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Abraxas I Youth and Family Services Center
Marienville, Pennsylvania
Cornell
February 22, 2008 The Derrick
Two Philadelphia men were charged for their actions during separate riots that broke out this week at Cornell Abraxas I in Marienville. State police said Joseph Clark, 18, and Lenny Scott Cabrera, 18, were involved in both riots that occurred at the facility Monday and Tuesday. Clark was charged with one count of aggravated assault and two counts of riot, police said. They said Cabrera was charged with two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of riot. Both men were arraigned before District Judge George F. Gregory in Tionesta. They were placed in the Warren County jail on $25,000 bail. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Tuesday. Police said three juveniles involved in both riots and five other involved in the Monday riot will face similar charges.

January 11, 2007 The Courier Express
In a last-ditch effort to forestall a strike, representatives of Abraxas I and members of PSSU Local 668 have agreed to meet Friday, according to a press release issued by Abraxas Wednesday. Abraxas I is planning to operate through any strike with qualified employees from other facilities and all employees who want to continue to work, according to the press release. "Any employee who wishes to work may do so at the current wages, benefits and other terms or conditions of employment," the release said. "Abraxas I will not implement its final offer until an agreement is reached." Abraxas I has informed its client-referring agencies about the strike and the company's plans to operate in the interim. It has also decided to stop admitting new residents and plans to accelerate the discharge of residents who are approved for discharge by the courts, said the press release. On Jan. 3, Abraxas Youth and Family Services received notification that the members of SEIU Local 668 rejected the company's offer of Dec. 21. Local 668 also issued a 10-day strike notice, which indicates it plans to strike at 12:01 a.m. Sunday. James Newsome, program director at Abraxas I, said, "We are very disappointed that the union and its members rejected this offer. It was a very fair offer given the economic realities of the Youth and Family Services business. "Our most recent offer includes wage increases ranging from 8.5 percent to 12.25 percent over the proposed three-year agreement," he said. "While we propose increases in employee contributions for medical benefits, our wage proposal also ensures that all employees would receive a real wage increase to offset the increased employee medical contribution. Our request for increased employee medical contributions is consistent with what many unions and employers have agreed to in the face of rising costs of health care." Abraxas I proposes maintaining an HMO medical plan for current employees, but employees hired after ratification would only be able to participate in a PPO plan. Newsome said the HMO plan is a very expensive benefit. "The only way we can continue to afford to provide the HMO is to make it available for current employees only," he said. "The union recognized the fairness of our economic proposals, because they told us that if we were willing to agree to a union shop or fair share - union security - they would recommend ratification. We refused to agree to a union shop or fair share because we believe employees should have a right to decide for themselves whether they wish to belong to the union and pay union dues, not be forced to do so," Newsome said. Abraxas I houses approximately 274 adolescents and provides drug and alcohol counseling, as well as operating a private school, for its residents.

Abraxas Center
Forest, Pennsylvania
Cornell
July 8, 2004
A Tamaqua 16-year-old, who was committed to a juvenile center after being charged with shooting a friend in the face with a gun he stole from a borough pawn shop, escaped after attending a funeral Wednesday, police said.  Duane R. Allen II was court-ordered to attend the funeral and told two workers taking him back to the Cornell Abraxas center in Marienville, Forest County, that he was sick, state police at Hazleton said.  The workers stopped about 2:30 p.m. at Pilot Truck Stop in Sugarloaf Township, Luzerne County, where Allen fled from the worker accompanying him to the restroom, police said.  (The Morning Call)

Adams County Jail
Adams County, Pennsylvania
Aramark
March 26, 2009 The Evening Sun
Adams County will soon get into the culinary business - in jail. Starting in June, the county will be providing its own food service at Adams County Prison. The current contractor, Aramark Food Services, chose to cancel its contract with the county effective June 18. County Solicitor John Hartzell said the contract allowed for Aramark to choose not to renew with 90 days notice. The contractor planned on raising its rates by 25 cents per meal per prisoner, about a 5 percent increase. The county did not agree with the rate hike, believing they could do the job cheaper, or at least at the same cost as the contractor prior to the hike, Commissioner George Weikert said. Commissioners also said prison officials were not happy with the quality of the food served by Aramark. Weikert said several factors have been taken into account in starting a county service, including cost, food quality and nutritional value. Commissioner Glenn Snyder said some of the cost will be curtailed with the county in control because the county can use vegetables grown in the prison's new garden. Vegetables from the garden were used last year, but there was no reduction in the contractor's cost.

Allegheny Academy
Allegheny, Pennsylvania
The Academy System
September 14, 2003
Drastic disciplinary action has been taken at The Academy in the wake of the car crash death of a 17-year-old boy from York County who died after he escaped from the juvenile center Sept. 14.  Attempts also are being made to prevent future escapes from the facility, which has experienced a rash of runaways since April, said Joe Daugerdas, executive director of The Academy, formerly known as Allegheny Academy.  But he declined to specify actions because the state Department of Welfare is investigating the Sept. 14 incident in which Troy Lake of Dallastown, York County, escaped and was killed when he crashed a stolen car on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Somerset.  Lake was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:40 a.m., but his absence from The Academy wasn't reported to police until 6:30 a.m., when staffers found his bed was empty.  Daugerdas said he could not say how many employees were disciplined for the oversight, but on the night Lake and two other teens escaped, only one staff member was in charge of making required bed checks every 15 minutes.  That policy has been changed to rotate responsibility for bed checks to everyone working at night, Daugerdas said.  Besides interviewing all eight staff members on duty that night, investigators also talked with the other two escapees, who were picked up on the morning of Sept. 14 in McKees Rocks, he said. The pair spent the night of their escape in the woods behind The Academy and left the area on foot when the sun came up.  Although they shared with investigators details of how the three got away, Daugerdas said he could not make that information public.  Welfare Department spokeswoman Carey Miller said the department's investigation could take up to one month and result in requiring a plan of corrective action or action against its license.  Besides the internal changes, Daugerdas has signed an agreement brokered by James Rieland, Allegheny County juvenile court administrator, that calls for The Academy to call Baldwin Borough police within 10 minutes after a juvenile is discovered missing from the center.  Although that facility is in the Hays section of Pittsburgh, its property abuts a residential Baldwin Borough neighborhood.  The agreement requires The Academy to provide police with the name, age, race, physical description and home address of the escapee, as well as a photo if one is available, and staffers will notify police if and when escapees are found.  The agreement also calls for quarterly meetings between Academy officials and Baldwin police to discuss issues of concern.  Baldwin Borough Police Chief Chris Kelly said he has been trying since April to get Academy officials to discuss what they planned to do about the number of escapes from the facility since that time.  Kelly, who vented some of his frustrations at a Baldwin council meeting the day after Lake's death, claimed that 12 Academy juveniles have escaped in seven incidents since April, including the July 24 escape of two girls from a van driving them to the center.  Daugerdas said eight juveniles have escaped in five incidents and that all except Lake were found and returned.  Kelly has expressed his concerns in recent months in letters to Daugerdas and officials of the county's juvenile court system, which orders delinquent nonviolent offenders to The Academy's day and evening program for rehabilitation.  About 170 nonviolent juvenile offenders are in the program now.  Anne Edwards, an Agnew Road neighbor of The Academy, also has complained. She said she predicted to Daugerdas that nothing would be done about her concerns until someone got hurt. She was not happy last week when that prediction came true.  "I am saddened that it was a child's death that will bring attention to The Academy's lack of supervision and control," she said.  Also at last week's council meeting, a resident of Edward Drive, whose car was stolen by Lake, asked council for some relief from escapees from the Academy. Kelly said it was the second time the family had had a car stolen by a youth from The Academy.  Council approved a motion authorizing Kelly to "take whatever action is necessary to curb the runaways," and to hold The Academy to the promises it originally made to the borough to contact Baldwin police as soon as a juvenile escapes from the center.  Notification didn't always happen with the escapes this spring and summer, he said.  Some were reported to him by Academy officials long after the juveniles escaped and others were reported by residents who spotted the runaways in their bushes and sheds.  Most of the juveniles who have escaped from the facility have been out-of-county youths held temporarily at The Academy in preparation for entering Summit Academy, a residential juvenile facility in Butler County.  Housing the juveniles destined for Summit is an expansion of the original program presented when the facility opened amid much protest in September 1989.  Academy officials stressed at that time that they planned to operate an after-school, day and evening program for nonviolent offenders.  The juveniles would be brought to the center in vans after school and stay through the evening, when they would be returned via vans to their homes.  But about five years ago, The Academy started to house juveniles overnight. Now roughly 50 juveniles are at the center each night. Half of them are like Lake, awaiting a transfer to Summit Academy.  The other half of the overnight population are male juveniles who have broken the rules of the day and evening program and are required as punishment to stay overnight for a period of time.  Those juveniles used to be housed at Shuman Detention Center until Shuman became overcrowded, said Rieland, the county's juvenile court administrator.  He called the day and evening program "a good service provided at a relatively inexpensive cost" and said he still believes it's a safe program for nonviolent juvenile offenders from Allegheny County.  Rieland said The Academy has a good track record, since it has operated for about 20 years -- 14 at the present site -- without a major problem until the recent incident.  If the state takes any action at The Academy, it is likely to be only against the overnight program and not the day and evening program, he said.  (Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette)

September 18, 2003
Joyce Lake had just returned home Sunday evening when she got a call from officials at the Allegheny Academy juvenile detention center asking if she knew where her 17-year-old son Troy was.  "I said, 'Yes, I know where he is. He's at the morgue,' " said Lake, who learned of her son's death from state troopers, who visited her home in Dallastown, York County, at 10 a.m. Sunday.  Lake was killed at around 3:40 a.m. Sunday when he lost control of the stolen car he was driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Somerset. He was thrown from the car when it hit an embankment and was pronounced dead at the scene.  At the time of his death, Lake was supposed to be sleeping at Allegheny Academy in Pittsburgh's Hays section, where he was sent after violating his parole. Lake had been found guilty of stealing an all-terrain vehicle, and then violated his parole by getting caught for underage drinking, his mother said.  But staff members at Allegheny Academy didn't notice his absence until almost three hours after his death and apparently didn't know that he had been killed in a car crash until they talked to his mother at around 7 p.m. Sunday.  It was at 6:30 a.m. Sunday when an employee of Allegheny Academy called Baldwin Borough police to report that three teens had escaped.  Though it is located in Pittsburgh, Allegheny Academy abuts a Baldwin residential neighborhood and academy staff are supposed to alert Baldwin police whenever program participants escape, said Baldwin Police Chief Chris Kelly.  About 15 minutes before academy staff reported the escape, Baldwin police were notified by state police that a car registered to a Baldwin resident was involved in a fatal traffic accident on the turnpike. It turned out to be the car that Lake was driving. The car was stolen from a resident of Edward Drive, located a short distance from the academy, Kelly said.  Kelly said it appears the escapees left the center Saturday night but that their absence wasn't discovered until Sunday morning when it was time for residents to wake up. The other two escapees were picked up in McKees Rocks Sunday morning.  Allegheny Academy Director Joseph Daugerdaus said he is trying to find out why the center's policy of performing bed checks every 15 minutes was not followed Saturday night.  "It's not just open the door and check. Our policy states that you go in and you check to see their skin, to make sure they are really in the bed," Daugerdaus said.  "We have to figure out why the procedure was not followed and why it was not discovered that they were gone. Whoever did not do what they were supposed to do will be terminated," he said.  Daugerdaus said he expects an investigation from the state Department of Welfare as well. All escapes from the center are reported to the department. He said eight employees were on duty at the time -- a number that exceeds the welfare department's requirement of one staff per 16 residents.  Daugerdaus said it was the first time that any program participant who escaped was not caught and returned safely. "What happened is certainly a tragedy and it's definitely an exception and we hope it never happens again," Daugerdaus said.  Daugerdaus said Lake was sent to Allegheny Academy in preparation for being assigned to a residential facility. He was to be transferred to another center within days.  Joyce Lake plans to bury her son today. But after the funeral service she will start her search for answers in her son's death.  "I know he wasn't a perfect kid and he did have some problems. But I don't think he deserved to die. I have a court order that says my son was supposed to be under supervision at all times. That's what they were supposed to be doing for him."  (Post-Gazette.com)

Allegheny County Jail
Allegheny, Pennsylvania
Correctional Medical Services
January 24, 2003
On Oct. 21, 1996, 33-year-old Charles Fine, a heroin addict From Monongahela, became the first inmate to kill himself in what was then the new Allegheny County Jail.  He rigged a makeshift noose out of his shoelaces and hung himself from a bunk in his cell.  Now, seven years later, the medical company that used to screen inmates for suicide risk at the jail is on trial in U.S. District Court, defending itself against a negligence claim.  Fine's stepmother, Barbara Mayfield, represented by local attorney Vincent Coppola, says employees of Correctional Medical Services Inc. of Missouri should have known Fine was going to kill himself.  Correctional Medical, the country's largest health-care provider for jails, pulled out of the Allegheny County Jail in 2000, but the move had nothing to do with the lawsuit.  Fine, who worked for a time as a welder, was jailed on Oct. 20, 1996, pending trial for retail theft and simple assault. Earlier that year he had also been jailed on drug possession charges and later released.  In both instances, according to the complaint, a nurse filled out a 10-question form used to determine if an inmate might be a suicide risk. Coppola said his answers to questions should have shown the medical staff fine was suffering from heroin withdrawal and that he was depressed and in "emotional distress."  Coppola has argued that the staff should have realized Fine might kill himself and placed him in the Mental Health Unit rather than in the general jail population. He said the staff should also have removed his shoelaces.  (Post-Gazette.com)  

January 1, 2006 AP
Beaver County says it is prepared to hire a private management firm to run the county jail, which officials say would save the county $5 million over three years. But the union representing the guards, whose contract expired Saturday, says it hopes a new proposal will save the county enough money to fend off privatization and ultimately save most of their jobs. "We're making every attempt we can to come up with ways to save them money, said Tom Trkulja, the union steward for the jail's 70 full-time and part-time guards. CiviGenics of Massachusetts has said it could save the county about $1.6 million a year over what it pays its guards currently - a projection disputed by the union. If CiviGenics is hired, the company would have the option of keeping the existing staff, but Trkulja said about 80 percent of the guards would probably not take the jobs because of the lower pay. Although negotiators for two sides are scheduled to meet Jan. 9, the county approved a budget last week that includes the $1.6 million annual savings expected if CiviGenics is hired.

December 27, 2005 Beaver Times
Under Beaver County's preliminary 2006 budget that commissioners should approve on Thursday, there won't be a county property tax increase for a second consecutive year. Commissioners are prepared to outsource the management of the jail to the Massachusetts company CiviGenics for a projected savings of nearly $5 million over the next three years, including at least $1.6 million in 2006. Savings achieved through no longer having to pay benefits could push those figures higher. Health coverage accounts for nearly $760,000, according to the county's 2005 budget, with dental and vision costing an additional $55,000. Taking all costs into account, the total savings from outsourcing could easily exceed $2 million annually. Service Employees International Union Local 668, the union representing county jail guards, has disputed the numbers contained in CiviGenics' proposal. And union officials have also been reviewing the contract proposal in an effort to submit their own proposal. The union's contract expires Dec. 31, and both sides have been negotiating. Donatella said commissioners expect significant savings from the jail whether they're provided by the union or CiviGenics. "We'll be more than happy to keep (the jail) in-house as long as the savings are there," Donatella said.

December 15, 2005 Pittsburgh Post Gazette
It is, essentially, a tale of 2 mills. If the Beaver County commissioners get a Massachusetts firm to run the county jail, or if they strike an equivalent deal with the union representing jail workers, they expect to pass a budget with no tax increase. If they keep running the jail under the terms of the existing union contract, they expect to pass a budget with a tax increase of about 2 mills. They plan to approve a preliminary budget Dec. 29, including the projected savings under the contract with CiviGenics, Inc., and then hunker down to see what happens next. If the union makes an offer with equivalent savings, they'll pass the preliminary budget essentially unchanged. If the commissioners sign with CiviGenics, they expect the union to go to court, seeking an injunction delaying the contract. If the court grants an injunction, the commissioners would be forced to continue operating the jail under the terms of the existing union contract, and would then pass a budget with a tax increase to pay for it. Dave Ramsey, business agent for Local 668 SEIU of the Pennsylvania Social Services Union, said the union would be coming up with a counter-offer, but that it would not match the one from CiviGenics. "We are going to make a proposal to them that includes enough people to actually man all the duty stations," he said, labeling the private proposal a "ghost offer" based on hiring and staffing assumptions that fly in the face of reality. Mr. Ramsey said the county was having trouble hiring corrections officers now, leading him to doubt whether CiviGenics can do so at lower wages. "The prospects of this proposal from CiviGenics being viable are not very high," he said.

November 6, 2005 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 
Beaver County is an unlikely place for a conservative revolution. Democrats hold a two-to-one registration advantage, have dominated county government for decades, own the state legislative seats. The steel mills are gone, but a blue collar is still a badge of honor and unions remain a political force. Inside the offices of the county commissioners, though, the flag of private enterprise is flying high -- high enough to draw repeated protests from local union officials. Over the last year, the commissioners have brought in new management for the county nursing home, outsourced services like printing, nursing home laundry and lawn care, and named a private restaurant to run the courthouse lunchroom as a for-profit entity, not to mention two rounds of layoffs, the first two in county history. And they're in the process of making two larger moves toward privatization: They solicited private companies to build and manage a regional juvenile detention center in the county and they have negotiated a tentative agreement for a private company to take over the county jail. The moves have local unions howling. "Our number one concern is for safety," said Ed Rowan, a correctional officer at the county jail and safety officer for Local 668 of the Service Employees International Union. "That's a big issue when it comes to private prisons. They have less training and lower wages." There is an even larger issue, though, that has the union's state headquarters on high alert as well. To put it simply, if this can happen here, it can happen anywhere. Beaver's move toward private management at the jail would be even more revolutionary, though it's not a done deal -- the union's contract runs through Dec. 31, and the county cannot make a change until then. The county does, however, have a basic agreement in place with CiviGenics Inc., of Marlborough, Mass. The bottom line is $1.8 million in promised savings annually, with perhaps another $600,000 in annual pension and benefit savings on top of it. If that happens, Beaver will be only the second county in Pennsylvania with a privately run jail -- the other is Delaware County, just south of Philadelphia. The protests of unions has been backed by a vociferous anti-private-jail lobby, which has Web sites and publications offering thousands of pages of horror stories and studies disputing the industry's claims of safety and savings. And in fact, Delaware has run into some recent problems, with five deaths in five months, sparking an internal investigation and one by the county district attorney's office. The county and jail operator The Geo Group Inc. are named in a $500,000 lawsuit by the family of a man who died in the jail of a drug overdose in April.

