GUARD'S 'GANG' RAPE ANGUISH
Inmates, Prisons Feud Over Phone Bills
Officer's stabbing locks down prison
(New York) SICKENED JAIL GUARD $QUEEZED BY INSURER
Southport moves officer after article
Bogus guard forces Sing Sing lockdown
JAILERS NAILED BY I.D. 'CON' JOB
Legislature to adopt Pataki's prison plan
Story not printed by Star Gazzete/Escape Attempt
Gun Barrel
Post Closing Legislation
N.Y. Prison Officer Claims Abuse
Officer hurt by inmate, union says
Man Arrested in Alleged Prison Plot
Bid to sneak into jail stirs arrest, transfer of inmates
Amid lockdown, debate flares again
Two murderers escape from Elmira prison
Last successful Elmira escape was in 1984
Prison break
Escape timeline
Fence to be built next year in front of prison
Escaped murderers recaptured
Escaped murderers caught in Horseheads
Can't Take Away Memorial Day
A corrections officer was doused with feces
N.Y. Official: Expect Another Uprising at Prison
Court: Hepatitis C Treatment Not Improperly Denied N.Y. Inmate

Back to the Titles

By AL GUART

April 13, 2003 -- A female guard at an upstate prison fears she has been targeted for rape by members of the Bloods gang after she helped bust their jail drug-smuggling operation, prison documents reveal.

Notes written by prisoners alluding to attacks on the woman have been intercepted by authorities, while one suspected gang member told the guard he had her home address and, "We are going to have you raped there," according to a prison report.

Tina Turner, a 16-year veteran correction officer at the maximum-security section of Southport prison at Elmira, says she has received a threatening telephone call at home. The district attorney investigating the case has asked state troopers to regularly swing by her house, Turner said.

Turner, a single mother raising a son, 8, and daughter, 16, says she doesn't want to be intimidated into moving. But she no longer allows her children to answer the door and keeps her shades permanently drawn.

Turner says her ordeal began after she provided testimony that nabbed eight people for carrying drugs into the Southport prison while visiting confessed gang members there.

According to state Department of Corrections documents obtained by The Post, an inmate slipped a note to a guard that warned Bloods had obtained Turner's home address and it had been sent "to the streets" for other gang members to "get her."

Another letter, written by reputed Bloods member Paul Mitchell to a relative in Queens and intercepted by prison officials April 2, suggests Turner has already been followed to her home.

"I've wanted to take care of that filthy dyke for a long time," wrote Mitchell, 31, serving a four-to-12-year term for an assault on Long Island. "She cost me six months of my visits . . . She's about to get what she deserves.

"Of course," Mitchell added, "I'm going to do it legally."

Last April 4, Bloods member Antwan Davis allegedly yelled to Turner: "We have your phone number and your address. We are going to have you raped there," according to a Correction inmate-misbehavior report.

Turner said she had recently received a threatening call from a female.

Turner last month asked to be reassigned away from the visitor-screening area at the prison.

That request was originally denied by Southport Superintendent Michael McGinnis, Turner said, but that stance was reversed after a call from The Post.

Back to the Titles

By ROBERT TANNER
March 30, 2003, 1:50 PM EST

With a husband in prison, Gillian Bennett's soaring phone bills were one more painful burden. So she signed on to a service that cut her monthly costs from $500 to $50 -- and skirted the prison system's expensive rates.

But what sounded like a good financial move quickly turned sour. New York state and the phone company said she broke prison rules, and blocked all calls from her husband to their Albany, N.Y., home. Her husband, imprisoned hours away, was threatened with solitary confinement.

The Bennetts' story is just one of many as disputes arise over prison phone charges in states including New York, Louisiana, Ohio, Virginia, Michigan and New Hampshire.

Citing security concerns, authorities are cracking down on new businesses that have jumped in to offer cheaper phone service to inmates' relatives.

Prison authorities and phone companies say their more expensive services should be the only choice because they are designed to be monitored to ensure inmates don't commit more crimes, like making threats or drug deals. They also profit from the calls -- prison phone service nationwide generates as much as $1 billion a year, some estimate.

Advocates for inmates claim authorities have created a modern version of the old mining town's "company store" -- charging exorbitant prices and allowing no choices. Prisoners can't receive calls, they can only call collect -- and their families end up paying.

"They told him they were going to make him the example," said Bennett, whose husband, Marlon, is serving a five- to 10-year sentence for first-degree assault. "They think nobody outside should care about them."

Authorities say the rate system is reasonable: It pays for security systems that allow prison officials to monitor and record calls. Many, like New York, say the money also provides inmates with extra medical care and programs. Courts and regulatory agencies, including the Federal Communications Commission, have supported the position.

But states also get income from the prison calls, up to 50 percent or more of the revenue they generate. Nevada got an estimated $2.9 million last year from calls made by 10,000 inmates. New York, with 67,000 inmates, got $20 million.

"It's not quite as simple as you and I having a long-distance phone carrier which we just call," said Darrel Rexwinkel, an assistant director at Nevada's prisons. "They don't record those calls, they don't monitor those calls."

But in the last few years, the market has given inmates families' another option -- call forwarding.

With some variations, the systems work like this: An inmate's relatives establish a number near the prison that the inmate can call at the prison's local rate, typically much less expensive than long distance. The call is then forwarded to the relative's home, at a privately negotiated rate well below what the prison would charge.

Brian Prins, a former New York prison inmate who started the company Outside Connections, maintains the setup is legal because the call's final destination is set and can be provided to the prison. His is a licensed telecommunications company. His clients included Gillian Bennett.

"Inmates don't pay these bills. Their families do. Why must their families be punished?" Prins said. He fought the state in federal court and lost, and is now asking the FCC to stop New York and MCI from blocking his service. The commission had earlier expressed desire for competition in the prison phone market.

In New York and Ohio, the states or phone companies are aggressively pursuing and blocking such calls. Others are moving to do the same.

"They are ducking and avoiding the security costs necessary to safeguard New Yorkers," said Corrections Department spokesman James Flateau.

When a call is forwarded, the prison no longer knows where it's being answered, he said, and Marlon Bennett is just one of many being punished for using the services.

Prison advocates and private company operators claim phone companies that provide prison phone services are pressuring families to keep the prison-approved systems.

MCI Communications, one of the major providers of prison phone services, is taking action in some places against those who violate prison rules, under their state contracts, according to WorldCom spokeswoman Natasha Haubold.

She wouldn't say how many phones may have been affected, or in what states, citing business confidentiality. She said the company was taking steps to ensure bills were paid, but wasn't forcing anyone to switch providers.

In a rare victory, one inmate's wife won the right to keep the calls coming, at least temporarily.

