
in so-called “consulting fees” to individuals who then used those fees to
pay bribes and kickbacks to Epps. Based on those bribes and kickbacks, Epps
awarded, directed or extended approximately $800 million in public
contracts to those private prison contractors. Hood alleges that the
defendants violated Mississippi’s public ethics, racketeering and antitrust
laws, along with several other claims. The Attorney General is seeking
compensatory and punitive damages, as well as forfeiture of all funds
received by the individuals and corporations that were involved in these
conspiracies. Hood said only three of the companies are from Mississippi.
“Out-of-state corporations were eager to take advantage of Mississippi
taxpayers and secure MDOC contracts through bribery and fraud. It is
critical for the state to use the remedies at its disposal to recover
damages and get back the money exchanged in these schemes,” Hood said. “I have a duty to
protect the integrity of the public contracting process, as well as to
vindicate the rights of the state when it is a victim of public corruption
and other wrongful conduct.” In the federal case, Epps is accused of
running one of the largest and longest criminal conspiracies in state
government history, taking at least $1.4 million in bribes and kickbacks
over eight years to steer more than $800 million worth of state prison
contracts. Epps pleaded guilty in February 2015 to bribery and filing a
false income tax return. He faces a maximum 23 years in prison. He had
initially faced numerous other charges. Epps is scheduled to be sentenced
in May. Hood said through private attorneys his office will seek to recoup
as much money as possible from what he called tainted contracts.
"There needs to be punishment for companies that do this," Hood
said. "I hope the court will grant our costs." Hood said he
expects it to be a long process to try to recoup money from the individuals
and companies.
Dec 16, 2016 bizjournals.com
Downtown Houston lockup slated for closure transferring offenders,
cutting jobs this month
Offenders being housed at the South Texas Intermediate Sanction
Facility in downtown Houston will be relocated this month as the facility
is slated for closure, a Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman
confirmed. News broke in August that the TDCJ proposed closing the 450-bed
facility at 1511 Preston Ave. as part of its Legislative Appropriations
Request for the 2018-2019 biennium. Texas state agencies were required to
cut their budgets by 4 percent compared to the previous biennium. "As
part of that reduction and in light of the declining offender population
because of the success of the agency’s treatment and diversion initiatives,
TDCJ proposed closing the 450-bed South Texas Intermediate Sanction
Facility in Houston and the repurposing of the 667-bed Kegan State Jail in
Houston as an intermediate sanction facility," TDCJ spokesman Jason
Clark said via email. Utah-based Management & Training Corp. operated
the STISF, which employed about 115 people, according to the TDCJ’s
website. MTC recently informed the Texas Workforce Commission it is cutting
all of its 110 jobs at the downtown lockup. Approximately 14 jobs were
expected to be cut on Dec. 5, with another 96 to be cut before the end of
the year, according to MTC's Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act
letter to the TWC. The affected employees are not represented by a union
and do not have bumping rights, meaning workers with more seniority cannot
take the jobs of those with less seniority. "MTC is working to place
affected employees at other facilities and TDCJ is also recruiting them for
possible employment with the agency," Clark said.
Aug 21, 2016 wctv.tv
Gadsden
Correctional Officer arrested for sexual battery
QUINCY, Fla.
(WCTV) -- A Gadsden County Correctional Officer has been arrested and charged
with felony sexual battery, the Florida Department of Corrections reports.
The FDC says former Correctional Officer Travis Lamar Hinson was employed
at the Gadsden Correctional Facility at the time of his arrest. According
to the arrest report, a female housed at the Gadsden Correctional Facility
alleged that she was forced to have sex with Officer Hinson in a staff
bathroom in May 2016. Hinson was arrested Thursday following a criminal
investigation by the Office of Inspector General. The FDC reports Hinson
was charged with felony sexual battery as a correctional officer in a
position of control or authority and taken to the Gadsden County Jail.
May
13, 2016 ntnews.com.au
Prison visit sparks privatisation fears
FORMER Corrections Commissioner Ken Middlebrook was seen strolling the
grounds of Darwin’s prison in his new role with a US-based company that
specialises in running private prisons. Mr Middlebrook’s Tuesday visit with
his new employer, Management & Training Corporation, and the fact he
once threatened unions with outsourcing work to private contractors, has
sparked concerns NT prisons are headed for privatisation. Mr Middlebrook
resigned as commissioner following a string of failures — the tipping point
being the escape of axe-murdering rapist, Edward Horrell, from a prison
work camp in December last year. When asked if the NT Government was
looking into the possibility of privatising prisons Corrections Minister
John Elferink said: “no”. During a debacle last year that saw two juvenile
offenders break out of Don Dale after a rampage causing tens of thousand
dollars worth of damage, Mr Middlebrook sent guards from the adult prison
over to help safeguard the centre. In an email to a union representative
who expressed concerns about the arrangement, he responded by writing:
“Should you not be happy with (correctional officers) working along side
(youth justice officers) I am willing to consider private sector
involvement from G4S, Serco or GEO all of whom have expressed a willingness
and eagerness to work with NTDCS”. A spokesman for the Department of
Correctional Services told the NT News Mr Middlebrook was not employed by
the department. “Mr Middlebrook is employed by the US-based Management and
Training Corporation which is looking at new prison designs and operations
in Australia, hence their interest in visiting the Darwin Correctional
Centre,” the spokesman said. United Voice secretary Erina Early said
prisons were an essential service and “no essential service should be
privatised”. “Privatisation means prisons would become a business and
businesses need to make a profit ... it would adversely affect the
conditions of those working in them, the care of the prisoners and the
safety of Territorians,” she said. “If the CLP is looking at privatising the
prison we’ll ensure Territorians take this to the vote and vote out a
government that is continually privatising ... assets and jobs.” Mr
Elferink distanced himself from the visit saying: “Access to the Darwin
Correctional Centre is at the discretion of the Darwin Correctional Centre
operations management”.
Jan 26, 2016 kwtx.com
Limestone County: Feds delay detention center decision
LIMESTONE COUNTY (January 25, 2016) Limestone County officials are looking
for alternative ways to reopen the county’s 1,000-bed private prison, which
has been closed since the summer of 2013. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons was
expected to make a final decision on re-awarding a contract to reopen the
center and restore the 250 jobs that were lost in July of 2013. "We
were told that we have an excellent opportunity for another contract with
the Bureau of Prisons based on the history of our facility...but they have
delayed the decision now till October,” Limestone County Judge Daniel
Burkeen said Monday. But Burkeen still believes the county still has a good
chance, "So we're just kind of at the mercy of the federal government
as they make that award,” he said. Burkeen said the county is talking to
Immigration and Customs Enforcement to see if hundreds of newly detained
immigrants can be housed in the large complex. "That could happen any
day, but we'd need them to stay more than just a few months and it would
take some time to bring the facility up to standard,” he said. Willy
Johnson who owns and operates Mary's Breakfast and Burgers and is running
for County Commissioner says he's lost a lot of business since the prison
shut down, and hopes the county can find some way to reopen the prison,
"I used to have a whole table of correctional officers here at 6 a.m.
every day and now there's nothing.... The whole town has suffered...it’s
not just us, it's everybody." The Limestone County Detention Center
was built by the county 30 years ago and a private contractor ran the
facility, carrying out the daily operations and hiring all the employees.
If the county wins the BOP contract, Management and Training Corporation
(MTC) has an agreement with the county to reopen and operate the facility.
Sep
20, 2015 alacrastore.com
SAN FRANCISCO (Standard&Poor's) Aug. 28, 2015--Standard&Poor's Ratings
Services has placed its 'BBB+' long-term rating on Mohave County Industrial
Development Authority, Ariz.'s series 2008 tax-exempt correctional
facilities contract revenue bonds on CreditWatch with negative
implications. "We placed the rating on CreditWatch due to a protest at
the corrections center that caused damages requiring the relocation of
inmates to other facilities," said Standard&Poor's credit analyst
Jaime Trejo. "Sufficient information is not available at present to
fully assess the effect of these events on our rating," Mr. Trejo
added. Standard&Poor's will follow up with management within 90 days to
determine the event's impact, if any, on our rating. RELATED CRITERIA AND
RESEARCH Related Criteria USPF
MAR
25, 2015 bondbuyer.com
Standard
& Poor’s downgraded the Willacy County Local Government Corp. to a
junk-bond rating of CCC-plus from an investment grade BBB after a $78
million bond-funded detention center lost its operator in the wake of an
inmate revolt.
Mar
22, 2015 valleymorningstar.com
RAYMONDVILLE
— Willacy County officials plan to pull as much as $700,000 from cash
reserves to help avoid employee layoffs as they try to offset a shortfall
that stems from the closure of the tent-city prison, County Judge Aurelio
Guerra said. He called layoffs and health insurance cuts “a last resort” in
the county that employs about 130 workers. But Guerra said officials plan
budget cuts. “It’s just a matter of how aggressively we’re going to cut,”
Guerra said. Commissioners will review the county’s $8.18 million general
fund budget Wednesday at a meeting of the three boards that oversee the
county’s two prisons and county jail — the Willacy County Local Government
Corp., the Willacy County Public Facilities Corp. and the Willacy County
Jail Public Facility Corp.
Officials
will try to offset a loss of revenue that stems from last month’s closure
of the prison that pumped $2.7 million last year into the county’s general
fund budget and capital fund budget. Management & Training Corp., or
MTC, the Utah company that has operated the prison since it opened in 2006,
announced that the Federal Bureau of Prisons terminated its contract with
the company. The announcement came about three weeks after a Feb. 20 inmate
uprising’s damage left the prison “uninhabitable.” Guerra said officials
plan to avoid layoffs and health insurance cuts. “At this point we’re not
considering that but we can’t rule that out, either,” Guerra said. “If we
can hold off and not lay off anyone, that’s what we plan. We’re leaving
that as a last resort.” Guerra said officials plan to take $600,000 to
$700,000 from the county’s $5.3 million reserve fund to operate the county
through the remainder of the fiscal year that ends in September. “It looks
like we can finish off this year,” Guerra said. He said he did not “feel
comfortable” taking more than $600,000 to $700,000 from the county’s
reserve fund, which is set aside to fund operations in case of emergencies.
“We’re not going to deplete the revenues completely,” Guerra said,
referring to the reserve fund.
Mar
21, 2015 clarionledger.com
Religious
leaders appalled at Mississippi's embattled correctional system amid the
proliferation of private prisons will lobby for change through a newly
formed group called Clergy for Prison Reform, or CPR. Boasting a statewide
membership of some 50 church leaders representing numerous faiths –
including Baptist, Catholic, Episcopalian and Methodist – the coalition
plans to take an active role in ongoing efforts to improve the Mississippi
prison system. The Mississippi Department of Corrections, already under
fire by several groups for its deplorable prison conditions, came under
heightened scrutiny in November after federal indictments accused former
Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps of masterminding one of the state's
largest bribery schemes in recent history. Epps and co-conspirator, Rankin
County businessman Cecil McCroy, both pleaded guilty to reduced charges in
February and await sentencing. Meanwhile, a task force created in the wake
of those indictments continues reviewing the agency's policies, practices
and contracts and will make recommendations in a report to Gov. Phil
Bryant. CPR members say they want to have a sustained impact on that task
force. They appeared at the task force's public hearing Friday and said
they will organize other efforts in the coming weeks and months. "We
are preachers across racial, denominational and ideological lines who all
share a common belief that private prisons haven't done what they promised
to do," said the Rev. CJ Rhodes, CPR's president and pastor at Mt.
Helm Baptist Church in Jackson. "The profit incentives have made
rehabilitation and restoration of our citizens a side issue as opposed to
the main thing." Mississippi has the nation's second-highest incarceration
rate with more than 17,600 men and women behind bars this month alone,
according to MDOC statistics. Nearly one-fourth of them are at the six
privately run prisons. Private prisons started becoming popular nationwide
in the 1990s as a way to save money. Mississippi opened the doors to
private prison operators around the same but have become a source of
controversy as the state's incarceration rate rose and problems within the
facilities mounted. Among the biggest operators of private prisons in Mississippi
is the Utah-based Management and Training Corporation, whose contracts
federal investigators claim were part of the bribery scheme. The task force
is reviewing those deals now, and religious leaders want input.They believe
their words will resonate louder than those of outside organizations, like
the American Civil Liberties Union, that have raised identical concerns.
"Mississippi is real Christian conservative state, and we're a voice
of influence in our community," said Bishop Lionel Traylor of the Epicenter
Church in south Jackson. "You get 20, 30, 40 preachers in a room, we
have some influence." For Traylor, this particular mission is
personal. The New Orleans native did time in the Louisiana correctional
system as a juvenile and young adult. The experience opened his eyes to the
inherent flaws of locking up troubled individuals without providing
counseling, educational opportunities or job training. Such a system breeds
delinquency, he said. It manifests as chaos inside the prisons, and
recidivism in the communities – creating a perpetual cycle of criminality
that benefits no one. No one, Traylor said, except those who stand to
profit. "Prisons are not doing their part in reforming these
incarcerated people," he said. "Bring them into an asylum and make
them twice an animal that they were. You're only there to make money.
You're not concerned about citizens of Mississippi."
May
28, 2014 natchezdemocrat.com
WOODVILLE
(AP) — A prison official says one inmate has died and several were injured
in a fight at a prison in Wilkinson County that resulted in the facility
being put on lockdown. Wilkinson County Correctional Facility spokesman
Issa Arnita says inmate Kendrick Walker died in a fight involving six
inmates Sunday afternoon in one of the prison’s housing units. Another
inmate was seriously injured. Four others have injuries that aren’t
life-threatening. Arnita says the correctional facility remains on lockdown
Monday and the death is being investigated. He says authorities don’t yet
know the motive behind the fight. Mississippi Department of Corrections
records indicate that the 33-year-old Walker was serving a 10-year sentence
for convictions including cocaine possession, marijuana possession with
intent to distribute and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Those charges originated in Franklin and Pike counties. Walker’s tentative
release date was May 2015. Utah-based Management & Training Corp. runs
the prison, which has 950 inmates. A spokeswoman for Department of
Corrections referred comment to MTC. An inmate died at the same prison in
April 2013 in a broader disturbance, when it was run by Corrections
Corporation of America.
Jan
2, 2014 azcentral.com
Facts,
not philosophy, should be the foundation of state policy. Tell the
Legislature. Tell Gov. Jan Brewer. After years of studies showed that
private prisons cost more than state prisons, conservative supporters of
privatization repealed a statutory requirement to compare costs. Convenient
for those who like private prisons. Not helpful to those who want policy
based on solid information. Arizona is putting increasing numbers of
inmates into private prisons — even guaranteeing high occupancy rates at
those private facilities. This represents the triumph of an ideological
bent toward privatization. We don’t know whether it represents the
taxpayers’ best interests. Arizona agreed to contracts that guarantee 90 to
100 percent occupancy to the three private-prison companies operating in
the state, according to reporting by The Arizona Republic’s Craig Harris.
These are Corrections Corporation of America, GEO Group Inc. and Management
& Training Corp. There is more to prison than costs and profit — or
taxpayers’ deep pockets. Society locks up criminals to protect others, to
punish wrongdoing and, if possible, to rehabilitate lawbreakers. Because
most prisoners will return to our streets, the public is best served when
those convicted of crimes emerge from the criminal-justice system able to
abide by the law and function in society. A focus on filling prison beds
discourages alternatives to prison that might be more cost-effective and
more likely to reduce recidivism by achieving real rehabilitation. A bill
passed in 2012 eliminated the statutory requirement for the Department of
Corrections to do a cost comparison between public and private prisons. It
was signed into law by Gov. Jan Brewer, who has long been a supporter of
private prisons. It also eliminated the previous statutory requirement for
regular comparisons of the services provided by private and public prisons,
including a hard look at such things as security, prisoner health and the
safety of facilities. This is particularly odd when you consider how
questionable security practices at a private Kingman prison became
painfully obvious after the 2010 escape of three prisoners, two of whom
killed an Oklahoma couple while on the lam. Statutes still require cost
savings and equitable performance. But the comparisons are not the same.
Surveys by Department of Corrections in 2008, 2009 and 2010 found that it
was more expensive to incarcerate inmates in privately run medium-security
prisons than it was in similar state facilities. These studies factored in
the differences in inmate costs, including that private prisons house only
healthy inmates, while state prisons incarcerate those with expensive
medical or mental-health problems. A comparison in fiscal 2013 that did not
adjust for these differences found a lower cost at private prisons. How
convenient. It might make sense to reduce the state’s capital expenses by
contracting with private prisons rather than building new facilities. But
we need to consider all the facts when making that determination. What’s
more, guaranteeing occupancy to private operators creates a profit motive
for locking people up that should be unsettling to all who treasure civil
liberties. Arizona needs to take a harder look at whether private prisons
make sense.
October
7, 2013 Albuqurque Journal News
A
federal jury will spend at least another month in court after finding John
Charles McCluskey committed crimes with which he was charged after escaping
from an Arizona prison, foremost among them the murders of an Oklahoma
couple that could bring the death penalty. McCluskey, who looks pale, gaunt
and older than his 48 years – a far cry from the tall, beefy convict shown
in photos at trial – remained calm as the verdict was read. U.S. District
Judge Judith Herrera read the verdict out loud – guilty of a total of 20
counts – in a courtroom packed with FBI agents, including the special agent
in charge, other law enforcement officials, news media and the family of
the victims. The charges stem from the Aug. 2, 2010, carjacking of Oklahoma
couple Gary and Linda Haas from a rest stop on Interstate 40 in New Mexico
and their subsequent murders in Guadalupe County. After he and his wife
were kidnapped at gunpoint for the truck and trailer that would allow
McCluskey and his co-defendants to continue on the lam, Gary Haas was
forced to drive into a rural area north of I-40 in Guadalupe County and
pull over. The couple was ordered into the camper/trailer, and both were
shot. The trailer was subsequently torched, with the bodies inside, using
liquor the couple had brought for their annual Colorado camping vacation.
McCluskey and co-defendants Casslyn Welch, his girlfriend and cousin, and
Tracy Province, a fellow escapee from the state contract prison in Kingman,
Ariz., were charged with conspiracy to commit carjacking, carjacking
resulting in death, tampering with a witness, conspiracy to interfere with
commerce and gun-related charges. Gary Haas’ younger sister, Linda Rook,
said after the verdict that it was “good news for what we wanted” – the
death penalty. “It’s still very emotional,” she said. The family wrote
prosecutors, including U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, in support of
seeking the death penalty. The penalty is to be decided by the jury in a
separate phase of trial that has been projected to last even longer than
the first phase, which began Aug. 19. Rook, her mother, Vivian Haas, and
other family members have occupied the front row of the courtroom
throughout the trial. Since the murders of Gary and Linda, they have
endured major health issues, Oklahoma storms, and other deaths in the
family. The jurors, who were drawn from all over the state, deliberated for
a day on Thursday, took Friday off and resumed deliberations on Monday. By
3 p.m., they had reached a verdict. On the first day of deliberations,
jurors asked to again see the video interview of Casslyn Welch with an FBI
agent in which she revels in the prison escape that she was instrumental in
planning and carrying out, and in which she refers to the victims as “Ma
and Pa Kettle” and “Okies.” The court refused and instructed them that they
had all the evidence. The upcoming penalty phase could begin next week.
During that phase, which is to be subdivided into two parts, prosecutors
will present aggravating factors under the federal death penalty statute,
and the defense will present mitigating factors weighing against it. Those
factors may include mental health evidence. Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg
Fouratt reminded the judge that within 24 hours of conviction on a
death-eligible charge, the defense must file a document saying whether
attorneys plan to use mental health evidence during the penalty phase. The
defense already has given notice of its plans to use such evidence, but
could alter course. The defense team, led by Michael Burt of San Francisco,
gave notice in March of plans to use expert evidence relating to a mental
disease or defect. The notice said a forensic neuropsychologist had
conducted more than two dozen tests on McCluskey and was about to conduct
magnetic resonance imaging and other kinds of electronic imaging tests.
Province and Welch, who entered guilty pleas that avoided a potential death
penalty prosecution for them, and who and testified at McCluskey’s trial in
the guilt/innocence phase, may be recalled for the penalty phase. They face
up to life in prison, but neither has been sentenced. Welch and Province
were the star witnesses in the guilt/innocence phase of the trial, each
testifying for well over a day. Both were firm in insisting it was
McCluskey who shot the Haases, giving no warning of his plans before shots
rang out, despite a defense assault on their credibility. Members of the
Haas family also are expected to testify. “We actually have subpoenas,”
Linda Rook said
Jul
26, 2013 abqjournal.com
An
Arizona prison escapee accused of murdering a vacationing retired couple in
2010 in a crime that shocked the state and sparked a nationwide manhunt
appeared in an Albuquerque courtroom Monday at the start of his federal
capital trial. John Charles McCluskey is charged with kidnapping Gary and
Linda Haas of Tecumseh, Okla., and murdering them north of Santa Rosa on
Aug. 2, 2010. The Haases were en route to a Colorado vacation and had
stopped in their pickup and camper at a rest area outside Santa Rosa when
they were carjacked, according to prosecutors. Attorneys estimate the trial
will take months from start to finish, concluding just before Thanksgiving.
Testifying will be McCluskey’s girlfriend and cousin, Casslyn Mae Welch,
and fellow escapee Tracy Allen Province. Both Province and Welch, who
helped the two men in their escape, have entered guilty pleas. McCluskey
has appeared at previous hearings in the case shackled and wearing an
orange jumpsuit, but at trial Monday, he wore a dark suit and tie. By late
afternoon Monday, there were five potential jurors, and a long way to go.
It will take a pool of 64 qualified, potential jurors from which to pick a
jury of 12. Six alternates are also to be selected before testimony begins
in about a month. Prospective jurors are called in groups of 12 each day
for questioning, first as a group by U.S. District Judge Judith Herrera and
attorneys on topics like pre-trial publicity, then individually in the
courtroom to decide if the juror can be fair to both sides. Each side has
about 10 minutes to ask general questions or to further probe the
questionnaire of almost 100 questions the federal court jury division sent
to 1,800 possible jurors statewide six months ago. That list was winnowed
to some 300 after factors like vacations, age, disability and the like
eliminated those unable to spend months hearing the case. The federal
capital trial procedure requires a jury to make a finding of guilt in the
first trial phase. If that occurs, the penalty phase begins. The
prosecution presents aggravating factors that it believes weigh in favor of
a death sentence – prior convictions, for instance – and the jury must find
that those factors also have been proved. Then the defense presents
“mitigating” factors that weigh in favor of life in prison with no possibility
of release. Those may include mercy. A decision to impose the death penalty
must be unanimous. According to prosecutors, the Haases and their three
dogs were carjacked and taken to a remote ranch area near Colonias, and the
couple was shot. Their trailer was burned and McCluskey and two companions
allegedly stole the pickup and a gun, left the dogs behind and traveled to
Albuquerque, where they ditched the truck. Law enforcement officials found
the pickup on North Fourth Street and found fingerpints on the plastic
covering from a roll of paper towels. McCluskey and Welch traveled east to
Arkansas and back west to Arizona before they were arrested in a U.S.
Forest Service campground in eastern Arizona on Aug. 19, 2010, according to
court documents. Prosecutors Michael Warbel of the U.S. Department of
Justice and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Greg Fouratt and Linda Mott, and
defense attorneys Michael Burt of San Francisco, Theresa Duncan of
Albuquerque and Gary Mitchell of Ruidoso took turns asking questions as
jury panelists, identified only by a number so as to preserve their
anonymity, were called out one by one. Among those who could be selected
for the final 12 are a woman from a deeply Christian home in Texas who said
she grew up seeing the world in only black and white and being a staunch
believer in the death penalty. But when a youth whom she and her husband
had befriended and considered a son robbed a store and killed two people,
she persuaded him to take a plea offer that guaranteed life in prison
rather than face the death penalty. Another retained juror said he knew
Fouratt casually through service in the National Guard, and assured
questioners he could meaningfully weigh factors for and against the death
penalty, which he generally favors strongly. The process begins anew today,
and is expected to continue for another three weeks or so before the case
is ready for opening statements and testimony.
July
22, 2013 kwtx.com
LIMESTONE
COUNTY (July 22, 2013 kwtx.com)—Management Training Corporation, the
Utah-based company with which Limestone County contracted to operate the
now empty 1,000-bed county owned Limestone County Detention Center, said
Monday its contract with the county is still in effect, contradicting what
a spokesman said last week. MTC, which under an agreement with the county
is supposed to pay a minimum of $62,500 a month to rent the complex, said
on July 15 it was closing the center, laying off 130 employees, pulling
out, and discontinuing its contract. But in an e-mail Monday, Issa Arnita,
the company’s director of corporate communications, said the contract
remains in place. “We’re working together (with the county) to look at
other options to market the facility for other customers as soon as
possible,” the e-mail said. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
decided to stop sending suspected illegal immigrants detained at the border
to the center, opting instead to return them to their home countries,
Limestone County Judge Daniel Burkeen said. As a result, the last prisoners
were removed on July 12 from the privately-run detention center and on July
16, the center’s 130 employees picked up what they were told were their
final paychecks. The loss of the jobs is a financial blow to the county and
the loss of the payments from MTC, which accounted for about 5 percent of
the county’s annual revenue, could impact the new budget officials are now
drafting, Burkeen said earlier.
June
6, 2013 yourhoustonnews.com
SAN
ANTONIO — Four men who served time at a West Texas minimum security unit have
been arrested on manslaughter charges in the fatal beating of another
inmate. Terry County jail records show three suspects were being held
Thursday over the death of Joe Hernandez. The attack happened last July at
the
. Hernandez was in prison for violating parole for indecency with a child
and burglary in Bexar County. The San Antonio Express-News reports Manuel
Leal was arrested Friday in Bexar County, where Jose Rafael Valdez Jr. was
caught Monday. Leal, Christopher McDonough and Arthur Maldonado were jailed
in Brownfield on bond of $100,000 each. Valdez, who’s also charged with
parole violation and failure to register as a sex offender, was held
without bond facing extradition.
May 25, 2013 jacksonfreepress.com
Last
year, a woman—who asked that her name not be printed—drove 125 miles
through a thunderstorm from her home in the Jackson metro to visit her son
at Wilkinson County Correctional Facility in Woodville. Even though she'd
called the previous day to make sure the prison was allowing visits, when
she arrived, prison staff informed her that visits had been cancelled.
"I sat at that desk and cried like a baby. I hadn't seen my son in
three months. I drove 125 miles just to talk to him for an hour through the
phone," she said. The woman's son complained that the understaffed
prison was often locked down, served poor quality food and offered little
to no educational programs even though many prisoners are under court
orders to work toward high-school equivalency diplomas. "He would say,
'Mom, these people treat you like you ain't nothing,'" the woman said.