October 14, 2005 Beaver County Times
Beaver County Jail guards picketed the courthouse again on Thursday to protest the privatization of the jail, and a union official gave the county commissioners a petition bearing more than 1,400 names opposing the move. County residents are "beginning to become aware of what's happening, and they don't like it," said Dave Ramsey, the business agent for Service Employees International Union Local 668. Ramsey told the commissioners at their regular meeting that he noticed several resolutions on last month's agenda that addressed increases in contracts. He warned the commissioners that they'd be doing the same with CiviGenics if they outsource the jail to the Massachusetts company. Commissioners Chairman Dan Donatella didn't appeared swayed by the petition or the 1,472 signatures.

September 29, 2005 Beaver County Times
Beaver County Commissioner Joe Spanik is between the proverbial rock and a hard place as county officials inch closer and closer to privatizing the Beaver County Jail. "Absolutely, there's pressure," said Spanik, a longtime labor official who was elected in 2003 with the support of unions. As the move to privatize the jail in Hopewell Township picks up steam, Spanik has become the sounding board for not only jail guards, but local and state union officials who oppose outsourcing the jail's management to Massachusetts-based CiviGenics. Spanik found himself in an awkward position recently when the Beaver County Central Labor Council, on which Spanik sits, approved a resolution opposing privatization. Spanik abstained from the vote approving the resolution.

September 23, 2005 Beaver County Times
The debate over privatizing the Beaver County Jail intensified Thursday with jail guards picketing at the county courthouse and commissioners saying they might hire a public relations firm to counter union criticism. Prior to the commissioners' meeting at 10 a.m., about 30 people - mostly guards, their families and other union colleagues - carried signs and passed out fliers protesting the possible hiring of CiviGenics, based in Marlborough, Mass., to manage and staff the jail. Standing with other protesters along Market Street, Tom Trkulja, the guards' union steward, reiterated his stance that a purported $5 million in savings over three years is being exaggerated. Not only would hidden costs ultimately cost taxpayers more in the long run, but private jail guards are not as dedicated as public ones, he argues, which would compromise the safety of guards, inmates and residents. During the commissioners' meeting, Ramsey presented Commissioners Chairman Dan Donatella with a resolution from the Beaver County Labor Council opposing privatization and asking that the county disclose CiviGenics' record, including its operation of the Penn Pavilion minimum-security jail in New Brighton. Donatella said the board is considering hiring a public relations firm that would direct the county's response to the union's attacks on privatization. "We need to show the taxpayer where we're coming from," he said. Donatella said a public-relations campaign might include pamphlets, radio spots and newspaper ads. "We're going to present the facts," he said, "and we'll let the public decide."

September 22, 2005 Pittsburgh Post Gazette
For nearly a year, the Beaver County commissioners have been talking about hiring a private firm to run the county jail. In that same time, the union representing corrections officers at the jail has been making dire predictions about the impact of such a move. And last night, the Beaver County Central Labor Council told the commissioners at their meeting that they too object to the county prison board negotiating a contract with CiviGenics Inc., the Marlborough, Mass. company that submitted the sole proposal to manage the jail. All three commissioners serve on the prison board. The labor council said it opposes "any scheme that risks the health and safety of all [county] residents by contraction with out-of-state contractors who don't care about Beaver County and whose sole concern is taking precious taxpayer dollars out of the community." The council claims CiviGenics' projected savings of $1.8 million per year in operating costs is vastly overstated, partly because it's based on a jail budget larded with overtime. The council also said CiviGenics' numbers do not account for increased costs from a higher number of escapes and assaults they expect from a lower-paid corrections staff. But the "No. 1 concern is safety," said Ed Rowan, a corrections officer and safety officer for Local 668 of the Service Employees International Union. "That's the big issue when it comes to a private prison," he said. "You have people with less training making lower wages.

Bedford County Jail
Johnstown, Pennsylvania
PrimeCare
January 6, 2009 AP
A prison health care provider and the family of a western Pennsylvania man who died in a prison have settled a lawsuit. John Margo claimed his son, 23-year-old James Margo, started to go through heroin withdrawal at the Bedford County Prison when he was jailed in June 2002. The suit claimed medical personnel did nothing to help him. He died July 5, 2002. A lawyer for PrimeCare Medical Inc. says terms of the settlement can't be released. PrimeCare has denied responsibility throughout the case. Margo had been in prison for a parole violation in a drug case.

Children's Advocacy Center
Erie, Pennsylvania
Cornell
June 12, 2009 Erie Times-News
A Cornell Abraxas mental-health aide was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old resident at the center. Police said the girl, now 15, told a counselor at the Children's Advocacy Center that Kito Dixon, 29, made inappropriate comments to her and touched her breast April 11 as she was getting ready for bed at the residential rehabilitation center for troubled juveniles, at 429 W. Sixth St. Police said a security video from the hallway outside the girl's room showed Dixon standing at her doorway for several minutes. It also showed him entering the room but does not show what happened inside, according to a criminal complaint. The video was at the same time as when the girl said the incident occurred. Dixon was charged Tuesday with institutional sexual assault, indecent assault and corruption of minors. He has been released from the Erie County Prison on $7,500 bond. Messages left at Cornell Abraxas were not returned Thursday.

Cornell-Abraxas Erie
Erie County, Pennsylvania
Cornell
April 21, 2010 Erie Times-News
A former Cornell-Abraxas mental-health aide was sentenced this morning in Erie County Court to serve six to 20 months in the Erie County Prison for having indecent contact with a 14-year-old resident at the center. Kito Dixon, 30, must also serve also serve six years probation and pay court costs, Judge Ernest J. DiSantis Jr. said. The sentence in Erie County Court came after Dixon pleaded no contest in March to charges that he had indecent contact with a female resident at the center in April 2009, and, in a separate case, pleaded no contest to charges that he drove his car into a yard toward three people on June 12.

March 6, 2010 Erie Times-News
A former Cornell Abraxas mental-health aide pleaded no contest Friday in Erie County Court to charges that he had indecent contact with a 14-year-old resident at the center. Kito Dixon, 30, did not contest counts of indecent assault and corruption of minors. In exchange for his plea, the prosecution dropped a third-degree felony charge of institutional sexual assault. Cornell Abraxas is a licensed residential facility for children and youth located at 429 W. Sixth St. As a part of the plea, Dixon agreed to undergo an assessment by the Erie County Adult Probation sexual offender group. In a separate case, he also pleaded no contest to three counts of simple assault. He admitted he drove his car into a yard toward three people on June 12. The charges together carry a maximum possible penalty of up to 15 years in prison and a $35,000 fine. Erie County Judge John Garhart set sentencing for April 21. Police said a girl, now 15, told a counselor at the Children's Advocacy Center that Dixon made inappropriate comments to her and touched her breast April 11 as she was getting ready for bed at the residential rehabilitation center for troubled juveniles. Police said a security video from the hallway outside the girl's room showed Dixon standing at her doorway for several minutes. It also showed him entering the room but does not show what happened inside, according to a criminal complaint. The video was at the same time as when the girl said the incident occurred.

Cornell-Abraxas Howe
Howe Township, Pennsylvania
Cornell
July 7, 2008 Erie Times-News
Four 18-year-olds were jailed over the weekend, charged with causing a riot at a juvenile detention facility in Forest County. State police at Tionesta, along with units from Ridgway, Kane and Clarion, were called to the Cornell Abraxas facility in Howe Township on Saturday at about 10:30 p.m. Police said one juvenile and three staff members were assaulted, although none was seriously hurt. Three buildings were damaged and windows, desks, chairs and other furniture were vandalized, with damage totaling about $5,000, according to police. Derek Barnes, Richard Gale, Rasheed M. Seward, all of Philadelphia, and Vernon L. High, of Chester, were each charged with riot, institutional vandalism, criminal mischief, disorderly conduct and corruption of minors, according to police. Police said the four 18-year-olds incited additional juveniles to participate in the riot. The four were arraigned and placed in Warren County Jail with bail set at $25,000 each.

June 11, 2006 The Derrick
A boy escaped from the Cornell Abraxas facility Sunday morning but was captured several hours later, said state police in Tionesta. The 17-year-old youth fled into nearby woods after leaving the juvenile drug and alcohol treatment facility in Howe Township, Forest County, police said. He was found Sunday morning by staff members not far from the facility at 59 Blue Jay Road, police said.

Cornell-Abraxas Quincy
Quincy Township, Pennsylvania
November 1, 2004 Public Opinion
A 17-year-old boy allegedly assaulted three Cornell Abraxas staff members at 9 p.m. Thursday at the treatment center in Quincy Township. The boy allegedly punched, kicked and head-butted Leslie Fitch, 27, Chambersburg, David Black, 46, Chambersburg, and Robert Reed, 31, Gettysburg, after they attempted to restrain him, according to police. All three staff members suffered minor injuries, police said.

Correctional Physicians Services
October 14, 2002
State Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, the Republican candidate for the 12th District, has accused his Democratic opponent, Howard Rovner, of lying and misstating facts during Rovner's press conference last week.   Greenleaf was referring to assertions made both during the debate, hosted by program director Darryl Berger, and in a written statement issued to the media at the press conference Wednesday in Norristown.  Greenleaf, a lawyer, did legal work for Correctional Physicians Services Inc., which was awarded a $49 million contract in 1995 to provide medical services to inmates at the state's prisons. The firm paid Greenleaf, who was chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, $2,000 every other week for more than two years as compensation for legal work.   In his press release, Rovner said Greenleaf approved the contract and later accepted a $20,000 campaign contribution from the company's president.   "That's a lie and you know it," Greenleaf said. "The state legislature approves no contracts. That's the governor's office."   Plus, Greenleaf added, he had no connection with the company when the original agreement was drafted in 1990, and the only legal services he provided Corrections dealt with the firm's out-of-state clients.   Rovner has called for an immediate investigation into Greenleaf's actions.   He said he would like to know exactly how much the senator received as part of his involvement with Corrections and as a member of the firm's oversight committee during the company's sale in 2000.  (The Intelligencer)  

Curran-Fromhold Prison
Pennsylvania
Prison Health Services
May 10, 2006 Philadelphia Weekly
A new federal civil rights lawsuit alleges mistreatment of a Curran-Fromhold prison inmate that culminated in a brutal rape. Attorney Rich Ostriak of the law firm Ostriak Birley filed the suit last week in U.S. District Court, demanding unspecified damages on behalf of inmate Thomas Moore, who entered the Philadelphia prison system in January 2005, awaiting trial on robbery charges, and fought with a pair of inmates over use of the phone on his first day there. Moore was transferred to restrictive confinement, otherwise known as "the hole," where his complaints about severe pain and difficulty breathing were ignored for almost three days before he was taken to the infirmary. On June 20 he was transferred to Frankford Hospital to receive coronary angioplasty and an arterial stent. The suit alleges Prison Health Services failed to deliver his required heart medications for five days after he returned to jail.

August 16, 2001
Three suicides in a month, mentally ill patients being drugged senseless, filthy treatment rooms, staffing shortages, management systems unable to cope.  Those are just some of the medical problems two consultants have found within the city's prison health-care system, according to secret reports obtained by the Daily News.  It is a system operated by a Tennessee conglomerate that the city pays $25 million a year.  The city's contractor, Prison Health Services, a subsidiary of American Service Group Inc., freely admits it's losing money in Philadelphia, but insists the quality of care has not dipped.  Though the Street administration professes to be happy with its contractor, ignorance can be bliss. On critical issues, administration officials don't appear to be carefully supervising the private company, in part because they have a minuscule oversight unit.  The city's contract with PHS lacks the precision tools for tight oversight.  Dr. William Patterson, a Washington psychiatrist, noted that the average mental-health caseload has been running at 1,600 inmates, far above the contract estimate of 1,000 inmates and far beyond the staffing level PHS set up.  Patterson also found that about 1,500 of 1,600 inmates were getting prescribed drugs.  But PHS's Newkirk conceded: "We are treating more people than what we were staffed for. You see that in Dr. Patterson's report.  What was in the contract is what we have. That's the fact. As a result, we probably are giving more medications than we would if we had more staff."  Among the other issues raised by the city consultants: * Hygiene - Greifinger found the medical units at Curran-Fromhold and the Detention Center were dirty. He found infirmary cells with food scattered around with bloody bandages. Refrigerators contained both food and medicine. Biohazardous waste was left uncovered.  * Medication - For all the problems with drugging mental-health patients, Greifinger found that the half of the doses given to patients at the Detention Center were undocumented.  * Records - One reason the city was so pleased with the expanded PHS contract was that inmates would be cared for by only one medical unit rather than the dual system that existed when Hahnemann University Hospital provided mental-health care.  But an integrated system still doesn't exist more than a year after PHS gained control of the entire contract.  * Testing - Only 22 percent of female inmates were tested for sexually transmitted diseases, though prison policy and the contract require all women to be tested.  Consultant Patterson closed with a warning that the next round of class-action lawsuits will be over improper mental-health care for inmates.  (Daily News)

August 16, 2001
When Kyle York, 20, showed up at the Philadelphia prisons, his life was in utter shambles.  After ingesting PCP on New Year's Eve last year, he'd gone into a hallucinatory rage, shooting his mother, shooting at his father and inflicting a grazing wound to himself.  Less than three months later he was dead.  And Blake Berenbaum, the attorney hired by York's parents, is trying to learn what happened to the troubled young man.  Was he beaten to death by prison guards? Given too many injections of sedatives by prison physicians? Was it a combination of the two? Or did he meet his fate by some unknown means?  Prison spokesman Bob Eskind said York had been under "four-point restraint," meaning that four guards each took a limb.  Both Eskind and Berenbaum said a PHS doctor had given York a dose of Ativan, a sedative. Berenbaum identified the physician as Benjamin Caoile. Put into an infirmary bed, York was still combative, Berenbaum said. At that point Caoile left York and the guards in the room.  Berenbaum said records show that the doctor ordered the nurse to give York "another" injection of Haldol and Benadryl, both sedatives. To Berenbaum, that suggests there were earlier and unrecorded doses of those drugs.  When Caoile returned about 15 minutes later, York was in an unresponsive state and emergency measures were started. York never regained consciousness and died on March 14.  (Daily News)

September 15, 2000
Jose Santiago was arrested on drug charges Sept. 13. While in police custody, the 28-year old diabetic received three insulin shots. But after he was transferred to prison custody on Sept. 15, his condition deteriorated and he died Sept. 16. The medical examiner stated that the death was diabetes related.

City Councilman Angel Ortiz wants an investigation to take place. He said, "Mr. Santiago was totally neglected by health services at Curran-Fromhold. He didn't commit suicide. He was just not given medical assistance."

Pending in U.S. district Court is a suit filed by seven diabetics and the American Diabetes Association against the city. They contend that the police denied them proper care while in police custody.

Dauphin County Prison
Dauphin, Pennsylvania
Aramark
September 20, 2005 Patriot News
While Dauphin County Prison's food service vendor has agreed to reimburse the county $65,000, there was no criminal intent behind the overbilling, authorities say. The agreement reached between Philadelphia-based Aramark Corp. and the county district attorney ends a several-month grand jury investigation started last year into allegations of watered-down food and overcharging. Aramark did provide adequate food as called for in its contract with the Swatara Twp. prison, but the investigation showed the county was billed for meals that were not made, said District Attorney Edward M. Marsico Jr. The $65,000 is for overbilling that occurred in 2002 and 2003, Marsico said. The investigation was spurred by repeated inmate complaints. While there were menu changes under the current contract, Marsico said the investigation found Aramark was providing the required meal content. Aramark officials refused to discuss what went wrong on their end or what steps they've taken to make sure the problem does not reoccur

September 20, 2005 AP
Dauphin County Prison's food service vendor agreed to reimburse the county $65,000 for overbilling during 2002 and 2003, authorities said. Officials said there was no criminal intent behind the overbilling, and Philadelphia-based Aramark Corp. did provide adequate food as called for in its contract with the prison. "I'm very pleased with the amount of money we received," District Attorney Edward M. Marsico said. "I believe it more than covers any loss the county may have had." Masrisco said much of the overbilling occurred because the company had charged a flat amount for meals instead of tracking the actual ups and downs of the jail population, and he said both prison officials and the company would keeping a more careful eye on how many meals actually are provided. Aramark officials declined to discuss what went wrong what steps they were taking to prevent a recurrence. "We fully cooperated with the inquiry and consider the situation to be resolved," company spokeswoman Sarah Jarvis said.