Diane King Smith went to court to fight the block that stopped her husband -- serving life for murder -- from calling her at a cheaper rate. She paid $684.18 for a year of calls. The system required by the state would have charged her up to $2,072, she said.

A Louisiana judge last month ordered the state to let the calls through, ruling that the prison didn't follow its own rules when it banned such calls. The judge did not, however, endorse remote call-forwarded communications. The prison drafted a new rule and Smith continues to fight.

"The Department of Corrections is preying on family members," she said.

Most don't speak up, confused by bureaucratic run-arounds or scared of retaliation, she said. "This impacts on thousands of people and millions of dollars."

Back to the Titles

- Man treated for puncture wounds after Elmira inmates start fight.

By SALLE E. RICHARDS
Star-Gazette

The Elmira Correctional Facility was locked down Friday morning after two fights within 50 minutes sent one correction officer to Arnot Ogden Medical Center.

The officer was released after treatment for a puncture wound in the upper arm and four inmates were assigned to special housing after fights broke out in G-Block around 7:45 and 8:40 a.m.

The earlier fight involved two inmates and no weapons, according to a press release from the correction officers' union.

The 8:40 a.m. fight involved homemade weapons and broke out among four inmates in a laundry corridor as they were returning from the mess hall, said Mike Houston, spokesman for the state Department of Correctional Services in Albany.

The correction officer was stabbed while trying to break up the 8:40 a.m. fight.

The 318-inmate G-Block was then locked down and all inmates were confined to their cells during a search for weapons; all regular activities were canceled at the facility, Houston said.

The facility's other 1,504 inmates continued to use the mess hall for meals, he said.

Grant Marin, vice president of the western region of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association Inc., said the prison's administration should be commended for taking immediate action and locking down the facility.

Back to the Titles

By DAN KADISON

April 21, 2003 -- A New York correction officer, infected with hepatitis C while working in a maximum-security prison, says he's going broke because his worker's-compensation carrier won't pay any of his claims.

State correction officer Robert Mellis, 55, has shelled out $53,000 of his own money because the New York State Insurance Fund won't cover his medical expenses and has boxed him into depleting all of his sick, vacation and half-pay days.

"I'm almost bankrupt already because I've exhausted my savings and taken a loan on my retirement," said Mellis.

Three years ago this month, Mellis was diagnosed with hepatitis C - an enfeebling, incurable liver disease.

Mellis thinks he contracted hepatitis at work on Halloween 1992, when 11 inmates at the Southport Correctional Facility, near Elmira, simultaneously threw feces and other bodily fluids on him.

The 19-year correction veteran went to the Workers Compensation Board, won his decision, but then saw it blocked by the state Insurance Fund - which wanted proof that Mellis got hepatitis on the job and argued his claim wasn't filed on time.

"They're essentially starving him out," said Richard Harcrow, president of Mellis' union, the New York State Correction Officers and Police Benevolent Association.

The insurance fund declined comment.

Back to the Titles

By SALLE E. RICHARDS
Star-Gazette

A Southport correction officer was allowed to temporarily transfer to a different position in the prison after a New York Post story appeared Sunday about a rape threat she had received.

Prior to the article, the union representing New York state correction officers had charged that prison administrators' inaction showed their lack of concern for officer safety.

Correction Officer Tina Turner was shown a note that implied gang members, angered that she had intercepted drugs brought to Southport by visitors earlier this year, were planning to have her raped at her home, said Grant R. Marin, western region vice president for New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association Inc.

Turner, 39, asked for a temporary transfer from her job screening visitors in March but was denied. However, the Post reported that Southport Superintendent Michael McGinnis agreed to reassign her after being contacted by the tabloid.

Turner, now working in the prison's previously unmanned guard tower, said the Post article has led to another problem. Turner said her former partner has threatened to seek full custody -- replacing a joint custody order -- of their 8-year-old son because of concerns for the boy's safety.

Turner learned of the threat against her from a fellow worker, who alerted her to a note that said inmates had obtained her home address, the Post reported. The Post article also said Chemung County District Attorney John Trice has asked state troopers to regularly drive by Turner's home.

Trice was notified of the threat by Michael Ames, chief sector steward for the Southport correction officers.

Trice confirmed that he turned the matter over to state police to investigate whether charges, such as aggravated harassment, should be brought against the inmates involved.

Ames said Turner has received an excellent response from Trice's office, and she knows many fellow law enforcement officers are watching out for her. Turner said Thursday that she can't talk about the incident any further because of orders from the prison administration.

James Flateau, spokesman for the New York State Department of Correctional Services, had not responded to repeated requests from the Star-Gazette for a statement on Turner's situation.

Back to the Titles

By TERRY CORCORAN
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: May 8, 2003)

OSSINING — It's been 17 years since the last major jail break at Sing Sing prison, but state police and prison officials were investigating yesterday whether someone had tried to break into the maximum-security prison.

Actually, it wasn't so much a break-in as an attempted illegal entry, a state Department of Correction official said. Authorities locked down the prison yesterday afternoon after a man dressed in a Department of Correction uniform tried to enter it around 1:30 p.m., spokesman Mike Houston said.

"An individual who claimed to be a correction official attempted to gain access to the facility," Houston said. "We had some suspicions that he was not indeed a correction officer and took him to an office and spoke with him. He said he was new on the job and would go out to his car and get the appropriate paperwork."

But when the man did not return, officials implemented the lockdown and notified local and state police. The man was last seen walking toward the village downtown. State police from the Hawthorne barracks confirmed that they were investigating but could not immediately comment.

Prison officials were conducting a head count of inmates, Houston said. The prison's maximum-security wing had 1,746 inmates as of yesterday, while its medium-security facility had a population of 273, he said. Although Sing Sing has had its share of notorious jail breaks over the years, it was unclear yesterday whether anyone has ever tried to break into the prison.

The last major break happened in 1986 when three inmates escaped, only to be caught the next day. In 1932, bank robber Willie Sutton and another prisoner used a makeshift ladder to scale a 25-foot wall and escape. Sutton had been sent to the prison in 1930 after a series of robberies and put inside what was supposed to be an escape-proof cell. He and the other inmate used a saw lifted from the prison's tool house to cut through their cell bars. Sutton remained on the lam until in 1934, when he was nabbed after robbing a Philadelphia bank.

Back to the Titles

By AL GUART

Correction officers Louis Cannon (left) and Frank DeLuke show paperwork about their damaged credit ratings after an imprisoned killer stole their IDs and got friends to ring up huge bills. - Alan Solomon

May 25, 2003 -- The state gave the personal information of 10 prison guards to a jailed murderer, who then got associates outside to steal the officers' identities and kill their credit ratings, The Post has learned.

The guards said they would file a $2 million suit against the Department of Correctional Services this week over the bungle. They also are demanding the department change rules that require them to put personal information on reports that can be accessed by inmates through legal channels.