A Utah-based private-prison firm hopes that it can turn things around at
the Wilkinson County facility. Starting July 1, when the state's fiscal
year begins, Management & Training Corporation will assume operations
at the 1,000-bed facility under a five-year contract. Previously,
Corrections Corporation of America held the contract to run the prison with
the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Issa Arnita, an MTC spokesman,
said the company puts safety and security first but prides itself on its
educational programming. He added that MTC, which is also the nation's
largest contractor for the Job Corps program, has not yet made any specific
plans for when it takes over at Wilkinson County. In recent months, the
Woodville prison has seen its share of problems. In April, a Jackson man,
Demond Flowers, 21,was stabbed to death during a
weekend disturbance. In 2011, Flowers was convicted of vehicle burglary and
robbery in Hinds County and sentenced to serve 18 years. Corrections
Corporation of America, the nation's largest private corrections firm,
operates the Wilkinson County prison, as well as the Tallahatchie County
Correctional Facility in Tutwiler and the federal Adams County Correctional
Facility in Natchez. MTC runs East Mississippi Correctional Facility in
Meridian, Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility in Leake County and
Marshall County Correction Facility in Holly Springs. Over the years,
Mississippi has had a number of high-profile lawsuits resulting from the
state contracting with private corrections firms. In March 2012, lawyers
representing a group of boys and young men who alleged abuse at Walnut
Grove, then owned by Florida-based GEO Group, reached a settlement in the
case. The suit charged prison managers with creating a violent and corrupt
culture where staff sold drugs in the prison and engaged in sex with the
youths they were charged with supervising. In late 2011, MDOC allowed CCA
to break its contract to operate the 1,172-bed Delta Correctional Facility
in Greenwood. MTC recently won a contract from the federal Bureau of
Prisons to run that facility in LeFlore County, but federal budget cuts
have stalled plans to fill the prison with inmates. Patrick Perry, a former
correctional officer at a CCA-run prison in the Mississippi Delta who is
now an anti-privatization advocate, started an online petition after
Flowers' death at Wilkinson County, calling on Mississippi officials to
halt further expansion of private facilities to protect prisoners and
staff. Despite MDOC switching management firms, Perry remains doubtful that
conditions will improve. "It's still a private prison company. It's
still the same thing," he said. "CCA is the biggest one, and if
they don't staff (the prison) like it's supposed to be staffed, and GEO
didn't do it when they had Walnut Grove—and they were No. 2—I know MTC
won't do it."
August 19, 2012 Union Leader
Three out-of-state companies vying to build a new men’s prison in New
Hampshire have paid more than $130,000 in lobbyist fees to three Concord
firms to win support for their proposal, according to state records.
Corrections Corporation of America, based in Nashville, Tenn., outpaced its
rivals, providing more than $101,000 to the Rath, Young and Pignatelli law
firm since 2011, according to a New Hampshire Sunday News review of
lobbyist income and expense reports. “Generally speaking, because
governments are our partners, we obviously educate through government
relations,” CCA spokesman Mike Machak said in an email. “It’s how we
transparently share information about the services and solutions we provide
and make sure we’re up to date on any specific needs they may have.” The
law firm, which includes a section devoted to government relations,
reported it spent all $101,729.85 it collected in lobbying fees from CCA
since 2011. State law requires lobbyists to submit certain financial
information regarding its clients. According to paperwork lobbyists must
submit to the Secretary of State’s Office, lobbyists are required to report
all fees “that are related, directly or indirectly, to lobbying, including
fees for services such as public advocacy, government relations, or public
relations services including research, monitoring legislation, and related
legal work.” David Collins, director of government relations at the Concord
law firm, deferred questions to CCA, which declined to talk specifically
about its lobbying efforts in New Hampshire. William McGonagle, the state’s
assistant corrections commissioner, said he’s aware of the lobbyists, but
said the process for reviewing proposals is private at this point. “They’re
out there,” McGonagle said. “I know they’re out there talking with
legislators and the like.” The Legislature would need to approve funding
any new prison received, he said. Fran Wendelboe, a former legislator and
current registered lobbyist not involved in the prison proposals, said
lobbyists can prove to be powerful forces. “On many occasions, they write
the ... legislation,” Wendelboe said. “The lobbyists are considered the
expert or who they represent are considered the experts.” Four companies
submitted proposals — some topping $100 million — to build the prison. Some
call for a privately run prison while others allow for the state to run it.
Three state evaluation teams are privately reviewing the proposals. A
recommendation is expected to reach the governor’s office and the state
departments of corrections and administrative services in October,
McGonagle said. Bruce Berke, a lobbyist with the Sheehan Phinney Capitol
Group that represents Management & Training Corp., confirmed the
receipt of $24,000 in fees, but referred further questions to his client.
Issa Arnita, director of communications for the Centerville, Utah-based
company, said in an email: “At times we hire lobbyists to educate various
groups on the benefits of public/private partnerships in corrections. “We
are participating in the competitive bid process, and we look forward to a
decision by the state of New Hampshire,” Issa wrote. Berke’s firm on its
website says its lobbyists “utilize their knowledge of the legislative and
regulatory process and their long-term, trusted relationships with decision
makers to achieve their clients’ goals.” Management & Training Corp.’s
proposal included building a prison on Hackett Hill in Manchester. A third
firm, The GEO Group of Boca Raton, Fla., paid at least $10,000 to Dennehy
& Bouley. Lobbyist Jim Bouley couldn’t be reached for comment, but GEO
Group spokesman Pablo Paez said in an email: “Since the procurement in New
Hampshire is ongoing, it wouldn’t be appropriate for us to comment on our
proposal or the process. “Our company participates in the political process
in states across the country, including New Hampshire, . . . as do a
variety of organizations, including private corporations and organized
labor organizations, through lobbyist representation and contributions to
political candidates and parties who support different public policy
viewpoints.” One company, NH Hunt Justice Group, has not hired any
lobbyists. “We don’t see a need to lobby,” said Buddy Johns, president of
CGL, an affiliate of the Hunt Companies, a Texas construction firm. Hunt
Companies and LaSalle Corrections, a prison operator also based in Texas,
have formed the NH Hunt Justice Group, which lists its home office in El
Paso, Texas. He said the procurement process appeared straight forward.
“Some people use outside services to make their point,” Johns said in a
phone interview from Mexico. “I think we believe we’re the experts in what
we do, and we’re best to make that point.” Johns has said his company
proposed building a new prison next to the existing men’s prison in
Concord. LaSalle Corrections, based in Texas, would manage the prison if
the state didn’t. CCA, which declined to discuss its specific lobbying
efforts in New Hampshire, met earlier this year with Lancaster community
leaders to let them know they were one of at least three communities being
considered to host a possible prison costing $100 million to $120 million.
Northumberland and Hinsdale were the others, according to Lancaster’s town
manager. McGonagle said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if the Legislature forms
a committee to study the state prisons. If the governor and Executive
Council approved a contract, the Legislature would need to weigh in on the
financial implication on the state budget, he said. Wendelboe said lobbying
money in general could be spent on research, campaign donations or hosting
events for legislators. McGonagle said he has talked with lobbyists about
general issues.
December 8, 2011 KRGV
The backpay that is supposed to go to some current and former prison
employees in Willacy County comes to $23 million, but there is a major
problem. The Willacy County judge says the feds are dragging their feet.
About 1,700 current and former prison employees have waited as much as five
years for that money owed by ICE. Many of them will continue to wait.
Willacy County Judge John Gonzales says the money was handed over on time.
The checks are ready to go. The Department of Labor brokered the backpay
deal. It required MTC, the company that manages ICE's detention center, to
re-enter all former employees into its database. That's how the taxes were
calculated. That part is done. Employees still working for MTC will get
their check this month as part of payroll. The holdup comes by way of the
next step. The feds are requiring the money owed to former employees be
sent directly to the Department of Labor by Dec. 13. Even though the checks
are ready to go, the feds have not announced when they will dish out the
dough. Willacy County's judge says that's not good enough. Gonzalez
attended a meeting with U.S. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchinson and John Cornyn as
well as U.S. Congressman Blake Farenthold. They say they will pressure the
Department of Labor on Friday to offer up a date. If one doesn't come by
Monday morning, the group will jump on a plane and head to Washington,
D.C., where they will demand a deadline.
November 10, 2011 KRGV
People who work or worked for the ICE detention center in Willacy County
are finally getting money owed to them. Current and former employees will
be paid $23 million. Willacy County settled with the feds and Management
Training Corp., the operator of the private prison. The original contract didn't
mention employee wage information. The contract was amended in 2007 to
include that information. As a result, Willacy County fought to get back
wages for employees. Checks will start going out in early December.
August 17, 2011 ABC 15
Family members of a couple allegedly murdered by two Arizona prison
escapees are speaking out against a proposed prison. The Haas family is on
a mission that they never wanted, but feel they need pursue. “It’s
something you think about everyday,” said Linda Haas Rook. Rook’s brother
Gary Haas and his wife Linda were murdered last year. Investigators believe
the killers are two men who escaped from a prison in Kingman just days
earlier. The Kingman prison is operated by the Management and Training
Corporation, which now has hopes to build prisons in San Luis and Coolidge.
The Haas family hopes to prevent the company from doing so. Linda Rook
planned to travel more than 1,400 miles with her husband and her mother to
the public hearing Tuesday night in San Luis to voice her concerns. “[MTC]
needs to right their wrongs,” she told ABC15 from her stopover in
Scottsdale. MTC has made several security upgrades to their facility in
Kingman, and a spokesperson said the company has a great track record with
the state. If MTC is approved to build the new prison, the company stated
it plans to bring about 500 jobs to the San Luis area.
January 3, 2011 The Daily News
The operators of a privately run prison near Kingman have reimbursed Mohave
County for the capture of three inmates who escaped from the prison in
July. Management and Training Corporation reimbursed the county Nov. 14
about $23,587 for costs associated with the capture of Tracy Alan Province,
John Charles McCluskey and Casslyn Mae Welch. Province, McCluskey and
Daniel Kelly Renwick escaped from the state prison July 30 with the help
from Welch. MTC will reimburse the county for additional costs once
Renwick’s case in Colorado is resolved and returned to the county, Deputy
County Manager Dana Hlavac said. The cost does not include the cost to
prosecute and defend the inmates along with the cost to incarcerate the
inmates and court costs to try the suspects. Those costs will not be known
until the cases are resolved. Those costs are paid through the county’s
general fund, Hlavac said.
October 31, 2010 Joplin Globe Sun
A Joplin woman is among the relatives of an Oklahoma couple, allegedly
slain by two escaped prisoners from Arizona and an accomplice, who are
seeking $40 million in damages, according to notice of claim letters the family’s
attorneys have mailed to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and other officials in
that state. Letters sent last week by attorneys for the relatives of Gary
and Linda Haas, of Tecumseh, Okla., allege that their Aug. 2 deaths in New
Mexico were the result of “a long series of egregious errors and omissions
of gross negligence” by the Arizona Department of Corrections and officials
at the Arizona State Prison at Kingman, where the inmates escaped July 30.
The Haases, who grew up in McDonald County, had been planning to return to
Southwest City, where they had property, after losing their jobs in
Oklahoma when a GM plant shut down, Linda Rook told the Globe after their
deaths. Rook, of Joplin, is a surviving sister of Gary Haas. In August, the
couple were heading out west on a camping trip when they were abducted and
killed. ‘Slipshod security’ -- The attorneys’ letters allege that Arizona
corrections officials and the prison’s private operator, Utah-based
Management and Training Corp., “set the stage for and permitted the
careless and slipshod security environment” at the prison that allowed the
inmates to escape and allegedly kidnap and kill the victims. MTC is liable
for punitive damages in the case, according to notice of claim letters sent
to company officials. The notice of claim letters were
mailed on behalf of the Haases’ daughter, Cathy Byus, and the mother,
sister and two brothers of Linda Haas. Their attorney, Jacob Diesselhorst,
said Thursday that the claim letters are required before a wrongful-death
lawsuit can be filed against the state. Diesselhorst said Arizona officials
have 60 days to respond. Contacted over the weekend, Rook declined to
comment and referred questions to a Joplin lawyer, John Dolence, who is
representing her in the matter. The Globe’s efforts to reach Dolence on
Sunday afternoon were unsuccessful. A spokesman for Gov. Brewer, Paul
Senseman, did not immediately return a call seeking comment. A spokesman
for MTC, Carl Stuart, said the company does not comment on pending
litigation.
September 21, 2010 The Arizona Daily Sun
State Corrections Director Charles Ryan said he is instituting an entirely
new system for monitoring private prisons -- one he said should prevent the
kind of escape that resulted in the death of two people. Ryan said Monday
the old system was flawed, with months going by between inspections. And
even when they were done, he said, they didn't necessarily spot problems.
He also said state oversight of private prisons has often been left to
inexperienced personnel. "That was not a good decision," he said.
Ryan said that includes the Kingman facility run by Management and Training
Corp., where David Lee, an associate deputy warden, was the top state
official on site. "The employee has been replaced," Ryan said,
with monitoring now being done by a "seasoned deputy warden." And
Wade Woolsey, who was the department's operations director for private
prisons and Lee's supervisor, has since quit. Ryan also said Monday he is
tossing out the bids that already have been submitted to contract for
another 5,000 privately run prison beds. The director said he wants to
start over again, but this time with some new -- and he said more stringent
-- requirements for the private companies that want state funds to house
inmates. Ryan's comments came as his agency released the results of its own
internal investigation on how three violent criminals, two serving time for
murder, managed to break out of the facility with the help of an accomplice
who provided wire cutters. They all were eventually captured, but not
before the murder of a couple at a New Mexico campground which has been
linked to some of those involved. He also said that several of the 50
deficiencies his staff first found after visiting the facility following
the July 30 escape still exist. He said it is "certainly a
possibility" that the state will cancel its contract with MTC.
"The jury is still out," Ryan said. As expected, the report finds
various failures with the operation of the facility by MTC. Most of those,
including a perimeter alarm system that malfunctioned so often that
corrections officers routinely ignored it, had been detailed in an earlier
review. What is new are the details of how the state's own monitoring of
the 1,508-bed facility fell short and allowed the problems to develop. One
central problem, Ryan said, has been having reviews done annually, with
private prisons graded on how well they carried out various policies.
"Frankly, I think that is very misleading," he said. In fact,
that program gave the Kingman facility high marks despite the problems
found only after the escape. Ryan said the new system, still being tested,
will allow for ongoing evaluation rather than an annual review. "We
want to know what's going on daily," he said, and for that information
to reach those in his agency who need to know. That was not happening.
According to the report, Lee told investigators he was unaware of issues
with the alarm system and "never walked the entire perimeter to check
if the alarm system was working correctly." And Lee, who had been in
the position for 14 months, said he wasn't even sure that was part of his
job. "I'm telling you right now, I'm not making excuses," the
report quotes Lee as saying. "I had one day with my predecessor,
Deputy Warden Mary Clark, and she didn't tell me squat." Woolsey,
however, said he was "surprised" Lee did not know there was an
issue with the alarms. The report paraphrases Woolsey as saying "it
doesn't take a 20-year veteran to look out and see all the light turning
on, and the lights don't just turn on unless something sets them off."
Woolsey said the sensors, which detect ground disturbance, could be set off
by something other than an escape, whether an animal, weather conditions or
even poor maintenance. Lee, in his interview, said he never read the
contract between the state and MTC. And when asked how he could determine
if MTC was fulfilling its obligations, he responded, "I guess I
can't." He also said in that interview that, only as a result of the
escape, he was required to "walk the zones" and check the alarm
system. Lee also said he never actually tried to set off the alarms to see
how it works, and that if there were "issues" with the system
someone would have mentioned something to him.
September 20, 2010 The Arizona Republic
The Arizona Department of Corrections employee assigned to ensure a
privately run prison near Kingman was operated according to state standards
was overwhelmed by paperwork and admitted he screwed up, according to an
internal review released Monday of a prison escape that led to a nationwide
manhunt. David Lee, who was associate deputy warden at the facility when
the escape took place July 30, told the state's internal investigators that
he had not read the contract between the state and prison operator Management
& Training Corp. in his 14 months on the job and that he was unaware of
the persistent issues with false alarms that plagued the complex. A
lieutenant told investigators that the alarm system could go off 200 or 300
times a shift. The report also indicates that the alarm system hadn't been
serviced in two years after a contract expired with a maintenance provider.
Neither Lee nor any of his superiors knew anything about the alarm
problems, according to the report. Lee was fired and his supervisor
resigned following the escape. Daniel Renwick, 36, Tracy Province, 43, and
John McCluskey, 45, broke out of the prison July 30 after McCluskey's
fiancée, Casslyn Welch, 44, allegedly threw cutting tools and weapons into
the prison yard. An officer initially said the perimeter was clear after
the escape and authorities worked under the assumption that the inmates
were still inside the compound until the officer returned a second time and
noticed a hole in the perimeter fence.
September 14, 2010 Courthouse News
The Arizona prison breakout that led to the killing of two campers was
caused by "lax procedures and incompetent management" of the
private prison operator in Kingman, the mother of one of the victims says.
Vivian Haas, whose son, Gary and his wife were shot to death, claims that
Management and Training Corp. admitted in an Aug. 13 letter its
responsibility for the escapes, and that the circumstances "were
shocking and egregious." Haas claims that one of the escaped inmates,
John McCluskey, killed her son and his wife in New Mexico in the days after
the escape. Haas says the private prison operator "had duties to
protect the general public in employing proper incarceration policies and
procedures to assure that violent offenders stayed locked up and away from
the general public." McCluskey was sentenced to 15 years in 2009 for
attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault, and discharge of a
firearm, and was sent to the private prison, according to the complaint.
His fellow escapee Tracy Province was sentenced in 2009 for murder and
robbery, and escapee Daniel Renwick was sentenced to two 22-year sentences
for second-degree murder, the complaint states. On July 30, McCluskey,
Province, and Renwick escaped from the Kingman prison through a door wedged
open by a rock, "climbing one improperly protected fence, hiding
behind an inappropriate building in 'no-man's land,' and cutting through
the wire of a second chain link fence," according to the complaint.
Haas says that Management and Training Corp.'s officers failed to check an
alarm that sounded when the men cut through one of two security fences
surrounding the prison. She says the alarm system set off false alarms so
often that the guards ignored them. Haas adds that the "perimeter
fencing was substandard," and that patrols of the perimeter "were
scattershot at best." Light poles around the prison were routinely
burned out, and "intrusions by outsiders near the fence perimeters
were common." On Aug. 2, McCluskey and Province, allegedly with help
from Casslyn M. Welch, "confronted" Gary and Linda Haas while
they were "in or near their pickup truck towing a camping
trailer." Gary and Linda Haas were traveling from Oklahoma to
Colorado. McCluskey and Province ordered Gary and Linda Haas into the
truck, and forced Gary to drive to the west, his mother says. McCluskey
directed Gary to leave the highway and drive to a secluded area, then took
the couple into the camping trailer and "brutally shot them, killing
each of them," Haas says. McCluskey, Province, and Welch then
allegedly drove the camper on the highway until they noticed blood leaking
out of the trailer door. The escapees and accomplice "drove to a
remote location, disconnected the trailer and intentionally set fire to the
trailer with the bodies of Gary and Linda Haas still inside,"
according to the complaint. Haas says the escapees abandoned the stolen
truck in Albuquerque. Province was captured on Aug. 9 in Meeteetse, Wyo.
McCluskey and Welch were captured on Aug. 19 in the Apache-Sitgreaves National
Forest. On March 22, 2004, the Arizona Department of Corrections awarded a
contract to Management and Training Corp. to operate the private prison
which was "designed and constructed for 1,100 minimum security beds
and 300 medium security beds to house DUI inmates," according to the
complaint. Haas seeks punitive damages for negligence and recklessness. She
is represented by Christopher Zachar.
August 25, 2010 Private Corrections
Working Group
Today, the Private Corrections Working Group (PCWG), a not-for-profit
organization that exposes the problems of and educates the public about
for-profit private corrections, called for overhaul of the Arizona
Department of Corrections’ (ADOC) oversight of the for-profit prison
industry, including: • An immediate halt to all bidding processes involving
private prison operators and a moratorium on new private prison beds • Hold
public hearings during the special session to address the problems with
for-profit prisons in Arizona • Enact other cost-cutting measures that not
only save money but enhance public safety, like earned release credits,
amending truth in sentencing, and restoring judicial discretion. This
action came about after the ADOC released a security audit on August 19th
concerning the July 30 escape of three dangerous prisoners from a private
prison in Kingman operated by Management and Training Corp. (MTC)
(Coincidentally, that same day the last escapee and an accomplice, John
McCluskey and Casslyn Mae Welch, were captured without incident at a
campground in eastern Arizona. The other two escaped prisoners, Tracy
Province and Daniel Renwick, had been caught previously in Wyoming and
Colorado). Ken Kopczynski, executive director of PCWG, condemned MTC for
the numerous security failures that led to the July 30 escape. “If MTC had
properly staffed the facility, properly trained their employees and
properly maintained security at the Kingman prison, this escape would not
have occurred. But because MTC is a private company that needs to generate
profit, and therefore cut costs related to staffing, training and security,
three dangerous inmates were able to escape and at least two innocent
victims are dead as a result,” Kopczynski observed. “That is part of the
cost of prison privatization that MTC and other private prison firms don’t
want to talk about.” The murders of an Oklahoma couple, Gary and Linda
Hass, whose burned bodies were found in New Mexico on August 4, were tied
to McCluskey, Welch and Province. While MTC said it took responsibility for
the escape, vice-president Odie Washington acknowledged the company could
not prevent future escapes. “Escapes occur at both public and private”
prisons, he stated, ignoring the fact that most secure facilities do not
experience any escapes – particularly escapes as preventable as the one at
MTC’s Kingman prison. According to the ADOC security audit, the prison’s
perimeter fence registered 89 alarms over a 16-hour period on the day the
escape occurred, most of them false. MTC staff failed to promptly check the
alarms – sometimes taking over an hour to respond – and light bulbs on a
control panel that showed the status of the perimeter fence were burned
out. “The system was not maintained or calibrated,” said ADOC Director
Charles Ryan. Further, a perimeter patrol post was not staffed by MTC, and
according to a news report from the Arizona Daily Star, “a door to a
dormitory that was supposed to be locked had been propped open with a rock,
helping the inmates escape.” Additionally, MTC officials did not promptly
notify state corrections officials following the escape and high staff
turnover at the facility had resulted in inexperienced employees who were
ill-equipped to detect and prevent the break-out. According to MTC warden
Lori Lieder, 80 percent of staff at the Kingman prison were new or newly
promoted. Although the ADOC was supposed to be monitoring its contract with
MTC to house state prisoners, the security flaws cited in the audit went
undetected for years. Ryan faulted human error and “serious security
lapses” at the private prison. Arizona corrections officials removed 148
state prisoners from the MTC facility after the escape due to security
concerns. “I lacked confidence in this company’s ability,” said ADOC
Director Ryan. Although it’s a small corporation, since 1995 over a dozen
prisoners have escaped from MTC facilities in Utah, Arizona, Texas, New
Mexico and Eagle Mountain, California –where two inmates were murdered
during a riot in 2003.
August 9, 2010 FOX
Questions surround the escape of three violent convicts from a prison in
Kingman, casting a shadow on Arizona's relationship with the private prison
industry. Officials are reviewing security measures at private prison
facilities, and are looking into the future of private prisons in our
state. "My concern about this has been the manner in which the
facility was operated. I do not believe that the physical plant itself from
which these inmates escaped was the issue, it is the performance of the
staff that concerned me," says Chuck Ryan, Arizona Department of Corrections
Director. State Attorney General Terry Goddard is calling for a break in
new contracts with private prison companies, until security issues can be
ironed out and a review of their relationship with the DOC is undertaken.
"We have basically turned a very significant direction in our state
towards more and more private prison operations without looking at the
consequences. I'm afraid those consequences have been put in very stark
relief by the escape of three violent prisoners," says Goddard. Ryan told
us he's in the process of reviewing his team's findings at the facility but
offered no further comment on what the future may hold for the state of
Arizona and its relationship with MTC. "Until we review their findings
and their recommendations it would be premature to comment further about
that," says Ryan. Guards at private prisons do not carry weapons and
are not trained law enforcement officers. The three convicts escaped on
July 30 -- one alarm never sounded and it remains to be seen whether prison
guards went to check the second alarm. Prison staff didn't realize they
were missing until a 9 p.m. head count, which was five hours after they
were last accounted for. The local sheriff's office wasn't alerted until
more than an hour later, and state corrections officials found out about
the escape at 11:37 p.m. House Democrats are calling for a special session
to address security issues with private prisons. The governor's office has
not yet sent a comment.
August 4, 2010 AP
The three inmates didn't seem to arouse the least bit of suspicion when
they sneaked out of their dorm rooms and rushed to the perimeter of the
medium-security prison. Alarms that were supposed to go off didn't. No
officers noticed anything amiss. And no one was apparently paying attention
when the violent criminals sliced open fences with wire cutters and
vanished into the Arizona desert in their orange jumpsuits. The series of
blunders surrounding the escape and the state's practice of housing
hardened murderers and other violent criminals in private, medium-security
prisons have placed Arizona corrections officials under intense scrutiny in
recent days. Two of the fugitives remained at large Wednesday as the
manhunt entered its fifth day. Authorities believe the inmates have left Arizona
and were heading east with a girlfriend who allegedly threw the wire
cutters over a fence and fled with two of them. Arizona Department of
Corrections Director Charles Ryan said he met Wednesday with
representatives of the Utah-based prison company Management and Training
Corp. and that they "have been assured that MTC is committed to
addressing and correcting the security deficiencies that contributed to the
escape." Ryan said a corrections security team at the prison was
completing a comprehensive evaluation, and he would meet with MTC next week
to finalize a plan. Investigators were focused on how the inmates managed
to go undetected for several hours around the time of the escape and why
three violent criminals were allowed in a medium-security prison in the
first place. An Arizona lawmaker said the state needs to overhaul its
inmate classification system, which allowed the prisoners to get put into
the medium-security lockup despite their violent pasts. Corrections
officials said their prison behavior was good enough that they downgraded
the inmates' threat risk, clearing the way for placement in the facility.
"One thing we might have to look at is saying if you're convicted of a
crime that is as serious as murder, that you are always considered a high
risk," said David Lujan, a state lawmaker who unsuccessfully sought to
regulate the types of inmates held in private prisons. "They may be a
moderate risk to the staff when they're inside. But when you see what
happens outside afterward, obviously, they're more than a moderate risk to
the public." The Arizona State Prison in Kingman sits amid nothing but
a dusty field, three miles from a major east-west interstate highway. It
opened in 2004 and was designed to house repeat drug and alcohol offenders
and set them on a path to rehabilitation, but eventually grew to include
more serious offenders in a separate unit. That was where Daniel Renwick,
36, Tracy Province, 42, and John McCluskey, 45, plotted their escape.