March 19, 2004
A 16-year old Harrisburg boy escaped from a Dauphin County juvenile detetnion center, using a stock to disable a locked door and a walkie-talkie to create confusion.  The teenager, who then outran two guards, remains at large following the escape at about 1 a.m. Tuesday from the Schaffner Youth Center in Steelton.  No one was injured, according to county spokeswoman Jennifer Kocher.  The teen, who was admitted Saturday on unspecified misdemeanor charges, is not considered dangerous. His name and the nature of the charge was not released because of his age.  Two guards have been suspended without pay pending a review of the facility, which is managed by Cornell Abraxas and holds about 65 youths, Kocher said.  "We did have several unfortunate breakdowns in security," she said.  (AP)

February 1, 2004
Officials are looking into whether a food service company is cutting back on the amount of food served to prisoners. Reporter Chris Schaffer has the exclusive story.  When inmates come to the Dauphin County Prison food service giant Aramark provides the food they eat. A few months ago county officials began looking into the company's books, as part of a contract renewal process. They saw documents including years of menus, instructions, and budgets.  Dauphin County Commissioner Jeff Haste: "The numbers didn't quite match up - it appeared in our minds that we had been over-billed"  The county renewed its contract with Aramark. In early November, the prison went into a partial lock-down because of what the warden called "heightened tension levels" among inmates. At that time a corrections officer told WHP-CBS-21 that one factor leading to the increase in tension was that food portions appeared to be smaller.  Another source now says documents suggest that for years, inmate portions have been reduced or watered down to save money. Soon the investigation will go before a grand jury in Dauphin County.  A representative from Aramark would only say quote, "we did receive a request for information from the Dauphin County District Attorney's Office, and we are cooperating fully.  Commissioner Haste says the discrepancies he noticed could be accounting errors, but;  "If in fact there's criminal intent I'm going to recommend we prosecute to the extent we can prosecute"  Aramark is a world-wide company, headquartered in Philadelphia. It provides food for sports stadiums, hospitals and universities in addition to more than 300 correctional facilities.  (WHPTV.com)

DuPont Laboratories
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Wackenhut (Group 4)
April 30, 2008 Philadelphia Daily News
A former postal employee serving a year's probation for stealing bars of gold from an express-mail package was jailed yesterday for three months for violating his probation. Edward Henderson, 22, of Dover Street near W. York Street, ran afoul of the feds after he told his probation officer he had been fired from his job as a security guard for Wackenhut Security. Todd Schaffer, the probation officer, testified at a hearing yesterday that Henderson found a SIM card for a cell phone in a storage locker at DuPont Laboratories and used it for several months in his own cell phone. A SIM card is a tiny data card that stores account information. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joan Burnes said Henderson used the SIM card between May and August 2007, ringing up charges of almost $1,750 to call his girlfriend and family members. Henderson was charged in Common Pleas Court last August with theft by unlawful taking and with receiving stolen property. Those charges are still pending. A condition of Henderson's probation was that he not commit any federal or state crimes. U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy Rice was not pleased. Last May, Rice sentenced Henderson to a year's probation for stealing 15 bars of .9999 fine gold from an express-mail package, valued by authorities at about $11,850. Burnes said Rice had given Henderson an opportunity last year to set himself straight but he blew it. Burnes asked that the judge jail Henderson for three months. Henderson admitted he had "done a foolish thing" but said he hadn't deliberately violated his probation. Defense attorney Maranna Meehan said she thought three months in jail was a "bit excessive." "I'm asking for a second opportunity for [him]," she said, adding that Henderson was supporting his mother and his 3-year-old son. But this time, Rice was not so understanding. "I had confidence in you, I gave you a chance," he told Henderson. "You made a promise to me and you broke it." The judge was just getting warmed up. "You just don't get it. I think you just thought you could get away with it because you're wearing a uniform," Rice said, his voice rising a few decibels. Rice also ordered Henderson to make restitution of $1,750 to DuPont Labs. Rice ordered Henderson to be taken into custody immediately.

Elizabeth Township
June 22, 2007 Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
A former Elizabeth Township district judge is about to embark on a new venture -- as a blogging federal prisoner. Ernest Marraccini, 62, was sentenced Thursday to 16 months in a yet-to-be-determined federal prison and ordered to pay a $15,000 fine. Marraccini pleaded guilty in March to one count of obstructing justice for coaching a witness to lie to a grand jury. As he left the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Alan N. Bloch, Marraccini thanked his supporters and promised to post a diary online from prison -- even if he has to mail the daily entry to a friend. Federal prisoners are not typically given access to the Internet. "I've already found someone who's agreed to do it," said Marraccini, who will remain free on bond until he is told where to report. Marraccini obstructed the investigation of former Allegheny County Chief Deputy Sheriff Dennis Skosnik. Skosnik was sentenced last year to five years in prison on a variety of charges, including taking bribes to promote the construction of a private jail facility at Swiss Alpine Village -- the Route 48 shopping center where Marraccini's office was located. In 2001, Gary McDermott, of Stowe, paid for a trip to the Bahamas for Marraccini and a friend. In exchange, Marraccini spoke favorably about the jail facility at public meetings, prosecutors said. Marraccini later tried to get McDermott -- an FBI informant -- to tell the grand jury that he was repaid for the trip.

February 1, 2007 Tribune-Review
A former district judge said Wednesday he reluctantly agreed to plead guilty to obstructing a federal corruption investigation of the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office. "People who are innocent frequently believe that they must take the 'percentage play' because they have a lot to lose if the jury finds them guilty," said Ernest L. Marraccini, an Elizabeth Township district judge from 1992 until he resigned in December. Marraccini, 62, was charged Tuesday with obstruction of justice in connection with an investigation into former Chief Deputy Sheriff Dennis Skosnik, who pleaded guilty last year to taking bribes to promote the construction of a private jail in the shopping center where Marraccini's office was located. Prosecutors allege Marraccini got an all-expense-paid trip for two to the Bahamas in 2001 from the person trying to build the private jail. Investigators said Marraccini tried to get a witness to lie in 2005 to a federal grand jury looking into the trip. Marraccini's attorney, Victor H. Pribanic, said that Marraccini was given the trip by former sheriff's deputy Gary McDermott, of Stowe, and that it was McDermott his client later tried to influence. McDermott was identified in 2005 as an informant in the federal probe of the planned facility at Swiss Alpine Village, a shopping center on Route 48. Skosnik, 55, a friend of McDermott's, pleaded guilty in June to related bribery, witness tampering and other charges. He is serving a five-year sentence in a federal prison in West Virginia. Pribanic said the Bahamas trip "was not a quid-pro-quo thing. I think it was more like a gift in gratitude for things (Marraccini) had already done." Marraccini, who said he was a grocery bagger at his cousin's store in Elizabeth Borough before successfully running for district judge in 1992, spoke in favor of the alternative inmate facility at public meetings and elsewhere, Pribanic said. Pribanic claimed McDermott repeatedly approached Marraccini to get him to fix cases and accept bribes, but Marraccini rebuffed him. The attorney said he hoped U.S. District Judge Alan N. Bloch would consider that at the plea hearing, scheduled for March 15. McDermott did not return calls for comment. U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan declined to comment on the case. Reached at home yesterday, Marraccini said he and a longtime male friend who lives with him went on the trip together. He suggested that the fact that he is gay might have played a role in triggering the investigation. "There are some people who have a very difficult time simply accepting gay people no matter what they do," Marraccini said. The state Court of Judicial Discipline reprimanded Marraccini in October after he was accused of calling some defendants "morons" when they hesitated to leave the court after he summarily dismissed their traffic cases. He resigned two months later. Marraccini said he was "sad" to no longer work as a district judge. He joked that he is thinking of writing his memoirs. "With any luck, I'll get to go on 'Oprah' and cry, I'll get to be on 'The View' and insult somebody famous, then maybe Jay Leno will call me a name. And with any luck I'll get rich and become a celebrity ... and turn this lemon into lemonade," he said.

Erie County Jail
Erie, PA
Prison Health Services
July 19, 2005 Red Nova
Erie County must soon come up with another $311,877 to pay 2004 medical expenses at the Erie County Prison.  Warden James Veshecco said medical costs have been rising partly because the number of inmates has been increasing. The average population was 705 in 2004, compared with 676 in 2003.  The $311,877 will be on top of the regular premium of $1.3 million already paid in 2004, he said.  Veshecco said the prison is receiving more inmates who need mental health treatment and related prescriptions. There are also more women, some of whom are pregnant.  The county has contracted with Prison Health Services of Brentwood, Tenn., since 1999 to provide all medical care and pharmaceutical costs at the prison.  Because of the rising costs, the county in recent years agreed to a contract that set limits on the amount that the insurance company would pay for inmates who go to hospitals and other facilities and for pharmaceutical products. The prison must pay any amount above that.  In 2003, the premium was $1.2 million and the county had to pay an additional $60,000 for exceeding the cap. In 2004, the prison once again exceeded the caps and had to pay $207,365 more for off-site visits and $104,512 more for pharmaceutical products, totaling $311,877.  The premium to PHS has been increased to nearly $1.5 million for 2005, exclusive of the money owed if the caps are exceeded.

Franklin County Jail
Pennsylvania
EMSA/Prison Health Services
EMSA was warned that it -- not taxpayers-- must pay any legal damages that might be awarded in connection with the death of an inmate last month. (Columbus Dispatch, Oct.5, 2000)

Inmate, Rocky Eickstadt, dies of complications from diabetes. Jail records show he requested medical help not knowing he was diabetic, complaining of problems and did not see a jail nurse for eighteen days. Family is suing. Three lawsuits are pending against EMSA and one against CMS in Franklin County Common Pleas Court on other issues. (Columbus Dispatch, Oct.5, 2000)

EMSA replaces correctional medical services after CMS was repeatedly faulted by Franklin County officials for being short staffed. Commissioners warned EMSA that poor service would not be tolerated after national media reports linking the company to suits and improper care. (Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 5, 2000)

George W. Hill Correctional Facility
Thornton, Pennsylvania
Community Education Centers (formerly run by GEO Group, formerly known as Wackenhut Corrections)
September 1, 2010 Delco Times
Delaware County Council Tuesday called for a complete investigation into the unauthorized release of three prisoners from the county prison since June 14. Two of the inmates are back in custody and federal marshals are looking for the third. Significant changes in prison-release procedures are in place at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Thornbury, and additional safeguards are being formulated as part of an investigation into the inmate-release process. “Public safety is county council’s top priority and we won’t tolerate mistakes when it comes to our criminal justice system and the safety of our residents,” said council Chairman Jack Whelan. “We have asked for a full investigation of the inmate-release procedure. A stricter, more fail-safe policy is already in place with more changes to come as the investigation continues.” Whelan said several county employees were involved in the incidents. One was fired and the others were disciplined. “And quite frankly, they should have been,” Whelan said. “I can expect that you are not going to see anything like this in the future.” The prison, which is the fifth-largest county prison in the state, is operated by Community Education Centers Inc., a New Jersey-based company that has run the facility since January 2009. Prison Superintendent John A. Reilly Jr. detailed three procedural changes that have been instituted since June 15 and said he has also launched a review of the clerical-records process to streamline and strengthen the paperwork procedures at all levels.

August 31, 2010 Philadelphia Inquirer
Kelly DeLuca was talking on the cell-block pay phone after 8 p.m. at the Delaware County prison when she got unexpected news: She could go home. "I'm not supposed to go home," DeLuca said she told the guard. It was May 6, and she had nine days of an 18-day sentence left to serve for violating probation on a criminal-trespass charge. "Not my . . . problem," came the response, said the 43-year-old Havertown mother, who says she was told to hang up, pack up, and get ready to be discharged in time to catch the 9:40 p.m. SEPTA bus to Chester. She said she was not allowed to make any calls and was given two bus tokens. An hour later, DeLuca, a well-educated woman whose life spiraled downward because of alcohol, found herself standing on a Chester street corner, dressed in sweatpants and blue fuzzy slippers, with no cash and one token left. DeLuca is at least the fourth prisoner in recent months to be mistakenly released from the state's only privately run county prison - the George W. Hill Correctional Facility. "It is obviously very embarrassing and completely unacceptable," County Councilman Andy Lewis said Monday. Until hearing from a reporter about the DeLuca case, he had been aware only of three others, including a murder suspect who turned himself in. Two are still at large, one convicted of firearms violations, the other charged with robbery. "We have to make sure it does not happen again," Lewis said. Community Education Centers Inc. of West Caldwell, N.J., which has operated the county prison since January 2009, has attributed the three previous mistaken releases, all since June, to paperwork errors. "The company is working very closely with the county to review its policies and procedures," Christopher Greeder, a spokesman for CEC, said Monday. He said he was not aware of DeLuca's mistaken release. County Executive Marianne Grace said Friday that the County Council would conduct an investigation and review all policies and procedures surrounding prison releases. The Thornbury Township facility has a budget of $44 million from the county and houses about 1,800 inmates. The District Attorney's Office said Friday that its criminal investigation division also would investigate mistaken releases. DeLuca's attorney, Robert C. Keller of Havertown, confirmed his client was mistakenly released early.

August 28, 2010 Philadelphia Inquirer
The Delaware County executive vowed Friday to have a "serious discussion" of ways to improve security at the county prison, from which three inmates were mistakenly released this summer. Marianne Grace said the county was calling for a complete investigation and review of all policies and procedures surrounding prison releases. "Public safety is our number-one priority," Grace said. She said that on Monday, she would set up a meeting between prison and county officials to address the issue, but added that no written report was likely to be made public. Grace called inmate-release procedures a "multilayer process that is complex" and involves a number of departments, including the county's Office of Judicial Support and the company that operates the prison. "The human errors which are occurring are unacceptable," Grace said. Grace said she knew of three prisoners' being mistakenly released this year and added that she was surprised to learn that media reports had documented as many as five. Grace also said she did not know that, according to a report on the state Department of Corrections website, two prisoners walked away last year. The District Attorney's Office said Thursday bench warrants had been issued for Ateia Polk, 32, of the 4500 block of North 11th Street, and David Jeffrey Wilson, 19, of West 22d Street in Chester. Both were freed because of paperwork errors. On June 14, murder suspect Taaqi "Fame" Brown of Germantown was released after he was confused with another inmate with a similar name. He turned himself in a day later. Community Education Centers Inc. (CEC) of West Caldwell, N.J., has operated the country prison since January 2009. Officially known as the George W. Hill Correctional Facility, the Thornbury Township prison operates on a budget of $44 million from the county and houses about 1,800 inmates. It is the only privately run county prison in the state. Calls Friday to John J. Clancy, chief executive officer of CEC, for comment were not returned. Prison Superintendent John A. Reilly and Warden Frank Green also did not return calls; nor did John Hosier, chairman of the board of the Delaware County Board of Prison Inspectors, and County Solicitor Robert DiOrio. The District Attorney's Office said Friday that its criminal investigation division would also investigate the mistaken releases. Susan Bensinger, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections, said county prisons "set and follow their own policies and procedures." The state inspects prisons regularly. Delaware County passed its most recent inspection, in 2008. It is scheduled for another by the end of the year.

August 27, 2010 Philadelphia Daily News
The privately run George W. Hill Correctional Facility has been struggling this summer with what you might call a prisoner-retention problem. Delaware County authorities discovered this month that two inmates had been mistakenly released from the prison due to clerical errors. Neither has been heard from since. It's the fifth time that this has happened in recent months, according to a county official. The prison, operated by New Jersey-based Community Education Centers for $43 million a year, made headlines in June when accused killer Taaqi Brown walked out because of a records snafu. Brown, 22, of Germantown, turned himself in the next day, and the CEC clerk who let him out was fired. Now, the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force is searching for David Wilson, 19, of Chester, who was convicted in July of a firearms offense, but was released from the prison Aug. 4, two weeks before he was to be sentenced. Federal authorities also are looking for Ateia Polk, 32, of Philadelphia, who is on the lam after the prison released her last month prior to her trial on robbery, assault and related offenses. Polk is accused of stealing jewelry from an Upper Darby beauty parlor and threatening to stab the owner with a hairpin. "We're not pointing the finger at anybody," said prison Superintendent John Reilly Jr., who oversees CEC's performance on the county's behalf. "This is an in-house problem that needs to be resolved here." Reilly said that Polk was released because a prison employee misinterpreted a judge's order. The clerk apparently thought that "no bail" meant that Polk could leave without posting bail. "She just made a colossal mistake," Reilly said. In Wilson's case, the prison never received a fax from the county's Office of Judicial Support stating that his bail had been revoked. But Reilly said that a prison employee should have double-checked that he was cleared for discharge. "You need to do a more thorough search," he said. "The bottom line is, you are responsible when you open the back door." Reilly said that the prison's records department has been having trouble handling the thousands of documents it receives every week. He described it as a systemic problem that CEC is working to correct. "They don't have a process in place to accurately accept all these documents," Reilly said. "They just come flying in. There's a real breakdown in their process at that point." In some cases, such as Polk's, overwhelmed employees are simply misreading the paperwork. "It's a longstanding problem with the records department being able to process the volume," Reilly said. CEC took over the operation of the county prison last year after the GEO Group abandoned its contract due to "financial underperformance and frequent litigation." Located in Thornton, it is the only privately run county prison in the state. CEC spokesman Christopher Greeder declined to elaborate on the discharged inmates, other than to say that "the matter is under review and the company is working closely with the county." "This is the first crisis of the CEC era, and we're going to see how good they are," Reilly said. "They'll have to get through it."

August 2, 2010 AP
A U.S. appeals court in Philadelphia says prison officials can ban employees from wearing Muslim headscarves out of safety concerns. The judges say the case is a close call. But they say prison officials have legitimate concerns the headscarves can hide contraband or be used by an inmate to choke someone. The 2-1 decision is a defeat for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The commission believes the three Muslim women employed at the Delaware County Prison in Thornton had to compromise their religious beliefs to keep their jobs. Monday's ruling upholds a district judge who dismissed the EEOC lawsuit. The suit was filed against the Geo Group, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based contractor that operated the prison.

July 31, 2010 Philadelphia Inquirer
Three former prison guards have sued the Delaware County prison, alleging religious, sexual, and racial discrimination after they were fired for not cutting their hair, which they say their religion forbids. Nigel LeBlanc, Eugene Briggs and Zayid Bolds, all of Philadelphia, are followers of the Rastafarian movement, which prohibits cutting hair on the head, including facial hair, according to their lawsuit. They were asked to choose between their jobs and their religion, said Jennifer L. Zegel, attorney for the men. The prison is run by the New Jersey-based Community Education Centers (CEC), which took over from GEO Group on Jan. 1, 2009. The men were fired seven days later for failure to comply with the company's grooming policy.

June 17, 2010 Delco Times
Taaqi Brown’s taste of freedom lasted a little more than 12 hours. It likely will take a lot longer than that for Delaware County prison officials to get the bad taste out of their mouth from Brown’s sojourn. The county was jolted early Tuesday morning with news of an “escape” from the George W. Hill Correctional Facility. Uh, not exactly. As we learned a few hours later, Brown did not escape. He walked out the front door. After he was given his walking papers by prison employees. That’s how a man who police believe is responsible for opening fire on a crowded playground, in the process killing an unintended victim, was returned to society. Make no mistake, Taaqi Brown was not incarcerated for a minor offense. He is an accused killer. He was confined to 22-hour-a-day lockup in the Delco jail. He wore the distinctive red jumpsuit that identifies him as a high-risk inmate. And yet he was still given his walking papers and allowed to stroll – or perhaps walk as quickly as his legs would carry him – to his girlfriend’s black SUV, which was waiting for him outside. That’s because Brown had learned earlier in the day that he was going to be cut loose. He contacted family members, who made sure Brown had a ride when he became a free man. Prison officials are now referring to the mistaken release as a paperwork snafu. A simple human error. You can say that again. For his part, District Attorney G. Michael Green didn’t sound as if he was totally convinced. While announcing that Brown’s brief respite had earned him a felony escape charge, Green insisted, “I want to know everything that happened here.” He’s not the only one. Here’s what apparently went down. An inmate named Brown was in fact supposed to be released. But it appears that it was Tarriq Smith-Brown, Taaqi’s brother, who had done time on a minor drug charges, who was supposed to be cut loose. If that sounds a little hard to believe, you’re not the only one who feels that way. Neither Green nor Prison Superintendent John Reilly, while indicating that it appeared to be a simple clerical error, were willing to rule out something else. Something more sinister. And they vowed to get to the bottom of it, including any possibility that Brown got an assist from inside the prison. Reilly indicated that the records clerk involved in Brown’s release apparently failed to double-check the name while preparing the paperwork that was supposed to free Tarriq Brown but instead opened the door for Taaqi. It strains credulity that no one at the prison realized that a suspected killer who was isolated in the prison as a high-risk inmate was simply going to be allowed to walk out the front door. At worst it points to a serious security breach at the facility. But even if it was a simple clerical error, it fuels public distrust in the operation of the prison, which continues to be run by a private firm, Community Education Centers. The county has had mixed results at the prison since privatizing the operation when it built the new jail several years ago. The prison was first run by Wackenhut, which then was transformed into GEO, and for the past few years by CEC. Lawsuits, staffing and other problems have been persistent issues. Reilly, who noted the facility has had more than 3,000 discharges this year without incident and 9,500 last year, knows all too well that when the prison does things right, it doesn’t get attention. The mistaken release of a suspected killer does. It does things like spark a countywide manhunt. It puts citizens on edge. It fosters distrust in the county’s ability to keep its citizens safe from criminals. “We need to solve the problem,” Reilly said. He’ll get no argument here. This can’t happen again. County and prison officials need to make sure it doesn’t.