Guards at the Great Meadow Correctional Facility in upstate Comstock were puzzled over the last 10 months when they were denied car loans and home financing because their credit histories had been trashed.

A recent department investigation found their identities had been stolen and the thieves had spent thousands of dollars ordering gourmet food, magazines and housewares in the guards' names.

Three weeks ago, the guards received a letter from deputy corrections commissioner Anthony Annucci that stated: "I regret to inform you that . . . confidential information relating to you had been erroneously provided to an inmate."

That prisoner was convicted killer Victor Sowell, 42, who is serving 27 years to life for a 1987 Brooklyn murder. Sowell was given an "Unusual Incident Report" that contained the officers' names and social security numbers by the state Attorney General's Office as part of a civil rights suit the prisoner had filed against the guards.

The guards' personal information was supposed to be blacked out but it wasn't.

The department's inspector general is probing the matter and no one has yet been charged.

Back to the Titles

Local News for Friday 5/02/03

By YANCEY ROY

Star-Gazette Albany Bureau

ALBANY -- About 1,300 state-prison inmates will get out early under a Pataki administration plan the Legislature is set to adopt, officials said Thursday.

The early-release plan would allow someone imprisoned under the state's strictest drug laws to get out after 10 years, shaving one-third of a 15-years-to-life sentence. It would end parole after two years instead of the current three.

It would also allow more inmates to qualify for "merit-time" release. Currently, that program is limited to nonviolent offenders with sentences of six years or less; the new law would expand it to eight years or less.

Although the governor and the two houses are fighting a bruising battle over other parts of the budget, this was one area of agreement. The two houses are expected to approve the early-release program today.

Legislators noted this was noticeable shift for Pataki, who has long championed stiffer prison sentences.

"It is very significant because it runs against his own general philosophy which was to have people serve more time and longer time," said Jeffrion Aubry, D-Queens, chairman of the Assembly Corrections Committee.

The change is attributable partly a growing push to change New York's drug-sentencing laws - and partly to the state's $11.5 billion budget gap, said Sen. Dale Volker, R-Depew, Erie County. The early-release plan could save the state $19.6 million, according to a Pataki spokeswoman. The governor's plan estimates the prison rolls

Back to the Titles

Wednesday, April 02, 2003

Salle Richards
Star-Gazette
P.O. Box 285
201 Baldwin Street
Elmira, NY 14902-0285

Dear Salle:

An escape attempt was thwarted on March 27, 2003 when an informant informed authorities at the Elmira Correctional Facility of a planned escape attempt.

Authorities were alerted that James Moley #79A3844 (in prison for Burglary and 3-2nd degree murder convictions) planned his escape to coincide with the 25 to 30 civilian workers who are involved in various construction projects within the prison.

Inmate Moley had possessed civilian work clothes which were hidden in both the mess hall and in his cell. In addition this convicted murderer had a map of the Buffalo area which was confiscated. His plan was to simply walk out with the civilian workers when they completed their work day at the Elmira prison. “The likelihood of Moley escaping given the constant Identification checks as civilians leave the facility is slim,” said Grant Marin Western Region VP.

However the number of escape attempts has increased with the drop in staffing levels at New York’s prisons. Elmira has always had low staffing levels at their facility since the 1979 strike. I would estimate Elmira being down at least 40 officers in comparison with similarity sized facilities. There is no question that low staffing levels lead to more escape attempts.

The local Union had requested prior to the escape plan being revealed, that security construction jobs be put up for temporary bid to add consistency in the coverage. Consistency aids in security of the facility. That request has been denied. The last escape attempt was on June 30, 2001 when two inmates attempted to escape but were thwarted by barking dogs on the perimeter.

Sincerely,
Grant Marin
Western Region VP
NYSCOPBA

Back to the Titles

On Saturday May 4, 2003, a .308 caliber gun barrel was recovered in the kitchen area of Elmira Correctional. the barrel was hidden in a box of broom handles.The box of broom handles was checked earlier in the week by a civilian and an inmate who work out in store A which is where Elmira recieves incoming supplies the civilian passed the barrel off thinking it was a piece of pipe that got mixed in with the broom handels.

From this point the barrel found its way to the kitchen area. The civilian in the kitchen when removing the broom handles discovered the gun barrel and reported it . When management was questioned about the incident they downplayed the situation. Store A is a bid job for officers that management many years ago turned into a contingency post only leaving the officer on his post for the first 4 days of the month the rest of the month the officer is resource.

This is an incident that could have been prevented if the officer was left on his job!

Back to the Titles

To: Executive Board and Chief Sector Stewards
From: Chris Leo, Legislative Director
Subject: Post Closing legislation

Date: May 16, 2003

A major problem that exists for our members is staffing levels at DOCS facilities. With the help of Don Premo and our attorneys, we proposed budget language to the Legislature which would require the Department to report on such staffing levels. At the request of NYSCOPBA, the Legislature included the language below in its amendments to the Governor's budget proposal.

Although this language was contained in a budget bill that was vetoed by the Governor, the Senate and Assembly were successful in their efforts to override the Governor's veto, making the language (below) law and another legislative victory for NYSCOPBA.

S. 1406--B 44 A.2106--B

PART H

29 Section 1. Section 29 of the correction law is amended by adding a new
30 subdivision 4 to read as follows:
31 4. THE COMMISSIONER OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES SHALL
32 PROVIDE A REPORT TO THE LEGISLATURE ON THE STAFFING OF CORRECTION OFFI-
33 CERS AND CORRECTION SERGEANTS IN STATE CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES. SUCH
34 REPORT SHALL INCLUDE, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO THE FOLLOWING FACTORS: THE
35 NUMBER OF SECURITY POSTS ON THE CURRENT PLOT PLAN FOR EACH FACILITY THAT
36 HAVE BEEN CLOSED ON A DAILY BASIS, BY CORRECTIONAL FACILITY SECURITY
37 CLASSIFICATION (MINIMUM, MEDIUM AND MAXIMUM); THE NUMBER OF SECURITY
38 POSITIONS ELIMINATED BY CORRECTIONAL FACILITY SINCE TWO THOUSAND
39 COMPARED TO THE NUMBER OF INMATES INCARCERATED IN EACH SUCH FACILITY; A
40 BREAKDOWN BY CORRECTIONAL FACILITY SECURITY CLASSIFICATION (MINIMUM,
41 MEDIUM, AND MAXIMUM) OF THE STAFF HOURS OF OVERTIME WORKED, BY YEAR
42 SINCE TWO THOUSAND AND THE ANNUAL AGGREGATE COSTS RELATED TO THIS OVER-
43 TIME. IN ADDITION, SUCH REPORT SHALL BE DELINEATED BY CORRECTIONAL
44 FACILITY SECURITY CLASSIFICATION, THE ANNUAL NUMBER OF SECURITY POSI-
45 TIONS ELIMINATED, THE NUMBER OF CLOSED POSTS AND AMOUNT OF STAFF HOURS
46 OF OVERTIME ACCRUED AS WELL AS THE OVERALL OVERTIME EXPENDITURES THAT
47 RESULTED. SUCH REPORT SHALL BE PROVIDED TO THE CHAIRS OF THE SENATE
48 FINANCE, ASSEMBLY WAYS AND MEANS, SENATE CRIME AND CORRECTIONS AND
49 ASSEMBLY CORRECTION COMMITTEES BY DECEMBER THIRTY-FIRST, TWO THOUSAND
50 THREE.