Province was serving a life sentence for murder and robbery, including
allegations that he stabbed his victim multiple times over money. Renwick
was serving two 22-year sentences for two counts of second-degree murder,
and McCluskey was doing 15 years for attempted murder, aggravated assault
and discharge of a firearm. Authorities originally said McCluskey was
convicted of murder, when it was in fact attempted murder. Province has a
dozen prison disciplinary infractions since 1996 — many of them
drug-related. He worked in the prison's kitchen, while Province and
McCluskey worked in the prison dog kennel, where they trained the animals
for adoption. The trio last was accounted for at 4 p.m. Friday, said
Department of Corrections spokesman Barrett Marson. Staff noticed the men
missing in a head count and after electronic sensors along the perimeter
fence sounded around 9 p.m. The local sheriff's office wasn't notified of
the escape until 10:19 p.m., and state corrections officials weren't called
until 11:37 p.m. "I think there was a concern by everyone that it was
after the fact," said Trish Carter, a spokeswoman for the Mohave
County Sheriff's Office. "Time is of the essence during this type of
incident. The faster you get there, the more likely you're able to catch
these inmates who escaped the facility." The three hopped a fence in
the area of the dog kennel and used wire cutters that McCluskey's fiancee,
who also is his cousin, had thrown over a fence to cut through two
perimeter fences and flee. Carl Stuart, a spokesman for MTC, indicated that
the dog program might have to be suspended because of the incident. He
declined to comment further on security at the 3,508-bed prison. Province,
McCluskey and his fiancee, 44-year-old Casslyn Mae Welch of Mesa, kidnapped
two semi-truck drivers at gunpoint in Kingman and used the big rig to flee
to Flagstaff, police said. Renwick was captured Sunday after an early
morning shootout with an officer in Colorado. Ryan has said "lax"
security may have created an opportunity for the men to escape, and authorities
are looking into whether prison staff members might have aided the inmates.
Ryan also has said the prison contractor will "be on the hook"
for costs associated with finding the fugitives. The fugitives were among
more than 115 inmates housed at the medium-security unit where others
convicted murderers were held. Under their classification, they were
considered a moderate risk to the public and staff. They weren't allowed to
work outside the prison and were limited in their movement within the
prison walls. The men were in orange jumpsuits when they escaped, which
should have been easy to spot against the desert backdrop, said Kristen
Green of Phoenix, who visits an inmate at the prison. "Guards should
be on top of this, people in the control room should be on top of
this," she said. "There's no way that they should have missed
these guys, three of them going through a fence? This was pretty well
planned."
August 3, 2010 AP
Three convicted murderers escaped a privately run prison in Arizona by
using wire cutters that a woman threw over a fence, a state Department of
Corrections spokesman said Tuesday. Officials also said prison staff didn't
realize the inmates were missing Friday until after sensors on the
perimeter fence sounded and a 9 p.m. head count, which came five hours
after the three were last accounted for by prison staff. The woman who
authorities say helped in the escape is Casslyn Mae Welch, 44, of Mesa —
the fiancee and cousin of John McCluskey, one of the three inmates. She was
waiting outside the prison in Kingman as the inmates breached a perimeter
fence with the wire cutters and escaped, said department spokesman Barrett
Marson. A security camera captured Welch driving a blue sedan around the
facility that holds minimum- and medium-security inmates. Corrections
Director Charles Ryan has said "lax" security created an
opportunity for the men to escape. He's scheduled to meet with
representatives of the prison operator, Utah-based Management and Training
Corp., on Wednesday, Marson said. "We are going over everything that
happened during the night of the escape, and many issues will be addressed
with MTC," Marson said. A spokesman for MTC, Carl Stuart, declined to
comment on security at the 3,508-bed facility. The local sheriff's office
wasn't alerted until more than an hour after prison staff discovered the
three were missing, and state corrections officials found out about the
escape at 11:37 p.m., Maroon said. Daniel Renwick, 36, was captured Sunday
in western Colorado. Tracy Province, 42, the 45-year-old McCluskey and
Welch had kidnapped two drivers of a semi-truck in Kingman early Saturday
morning and traveled in the rig to Flagstaff, where they left the drivers
unharmed, authorities said. The three remain at large and are believed to
be together in Arizona, said U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Thomas Henman.
Province was serving a life sentence for murder and robbery, and McCluskey
was serving 15 years for second-degree murder, aggravated assault and
discharge of a firearm. Renwick was serving a 22-year sentence for second
degree murder. Renwick was being held Tuesday in a Colorado jail on
suspicion of attempted first-degree murder, vehicular eluding, possession
of a weapon by a previous offender and felony escape. His bail is set at
$2.5 million. Ninth Judicial District Attorney Martin Beeson in Colorado
said his office is reviewing the case and will decide whether to file
charges by Aug. 11. "He's presumed innocent," Beeson said.
"But if what we have seen in the reports is true, then I would say
you're not going to come into my jurisdiction, shoot at officers and not be
taken to task for it. My intent is, if we have business to do, we will do
it, and accomplish it, and then we would be glad to turn him over to
whomever wants him." According to an arrest affidavit, a Garfield
County, Colo., sheriff's deputy noticed a vehicle with its lights off in a
church parking lot and found that it matched the Arizona license plate of a
Chevy Blazer connected with the fugitives. Another officer noticed the
vehicle pulling out of the parking lot and chased it for three miles on an
interstate until Renwick slowed down and exited. Renwick shot through the
rear window of the Blazer, and Rifle, Colo., police Officer William Van
Teylingen said he heard objects hitting his car. Teylingen rammed Renwick's
vehicle, which came to a stop in a hotel parking lot. Teylingen's airbag
activated in his cruiser and by the time he got out, Renwick was lying on
the ground behind the cruiser. Teylingen found a rifle in the Blazer and a
hole in a headlamp on his cruiser.
August 3, 2010 AFSC
The escape of three prisoners from the Kingman prison on Friday July 30,
2010, highlights continuing concerns about the management of state prison
facilities by for-profit corporations, according to the American Friends
Service Committee (AFSC). The Kingman facility is run by Management and
Training Corporation of Ogden, Utah. MTC also runs the Marana Community
Correctional Center, and is one of four prison corporations that have
submitted bids to the Arizona Department of Corrections to build and
operate up to 5,000 new state prison beds. This incident comes on the heels
of a riot at the Kingman facility in June in which eight prisoners were
injured. The escapes are being blamed on lax security and a failure to
follow proper protocol. The prisoners reportedly were able to sneak out of
their dormitory and cut through a perimeter fence without being detected.
"You get what you pay for," said Caroline Isaacs, Director of the
AFSC's Arizona office. "These for-profit prison corporations are
primarily concerned about the bottom line and making money for their CEO's
and shareholders." Isaacs charges that the companies cut corners
everywhere they can, but primarily on staff pay and training. The result is
a facility with high turnover rates, where the staff is inexperienced and
the prisoners have nothing productive to do. Such a prison is unsafe for
the inmates, the guards, and the surrounding community. This is not the
only Arizona private prison scandal to make headlines recently. A prison
run by Corrections Corporation of America in Eloy was recently on lockdown
after prisoners from Hawaii rioted over an Xbox video game. When a staff
member attempted to intervene, he was severely beaten, suffering a broken
nose, broken cheekbones and damage to his eye sockets. The incident was the
latest episode in a history of violence that has plagued the facility. Two
prisoners are facing a possible death sentence in the fatal beating of
another inmate there last February. These types of incidents are
"alarmingly common" in privately operated prisons, Isaacs says,
citing patterns of mismanagement, financial impropriety, abuse, and medical
negligence. Further privatization of Arizona's prisons will be a financial
boondoggle for a cash-strapped state and a nightmare for the host
communities, she warns. "Arizona's legislature needs to take a good
look at the track record of these companies before they spend any more of
the taxpayers' money on this failed experiment."
August 3, 2010 KGUN9-TV
When a prison inmate escaped--who killed a woman's husband and daughter,
she says 19 hours went by before the Arizona Department of Corrections
informed her she could be in danger. KGUN 9 wants to know why. Daniel
Renwick was one of three inmates who escaped from a privately run prison in
Kingman. For Vicki Walker learning that Renwick escaped brought back a
world of bad memories. "He murdered my husband and my daughter, "
she said. "They were in their vehicle and he shot them, leaving my
grandson who was 14 months. Kaleb now is ten." The way she heard of
the escape made things worse. A son in law in another state saw it on the news
and called her. Mrs. Walker says, "As a victim I'm supposed to be
notified right away if there's an escape or if he's released and I did not
hear from Department of Corrections for 19 hours." KGUN9 News asked
Arizona Department of Corrections director Charles Ryan what went wrong.
Ryan said, "The Department was also not advised immediately about the
escape by Management Training Corporation and it's unfortunate it took as
long as it did."
April 27, 2010 Salt Lake City Tribune
Centerville-based Management & Training Corporation (MTC) has received
a three-year, $76.5 million contract to operate a 1,520-bed prison for
women in Quincy, Fla. The contract with the Florida Department of
Management Services goes into effect Aug. 1 and includes a pair of renewable,
two-year options. MTC already manages 16 private correctional facilities in
Arizona, California, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas and, beginning in June, Idaho.
The contract to run the Gadsden Correctional Institution, about 20 miles
outside Tallahassee, marks the Utah company's entry into Florida. "The
company's experience working with female inmates in other locations has
provided us with the expertise needed at this site," said Odie
Washington, MTC's senior corrections vice president. "MTC believes in
rehabilitating inmates by providing them with educational opportunities.
For nearly a quarter century we have helped inmates improve their lives and
to reestablish themselves as successful members of society." MTC uses
the Foundations for Life and Success for Life rehabilitation programs to
educate inmates, he noted. With the Florida prison, MTC manages more than
24,000 correctional beds. The company also is involved in operating 26 Job
Corps centers for the U. S. Department of Labor, serving 19,000 students
annually.
April 13, 2010 Dow Jones Newswire
The state of Florida said Tuesday it plans to award three prison
contracts to Corrections Corp. of America (CXW), two of which previously
were held by rival Geo Group Inc. (GEO). According to a memo reviewed by
Dow Jones from Florida's Department of Management Services, it intends to
award three out of four available prison contracts to Corrections Corp. Two
of the contracts--Graceville Correction Facility and Moore Haven
Correctional Facility--were previously held by Geo. In addition,
Corrections Corp. lost one of its previously held contracts--Gadsden
Correctional Facility--to Management & Training Corp., but it kept its
contract for Bay Correctional Facility. Some analysts and industry insiders
had expected Corrections Corp. to win all four contracts. The three
contracts Corrections Corp. received were unanimous decisions by the panel.
The committee was split on the fourth contract, which received bids only
from Corrections Corp. and Management & Training. The contracts are for
a period of three years and include four years of potential renewals. The
department memo revealed the state will save almost $750,000 by offering
Management & Training a piece of the pie, as opposed to offering all
four contracts to Corrections Corp. The total value of the four three-year
contracts is more than $250 million. A representative from Geo Group wasn't
immediately available to comment, while Corrections Corp. declined to
comment. A spokeswoman for Florida's management services department wasn't
immediately available to comment on the contents of the memo.
January 31, 2007 KSL TV
A Utah-based company has been forced to pay back wages to hundreds of
current and former employees in Texas following an investigation.
Management and Training Corporation --- which is headquartered in
Centerville, Utah -- has paid nearly $486,000 in back wages to just over
260 current and former security guards. That's according to a U- S Labor
Department new release. An investigation by the labor department found
employees had NOT been properly paid over a two-year period between October
2003 and September 2005. Federal officials say the company failed to pay
proper overtime --- meal breaks when employees worked beyond their
schedules and the correct fringe benefits. The company has agreed to comply
with future contracts.
December 17, 2005 Deseret News
The U.S. Department of Labor announced Friday that Management &
Training Corp., headquartered in Centerville, has paid $169,105 in back
wages to 393 employees at five locations in Utah, Indiana, Ohio and New
Mexico. The back wages were paid following an investigation by the
department's Wage and Hour Division for compliance with the Fair Labor
Standards Act, the Labor Department said in a statement. Supervised by the
department, MTC conducted a companywide self-audit and found that some
employees, including security personnel, were not paid for all hours
worked. MTC employs more than 2,000 workers at 24 Job Corps Centers and six
correctional facilities throughout the country.
Marana Community
Correctional Treatment Facility, Tucson, Arizona
February 11, 2010 AP
A private prison in Arizona is on lockdown after a brawl broke out that involved
as many as 150 minimum-security inmates and left a staff member and 12
prisoners with minor injuries. The Arizona Department of Corrections said
the fight broke out before 10 p.m. Wednesday but was contained within an
hour. A 20-member tactical unit from Arizona State Prison Complex-Tucson
responded to help put down the disturbance. The Marana Community
Correctional Treatment Facility near Tucson houses 500 inmates and is owned
and operated by Management and Training Corp., based in Centerville, Utah.
The cause of the fight is under investigation.
June 21, 2004 Explorer News
The chief of security for the Marana Community Correctional Treatment
Facility was fired June 1 and a sergeant resigned May 26 over allegations
the sergeant had prisoners do pushups in lieu of
written discipline. Company spokesman Carl Stuart would not
comment on why Capt. Ken Anderson was fired or why Sgt. Ben Rumbo resigned,
saying the company does not comment on personnel matters. The Utah-based
Management and Training Corporation operates the Marana prison and a prison
in Kingman for the Arizona Department of Corrections and nine other private
prisons in five states. Anderson, who was the company's Correctional
Officer of the Year in 1999, said he was shocked and outraged over his
firing. In a four-page written appeal he filed with the company June 7,
Anderson called the termination notice he received, "nothing more than
a fabrication of half-truths and outright falsehoods, sprinkled with
occasional facts." He said he believed he handled the allegation
of prisoners being made to do pushups properly based on the information he
had at the time. Since his forced leave and termination, Anderson
said he has learned of allegations about other prison guards making
prisoners do pushups, possibly since January, yet no other guards have been
fired or suspended, or apparently even interviewed by state
investigators. Stuart said the company doesn't know how long or how
often prisoners have been made to do disciplinary pushups at the prison.
Marshall
County Correctional Facility, Marshall County, Mississippi
MDOC
Sticks with Private Prisons: Jackson Free Press, June 13,
2012. MDOC chooses MTC to take over where GEO failed. What are they
smoking?
Nov 15, 2022 wlox.com
Auditor’s office demands $1.9m from private prison
operator who ‘put staff and inmates at risk’
MARSHALL CO., Miss. (WLBT) - State Auditor Shad
White has demanded nearly $2 million dollars from a private prison operator
after the company understaffed a Marshall County facility, which violated
the terms of its contract. White said agents served Management &
Training Corporation (MTC) with a civil demand totaling nearly $2 million.
MTC developed minimum mandatory staffing levels risking the safety of
inmates and prison staff. The company also failed to appropriately notify
and credit the Mississippi Department of Corrections when its staffing
levels fell below the minimum amount required by the contract. The
Auditor’s demand accounts for nearly 12,000 unfilled mandatory shifts at
the Marshall County facility from 2017 to 2020. “This is one of the larger
demands we’ve issued in my time in office. Our investigators have proven we
will take on the biggest cases down to the smallest to protect taxpayer
dollars,” said Auditor White. “We look forward to a swift recovery of these
funds.” If the company does not make payment on the demand within 30 days,
the case will be transmitted to the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office
for litigation.
Mar 10, 2017 msnewsnow.com
Mississippi: Contraband found in private prison
MARSHALL COUNTY, MS (Mississippi News Now) - The
third major shakedown in a week by the Mississippi Department of
Corrections happened Thursday at the Marshall County Correctional Facility
in Holly Springs. Officers found bags of spice, marijuana, knives or
shanks, tennis shoes, cell phones, cell phone chargers, batteries and
assorted pills according to a press release from MDOC. The items were removed from dormitory
style housing units and individual cells.
Crystal meth was found in the body cavity of one inmate. All
facilities are being searched under a system-wide contraband crackdown
ordered by MDOC Commissioner Pelicia Hall under Operation Zero Tolerance.
"Our unannounced shakedowns are paying off and will continue,"
said Hall. "I thank all of the probation and parole agents and
correctional officers involved for their extra work to help make MDOC safer
for both staff and inmates." MCCF, one of the state's private prisons
and the oldest of the current three, has 998 inmates, two shy of its
capacity according to MDOC.
Nov 23, 2016 djournal.com
Private prison locked down following fight, inmate death
HOLLY SPRINGS – A state prisoner was killed in an early morning fight
at a private prison in Marshall County. According to the Mississippi
Department of Corrections, Oscar Pirtle died from injuries following an
altercation with another prisoner at the Marshall County Correctional
Facility. Jailers at the prison, operated by the Management & Training
Corporation, responded to a fight in one of the housing units around 3:30
a.m. Tuesday. Pirtle, 51, was convicted of aggravated assault in March 2010
in Alcorn County and sentenced to 15 years in prison. The second inmate was
treated at a local hospital and released. The 200-bed facility was placed
on temporary lockdown while officials restored order and investigated the
incident.
Mar
24, 2015 clarionledger.com
Corrections officials conducted a shakedown Wednesday at the Marshall
County Correctional Facility, seizing weapons, cellphones and other
contraband at the private prison that could lead to criminal prosecutions.
“We believe there were some staff complicit in bringing in contraband,”
Corrections Commissioner Marshall Fisher said. “One has already resigned.
We think as many as four are involved.” He said the seizure of many shanks
and cellphones at five prisons so far, public and private, show working as
a correctional officer is a dangerous job. Legislation is now pending that
would increase the starting salary for correctional officers of $22,006
(which qualifies a family of three for food stamps) and for probation
officers (about $27,000) by 10 percent. The last time they got a pay raise
was in 2007. Fisher said he believes increasing the pay can help
corrections officials hire more qualified officers and also aid in reducing
corruption. On Wednesday, corrections officials seized 23 shanks from the
991-inmate Marshall County prison, which is run by the Management and
Training Corporation. Officials seized:
•25
shanks at the 3,101–inmate State Penitentiary at Parchman, run by the
state.
•36
shanks at the 2,453-inmate South Mississippi Correctional Institution, run
by the state.
•60
shanks at the 885-inmate Wilkinson County Correctional Facility, run by
MTC.
•50
shanks at the 1,180-inmate East Mississippi Correctional Facility, run by
MTC.
Former
U.S. Attorney Brad Pigott of Jackson said the numbers so far suggest the
problem of weapons is worse at private prisons. “This makes clear that corporate
prisons are much more dangerous places to work.” He said the number of
shanks seized per capita from the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility
was eight times higher than those seized at the State Penitentiary at
Parchman. Private prisons are taking dollars, “which could have gone into
hiring enough guards to find and remove knives from prisoners, and they are
sending those tax dollars instead to their corporate headquarters,” he
said. MTC spokesman Issa Arnita said contraband is a problem at all prisons
in the United States. “We take contraband extremely seriously,” he said.
“Contraband puts both staff and inmates in danger, and we’re working
tirelessly to reduce the amount of contraband that enters our facilities.”
Since taking over four Mississippi facilities in 2012 and 2013, MTC has
worked with state corrections officials to install a body scanner in the
entrance and a 30-foot netting to prevent contraband from being tossed over
the facilities’ fences. “MTC has also created a K-9 team consisting of two
highly trained, contraband-sniffing German Shepherds and three correctional
officers to make unannounced visits to all four facilities,” Arnita said.
“This new K-9 team has discovered and confiscated dozens of contraband over
the last few months.” He said the private prison “has a zero-tolerance
policy when it comes to staff members who attempt to break the law and
introduce contraband into our facilities. Staff members caught attempting
to bring contraband into our facilities will not only be terminated but
will be criminally prosecuted to the highest extent of the law.”
June 7, 2012 WTOK
MTC will officially take over operation at East Mississippi Correctional Facility
on July 9th. The company got its start working with young people outside
the corrections system. The Vice President of Corrections at MTC explained
the company's history via a video news release. "We started 30 years
ago by providing training for young adults to succeed in life," says
Odie Washington, "we've taken that and applied it to our corrections
division. "All you are going to see is a change in the name over the
door," that's the opinion of Frank Smith, a private prison watchdog,
"it's not going to be a change in operations." Smith works as a
consultant for Private Corrections Working Group. "The problem is
there is such turnover that there is no mentoring process so everybody is
just kind of new on the job, and they don't know what to do when the
problems arise." MTC officials say they plan on providing EMCF with
all the resources it needs to operate effectively. "We'll provide each
facility the resources necessary for them to operate safely and
effectively," says Washington, and we look forward to applying these
high standards to our new Mississippi facilities as well." Only time
will tell whether MTC will have a successful run in the Magnolia State.
June 7, 2012 AP
A Utah-based private prison operator will take over management of three
Mississippi correctional institutions beginning in July. Management &
Training Corporation of Centreville, Utah, has signed 10-year operating
contracts for the East Mississippi Correctional Facility near the Lost Gap
community beginning July 2; Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility in
Walnut Grove on July 9; and the Marshall County Correctional Facility in
Holly Springs on Aug. 13. Financial details of the contracts were not made
public. The announcement came Thursday by the company and the Mississippi
Department of Corrections. The Corrections Department and the GEO Group of
Boca Raton, Fla., in April agreed to end GEO's management contract at the
three prisons. At the time Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps told the AP
that the department felt it might get a better price if all three prisons
were presented as a package to other corrections management companies.
"The Mississippi Department of Corrections is looking forward to a
great partnership with MTC," Epps said in a statement Thursday. "There
is a need for different types of prisons, including state and regional as
well as private facilities in Mississippi. MTC will be held to the same
high standards as set by MDOC and I feel extremely confident that MTC will
do a great job." "We look forward to the opportunity to work in
Mississippi," said MTC senior vice president of corrections Odie
Washington in the statement. "We have partnered with state and federal
governments in operating correctional facilities for the past 25 years, and
have a strong record of providing safe, secure and well-run
facilities."
McKinley
County Detention Center, Gallup, New Mexico
January 5, 2007 Gallup Independent
It took the jury less than two hours with lunch included to find Brian Orr
not guilty of using his power at the McKinley County Adult Detention Center
to sexually abuse three female prisoners in 2003. The issue in the trial
centered around the fact that jurors had to decide who was telling the
truth the three female prisoners from Wyoming or Orr, who worked at the
facility at the time. The three women told the jury of having
girlfriend-boyfriend relations with Orr, getting gifts and being abused.
One woman told of being handcuffed nude in his office while he took photos
of her on his digital camera. The problem was that was all the jury had to
go by the words of the three women. There was no corroborating evidence and
Steve Seeger, Orr's defense attorney, stressed in his closing arguments the
background of the three women and the reasons why they were in jail in the
first place. Pointing out their crimes, which ranged from forgery and
passing bad checks to distribution of methampthemines, he asked the jury
"would you buy a vehicle" from them? In the end, the jury
apparently decided not to believe anyone and issued a statement after the
verdict about "the poor quality of the investigation" and their
belief that it wasn't done "in a professional and competent
manner."
January 3, 2007 Gallup Independent
Testimony began Tuesday in the Brian Orr case. Orr faces three counts
of criminal penetration stemming from accusations made by three Wyoming
women, who were incarcerated in the McKinley County Adult Detention Center
in 2003 and 2004. Two of the three accusers testified Tuesday, claiming
that they had a boyfriend-girlfriend type of relationship with Orr while
they were incarcerated. Orr at the time was a captain at the jail. One of
the women claimed that on one occasion as she was being moved from one area
of the jail to another Orr put a hand down her pants and inserted his finger
inside her. The other woman claimed Orr did the same thing to her once when
she was in his office. Both women claimed that Orr made promises to each of
them about a future after they got out of jail, brought them gifts and gave
them favorable treatment. Orr, who was terminated from his position after
the charges were made, was also sued in civil court by the three women.
Also named in the suit were McKinley County and Management Training Center,
the private company that ran the jail at the time. A settlement was
eventually made in the civil suit and McKinley County officials said that
no county money was involved. MTC and its insurance company agreed to pay
the settlement, the terms of which were kept confidential, although one of
the accusers at the trial said she received $55,000 as her share of the
settlement. This civil suit is expected to play a major role in the
criminal case with Steve Seeger, Orr's defense attorney, asking the
accusers how the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the suit on behalf
of the female inmates, got involved in the case in the first place. Both
women testified that the ACLU contacted them and not the other way around.
This led Mike Calligan, chief deputy prosecutor for the McKinley County's
District Attorney's Office, to ask permission to call to the stand
Wednesday one of the ACLU attorneys to explain how the organization got
involved in the case.
January 28, 2006 Gallup Independent
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police arrested fugitive and former McKinley County
Adult Detention Center supervisor Bryan Orr this week in connection with
the sexual assault of two female inmates. Chief Deputy District Attorney
Michael Calligan on Friday confirmed Orr's arrest in the Las Vegas area.
Orr was wanted in McKinley County on charges of criminal sexual contact
with an inmate. The charges stem from his tenure as a lieutenant at the
detention center. He resigned from his position with the facility in 2005
and failed to appear for his arraignment on the criminal charges in August.
Sheila Black, 28, and Christine Herden, 23, had been jailed at the
detention center in Gallup in 2003 because there was no room for them at
the Wyoming Women's Center in Lusk. The women claim Orr sexually assaulted
and took nude pictures of them during their stay at the facility. Orr is
also a target of a federal lawsuit filed by The American Civil Liberties
Union that cites "cruel and unusual punishment" on his behalf.
The McKinley County Board of Commissioners and former managing agent,
Management and Training Corporation, were also named in the suit for
failure to properly supervise and train Orr.
January 24, 2006 Casper Star-Tribune
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit against a
New Mexico detention officer, alleging he sexually assaulted two female
inmates from Wyoming at a Gallup, N.M., jail and photographed them in the
nude. At the time of the alleged incidents in 2003, the inmates were housed
in New Mexico because of overcrowding at Wyoming's only female correctional
institution, the Wyoming Women's Center in Lusk. The lawsuit claims sexual
abuse and cruel and unusual punishment by Detention Officer Brian Orr of
the McKinley County (N.M.) Detention Center. The complaint was filed on
behalf of inmates Sheila Black and Christine Herden. The ACLU alleges that
Orr repeatedly sexually assaulted the two women and photographed them in
the nude, causing physical injury and severe psychological and emotional
distress. The complaint also alleges that the jail's acting warden, Gilbert
Lewis, the McKinley County commissioners and the Centerville, Utah, company
that managed the jail, Management and Training Corp., were negligent for
failing to properly train and supervise Orr.
September 4, 2003 Santa Fe New Mexican
McKinley County is terminating its contract with the Utah-based company
that has been operating the county jail, a facility plagued by problems.
Four inmates escaped from the jail, run by Management & Training Corp.,
on July 4, after being left unsupervised in a recreation yard. All four were
later captured or surrendered, but investigators said the escapees had a
three-hour head start because guards at the jail did not miss them until a
head count later that day. MTC also operates the Santa Fe County jail and
that facility too has had problems. Warden Cody Graham, who formerly headed
the Santa Fe County jail, was fired a week after the escape. In Santa Fe, a
nine-member state audit team found the jail needed to improve inmate
classification, grievance procedures, discipline, records and inmate
programs.