June 16, 2010 Philadelphia Daily News
It wasn't "Prison Break" but, rather, prison breakdown in Delaware County Monday night, when a murder suspect was accidentally set free from the George W. Hill Correctional Facility. In an equally astonishing move, the prisoner, Taaqi Brown, who could face life in jail if convicted of first-degree murder, turned himself in yesterday and willfully went back to prison less than 24 hours after he was released. Now detectives are investigating if Brown's release was the result of human error or, perhaps, the result of careful, human calculation. Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood, whose department arrested Brown, 21, last year in the murder of 19-year-old Aaron Kearney, said he got the call about Brown's release about 10 Monday night. "My first reaction was 'What the f---!' It's not like he's in for DUI," Chitwood said. "My second was to ask 'How did this happen?' " Chitwood said he was later informed that Brown's brother, Taariq Brown, 23, who also was at the prison, was supposed to be the inmate released yesterday. When he was released instead, Taaqi Brown, of Germantown, called his girlfriend, who picked him up, Chitwood said. Brown's taste of freedom sent officers from numerous agencies on an all-out manhunt yesterday. But about 11 a.m., Brown's father contacted an inspector he knew in Philadelphia's Northwest Detectives and said his son wanted to surrender, according to police. Chitwood said Brown and his father were worried that he'd be shot to death by cops. "It was the best thing for me to do," Brown told NBC 10, which rode with him as he surrendered. "I would hate for police to run up on me and feel as though I'm armed or I got a weapon on me." Brown maintains his innocence in the video and in a surreal, media-saturated moment, was recorded listening to a KYW Newsradio broadcast about his "escape." Brown is charged with shooting Kearney to death in broad daylight on a crowded Upper Darby playground on May 2, 2009. Delaware County District Attorney G. Michael Green said Brown would face an additional charge of escape because he knew that he should not have been released and did not speak up. He acknowledged that someone should have noticed that Taaqi Brown was in jail without bail, that he was in 22-hour lockup and that he wore a different-colored jumpsuit - red - to denote his alleged violent crime. "There were an obvious number of indicators that should have set off bells and whistles," Green said. Prison Superintendent John Reilly Jr. said it was too early to determine whether Brown's release had been an accident or perhaps an inside job. "We can't rule out that these two didn't try to orchestrate it," Reilly said. "I can't rule out that they didn't get the records girl to submit Taaqi Brown's data as a discharge." County detectives were planning to interview the 23-year-old records clerk who was hired three months ago, as well as corrections officers and "anyone in the prison that could have facilitated the discharge process," Reilly said. Even though the brothers' names are similar, the records clerk should have noticed that they had a different inmate number, birth date and court-identification number, he said. "This could have been a colossal mis-hire," Reilly said. "If that's what it is, we'll address it." The George W. Hill Correctional Facility is the only privately run county prison in the state. Last year, New Jersey-based Community Education Centers (CEC) replaced the GEO Group as prison operator. The records clerk is an employee of CEC. From 2002 through 2004, three inmates were mistakenly released from the county prison. In one instance, a 6-foot-4, 250-pound black man named Markish Thomas was released instead of a Mike Thomas, a 5-foot-10, 165-pound white man with blond hair and blue eyes.

May 20, 2010 Philadelphia Inquirer
A company that formerly operated the Delaware County Prison has settled a federal class-action lawsuit involving strip-searches of incoming inmates charged with minor crimes. The $2.9 million settlement awards up to $400 each to about 10,000 inmates at six GEO Group facilities. Prisoners at the Delaware County facility, now operated by Community Education Centers of West Caldwell, N.J., who were strip-searched between Jan. 30, 2006, and Jan. 30, 2008, may be eligible for settlement awards. The lawsuit named five other GEO Group prisons, in Texas, New Mexico, and Illinois. "As a direct result of this litigation, GEO has changed its strip-search policies in those prisons which it still operates," an attorney for the plaintiffs, Joseph G. Sauder of Haverford, said in an e-mail. A call seeking comment from the Florida-based GEO Group, which operated the prison until December 2008, was not returned. John A. Reilly, superintendent of the prison, when asked about the current strip-search policy, said, "I have no idea. See you." He then hung up. "In our view, there is simply no justification for this kind of invasive body search for those individuals coming to the institution who pose no security risk to the institution," said David Rudovsky, a Philadelphia lawyer who also represented a plaintiff in the case. Those eligible to apply for settlement include prisoners who were not accused of drug, weapons, or violent crimes; those involving probation or parole violations; and those who did not behave in a manner that would give guards cause to conduct strip searches. According to court documents, one of the main plaintiffs, Penny Allison of Media, was arrested in November 2005 for driving under the influence and was placed in a first-time offenders program. Allison failed to appear for a hearing and a bench warrant was issued. She was stopped by Springfield police for an expired registration in July 2006, arrested, and then transferred to the prison. While being searched, a female corrections officer looked at Allison's bra and remarked, "Nice bra," according to court documents. The bra was not returned upon her release eight days later, the documents said. Allison was arrested in December 2007 and pleaded guilty to a second DUI, records said. She was sentenced to 15 weekends and strip-searched upon entering the prison. "During these strip searches, the corrections officer brings all of the weekend females into a classroom-size room and strip-searches them one by one in front of all the other females," court documents said of the Delaware County facility.

March 6, 2010 Philadelphia Enquirer
Saying it is owed $7.3 million, Aramark Corp., the Philadelphia food-services provider, has sued a New Jersey operator of correctional facilities. In the suit, Aramark contends Community Education Centers Inc., of West Caldwell, N.J., has been in default on bills since at least June 2008. Locally, Aramark services Community Education Centers facilities in Philadelphia, Delaware County, Reading, and Trenton. Aramark's lawsuit, filed Feb. 18 in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, said Community Education Centers was overdue on $5.2 million of the total, and it requested that a judgment, including interest, costs, and attorney's fees, be entered in its favor. In an e-mailed statement yesterday, Community Education Centers said it "does not comment on pending litigation except to say that the two companies are in negotiations regarding the matter." Community Education Centers is one of a number of companies considered likely to bid on a prison privatization contract in Camden County. Last year, a unit of the company bought options on land in Camden as a potential site for a new prison, but the site has been ruled out by county freeholders because of neighborhood protests. The privately held company, which operates in 19 states, employs 4,500 and services nearly 30,000 individuals, did not comment specifically on the proposed privatization of Camden County's prison system. Among Community Education Centers' investors is Philadelphia private-equity firm LLR Partners. The firm's investment fund, LLR Equity Partners II L.P., in 2007 bought $53 million worth of preferred stock, according to a regulatory filing. LLR cofounder Seth Lehr, who is on Community Education Centers' board of directors, said the firm does not comment on companies in its portfolio.

November 19, 2009 Delco Times
A union representing approximately 300 employees at the county-owned George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Concord recently reached a three-year contract agreement with the private company the county has hired to run day-to-day operations at the prison. Members of the Delaware County Prison Employees Independent Union voted 155-14 Monday to accept the contract, which offers a 12 percent wage increase over three years, retroactive to June 1. The contract expires June 2012. Union President Michael Pelleriti said his members were not happy with the fact that they now have to pay $36 per month for single-coverage health care, but the contract does allow members to opt out of hospitalization insurance. Overtime and vacation time will now count as hours worked under the contract, said Pelleriti, and there is now a disciplinary arbitration procedure in place. “This gives the members protection against unjust terminations,” he said. “The negotiations were very difficult and tedious, but we did come away with something we feel we can live with for the next three years.”

July 18, 2009 Philadelphia Inquirer
Back on the street after a record-setting 14-year jail sentence for contempt, H. Beatty Chadwick is learning that he needs a quick update on the 21st century. Like, what's with those cell phones everyone has plugged to their ears? What's with the Internet? And does he get a PC or a Mac? As Chadwick, 73, rejoins the "land of the living," he's discovering all the things that must be done in what has become a "complicated society." In an interview, he also launched into an unprompted critique of the 1,800-inmate Delaware County jail. The former Main Line corporate lawyer was jailed by a Delaware County Court judge in April 1995 for failing to turn over $2.5 million in alimony to his ex-wife, Barbara "Bobbie" Applegate. The couple were married for 15 years. Chadwick contended that he lost the money in a bad overseas investment. The judge believed Chadwick had hidden the money from his ex-wife and ordered him jailed until he produced the millions. Court-ordered investigations conducted since he went to jail have turned up no money. Petitions for release over the years were denied by numerous judges, who believed he had the money. Last week, President Judge Joseph P. Cronin Jr. ruled that keeping Chadwick in jail had lost "coercive effect," even though he thought Chadwick "had the ability to comply." Standing outside a Lancaster Avenue cafe in Wayne this week, Chadwick looked at a street he no longer recognized. The traffic, he said, is worse. He wondered what had happened to a small grocer he once frequented. Chadwick has e-mail and Internet service to set up - neither was in wide use when he went to jail - and is busy with mundane tasks: retrieving belongings from storage, getting the electricity turned on in his Wilmington apartment . . . and changing all his subscriptions to a new address. Chadwick was an avid reader in jail, devouring the Wall Street Journal and the Economist, among others. He was one of about 150 inmates who held a job at the prison. His first position, assigned a few years after he arrived, was as the assistant to the official who classified prisoners upon entry as minimum, medium, or maximum security. For the last six years, Chadwick worked in the prison library, where he helped inmates with letter-writing and tutored for GED exams. He also volunteered legal advice. Chadwick said he was "shocked" how poorly educated some inmates were. "Writing was one of the hardest things," said Chadwick. "The idea of writing really flummoxes a lot of people." Some inmates he encountered dropped out of school in the sixth grade and could only read on a second-grade level. Others did not know their multiplication tables. "One thing I missed in jail was not being able to cook," said Chadwick, who read Bon Appetit while imprisoned. His first meal on the outside was a veggie taco from Ruby Tuesday. Next up was a roasted chicken at home. Cable TV? "I haven't tried [getting] that yet," said Chadwick, who in jail got by with rabbit ears and a handful of channels. Back in 1995, a good system had about 50 channels. Pay-per-view was not commonly used. Chadwick says he was lucky that his son, William, who lives in King of Prussia, is helping with the transition and providing transportation. "If I didn't have him, I'd be in great difficulty," he said. The two grew closer while he was in prison. Chadwick says he has seen other inmates who have had a difficult transition to post-prison life. When first released, prisoners without support from family or friends are dumped on a Chester street corner with "nary a penny" and must fend for themselves, inmates told him. "They do nothing about trying to get people jobs, housing, or even their next meal," Chadwick said. At one point, Chadwick said, the prison dropped former inmates at a mall, but this was halted after mall managers complained that the former inmates were stealing from stores, he said. For most of Chadwick's tenure, the county's George W. Hill Correctional Facility was run by the GEO Group. Community Education Centers of New Jersey took over the contract in January. Bill Palatucci, a spokesman for Community Education Centers, said policies, including release procedures and the maximum jail population, are set by the county. "We are simply acting as their agent," Palatucci said. Superintendent John A. Reilly Jr. did not return a call for comment. Linda Cartisano, County Council chair, did not return calls. Over the years, Chadwick had a number of cellmates. He said one man, unable to raise $500 bail, spent six months waiting to plead guilty to drug possession. He said the prison was often overcrowded, with three prisoners sometimes housed in cells meant for two. He never had more than one cellmate, he said.

June 11, 2009 Delco Times
The daughter of a opiate-addicted man who hanged himself while incarcerated has filed a lawsuit against the private, for-profit company that was running the George W. Hill Correctional Facility at the time of his death. Thomas Bryant, 38, of Lower Chichester, underwent a mental-health screening and health-services physical examination about 3:15 a.m. Nov. 14, 2007, the day after he was committed to the facility under the management of Geo Group Inc. It was at that time that Bryant’s “opiate dependency and narcotics dependence was made known ... but no psychiatric consultation or drug-abuse treatment was prescribed,” according to the lawsuit, filed June 3 on behalf of Jessica Bryant at the Media Courthouse and alleging wrongful death. During his four-day confinement, the lawsuit states, Bryant began to show signs and symptoms of drug withdrawal — ranging from inability to sleep or eat for three days, nausea, cold sweats and unbearable pain — but his complaints were ignored. Alone in his cell on Nov. 16, Bryant hanged himself with linens provided by the defendants, the suit states. “Had defendants provided Thomas Bryant with the appropriate medical care for his opiate withdrawal, drug detoxification, and/or appropriate suicide screening and precautions for known risks ... Thomas Bryant would have been unable to commit suicide,” the lawsuit alleges. The GEO Group Inc. is named as a defendant, along with former Warden Ronald Nardolillo, Classification Counselor Michael Moore, correctional officers T. Hammett and Connie Danley, Dr. William Purner, and all others responsible for medical care of Bryant during his confinement from Nov. 13-16. The Geo Group Inc., formerly Wackenhut Corp., was responsible for day-to-day operations at the 1,900-bed prison in Concord until January of this year. Nardolillo, Danley and Purner are no longer with the county facility, prison Superintendent John Reilly said Wednesday. Though Moore remains an employee at the prison, the status of the others named in the suit was not immediately known. Reilly said Wednesday he was unaware of the lawsuit and had no comment, but was familiar with Bryant. Reilly said Wednesday he remembered meeting with family and returning belongings the day after Bryant’s death, which he described as “sad.” Procedure dictates all lawsuits be forwarded to prison Solicitor Robert D’Orio on receipt, Reilly said. Neither D’Orio nor anyone at Geo Group Inc. in Boca Raton, Fla., could be reached for comment after business hours Wednesday. According to Daily Times archives, Bryant was remanded to the prison following an arrest in Chester on a probation violation for drug paraphernalia.

May 14, 2009 Delco Times
Two corrections officers at the county-owned George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Concord have been suspended pending an investigation into a fracas May 3, prison officials have confirmed. Details were still vague Wednesday with an in-house investigation ongoing, but facility Superintendent John Reilly said there was an allegation that Sgt. Matthew Talley had beaten an inmate. The district attorney’s Criminal Investigation Division is also investigating, said spokesman Michael Mattson. A letter to the Daily Times from another inmate who claimed to have witnessed the event described Talley savagely beating a handcuffed man until he could no longer stand on his own. Talley’s attorney, Joe McIntosh, said the man had attacked another officer and his client’s actions “were defensive as a result of a combative inmate.” “We cooperated and did an interview with CID and it is our position that any actions on the part of Mr. Talley were justified by the inmate’s actions,” said McIntosh. No charges had been filed as of Wednesday. Talley and Corrections Officer Mark Lombardo have been suspended without pay pending the investigation. There was no telephone number listed for Lombardo. Bill Palatucci, spokesman for New Jersey-based Community Education Centers Inc., the for-profit company that took over prison operations in January, said the company is aware of the investigation and will “actively pursue it,” but could not comment further.

April 1, 2009 Delco Times
A 2008 lawsuit alleging the private, for-profit company that formerly ran the Delaware County prison routinely violated strip-search prohibitions for minor offenders will move forward, following a ruling in federal court last week. The GEO Group Inc., formerly Wackenhut Corp., was responsible for day-to-day operations at the 1,900-bed George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Thornton until January of this year. It is responsible for dozens of jails and similar facilities nationwide, according to the company’s Web site. Plaintiffs Penny Allison of Media and Zoran Hocevar of Upper Darby allege GEO and up to 100 of its employees routinely strip-searched nonviolent, non-drug offenders entering or transferring into its facilities, in violation of their Fourth Amendment rights. They are seeking class-action status and demanding a jury trial. Allison had served 15 weekends at the facility on a DUI charge, according to the complaint. Each time she entered the facility, Allison alleges she was strip-searched in front of other female weekend inmates. Hocevar was arrested for drug possession in 2005, according to the complaint. This later led to a bench warrant being issued for Hocevar’s arrest after he allegedly mistakenly failed to appear for a court date. Hocevar was arrested on that warrant and transported to county prison, where he was allegedly strip-searched in front of other detainees. Last year, GEO successfully petitioned the court to throw out three counts of battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress. GEO had asked the court to further dismiss three counts seeking monetary damages for the alleged Fourth Amendment violations, a demand for declaratory relief regarding those alleged violations, and a demand for preliminary and permanent injunction for those alleged violations. In his 49-page order, Senior District Judge for the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Jan E. DuBois went over several standards set forth by U.S. Supreme Court rulings relative to what privacy, if any, detainees in a custodial facility could reasonably expect. Chief among them was a 1984 Supreme Court case relating to the search of prison cells. GEO had argued that case undermined a 1979 decision that assumed inmates — both convicted prisoners and pretrial detainees — retained some Fourth Amendment rights. GEO also argued DuBois should view this suit using a more general standard of privacy the Supreme Court established in a 1987 ruling, which would paint the strip-search policy as constitutional, granted it was “reasonably related to general penological interests.” DuBois rejected both arguments, however, due to lack of any credible examples the later cases undermined or overruled the 1979 case. “This court will not disregard controlling Supreme Court precedent that has not been specifically overruled by subsequent Supreme Court cases,” wrote DuBois in the order. DuBois also noted all courts faced with the issue have ruled blanket strip searches of detainees unreasonable and, therefore, unconstitutional. He noted last week’s ruling would not prejudice GEO’s ability to argue the constitutionality of its alleged actions at the summary judgment stage or at trial.