51 S 2. This act shall take effect immediately

Back to the Titles

Capitol News

Picketers outside the Washington Correctional Facility said its officers are being treated unfairly.

Officer Soriano, WCF Union Member, said, "When we do something that we're not supposed to do and we don't follow guidelines, we are held accountable for everything that we do, I feel it should go up the line."

In April, when the nation was on orange alert, the WCF stopped allowing inmate crews from working outside prison walls, but at the same time, a crew from a prison an hour away came to Comstock to do a WCF job; the officer in charge didn't like that.

Annoyed, the officer filed a grievance. Two days later he learned his work crew was being cut. The same day, in front of inmates, he said his supervising officer paid him back for causing trouble.

Chris Hansen, WCF Union Representative, said, "It was very spontaneous, inmates were involved, the officer had his back to the supervisor, and the supervisor came up and grabbed him by the arm and spun him around."

After the incident, the officer's blood pressure shot up, sending him to the emergency room.

Union President Rick Harcrow said, "These officers were so angry. There were some officers that wanted to walk off the job to show how angry they were over the treatment of this officer by this management official."

The Department of Corrections is investigating the case, but Spokesman Jim Flateau believes there was no assault, saying the officer's crew was not cut as payback for filing a grievance. He added that the DOC commissioner can arbitrarily dissolve work gangs.

But these protesters don't buy it. They want what they consider an offending supervisor, removed.

Back to the Titles

A correction officer at the Elmira Correctional Facility was injured Thursday when a special housing unit inmate cut him with a small sharp object.

Fred Kintzel, business manager for the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association Inc., said the officer was treated at Arnot Ogden Medical Center for a cut on the wrist and released.

Kintzel said the officer was accompanying a nurse who was trying to give the inmate medication.

The state Department of Corrections could not be reached late Friday to determine whether the inmate will be charged.

Back to the Titles

(New York)
June 4, 2003, 2:47 PM EDT

OSSINING, N.Y. -- A man who tried to sneak into Sing Sing in a prison employee's uniform last month to help at least two inmates escape has been arrested, officials said Wednesday.

Two prisoners have been transferred as part of the investigation, said state police investigator Darren Daughtry. He wouldn't say if any employees were involved in the apparent escape attempt.

Sing Sing was locked down May 7 after the uniformed man tried to get in. Officers let the man leave when he said he was new on the job and would get "the appropriate paperwork" from his car. The man did not return.

He was arrested on May 12 and charged with promoting prison contraband for allegedly trying to enter with "dangerous items," the investigator said Wednesday.

Neither Daughtry nor Linda Foglia, spokeswoman for the Correction Department, would identify the man arrested or provide more details about the alleged escape attempt.

Back to the Titles

(New York)
6/5/2003

WHITE PLAINS (AP) - A man who allegedly tried to sneak into Sing Sing in a prison employee's uniform has been arrested and at least two inmates have been transferred as part of an investigation into an apparent escape attempt, officials said Wednesday.

The probe could involve several more prisoners, said a state police investigator. He said the arrested man is not an employee, and the uniform was not authorized by the Department of Correctional Services.

Sing Sing, in Ossining, was locked down May 7 after the uniformed man tried to get in. Officers were suspicious of him but let him leave when he said he was new on the job and would get "the appropriate paperwork" from his car, a spokesman said. The man did not return. He was tracked to New York City and arrested there on a charge of promoting prison contraband for allegedly trying to enter with "dangerous items."

One of the prisoners transferred was Nicholas Zimmerman, 27, of Queens, who had served one year of a 14-year stretch for weapons possession. He and another, unidentified inmate were sent to the Shawangunk Correctional Facility in Wallkill.

Back to the Titles

By Rob Varley / Staff Writer

AUBURN - State prison officials and the union that represents corrections officers renewed their debate Monday over whether staffing levels at Auburn prison, and perhaps all state prisons, are adequate,in light of the chilling Auburn prison melee that was quelled Saturday.

The prison, with 1,780 inmates, was immediately locked down to allow officers time to search for and confiscate weapons and contraband.

The prison had been most recently locked down in December, after a rash of gang violence and attacks on officers.

"We don't believe we have enough staff. We believe we have minimum staff. We believe we do need more," said Richard Harcrow, president of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, speaking to reporters in the shadow of the Auburn prison walls Monday.

Department of Corrections spokesman Mike Houston disagreed.

"Staffing levels were appropriate," he said. "Auburn had a normal complement of guards."

Harcrow frames the debate in a larger context, given Auburn's status as a true prison town.

"Public safety is our concern. We keep these criminals away from the public. God forbid you have a major riot. If these inmates ever get out, they would be right in the middle of town. How are you going to contain that?" Harcrow said.

The violence within

After talking with officers who witnessed the revolt Saturday, Harcrow, NYSCOPBA Western Region Vice President Grant Marin and Auburn Union Steward John Bielowicz reconstructed the scene.

At 3:30 p.m., about 225 inmates were out in the yard for recreation. At a sergeant's post, a sergeant and lieutenant were sitting on a bench.

Scattered throughout the yard were four gang-affiliated groups of 10 to 15 men. One of the groups started toward the officers' position.

When told to disperse, one of the inmates answered with an obscenity. The group reached the officer's post and began to argue. One of the inmates reached over to punch the lieutenant.

Two other officers inside the post rushed out and were also set upon. One had his nose broken by an inmate's punch. The officers fought back with their batons.

When the other groups began converging on the area, an officer in one of the guard towers fired a warning shot into the blacktop. Most of the inmates dropped to the floor, as it means the guards believe an officer's life is in danger and will retaliate with force.

But, some of the original attackers persisted, going at other officers. One officer overheard an inmate shout out "Take out your weapons."

When one of the inmates attempted to grab an officer's baton, a tug-of-war ensued until another warning shot rang out. It kicked up some debris that may have given an officer a shrapnel wound in his back.

"If that officer didn't fire that shot, you would have had some badly beaten officers," Harcrow said. "The situation could have gotten 10 times worse."