July 11, 2003 Albuquerque Journal
The McKinley County jail's warden and the lone corrections officer who was
left in charge of 80 inmates during a Fourth of July jailbreak have been
fired. Management & Training Corporation, which manages the McKinley
County Adult Detention Center on a contract, took the action after a series
of security failures on the Independence Day holiday allowed four inmates,
including three suspected in killings, to escape.
July 7, 2003 AP
Law enforcement officials are investigating why an escape from a privately
run county jail went unreported until one of the four fugitives, injured
jumping from the jail roof, showed up at a hospital a few hours later. Two
of the inmates, including one charged with murder, were still on the run
this morning. "We in law enforcement are totally disgusted, and it's
disheartening," said McKinley County Sheriff's Deputy Ron Williams.
The four escaped by leaping three floors from the jail's rooftop exercise
enclosure during an exercise period that began about 9 a.m. Friday,
authorities said. Law enforcement officials found out about the escape more
than three hours later when one of the inmates, Manuel Vasquez, 32, hitched
a ride to a hospital, where doctors became suspicious of his explanation
for his fractured heel and cut arm and called police, Williams said. (AP,
July 7, 2003 )
May 19, 2002 Albuquerque Journal
The McKinley County jail was locked down Sunday after disgruntled inmates
set a mattress on fire, jail officers reported. Eleven inmates locked
themselves in a section of the jail where the fire started, but the
incident was quickly quelled, said Sandy Aragon, director of communications
at the Gallup-McKinley County 911 center. The inmates came out and the fire
was extinguished, Aragon said.
Mississippi Department of Corrections
Sep 21, 2021 djournal.com
MDOC takes over
Marshall County prison
HOLLY SPRINGS . After 25 years as a private prison, the Marshall
County Correctional Facility is now being run by the Mississippi Department
of Corrections. MDOC commissioner Burl Cain said workforce issues prompted
the change. The private company contracted to operate the 1,000-bed medium
security prison was having trouble getting and retaining staff. "It is
difficult to hire that close to Memphis," Cain said. ""We
raised the pay to $15, which (Management Training Corporation) couldn't
do." Cain said the company runs numerous prisons across the country,
all of which have a consistent rate of pay. "They couldn't raise pay
at one facility and not at others," Cain said. DOC tried to rehire as
many of the MTC workers as possible. Because of state hiring requirements,
former employees had to reapply, and be interviewed and vetted again.
Because the state department has a qualification process to ensure an
employee's skills and experience match his or her position, the state
couldn't offer former employees their original positions back. As of
Monday, MCCF had 89 employees but will need more as the facility adapts to
its new mission. Officials plan to reduce the number of prisoners and
increase reentry training. "We also want to change the mission,"
Cain said. "(MTC) had worked it out with the previous administration
to house maximum security prisoners. It was not designed for maximum
security, so we removed those." Cain said the prison will shift its
focus to helping inmates return to society. "We want to focus more on
reentry training, including teaching the prisoners coding, which is highly
desirable in the computer industry right now," Cain said. "We
want to change the whole mission of the facility." To make the reentry
program more cost effective, Cain hopes to use inmates as instructors
whenever possible. "The inmates are a great and untapped
resource," he said. "I did it at Angola (the Louisiana State
Penitentiary), and it worked well." Cain also plans to reduce the
population of the facility in the coming weeks. MTC was contracted to house
900 inmates but lacked the staff to support that number. DOC took over the
facility on Sept. 13. After removing the maximum security and other
prisoners, the number was down to 775 on Monday. Cain said he'd like to
decrease the population even more. "We would like to see it get down
to maybe 500," he said. The number of prisoners has been dropping
across the state. Currently, MDOC has 16,200 prisoners statewide right now.
That number is low, but it is expected to get even lower as the department
conducts a new round of parole hearings. "If we are successful with
the reentry program and people commit less crime, then we are doing our job
- correcting deviant behavior," Cain said. "We are at a good
place right now. We want to keep the criminals in jail that hurt us and let
out the others to be productive members of society. We want them to be tax payers, not tax takers." The Marshall County
facility sits on 42 acres (17 acres fenced) on the north side of Holly
Springs. It was opened in 1996 and designed to house only male prisoners.
With it transitioning to state control, that leaves just two private
prisons (East Mississippi CF in Meridian and Wilkerson County CF in
Woodville) in the DOC system.
Apr 26, 2018
jacksonfreepress.com
Sheriffs Decry Cutbacks, Private Prison Contracts
JACKSON — Mississippi sheriffs packed into Room 113 at the Capitol
Monday to express frustrations after the Mississippi Department of
Corrections announced a reduction in inmates housed at the 15 regional
facilities in the state even as taxpayer money is going to fund private,
corporate-operated prisons. MDOC Commissioner Pelicia Hall said she had no
choice fiscally but to pull inmates out of regional facilities. MDOC had
budget problems at the start of 2018 and asked the Legislature to help fund
its budget deficit. The Legislature came up with $7 million to fund MDOC's
request for the state's private-prison bond obligations and medical costs
for inmates—but stopped short of providing the $3.6 million deficit the
department requested for the regional correctional facilities. Even House
Corrections Committee Chairman Bill Kinkade, R-Byhalia, admitted the
challenges in corrections funding on Monday. "The fact is we have
funding issues in corrections. That's not a revelation to anybody," he
said. "There have been some deficit-spending issues, and all of them
haven't been addressed." MDOC currently houses medium- and low-custody
inmates at the 15 regional facilities, run by 22 counties and local sheriff
departments in the state. The counties own these regional facilities, and
MDOC pays the counties at a range from $20 to $29.74 per inmate per day,
depending on the county's bond indebtedness. Counties and sheriffs use
these funds to help pay off bonds or balance their budgets. If the
department removes inmates from regional jails, local counties and
sheriffs' departments will receive less funding than they do currently from
MDOC to house state inmates. William Allen, an attorney who represents the
Mississippi Sheriffs' Association, pointed out that the State initially asked
the counties to build the regional facilities back in the late 1990s and
early 2000s to house the ballooning state prison population. The State also
contracted with private-prison contractors to operate facilities they built
during this time. Fast forward two decades, however, and Mississippi passed
substantial criminal-justice reform measures in 2014 that led to a drop in
inmate population statewide, lessening the need for cells. MDOC closed the
Walnut Grove Correctional Facility in 2016, citing budget reasons and less
need for space. "We're struggling financially; we're struggling to
keep the lights on in these facilities," Allen told lawmakers on
Monday. Allen and sheriffs questioned the State maintaining contracts with
private prison corporations when they are cutting funding to regional and
local jailers at the same time. Some sheriffs testified about being unable
to repair their buildings or keep prison guards employed without funding
for adequate salaries. "Unfortunately, the regional jails weren't funded
while the private prisons were. The private facilities have been funded,
and you may have seen one of these facilities in the news lately,"
Allen said referring to the class-action lawsuit against the East
Mississippi Correctional Facility in Meridian brought by prisoners for lack
of treatment and bad conditions. Commissioner Hall is in a tough spot,
however. The State contracts with the Management and Training Corporation
to run the three operational private prisons; those contracts were signed
before her tenure began. Those agreements require certain inmate population
levels and payment guarantees. "There's a prison-population guarantee
that the State is required to have with those facilities," Hall told
lawmakers on Monday. "... And to remove those potential inmates, the
State would have to basically renegotiate or re-do those particular
contracts whereby we're not obligated to fill those beds."
Additionally, Hall said that the private prisons house medium- to
high-security level inmates, as well as inmates with special mental-health
needs like at EMCF, while the regional facilities house state inmates
considered to be low- or medium-custody. With the Legislature's
criminal-justice reforms, Hall said the dynamics of the prison system will
change over time. "Ultimately, the low-level offenders are not going
to be the ones spending those long sentences in the county jails, and
that's just the nature of the beast that comes with criminal-justice
reform," she said. "I think in this state we built too many prisons,
and we were over-incarcerating at some point. Well, the trend has
turned." MDOC pays about $41.74 per inmate per day in a private
prison, Hall said. At the Capitol on Monday, she said that the contract for
Wilkinson County Correctional Facility is up for renewal in June this year,
and she is having her staff prepare a request-for-proposal for contractors
to bid on. She said she is also considering bringing the operations there
back in-house. The State still owes more than $217 million in bond indebtedness
on private prisons, and taxpayers will pay for those bonds, including for
the closed Walnut Grove, until 2027, MDOC numbers show. These bond costs
are in addition to the State's contractual obligations to MTC to operate
the facilities and to other contractors such as Centene Corporation to
provide medical care in the state's prison system. County taxpayers in the
22 counties that issued bonds to open regional prisons will have to foot
the bill for those facilities, however, which is why the room was tense on
Monday. There are about 3,000 inmates in the state's three private prisons,
while regional facilities house more than 4,000 inmates. "Ultimately,
it comes down to funding, and just like you all have needs and issues in
your regional facilities, we have them in the Department of Corrections,
too," Hall said.
Mar 7, 2018 jacksonfreepress.com
Private Prison Trial Starts Today Over Alleged Squalor, Rats, Deaths
JACKSON — Rats crawling out of toilets. Cells with no lights. Inmates
dying in solitary confinement with zip ties around their wrists and ankles.
This is a sample of the laundry list of deficiencies the Southern Poverty
Law Center and the ACLU National Prison Project outlined in a lawsuit filed
in 2013 against the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Inmates housed
at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility alleged squalor conditions,
solitary confinement practices, lack of medical and mental health care, and
an overall unsafe environment. Five years later, the case goes to trial
before U.S. District Judge William Barbour today. Jody Owens, the managing
attorney at SPLC who was in the facility last week, describes EMCF as in
"consistent chaos." He said four inmates have died in the last
two months alone. "Our investigations support that two have been
overdoses, one has been an individual who could not get the help he needed
as he choked on his lunch," Owens told reporters last week. "That
has been the history of East Mississippi from then to now—a lack of
security, safety and staff." EMCF is one of three state private
prisons that the Utah-based Management and Training Corporation operates,
mostly in southern states. Of the 1,200 inmates there, the facility
primarily houses inmates with mental-health issues or special medical
needs. The lawsuit charges that MDOC has not done its part to ensure that
contractors are keeping prisoners safe and healthy. SPLC and the ACLU began
their investigation of the facility in 2011 and sent then-MDOC Commissioner
Chris Epps a letter demanding changes to the facility. MDOC declined, and
Owens said MDOC has refused to settle the case twice during the last five
years of litigation. MDOC for its part has denied the majority of
allegations in the lawsuit and has asked the judge to throw out the case.
The attorney general's office has hired private attorneys to help defend
the state in the case. MTC manages the facility in Meridian, and Centurion
of Mississippi, partnership between MHM Services and Centene, provides
medical care for prisoners there (as well as the rest of the state's prison
system) with headquarters in St. Louis, Mo., the Mississippi Secretary of
State's website shows. MHM Services is not registered with the secretary of
state, but St. Louis-based Centene Management Company registered in
Mississippi as an LLC in 2011. MTC took over the facility in July 2012,
after attorneys began their investigation. The corporation maintains that
conditions at EMCF have improved. In an emailed statement, which avoids
specifics of the case, MTC emphasized its adequate staffing levels, new
security measures (like a body scanner) and a GED program. "The
facility is safe, secure, clean, and well run. From the warden on down, our
staff are trained to treat the men in our care with dignity and respect.
Our mission is to help these men make choices in prison and after they're
released that will lead to a new and successful life in society," the
statement said. "The facility is accredited by the American
Correctional Association and the Correctional Education Association. It's also
100% compliant with the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act, which was
created to further protect the rights of inmates," the statement
continued. Centurion is the third medical-provider contractor at the
facility since the litigation began. MDOC is also on its third commissioner
since the litigation began; the initial complaint names former Commissioner
Chris Epps, who is serving time in MDOC now after he was convicted of a
bribery scheme. Erin Monju, an attorney at Covington & Burling
representing the plaintiffs, said the facility still does not have a staff
psychiatrist. "It is also the Mississippi Department of Correction's
obligation to ensure that their contractors abide by the contract paid for
with Mississippi tax dollars, but across these three contractors, (the
department) has failed to ensure prisoners are receiving adequate health
care, and they have failed to hold these contractors to their
obligation," Monju told reporters last week. Taxpayers foot the bill
for private prisons, as well as for the contractors operating within them.
In the 1990s, lawmakers took out bonds to pay for private prisons, and that
debt service will not be paid off until fiscal-year 2028. The state is
currently paying more than $6 million in debt service this year for EMCF.
Attorneys said the contract with Centurion is valued at more than $50
million in taxpayer money. Attorneys representing the inmates expect the
trial, which Judge Barbour will decide and not a jury, to go on for a few
weeks. They plan to call experts, inmates and possibly former prison staff
members as witnesses during the trial. Just how much conditions have
improved—or not—will likely become clear during the trial as well as how
much MDOC has worked to hold private contractors accountable for changing
the environment, health and practices in the facility.
Mar 4, 2018 clarionledger.com
Hunger strike in East Mississippi prison before trial
Days from a trial centered on problems at the East Mississippi
Correctional Facility, some inmates went on a short hunger strike. Issa
Arnita, a spokesman for Management & Training Corp., which runs the
private prison in Meridian along with the Marshall County Correctional
Facility and Wilkinson County Correctional Facility, confirmed the hunger
strike by some inmates on Thursday. He explained that MTC is combatting
contraband in all three prisons. Part of that effort has included a
Correctional Emergency Response Team conducting daily, unannounced
contraband searches of all of its housing units. After a search of one of
the East Mississippi housing units on Wednesday, CERT discovered several
items of contraband, the bulk being cellphones and cellphone chargers, he
said. Under state Department of Corrections rules, housing units are placed
under lockdown after the discovery of contraband. Several inmates went on a
hunger strike to reportedly protest that shakedown. Arnita said inmates in
the housing unit on lockdown ate breakfast but refused to eat lunch on
Thursday. He said inmates ate dinner on Thursday night and breakfast on
Friday morning without incident. A trial is slated to begin Monday in U.S.
District Court in a class-action lawsuit filed by inmates at the East
Mississippi prison, alleging violence, dysfunctional mental health care
system, filthy cells and other woes.
Mohave County Prison, Mohave County, Arizona
March 29, 2007 The Daily News
Mohave County supervisors will decide on whether to end a contract with
an Oklahoma firm that built the county's only prison. Mohave County Manager
Ron Walker is asking supervisors to terminate a September 1999 contract
between Mohave Correctional Services LLC and the county to build and
operate the state prison, which opened in August 2004 and is located about
15 miles southwest of Kingman. The contract states that MCS would pay
Mohave County $3,000 a month in administration costs and provide housing
for about 50 county inmates. The county has tried to make arrangements to
house overflow county inmates but MCS has not complied. Walker also said
MCS has not paid the county any of the administration costs in the
contract, calling it a breach of contract. “We don't want to partner with
anyone who hasn't lived up to the first piece of this contract,” Walker
said. “Who are we dealing with here anyway?” Walker said if the supervisors
approve, in 30 days if the money is not paid. the county will look at a
contractual lawsuit for monetary default. The contract also provides for a
60-day notice to correct any non-monetary defaults, for example,
transferring the contract to the prison's current operator without
permission from the county. Utah-based Management & Training Corp.
currently operates the prison, which houses about 1,500 inmates. The prison
houses male inmates sentenced throughout Arizona on charges of drug
possession and driving under the influence. Walker said the contract issue
was brought up after MTC officials recently spoke to the board about
partnering with the county to build a federal prison in the county. Jim
Hunter, former vice president of MCS, said from Oklahoma that the contract
was never validated when MCS sold the land to Mohave Prison LLC in April
2004. The Tucson firm holds the title and leases the land and the prison to
the state for 10 years at which time the state will own the facility.
Hunter also said MCS, which built the prison, does not exist anymore. He
does not recall if MCS transferred the contract to another firm. The 1999
contract states that the contract is binding to the respective parties
meaning the county and MCS' successors. Mike Murphy, vice president of
corrections marketing for MTC, said at the previous supervisor meeting that
MTC does not have a contract to provide housing for overflow county inmates
or to pay the county any administration costs. The first 500 inmates
arrived at the prison on Aug. 9, 2004, and were housed in two units. The
second phase opened in April 2005 with permanent support buildings units
and housing for an additional 1,000 inmates.
Nacogdoches, Texas
May 1, 2009 Daily Sentinel
The proposed private federal prison — the subject of months of debate in
Nacogdoches — will not be built here, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, said.
The federal government rejected a proposal by the private prison operator
Management and Training Corporation to build the facility because it was
not competitive enough, according to an April 28 letter from Amanda J.
Pennel, a contracting officer with the bureau of prisons. "After
evaluating this proposal in accordance with the terms of the solicitation,
it was determined that this proposal was not among the most highly rated
proposals," the letter said. "A proposal revision will not be
considered," the letter continued. Proposals were evaluated on
criteria outlined in the federal acquisition regulation document, including
as price and past performance. The letter did not include any specific
information about why MTC's proposal was rejected, but MTC officials will
be able to request a "preaward debriefing" with further
information. In a statement, MTC Vice President Odie Washington said,
"Although this project will not move forward in the community, MTC
looks forward to perhaps one day working with community officials in the
future." Officials with the city, county and the Nacogdoches Economic
Development Corporation endorsed MTC's plan last summer because of the
economic benefits they believed it would bring to the area. But the
proposed prison also drew local critics who said the prison would erode the
quality of life in Nacogdoches and said local government failed to consider
the possible negative consequences of the facility. If approved, the prison
would have been minimum security facility, primarily for holding illegal
immigrants. NEDCO president Bill King said the jobs and salaries the prison
would have created would have been helpful to Nacogdoches. "If you're
going to have a correctional facility, kind of the gold standard would be a
federal minimum security. They don't get much better than that," King
said. "But it is what it is. We gave it our best show and we're
looking forward to the next challenge." Several elected officials
reached by telephone Friday shared their thoughts on the news. "We
were hoping that it would bring 300 jobs to Nacogdoches county, so we're
all a little disappointed. We needed those jobs, especially with the state
of the economy right now," County Judge Joe English said. Asked if he
would support another prison effort in the future, English said, "I
think we're out of the prison business in Nacogdoches County." Representatives
from the city weighed in on the issue as well. "The subject of the
prison has definitely caused a lot of turmoil in the community, and as much
as I personally regret that it's not coming, I'm glad that we finally have
a closure to the project," Southwest Ward Commissioner Billy
Huddleston Jr. said. Northeast Ward Commissioner Randy Johnson said he was
"very disappointed" that the prison would not come because it
would have helped the economy by creating jobs. Northwest Ward Commissioner
Don Partin shared a tempered reaction. "It was nothing to get excited
about because it was never a done deal," Partin said. "I'm just
happy that the system took care of itself. I'm happy everything happened
not because of anger or fear or greediness, but happened through the natural
process." For opponents of the prison, the news came as a victory.
"This is the best news that I've heard in a year or more," Paul
Risk, chairman of the Citizens Opposed to the Prison Site group that staged
demonstrations and informational campaigns against the project. "This
prison would have been a blight on the image of Nacogdoches. This is
Christmas in May."
January 19, 2009 Daily Sentinel
Around 40 people attended a Citizens Opposed to the Prison Site (COPS)
meeting Monday, and the group's founder, Dr. Paul Risk, said the
organization is moving forward with a petition that could change the city
charter. Risk introduced a petition that would put an amendment on the
ballot in May that would require the city of Nacogdoches to provide for
initiatives or referenda in its charter. Five percent of registered
Nacogdoches voters, or about 850 people, would need to sign the petition
requesting the amendment, Risk said. If approved, the citizens of
Nacogdoches could vote down or uphold decisions made by the city
commissioners. The COPS group formed last summer to protest a proposed
federal private prison that would be built inside Loop 224 on Northwest
Stallings Drive. The city commissioners, county commissioners and
Nacogdoches Economic Development Corporation unanimously backed the
proposal, which would be built and operated by Management and Training
Corporation. If Nacogdoches is chosen for the prison, MTC officials expect
the facility to create 300 jobs and bring in nearly $1 million per month in
salaries. Starting wages for correctional officers are likely to be around
$30,000 to $32,000 per year, according to MTC representatives. County Judge
Joe English said it is still too soon to say if a prison will end up in
Nacogdoches, and he said city and county officials "don't even know if
we're in the top 100" prospective sites. Risk said the group has made
efforts to see if the county or city concealed information about the prison
before it was put to a vote in the respective commission meetings. The COPS
group recently made an open records request from the city and county for
all correspondence, including e-mails and phone logs, between the local
officials and MTC. The city provided about 2700 documents to the group,
Risk said. Risk contacted the attorney general's office after the county
denied their request, though English said the attorney general's office
cleared the county of any wrongdoing. The county complied with the law, but
the COPS group did not follow the correct procedures in their open records
request, according to English. "Their original request was addressed
to (County Clerk) Carol Wilson. When they send an open records request to
Carol Wilson, they're going to get all the records she has," English
said. "They requested her letters, not the judge's or the
commissioners'. If they want information from my department, their (open
records request) needs to be addressed to me." The group later
corrected their request and English said the county supplied them with all
available documents, though he said the group would receive little, if any,
new information. The COPS group presented the commissioners with a number
of articles and letters during a public forum in October, and those same
documents accounted for the majority of the information the county delivered
in response to the open records request, English said. "They have to
pay 10 cents per copy, and basically they just bought back everything they
gave us," English said. "I don't think they got what they thought
there were going to get." Risk also said NEDCO declined to provide
requested documents, though a lawyer from NEDCO said the organization is a
privately run entity that does not have to abide by the Freedom of
Information Act. The COPS group has also been circulating an informal
petition with signatures from people opposed to the prison. Risk said the
group now has around 2,800 signatures, or about 4.5 percent of the county.
North
Coast Correctional Facility, Grafton, Ohio
July 12, 2012 Columbus Dispatch
Arguing that workers lost their jobs and had their lives uprooted, the
state’s largest employee union has gone to court over private prisons. The
Ohio Civil Services Employees Association filed suit Monday in Franklin
County Common Pleas Court. The suit represents 270 union members who were
“laid off or otherwise negatively affected” when the state turned over the
North Central Correctional Institution in Marion to a private operator and
sold the Lake Erie Correctional Facility in Conneaut in Ashtabula County.
The union listed 11 individual employees who it said lost jobs, were
“uprooted from their communities or were wrongfully excluded from
employment” when the prisons became private. The union wants the
private-prison contracts overturned and the employees to get their old jobs
back. “While we believe this privatization is unlawful, our bigger concern
is the impact that privatization has on our members’ lives,” said union
President Christopher Mabe. “Not only is privatization unsafe and bad
public business, it’s devastating for the lives of these employees and
their communities. These public servants did nothing wrong and now are
being punished by bad public policies.” Last year, the state agreed to sell
the Lake Erie prison to the Corrections Corporation of America, of
Nashville, Tenn., for $72.7 million. The state pays the company to house
prisoners there. At the same time, the Marion prison was shifted to
Management and Training Corp., of Centerville, Utah, and the North Coast
Correctional Treatment Facility in Lorain County, previously operated by
Management and Training Corp., was taken over by the state. Spokeswoman
JoEllen Smith said the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
won’t comment because the litigation is pending.
September 1, 2011 All Headline News
The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections announced Thursday
the winning bidders in the $200 million privatization of prisons in
Ashtabula and Marion counties. Two out of three bidders won the contracts:
Corrections Corp. of America (CCA) of Nashville, TN, and Management and
Training Corp. (MTC) of Centerville, UT. The Geo Group Inc. of Boca Raton,
FL, was the losing bidder. The state of Ohio pushed through with the
announcement after a Columbus judge denied a restraining order by
opposition groups to halt the process. Five adult prisons out of the
state's 32 corrections facilities were up for grabs. CCA will take over the
operations of Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Ashtabula County, while
MTC will manage Marion County's North Central Correctional Institution and
the vacant Marion Juvenile Correctional Facility. The MTC-operated North
Coast Correctional Treatment Facility in Lorain County will be turned over
to Ohio and merged with the state-operated Grafton Correctional
Institution.
September 10, 2009 Chronicle-Telegram
EMH Regional Medical Center is locked in a dispute with the private
contractor that runs the North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility in
Grafton over unpaid medical bills for inmates treated at the hospital. A
lawsuit filed earlier this year accuses Utah-based Management and Training
Corp. of failing to pay $628,193.81 in medical bills it racked up for
inmates between September 2006 and February 2009. But Tim Reid, the
company’s attorney, said Management and Training doesn’t actually owe the
hospital the money. Instead, he said, a former subcontractor is responsible
for the outstanding bills. Management and Training has been paying its
bills since severing ties with Arizona-based First Correctional Medical in
May 2008, Reid said. That company, he said, ran into financial problems and
fell behind in paying the medical bills under a contract with the hospital.
But Management and Training didn’t realize how much money was owed until
after the lawsuit was filed in May of this year, Reid said. “We realized
there was a problem, but we didn’t know the extent of the problem,” he
said. First Correctional and the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and
Correction are not named as a party in the lawsuit, according to court
records. Julie Walburn, an ODRC spokeswoman, said the prison system paid
Management and Training about $15.4 million in fiscal year 2009 to operate
the North Coast prison, which mostly houses prisoners convicted of drunken
driving and other substance abuse crimes. “They’re responsible for providing
medical care to inmates,” she said.
July 30, 2002 AP
Thirty-six inmates have been moved in the past week from their prisons to
other institutions because of disciplinary problems. Twelve inmates were
moved Tuesday from the privately run North Coast Correctional Treatment
Facility in Grafton to the Marion Correctional Institution for refusing to
wear proper uniforms, department spokeswoman Andrea Dean said. On Saturday,
24 inmates at the Southeastern Correctional Institution in Lancaster who
would not return to their living areas were moved to other prisons, Dean
said. The Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, which represents some
prison workers, including guards, said removal of 12 inmates from the
privately run prison, which has nonunion guards, demonstrates that the
state puts its problem inmates in union prisons. "We shouldn't be
cleaning up problems that for-profit companies created," said Darrell
Starcher, the president of the union's local at the Marion prison. Dean
said that none of the disciplined Lancaster inmates were moved to private
prisons. "We're not targeting inmates in a private facility,"
Dean said.
July 7, 2002 Chronicle-Telegram
The company that operates the North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility
and the state' only other privately run prison has agreed to take a
$400,000 cut in its contracts with state. The future of the privately
operated prison here appears more secure after the state negotiated its
contract to lower costs by $400,000. Management and Training Corp. of Utah,
the company that runs North Coast Correctional Treatment Center in Grafton
and another prison in Conneaut, agreed to the cut in contracts. But if the
economy tumbles and further cuts are ordered, the local privately run
prison, as well as the one in Conneaut, could be targeted for closure, he
said.
Otero
County Processing Center, Otero County, New Mexico
Oct
17, 2021 krqe.com
Privately-run immigration detention center in Otero Co. gets big pay
bump from ICE
CHAPARRAL, N.M. (KRQE) – An immigration detention center in southeast New
Mexico is getting a big paycheck from the feds, thanks to a new agreement.