December 22, 2008 Philadelphia Enquirer
AT ONE END of Delaware County's rekindled debate over prison privatization, you'll find Wally Nunn, a tough-talking fiscal hawk and former county councilman. At the other, Fay Kallenbach, a bereaved mother. The George W. Hill Correctional Facility is ground zero. Nunn led the 1995 effort to privatize the county jail, outsourcing its operation to the GEO Group, a multinational corrections corporation. He stands by his decision today, saying the move cut government waste and saved taxpayers millions of dollars – including the more than $30 million the county saved by hiring GEO, then called Wackenhut Corrections Corp., to build the current prison in 1998. "It's a success right there, by definition," Nunn said. Fay Kallenbach has a different perspective. She says privatizing the prison has put inmates in the care of a money-hungry "machine" that cuts corners anywhere it can. Her son, comedian Kenneth Keith Kallenbach, died in April of complications from cystic fibrosis while in prison custody. She says he didn't receive the crucial treatment that had kept him alive for 39 years. "They definitely killed my son," she said of Florida-based GEO. The deep philosophical divide between Kallenbach and Nunn is typical when it comes to prison privatization, a love-it-or-hate-it concept that pits labor unions against politicians and corporate leaders against inmate-advocacy groups. Regardless, if Nunn is considered Delaware County's "father of privatization," his first born remains an only child in Pennsylvania – and there have been some growing pains lately. In the 12 years since the county handed the jailhouse keys to GEO, no other county in the state has followed its lead. Now, the company is terminating its $40-million-a-year contract there, ridden out of town by an onslaught of lawsuits and inadequate profits. A new firm takes over on New Year's Day. All about the $$$ -- Prison Superintendent John Reilly Jr. oversees GEO's performance at the 1,883-bed lockup in Thornton, and he doesn't shy away from discussing the good, the bad and the ugly. There has been plenty of each, from huge cost savings and indemnification from civil-rights lawsuits, to filthy showers and dead inmates. The cost of operating the prison - nearly $45 million when you factor in the superintendent and his staff – is the single largest expenditure of county tax dollars in the budget. It is expected to eat up 15 percent of the $303 million budget next year. But GEO has run the prison cheaper than the county ever could, Reilly said. And outsourcing still saves the government an estimated $3.2 million a year, according to Delaware County Executive Director Marianne Grace. By having Reilly and his staff on the premises, the county's version of privatization is ideal because the government is able to keep an eye on GEO and implement hefty fines - more than $700,000 this year - when the jail is understaffed. "Our security, maintenance and food service is similar to, and in some instances maybe better, than when the county ran it," Reilly said. Proponents of privatization say profit-driven companies can eliminate patronage jobs, play hardball with the labor unions and find new efficiencies without a substantial drop-off in services. Government officials "tend to hire people that have worked on their campaigns or political-patronage people," Nunn said. "Corporations tend to hire people that are competent and capable. They can manage more effectively than a public entity can." Critics say the profit incentive is a double-edged sword, and that the industry makes its money on the backs of inmates and guards by reducing personnel costs and cutting back on inmate care. "I don't trust them as far as I can throw them," said Ken Kopczynski, executive director of the Private Corrections Institute and a lobbyist for the Florida Police Benevolent Association, a union that represents police and correctional officers. "All those millions of dollars they are making that are going into corporate executives' pockets should have been put into inmates services," he said. Delaware County officials say they are generally satisfied with GEO's performance here since 1996, with one large caveat: The medical services in the prison have, at times, fallen woefully short. Employee turnover in that department has been extremely high in recent years, Reilly said, and the company has gone through eight health-services administrators since 2004. As a result, the daily "pill call" for inmates, for example, is sometimes run by nurses who are incompetent or overworked, he said, and the backlog of prisoners waiting for medical attention can exceed 400 cases. "The medical department has underperformed here," Reilly concedes. GEO has spent an inordinate amount of time and money fending off federal lawsuits, including wrongful-death cases. The frequent litigation is one of the main reasons the company is bailing out on its contract next week. In 2006, the company agreed to pay $100,000 to the family of Rosalyn Atkinson, a 25-year-old mother of two who died from a toxic dose of a blood-pressure drug while in prison custody. In October, GEO agreed to an undisclosed settlement in the case of Cassandra Morgan, 38, who died in 2006 of complications from an untreated thyroid condition while jailed on a shoplifting charge. GEO also paid $125,000 in 2005 to the family of a prisoner who hung himself with his bootlaces and agreed to a $300,000 settlement in 2000 involving another suicide. Fay Kallenbach and her attorney are awaiting more medical information before deciding whether to move forward with a lawsuit on behalf of her son, a longtime member of Howard Stern's "Wack Pack." Prison officials say they are not at fault in his death. While the Delaware County prison was far from a utopia when it was run by the county - seven guards were convicted of federal charges stemming from inmate beatings in 1994 - GEO's correctional officers have compiled a lengthy rap sheet since the jail was privatized. This year a K-9 officer pleaded guilty to having sex with an inmate in his pickup truck, and a guard admitted to sending a forged letter to the state parole board so her boyfriend - a convicted murderer - could move in with her. In 2006 the jail's former work-release supervisor, who is now registered under Megan's Law as a sex offender, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting an inmate, and a guard pleaded guilty in federal court last year to conspiracy to commit bank robbery. Two other guards were convicted of participating in a 2002 attack on an inmate who claimed that he was handcuffed and pummeled with a basketball and that his pants were pulled down. That inmate's attorney, Jon Auritt, has said the incident reminded him of "Abu Ghraib, except without the dogs." GEO later paid an undisclosed settlement in that case, though. Prison staff incorrectly released three inmates between 2002 and 2004, and in 2006, GEO agreed to pay a settlement to an innocent man who sued the company because he was imprisoned for more than 40 days. It was a case of mistaken identity. GEO officials declined to be interviewed for this story, as did state Rep. John Perzel, R-Phila., a paid member of its board of directors. The company did not admit any wrongdoing in the lawsuits it settled. Pa. counties unreceptive -- In 1998, the state Supreme Court approved the privatization of the Delaware County prison, ruling against the prison guards' union, which had filed suit to block the outsourcing. At the time, labor leaders fretted that the ruling would pave the way for other counties to hire firms to run their own jails. That never happened. While privatization has taken off in other states, particularly Texas, the George W. Hill Correctional Facility remains the only privately-run county prison in Pennsylvania, largely due to strong union resistance, according to Richard Culp, a prison privatization expert and professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. "It's a matter of labor costs, pure and simple," said Culp, who has worked as a consultant for the Delaware County Board of Prison Inspectors. Beaver County tried to privatize its prison in 2006, but was bombarded by union opposition. The county lost a ruling by an arbitrator, which was upheld in Common Pleas Court, according to county Commissioner Charles Camp. Beaver County officials decided not to appeal the case because the legal bills were getting so high, he said. "We had everyone coming at us," Camp said of the unions that fought the privatization proposal. "It would have saved us a million bucks a year," he said, adding that the county is now facing a $2 million budget deficit and is planning layoffs. Large corrections companies increasingly are looking to the federal government for their profits, and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies have been expanding their use of private companies in recent years, Culp said. While Culp recommended that counties and other government agencies keep a short leash on those firms – as Delaware County does – he said the industry has become more "professional" since the mid-1990s. "I think the market has shaken out a lot of the underperformers and poor performers and people that got into it to make a fast buck," Culp said. The future is CEC -- Community Education Centers (CEC), a smaller, privately-held company that specializes in inmate re-entry services, will replace the GEO Group on Jan. 1 at the Delaware County prison. Based in West Caldwell, N.J., CEC operates county prisons in Texas, Arizona and Ohio, as well as treatment centers within publicly-run prisons. In Philadelphia, it runs Hoffman Hall, a residential re-entry center for city inmates that opened in July, and Coleman Hall, which runs a work-release program for state inmates. William Palatucci, a CEC senior vice president, said the Delaware County prison will become the largest county jail in the company's network. Most of the existing GEO guards will keep their jobs, and county officials say that guards that once worked for GEO are interested in coming back now that the company is leaving. CEC made headlines in 2004 when a Coleman Hall resident was shot to death in his room, and the company is being sued by the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project on behalf of several inmates who said they were denied adequate medical care there. Palatucci declined to comment on the litigation, but said the company planned to bring to the Delaware County prison a "renewed commitment to quality operations." "I think competition is good for everybody. It keeps the public sector and private sector on their toes," he said. "At the end of the day, that's good for the taxpayer." Robert Eskind, spokesman for the Philadelphia Prison System, said the city is "pleased so far" with CEC's performance at Hoffman Hall. County officials say CEC could be a better fit than GEO at their jail, particularly because the company has experience in reducing recidivism. Overcrowding has long been a problem there. John Hosier, chairman of the county Board of Prison Inspectors, is optimistic about the changing of the guard, but warned against unrealistic expectations. "We can hope for the best," Hosier said, "but it is a jail."

November 14, 2008 Delco Times
The victim remained shackled Thursday and the defendant was free, but that will change after an ex-Delaware County prison correctional officer was sentenced to three to 23 months in jail for having sex with a 25-year-old female inmate earlier this year. Michael Waters, 38, of 200 block of South Church Street, Clifton Heights, will report Monday to his former work site — the Delaware County prison, after Judge William R. Toal Jr. imposed the sentence. “Frankly, I am appalled at this type of conduct,” said the judge. “He (Waters) certainly abused his position.” The judge allowed Waters to remain free until Monday to allow time for him to handle personal matters, as well as to alert the prison to security concerns and possibly make arrangements for him to be moved to another facility. Waters, who was employed with the GEO Group that was running the county prison at the time, had sexual trysts with the woman while she was on work release off the prison grounds. As Waters was being sentenced, the dark-haired victim, who was transported from the prison, sat on one side of the courtroom staring straight ahead. The defendant’s wife, who is confined to a wheelchair, was on the other side sobbing. Neither gave a statement in court. Deputy District Attorney Michael Galantino recommended the jail stint, calling the sentence “appropriate” considering the charges against Waters. The defendant pleaded guilty in July to a charge of institutional sexual abuse. “When somebody is in charge of supervising inmates and takes advantage of one as he did, it disrupts the entire system,” Galantino said outside the courtroom. Defense attorney Ronald Smith said that Waters is the father of two sons, one of whom suffers from epilepsy. He asked the court for leniency, citing the needs of his family, as well as Waters’ cooperation from the beginning. Waters appeared remorseful as he looked back at his wife and mother, who were in court together. “I apologize to everybody I affected — my family and the people at work,” he said. He lamented he lost his job, is losing his home and said his family is dependent on him. Outside the courtroom, Galantino said he sympathized with the family, but maintained that Waters should have thought about them before he committed the crime. “It’s always amazing when someone doesn’t consider the family while committing the crime, and then at the sentencing presents their family’s needs as a reason for leniency,” said Galantino. “It is clear he has hurt more than one victim.” Galantino said the sentence took into consideration Waters’ cooperation. “The (state’s recommended) guidelines could have gone higher,” he said. Smith called the crime an “aberration” on the part of his client, stating he had a “spotless record.” The defense attorney sought a probationary term. At the time of the plea, Galantino said there was no allegation of force. The law provides that a person employed at a correctional institution commits a crime if there is sexual intercourse with an inmate or detainee. Prison Superintendent John Reilly Jr. said that Waters had been employed since Nov. 16, 1998, with the GEO Group. He was earning $16 an hour at the time he was terminated last March, after the charges surfaced. Waters was arrested after the female inmate told authorities that while she was on work release, she and Waters would hook up off of the prison grounds. She told investigators she first met Waters while he was patrolling at the prison and she told him where she would be working that day. He replied, “Maybe I’ll stop by,” according to a court document. She said Waters picked her up on at least four occasions for sex between Feb. 25 and March 20, according to the court document.

October 28, 2008 Philadelphia Inquirer
A 44-year-old East Lansdowne man hanged himself Saturday inside his cell at the Delaware County prison, authorities said. The privatized jail is run by the GEO Group, which has settled several wrongful-death lawsuits there in recent years, including one suicide. Citing frequent litigation and other reasons, the company announced in August that it is ending its agreement to operate the prison in early January, a year before its contract expires.

October 24, 2008 Philadelphia Daily News
The Delaware County Board of Prison Inspectors didn't have much of a choice yesterday in deciding which company would run the George W. Hill Correctional Facility next year. Only one firm in the country was willing to assume the $40 million annual contract left behind by the Florida-based GEO Group, which is skipping town amid a flurry of costly lawsuits and an inability to turn a substantial profit at the 1,883-bed county lockup. The five-member board awarded the contract to Community Education Centers (CEC), a smaller company that specializes in inmate re-entry programs and, according to its Web site, "believes in the opportunity for redemption" and providing "second chances" to ex-offenders. John Reilly, the jail's acting superintendent, who oversees GEO's performance on the county's behalf, said that CEC will begin managing the prison on Jan. 5 and is expected to retain most of the 500 GEO employees. The prison, located in Thornbury, has been operated by GEO, formerly Wackenhut Corrections Corp., since 1996 and is the state's only privatized county jail. The cost of running the prison - about $43.8 million this year - is the single largest expenditure of county tax dollars in Delaware County's $316 million annual budget. But officials say that the public-private partnership has saved taxpayers millions. After getting word in August that GEO was bailing out on its contract, which ran through 2009, the prison board asked 11 companies if they wanted to give it a shot.

October 23, 2008 Delco Times
An out-of-court settlement was ironed out Wednesday in the federal civil suit over the death of Cassandra Morgan, whose family maintained she was improperly treated for a debilitating mental illness and a hypothyroid condition while an inmate at Delaware County’s prison leading to her 2006 death. The terms of the settlement reached over the noon recess included a confidentiality clause, according to attorney James Mundy, who represented the victim’s family. “We are barred from discussing the outcome,” said Mundy. All he would say is that the parties were “satisfied.” U.S. District Court Judge Berle M. Schiller told the jury about 2 p.m., following four days of testimony, their services were no longer needed and “the case has been resolved.” At the start of the proceedings Wednesday, before the jury was brought in, Schiller indicated the trial could go into next week because of the unavailability of a witness for the defendant’s side. He said such an extension would pose a “hardship” on the jurors who were told the trial would end by Friday. “I don’t think anyone wants to retry this case,” said Schiller. The judge said that problem could be remedied by alternatives, including converting the proceedings to a bench trial and allowing him to make the final ruling. He then advised both sides that talking to each other could “eliminate” the need for a bench trial. Earlier, Schiller reportedly dismissed parties originally named in the lawsuit except for Dr. Grato Paneque, a psychiatrist employed at the prison, as well as the Delaware County Board of Prison Inspectors and the GEO group, a Florida company that operated the prison while Morgan, 38, was an inmate there on a shoplifting offense. Morgan, who was in jail for six weeks, died at Riddle Memorial Hospital after suffering a seizure at the prison and lapsing into a coma in her jail cell. Carolyn Short, the attorney representing the prison board, presented one witness Wednesday — Dr. Peter Crino, a neurologist who heads the Epilepsy Center for the University of Pennsylvania. Crino, testifying as an expert, discounted claims the prison was at fault for failing to properly treat Morgan before her March 29, 2006, death. However, on cross-examination by Mundy, the attorney cast doubt on some of the records that Crino used in arriving at his conclusion. Mundy said one of the reports indicated the patient “walked in” and was “pregnant.” He said Riddle’s computer had mixed the medical report on Morgan, who was not pregnant and came to the hospital by ambulance on a stretcher with the record of another patient. Crino was to be re-examined by Short following the luncheon recess. However, it wasn’t necessary once the settlement was reached.

October 22, 2008 Philadelphia Inquirer
A nurse who cared for Cassandra "Sandy" Morgan at the Delaware County jail told jurors in a federal courtroom yesterday that she wanted to do more for her but was limited by the law. "I just wanted her so badly to go to psychiatric hospital," Maureen Hoffman, a nurse at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility, testified at the civil trial. But each time Hoffman spoke with the jail staff psychologist, she said, he reminded her: "We can't. Nobody is going to take her." Morgan, 38, of Aston, died after she suffered a seizure at the jail on March 25, 2006. Morgan suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and did not tell jail staff that she had a thyroid condition and needed medication. She died after five weeks of incarceration without her medication. Her family has sued the county Board of Prison Inspectors and the company that operates the jail, arguing that Morgan should have been sent for outside psychiatric help. Yesterday, Hoffman and forensic psychiatrist Kenneth Weiss testified that the jail did everything possible for Morgan within state law.

October 21, 2008 Philadelphia Inquirer
The Delaware County medical examiner yesterday defended his conclusion that an easily treatable thyroid condition caused the death of a 38-year-old Aston woman at the county jail. Cassandra "Sandy" Morgan died in March 2006 after being held for five weeks at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility on a shoplifting charge. Morgan had schizophrenia and did not tell jail staff that she needed a thyroid-replacement hormone. Her family has sued the jail in U.S. District Court, arguing that its staff should not have depended on Morgan as the sole historian of her medical past and should have called 911 more quickly when she suffered a seizure. Lawyers for the Morgan family wrapped up their presentation of testimony yesterday with Morgan's younger sister, Erika, and the medical examiner, Frederic Hellman. Hellman, who performed an autopsy on Morgan, said she suffered a slow decline during her incarceration because she did not receive the hormone. Without the medication, her metabolism slowed and her blood pressure and heart rate dropped, along with her temperature, eventually causing a seizure, he testified. Soon after jail medical staff transferred Morgan to Riddle Memorial Hospital, she was severely hypothermic, with a temperature of 82.8 degrees, according to hospital records. But John Gonzales, who represents jail staffers named in the suit, argued that Morgan did not show the classic symptoms of hypothroidism: cold, dry skin, loss of hair, weight, gain and low body temperature. Nurses who checked Morgan's vital signs during her incarceration found her temperature within normal range and her skin warm and pink, according to nursing logs.