More officers poured into the yard and found and subdued the instigators. The 22 inmates who could be directly identified were handcuffed and isolated from the group. The rest of the inmates were led back to their cells.

At some time in the fourth tier of B Block, there was another flare-up when an inmate grabbed for an officer's keys.

"There's a reason he wanted those keys. He was going to let some more inmates out," Bielowicz said. Almost 40 inmates could have been released.

The officer had the sense of mind to drop the keys to the floor below.

"He took a lot of shots. He was beaten so bad he wasn't even sure if there was a weapon used," Bielowicz said.

The attack left the officer with nine stitches above his eye.

Just as another officer had subdued that inmate, in another part of the block, an inmate attacked another officer before everything was under control.

Lessons learned

What struck the officers and union heads was the premeditation of the attacks.

"Inmates attack officers on a continual basis. But very rarely do you have a group of them going after an officer," Harcrow said. "That is as serious as it comes."

They attributed both incidents to the same gang, but would not provide a name.

"I don't want to give them the recognition," Bielowicz said.

"Then they'll come back again and again if they see their name in lights," Harcrow said.

Marin said Commissioner Glenn Goord said no gangs exist, only groups, but "I'd like to see him tell it to the eight guys who went to the hospital."

"There's no doubt that they were targeting staff," Marin said, adding heroic efforts from the officers prevented a potential hostage situation.

One of the theories is the gang attempted the takeover as a show of force. With intimidation, they will be able to control criminal enterprises, such as drug dealing, on the inside.

They described the recent climate as hostile, one in which it's not uncommon to hear "Kill the cops." Furthermore, the type of inmates held in a maximum security prison are hardened.

"You got gangsters, mob guys, serial killers, psychopaths, and every deviants," Harcrow said.

"These guys don't need an excuse to attack staff," Marin said.

Bielowicz wants more staff. He said they have been 13 officers short for almost a year.

The prison system said the state police are investigating the incident and the lockdown will continue indefinitely to ensure the safety of guards and inmates.

The 22 inmates are being held in special housing units and will most likely be transferred to other facilities.

"When you spread them around the state, you actually take away their network," Bielowicz said.

Of the eight injured officers, as of Monday, five are off-duty and three have returned to work. No inmates required hospitalization.

"It's amazing that so few staff quelled the disturbance," Harcrow said.

Back to the Titles

The Associated Press

Two murderers escaped from the maximum-security Elmira Correctional Facility Monday morning by breaking a hole in the concrete ceiling of their cell and lowering themselves down the side of the building on bedsheets, officials said.

Correction officers at the Elmira Correctional Facility discovered the inmates were missing during a routine count at 6:30 a.m., said Jim Flateau, a spokesman for the state Department of Correctional Services.

Officers later found tied-together sheets that led down an outside wall of the four-story cellblock.

The inmates, who lived on the top floor, apparently used a sledgehammer to break through the ceiling, then crawled through a ventilation duct and escaped to the roof, prison union officials said.

The union officials said the sledgehammer was probably stolen from one of several construction projects inside the building.

Timothy Vail, 35, was serving 49 years to life for the 1988 rape and murder of a pregnant secretary. Timothy Morgan, 26, was serving 25 years to life for the 1998 murder of a cab driver.

Vail won't be eligible for parole until 2037, and Morgan won't be eligible until 2023.

Eighty to 100 law enforcement officers using police dogs and helicopters patrolled the highways and set up roadblocks in a search for the escaped convicts. The FBI was contacted in case the men crossed the Pennsylvania state line, less than 10 miles from the prison.

The last escape from a maximum-security prison in the state was in 1994 at the Shawangunk Correctional Facility in Wallkill. Three convicted killers were found bloody and bruised hours after climbing over a razor-wire fence.

Back to the Titles

- Two murderers were recaptured the same day they fled in garbage truck.

By JEFF MURRAY

Star-Gazette

[email protected]

Monday's escape from the Elmira Correctional Facility was the first successful breakout since 1984, but several other inmates have tried since then.

Some inmates have spent weeks or months planning elaborate escapes only to be foiled by guard dogs or fellow inmates.

On July 30, 1984, inmates Luis Trinidad and Antonio Roman, both convicted murderers, escaped from the prison in a garbage truck. Both men were recaptured the same day.

The length of time between escapes is impressive, said James Flateau, spokesman for the state Department of Correctional Services.

"It's been almost 20 years since someone escaped at this facility. I think that says a lot for the professionalism of the employees at the facility," Flateau said. "Statewide, it's our first escape since December 1994. I would stand that record up against any other state prison system."

In 1997, inmates Timothy C. Fair and Aguedo J. Chevez spent more than a month planning their escape from the Hill, as the Elmira facility is commonly known. They used lifelike dummies to place in their beds at night and managed to chip holes in the cell walls big enough to squeeze through.

From there, they discovered that they could gain access to the guard tower, and they planned a Halloween night escape using an electric buffer cord rope to shimmy down to freedom.

But another inmate tipped off prison officials, who searched the men's cells and found the holes, tunnels and dummies before Fair and Chevez could escape.

Two inmates facing life in prison almost made it out in July 2001 but were turned back at the last moment by an unexpected encounter with guard dogs.

Inmates Jacob Russell and Salvatore Dagnone were questioned after they turned up in a family reunion area that is used only by prisoners during special visits, and they admitted their escape plans.

Russell and Dagnone, who were both mess hall workers, told investigators they had stacked wooden platforms and crates on top of each other to reach the roof. They used wire cutters to snip through cyclone fences along the roofline and hid several sheets in an air-conditioning unit on the roof to aid in their escape.

Despite studying the movements of correction officers to best time their escape, the pair retreated to the visitor area when they were confronted by the dogs.

Even though it's been 19 years since inmates managed to flee the facility, prison staff is always ready for such an event, Flateau said.

"Everybody has an assignment. Each facility has a book of in-house procedures," he said. "There's a whole section in there on escape. Everybody knows what to do."

Back to the Titles

Manhunt for two killers continues after escape from Elmira facility.

- Inmates use sledgehammer to bust ceiling, sheets to climb down wall.

By SALLE E. RICHARDS

Star-Gazette

[email protected]

Two murderers chipped through a concrete ceiling, pried open a roof ventilation system and shimmied down a bedsheet rope to escape the Elmira Correctional Facility late Sunday or early Monday.

The men, serving 25-year-to-life and 49-year-to-life sentences, were noticed missing around 6:30 a.m. Monday.

More than 100 police, correction officers and FBI agents, using dogs and helicopters, were mobilized after the breakout was discovered. Roads out of Elmira were blocked as officers holding shotguns checked each vehicle, causing long delays on major routes.