However, some worry it could encourage immigration officers to beef up
arrests. According to new documents obtained by the ACLU of New Mexico,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is paying for hundreds of beds at the
Otero Co. Processing Center, with a long-term deal in the works. The new
agreement with private prison company Management and Training Corporation
guarantees $2 million each month across its facilities for bed spaces, paid
for by ICE. “It kind of set a floor for how much money the company would
get paid for the facility and it also increased how much they get paid for
those 500 beds,” said Leonardo Castañeda with ACLU of New Mexico. “It represents
potentially millions of dollars more for the company, even if the facility
sat completely unused. Population numbers have been going up but it still means higher profits for the company or
at least more revenue from the facility.” Some worry this could have a
negative impact on the state’s immigrant community. They say the bed spaces
already paid for could encourage officers to go after people not normally
on the ICE radar, like those with no criminal record and who are here with
their families. “There may be an incentive for ICE to be more aggressive
because if you’re paying for 500 beds, you’re going to want to use them,
whether those are folks who have been identified as a priority for
immigration enforcement,” said Castañeda. “They could get detained and sent
to these facilities because there’s that incentive to use them.” The ACLU
New Mexico tells KRQE the pandemic was likely a big driving force behind
this agreement. Because many facilities saw decreased populations as
migrants stayed with sponsors and their families, they also saw a decrease
in funding per detainee. “It undermined the profitability of a lot of these
facilities,” said Castañeda. “It made companies like MTC to seek ways to
ensure they’re profitable even if we moved away from mass detention.”
According to financial filings obtained by the ACLU, the contract between
MTC and ICE expires at the end of this month. However, new filings show
they’re already in negotiations for a long-term contract, which has some
attorneys concerned. “These kinds of long-term agreements kind of tie the
hands of the government,” said Castañeda. “If they say, we’re going to pay
you X-amount of money for 10 years, well if in five years, we decide as a
government or a country that we don’t want these facilities, we’re kind of
stuck.” A representative with MTC tells us in light of
concerns around the deal, they’re still committed to the safety and
well-being of those in their facilities. KRQE also reached out to ICE for a
response to the ongoing deal, but did not hear
back.
Jan 4, 2018 nmpolitics.net
Conditions at Otero County ICE detention center raise concerns
The Otero County Processing Center is located in rural New Mexico north
of El Paso, Texas. Despite its setting in a desolate stretch of the
southern New Mexico desert, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Otero
County Processing Center recently landed at the center of ongoing
controversy surrounding private prisons and ICE detention. As one of five
facilities audited by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of
Inspector General, conditions at the remote prison have stirred debate,
just as its for-profit operator, Management and Training Corporation (MTC),
has moved to expand its immigrant detention business in other states. But
problems at the facility run deeper than those detailed in the Inspector
General’s new report, a review of contracts and court records related to
the facility’s operation found. Meanwhile, a push to invoke more
transparency of federal prisons is being made in the New Mexico State
Legislature — seven years after a report by the American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU) detailed a host of alleged abuses at Otero, and one year after
an altogether different private prison contractor, CoreCivic, emerged
unscathed following a scandal related to deaths in custody at its New
Mexico facility in Cibola County. The Inspector General’s recent audit
found problems at four of five ICE facilities nationwide, including Otero.
Discovered during surprise inspections, auditors at various sites found evidence
of systematic and suspicionless strip searches, rotten food and moldy
bathrooms, the misuse of segregation, the denial of communications, and
long delays for medical care. Specific to Otero, federal inspectors
observed non-working telephones, unsanitary bathrooms, and unjustified
lock-downs and solitary confinements. “ICE detainees are held in civil, not
criminal, custody, which is not supposed to be punitive,” the Inspector
General’s office states in its Dec. 11 report. “The problems we identified undermine
the protection of detainees’ rights, their humane treatment and the
provision of a safe and healthy environment.” Regional ICE spokesperson
Carl Rusnok stated in an email that “ICE is confident in conditions and
high standards of care at its detention facilities.” He said the agency
agrees with the inspector general’s recommendation that ICE conduct reviews
of areas highlighted in the report. For its part, MTC wrote that, contrary
to the inspector’s findings at Otero, the facility was not in violation of
standards, though the company “welcomes oversight” and is “monitored daily
by ICE.” The Otero facility has also been exempted from ICE’s usual
standards for providing recreational opportunities to detainees when it
comes to access to natural light and dedicated outdoor recreation,
documents show. An “intergovernmental agreement” between Otero County and
ICE, provided by the county in response to a public records request, shows
that the federal agency waived its standards in both regards. The contract does
not require access to natural light and it cuts in half — from four hours
to two hours a day — the amount of outdoor recreation to be provided
detainees. In a review of a sample of 15 similar, publicly-available
agreements between ICE and municipal or county governments — including
facilities in Eloy, Arizona and Adelanto, California that have been heavily
scrutinized over conditions — no similar waivers were found. Whether the
decreased hours of outdoor access are even provided is dubious, according to
a local advocate. “Someone could go days, or weeks even, without having
access to the outdoors,” said Melissa Lopez, an immigration attorney who
visits Otero regularly as the executive director of Diocesan Migrant and
Refugee Services, an El Paso nonprofit serving the West Texas region. “It
doesn’t make sense to me,” Lopez said. “We’re in a part of the country
where, for the majority of the year, we have really nice weather.” Medical
neglect, however, is Lopez’s main concern. Although the OIG’s report did
not name Otero among the multiple facilities where inspectors found that
care was lacking, Lopez says she’s heard complaints about health care from
countless detainees during her 10 years of visiting four facilities across
the region. Running trends, she said, include prescribing Tylenol as a
treatment for serious ailments and the delay or denial of providing basic
medicine, such as insulin or high blood pressure medication, for detainees
with serious conditions that have long been diagnosed and treated. “It’s
not that the expectation is that somebody’s gonna get the best medical care
on the market,” Lopez said. “We’re talking about basic care.” Two of the
172 deaths in custody nationally between October 2003 and June 2017 that
ICE has disclosed were at Otero. Fifty-year-old Rafael Barcenas-Padilla
died most recently, of bronchopneumonia, in April 2016, according to ICE.
At the time, a scandal surrounding deaths in custody attributed to medical
neglect was enveloping a different for-profit prison in northern New
Mexico, the Cibola County Correctional Center. In the aftermath of
investigative reporting that brought four deaths there to light, the
prison’s corporate owner and operator, CoreCivic, faced an early contract
termination with the Bureau of Prisons in the summer of 2016. But by fall,
the private prison giant picked up $150 million in new business with ICE,
and the facility was up and running as an immigrant detention center by the
end of the year. The vendor now in charge of health care has been sued twice
in New Mexico civil court for deaths due to medical neglect. MTC,
meanwhile, has been named as a defendant in New Mexico lawsuits around 30
times, according to a review of court records. A case brought by the ACLU
on behalf of a transgender woman, who says she’s being held at the
company’s state prison as a man, is currently being litigated. Recent
settlements made by the company in New Mexico involve the alleged
censorship of books sent to state inmates and a discriminatory firing
complaint made by a guard at the ICE complex. A deep dive from the Center
for Investigative Reporting into Cibola’s closed door deal — and the
unresolved questions of oversight and detainee care which surround it — has
since prompted N.M. state Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas to set a legislative
hearing on all federal facilities in the state to take place in the spring
of 2018 via the Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee. The deals —
between Otero County and MTC, and Cibola County and CoreCivic — required
the approval of the office of New Mexico’s attorney general. But state
officials have been hands-off regarding involvement in matters of
jurisdiction and oversight of federal prisons. Maestas thinks the dynamic
is one that New Mexico’s leaders have a responsibility to remedy. “Anything
that happens in the boundaries of New Mexico, we should be concerned
about,” Maestas said. The goal of the hearing, he said, is to “educate
legislative members in regards to federal institutions here. We want to
become familiar with their operations to ensure they’re run appropriately.”
“Anytime there’s no oversight or accountability, that’s when human rights
violations are likely to take place,” Maestas said. “You never want your
state to get a black eye in regards to being responsible for things of that
nature.” A 2011 report on conditions at Otero, compiled by the American
Civil Liberties Union, could indicate that such a hearing is overdue. Two
hundred Otero detainees detailed their experiences under MTC’s care with
the ACLU. The resulting report featured a similar litany of violations as
reported more recently by the Inspector General — from arbitrary lockdowns
and abusive guards to deficient food and medical care. The issue has never
made it to the state Legislature, where it should be considered with
urgency given the direction of federal immigration policy, Maestas said.
“Since the federal government is committed to a policy approaching mass
deportation, there’s going to be more and more federal prisoners in the
state. These are men, women and children, not street criminals convicted of
federal crimes,” he said. “We need to keep an eye on what ICE and these
companies are doing to ensure that it’s consistent with the values of our
country.” Even though the federal facilities aren’t managed by the state,
Maestas said, “we still have to maintain high standards of human rights.”
Millions of dollars are at stake. A three month set of invoices paid to
MTC, obtained by public records request, shed some light on the business of
immigrant detention in southern New Mexico. MTC was paid between $1.8
million to $2.6 million per month between January and March 2017, as the
Otero detainee population fluctuated between 914 and 741. The company
charges Otero County, which is paid by ICE, $77 per detainee per day for
the first 850 detainees, the invoices indicate. Meanwhile, in the wake of a
scandal in Texas involving the reopening of MTC’s notorious Willacy County
facility, a new MTC ICE detention center on the horizon in Wyoming has
stirred tensions over prison economy jobs and immigrants rights, says
Antonio Serrano, a 32-year-old father of five from Cheyenne who is
organizing, as chair of the statewide grassroots advocacy group Juntos, to
halt the approval of MTC’s contract before it can start. “With my knowledge
of what happens in private prisons, they’re horrific. They do things so
secretly, and I don’t want that in my state,” Serrano said. Despite
differences in politics and desperation for jobs, he has faith that his
fellow residents can find an innovative way to spur their economy rather
than rely on imprisonment. “We have a lot of wind and a lot of sun and a
lot of people who use to work in the energy industry,” he said. “I really
think that with some retraining that a lot of those guys and those women could
get these newer jobs.” People in Wyoming are desperate for work, he said,
and unaware of the human cost detention centers can pose. “I’ve sat across
the table from so many crying moms and crying wives, and been on the phone
with a husband who lost his wife and he didn’t know what was going on, and
I could hear the kids crying,” he said. “There’s so much happening that
people don’t realize.”
January 23, 2011 KASA
A report from the American Civil Liberties Union says a southern New Mexico
center that holds immigrants for possible deportation needs to improve how
it treats them. Immigrants interviewed by the ACLU at the federal
immigration detention center in Otero County complained about prolonged
detention, inadequate food, medical services and legal resources, according
to an Albuquerque Journal copyright story published Sunday. The 1,084-bed
Otero County Processing Center houses immigrants who face deportation
proceedings. Many were taken into custody from the interior of the United
States. They typically have not been charged with crimes other than
immigration offenses. Illegal immigrants charged with federal criminal
offenses usually are deported after completing their sentences, but those
imprisoned for state charges can end up at the facility. Detentions there
average about 30 days, but can be longer for those who fight deportation.
The ACLU's report said Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials
responded swiftly and appropriately in several cases, including a request
to dim lighting in the solitary unit, where bright lights were on 24 hours
a day. Many detainees said, however, they were threatened with solitary
confinement if they filed complaints. The report also said that when they
are filed, some "reported never even receiving a response to their
grievance." The processing center, financed by Otero County, is
operated by the private Utah-based Management and Training Corp., under
contract with ICE. The facility, with 20 dormitories of 50 beds and a more
secure unit of 84 beds, houses an average of 890 detainees. The ACLU
received complaints about conditions at the Otero County facility from more
than 200 detainees since 2008. The report also is based on 42 interviews
with those housed there from fall 2009 through June 2010. An MTC spokesman
referred questions to a Texas-based spokeswoman for ICE, Leticia Zamarripa.
"ICE carefully considers the recommendations offered to further
improve its operations," she said. Detainees also complained about
restrictive policies, such as short weekly visits from family and outdoor
recreation to an enclosed, concrete courtyard with only a view of the sky.
One detainee reported vomiting repeatedly and suffering acute stomach pains
for two or three days before the clinical staff gave him ibuprofen and an
antacid. He later was hospitalized for three weeks.
Parklea
Correctional Centre
Jul 13, 2021 miragenews.com
Privately-run Parklea prison riot inevitable after years of warnings
ignored
Parklea Correctional Centre's most recent riot is proof NSW's
privately-run prison experiment is failing, as the union warns lives of
prison officers and inmates are at risk as prison management continues to
ignore serious safety concerns. As recently as Saturday the Community
Public Sector Union of NSW sought an urgent meeting with Governor Paul
Baker and Parklea's management, amid a spate of officer assaults. In a July
6 meeting with the Governor the union formally raised concerns of no
consistency around welfare calls, money not going into inmates
accounts, lack of handcuffs, and the need for more officer training.
"For more than two years the CPSU NSW has been ringing the alarm bell
about safety in Parklea," said Troy Wright, assistant branch secretary
of CPSU NSW. "These warnings, particularly about unsafe conditions for
prison officers, have been recklessly ignored." The union first raised
the issue of safety with operators MTC-Broadspectrum in 2019, when the
US-based prison operator took over from GEO. Consistent efforts to improve
safety and secure better conditions for prison officer have been
consistently ignored since. "MTC-Broadspectrum is one of America's
largest private prison operators and has a history of violent, dangerous
prisons. In NSW we have no transparency about why they were selected to run
Parklea - the Berejiklian government simply handed over the keys and washed
their hands of the lives of those who live and work inside Parklea's walls.
"Since MTC-Broadspectrum took over operations in Parklea it has become
more dangerous for workers and inmates alike. This is a direct result of
cost cutting decisions to squeeze every last cent
out of the prison. "Our justice system should be run by the state in
the public interest. It should not be operated by private providers whose
sole motivation is making money. When you run a prison for profit your
inclination will always be to cut corners. It means jails are understaffed
and have fewer programs, which makes them more dangerous and violent."
Prescott Valley, Arizona
October 18, 2007 The Daily Courier
The town council will not support plans by a Utah-based company to consider
the outskirts of town for a private prison. Overwhelming vocal opposition
to a 2,000-bed, minimum-security prison for nonviolent male inmates
apparently persuaded the council Thursday against proceeding with endorsing
the prison. Opponents expressed concerns to the council about Prescott
Valley having the label of "prison town," and facing declining
property values and other negative effects. The council met Oct. 4 with
representatives of Management and Training Corp., a Centerville, Utah-based
company that proposed a 100-acre site a mile north of Highway 69 and
parallel to Old Fain Road. The council did not take any formal action
during the work/study meeting Thursday, but Town Manager Larry Tarkowski indicated
he would not put a letter of support on the agenda for next Thursday. The
sole support for the prison on the council came from Mary Baker, who cited
the benefit of 500 jobs. Opponents in excess of 10 people dominated a
packed council chamber. Council members also indicated that prison
opponents bombarded them with e-mails and phone calls. "We had so many
people who said 'no,' and I have to go with that," Mayor Harvey Skoog
said after five people spoke out against the prison. Two people spoke in
favor of the prison. "I am not worried about the prisoners that are
escaping, but I am worried about the factor of the money you would lose on
your house," opponent Frank Shank, a retired diesel mechanic and
Teamster union representative from Detroit, said after the meeting. He said
that he lost $50,000 on a house in Jackson, Mich., a number of years ago
because of the presence of a prison. Prison supporter Linda Shimmin, a
retired restaurant owner, faulted the review process for killing the prison
plans. "I think the (council) decision is fine," she said after
the meeting. "It's the process that concerned me. Management and
Training was not here tonight. I think the visceral reactions might have
been mitigated had Management and Training been allowed to make a presentation."
Shimmin drew some applause - and a number of boos - when she pleaded her
case for the prison during the council meeting. Audience members also
applauded opponents who spoke at the podium and when the council members
indicated that they would go with the will of the public. The council had
scheduled the meeting in the first place to review the costs for water and
other infrastructure for the prison.
Promontory Community
Correctional Center, Draper, Utah
February 20, 2006 The Spectrum
Utah has one of the country's lowest incarceration rates, according to
federal data, but is climbing from a booming population growth spurt that
has increased the incarcerated population by 200 to 300 inmates each year.
The Utah prison system is overwhelmed with more than 6,350 inmates
statewide - including a large percentage housed at Purgatory Correctional
Facility in Washington County - making more bed space desperately needed.
Two facilities are being built, one in Gunnison and the other facility in
Beaver County, where the state intends to rent 200 beds to house its
inmates. Also, corrections is requesting another
192-bed facility to be built in Gunnison. Senate Bill 175, sponsored by
Sen. Howard A. Stephenson, R-Draper, calls for the Department of
Corrections to issue and evaluate a request for proposals from private
prison contractors, county jails and other interested agencies for a
300-bed or larger minimum-security correctional facility to accommodate
prison-sentenced criminals beyond that. We commend Stephenson and the
corrections department for their foresight in dealing with the rising
housing needs of criminals. However, taxpayers should urge lawmakers to do
some analysis as they embark on mingling public and private enterprise,
based on the state's history in that corrections partnership. Utah's first
privately run prison, Promontory Correctional Facility - a 400-bed,
low-security facility located on the northwest side of the Draper prison
site, which was closed because of budget cuts - was administered by Ogden's
Management and Training Corporation. Three weeks after it opened in August,
1995, two inmates escaped in broad daylight by crawling through a fence.
Every year until it closed on July 1, 2002, there were one to two escapes.
A pre-release program through that facility resulted in 102 parolees
enrolled in it simply walking away within a 10-month period. One in
particular was by 35-year-old Stan Lee Foster, a man convicted for a string
of thefts and burglaries in Southern Utah. He was enrolled in the "cutting
edge" halfway-back program in May 1999, but two months later hopped
onto a bus in Sandy to go to work never to return. Six days after he walked
away, he was fatally shot by an FBI agent investigating a rash of bank
robberies. Aside from budget cuts that were cited for the closure of the
prison, heavily-rumored high staff turnover rates and drug use by inmates
were disclosed by media outlets. The mixture of the public and private
sector of corrections through Promontory lasted a mere seven years. As
SB-175 mandates the acceptance of bids for a new facility, and is
considering recommendations from corrections to highly consider
privatization for housing and treatment, we ask lawmakers to scrutinize the
whole package privatization has to offer with a fine-tooth comb. While it
is admirable to be looking toward the future to accommodate the increasing
incarcerated population, it is just as important to learn from mistakes
where failures occurred so as not to repeat them.
April 6, 1999 Salt Lake Tribune
Three prisoners who escaped from Utah's minimum-security prison at Draper
on Sunday were arrested 12 hours later by police who were tipped they could
find the fugitives at a Salt Lake City boarding house. One of the three --
Jason William Kirk, 21, of Arizona -- was already on parole but staying at
Promontory, a pre-release center akin to a halfway house, until he secured
outside employment. Promontory is owned by the state but managed by
Management & Training Corporations (MTC). After working in the commissary
at Promontory and helping prepare Easter breakfast around 8 a.m., the trio
slipped to a grassy recreation area outside the facility. They were
discovered missing after a routine 11:30 a.m. head count.
June 16, 1998 Salt Lake Tribune
About 140 inmates at the Promontory pre-release facility at the Utah State
Prison refused to go into their dorms Monday afternoon, prompting officials
to use a gas grenade to disperse them. Prison spokesperson Jack Ford said
the inmates were in a common room and outside at the 400-bed privately
operated Promontory facility when they refused to return to their rooms for
a 4p.m. head count. Fred VanDerVeur, the Department of Corrections director
of institutional operations, said correctional officers used "some
sort of gas grenade' to scatter the inmates, all of whom are
minimum-security and within weeks of release.
July 12, 1996 Salt Lake Tribune
Freddy Lee Wolfe was to be paroled from Utah State Prison on Aug. 27, but
Thursday he decided his date with freedom was not soon enough. Prison
officials say Wolfe, who is serving 5-year terms for forgery and theft by
receiving, escaped at 12:30 p.m. while working at the Draper prison's
meat-processing plant. He was discovered missing an hour later following a
routine prisoner count.
September 5, 1995 Salt Lake Tribune
It may not be an alarming threat to public safety, but neither is it a good
sign. Utah's first privately run prison has been open less than three
weeks, and two inmates already have escaped--in broad daylight, by crawling
through a prison fence. The two escapees, Anthony Scott Bailey and Eric
Neil Fischbeck, are not particularly dangerous characters. Fischbeck was
serving time for burglary and drug possession, Bailey for burglary. They
were assigned to the Promontory Correctional Facility, run by Management
& Training Corp. of Ogden, because they were preparing for
parole.
Rainsbrook
Secure Training Centre
UK, MTC
May
7, 2022 theguardian.com
Prison
firm made £11m in year Ofsted raised alarm about safety at youth jail
Exclusive:
MTC profits soared before early termination of £50m contract to run
Rainsbrook facility near Rugby
A
private prison company that ran an “inadequate” youth jail made £11m in the
same year inspectors raised serious safety concerns about the welfare of
children, some of whom were locked up alone for more than 23 hours a day.
Soaring profits, described as “tragic” by Labour, were disclosed in
accounts filed by the US-owned Management & Training Corporation (MTC),
which was awarded a £50m contract from the Ministry of Justice in 2016 to
run the Rainsbrook secure training centre in Warwickshire. Profits jumped
from less than £1m to £11m in 2020, the year before its contract with the
MoJ was terminated 17 months early after a string of damning reports by
Ofsted inspectors. MTC said most of its profit came from its probation
services in London and Thames Valley, not Rainsbrook. It said staffing
levels had been more than adequate at the centre. The accounts for its UK
operations, which were filed at Companies House this week, also showed the
company had since switched to running “migrant quarantine hotels”, using
staff redeployed from Rainsbrook, after it was approached by the Home
Office and asked to help deliver the services. These quarantine hotels house
adult asylum seekers who have arrived in the UK by small boats, when the
short-term holding facilities meant to accommodate them are full up.
Conditions at Rainsbrook, near Rugby, sparked “serious concerns” among
Ofsted inspectors, after it emerged children at young as 15 were being
locked up for more than 23 hours a day with “no justifiable rationale”
during the coronavirus pandemic. All children were removed from Rainsbrook
in June 2021, after subsequent inspections raised further safety issues,
including the carrying of weapons and warnings from staff and children that
someone was likely to die at the centre. Some of the children were sent to
adult prisons as a result. Low staffing levels at Rainsbrook, which had
capacity for 87 children between 12 and 17, were cited among the reasons
for its problems in successive reports by Ofsted in 2020 and 2021. One
report said: “Poor staffing levels and poor supervision of children enable
children to bully and intimidate each other. Physical assaults between
children are common, and work to resolve these conflicts is minimal.”
Utah-based MTC, which says it champions a “bionic” (believe it or not, I
care) culture, has previously been criticised for understaffing a
prison in its network of private correctional facilities in the US. Its UK
division acknowledged it was penalised by the Ministry of Justice over low
staffing levels, in its results for the 12 months to the end of December
2020, a period in which inspectors sounded the alarm about Rainsbrook three
times. During that period, the company recorded an increase in profits from
£644,000 to £11m, with its highest-paid director earning £234,000.A National Audit Office report last month
revealed the government entered into negotiations to pay MTC up to £1.8m in
settlement costs over the loss of the Rainsbrook contract, with the company
agreeing to meet £244,098 in maintenance costs. The government also paid
MTC £5.6m a month while it negotiated the terms of the contract
termination. This was £1.5m less than normal monthly payments because some
MTC staff were redeployed under the quarantine hotel contract. The NAO said
the sums could be described as “fruitless payments” because no children
were housed at Rainsbrook during the period. MTC’s 2020 results were
temporarily boosted by the government’s decision to renationalise the
probation service, backtracking on a disastrous privatisation programme led
by the former justice secretary Chris Grayling. The early termination of
MTC’s two private probation contracts inflated revenues by £4.3m to
£107.6m, as payments that would have been due in the remaining years of the
contracts were brought forward. Sign up to the daily Business Today email
or follow Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk. Ellie Reeves, the
shadow minister for prisons and probation, said: “It is tragic that
taxpayer’s money goes towards massive salaries of directors of companies
like MTC while children in their charge are locked in their rooms for
23-and-a-half hours a day.” She said the government had wasted £4.1bn on
Grayling’s “catastrophic” transforming rehabilitation plan to privatise the
probation service, which had been left “a shell of its former self”. MTC
said most of its profit came from its probation services in London and
Thames Valley, not Rainsbrook. It said staffing levels had been more than
adequate at the centre. “While we experienced significant challenges at
Rainsbrook STC, we had a strong record in delivering probation services
before they were renationalised, along with all other areas in England and
Wales in 2020,” it said. “In London, inspectors commended our sustained
improvements to previously failing services and in Thames Valley our
service was rated ‘good’.” Commenting on MTC’s role in the quarantine
hotels, a Home Office spokesperson said: “We
expect all our providers to ensure that accommodation provided to asylum
seekers is safe, comfortable and meets our standards of service. “MTC work
is assured by the Home Office on a regular basis
and they have consistently proven to be a diligent partner in dealing with
vulnerable migrant arrivals.” An MoJ spokesperson said MTC did not profit
from the Rainsbrook contract “because our controls tied pay to performance.
This also allowed us to exit the contract when MTC failed to improve.”
Jun 17, 2021 independent.co.uk
Ministers
remove children from private youth jail after American contractor fails to
fix 'serious' flaws Children given only half an hour out of their rooms per
day in 'bleak regime'
Rainsbrook
may come back under state control, MoJ says. The UK government is removing
all children from a troubled jail for youths run by an American company
after some were locked in their rooms for more than 23 hours a day. Robert
Buckland, the justice secretary, said US-based
contractor MTC had failed to fix serious failings at Rainsbrook secure
training centre despite being ordered to six months ago.
Santa Fe County Adult
Detention Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico
November 19, 2007 New Mexican
Dickie Ortega lost his life at the hands of one man named Jesus and another
named Good. And while a Santa Fe County jury's conviction of one of those
men on second-degree murder and five other charges Monday provided some
peace of mind, Ortega's mother said the tragic chain of events at the
county jail that led to her son's death will remain a source of pain.
"When they asked Dickie why he was there, he told them the truth, and
it cost him his life," said Cordelia Martinez after the jury found Jesus
Aviles-Dominguez guilty. "If it wasn't for doctors and medication, I
don't know if I could go through this. I don't know if I'll ever get over
it. It's like a nightmare." Martinez, her husband, Antonio Martinez,
and her daughter and Ortega's sister, Delilah Brown, sat through every day
of testimony in Aviles-Dominguez's trial, which lasted nearly three weeks.
