Parole Chair Who Denied Sundiata Parole Linked To MobstersSundiata is a Political Prisoner, a brilliant mathematician, artist and committed freedom fighter for the New Afrikan Nation. Ambushed on the New Jersey Turnpike with Assata Shakur and Zayd Malik Shakur, Sundiata has been unjustly incarcerated for 26 years. Assata remains exiled in Cuba.
From: shiriki unganisha [email protected] Sent: Sunday, July 16, 2000 6:32 AM Sources -
Also present at the party was Joseph "Gus" Ferrera, who Consovoy admits is one of his best friends. Ferrera is an ex-con and former jail guard who was convicted in the late '70s for helping Robert Spagnola escape from the Essex County jail. Spagnola was a Newark police officer and county sheriff officer before he started shaking down drug dealers. He moved on to run the Lucchese crime family's sport-gambling operation in New Jersey and has been in and out of prison many times since. Ferrera was sentenced to three years with a mandatory two years in prison without parole in the Spagnola a ffair, yet Ferrera was paroled after seven months. Before his parole was over he was hired by New Jersey state to be an "ombudsman" for the Department of Corrections(DOC). At the time Consovoy was in charge of coordinating gubernatorial appointments for the Governor. Ferrera's 72 years old and draws a paycheck of $73,000 for the unusual Passaic County Jail job of helping prisoners prepare for parole. No other county jail has such a post. Although Ferrera is a DOC employee, not a Parole Board employee, he's frequently seen at the Parole Board Office in Trenton and has considerable access to Consovoy, Parole Board employees say. Consovoy recently attended the wedding of Ferrera's daughter and also used Ferrera's condo in Marco Island, Fla., this spring for vacation. Ferrera is the cousin of Michael Taccetta, the former New Jersey boss of the Lucchese Family. Consovoy son played on the basketball team with the son of Marty Taccetta, Michael's younger brother who's also a reported mobster. Consovoy said naturally he got to know Marty Taccetta, but the link was purely social. Consovoy is the target of a state criminal investigation into the possible early release of a number of mobsters or others with "connections." One released was Clifton mobster, Samuel Corsaro, known to law enforcement sources as a major figure in the Gambino crime family. Corsaro walked out of prison on Feb. 14th, after serving minimum time for parole despite a long prison record and previous parole violations. Another is Jason J. Guerrera, the son of a Superior Court judge in Atlantic City, who served twenty months on a seven year term for manslaughter. His accomplice is still in prison. Consovoy will also be questioned about the backlog of thousands of prisoners who have waited months and even years after their eligibility dates to have their cases heard by the Parole Board. The overwhelming majority, ninety percent, of New Jersey's prisoners are Black or Latino. Consovoy is the same Parole Board member who villified Sundiata in the media and crowed about giving him the 20-year hit, the longest in state history. All the while he was quietly giving preferential treatment and early releases to his pal mobsters. Sundiata's lawyers appealed Consovoy and the Parole Board's decision on grounds that it was biased and an abuse of their power. Sundiata has done almost 28 years in prison. A fair court decision could result in an order that Sundiata be paroled. Write Judge Mary L. Cooper, U.S. District Court, 402 E. State St., Trenton, N.J. 08608 and urge that a fair and impartial decision be made in the parole appeal case Sundiata Acoli vs New Jersey State Parole Board that's presently before her. Sundiata has also appealed directly to the Parole Board for a Rehearing that is unbiased and untainted by staff misconduct. Also write the New Jersey State Parole Board, P.O. Box 862, Trenton, NJ 08625, and urge that Sundiata Acoli be given a fair and impartial parole rehearing that is untainted by staff misconduct, and that he be paroled. Send copies of your letters to: Sundiata Acoli Freedom Campaign, 655 Fulton, St., Box 123, Brooklyn,NY 11217; e-mail: [email protected]; Fax: (718)797-9829. SUPPORT THE SUNDIATA ACOLI FREEDOM CAMPAIGN!
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