The escapees are:

- Timothy G. Morgan, 26, of Fulton County, N.Y. He is serving 25 years to life for second-degree murder and first-degree robbery stemming from the 1998 murder of cab driver Joseph Boop in Gloversville, N.Y.

On Feb. 23, 1998, Morgan summoned a taxi and told Boop he was carrying the shotgun for a hunting trip. On a remote road west of Albany, he got into an argument with Boop over the fare and shot him twice in the back of the head. Police said he took $90 from the dead man's pocket and spent some of it on beer when he got home. He isn't eligible for parole until 2023.

- Timothy A. Vail, 35, of Broome County. He is serving 49 years to life for second-degree murder, first-degree rape, burglary and robbery stemming from the 1988 slaying of a Binghamton law office secretary, Mary K. Kopyar.

She was 23 and eight months pregnant when Vail raped and strangled her as she prepared to close up the law office where she worked. Vail was the son of one of Kopyar's co-workers. Vail isn't eligible for parole until 2037.

James Flateau, spokesman for the state Department of Correctional Services, said efforts Monday were focused on recapturing the men, and that a detailed analysis of the escape will come later.

What is known about the escape:

- Morgan and Vail were cellmates in one of the facility's 88 double-bunked cells. Their 8-foot-by-10-foot cell was on the top of Cellblock F, a four-story block of cells at the southeast end of the facility.

- They escaped through an 8-inch-by-10-inch hole in the ceiling above the bunk bed by breaking through about 5 inches of concrete and steel rebar with a sledgehammer.

- A piece of black cardboard, held in place by toothpaste, concealed the hole in the ceiling, which is painted black.

- The men had fashioned dummies in their beds that included realistic heads with hair.

- They used approximately 50 feet of bedsheets tied together to make a rope to scale the facility's outer wall. There is no razor wire on the roof, prison officials said.

- Their absence was discovered during a standing check by officers at 6:30 a.m.

- They were last seen at 10:30 p.m. Sunday.

- Their cell was last inspected on June 6.

Flateau said prison officials searched the facility about an hour before sounding the escape siren.

Correction officers union officials said the sledgehammer used in the escape and found in the men's cell was probably stolen from one of several construction projects inside the building.

Morgan and Vail had no access to construction sites within the prison, Flateau said. The men's prison jobs shouldn't have brought them into contact with construction tools either, Flateau added. Vail worked in the wood-working shop, and Morgan worked half-days in the gym and the other half on his general equivalency diploma.

Morgan and Vail had been cellmates since March, Flateau said.

Grant Marin, western region vice president of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association Inc., said Monday he predicted that something like the escape might happen because the state has continued to ignore union requests for improved staffing and better safety measures at Elmira.

Flateau said he wasn't going to respond to union comments Monday because the focus was on catching the escapees and protecting the public. But added:

"The union has nothing to do with running the prison."

Flateau said when prison units are in "lockdown" -- when prisoners are confined to their cells, such as at night -- fewer correction officers are needed. One officer was making rounds of the 123-inmate block during the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift, and another was at the duty station overnight Sunday.

The officer making rounds discovered that inmates were missing.

The facility was at full staff with 32 officers on duty Sunday night, Flateau said. Two officers were assigned to the two outside watch towers.

Prisoners were confined to their cells Monday to free up staff to aid in the search for the escapees, Flateau said.

For security reasons, he said he could not give more details on the escape, sightings or whether outside accomplices were involved.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Back to the Titles

The major events in the escape of two Elmira Correctional Facility inmates:

10:30 p.m. Sunday: The last time Timothy Morgan and Timothy Vail were seen in the facility.

6:30 a.m. Monday: Morgan and Vail are reported missing. Shortly after, the prison sounds its siren.

9 a.m.: Roadblocks are set up around the area, and news of the escape reaches the community. Two state police helicopters are in the air. Prison officials give local news media photographs of the escapees.

10:45 a.m.: A half-dozen police and correction department vehicles head for the area behind Paramount Lanes on the Miracle Mile in Horseheads for a suspected sighting of escapees that is later found to be false.

11:30 a.m.: James Flateau, the state corrections department spokesman, gives his first news conference and reveals that the escapees broke out the ceiling of their cell to escape from the roof.

4 p.m.: Flateau gives a second news conference, but declines to provide additional details about the escape and possible sightings of escapees.

8 p.m.: At his third news conference, Flateau criticizes a correction officers' union official for giving out too many details about the escape.

Missing inmates

Timothy G. Morgan.

- Age: 26.

- Hair: Brown. He shaved head last weekend.

- Eyes: Hazel.

- Height: 6-foot-1.

- Weight: 200 pounds.

- Clothing description: Prisoners are issued prison green pants, but can also have personal shirts and athletic wear such as sweat suits and shorts.

- Of note: Tattoos on his left and right biceps and chest. No details of tattoos.

- Convicted of: Second-degree murder and first-degree robbery.

- Serving: 25 years to life.

- Parole eligibility: 2023.

Timothy A. Vail.

- Age: 35.

- Hair: Brown.

- Eyes: Hazel.

- Height: 5-foot-11.

- Weight: 195 pounds.

- Clothing description: Prisoners are allowed personal athletic wear, shorts and shirts.

- Of note: Tattoos. No other details available.

- Convicted of: Second-degree murder, first-degree rape, robbery and burglary.

- Serving: 49 years to life.

- Parole eligibility: 2037.

Back to the Titles

Star-Gazette

A double chain-link fence is scheduled to be built around the front of the Elmira Correctional Facility sometime next year.

The proposed fence, which will cost $3 million to $4 million, will join the walls around the back of the prison to enclose the facility, said James Flateau, spokesman for the state Department of Correctional Services.

Flateau said he doesn't know whether the fence would have made any difference if it had been constructed before the discovery Monday that two inmates had escaped.

"In the history of the facility, we've never had anyone escape from the roof before," he said.

State officials will closely examine the fourth-floor cells to make sure such an escape doesn't happen again, Flateau said. He also said that it is likely that there will be more surveillance on the fourth floor until prison officials are sure such an escape can't happen again.

Back to the Titles

The Associated Press

HORSEHEADS -- State police captured two convicted murderers Tuesday night who escaped late Sunday or early Monday from the Elmira Correctional Facility.

Timothy A. Vail, 35, and Timothy G. Morgan, 26, were arrested by state police at the Jubilee Foods store on Westinghouse Road.

The two were found in a stolen van, said James Flateau, a Department of Correctional Services spokesman.

Vail and Morgan escaped the maximum-security prison by scaling down the side of the building using a rope made from bed sheets, a state Department of Correctional Services official said.

The convicts were discovered missing from the cell they shared at the Elmira Correctional Facility during a routine check Monday morning.