They also sat through the September trial of Daniel Good, who pleaded no
contest to two counts of aggravated battery involving death and two counts
of intimidation of a witness in the middle of those proceedings. Cordelia
Martinez said she was satisfied with the jury's verdict and thanked members
for "doing their duty." "Well, at least I can put my son to
rest now," she said. "He was a good and wonderful son." In
addition to second-degree murder, the jury of eight men and four women
convicted Aviles-Dominguez, 32, of two counts of intimidation of a witness
and three counts of conspiracy. He was acquitted of aggravated battery with
a deadly weapon, three counts of conspiracy and three counts of
intimidation of a witness. Aviles-Dominguez, who had to serve only 20 more
days in jail at the time of the assault on Ortega, now faces up to 52 1/2
years in prison. "Bitches," Aviles-Dominguez said to no one in
particular as sheriff's deputies escorted him from the courtroom after his
conviction. Other inmates who were in the pod at the county jail when
Ortega, 32, was beaten to death testified that Aviles-Dominguez and Good
were the co-leaders of the dormlike accommodations. Ortega, a Chimayó
resident, allegedly made the fatal mistake of accusing a man he was
arrested with on narcotics and receiving-stolen-property charges of being a
snitch or a "rat," according to the inmates' testimony.
Aviles-Dominguez and Good allegedly attacked and beat up the man Ortega
accused, the witnesses said. However, another inmate stood up for the man
who was attacked and said he wasn't a rat. That led to a series of at least
three retaliatory beatings of Ortega — mainly at the hands of Aviles-Dominguez
and Good — which became progressively more brutal, the inmates testified.
Finally — according to two eyewitnesses — Aviles-Dominguez began stomping
repeatedly on Ortega's head, which left him unconscious. Aviles-Dominguez
and Good refused to allow one of the inmates to get medical attention for
Ortega, an inmate testified. Aviles-Dominguez testified he didn't beat
Ortega or the other man, and at one point tried to give them advice on how
things worked behind bars. He also told jurors another inmate, Joe Coriz,
stomped on Ortega's head, and Aviles-Dominguez broke up that beating. While
the verdict was not what his client wanted, Gary Mitchell,
Aviles-Dominguez's lawyer, said he thought the system did its job. "At
the end of the day, I walk out thinking it was a fair jury, a fair
prosecution and a fair judge," he said. "One can't complain about
that. But with all the guys in there (when the beating occurred), we'll
never know what in the Sam Hell happened." One of the big problems spotlighted
by the Ortega case is understaffing at jails and prisons, Mitchell said.
"You wonder where the hell were the detention officers in all of
this," he added. At the time of the beating, one guard had been
assigned to watch over three pods containing about 60 inmates, Sheriff Greg
Solano said at the time. A second guard was assigned to man a control unit
that overlooks six pods of more than 100 inmates, he said. A private
company, Management Training Corp., ran the jail at the time, and a federal
study had previously highlighted short-staffing as a problem. Ortega's
family received a $600,000 settlement paid by MTC earlier this year after
filing a wrongful death lawsuit. Prosecutors initially said they would seek
the death penalty against both Good and Aviles-Dominguez. And though they
later backed off those plans, state District Court Judge Tim Garcia ruled
that if the penalty would have been in play, one jury would have had to
decide the men's guilt or innocence while another would have decided the
penalty. Good's attorney, Jeff Buckels, called the ruling "a huge
fringe benefit."
August 30, 2007 The New Mexican
The mother of a Chimayo man who hanged himself in the Santa Fe County jail
two years ago is suing the County Commission, the sheriff and the firm that
used to run the jail. Michael G. Martinez, 39, was jailed Aug. 21, 2005, on
charges of aggravated assault, aggravated battery, assault on a peace
officer, aggravated fleeing of a law-enforcement officer, possession of
drug paraphernalia, reckless driving, driving with a suspended license and
other traffic infractions. Three days later, he was found dead, hanging
from a cloth blanket tied to a light fixture in his cell in the medical
ward of the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center on N.M. 14, south of
Santa Fe. Sheriff Greg Solano said at the time that Martinez was put in the
medical ward because he had needle marks on his arms and appeared to be in
withdrawal, and he was on a suicide watch where jailers were to check on
him every 30 minutes. Last week, lawyer John Faure sued on behalf of
Martinez's mother, Elsie Martinez of Santa Cruz. The complaint says
Management and Training Corp., which ran the country jail at the time,
should have checked on Martinez every 10 minutes and searched the cell to
remove “any dangerous article or clothing.” Management and Training Corp.
has “maintained a custom or policy which exhibited indifference to the
constitutional rights of person incarcerated ... which permitted or
condoned deviations from appropriate policies,” the complaint says. By
hiring the company, it says, Solano and the commission effectively violated
Martinez's constitutional rights of due process and protection from cruel
and unusual punishment. The complaint seeks “at least $10,000” for the
expenses of Martinez's funeral and burial, plus punitive and exemplary
damages for “intentional misconduct, recklessness, gross negligence,
willfulness and/or callous indifference, and/or because defendants' conduct
was motivated by malice, evil motive or intent.” Solano and a spokesman for
Management and Training Corp. in Centerville, Utah, declined comment. The
firm ran the county jail from 2001 to 2005, when county government again
took over operations. Earlier this year, the firm was named as a defendant
in a similar lawsuit brought by the parents of Chris Roybal, who overdosed
on heroin while in jail in February 2005. It alleges Roybal got the drugs
from a corrections officer. The court record indicates that case has been
transferred to another jurisdiction.
August 29, 2007 New Mexican
When his fellow inmates at the Santa Fe County jail asked why he was
incarcerated, Dickie Ortega made an explosive statement that might have
cost him his life, lawyers said Tuesday. “He said, ‘It’s because my cousin
ratted me out,’ ” prosecutor Joseph Campbell told jurors during opening
statements Tuesday in the trial of Daniel Good, one of two men charged with
beating Ortega to death in June 2004. “There are rules in jail,” Campbell
said, “and one of these rules is that you don’t rat somebody out.” Jeff
Buckels, Good’s attorney, said Ortega’s statement was like igniting a can
of gasoline. “This was not the dorm at St. John’s or the boys
locker room at Prep,” he said. “You better believe there are rules (in
jail). One you hear over and over again is that rats are taken care of.”
The consequences were first meted out to Brad Ortega, the man Dickie Ortega
called his cousin, though they were not actually related, Campbell said.
When Brad Ortega returned to the cell pod, he was ordered into Good’s cell and
attacked by at least three men, Campbell said. After the beating, the men
ordered Brad Ortega, who sustained a gash on his head, to strip off his
bloody clothes, throw them in the trash and take a shower, he said.
Meanwhile, the men cleaned the cell, Campbell said. While Brad Ortega was
in the shower, one of the 20 inmates in the pod said he knew Brad Ortega
and he was “a stand-up guy” and “he knows the rules,” Campbell said. At
that point, he said, some of the inmates confronted and beat Dickie Ortega,
a 32-year-old from Chimayó who was being held on receiving-stolen-property
and drug-related charges. Afterward, Dickie Ortega also was ordered to
strip off his clothing and take a shower, the attorney said. Later, Good,
34, and another inmate, Jesus Aviles-Dominguez, 31, made Dickie Ortega and
Brad Ortega fight each other, though it was not a vicious brawl, Campbell
said. After that, Good, Aviles-Dominguez and another inmate again beat the
two Ortegas, then forced them to again take off their bloody clothes and
take a shower while the cell was cleaned, he said. Finally, Dickie Ortega
was beaten a fourth time, Campbell said. That time, he was forced against a
wall and stepped on while he pleaded for his life, the lawyer said. Brad
Ortega, Campbell said, watched the last beating, helplessly, from the upper
bunk in their cell. Buckels admitted Good “popped (Dickie Ortega) a couple
times” during the beatings, but Good didn’t kill Ortega. “In fact, he tried
to stop it,” Buckels told jurors. “He was trying to save him from a man
named Chuy.” Chuy — Aviles-Dominguez’s nickname — was the boss of the pod
in which the Ortegas had been placed, Buckels said. And during the last
beating of Dickie Ortega, Aviles-Dominguez “went berserk,” Buckels said.
Aviles-Dominguez braced himself with one hand on the sink and the other on
the bed and stomped on Dickie Ortega’s head, he said. “The violence he
dealt to Dickie Ortega was a very different kind,” Buckels said. “He
bounced his head off the concrete like a basketball. It was then that
people started getting very concerned that this guy was in trouble.” Dickie
Ortega’s mother, who was in court Tuesday, cried and held her hands to her
face when Buckels described what happened to her son. “Daniel’s not here
asking for a medal,” Buckels said. “He’s a bad boy at a bad time in a bad
place. He wasn’t nice to Dickie Ortega. He just didn’t kill him.” After the
beatings, the two Ortegas were not allowed out of their cell, Campbell
said. An inmate later alerted guards to Dickie Ortega’s unresponsive and
bloody condition, he said. Dickie Ortega’s injuries included a subdural
hematoma, liver and spleen damage and bruising, Campbell said. Good, a
Santa Fe man with a lengthy criminal record that includes both violence and
property crimes, is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery
causing death, two counts of intimidation of a witness, two counts of
tampering with evidence and six counts of conspiracy. His trial is set to
last 16 days, though the days are spread out over the month of September
and won’t conclude until the end of the month. Aviles-Dominguez is
scheduled to go on trial in November for Dickie Ortega’s murder and the
beating of Brad Ortega. The District Attorney’s Office announced in May
that it would not seek the death penalty for either man. However, state
District Court Judge Tim Garcia ruled in June that if prosecutors had
decided to push for the death penalty in the case, he would have one jury
decide the defendants’ guilt or innocence and another decide their sentencing.
May 7, 2007 AP
Two lawsuits stemming from the beating death of an inmate and a female
prisoner's alleged rape at the Santa Fe County jail have been settled. Attorney
Robert Rothstein, who filed the wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of Dickie
Ortega's family, said Friday that the terms of the settlement are
confidential. An agreement reached in the lawsuit filed on behalf of
Veronica Sanchez also is confidential, attorney's with Rothstein's firm
said. Ortega, 32, died June 5, 2004, after suffering serious head and
facial injuries and a crushed larynx. He had been arrested earlier that
month on charges of receiving stolen properties. His family sued in 2006,
claiming that Santa Fe County and the company that formerly ran its jail _
Utah-based Management and Training Corp. _ did nothing as gang members
repeatedly assaulted other inmates. Inadequate staffing, lack of
supervision of inmates and lack of video monitoring contributed to Ortega's
death, the lawsuit claimed. Two men prosecutors identified as gang members
have been charged with first-degree murder in Ortega's death. An MTC
spokesman had no comment, and a county government spokesman said county
attorney Steve Ross was unavailable to address the settlement. Federal
court records show the case was dismissed March 29 _ a day after a motion
was filed by Ortega's family, saying the plaintiffs had "settled and
resolved" all disputes in the litigation. In Sanchez's case, attorneys
say the lawsuit was dismissed Friday by agreement of all parties. Sanchez
had reported that she was raped by other inmates at the jail in 2004 and
then strip-searched after she was brought back to the jail after a hospital
exam. The lawsuit claimed the search was "utterly useless and
unnecessary and constituted further humiliation and degradation." It
also alleged negligence and civil rights violation. MTC and various county
officials were named as defendants.
July 7, 2006 New Mexican
Santa Fe County and the private company that operated its jail until
April 2005 have agreed to pay $8.5 million to thousands of people who were
strip-searched while being booked into the jail during a three-year period.
While the county and Management Training Corp. deny in settlement documents
that the blanket strip-search policy violated the law, a class-action
lawsuit filed in January 2005 claimed it violated people's civil and
constitutional rights. Terms of the settlement dictate that MTC, which ran
the jail from October 2001 until April 2005, will pay $8 million while the
county will shell out $500,000. Lawyers Bob Rothstein, Mark Donatelli and
John Bienvenu will receive $2 million, while each of the 11 named
plaintiffs in the lawsuit will be paid $42,750. The remaining people who
were strip searched between Jan. 12, 2002 and December 2004, when the jail
changed the strip-search policy, will have 30 days from the time a U.S.
District Court judge affirms the agreement to file claims. Those people —
estimated in settlement documents to number about 13,000 — will receive
between $1,000 and $3,500. On Thursday, two of the named plaintiffs in the
suit said while they were glad the case was over, they were even happier to
have had a hand in sparing other citizens the embarrassment and humiliation
they suffered. “That’s the best thing,” said Elizabeth “Lisa” Leyba.
“That’s the thing that makes the emotional days all right.” Said Kristi
Seibold, “It feels really good. It feels like we accomplished something —
something really good and worthwhile for the people.” Leyba, 34, a
bartender at Catamount Bar and Grille, was arrested in September 2004 for
selling a beer to an underage customer sent in during a sting. Donatelli
said a bouncer at the bar was supposed to be checking identification at the
door, and the check was not Leyba’s responsibility. At the jail, Leyba said
a female officer ordered her to strip naked and spin in a circle, which she
apparently did too fast, so the guard ordered her to do it again, slower.
She then had to stand in the room naked while the officer searched for jail
clothing for her, Leyba said. “It was one of the last things I expected to
have happen to me,” she said. “I was humiliated. It still bothers me.”
Leyba, who initially didn’t want to take part in the lawsuit, said she was
motivated to do so when she thought about her two young nieces and how she
might help spare them similar treatment. Seibold, 51, a local massage
therapist and mother of two teenagers, was strip searched twice — once in January
2004 and again in December 2004. She was arrested for refusing to surrender
her dog to authorities and for an unpaid traffic violation that turned out
to have been paid. During one of the searches, the female corrections
officer ran her hands up and down Seibold’s arms and legs, while the door
to the room where she was being searched was left open a crack so that
anyone could have looked in, she said. Seibold also was told to bend over
during one of the searches, she said. “I felt so exposed,” Seibold said. “I
felt so violated in that they really took their time.” Bienvenu said during
his firm’s investigation of the situation, corrections officers told him
there was a peep hole in the door to the room where the searches were
conducted, and guards would sometimes line up for a look. Santa Fe County
Sheriff Greg Solano and Kerry Dixon, the MTC warden at the time, said the
searches were conducted to stem the flow of drugs and weapons into the
jail. On Thursday, Solano said he hadn’t heard of the peep-hole allegations.
In a news release, Harry Montoya, chairman of the county commissioners,
said, “The resolution of this matter helps to put behind us lingering
missteps from the privately run jail and allows the county to continue to
move forward. We have new procedures to insure that our current strip
search policies are constitutional.” Those policies call for strip searches
only when an inmate is accused of violence, drug or weapons-related crimes.
A statement from MTC was not available Thursday. Donatelli said the 10th
Circuit Court of Appeals made it clear in 1993 that blanket strip searches
could not be conducted at county jails based on Fourth Amendment assurances
against illegal searches. Said Bienvenu: “I believe it was a deliberate
policy to ignore the law.” Rothstein said the case marks the first
class-action settlement on strip searches in New Mexico, though his firm is
handling three such pending cases in the state.
October 13, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
Bill Blank's looming presence couldn't be ignored in the back of the crowd
gathered outside the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center on Wednesday
morning. With a large, imposing frame and a drooping mustache, Blank
listened quietly to speeches from a who's who of county officials: County
Manager Gerald González, Sheriff Greg Solano and Commission Chairman Mike
Anaya were among those who spoke before a representative from Management
and Training Corp., the private company that has been managing the jail
since 2001, handed over ceremonial keys to the facility to county
officials.
October 10, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
Santa Fe County's quest to turn around the historically troubled Santa Fe
County Adult Detention Facility is about to start its greatest test.
Management of the 668-bed jail officially changes hands on Tuesday from
Management and Training Corporation, which has been running the jail since
2001, to Santa Fe County. The county inherits a facility that has faced
rising costs, lawsuits, unflattering audits and incidents of rape and
suicide. County commissioners and Sheriff Greg Solano, along with
Corrections Department director Greg Parrish, have repeatedly expressed
optimism that the county can do a better job than the private management
companies that have run the jail previously. Of the 148 MTC employees,
Santa Fe County hired 123 to continue working under county management. Some
were food service and medical contractors tied to MTC. Six quit, and eight
failed county background investigations. There are still 32 vacancies out
of the county's 208-staff total to be filled.
September 28, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
Santa Fe County Manager Gerald González was given "emergency"
powers as the County Commission on Tuesday approved a number of
housekeeping measures in advance county government's takeover of jail
operations next month from Management and Training Corp. According to a
resolution passed unanimously by the commission, González will be able to
approve contracts for goods and services worth up to $100,000 (the previous
limit was $20,000), approve any contract that has resulted from competitive
bids or state price agreements, hire staff without commission approval, and
execute any agreement not involving expenditure of county money. The
measure was necessary for county staff to finish everything that needs
doing at the county jail, according to Deputy County Manager Roman Abeyta,
as Tuesday's meeting was the last time for the commission to approve
contracts before the Oct. 11 handover of jail management from the private
operator. Also at Tuesday's meeting, a $200,000 contract with Correct Rx
Pharmacy Services to provide pharmaceuticals at the jail and a $68,587
contract with Inmate Transfer Services were also approved. In addition,
Neves Uniforms and Kaufmans West were approved to provide correctional staff
uniforms.
September 26, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
Santa Fe County officials estimate they will lose $5.9 million running the
adult jail next year. The year after, the projected loss is $6.4 million.
But the rising deficits, which the county has already been absorbing for
years, will be only part of the burden as county officials take over
management of the 668-capacity facility Oct. 11 from Management and
Training Corporation, the Utah-based private contractor that has been
running the jail since 2001. County Manager Gerald Gonzales has an eye
toward the added bureaucracy that will be required to run what will become
Santa Fe County's largest department: corrections. Virtually none of the
news coming out the county's adult detention facility over the past years
has been good. Rising costs, lawsuits, unflattering audits, and incidents
of rape and suicide have plagued the jail. When MTC decided it would
withdraw from managing the jail earlier this year, the county had trouble
finding another private contractor who wanted the job, county officials
said. So the County Commission decided it was time to take on the
responsibility— or the burden, as some call it— of running the jail itself.
Sullivan blamed the problem on a handful of businessmen who convinced the
county to build a jail bigger than what was needed. The current facility
was completed in 1998 to expectations on the part of the County Commission
that housing prisoners would bring in revenue. "Somebody said to the
county, 'If you build it, they will come. If you build a massive facility,
the prisoners will come, and we will all make money,' '' Solano said. Now,
a completely new set of commissioners and staff are dealing with a reality
that is quite the opposite from those expectations. "The days of big profits
from jails are gone, especially in Santa Fe," Solano said. Under state
statute, the county is obligated to provide for the incarceration of county
prisoners. According to county officials, only 272 of the 578 inmates
currently in the facility are the responsibility of Santa Fe County to
incarcerate. Solano, at least, doesn't see a whole lot of change coming
from the Oct. 11 handover. He said running the jail has been an integral
part of his job as county sheriff since he started the job in 2002, despite
its being under private management that whole time. "I get named in
all the lawsuits at the jail," he said. "We already deal with it
to such a large extent that I think it's better we just have complete
control over it anyway, because we're the ones that have to answer for it.
Private companies aren't responsible to the public. We are."
August 25, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
A Santa Fe County jail inmate was found dead Wednesday afternoon
hanging by a light fixture in the medical ward after an apparent suicide,
according to the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department. Michael Martinez,
39, of Chimayó, was in a medical ward at the jail at the time due to sores
on his arms believed to be from drug injections, as well as for drug and
alcohol withdrawal, Solano said. Solano said corrections officers at the
jail were checking on Martinez in the medical ward every 30 minutes
Wednesday. Earlier this year, a civil lawsuit was filed against the jail by
the family of an inmate who committed suicide there March 17, 2004. The
lawsuit was filed by the family of Juan Ignacio-Sanchez, 22, who was in
jail on a murder charge and hanged himself with his own shoelaces in his
cell, according to the suit. The suit alleges that the jail's
suicide-prevention policies were "seriously deficient" and that
Ignacio-Sanchez was not placed on a suicide watch upon his admission to the
jail, despite a phone call from his mother, who told officials that she
thought her son was suicidal.
June
23, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
About a year before homicide suspect Juan Ignacio-Sanchez hung himself with
his own shoelaces in a cell at the Santa Fe County jail, the U.S.
Department of Justice issued a report stating that the jail's suicide
prevention policies were "seriously deficient." That's just one of the allegations in a
civil lawsuit against the jail filed Wednesday in Santa Fe District Court
by attorney Robert Rothstein, on behalf of Ignacio-Sanchez's father.
Among the lawsuit's claims are that Ignacio-Sanchez was not placed on a
suicide watch upon his admission to the jail despite a phone call to the
jail from his mother, who said she thought he was suicidal. When a corrections officer asked her why
she thought her son was suicidal, she answered "that Ignacio-Sanchez
had been crying uncontrollably the night that he was arrested, was very
depressed, tired and confused; and he had told the police that he was going
to kill himself if he did not get help," according to the
lawsuit. Also according to court documents: On the day of Ignacio-Sanchez's suicide
at the jail, a corrections officer took Ignacio-Sanchez's shoes, but he was
allowed to keep his shoelaces. "There was absolutely no valid
correctional justification for allowing Ignacio-Sanchez to retain the
shoelaces— particularly without the shoes," court documents
said. The lawsuit alleges that jail staff members are responsible for
maintaining a "constant awareness of the activities of inmates they
(come) into contact with" as part of the MTC-developed
"Suicide/Self-Injury Guidelines and Procedures" at the jail. The procedures include maintaining a
continuous watch on inmates who are under a suicide watch and removing
dangerous articles or clothing that are found in those inmates' cells,
according to the suit.
May 20, 2005 AP
The Santa Fe County Commission has decided to take over operation of
its own jail this fall when a private company that now manages the facility
pulls out. Management and Training Corp. announced last month that it would
end its contract early because operating the jail was not profitable. The
company said it couldn't keep a medical-service provider there and lost
money trying to comply with new federal mandates. The Utah-based company is
expected to end the arrangement on or before Oct. 11. Santa Fe County
officials view the change as an opportunity to improve the facility.
"We don't feel the contractor has done what needs to be done,"
Assistant County Attorney Grace Phillips told the commission Thursday
before it approved a tentative plan to take over the jail. Gregory Parrish,
director of the county corrections department, said the county could
improve the jail's tarnished public image and provide better medical care
than the private company. Government operation also could lead to
cooperation with the state and other public bodies that could help improve
medical services and keep the jail at capacity. Because the private
contractor is focused on the bottom line, Parrish said, "sometimes
their operations reflect that." The company repeatedly fails to handle
detailed tasks such as booking and billing and simpler responsibilities
such as answering phones, he said.
May 20, 2005 AP
Santa Fe County will begin running the county's jail this fall. The
County Commission decided yesterday to take over the jail operations.
Management and Training Corporation said last month that it will
prematurely end its two year-contract to run the jail. The company says it
will pull out on or before October Eleventh. The company has said it cannot
afford to continue managing the lockup. The company is being paid $42 a day
per prisoner. County officials say they can run the jail for about the same
cost, and they believe they can do it better. Management and Training
corporation has run the jail since 2001.
May 19, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
The family of a Santa Fe County jail inmate who died in February of an
apparent heroin overdose claims the drug was supplied by a guard. The
family of Christopher Roybal has filed a tort claim notice informing Santa
Fe County and the privately run Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center that
they intend to sue over his death. Attorney Mark Donatelli maintains in the
notice that the inmate got his drugs from former jail guard Amos Romero,
43, of Mora, who is himself now an inmate at the jail. Romero has been
charged with twice taking money from an undercover cop in April in exchange
for delivering what he thought was cocaine into the jail. The substance was
actually a mixture containing baking soda and coffee creamer. He faces two
counts of conspiracy to traffic cocaine. Management and Training Corp., the
Utah-based private operator of the jail, announced recently that it cannot
operate the jail profitably and that it plans to bail out of its contract
to run the lockup later this year. The tort claim notice asserts that, "Our
preliminary investigation leads us to conclude that the death of Mr. Roybal
was the direct and proximate result of the conduct of employees, officials
and operators of the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center."
May 14, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
A man who was incarcerated at the Santa Fe County jail earlier this
week is raising questions about whether another inmate who died at the jail
was refused medication before his apparent heart attack. Jaime Escobar, 28,
who was charged recently on a domestic violence petition, according to
court records, said Friday that he witnessed the death of William Garrett,
62, in the jail. Garrett died of apparent cardiac arrest Tuesday morning.
Escobar, interviewed Friday, said he was repeatedly denied his diabetes
medication while in the jail and that after Garrett suffered his cardiac
arrest, other inmates in the jail told him that Garrett had also been
denied medication. Escobar also claimed that it took jail personnel about
15 minutes to respond after inmates called for help for Garrett.
April 20, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
The second private company to try and run the Santa Fe County jail at a
profit -- and at the same time in compliance with the law -- is giving up
on the task. Management and Training Corp. announced late last week that it
will quit managing the jail when its contract is up in the fall -- and
would prefer to quit sooner, if the county will allow. County Sheriff Greg
Solano says it's time the county took over operations of the jail. He's
absolutely right -- the jail has been plagued by ongoing and serious
security, sanitation and other problems under both recent private
management companies. Two years ago, the federal government pulled
prisoners out of the facility, claiming county officials were indifferent
to prisoner medical and mental health needs. The pullout reduced the
potential profit for the management company -- federal and other prisoners
are housed for fees about 30 percent higher than what the county pays to
house its local prisoners at the jail. Under MTC's management, the jail won
accreditation from the American Correctional Association. But a murder --
the first ever at the facility -- followed a few months later. Critics of
the fad for jail and prison privatization were busy saying, "We told
you so" after MTC made its announcement last week. In hindsight, they
seem to have been right on two important points: The jail is far too big
for local needs, and the resulting profit squeeze has translated,
consistently, into understaffing and managerial laxity on the part of the
private contractors. A year ago, the county passed an eighth-of-a-cent
gross receipts tax increase to finance increased spending on jail
operations. In response to the numerous longstanding problems, the county
also put in place a citizens advisory committee to monitor conditions
there. Also a year ago, the county took over management of the juvenile
jail facility and appears to have done a competent job there. With a
funding stream and responsible oversight in place, the county is as well
positioned as anybody to take over running the jail. It should do so
without delay.
April 20, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
Twice in the past month, a Santa Fe County jail guard took money from an
undercover officer in exchange for bringing what he thought was cocaine to
an inmate at the jail, court records state. Amos Romero, 43, of the Antimo
Trailer Park in Mora, resigned from his job as a corrections officer at the
jail immediately after his April 17 arrest, according to Santa Fe County
jail deputy warden David Osuna. Management and Training Corp., the
Utah-based private operator of the jail, recently announced that it cannot
operate the jail profitably and told the county it is bailing out of its
contract to run the lockup.
Illegal drugs finding their way into the jail is just one of a
number of problems that have beset the privately run jail in recent years.
April 16, 2005 New Mexican
Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano's push for the county to take over
operation of the jail from a private company received solid support Friday
from members of the law-enforcement community, who all agreed that
operating a jail should be a governmental function. However, some expressed
concerns that a transition could be bumpy, and others cautioned that a
county-run jail is unlikely to be a cure-all for all the problems. "I
agreed with Sheriff Solano that we've got to stop thinking of the jail as a
profit-maker," said state District Judge Michael Vigil. "I don't
think government should be contracting out something as serious as our
obligation to incarcerate people." "Three different private
entities have run it now and it has not worked out," he said.