October 18, 2008 Philadelphia Inquirer
Cassandra "Sandy" Morgan, who was arrested for stealing from a Wal-Mart that she believed she owned, should have been taken to a hospital, not a jail, a psychiatrist testified in federal court yesterday. Morgan, 38, of Aston, suffered from schizophrenia, and her condition had grown worse when the police caught her trying to take toys in February 2006. "I think she was a medical psychiatric emergency from the minute she was taken into that prison," said Eric Fine, a clinical psychiatrist and associate professor at Jefferson Medical College. The psychiatric care she received during her five-week incarceration at the Delaware County jail was "an incompetent level," Fine testified yesterday. Morgan died of complications from a thyroid condition for which she did not receive medication while in jail. Her family has sued the George W. Hill Correctional Facility and the GEO Group, a Florida-based company that operates the jail. Fine testified as an expert for the plaintiff. Lawyers for the jail argue that Morgan was appropriately cared for at the jail: She was visited four times by contracting psychiatrists who prescribed antipsychotic medication. She was housed in the infirmary, where nurses monitored her and correctional officers looked in on her every 15 minutes. Morgan did not tell jail staff that she had a thyroid condition, and although several of her siblings said they talked to a jail counselor about the medications Morgan needed, the jail contends that it never knew. Defense lawyers also argue that Morgan did not pose a clear and immediate danger to herself or others, and therefore could not have been committed to a hospital because she did not meet the legal standard. Fine disagrees. He faulted the two psychiatrists who saw her, Grato Paneque and Hani Zaki, for trusting Morgan to give them an accurate medical and mental health history. Had they investigated her past, they would have found that she had been hospitalized 14 times in the three years before her arrest and had been released from Crozer-Chester Medical Center nine days before her arrest, Fine testified. With her medical history in hand, Fine added, doctors might have seen that Morgan's case required more proactive measures than simply prescribing medication and observing her. "If you don't have the history in a psychiatric patient, you know virtually nothing," Fine testified. "Cassandra Morgan was not capable of presenting her history." Morgan refused to take her psychiatric medication during her incarceration and became more withdrawn, a sign that she was in acute mental distress, Fine said. "We're always sensitive when patients change from agitated to withdrawn," Fine said, adding it's a signal that "thoughts are going on that are not being shared." The plaintiff's attorneys are expected to wrap up their case Monday. The defense will present its case next week.

October 16, 2008 Delco Times
A psychiatrist employed at Delaware County prison testified in federal court Wednesday that Cassandra Lynn Morgan was “obviously delusional,” but stated he could not force her to take her medications. Dr. Grato Paneque testified during day two of the trial in the lawsuit over Cassandra Lynn “Sandy” Morgan’s death on March 29, 2006. Morgan, who was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, died after lapsing into a coma on the floor of her jail cell at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility about six weeks after being arrested for shoplifting. Morgan, 38, who was imprisoned for six weeks without a preliminary hearing, died at Riddle Memorial Hospital. Delaware County Medical Examiner Fredric N. Hellman ruled Morgan’s death was caused by complications from a hypothyroid condition, which was not treated during her incarceration. Morgan’s family filed the civil suit in 2007 against the GEO Group that operates the county prison, Delaware County Board of Prison Inspectors and several physicians, among others. The suit alleges her death was the result of the prison’s failure to treat her thyroid condition. Morgan’s family is seeking unspecified damages. Paneque testified that Morgan, who was housed in the prison’s infirmary, told him of her psychiatric history, but did not say anything about her medical condition. He said Morgan refused to take her psychiatric medication, not uncommon for paranoid schizophrenics. “I cannot force medication against their will unless there is imminent danger to her self or others,” said Paneque, who was hired by the GEO Group to provide psychiatric services to inmates. Morgan, he said, did not appear to be a danger to anyone. Testimony by Paneque and Dr. John Fraunces, a retired prison psychologist, painted a very sad picture of a mentally ill woman behind prison bars. Both said that since most mental hospitals were shuttered years ago, prisons have become the mental hospital of last resort. “It’s a lot cheaper to house a person in a prison than a state mental hospital,” said Fraunces. Dr. William Purner, the current medical director of the prison, said he was the acting medical director working part time in March 2006 when Morgan was incarcerated. Purner testified he never saw Morgan as a patient at the prison. It was only after she was brought to Riddle, where he was on staff, that he treated her as a patient. It was then, Purner said, he got Morgan’s medical history from her family. Purner testified that as a prison physician, he is not permitted to solicit information about a prisoner’s medical history. James F. Mundy, attorney for the plaintiffs, questioned Purner about a two-week period during which Morgan’s vital signs were not taken. “Was that routine procedure?” he asked. “That’s not a standard of care of any individual under any condition,” Purner replied. “No medical doctor ever examined Cassandra Morgan during the entire six weeks Cassandra Morgan was at the prison?” Mundy asked. “I found no notes to that effect,” Purner stated. Mundy also reviewed documents that indicated the prison nursing staff believed Morgan’s condition was deteriorating. On March 21, eight days before Morgan died, a nurse wrote in the infirmary log that her body temperature was 92.7 degrees. Purner testified that if he had seen that temperature, he’d have asked a nurse to take it again. He added that it is possible the notation was an error. After that entry, there is a 12-hour gap in the log as the records are missing, something Purner acknowledged.

October 15, 2008 Philadelphia Daily News
A lawyer for the family of Cassandra "Sandy" Morgan, a mentally ill woman who died two years ago after having been held for five weeks in the Delaware County prison, asked a jury yesterday to give Morgan the "justice she never received from" prison officials and doctors who worked for the prison. Morgan, 38, died in Riddle Memorial Hospital on March 29, 2006, four days after she lapsed into a coma at the prison. She died as a result of complications caused by hypothyroidism, a condition in which the thyroid gland doesn't produce enough of certain important hormones. Morgan's family filed suit in federal district court in July 2007, alleging that her death resulted from the prison's failure to give her medication for the thyroid problem and to follow its own rules. The family is seeking unspecified damages. The trial is expected to last two weeks.

October 7, 2008 Philadelphia Inquirer
Sandy Morgan didn't have a receipt when she walked out of the Boothwyn Wal-Mart with more than $500 worth of dolls, toys and girls' clothes. In her mind, she didn't need one. She owned Wal-Mart, she told a manager who tried to stop her. Sandy knew things others didn't. She knew she owned many stores and she knew the television transmitted demons. She took care to protect her family: She threatened the demons with knives and a broken mop handle; she threw away food she was sure was poisoned. It was a strain, fighting things no one else saw. Once her sisters watched as Sandy wandered into the street and looked up at the sky. She asked God to take her. But that February afternoon in 2006, it was the police who took Sandy. Arrested for shoplifting, the 38-year-old college graduate from Aston was ordered held on $10,000 bail and taken to the Delaware County jail. Within the first hours of Sandy's incarceration, a physician's assistant guessed she might be mentally retarded. Within a day, a doctor diagnosed her as schizophrenic. Within eight days, a psychiatrist declared her incompetent to stand trial. While the court waited for a competency report, Sandy waited in jail. For five weeks, she saw no visitors. She never went outside. She hid under covers and stared at the walls. She went two weeks without a shower because the nurses were afraid to go near her. "Time to get out!" Sandy told a nurse after a week in jail. After two weeks, "Are you here for Jesus?" After a month, "Is [that] a horse over there?" If a local hospital hadn't released Sandy from its psychiatric ward weeks earlier, she might not have been arrested. If she had threatened to kill the Wal-Mart employees, or herself, the police could have taken her to a hospital. If jail officials had called Sandy's family, they might have known what was wrong when she collapsed in her cell, her arms and legs flailing, her body cold. But Sandy wasn't lucky like that. A grim diagnosis -- Later, Sandy's story would come out slowly, in dozens of depositions, after her family sued the jail, the company that runs it, and the hospital that released her weeks before her arrest. There would be many sides to the tale, a tangle that a jury is scheduled to work out next week. But it started in 1985, when Sandy was 17 and heading off to York College. That's when her family noticed something was wrong. The sixth of seven children, Cassandra "Sandy" Morgan had been a bright, fearless child with a vivid imagination. She excelled in school, played field hockey, ran track, and loved writing and singing contests. She wanted to be a nurse. But the summer after she graduated from Chester High School, she became afraid. She told her younger sister, Erika, that someone was trying to break into their house. In her dorm room, she saw spiders crawling on the walls. Sandy's brother James, seven years her senior, was a rookie in the York Police Department in 1986 when he received a call from campus that Sandy had been raped. He rushed to the hospital. But doctors found no evidence of assault. After prolonged questioning and numerous tests, they diagnosed Sandy, then 18, with paranoid schizophrenia. They prescribed Haldol, a psychotropic drug. Sandy tried to go back to school, but the hallucinations drove her home to her mother and sisters Erika and Jamie. She wrote poetry about her struggle to hold on to her dreams that was published in an anthology in 1988. At home, Sandy found purpose in caring for her diabetic mother, who was bedridden. Willie Mae Morgan needed insulin shots, which all three sisters helped to administer. Sandy often bathed her mother and helped prepare her meals. The regular schedule helped Sandy remember when to take her medications. She stayed active. She played piano and attended church. She tried to teach herself how to speak Chinese. Sandy eventually returned to school, attending class part time until graduating from Neumann College in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in liberal arts. Her whole family went to her commencement. Erika, three years her junior, watched Sandy smile for the cameras, "chest pumped out and posing." A mind unravels -- In March 2003, Sandy's mother died of pancreatic cancer. Sandy was devastated. She stopped eating. She slept fitfully. She refused her medications - not just the Haldol, but the Synthroid doctors had prescribed two years earlier for hypothyroidism. The condition was easily manageable with drugs, but if untreated, it could lead to coma, even death. Without her mother to care for, the hours and days fell out of a recognizable pattern. Without her medication, her hallucinations and delusions flourished. "God is talking to me," she told Erika and Jamie, who also still lived in their mother's house on Jennifer Lane. "Come with me to see God and the angels." She thought the family dog was the devil. Her sisters caught her choking it. She worried that Satan had taken over her family and would harm her nephews and nieces. Once she chased Erika down a hallway with an 8-inch butcher knife, screaming, "Who are you?" Her family sent her to Crozer-Chester Medical Center 13 times in three years, committing her against her will to the psychiatric ward. They wanted the old Sandy back, and they hoped the doctors could persuade her to take her medicine. But five, 20, even 90 days in the hospital never seemed to be enough. Each time she returned home, Sandy's interactions with the world in her mind became more frightening. On Jan. 19, 2006, Sandy's sisters heard a loud crash. They ran to the kitchen and saw Sandy break a mop handle across her hip. She swung the broken sections ather sisters, saying, "Demons get out, demons get out!" Jamie and Erika called the police, who took Sandy to Crozer-Chester, where orderlies stood by ready to restrain her. A social worker noted that Sandy was "psychotic, paranoid, refusing antipsychotic medication, and a danger to herself and others." Crozer-Chester asked permission to hold Sandy for up to 90 days for treatment, which the Delaware County court granted. In his reports, Rommel Rivera, Sandy's attending psychiatrist, said she should be forced to take her psychotropic medication. On her first day there, she was given an injection of Geodon. She later agreed to take Risperdal, Klonopin and injections of Haldol. But that wouldn't last. Rivera suggested that Sandy's frequent hospitalizations showed she might need more help. He suggested sending her to Norristown State Hospital. She could be held at the psychiatric hospital for more than 90 days - long enough, her family hoped, to get her back on her meds. A social worker met with Sandy and her sisters on Jan. 26 to discuss Norristown. Sandy, who had become less agitated after the injections, agreed to go if she could take her keyboard and her Bible. The three sisters hugged one another tightly. Sandy smiled, something Jamie and Erika hadn't seen her do in a while. "You are finally going to get the help that you need," Jamie told her. But four days after the family meeting, another psychiatrist, Usha Kotihal, inexplicably took over Sandy's care – a change neither doctor was later able to explain. Kotihal determined that Sandy's mental state had improved and that she no longer posed a threat to herself or others, she later testified in a deposition. She gave Sandy a 100-milligram injection of Haldol decanoate - a long-acting drug with a half-life of three weeks - and sent her home on Feb. 7, 2006. Erin King, Sandy's case manager, later testified that she couldn't believe it. During the car ride home, Sandy was laughing and talking to the voices in her head. "What's so funny?" King remembered asking her. "Wanna let me in on the joke?" "No," Sandy said. Nine days later, Sandy, convinced she owned Wal-Mart, was arrested. Hospital or jail? More than 70 percent of the patients in state psychiatric hospitals suffer from schizophrenia. Mental-health officials often struggle to get patients adequate treatment, given the national trend away from institutions and toward residential care. Without medication, schizophrenics relapse within six weeks, on average, said Amy Brodkey, a psychiatrist who directed the mental-health court at Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute for six years. "It affects people's thinking, it affects their emotion, their cognition," Brodkey said. "The prognosis is still not good." Under state law, a person must pose a "clear and present danger" of bodily harm to himself, herself or others within the last 30 days to be committed to a hospital. Many wind up in jail, as police officers decide what to do with someone who broke the law but is not necessarily dangerous. A conundrum -- At the police station, Detective Tom McNichol and another officer asked Sandy to empty her pockets and sit on a bench outside the station's three cells. As McNichol called her house, Sandy asked for her Bible back. Later, McNichol testified that he called Jamie, who told him that Sandy was supposed to be going to the hospital. She gave him a number to contact Erin King. According to McNichol, Jamie told him Sandy was no longer welcome at home. "What are we supposed to do with her?" McNichol said he asked. "I don't care what you do with her," Jamie said, according to McNichol. Jamie denies that. In her testimony, she said she didn't know of Sandy's arrest until she heard a message the police left on her answering machine later that night. She testified that she did not go to the station to see her sister because it was late. McNichol called King. Could she pick Sandy up and have her committed to the hospital? King told him it wasn't possible. Sandy wasn't a threat to herself or others, so she could not be committed against her will. "We can't release her to the streets," McNichol recalled thinking. The police charged Sandy with retail theft, defiant trespass (she'd been warned previously not to bother employees at the Wal-Mart), and disorderly conduct. During her video arraignment, Sandy told Judge Stephanie Klein, "I'm the boss. I'll put you in jail," McNichol said in an interview. The prosecutor wrote "crazy" on her copy of the charges. Klein ordered a competency evaluation and set bail at $10,000. Sandy was then taken to the George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Thornton, southwest of Media, the state's only privately operated jail. Ten thousand dollars is a high bail for a retail theft charge for someone with no arrest record, Montgomery County chief public defender Stephen Heckman said. "If she had no mental-health issues, she would not have gone to jail. Not for retail theft," Heckman said. "It's almost doing them a favor . . . it may be the quickest route to treatment." A question of competence -- The Delaware County jail, a 1,883-bed facility, is required by contract to adhere to basic national medical guidelines. Upon arrival, inmates are typically given a physical and mental-health evaluation and tested for communicable diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV. When Sandy arrived, she told the corrections officers she was innocent. When she struggled, two officers wrestled her to the ground and handcuffed her, according to jail logs. The officers took Sandy to a physician's assistant, Lisa Black, who asked Sandy about her medical history. Sandy appeared confused and was combative, she noted. Black asked Sandy whether she was taking medication or under the care of a doctor. No, was the answer. Had she ever had high blood pressure, diabetes or a psychiatric disorder? No. Had she been hospitalized for an emotional or nervous problem? "None of your business," Sandy said, according to Black's intake form and testimony. Black decided Sandy was mentally retarded or mentally ill; she later said she believed Sandy was unable to tell her what her diagnosis was. Jail medical officials depend almost exclusively on inmates to tell them about their health. At the Delaware County jail, the medical staff is not required to check out inmates' medical histories. Inmates can decline medical care. Whether an inmate is mentally capable to help manage his or her medical care is for jail staff to decide. According to the policies of the GEO Group Inc., which ran the jail, mentally unstable inmates should be transported immediately to a hospital. But finding beds can be difficult. Not dangerous enough -- Black assigned Sandy to a room in the infirmary on suicide watch, figuring she was mentally ill, she later testified. Officers looked in on Sandy every 15 minutes to make sure she wasn't hurting herself and had not fallen ill. The next day, Sandy admitted to psychiatrist Grato Paneque that she had been on medication. When Paneque visited again four days later, Sandy said she had been hospitalized, according to Paneque's records. Sandy did not say she had schizophrenia, but the psychiatrists who visited her during her first days in jail gathered as much and prescribed Risperdal. Sandy did not mention her hypothyroidism. The last time she is known to have taken her Synthroid prescription was on Feb. 2 at Crozer-Chester. Even in the last five days of her hospital stay, she refused it. None of the psychiatrists or medical staff who met with Sandy at the jail called her family to determine what medications she was taking. No one contacted the doctors who had treated her at Crozer-Chester, where she had been hospitalized more than a dozen times. The county employs two mental-health liaisons at the jail to help inmates, yet jail officials say they had no contact with Sandy's caretakers in the infirmary. Sandy's brother James and three of her sisters said they called the jail to find out what was happening. Lisa and Jamie Morgan testified that they told a jail social worker about Sandy's thyroid condition. They hoped that once Sandy was declared incompetent to stand trial, she would be transferred to Norristown State Hospital. Sandy's caseworker, Erin King, indicated in her phone log that on Feb. 23 she spoke with Kirk Benson, a mental-health liaison at the prison. King said she told him that Sandy had schizophrenia and suffered from hypothyroidism. Benson testified that he didn't remember speaking to King. A counselor arranged for James Morgan to talk to his sister. "I don't belong here," Sandy told him. "I know," James remembers telling her. "I'm working on it." James continued to call Sandy's public defender for updates. None of her family members posted the $1,000 it would have cost to bail Sandy out of jail. James said he thought he needed the full $10,000. His sisters said they didn't ask about bail because they did not understand the process. They did not try to see Sandy, either, because they thought inmates in the infirmary could not have visitors. A psychiatrist the county hired evaluated Sandy on Feb. 24 and determined that she was not competent to stand trial. It took several weeks for the report to be transcribed and sent to her public defender, a delay that is not uncommon. Meanwhile, Sandy became more withdrawn and hostile. She hid under blankets in her cell. She fought nurses who tried to take her vital signs. They wrote "caution" next to her name in infirmary logs. One nurse said that Sandy was sometimes "wild-looking." During 59 nursing shifts, Sandy's vitals were recorded only 17 times. Nursing notes say she would ask for showers and was "malodorous," but was denied because she was too hostile. Records show she showered just four times in five weeks. On Feb. 26, a nurse wrote in the infirmary log, "needs 302," referring to the state mental-health law that allows for a person to be hospitalized against his or her will. The next day, and again on March 2, nurses noted "302?" On March 21, a nurse wrote that Sandy was getting worse and refusing medication. On March 22, a nurse scribbled, "Wrote in toothpaste, delusional," and "psychotic, poor impulse control." Two days later, Michael Harper, another public defender, petitioned the court to have Sandy transferred to Norristown State Hospital. All things considered, Sandy's case was moving along quickly, Harper said. "A two-month turnaround is about the best we can do," he later testified. But for Sandy, it wasn't fast enough. Unexplained collapse -- The next day, March 25, Officer Rasheeda Hackett walked past Sandy's cell about 3:15 a.m. and saw her gripping the sink, her legs shaking. Then she fell. By the time a nurse reached her, Sandy was convulsing. She bit her tongue. Her eyes were open, looking to the right. She was incontinent. Sandy had no history of seizures. When she stopped flailing, she was put on a stretcher and taken to another room in the medical wing. Black, the physician's assistant who had placed Sandy in the medical wing five weeks earlier, administered Dilantin, an antiseizure drug. No one contacted the doctor on call that night or dialed 911. Instead, medical staff took Sandy's blood pressure, pulse and heart and respiration rate. Ammonia revived her somewhat, but she did not respond to pain or to her name. Seizures in an adult not known to have a history of them should be treated as an emergency, said Christopher Rees, an attending physician in the emergency department at Pennsylvania Hospital. The patient should be immediately taken to a hospital to determine what caused the seizure and whether it stopped, he said. About 4:15 a.m., a nurse noticed that Sandy's pupils were not responding to light, indicating possible brain death. "It means you're dying or dead," Rees said. "That's the end." But the jail medical staff didn't call 911 until 4:42 a.m., an hour and a half after Sandy collapsed. In the ambulance, Sandy had another seizure. When she arrived at Riddle Memorial Hospital, her body temperature had dropped to 82.8 degrees. Machines kept her alive for four days while her family gathered to say goodbye. Before the hospital disconnected Sandy, before her organs were harvested for transplant, James sat next to his sister and wept. He hugged her, stroking her hand and her face. "I'm so sorry," he told her. A long deterioration -- The autopsy revealed that Sandy died from profound hypothyroidism with probable myxedema coma, an end stage of hypothyroidism that causes a firm swelling in body tissues. About half of the people who develop myxedema coma die, said David Cooper, director of the Johns Hopkins Thyroid Clinic. Hypothyroidism means the thyroid gland does not produce enough hormone to maintain body functions at a normal pace. It is one of the most common conditions in internal medicine, said Stephen Rosen, chief of endocrinology at Pennsylvania Hospital. The condition usually results when the immune system mistakenly attacks the thyroid gland. In the days leading to Sandy's death, her heart rate must have slowed and her blood pressure may have dropped, Cooper said. She likely started breathing more slowly. Her voice may have lowered or become hoarse as her larynx became engorged from the swelling. Her extremities were probably cold to the touch as her body shifted blood flow to preserve her vital organs, Rosen said. Four days before Sandy collapsed, a nurse recorded her temperature at 92.7 degrees, according to jail records. The nurse, Maureen Hoffman, testified that it was a transcription error. But Cooper, who is not involved in Sandy's case, said hypothyroidism takes a long time to kill, probably longer even than the five weeks Sandy was in jail. A check of Sandy's vital signs should have indicated to nurses that something was wrong. "I can guarantee you her temperature was not normal the day before," he said. "I can guarantee you it was not normal a week before." Body temperature that drops to 95 degrees or lower is a red flag, Rosen said. Suicide-watch logs kept by jail officers who looked in on Sandy every 15 minutes are missing for the final three days she was at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility. Records listing the drugs Sandy was offered are missing for March, legal documents show. Wide-reaching suit -- In July 2007, Sandy Morgan's family filed a lawsuit in federal court against several jail staff, Delaware County, Crozer-Chester Medical Center, Usha Kotihal, and GEO. In August, GEO announced that, in part due to the high cost of litigation, it would end its involvement at the jail at the end of the year. The lawsuit is set to go to trial next week. Harold Goodman, the lead attorney representing the Morgan family, accuses Kotihal of "abandoning" Sandy, discharging her without proper prescriptions, a post-treatment plan, or a call to the family explaining why she was not being sent to the state hospital. Morgan's family argues that the jail was ill-prepared to care for their sister and should have sent her to a mental-health facility. Amalia Romanowicz, a lawyer representing Kotihal and Crozer-Chester, declined to comment. In her court motions she argued that Kotihal and the hospital did what was required of them by law: They treated Sandy until she was no longer a threat to herself and others. Kotihal, in her deposition, said that although Sandy was still showing signs of psychosis upon discharge, she had returned to her "base line." In their court motions, lawyers for the GEO Group and jail staff dispute the cause of death, saying that Sandy showed no signs of medical distress until she collapsed. They said it was her and her family's responsibility to inform them of her thyroid condition. Suicide watch -- Throughout Sandy's 38-day incarceration, corrections officers looked into her cell every 15 minutes and noted her activities using codes. On the morning of Feb. 25, Sandy was Code 2, "yelling or screaming." On March 5, she walked around for much of the afternoon, singing, cursing, and talking to herself. But most times, officers looked in to see that Sandy, who had only a toothbrush and a Bible in her cell, wasn't doing anything. During entire eight-hour shifts, officers noted Sandy was Code 8, standing still, or Code 10 and 11, sitting or lying quietly in bed. Sandy Morgan, who was dangerous enough to be locked up in jail on suicide watch but not dangerous enough to be sent to a hospital, died in front of officers who checked her every 15 minutes of each day.