Correction officers later found about 40 feet of tied-together sheets that led down an outside wall of the four-story cellblock at the prison.

Searchers set up roadblocks and went door-to-door asking residents whether they had seen the escaped convicts. Police dogs and helicopters patrolled the highways.

Searchers also used all-terrain vehicles to comb the heavily wooded area near the prison. The FBI was contacted in case the men crossed the Pennsylvania state line, less than 10 miles from the prison. Police in the convicts' hometowns were also notified.

Vail and Morgan, who slept in a bunk bed on the top floor of a four-story cellblock, dug an 8-inch by 12-inch hole through five inches thick of concrete ceiling, Flateau said.

They masked the hole with a piece of cardboard painted black and stuck to the ceiling with toothpaste and placed dummy heads and clothes in their bunks covered with sheets. Prison officials said the dummies were realistic and used human hair.

Back to the Titles

The Associated Press

HORSEHEADS -- State police Tuesday apprehended two convicted murderers who escaped from a maximum-security prison by scaling down the side of the building using a rope made from bed sheets, officials said.

Timothy Vail, 35, and Timothy Morgan, 26, were arrested by state police at the Horseheads Village Plaza at Gardner and Westinghouse roads, about five miles north of the prison. The two were found in a stolen van, said James Flateau, a Department of Correctional Services spokesman.

Around 7 p.m. police received a report of the stolen vehicle at the P&C grocery store on Lake Road in the town of Horseheads. Police converged on the scene, and after a short pursuit, arrested the two men without incident, state police said.

The convicts were discovered missing from the cell they shared at the Elmira Correctional Facility during a routine check Monday morning.

Correction officers later found about 50 feet of tied-together sheets that led down an outside wall of the four-story cellblock.

Searchers set up roadblocks and went door-to-door asking residents whether they had seen the escaped convicts. Police dogs and helicopters patrolled the highways.

Searchers also used all-terrain vehicles to comb the heavily wooded area near the prison. The FBI was contacted in case the men crossed the Pennsylvania state line, less than 10 miles from the prison. Police in the convicts' hometowns were also notified.

Vail and Morgan, who slept in a bunk bed on the top floor of a four-story cellblock, dug an 8-by-12-inch hole through five inches thick of concrete ceiling, union officials said.

They masked the hole with a piece of cardboard painted black and stuck to the ceiling with toothpaste and placed dummy heads and clothes in their bunks covered with sheets. Prison officials said the dummies were realistic and used human hair.

Flateau said the last escape at the prison was in 1984 when convicted murderers Luis Trinidad and Antonio Roman fled in a garbage truck. They were recaptured the same day.

According to prison union officials, the men used a broken sledgehammer to break the concrete ceiling, crawled through a ventilation system and escaped to the roof, which had no razor wiring. Union officials said the sledgehammer was probably stolen from one of several construction projects inside the building.

Vail was serving 49 years to life for the 1988 rape and murder of a pregnant secretary in Binghamton. Mary Kopyar was 23 and eight months pregnant when Vail raped and strangled her as she prepared to close up the law office where she worked. Vail was the son of one of Kopyar's co-workers.

Morgan was serving 25 years to life for the 1998 murder of a cab driver in Gloversville. Morgan summoned a taxi and told the driver he was carrying the shotgun for a hunting trip. On a remote road west of Albany, he got into an argument with Joseph Boop over the fare and shot him twice in the back of the head. Police said he took $90 from the dead man's pocket and spent some of it on beer when he got home.

During their time in the state prison system, Vail was cited for 18 rules infractions including five at Elmira. Morgan had nine infractions, eight at Elmira.

Back to the Titles

Sullivan County Democrat (6/10/03)

To the Editor

I think patriotism, pride and respect are unknown feelings of Superintendent James Walsh of Sullivan Correctional Facility. Mr. Walsh canceled a Memorial Day service which was schedule for May 22. This service has been preformed here for several years.

This abrupt act of anger has slapped every employee here in the face. Many employees here at Sullivan Correctional have either served, have had family members who served and died during wartime, or today are involved in the war in Iraq, as well as other conflicts throughout the world.

Security and civilian alike would assemble at the front of our facility and honor those who have fallen defending our great nation.

James Walsh has now taken away our facility's recognition that our past and present troops deserve.

Yes, Mr. Walsh did take away a memorial service. Yet his arrogance, anger and disrespect did not take away how we feel on this Memorial Day.

How can a man who cancels a Memorial Day service yet hold his head up high when walking under the American flag entering or departing our facility? Mr. Walsh should walk in shame each time he sees an American flag today.

I can honestly fly my flag with pride knowing what it stands for. It's something we, to this date, continue to fight for, and that's freedom.

I think Mr. Walsh must honestly believe that freedom is of no cost.

One should recall the story of the Grinch that stole Christmas. Toward the end, the Grinch states, "Christmas came anyway." Yes, Mr. Walsh did take away a service, but he cannot take away Memorial Day.

William Beach

Woodbourne

Back to the Titles

By Rob Varley / Staff Writer - Auburn Citizen

AUBURN - A corrections officer was doused with feces and two knives were uncovered as the Auburn Correctional Facility lockdown continued into its sixth day Thursday.

The knives were found in the prison's C block - considered by some correction officers to house as many as 150 gang members with plans to launch more attacks on staff.

Other than these incidents, New York State Correction Officers and Police Benevolent Association Presidential Liaison John Telisky said Thursday was a "very quiet" day.

He expects the lockdown - spurred by Saturday's gang-organized attacks on staff - to continue into the weekend.

"We are very concerned with the safety of our staff," he said, adding certain elements in block C may yet cause disruptions.

Telisky said an inmate, who is now being held in ACF's security housing, threw feces at an officer and will face felony aggravated harassment charges. He said inmates often throw urine, feces, blood or spit at officers as they pass. Excrement can be a carrier of HIV, Hepatitis A or B or tuberculosis, he said.

Just as some inmates have a record of carrying weapons, he said, others are known for dousing officers with excrement.

"I've been hit (with excrement) before personally," Telisky said. "It's the most degrading thing anyone can ever go through."

After a dousing, the clothes and crime scene have to be secured as evidence, he said.

Telisky said he had to have blood tests every six months after he was doused at Comstock Correctional Facility.

Telisky said the two knives, which he described as "shank-type weapons," were discovered as the frisk moved into the third of five housing blocks.

While inmates know the search is coming, Telisky said, they don't throw their weapons through the bars into a communal area because they don't believe their's will be found.

Many inmates have what he called a "weapon of choice" and are reluctant to lose it for any reason.

During a typical cell search, an inmate is identified and then asked to leave the cell while officers search the cell and his personal possessions. The inmate sits on a BOSS - Body Orifice Security Scanner - chair, which will indicate if anything is hidden in his body.