"Probably because the bottom line for the companies is profit."
Fellow District Judge Stephen Pfeffer -- who, like Vigil, handles criminal
cases almost exclusively -- agreed. "Businesses are in business for
profit," he said. "Government has to stay within a budget, but I
think it's a different focus." Santa Fe County first contracted out
the running of its jail in 1986, when the facility was located on Airport
Road, to Corrections Corporation of America. After CCA decided not to
pursue the contract for the newly built, much-larger jail in 1997, the
contract was awarded to Cornell Corrections Inc. The current contractor --
Management Training Corporation -- has run the facility since 2001. MTC
announced Thursday it was pulling out of its contract -- set to run until
August 2006 -- because of problems providing adequate medical services.
Those medical services were provided by yet another contractor -- Correct
Care Solutions. Solano said he'd like to see a local medical-care provider,
such as St. Vincent Regional Medical Center or Presbyterian Medical
Services contract with the county to provide care at the jail.
April 15, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
Management and Training Corp., saying it can't operate the Santa Fe County
jail profitably, has given notice to county officials that it's bailing out
of its contract to run the lockup. Utah-based MTC said it wasn't getting a
sufficient number of inmates at the jail and the county wasn't paying the
company enough to cover costs. "Low inmate occupancy numbers and the
costs of additional operating requirements have made it impossible for MTC
to continue to manage the facility," said Al Murphy, an MTC vice
president. County Sheriff Greg Solano said now it's time for the county to
take over jail operations rather than relying on a contractor. "We
have to give up the idea of the jail as a profit center," Solano said.
Solano also wants local health care providers to partner with the county to
provide medical services for prisoners, which the sheriff said is one of
the most difficult issues at the jail. MTC took over operation of the jail
from Cornell Companies of Texas in 2001. The contract was renewed last
fall, but MTC spokesman Carl Stuart said the company can opt out annually.
MTC is willing to run the jail for another six months to fulfill the
contract but also would leave earlier if the county wants, Stuart said.
Stuart said MTC expected to have an average of 600 inmates at the jail—
which can hold at least 650 prisoners— but that the prisoner population has
been running at an average of 540 in recent months. Santa Fe County's
own prisoners average about 300 or 320 a day, Solano said. MTC has
"had problems getting inmates from other areas to make a profit,"
he said. Santa Fe attorney Mark Donatelli, who recently filed a
lawsuit over the jail's former policy of strip-searching all inmates, said
he and others warned county officials years ago that the jail was too large
"and would become an economic albatross." "And that's what
it turned out to be," Donatelli said. County Manager Gerald González
said MTC's announcement was not a shock. This week, Correct Care Solutions,
the current medical provider at the jail, notified MTC it planned to pull
out because it cannot meet medical requirements under the present
reimbursement allowance. "We knew they were having difficulty with
medical, so from that standpoint it was not a complete surprise," González
said. Donatelli said one problem with hiring private companies to run jails
or prisons is that public agencies like the county lose corrections
expertise and it can be difficult to resume public management. Solano said
county management would help retain jail employees because of better
benefits, including the retirement plan available through New Mexico's
public employee system. He noted that the county took over operations at
the juvenile jail about a year ago. MTC said one of its accomplishments was
winning American Correctional Association accreditation for the jail last
year. But an inmate was killed in an alleged beating by other inmates in
June, apparently the first-ever slaying at the county jail.
April 14, 2005 AP
The company managing the Santa Fe County Jail announced Thursday it will
end its two-year contract early. Executives for Management & Training
Corporation said they cannot afford to continue managing the facility at
the rate of $42 per day per inmate, considering the 650-bed jail houses
only an average of 450 inmates. They said the contract is not profitable
and they will end the agreement in six months. Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg
L. Solano said Thursday the company's early departure was disappointing
because it had just started just six months ago. However, the change could
be an opportunity for the county to take over the jail, which has a $9.6
million budget. "We need to take control of this facility and put its
destiny into our own hands," Solano said. The U.S. Justice Department,
which monitors the jail's management, released a report in March 2003
alleging that county officials were indifferent to prisoners' medical and
mental health needs. The county denied the allegations, but made changes to
its program. Solano said he believes local medical providers would serve
the jail better than out-of-state contractors. "We ought to get out of
the business of running a jail for profit and just try to operate the best
jail," Solano said.
April 6, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
A woman formerly employed at the Santa Fe County jail showed up in court
drunk Monday to testify whether a female inmate was being denied emergency
medical treatment for a life-threatening illness. Santa Fe public
defender Damien Horne said that Rose Bell-Engle, 48, a former health
services administrator for the county jail, first lied to Santa Fe District
Judge Michael Vigil about whether she had drunk any alcohol. But then Bell-Engle blew a 0.09 blood
alcohol level on two Breathalyzer tests administered to her at the court,
according to Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano. The legal limit for
driving while intoxicated in New Mexico is a 0.08 blood alcohol level.
Solano said Tuesday that Bell-Engle had resigned from her job at the jail
before Monday's hearing. She was employed at the jail by Correct Care
Solutions, the subcontractor for medical services hired by the jail's
private manager, the Utah-based Management & Training Co.
February 26, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
A Santa Fe County Sheriff's corporal said in court Friday that a
23-year-old man has admitted to using heroin at the Santa Fe County jail on
the same date that his best friend, also an inmate at the jail, died of
what authorities have said is a possible heroin overdose. Rocky Romero, 23, was in court Friday to
face sentencing on charges of leading Santa Fe County sheriff's deputies on
two vehicle chases last year. During Romero's sentencing,
Santa Fe County Sheriff's Cpl. Vanessa Pacheco told Santa Fe District Judge
Stephen Pfeffer that Romero has admitted to using heroin on Feb. 17 and at
other times during the week of Feb. 14 to Feb. 18. Romero's best friend,
Chris Roybal, 37, who was staying in the same dormitory pod as Romero the
week ending Feb. 18, was found dead in his cell on Feb. 18. Roybal's death is
being investigated as a possible heroin overdose, according to Santa Fe
County Sheriff Greg Solano. According to a news release from the sheriff's
department, inmates at the jail have told investigators that Roybal was
using heroin on Feb. 17 before he was found dead on Feb. 18. During
the investigation, a syringe was found behind a hollowed-out brick wall in
the dormitory where Roybal was being held, according to the sheriff's
department. Solano has called Roybal's death a "suspected overdose"
and added that Roybal showed no outward signs of trauma that could have
contributed to his death.
February 24, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
Two men who potentially face the death penalty if found guilty of killing a
fellow inmate at the Santa Fe County jail last year were unusually
loquacious during a court hearing Wednesday. Prosecutors called for the
hearing before First Judicial District Judge Tim Garcia because they
believe that court documents made available to the two defendants have been
disseminated to a wider audience and could be used to "threaten the
lives of witnesses and/or defendants," according to the motion. But
defendant Jesus Aviles-Dominguez, who is charged in connection with the
June 4 beating death of fellow Santa Fe County jail inmate Dickie Ortega,
denied any such activity. He told a reporter, "We don't have no fax
machines in our pods." Good said that at the time of Ortega's death,
he was three days away from being released from jail. Good is now being
housed at the state penitentiary. Good said that his treatment at the
prison is better than it was at the Santa Fe County jail. When pressed for
details about the case, Good became tight lipped. "No comment, not
guilty, see you at trial," Good said.
February 19, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
A Santa Fe County jail inmate was found dead in his cell early Friday, and
fellow inmates are claiming the deceased man took heroin on Thursday,
according to the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department. Chris Roybal, 37,
was found dead just before 3 a.m. on Friday after a fellow inmate notified
a guard that Roybal "normally snores loudly and was too quiet and
something may be wrong with him," according to the sheriff's
department. On Friday, Roybal's
former attorney, Sydney West, said Roybal had "a long and documented
heroin problem."
January 13, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
Among the former Santa Fe County jail inmates who were forced to strip
naked under the jail's former blanket strip-search policy, according to a
lawsuit filed Wednesday, was 49-year-old Kristi Siebold. The crime that
brought Siebold to the jail? Refusal to give her dog to animal control, the
civil rights lawsuit states. Another defendant in attorney Mark Donatelli's
class action suit against the jail and its private management firm is David
Sandoval, a 39-year-old machinist at Los Alamos National Laboratory who
underwent two strip searches after being arrested on a charge of stealing a
casino gambling chip, a charge he was later cleared of. Another plaintiff
is a 45-year-old writer and film producer who had never been arrested
before. She was taken into custody in November when a bench warrant was
erroneously issued for her arrest on a charge of failing to appear for a
court date, the suit says. The woman was "taken to the jail where she
was ordered to strip completely naked, put her arms over her head and turn
around for visual inspection," according to Donatelli. "She was
then required to lift each of her breasts for additional visual inspection,
to bend over and cough. This woman also, while completely naked, was
subjected to an officer placing her hands on the woman's legs and genital
area for a further physical examination." Donatelli alleges that none of the
plaintiffs named in his suit were admitted to the jail for violent offenses,
and none were found to be in possession of any contraband after they were
forced to strip nude. Donatelli estimates that hundreds of people, presumed
innocent after their arrests, have likely had to endure the "horribly
demeaning" experience of having to strip naked.
January 6, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
A 31-year-old man who was arrested on prostitution charges on Cerrillos
Road New Year's Eve has alleged that he was raped by an unknown assailant
while in custody at the Santa Fe County jail early Sunday morning.
December 30, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
A civil rights attorney says he will file a class-action lawsuit on
behalf of all individuals who were forced to strip naked under the Santa Fe
County Jail's former policy of strip-searching anyone booked into the jail.
Santa Fe attorney Mark Donatelli's Wednesday announcement that he plans the
class-action litigation comes after the jail recently abandoned its policy
of strip-searching each and every inmate during booking. Donatelli contends
that it was unconstitutional for the jail to have a blanket policy of
strip-searching all inmates, arguing that individuals under arrest have a
right to privacy and are presumed innocent of their charges in the eyes of
the law. The jail's former
practice of strip-searching every inmate during booking first came to light
in September, after the Journal reported that a cocktail waitress at a
Santa Fe bar was strip-searched following her arrest on a charge of selling
alcohol to a minor. During an interview after her arrest, Leyba said she was
forced to strip naked, "no socks, nothing," after her Sept. 4
arrest. The search was performed by female corrections officers, Leyba
said. In November, Jamie Taylor, 22, of Santa Fe also came forward and
reported that male corrections officers ordered her to strip naked for a
search after her June arrest on a DWI charge. But Taylor said that after
she protested, the male corrections officers backed off and did not go
through with the search.
Donatelli said there is potentially a large number of inmates and former
inmates whose rights were violated at the county jail when they were
ordered to strip naked.
December 14, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
A woman who says she was raped by two inmates at the Santa Fe County jail
while she was incarcerated there earlier this year has notified the county
and the jail's private manager that she intends to sue for damages.
Veronica Sanchez has alleged that she was sexually assaulted at the Santa
Fe County jail in September. According to her tort claim notice, she
"was raped by at least two men after being trapped inside a cell
containing approximately eight to eleven male detainees." Sanchez's
tort claim says after she was raped, "she was then removed and placed,
alone, in a different cell, where she was left for about two hours before
being transported to the hospital for an examination, during which time the
various personnel who were responsible for her safety scrambled to concoct
an explanation for her rape which would leave them somehow blameless,"
reads the tort claim notice. "Only after she became hysterical, curled
up on the floor, and started kicking at the door and screaming was she
finally let out of the cell and taken to the hospital by ambulance."
After Sanchez was raped, the detention officer who put her in the wrong
cell, "immediately denied putting her in that cell." A medical officer at the jail also is
quoted in Donatelli's tort claim as saying that a detention officer
approached him at the jail the night of the rape, and told him that he
"lost" Sanchez in the jail, and that "he knew he should not
have had male and female detainees out of booking cells at the same time,
but that his supervisor told him just to handle it on his own."
November 23, 2004 AP
The American Correctional Association says the Santa Fe County jail
violated its standards by strip searching a waitress booked on a charge of
serving alcohol to minors. Waitress Lisa Leyba, who notified the county
earlier this month that she intends to sue, contends she was ordered to
remove all her clothes and turn around in front of a female guard. Some
people who have been strip searched at New Mexico jails have won
settlements. For example, Diana Archuleta, a supervisor at Las Vegas
Medical Center, settled a case against San Miguel County early this year
for more than $80,000 after winning a summary judgment, said her attorney,
Shannon Oliver of Albuquerque. State District Judge Jay Harris ruled the
Las Vegas jail's policy of strip searching everyone booked into the jail is
unconstitutional. Phil Davis, legal co-director for the American Civil
Liberties Union of New Mexico, has represented plaintiffs in several
strip-search cases and has settled them all. "The law is clear that
you need some kind of suspicion to strip search any inmate, particularly
one brought in for a relatively minor offense," Davis said.
November 20, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
A 36-year-old Santa Fe woman was mistakenly released from jail Thursday by
giving a detention officer a bond receipt from a prior arrest, according to
a report from the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department. The woman, Connie Gonzales, was still at
large Friday afternoon, and she will be additionally charged with escape
from jail.
November 18, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
The Santa Fe County jail's practice of strip searching all inmates is
unconstitutional, according to a tort claim notice sent to the jail by an
attorney for a local cocktail waitress who says she was ordered to strip
nude after her September arrest for serving alcohol to a minor. Catamount
Bar & Grille cocktail waitress Lisa Leyba, 32, spent 14 hours at the
jail Sept. 4, charged with a fourth-degree felony after she sold beers to
two underage customers during an undercover sting operation by police. In a phone interview Wednesday, Leyba's
attorney, Mark Donatelli said, "It's hard to believe that in the
middle of purported jail improvements, the county starts forcing people to
take their clothes off in violation of the Constitution."
"Specifically, she was taken to a room and ordered to disrobe," reads
Donatelli's tort claim. "Ms. Leyba removed her clothes and stood in
the middle of the room in her undergarments and socks. She was then told
that this was insufficient and was ordered to take off all her
undergarments and socks and to rotate so that the officer could observe her
entire body." Santa Fe County jail warden Kerry Dixon, who works for
the jail's private manager, the Utah-based Management & Training Co.,
could not be reached for comment Wednesday. During a brief phone
conversation Wednesday, Dixon said he wanted to first speak with an
attorney before commenting, but he did not call back and subsequently could
not be reached for comment. "We have since learned that what happened
to Ms. Leyba was caused by a recently implemented policy of conducting
strip searches of all incoming pre-trial detainees," reads Donatelli's
tort claim notice. "As I am sure you know, this categorical and
indiscriminate practice expressly violates the 4th and 14th amendments to
the United States Constitution as well as the New Mexico
Constitution." Another young woman who was interviewed Wednesday,
Jamie Taylor, 22, said that a male corrections officer ordered her to strip
after her June arrest on a driving while intoxicated charge. Taylor said
the corrections officer claimed the female guards were busy, "so he
had to do it." Taylor said that when she stood up for herself, the
corrections officer backed off.
"The male guy tried to make me strip in front of him,"
Taylor said. "I told him I know my rights, and that if he tried to
make me strip I would immediately look into filing a lawsuit." Leyba's tort claim notice claims that the
jail's policy of conducting strip searches of all pre-trial detainees
"was caused in part by the joint decision of county officials and MTC to
bring in an administration headed by a warden whose only corrections
experience was in operating prisons housing convicted felons and not a jail
housing pre-trial detainees who are presumed innocent of any crimes."
October 29, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
A Santa Fe man accuses a Santa Fe County sheriff's deputy of mistaking a
preexisting brain injury for intoxication and arresting him for drunken
driving after a 2002 traffic crash, according to a civil lawsuit filed
Wednesday. The suit states
that Lawrence Martinez was involved in an Oct. 28, 2002, crash with another
vehicle while he was headed west on Las Estrellas Road. It also states that
county jail guards beat and kicked Martinez. The jail's private manager,
the Utah-based Management & Training Corp., also is named as a
defendant in the lawsuit.
October 28, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
The U.S. Department of Justice won't sue Santa Fe County, as long as it adheres
to a 30-page memorandum of understanding that has taken more than a year to
negotiate over management of the county jail. The agreement outlines
policies and protocols covering a range of issues from health care and
suicide prevention to security and staff training. Santa Fe County commissioners approved the
document Tuesday, but the federal government has yet to sign off on it. The
jail has been under Justice Department scrutiny for some time. In March
2003, the federal agency released a scathing report charging that the
county was deliberately indifferent to the inmates' medical and mental
health needs and suffered harm or risk from the detention center's suicide
prevention, fire safety and sanitation systems. Federal inmates were subsequently pulled
from the facility. The jail has had other problems recently as well. Earlier
this month, a woman alleged she was raped by another inmate in an area of
booking where no security cameras were in place. And a 32-year-old prisoner
was beaten to death by other inmates in June. The death occurred in a section of the jail the Justice
Department identified as being understaffed two years ago.
However, when the county renegotiated its contract with jail operator
Management and Training Corp. on Oct. 1, the new contract reflected many of
the Department of Justice's recommendations. As a result, the cost of
operating the jail will increase this year by nearly $1.5 million, county
finance director Susan Lucero said.
October 6, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
An attorney for a woman who claims she was raped by a fellow inmate at the
Santa Fe County jail last week says the sheriff's department has a conflict
of interest in investigating the case. The Santa Fe County Sheriff's
Department should not be investigating the rape report because the sheriff
will be named in a resulting civil lawsuit, her attorney Mark Donatelli
said Tuesday. The sheriff will be named in the suit because as the county's
agent, he is ultimately responsible for what goes on at the privately run
county jail, Donatelli said. Donatelli said he intends to file suit against
Solano, the county and the jail's private manager, the Utah-based
Management and Training Corp.
October 1, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
Officials at the Santa Fe County jail should never have allowed a female
inmate to have contact with a male inmate during an incident Tuesday night
when she alleges she was raped in a booking area, her attorney said. Female and male inmates are, at least
theoretically, "not allowed to mix" at the jail, said attorney
Mark Donatelli. "How hard is it to have physical separation at the
jail?" Donatelli asked. There are two main problems at the jail,
Donatelli said— a lack of staffing and a lack of money to commit to hire
and retain quality personnel. During an incident in 2001,
guards allowed a female inmate into her inmate boyfriend's cell so they
could have sex. This happened under the jail's former private manager,
Cornell Corrections. And in March,
former inmate Juanita Martinez alleged in a lawsuit that she became
pregnant in 2001 after she was raped at the jail by a guard and other
inmates. Both Cornell Corrections and MTC are named as plaintiffs in that
lawsuit.
September 30, 2004 Santa Fe New Mexican
A 44-year-old woman
claims she was raped in the booking area of the Santa Fe County jail
Tuesday night after guards left her alone with male inmates, Sheriff Greg
Solano said. Both Solano and jail Warden Kerry Dixon refused to say exactly
what happened. The booking area has two sections -- one where prisoners are
initially brought and a second where holding cells are located, Solano
said. The alleged attack took place
in the second section, where a corrections officer should always be on
duty, Dixon said. "However, last night we did not (have anyone on
duty)," he said. "It initially appears to me that we had some
procedural errors." "I'm extremely concerned and
embarrassed," said Dixon, who was hired as warden seven months ago.
"Everything I've worked to do here is going to go right down the drain
because of incidents like this."
September 30, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
A female inmate at the Santa Fe County jail has alleged that a male inmate
raped her in the facility's booking area Tuesday night, according to the
Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department. The alleged rape occurred in the jail's booking area between
9:44 and 11 p.m. Tuesday.
August 31, 2004 Santa Fe New Mexican
A lawyer has sent a letter warning Santa Fe County and the private company
that runs its jail to expect a lawsuit from the family of a man beaten to death
in the facility earlier this summer. Dickie Ortega’s death in the
Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center resulted from a lack of adequate
staffing, lack of inmate supervision, lack of video monitoring of some jail
areas, inadequate policies regarding inmate classification and problems
with hiring , training and supervision of corrections officers, Santa Fe
attorney Bob Rothstein wrote in a Friday letter.
August 26, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
The Santa Fe District Attorney's Office is seeking the death penalty
against two county jail inmates who are accused of beating a fellow inmate
to death. The inmate was slain on June 6 because they thought he was
an informant, according to court records. Attorney Mark Donatelli has
said he plans on filing a civil lawsuit against the jail's private manager,
the Utah-based Management and Training Corp., and Santa Fe County, for
negligence in connection with Dickie Ortega's death. On Wednesday,
Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano, who oversees the jail, said that staffing
is being increased at the jail.
August 11, 2004 Albuquerque
Journal
Escalating costs at the Santa Fe County jail are likely to consume new
revenue from a gross receipts tax hike approved by county commissioners
last month in just 21/2 to four years, commissioners determined
Tuesday. "Well, that's really depressing," said County
Commissioner Jack Sullivan, who crunched some numbers during the commission
meeting. If the county inmate population continues growing, and the
number of inmates coming from the state Corrections Department shrinks, the
county will see recurring increases of more than $1 million each year to
pay its private operator, Management and Training Corp.
July 28, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
The Santa Fe County Commission on Tuesday unanimously approved a tax hike
to help fund operations at the county jail. The one-eighth percent
increase in the gross receipts tax will mean an additional 12.5 cents on a
$100 purchase in Santa Fe County. The new tax rate will go into effect Jan.
1, 2005, unless voters petition the county to hold a referendum on the
increase. County officials estimate the tax hike will generate an
additional $4 million a year, which would be earmarked for the county's
correctional facilities. The county contracts with a private company,
Utah-based Management and Training Corp., to run the adult jail. The
adult jail has been the subject of state and federal audits harshly
criticizing medical care and security at the facility. Also under the
new proposal, the county will increase the amount of money it pays per
prisoner. The new per diem rate, currently $41 per prisoner per day, will
increase to $42. There are nearly 600 inmates currently at the jail.
About 400 of those are county inmates, and the remainder are prisoners
housed under contract with other agencies.
June 28, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
As "tough negotiations" with Santa Fe County's private jail
contractor grind on, some county officials are revisiting the notion that
the county itself should resume jail operations. County Commissioner
Paul Duran thinks the county would do a better job running the jail
now. "I have always thought that the county should take it
over," Duran said. Duran expressed similar thoughts last year
when the county's Corrections Advisory Committee issued its annual report.
It concluded that Utah-based MTC-- a for-profit company-- was not providing
enough medical staffing or case managers to deal with inmates needs.
This year's report, while noting some progress, raised the same concerns.
"I think it's the profit element that is the root of all these
problems," Duran said in a recent interview. The jail's troubles
have been well-documented in recent years, with state and federal audits
slamming the facility for inadequate medical services and security
procedures. MTC currently subcontracts another company, Physicians
Network Association, to provide health care services at the jail. PNA will
not return if and when the county and MTC reach a new agreement, jail
administrators have said.
June 26, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
The Santa Fe County jail is making changes following an incident earlier
this month that left one inmate dead.
The jail, run by Management and Training Corp., has changed rules for
prisoners. Among them, inmates are not allowed in their neighbor's
cell at any time and rules governing when inmates can enter and exit cells
in three of the jail's four housing units have changed, Deputy Warden David
Osuna said. On June 6, four inmates in the jail's highest-security housing
pod allegedly dragged two other inmates from a recreational area into a
cell and severely beat them. Dickie M. Ortega, 32, of Chimayo died at a
Santa Fe hospital after suffering head and facial injuries and a crushed
larynx. His cousin, 29-year-old Brad Ortega, was injured. Four
inmates were charged with murder and aggravated battery. They are Daniel
Good, 31, Jesus Aviles-Dominguez, 28, Joe Corriz, 36, all of Santa Fe, and
Lawrence Gallegos, 25. There was no hometown listed for Gallegos.
Aviles-Dominguez also was charged with tampering with evidence. Along
with rule changes at the jail, Management and Training Corp. said it has
added two supervising corrections officers to each day shift.
June 12, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
The Santa Fe County jail pod where an inmate was killed on June 4 was
staffed with a requisite number of guards-- the same number that was
sufficient to win accreditation from the American Correctional Association
after a February inspection, according to the county sheriff. Attorney
Mark Donatelli, whose law firm is representing Ortega's family in a pending
civil lawsuit, said Friday that inadequate staffing and supervision of
inmates could have contributed to Ortega's fatal beating. Donatelli
also said that ACA accreditation is "like have having a sticker on a
used car that says it runs good; that's about it." A 2002
Department of Justice report identified nine incidents of violence at the
jail that can be attributed to a lack of supervision, Donatelli
said.
November 19, 2003 Santa Fe New Mexican
Guards at the Santa Fe County jail say they found an inmate with black-tar
heroin inside the jail Monday afternoon. Albert Ponce, 28, who is from
southern New Mexico, has been charged with possession of a controlled
substance, according to undersheriff Robert Garcia. Police reports indicate
a guard at the jail saw Ponce and another inmate walk out of a janitor's
closet at the jail Monday afternoon. Another guard reportedly patted both
inmates down and found a small sheet of folded paper with the heroin inside
it taped to Ponce's body under his jail-issue clothing. It was too early to
know how the heroin found its way into the jail, Garcia said, but drugs
inside the facility are not uncommon.
November 15, 2003 Santa Fe New Mexican
Nine months after the U.S. Department of Justice found health-care
deficiencies at Santa Fe County's jail, problems remain. The department
still won't allow the jail to house federal prisoners, whose removal
earlier this year cut off a source of revenue for the 682-bed
adult-detention center south of the city. Officials say solving the jail's
medical-care problems will likely call for a greater investment from the
county government, which already has felt a drag on its budget, and more
cooperation from community health-care providers. The company that provides
health services is not performing routine exams for prisoners locked up in
the county-owned, privately-operated jail, and in many cases, inmates are
being cared for by emergency medical technicians, who have less training
than nurses, officials say.
September 2, 2003 Santa Fe New Mexican
Santa Fe County’s private prison operator has 30 days to come up with a
corrective-action plan to address issues raised in a recent audit by the
state Department of Corrections, the department announced Friday.
Corrections Secretary Joe Williams said workers who inspected the Santa Fe
County Adult Detention Center two weeks ago found that Management and
Training Corp. has made strides in improving security at the jail since the
state threatened to remove its inmates from the facility earlier this
summer. But Williams wants the Utah-based operator to work harder at
complying with contractual obligations regarding programs and services, he
said in a written statement Friday.
August 14, 2003 Albuquerque Journal
The family of Tyson Johnson, in a federal lawsuit filed Monday, claim that
instead of tending to his psychiatric care during a 17-day stay in the
Santa Fe County jail, staff there neglected and even taunted him to end his
life. The 26-page document, filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Fe on
behalf of Johnson's mother and his two young children, details the
27-year-old man's last days, during which he repeatedly pleaded for help.
The lawsuit claims those cries fell on deaf ears. Johnson ended up hanging
himself the morning of Jan. 13 with a "suicide proof" blanket
inside a padded cell, despite being placed on a suicide watch.