September 19, 2008 AP
A wrongful-death lawsuit can proceed against doctors and a private prison where a schizophrenic woman collapsed and later died after weeks in the infirmary, a federal judge ruled. Meanwhile, the company that runs the nearly 1,900-bed Delaware County Prison near Philadelphia is ending its 12-year management of the site, citing frequent litigation and higher-than-expected costs. At least six of the prison's inmates have died of unnatural causes or questionable circumstances since 2001, according to news accounts. They include the April death of comedian Kenneth Keith Kallenbach, a Howard Stern sidekick who died of complications from cystic fibrosis at age 39. The prison is run by the Geo Group Inc., formerly known as Wackenhut Corrections Corp., which runs about 50 corrections and immigration sites in the United States. In the latest wrongful-death case, U.S. District Judge Berle M. Shiller ruled this month that a jury could find the prison's contract doctors, along with a hospital doctor and others, negligent in the care of Cassandra Morgan. Morgan, 38, had a long history of schizophrenia and also suffered from a serious thyroid condition. She was hospitalized at Chester-Crozer Medical Center in early 2006 and was scheduled to be transferred to a state psychiatric hospital, but was instead discharged by Dr. Usha Kotihal despite evidence she would not voluntarily take her medication, the ruling said. In discharge papers, Kotihal noted that Morgan was uncooperative, angry and delusional, according to the suit. Days later, Morgan was arrested for shoplifting at a Wal-Mart. "Cassandra was under a delusion that she owned the Wal-Mart," the suit states. Morgan was brought to the prison on about Feb. 16 and housed in the infirmary because of her apparent mental illness. Although she did not acknowledge her medical history or take the anti-psychotic medication prescribed, prison medical staff failed to adequately evaluate and treat her, the suit charges. One prison doctor upped her dosage in the hope that "she would come around," even though she wasn't taking the lower dose, the suit alleges. The suit also alleges that family members called repeatedly to try to inform prison officials of her medical conditions, but were not able to get the information to the medical staff. On March 25, she collapsed and started seizing. More than 90 minutes later, she was taken to a hospital, where her body temperature was recorded as 82.8 degrees, the judge found. With thyroid hormones 14 times normal levels, she was judged to be in a hypothyroid-related coma. She never regained consciousness and was taken off life support four days later, the ruling said. "Obviously, we're pleased that after months of discovery, the judge has cleared the way for us to begin trial," said lawyer Harold Goodman, who represents the family. The case is set for trial on Oct. 14. Lawyer Carolyn Short, who represents the Geo Group Inc., declined comment. Lawyer Amalia V. Romanowicz, who represents Kotihal and the hospital, did not immediately return a message Thursday. Goodman also represents Kallenbach's mother, who has blamed her son's death on inadequate prison medical care. Kallenbach had been arrested on a child-luring charge. A separate pending lawsuit accuses the Geo Group of routinely strip-searching minor offenders at the Delaware County Prison, in violation of court rulings that ban the practice unless there is reason to suspect they are hiding contraband. The Geo Group had 2006 revenues of $860 million.

September 3, 2008 Delco Times
The Delaware County Board of Prison Inspectors spent 90 minutes in a "lively" executive session Tuesday morning "identifying, assessing and reviewing" options in the wake of the GEO Group Inc.'s decision to pull up stakes by year's end, said Acting Prison Superintendent John Reilly. The GEO Group, formerly Wackenhut Corrections Corp., is the private, for-profit company that has been running the county-owned George W. Hill Correctional Facility in one form or another since 1995. The company announced in a release Friday it would cease operations there on Dec. 31. With the holiday weekend, Tuesday was the first opportunity the board had to go over its options - essentially whether to engage another private provider, revert to operating the jail on its own or form some hybrid of the two. "That is going to be the best-kept secret in Delaware County for awhile," said Reilly. "The board has a direction and we're going to proceed - at least in the short term - in this direction, and I don't believe we should be discussing it publicly because it might impact negotiating strategies." Which at least suggests there is someone the board could potentially negotiate with, but Reilly was sticking with the "identified, assessed and reviewed" line. Executive sessions are not open to the public and little was initially revealed on Tuesday's extensive discussions. Reilly did say the board hoped the short-term phase would near completion by its next public meeting Sept. 17, but isn't setting any rigid timelines. Tuesday's meeting also reportedly culminated in a conference call with GEO Group Inc. President and Chief Operating Officer Wayne Calabrese. According to GEO's release Friday, the Concord facility is the only local county jail the company manages. Though it generates about $38 million in annual operating revenues, GEO Chairman and Chief Executive Officer George C. Zoley said his company would cease management of the 1,883-bed jail "due to financial underperformance and frequent litigation." Reilly said in its letter to the county, GEO also cited "higher-than-average workers' compensation claims" as a reason for pulling out of the local prison market. Reilly estimated the facility constituted about 70 percent of GEO's corporate litigation expenses, so it was unexpected it would pull out, but not entirely surprising. GEO and the prison board signed an $80 million, two-year contract extension last year that was set to expire Dec. 31, 2009. Prison board Solicitor Bob Diorio said GEO was able to leave before that date without penalty because of an escape clause that allows either party to give 120 days notice.

August 30, 2008 Philadelphia Daily News
Running the George W. Hill Correctional Facility is a tough job. So tough, in fact, that the GEO Group is walking away from a $40-million-a-year contract to operate Delaware County's 1,883- bed prison. Buried under a mountain of lawsuits - with another high-profile wrongful-death suit imminent - the Florida-based company announced yesterday that it's leaving the county lockup a year before its contract expires at the end of 2009. "I just think they're losing money here," said the prison's acting superintendent, John Reilly Jr., who oversees GEO's performance on the county's behalf. The company's chief executive, George C. Zoley, said in a statement yesterday that "financial underperformance and frequent litigation" drove the decision. Formerly Wackenhut Corrections Corp., GEO has been running the prison in Thornbury Township since 1996. State Rep. John Perzel, R-Phila., is on GEO's board of directors. Reilly said GEO has done a "better than adequate job," while saving Delaware County taxpayers millions of dollars. But the company also has been a near-constant source of negative headlines. A former K-9 officer at the jail pleaded guilty last month to having sex with an inmate in his pickup truck at a nearby grist mill, and a corrections officer admitted in court that same week to sending a fraudulent letter to the state parole board so her boyfriend - a convicted murderer - could move in with her. Another GEO guard pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit bank robbery; the prison's former work-release supervisor is a registered Megan's Law sex offender, and the warden was fired last winter. The family of comedian Kenneth Keith Kallenbach, 39, the longtime member of Howard Stern's "Wack Pack" who died in April while in prison custody, is planning to sue GEO, alleging that prison medical staff failed to treat his cystic fibrosis. The county prison board will hold an emergency closed-door session Tuesday to assess its options, which include returning management of the prison to the county government.

July 30, 2008 Delco Times
A former guard at Delaware County prison pleaded guilty Tuesday to a charge that he had sex with a 25-year-old female inmate while he was employed at the facility. Michael Waters, 37, of the 200 block of South Church Street, Clifton Heights, stood beside defense attorney Ronald Smith as he admitted to a charge of institutional sexual assault. Deputy District Attorney Michael Galantino said the offense carries a maximum of seven years in jail, but under the state's recommended guidelines, Waters could receive a probationary sentence up to nine months in prison. "I will be seeking a sentence of three to 23 months in jail," said Galantino. Waters will remain free on $2,500 bail pending sentencing set for Oct. 21. Acting Prison Superintendent John Reilly Jr. said Waters was employed with the GEO group that has managed the prison since Nov. 16, 1998. He was earning $16 an hour at the time he was terminated in March, after the charges surfaced, said Reilly. Reilly termed the crime "a horrific lapse in judgment." Waters is the second employee of the GEO group to enter a plea this week. Nytara Hall, 30, who also was employed by GEO, pleaded guilty to a forgery charge Tuesday and lost her prison post. Galantino said the inmate, who told investigators about her sexual trysts with Waters, is now out of jail. The prosecutor said she was aware of the terms of the plea when the defendant waived his preliminary hearing in April and nothing has changed since then. "There was no allegation of force," said Galantino. The law provides that a person employed at a correctional institution commits a crime if there is sexual intercourse with an inmate or detainee. Senior Judge William R. Toal Jr. delayed sentencing to allow time for Waters to undergo a state-mandated evaluation to determine if he fits the criteria to be classified as sexually violent offender. Waters was arrested after the female, who was an inmate at the time, told authorities she was on work release and she and Waters would hook up off prison grounds. She told investigators she first met Waters while he was patrolling at the prison and she told him where she would be working that day. He replied, "Maybe I'll stop by," according to a court document. She said Waters picked her up on at least four occasions for sexual trysts between Feb. 25 and March 20, according to the court document. She said she and Waters had sex at least four times inside Waters' pickup truck. Waters told authorities that afterward, he would take her to the SEPTA bus stop at Cheyney Road and Route 1, where she would take the bus back to the prison.

July 19, 2008 Philadelphia Inquirer
The comedian Kenneth Keith Kallenbach died of complications from cystic fibrosis, according to an autopsy report released yesterday by the Delaware County medical examiner. Kallenbach, 39, was best known as a member of the "Wack Pack" on Howard Stern's radio show. He suffered from the inherited disease and died April 24 at Riddle Memorial Hospital after being transferred from the George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Thornbury, where he had been held since mid-March. After an autopsy in April, the medical examiner said further investigation was needed to determine the cause of death. Yesterday's report indicated the manner of death to be "natural," brought on by cystic fibrosis with pneumonia and sepsis. Kallenbach's family has alleged that he did not receive the proper medical treatment for his condition while in the county prison and that his health deteriorated dramatically. Kallenbach was arrested on a charge of attempted child abduction. He denied any wrongdoing. A call to his mother, Fay Kallenbach, yesterday was not returned. The family's attorney, Harold I. Goodman of Philadelphia, said that the report confirmed what family members suspected as the cause of death and that they are reviewing all records before deciding whether to proceed with litigation. "Reading this report along with prison records certainly suggests he did not get the degree of care and treatment" needed, said Goodman. He said the prison was aware of Kallenbach's condition and "wasn't properly treating him for it." Kallenbach called home a week before his death asking his mother to intervene and saying he didn't think he would "make it" in jail. A message left for John C. Reilly Jr., acting superintendent at the prison, was not returned. Since 2005, at least eight people have died at the Delaware County facility, the state's only privately run jail. Several of those deaths resulted in lawsuits by family members who said the facility did not provide adequate medical care or proper supervision for inmates. GEO Group, which runs the jail, operates prisons around the country. Its operations in Texas have been criticized over poor conditions and the treatment of some of its prisoners.

July 2, 2008 Philadelphia Daily News
A WEEK BEFORE Kenneth Keith Kallenbach died, the Delaware County comedian's health had deteriorated so badly that prison officials tried to send him home on "compassionate release." Kallenbach, 39, a longtime member of Howard Stern's "Wack Pack" who suffered from cystic fibrosis, was rapidly shedding weight while jailed on a parole violation. Even the Upper Chichester cop who arrested him in March for allegedly trying to lure a teenage girl into a car was shocked by his gaunt appearance at his preliminary hearing April 15. "He looked bad," Officer Michael Smalarz recalled last week. "I said, 'Kenny, man, you're really losing weight.' " He was dying. But despite the mid-April request that Kallenbach be released - a practice reserved for seriously ill, nonviolent inmates - the county probation office insisted that he stay in jail until he could undergo a psychosexual evaluation, according to John Reilly Jr., acting superintendent at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility. Delaware County Adult Probation and Parole Services refused to send Kallenbach home, Reilly said, even though he was being held on a parole violation from a prior DUI arrest - not on the attempted- kidnapping charge involving a minor. Kallenbach's mother, Fay, already had posted bail on that charge. It wasn't until the morning of April 24 that a county judge agreed to rescind the warrant on the parole violation. Kallenbach had died a few hours earlier at Riddle Memorial Hospital. "It was just too late," said Fay Kallenbach, who intends to sue the prison for failing to treat her son's cystic fibrosis, a chronic condition in which abnormally thick mucus builds up in the lungs and digestive system. A painful memory -- He died more than two months ago, but his mother still has trouble holding back the tears when she recalls her final moments with her son in the hospital's intensive-care unit. "He tried to open his eyes, and his eyes rolled back in his head and he never regained consciousness," she said. "All I saw was skin and bones. He had lost so much weight, he just looked emaciated. I held his hand for a while and talked to him. Evidently, his brain was working but his body had shut down." Reilly declined comment yesterday because of the pending litigation, but in an interview shortly after the death he defended Kallenbach's treatment. He said that Kallenbach was seen twice a day by a nurse and had access to "all of his prescribed" medication and an oxygen machine, but that he had been refusing treatment. An April 30 autopsy performed by Delaware County Medical Examiner Frederic Hellman did not immediately reveal a cause of death, and the tissue-analysis results have not come back. Hellman initially had declined to conduct an autopsy, accepting the determination by hospital clinicians that Kallenbach had died from pneumonia and septic shock due to complications from cystic fibrosis. But he decided to perform the examination after the family raised concerns about his medical treatment. At that point, Kallenbach's body already had been embalmed "We're in America," Fay Kallenbach said. "He shouldn't be dying in jail from pneumonia when they knew he had cystic fibrosis." Kallenbach posted $5,000 bail shortly after her son's March 17 arrest on charges of harassment and attempted luring of a child. He was returned to prison custody a week later, however, because the arrest, and the fact that he had been driving a car without a breath- alcohol ignition interlock device, violated his parole on an old DUI charge, Reilly said. "He called me, and he was so weak I could hardly understand him," Fay Kallenbach said. "He said, 'Mom, do whatever you can, please, to get me out of here because I don't think I'm going to make it.' " She blames the prison for her son's death, claiming that the medical staff failed to treat his cystic fibrosis, but says that the probation officials who kept him there are "equally responsible." She said he had managed the chronic ailment by taking enzymes to help digest his meals and by using a salt-water breathing machine at their Boothwyn home. Awaiting information -- The family's attorney, Harold I. Goodman, said that he is awaiting additional records before deciding whether to sue the county and the GEO Group, a Florida-based firm that runs the prison. Goodman said that he has notified both entities that his firm is investigating the matter. GEO spokesman Pablo Paez declined to comment on the case. Reilly said a deputy warden called the county probation department around April 17 and asked if Kallenbach could be released due to medical reasons while he awaited a hearing on the parole violation. The prison occasionally contacts judges, prosecutors or probation officers to request "alternative incarceration" for nonviolent inmates who are "gravely or seriously ill," Reilly said in April. The practice - which also saves money because the publicly funded prison is no longer responsible for expensive medical care - typically is used for inmates such as Kallenbach jailed on a probation or parole violation, rather than convicts serving time, Reilly said. The request was denied, according to Reilly. Fay Kallenbach still can't understand that. If a judge had set bail at 10 percent of $50,000 on the more-serious criminal charges and determined that Kallenbach was not a danger to the community, why wouldn't the probation department let him out on house arrest when he became sick? "The whole system just went against him," she said. Mark Murray, the deputy director of Delaware County Adult Probation and Parole Services, who Reilly said had blocked Kallenbach's release, declined to comment on the case. Kallenbach - known for his cheesy rock songs, goofball antics on "The Howard Stern Show" and the occasional movie cameo - was a notoriously heavy drinker, but didn't have a history of violent crimes or sex crimes, Upper Chichester Police Detective John Montgomery said. "He was picked up a couple times for intoxication and stuff like that, but he wasn't viewed as a dangerous criminal or anything - not until this latest incident, which raised eyebrows," Montgomery said. Police say Kallenbach tried to pull a teenage girl into his car on March 17. At his preliminary hearing, Magisterial District Judge David Griffin held him for trial on all charges, including attempted kidnapping. The case never made it to trial. Fay Kallenbach said that her son was driving to the post office that afternoon and yelled to a 16-year-old girl, " 'Hi, I'm Kenneth Keith,' because everyone knew him in Boothwyn from TV commercials and appearances. He was just friendly that way and would hand out his little business card he had." She says that county officials treated her son as if he were guilty of a sex crime by insisting on a psychosexual evaluation while he was dying in jail. "He was accused of it, but he didn't have his day in court," she said. "He was never convicted."