If the inmate tries to cause trouble, he is placed in a vacant cell or locked in the shower. Attacks on staff or contraband discovery require disciplinary action.

Offenses are judged on a three-tier system: Three is a superintendent's proceeding, two is disciplinary system, one is a lesser offense.

Back to the Titles

The Auburn Citizen

A state union official said recently Auburn Correctional Facility inmates may launch another premeditated attack on corrections officers after the lockdown is lifted.

New York State Correction Officers and Police Benevolent Association official John Telisky, who toured the prison June 23 and remains in close contact with ACF corrections officers, said inmates in two of the prison's five blocks - blocks C and D - are planning another uprising similar to a June 14 attempted "takeover" that injured eight corrections officers.

Of particular concern to corrections officers are the prisoners in Block C. About half of the block's 355 inmates have ties to the gang which launched the attack, he said.

"They are definitely going to do something when they open up," Telisky said.

As of Wednesday afternoon, he said, A and B blocks had been searched with limited contraband finds while blocks C, D and E had yet to be searched. The Block C frisk was set to begin Wednesday night or sometime Thursday, he said.

Telisky said officers are braced for assaults by individual inmates while they search Block C and for more coordinated attacks once the lockdown is lifted, perhaps by Sunday.

Telisky, liaison to NYSCOPBA President Richard Harcrow, said the recent premeditated yard attack was a power play by inmates to intimidate staff and other prisoners.

He said ACF officials and the state Department of Correctional Services have not provided much information about the attacks, but he feels the near-continuous investigation into incidents that precipitated December's lockdown has put officers at risk and empowered inmates.

At any rate, Telisky said, officers will be ready for anything when the lockdown is lifted.

"We prepare for the worst and hope for the best," he said.

Corrections officers have been frisking cells and searching the 1,818-inmate prison 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily. During a lockdown, a cell frisk is one of the few times inmates leave their cells.

Wednesday, NYSCOPBA President Richard Harcrow said a weapons cache was discovered near where inmates attacked officers in the yard.

Harcrow said corrections officers found 11 razor blades and six ice-pick type weapons in the depot area - where inmates enter and exit the prison.

The discovery indicates the June 14 attack on an officer's post apparently did not go off as planned, he said.

"The inmate who started the incident screwed up and was supposed to act a half an hour later," Harcrow said. "Someone was supposed to get a hold of the weapons so they could use them."

Harcrow believes that "someone" was a porter, an inmate who performs janitorial duties and is often able to move about the prison. Porters act as trustees and it is possible they could move weapons and other contraband around for other inmates.1

"Bad guys are always getting searched," he said. "The guys who are a little bit less of a bad guy get to walk around and are not searched as much."

Harcrow said it is a misconception that inmates are locked up for 23 hours with an hour for recreation each day. In actuality, he explained, the prison operates more like a small city, where inmates come out of their cells at 8 a.m. and do not go back in until 10 p.m. The amount of mobility would be unbelievable to those on the outside, he said.

"It was almost a takeover," he said, referring to Saturday's attack. "It was a disturbance that could have been a riot."

The weapons cache was a big discovery, Telisky said, but weapons are scattered throughout the grounds in any number of hiding spaces.

"Anywhere that would have any type of orifice or hole or type of crack" can conceal weapons, he said. "The officers find it everywhere."

Wednesday, in an incident similar to one during December's lockdown, an inmate attacked an officer during a cell search. Telisky said including that prisoner, the number of inmates facing internal disciplinary action is more than 25.

Telisky said reports he has seen indicate there have been widespread disciplinary concerns within ACF recently, including not complying with orders and assaulting corrections officers as they complete their cell-by-cell, block-by-block search.

While the union has been very vocal since Saturday's outbreak of violence within ACF, the state Department of Correctional Services has continued to withhold comment until the search is over.

Back to the Titles

Associated Press

New York prison administrators did not improperly deny an inmate treatment for hepatitis C, in large part because the prisoner has failed to undergo drug treatment first, a state appeals court ruled.

The ruling upheld the state Department of Correctional Services' rules on which prisoners get treatment for hepatitis C, one of the leading health concerns among the 66,000-inmate population in state prisons.

Andrew Sandsom had argued that the refusal of prison administrators to supply him with hepatitis C drugs constituted cruel and unusual punishment.

But the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court said Sandsom has to prove that there was "deliberate indifference" on the part of prison officials for the inmate's cruel-and-unusual-punishment claim to stand.

On the contrary, the judges said Sandsom failed to meet some "reasonable" treatment prerequisites for inmates set down by prison administrators. The court said Sandsom failed to demonstrate "continuing abstinence from substance abuse by successfully completing a substance abuse treatment program."

"Not only has petitioner (Sandsom) failed to complete such a program, but it appears that he has continued to abuse controlled substances during his incarceration," the five-judge panel wrote in a ruling dated June 19.

Prison records show that Sandsom, serving an eight-to-10-year sentence for robbery, was found guilty of prison drug use in April 2001 and May 2002. Officials said he was removed from a drug treatment program at Great Meadow state prison in January 2003 for disciplinary reasons, and that he is now in a program at Attica state prison.

Inmate advocates have criticized the state prison system for the fact that only about 200 of the 9,000 inmates suspected of having been exposed to hepatitis C are receiving treatment.

"It is a real significant issue," said Robert Gangi, head of the state Correctional Association prison watchdog group. "There are a significant number of people in the state prison system who, in our judgment, should be getting treatment and are not."

Department of Correctional Services spokesman James Flateau said exposure to hepatitis C does not necessarily mean inmates are infected with the liver-damaging disease. Only about 10 percent of those exposed will get hepatitis C, Flateau said, but it may take decades for the disease to develop.

Prison health administrators follow guidelines by the National Institutes of Health when deciding hepatitis C protocols, Flateau said. They also consult with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he said.

The NIH had recommended against starting hepatitis C drug treatment for intravenous drug users, but the institutes last September said limited evidence suggests that treatment may still be effective for active drug users. Flateau said prison officials believe the bulk of the evidence still indicates that inmates should be drug-free before getting hepatitis C treatment.

The state also says inmates must have enough time left in their sentences to assure that the treatment regimen can be completed while the prisoner remains behind bars. Starting the drug treatments but not completing them _ the process takes about one year _ essentially assures that the drugs will be ineffective against hepatitis C if treatment is tried again in the future, health experts say.

"While inmates and their lobbyists might feel more inmates should be in treatment, we follow federal guidelines and not the wishes of inmates and their advocates," Flateau said.

ACOAP * All States DOCS * Facility Addresses * Forgotten Cop
* Gang Pages * History Pages * Index * In Memory
* My Links * NY Online Newspapers * News Articles * Site Map
* Spanish in the Correctional Settings Want a Web Page?