July 27, 2003 Albuquerque Journal
Jail guards or civilians who help bring illegal narcotics into the Santa Fe
County jail might wind up spending time there as inmates. And inmates who
bring drugs in will be caught and face a longer list of criminal charges.
That's the message Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano hopes to send after
he announced that 12 defendants either face or will face criminal charges
as a result of an ongoing six-month investigation into drug smuggling into
the Santa Fe County jail by a task force headed by Lt. Marco Lucero. Six
defendants have already been arrested and charged in connection with the
operations, including one former jail guard.
July 22, 2003 Santa
Fe New Mexican
Friends and families of inmates at the Santa Fe County Detention Center
were kept from visiting the prisoners Sunday because the jail was short of
guards. Warden Steve Hargett said visitors weren't allowed at the jail
because two correctional officers unexpectedly had to take an inmate to the
hospital. One guard had already called in sick when the medical emergency
occurred, which left too few guards to supervise visits, he said.
July 11, 2003 Albuquerque Journal
More bad news arrived Wednesday at the Santa Fe County Adult Detention
Center, where a surprise state inspection discovered "serious security
issues," according to the state Corrections Department. County Sheriff
Greg Solano and Corrections Department spokeswoman Tia Bland declined
Thursday to specify the problems found in the unannounced audit.
Corrections Secretary Joe R. Williams and Solano plan to address the media
today, Bland said.
June 18, 2003 Santa Fe New Mexican
A 39-year-old jail guard has been placed on paid administrative leave after
an inmate alleged Saturday he sexually assaulted her. The guard hasn't been
charged with a crime, Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano said. The
investigation will probably take a long time, Solano said. The inmate told
police the guard touched her intimately Friday. She also said the guard
sexually assaulted her outside the jail, Solano said Monday.
August 26, 2002 Albuquerque Journal
More than 140 inmates at the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center were
placed on lockdown following an alleged assault of a correctional by two
inmates Sunday afternoon. Correctional Officer Felipe Romero was taken to
St.Vincent Hospital after he was kicked and punched by two federal inmates
about 1:15 p.m. Parrish said the lockdown, which confined inmates to their
cells, would stay in place until jail officials met with representatives of
Management Training Corporation, which has been hired by the county to
operate the center.
December 11, 2001 Albuquerque Journal
The Santa Fe County jail has fired two former corrections officers in the
mistaken release in late October of a prisoner accused of rape. Greg
Parrish, county correctional services manager, said in early November that
jail officials had obtained a release order for a Javier Gonzales accused
of shoplifting, but the wrong inmate was let go. "Two employees of
(Management Training Corp.) were dismissed," Parrish said. "It
doesn't appear that there's any criminal intent involved." Parrish was
hired by the county to act as a liaison with the privately run jail after
Utah-based Management and Training Corp. assumed its management in
October.
November 8, 2001Santa Fe New Mexican
As police continue to look for escaped Santa Fe County Detention Center
inmate Javier Gonzalez, officials at the jail say they have taken the first
steps toward making sure a similar incident never happens again. Management
and Training Corp. officials have reassigned staff members and have
assigned a new lieutenant to the booking department to make sure employees
follow procedures correctly.
Taft
Correctional Institution, Taft, California
Apr
8, 2021 bakersfield.com
Closure
of Taft Modified Community Correctional Facility imminent, as state ends
contract with city
The
Taft Modified Community Correctional Facility is scheduled for closure, as
the state has ended its contract with the city effective May 31. In the
wake of the announcement, on Tuesday night the Taft City Council voted
unanimously to unfund and delete more than 80 positions created by the
facility’s closure — 75 coming from the facility and nine from the city.
Tuesday's vote came with some pointed remarks directed at Gov. Gavin
Newsom. According to Taft Mayor Dave Noerr, the state intends to eliminate
the existence of private prisons for profit. Noerr, however, said Taft’s
facility does not belong in that category. “This is one of the many
misconceptions, just out-and-out lies being peddled in Sacramento,” Noerr
said. “This facility was run by professionals. A professional team,
dedicated team that took what they did very seriously. Any profit or
administration fees that came out of that facility went directly into the
general fund and funded programs and services for the people through
municipal government. This is not a private prison for profit.” Noerr added
that the prisoners in the facility will now be transferred to a state
facility, which will ultimately be costly to taxpayers. “Just a big
sarcastic thank you to our governor up in Sacramento for being clueless and
not understanding value when it comes to what we can provide to the
taxpayer of the state of California,” said Taft City Councilman Josh
Bryant. “And a big thank you from the heart to all of our employees who
have and will hopefully in the future be with us again.”
Oct
4, 2019 turnto23.com
Correctional
Institution will close due to infrastructure concerns
TAFT,
Calif. — The Federal Bureau of Prisons has confirmed that the decision to
close the Taft Prison at the end of January was because funds did not exist
for an estimated $100 million worth of repairs. BOP officials confirmed
with 23ABC that on Tuesday, they notified MTC Corporation that the Taft
Correctional Institution , which is a
government-owned, contractor operated facility, would be deactivated on
January 31. The decision comes after 10 to 15 years of infrastructure
problems at the jail that included geological and seismic concerns,
according to BOP's statement. An assessment of the building concluded that
repairs would end up costing an estimated $100 million in which BOP said
there were not enough funds for. The BOP also stated that, as of now, they
do not have plans in place for what will be done to the property following
the closure. Below is the full statement from the Federal Bureau of
Prisons: On October 1, 2019, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) notified
MTC Corporation that the Taft Correctional Institution (CI), a
government-owned, contractor operated facility, would be deactivated. In
the last 10 to 15 years, Taft CI has had an increasing number of
infrastructure problems, and repairs have been made where possible. An
assessment by an independent architectural and engineering firm identified
geological and seismic concerns, among others. Repairs were estimated in
excess of $100 million and funding does not exist to make those needed
repairs. The BOP will cancel the active solicitation for a contractor to
operate the Taft institution and camp. The current contract expires January
31, 2020. The BOP has not yet made a final decision regarding what will be
done with the property.
May 21, 2016
sfgate.com
U.S. court allows private-prison inmates to sue over
valley fever
Inmates infected with valley fever at a federal
prison in Central California can sue the government for damages even though
the prison is run by a private contractor, a federal appeals court ruled
Friday. Although the U.S. Bureau of Prisons is not involved in day-to-day
operations at Taft Correctional Institution in Kern County, the bureau can
be held responsible for placing the inmates there without warning them
about an ongoing outbreak of the airborne illness, said the Ninth U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals in San Francisco. A warning might have allowed them to
request a transfer or take precautions, the court said. “Prisoners are
often helpless to protect themselves from harm,” and “were particularly
vulnerable to infection” at the Taft prison, in an area with one of the
highest known concentrations of the fungus that causes cocci, or valley
fever, the court said. It said the Bureau of Prisons might also be legally
responsible for failing to build a covered walkway that would have protected
inmates from fungus-infected dust, and for the absence of a prison policy
to prevent spread of the disease. The ruling reinstated a suit by inmates
Gregory Edison, diagnosed with valley fever in 2010, and Richard Nuwintore,
diagnosed in 2011. As African Americans, they are particularly vulnerable
to the disease, and contracted a potentially life-threatening form of it,
the court said. Edison is due to be released from prison this year, and
Nuwintore has completed his sentence and returned to his home in the Bay
Area, said Ian Wallach, an attorney for the men. He said both are still
infected and depend on medication to stay alive. The government “agreed to
take care of these people in exchange for their liberty,” Wallach said.
Although both men also sued the contractors who run the prison, Wallach
said, the government is responsible for their assignment to the prison and
the lack of a prevention policy. Taft is the only federal prison managed by
contractors, the court said. It was run by the GEO Group through 2007, and
since then by Management & Training Corp. Valley fever at the prison
reached epidemic levels in 2003, continued to increase, and was diagnosed
more often at Taft than at all other federal prisons combined, according to
a warden’s statement quoted by the court. A federal judge dismissed the two
inmates’ suits against the government, saying the contractors were solely
responsible under federal law. The appeals court disagreed. The contractors
“have no power to assign prisoners or to protect any prisoners housed
outside of Taft,” Judge A. Wallace Tashima said in the 3-0 ruling. “Cocci
is a classic example of a hidden danger, and the United States had a duty
to warn (incoming inmates) about it.”
June 13, 2009 Anchorage Daily-News
Former Rep. Vic Kohring says he still supports private prisons even as
his enthusiasm clashes with his own observations from inside one, where he
said equipment went unrepaired, meals lacked fresh produce and prisoner
welfare appeared to take a back seat to saving money. "That's the
downside of the private-run facility," said Kohring, two days after he
left the privately run Taft Correctional Institution in Taft, Calif.
"There was a certain amount of indifference there." Kohring spent
about 10 months at the low-security camp at Taft following his conviction
on federal corruption charges in 2007. He and former House Speaker Pete
Kott were freed last week while they argue that their bribery convictions
should be overturned because prosecutors failed to give them favorable evidence
uncovered by the FBI. Their first court hearing will be Wednesday, though
it will mainly deal with their conditions for release, not the substance of
their arguments. Kott was held in a prison camp owned and operated by the
U.S. Bureau of Prisons at Sheridan, Ore. Kott hasn't responded to interview
requests. Kohring was in the process of transferring from Taft to Sheridan
when release orders were issued Thursday by U.S. District Judge John
Sedwick of Anchorage. On Friday, after reporting to probation officers in
Anchorage, Kohring spoke extensively with a reporter about his year inside
the federal corrections system. Taft is a federally owned facility in the
California desert. It opened in 1997 as a demonstration project to test how
private companies could operate a federal prison. Wackenhut Corrections and
Geo Group Inc. held contracts there. In 2007, Management & Training
Corp., a privately held company based in Centerville, Utah, took over
operations under a four-year, $144 million contract. "It seemed pretty
apparent they were cutting -- they were trying to be ultra-efficient,
cutting back as much as they could," Kohring said. "If things
would break down, they'd stay broken down for a long time -- exercise
equipment, telephones." Meals were loaded with carbohydrates,
"too many processed foods, not enough fresh produce," he said.
"There was a lot of complaints that the food there wasn't up to par,
at least not in comparison to, say, Sheridan." Kohring also said that
medical care was inadequate. "I witnessed some pretty bad injuries
when I was in Taft there. Guys falling over, one guy broke his femur,
another broke his hip, one guy was punched in the face and he had glass
embedded in his eye and it took him about a day before they finally took
him to the doctor, at Bakersfield, in the hospital. It was horrid."
His own pre-existing back and neck injury, from a car accident, got him
neither sympathy nor care, he said. "My back didn't get any kind of
attention at all, other than ibuprofen. I was told by the director of
medical to shut up ... They said no to everything." He was warned that
if he kept complaining, he'd wind up cleaning the kitchen, he said. Carl
Stuart, communication director for Management & Training Corp., said
Saturday that his company does what's required under its federal contracts.
Bureau of Prisons officials regularly inspect its operations, and some
contract prisons have full-time, on-site government monitors, though he
didn't know if that was the case in Taft.
Walnut
Grove Correctional Facility, Walnut Grove, Mississippi
MDOC
Sticks with Private Prisons: Jackson Free Press, June 13,
2012. MDOC chooses MTC to take over where GEO failed. What are they
smoking?
Jul
10, 2016 clarionledger.com
Walnut Grove: Prison loss 'devastating
Uncertainty hangs in the air of Walnut Grove, a community bracing
itself for the loss of its largest employer this fall. The state’s decision
to close the privately run Walnut Grove prison, which under federal oversight
since 2012 for its conditions, will leave the tiny town facing a
precipitous drop in revenue as many residents look for work. “We were
getting our good reputation back, and this has just been devastating,”
Mayor Brian Gomillion said. Citing budget cuts and a declining number of
inmates, the Mississippi Department of Corrections announced it would close
the Walnut Grove Correctional Facility in September and transfer its 900
inmates to state-run prisons. The closure will mean about 200 fewer jobs in
a town with a population that hovers around 500, and loss of revenue that
will lead to furloughs and pay cuts for city employees. “There are so many
people that drive in from surrounding counties, and these people have
rented houses or bought houses in Walnut Grove,” Gomillion said. “People
have worked over there since it opened (in 2001) and since it’s gone
through these management changes. If all they’ve been is in the correction
business and the nearest prison is an hour or even two hours away, that’s
not practical at the salaries they make, and they have to move their
families.” Not every prison employee lives in Walnut Grove, but they have
an impact on local businesses during their commutes in and out of town. “If
you don’t have people in town, you’re not going to sell them something to
eat at lunch,” Bank of Walnut Grove President Ray Britt said. “You’re not
going to sell them gasoline when they’re on their way home or you’re not
going to have people come to the door.” The revenue loss will force the
town’s 12 employees to begin a furlough once a week and police to take a
$2-per-hour pay cut. Kashia Zollicoffer, owner of Urban Country Kitchen,
expects the biggest impact to her business to be during furlough days, when
city employees off work won’t come in for lunch. But her main concern is
the impact to the town as a whole and the families who will be affected.
“There will be a change,” Zollicoffer said. “A lot of people hear ‘Walnut
Grove’ and think of the prison.” At Walnut Grove Medical Clinic, Dr. James
Lock’s patients who work at the prison will lose their health insurance
unless they can purchase it independently or find other work. “I’ve seen
them a number of years, and they are surely concerned,” he said. “I think
some of them may be in denial. They think it’s not going to leave. I’m not
a government official, but I think maybe Mississippi people should support
them from the state level.” The state pays Management and Training Corp.
$14.6 million per year to operate the prison, which is one of four facilities
the company runs in Mississippi. While building the private prisons, the
state racked up $195 million in debt. The Walnut Grove prison was presented
to the community as an opportunity for jobs after the departure of several
manufacturing plants. A shirt manufacturing and a glove maker closed
several years ago and moved their operations overseas. It was touted as
"recession proof." The city annexed the land where the prison was
built in 1999 and later expanded. But the prison’s dismal conditions, with
rampant violence, drug smuggling, inmate abuse and denial of basic
services, led to a lawsuit that eventually placed the facility under
federal oversight. Although MDOC argued last year in court that the prison
had made significant progress and it no longer needed oversight, a federal
judge disagreed, and the consent decree remained in place. About a year and
a half ago, MDOC reduced Walnut Grove’s inmate population, and about 100
prison employees were laid off, Gomillion said. “We had already been impacted
by MDOC cuts,” he said. The prison is the backbone of the town’s budget,
which will lose $180,000 per year that it received from MTC in lieu of ad
valorem taxes, as well as utility payments. “We had a new well drilled
exclusively for the prison, a water tank built for the prison, gas
infrastructure built to the facility that the town doesn’t need otherwise,
sewer projects built for the facility,” Gomillion said. “These are all
things we’ve got to maintain despite there being no revenue from this
facility.” Much of the funds the town received from the prison went toward
Walnut Grove’s police force, which responds to issues at the prison. “Until
this company came in and got things settled down, police officers had to
spend a lot of time at the facility,” Gomillion said. “It wasn’t like we
were just given that money. We were earning it.” Walnut Grove’s situation
is not unique, as states’ budgetary limitations and fewer incarcerations
have forced prison closures across the country. Six states shut down or considered
closing 20 prisons in 2013, according to The Sentencing Project’s most
recent study on the topic. “Our hope is that there will be some way, shape,
form or fashion that that facility will be used for something that will
create some jobs,” Britt said. “What that’s going to be, I don’t think
anyone has any idea … but it would be awfully difficult to see a facility
that is that nice just sit there and … rust down.”
Jun 11, 2016 clarionledger.com
MDOC closing private Walnut Grove prison
Mississippi will close the troubled, privately run Walnut Grove
Correctional Facility in Leake County due to budget cuts and a shrinking
inmate population, state Corrections Commissioner Marshall Fisher said
iFriday. “MDOC’s budget is lower than we anticipated,” Fisher said in a
news release. “Pursuant to an intensive budget review and evaluation, we
have determined this is the most prudent action. We have space in our
state-run prisons to house the 900 inmates at Walnut Grove.” Mississippi's
prison population in 2013 climbed to 22,600, the second highest per capita
in the nation. But recent criminal justice reforms passed by state
lawmakers, including reforms in sentencing and probation, have reduced
prison population. As of Friday it was 19,394, and at one point last year
had dropped to about 18,900. MDOC, like most other state agencies, has seen
budget cuts for the current and coming years, including a $16.8 million, or
5 percent, cut for the fiscal year that starts July 1. The closing of the
prison is just one in a series of programs that have been terminated under
Fisher’s administration within the last year and a half. Fifteen regional
jails have closed, and others have been minimized to “contractual
obligations. Four community work centers have closed, and the paid Joint
State County Work Program has ended. “We are continually assessing MDOC’s
operation,” Fisher said in the release. “While the focus is on being
fiscally responsible, public safety remains our No. 1 priority."
Mississippi taxpayers are still footing the bill for $195 million in debt
on four private prisons, including Walnut Grove. Records from last year
showed the state still owed more than $90 million on Walnut Grove. Jody
Owens, attorney for the Southern Poverty Law Center's Mississippi office,
said closure of the Walnut Grove prison is "long overdue."
“Walnut Grove Correctional Facility has long represented a failed approach
to public safety that wasted taxpayer dollars and left Mississippi’s
landscape dotted with far too many prisons." Owens said. "As our
state has adopted more effective ways to ensure public safety, our prisons
have become increasingly populated by empty beds. Maintaining these
facilities benefits no one other than for-profit prison operators. We urge
state officials to take a closer look at other prisons for closure.” The
private prison is currently operated by Management & Training Corp. at
an annual contract rate of $14.6 million. It has been under federal court
oversight since a 2012 consent decree. The consent decree was settlement of
a 2010 lawsuit against the Mississippi Department of Corrections over
conditions at the 1,260-bed prison. Plaintiffs alleged severe and systemic
violence at the facility, which at the time held mostly youth. Among the
allegations in the initial 2010 federal court complaint: guards smuggling
drugs to inmates, having sex with inmates and denying medical treatment and
basic educational services to inmates. One inmate died after lacking access
to diabetes medication. Another committed suicide. Utah-based MTC did not
operate the prison at the time, and the company and Fisher had argued last
year that conditions had improved in 2015 and it should no longer be under
the oversight. U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves, however, found in a June
2015 ruling that not enough time had passed to prove improvements will
stick. He ruled the prison was still so unsafe that it violates inmates'
constitutional right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. Reeves
cited gang activity, cell doors that still didn't lock securely and
continued problems with providing enough adequately trained guards. In
2014, Walnut Grove saw two riots involving hundreds of inmates, sending a
number to the hospital for severe injuries. MTC issued a news release
Friday on the closure, saying it will continue its partnership with the
state in running the East Mississippi, Marshall County and Wilkinson County
private prisons. “We are disappointed by the news but also understand the
state must do what’s in the best interest of the taxpayers,” said MTC
Senior Vice President of Corrections Bernie Warner. “Our hearts go out to
the excellent staff at the facility. We have some of the best corrections
professionals in the business at the facility, and we know this will be
very difficult for them. We will do our best to help make the transition as
smooth as possible.” Fisher said the 215 MTC employees are welcome to apply
for jobs with MDOC.
Jun.
11, 2015 buzzfeed.com
Federal Judge Carlton Reeves ruled that conditions at the facility were
unconstitutionally violent. He had previously described the facility as a
“horror as should be unrealized anywhere in the civilized world.”
The
Mississippi Department of Corrections violated the constitutional rights of
inmates at a private prison by failing to provide them with “reasonably
safe living conditions,” a federal judge ruled on Thursday. Conditions at
Walnut Grove Correctional Facility are so dire that Judge Carlton Reeves
denied the department’s request to end a legal agreement forcing the state
and its private contractor to reduce violence, fix broken facilities, and
improve staff training. “The evidence before the Court paints a picture of
a facility struggling with disorder, periodic mayhem, and staff ineptitude
which leads to perpetual danger to the inmates and staff,” Reeves wrote in
his decision, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of
Mississippi. “The dangers that inmates face are not simply limited to
assaults by other inmates but also from the guards.” The agreement to
improve conditions in the facility was negotiated between the ACLU and the
Mississippi Department of Corrections in 2012. It gave the state five years
to get Walnut Grove up to constitutional standards. But riots and injuries
to inmates remained so frequent that Reeves accepted the ACLU’s request for
him to step in, noting in his ruling that “there is a history of
nonfeasance” and a sense of “indifference” by the state and its private
contractor, Management and Training Company (MTC), in meeting the terms of
the consent decree. (MDOC did not respond to requests for comment.) “They
were taking their own sweet time,” Margaret Winter, an attorney at the
ACLU, told BuzzFeed News. “Things weren’t changing. So this was to say
we’re not gonna wait around for five years for this to somehow magically
fix itself. People were gonna die.” The ACLU first claimed that conditions
at Walnut Grove, which at the time housed offenders between 13 and 22 years
old, were unconstitutional in November 2010, when the GEO Group operated
the facility. The lawsuit cited a series of violent incidents in recent
years: In 2009, for instance, four Walnut Grove youths attacked a
15-year-old after the only guard on duty had stepped out of the cellblock.
In 2010 an inmate raped his cellmate, the suit stated. The cellmate pressed
a panic button in his cell but it didn’t work. There was also a riot in
2010. In 2012, Just Reeves approved a legal settlement in which the
Mississippi Department of Corrections agreed to “transform the facility
into one that complies with the United States Constitution” within five
years. In his ruling, Reeves called conditions at Walnut Grove a “horror as
should be unrealized anywhere in the civilized world.” As part of the
settlement, the MDOC moved youth offenders into other facilities around the
state, and Walnut Grove became an adult prison. Then-Mississippi Department
of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps took the Walnut Grove contract away
from the Geo Group and gave it to MTC, a Utah-based firm that grosses more
than $500 million in yearly revenue, the third highest in the industry. But
violence continued at the facility. There were riots in December 2013 and
July 2014. The ACLU hired Eldon Vail, a former Washington state corrections
secretary, to inspect the prison. “The lack of staff supervision is greatly
compounded by the fact that the locking mechanisms on the cell doors at
Walnut Grove are readily defeated and control of the cell doors is a
continuing problem.,” Vail said in a statement filed with the court.
“Officers at the facility do not always know if an individual cell door is
secure.” In August 2014, the ACLU filed a motion asking Reeves to enforce
the terms of the settlement and calling for a trial to determine what
progress the state had made. Prison officials testified that conditions had
improved. “It’s not the same facility I found when I arrived,” Lepher
Jenkins, who took over as warden in 2014, said at a hearing. In a statement
released on Thursday, MTC’s Senior Vice President of Corrections, Odie
Washington, said that the facility has made “substantial changes” in recent
years, including moving mentally ill inmates and high risk offenders to
other prisons. “The state has done everything the courts have asked,”
Washington said in the statement. “In addition to meeting these significant
requirements, MTC has also made numerous improvements to the facility since
taking over in 2012 including reinforcing door locks, providing additional
staff training, and offering more programs to help rehabilitate offenders.”
But inmates and court-appointed monitors claimed in testimony that the
problems at the facility continued because of gang activity, staffing
deficiencies, and malfunctioning cell doors. Gangs “run amok and control
the facility” partly, Reeves stated in his decision, because the facility
did not have enough staff members, and the ones they did have were not well
trained. And though the state and MTC have made progress to improve
training and staffing in recent years, “this is still an area of deficiency
contributes to the facility being dangerous for inmates.” One reason
staffing has been a problem at Walnut Grove, Reeves wrote, is that the
guards are not paid well: the starting salary is $15,602. “Some officers
find an incentive to introduce contraband and participate in other illegal
activities as they see them as other sources of income,” Reeves wrote.
Mississippi relies on private prisons more than most states. As the state’s
inmate population rose in the 1990s and 2000s, the state legislature turned
parts of its corrections system over to private contractors. In
Mississippi, around 20 percent of state inmates are locked up in private
prisons, nearly three times the national average. MTC has expanded its role
in Mississippi’s prison system in recent years. By 2013, it operated four
of the state’s five private prisons, overseeing 5,000 inmates, under
contracts that added up to around $60 million annually. The state’s ties to
private prisons came under fresh scrutiny last year when corrections
commissioner Chris Epps was indicted for taking bribes in exchange for
private prison contracts. Four of the transactions involved MTC contracts.
Epps pleaded guilty earlier this year and is currently awaiting sentencing.
CORRECTION All the youth prisoners were moved out of Walnut Grove as a
result of the 2012 settlement, and the facility is now an adult prison. A
previous version of this article erroneously referred to Walnut Grove as a
youth prison. Jun. 11, 2015, at 4:08 p.m.
Apr
8, 2015 jacksonfreepress.com
Since pleading guilty to armed robbery in 2012 and being sentenced to eight
years in prison at Walnut Grove Correctional Facility, J.E. says he has
seen correctional officers trafficking contraband, drug use, daily gang
fights, sexual assaults (of which he says he was a victim and why the
Jackson Free Press is not using his full name) and at least three riots.
#The
most recent riot took place on July 10, 2014, when J.E., who holds an
associate's degree in nursing and holds several other medical
certifications, was conscripted to help triage injured prisoners, some of
whom had to be airlifted to University of Mississippi Medical Center in
Jackson.
#"It
was just chaotic. It was something you would think to see in a move, but
this was reality. It was a sight," he testified in federal court in
Jackson last week.
#J.E.
testified that one of the victims he treated begged him not to leave his
side, fearful that the guards would let him die. Earlier in the hearing,
when lawyers played videos of the riot that showed prisoners being kicked
and beaten, sometimes with plastic milk crates and once with a microwave
oven, J.E. would not look at the flat-screen monitors, not wanting to
relive the memory.
#The
video was the centerpiece of a case brought by the ACLU National Prison
Project and Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of Walnut Grove prisoners
alleging that the Mississippi Department of Corrections fails to keep
people in their custody safe from violence.
#Located
in Leake County, Walnut Grove opened in 2001 for children convicted as
adults in criminal court, and has been the subject of nearly ongoing
scrutiny for civil-rights violations. In 2010, the ACLU and SPLC sued over
conditions and won a settlement for their clients that included promises
from MDOC to improve conditions and reduce violence at the facility. That
consent decree requires periodic monitoring from an independent reviewer.
#Three
years later, and operating under a new private operator, prisoner-rights
advocates find that Walnut Grove is still a violent place, with practices
that violate the U.S. Constitution's prohibition against cruel and unusual
punishment. MDOC disagrees and recently filed a motion to terminate a
federal settlement.
#Thomas
Friedman, an attorney from Phelps Dunbar representing the State of Mississippi,
said during his opening statement in U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves
courtroom: "You can't try this case because of what occurred. ... We
urge the court to look at what the condition of the prison is today. They
want to try a facility that doesn't exist anymore."
#Walnut
Grove is still very much the same violent place it was when the parties
settled the case, plaintiffs allege. "In three years, MDOC has never
yet been in compliance with this consent decree," Margaret Winter, the
associate direc |