June 30, 2008 Delco Times
A former Delaware County prison guard has been charged with forging a supervisor's signature in an attempt to convince state parole officials to allow a convicted murderer to move in with her. Nytara Hall, 29, who was a sergeant at the county prison, has been suspended without pay pending termination, according to Prison Superintendent John Reilly. Hall, of the 700 block of South Juniper Street, Philadelphia, asked three prison officials on May 9 to send a letter on her behalf to the Pennsylvania Probation and Parole Board, according to the affidavit of probable cause written by county Detective Thomas Worrilow. Hall allegedly told the prison officials that George Kidd, her "Muslim husband," was being released from federal prison. A letter from her employer, Delaware County prison, was needed if Kidd was to reside with her, according to the affidavit. The letter was to state that it was not a conflict and that she does not possess a firearm. The same day she made her request, however, Hall sent the letter herself, and forged the signature of a prison official, the affidavit states. Three days later, Deputy Warden Mario Colucci received a call from a parole agent questioning the authenticity of the faxed letter. The person whose signature was on the fax denied writing or signing the letter, the affidavit states. Prison officials questioned Hall about the letter as well as about her "husband," since she was not married. Hall allegedly explained that she was not legally married, but considered Kidd, who had been sentenced to 10-20 years for third-degree murder, her husband in a religious marriage. On June 24, Worrilow interviewed Hall, who allegedly admitted she produced the letter and faxed it to the parole board. She also admitted that the purpose in doing so was to obtain parole for Kidd. Hall was arraigned on charges of forgery and tampering with public records. She was released on $35,000 unsecured bail.

April 29, 2008 Philadelphia Inquirer
An autopsy will be performed tomorrow on Kenneth Keith Kallenbach, a 39-year-old comedian who died Thursday after contracting pneumonia at the Delaware County jail, where he was awaiting trial. Since 2005, at least eight people have died at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility, the state's only privately run jail. Several of those deaths resulted in lawsuits by family members who say the facility did not provide adequate medical care or proper supervision for inmates. Kallenbach suffered from cystic fibrosis, an inherited chronic disease. He had been housed at the jail since mid-March, when he was arrested on a charge of attempted child abduction. He was taken to Riddle Memorial Hospital April 21, where he died. Kallenbach's mother, Fay, said her son called her a week before his death, asking her to intervene and help him receive better treatment. He said he didn't think he would "make it" in the jail, she said. "He managed [his condition] perfectly well at home," she said. "He was only in there for about a month." The prison had no comment on Kallenbach's death. GEO Group operates prisons around the country, and its operations in Texas have been sharply criticized over poor conditions and the treatment of some of its prisoners. At the Delaware County facility last year, a woman who suffered from a thyroid condition died at the jail where she had been held for six weeks. Family members said she did not receive her medication during her incarceration. "There is an awful lot of deliberate indifference to the medical needs" in the prison, said Harold I. Goodman, a lawyer currently suing the company that operates the jail on behalf of the woman's family. GEO did not comment on this case. In 2005, five inmates died within a five-month span, drawing scrutiny from Delaware County District Attorney Michael Green. Two men apparently committed suicide, one died after a fist fight, another died of a heroin overdose, and another man was found dead in his bed. No criminal charges were filed, but GEO Group has settled lawsuits with several families who sued on behalf of their relatives. In 2006, GEO paid $100,000 to the family of Rosalyn Atkinson, 25, who died in 2002 because of a fatal overdose of a high-blood pressure drug administered by jail medical staff. Atkinson had been at the jail for only 18 days. GEO also agreed in 2005 to pay $125,000 to the family of John Focht, 43, who used his boot strings to hang himself in 2002. Jon Auritt, a Media lawyer who handled both cases, is reviewing another case of inmate death that occurred in October. David Dewees, who was in his 40s, died from what appeared to be a seizure from hypoglycemic shock, Auritt said. Dewees suffered from diabetes and had been at the jail only a few months at the time of his death, he said. "They tried to save him once he went into this coma," Auritt said yesterday. "I don't know whether or not there was anything they did or could have done that could have changed things." A private forensic pathologist is reviewing an autopsy of Dewees, and Auritt expects to determine by the end of the summer whether to pursue the matter in court. Angus Love, executive director of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project, said the number of deaths in three years was exceptionally high. "I'm suing Bucks County, and I don't think they've had any deaths in custody in five years," he said. Love is suing the GEO Group on behalf of an AIDS-infected inmate who allegedly did not receive his medications for more than five months. He said a Delaware judge released the man from prison early, citing the prison's failure to provide needed medicine. GEO, based in Florida, also has been under fire in Texas, where it operates more than a dozen correctional facilities. Last fall, the Texas Youth Commission abruptly canceled its $8 million contract with GEO after investigators found unsanitary living conditions at its juvenile facility. Several of the teens said they were sexually assaulted by a guard who was a convicted sex offender, according to lawsuits. GEO lost its contract at an adult facility in west Texas last year after an inspector reportedly characterized the prison as "the worst correctional facility I have ever visited." The inspection was sparked by an inmate's suicide. Texas legislators have called for a review of all of GEO's contracts with state and local agencies. GEO spokesman Pablo Paez did not respond to requests for comment yesterday. The Delaware County Board of Prison Inspectors, a group of five people who oversee the contract with the jail and appoint the superintendent, agreed in May 2006 to renew GEO's contract for another 19 months. The board members are satisfied with GEO's performance, said Robert M. DiOrio, a Media lawyer who acts as spokesman for the board. "The prison board is always concerned about inmate deaths and very much regrets any death in the prison," DiOrio said. "Just because a family member in a distraught state expresses culpability for a death doesn't necessarily mean at the end of the day that the prison board or GEO is found to be liable." Fredric Hellman, Delaware County medical examiner, said Kallenbach's death initially did not raise any suspicions.. "The initial information I was provided with on Thursday indicated that his death was due to natural disease," he said. But he decided to perform an autopsy on Kallenbach, who often appeared on Howard Stern's radio show, when Kallenbach's mother raised questions about her son's treatment in jail.

April 25, 2008 AP
Kenneth Keith Kallenbach, an actor, comedian and long-running member of Howard Stern's "Wack Pack," has died in custody. He was 39. Kallenbach, who was arrested in March for allegedly trying to lure an underage girl into his car, contracted pneumonia at a prison outside Philadelphia and died Thursday morning at a suburban hospital, his mother, Fay Kallenbach, said Friday. Stern first reported the news on his Sirius Satellite Radio show Thursday. The long-haired Kallenbach, whose goofball antics included attempting to blow smoke from his eyes, made dozens of appearances on Stern's show beginning in 1990. Stern once likened him to MTV's Beavis and Butt-head and wrote in his 1993 book "Private Parts" that Kallenbach was the "ultimate airhead." More recently, Kallenbach, of Boothwyn, Pa., starred in commercials for ESPN's "Monday Night Football" and Stride chewing gum. He also appeared on Jay Leno's "Tonight" show on NBC and had uncredited parts in HBO's "Sex and the City" and the Tom Cruise film "Jerry Maguire." Kallenbach was arrested in Upper Chichester Township, Pa., in mid-March on a charge of attempted child abduction. He had denied any wrongdoing. His mother accused the Delaware County Prison of failing to provide adequate medical care, saying her son, who had cystic fibrosis, called her a few days before his death and begged her to intervene. "They weren't treating him properly for his disease and this is how he contracted pneumonia," Fay Kallenbach said. Pneumonia is a complication of cystic fibrosis. Pablo Paez, spokesman for GEO Group Inc., the Florida-based company that runs the prison, declined to respond to Fay Kallenbach's allegation, citing privacy laws. He said Kallenbach had been housed at the prison since March 27, and was taken to Riddle Memorial Hospital near Media, Pa., on Monday. "We provide appropriate care for all the inmates at the facility," Paez said.

March 26, 2008 Philadelphia Daily News
A K-9 officer at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility was charged yesterday with multiple counts of institutional sexual assault for allegedly taking an inmate to a nearby grist mill for sex in his pickup truck, Delaware County authorities said. Michael Waters, 37, an employee of the GEO Group, the Florida-based company that runs the county prison, admitted to having oral and vaginal sex with the female work-release inmate, according to the criminal complaint. The 25-year-old woman told detectives on Friday that Waters, who became a K-9 officer last year, would pick her up from her job at McDonald's and take her to the historic Newlin Grist Mill near the prison or to the parking lot of the Springfield Mall for sex. Such relationships between guards and inmates are prohibited by law - even if the sex is consensual. "That is a felony of the third degree," said John Reilly, the prison's acting superintendent. "It could be wholly consensual, it could be a product of deep and abiding love, and it is still the crime of institutional sexual assault." Waters, of Clifton Heights, was hit with four counts of that crime yesterday and is expected to be arraigned today in Concord District Court. His wife answered the door yesterday at their Church Street home but declined comment. "It's a tragic lapse of judgment," Reilly said of Waters' actions. Other GEO employees at the Delaware County prison have experienced similar lapses in recent years. The jail's former work-release supervisor, for instance, is registered as a Megan's Law sex offender. Joseph Henderson, of the Wissinoming section of Philadelphia, is currently on probation after pleading guilty in 2006 to sexually assaulting a female inmate while transporting her back to prison. Former guard Henry Myers pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to commit bank robbery. Myers, also of Philadelphia, was indicted in 2005 for casing banks in three armed heists and was sentenced to three years in prison. In 2004, a GEO lieutenant at the county prison was fired for beating an inmate "to a pulp," as the then-warden put it, and two other guards received probationary sentences after an inmate claimed in 2002 that they handcuffed him, pummeled him with a basketball and pulled his pants down. Reilly acknowledged that some GEO employees have previously had trouble staying out of jail themselves, but said that he could not recall any new incidents over the past couple of years - aside from Waters'.

January 31, 2008 AP
Court rulings prohibit routine strip searches of minor offenders, but a privately run prison conducts them on all new inmates, a lawsuit charged. The potential class-action suit, filed in federal court this week against The Geo Group, involves a drunk-driving suspect who was strip-searched at a county prison the firm manages near Philadelphia. "It's humiliating," lead plaintiff Stephen D. Bussy, 53, said Thursday. Bussy, a home-health worker and college graduate from Media, said he was strip searched during intake last summer at the Delaware County Prison. A second full-body search occurred during his four-month stay — he was unable to post bail — in a shower littered with feces, the lawsuit states. The Geo Group, previously known as Wackenhut Corrections Corp., does not comment on pending litigation, spokesman Pablo Paez said Thursday. The company, with 2006 revenues of $860 million, manages 49 corrections and immigration facilities in the United States, many of them in Texas and California. The firm, based in Boca Raton, Fla., also operates a half-dozen sites overseas. Bussy's lawyers are seeking to have his lawsuit apply to possibly thousands of minor offenders who were stripped-searched at a Geo Group-run prisons nationwide, but a judge must first grant class-action status. More than a decade ago, a group of women protesting a pigeon shoot were arrested and strip-searched in the Schuylkill County jail. The case led to a precedential ruling in 1993 in which U.S. District Judge Franklin Van Antwerpen wrote: "The feelings of humiliation and degradation associated with being forced to expose one's nude body to strangers for visual inspection is beyond dispute." Other federal courts, including the Supreme Court, have issued similar guidelines. Authorities must have reason to think a minor offender is hiding drugs or other contraband to search them, civil rights lawyer say. This week's complaint mirrors similar class-action suits filed around the country against government agencies. Authorities in Camden County, N.J., last year agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle suit over prison strip searches conducted between 2003 and 2005, while other suits are pending in Philadelphia and Lancaster. "The rule appears to be at this point, you can't have a blanket policy," said David Rudovsky, a University of Pennsylvania law professor who represents Bussy. "You would think that prison officials would be aware of it and would be careful."

January 31, 2008 Philadelphia Inquirer
A team of lawyers with a record of winning class-action cases across the country today hit the Delaware County prison and others across the country, alleging that thousands of people were illegally strip- searched for minor offenses. The federal lawsuit was filed against the Geo Group Inc., a Florida company that runs the jail in Delaware County and numerous other states. The suit listed a single plaintiff: Stephen Dimitri Bussy, 53, a home health-care worker in Media who was strip-searched after a drunken driving arrest last year. Bussy represents a class of people nationwide who were allegedly victimized by strip-searches for minor offenses in Geo Group jails, the suit says. The suit lists damages at $5 million, but lawyers say that is considered to be a baseline figure for that type of class-action suit. The Inquirer reported last month that three guards from Delaware County's George W. Hill Correctional Facility said all prisoners entering the facility were strip-searched - including people held for minor violations, such as failing to make child support payments or those held because they could not pay outstanding traffic tickets. The suit cited that Inquirer series and mentioned the three guards' statements. Other jails and police lockups across the state also followed the same strip-search practices, The Inquirer reported. Since the series, legislators have called for improved police training and some cities have already changed their policies. Federal judges across the nation have ruled that blanket strip-search policies for people arrested for minor crimes violate the U.S. Constitution's protection from "unreasonable" search and seizure. Bussy, a University of Massachusetts graduate, was arrested by Media police on July 31, 2001, on charges of drunken driving, public drunkenness and criminal trespass. The suit says Bussy could not post the required $500 bail and was taken to the county jail, in Thornton, where he was strip-searched, the suit said. "In connection with the strip search, plaintiff was required to completely disrobe and lift his testicles. Plaintiff's anal cavity was also visually inspected by a correction officer," it said. Only Geo Group, which operates dozens of prisons across the nation, was named in the lawsuit, although the suit listed "John Does 1-100" as possible other people to be include in the future. Officials from Geo Group could not immediately be reached for comment. In past interviews, Geo spokesman Pablo Paez has declined to discuss the corporation's policy on strip-searches. Some of the lawyers filing the suit have been working with a group of attorneys that won a $7.5 million settlement from Camden County for allegedly strip-searching thousands of people illegally in its prison. Two of the lawyers, Christopher G. Hayes and Daniel C. Levin, also sued the Philadelphia Corrections Department, seeking $15 million for allegedly conducting more than 20,000 illegal searches. That suit is pending. Two other lawyers involved in the new suit, Philadelphia's David Rudovsky and Joseph G. Sauder, of Haverford, currently are involved in a class-action suit against the Lancaster County prison for allegedly conducting thousands of illegal searches there. "What's interesting against this one, we are suing Geo Corporation," Rudovsky said in an interview after the suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia. "We've defined the class of inmates who are in county or municipal jails. So it's a national class-action suit that we're seeking." The lawyers are seeking class-action status for the suit.

December 1, 2007 Philadelphia Daily News
The warden at Delaware County's prison was fired yesterday, but the multinational corrections company that runs the tax-funded facility won't say why. Warden Ronald Nardolillo was "reassigned" from the George W. Hill Correctional Facility and left the prison grounds at about 11 a.m., according to John Reilly, who, as acting superintendent, oversees the GEO Group's performance there on behalf of the county. "My hope is they are doing all that is necessary to determine what happened and how it can be prevented from happening again," Reilly said of Nardolillo's dismissal. "He didn't go gracefully," one prison guard, who asked not to be identified, said of the outgoing warden. The Daily News reported Wednesday that Nardolillo, who earned about $130,000 a year, had been in the county's crosshairs for about 18 months amid frequent complaints from employees about his harsh management style. The relationship between Nardolillo and the county was further strained in recent weeks with the discovery of a racially charged photograph aimed at the prison guards' union chief. A photo of Angelina Blocker, who is black, with a noose around her head was found in a union mailbox, setting off a GEO investigation. County officials called in detectives following what Reilly described as Nardolillo's "clumsy" handling of the situation. "Instead of facing the issue head-on, there's all kinds of games and machinations and denials," Reilly said Tuesday. The source of the photograph has not been determined, he said. GEO spokesman Pablo Paez, citing corporate policy, declined to discuss the photograph or answer questions about why Nardolillo was reassigned or where he is going. The Florida-based company has run the prison since 1995, when county officials decided to privatize the operation as a cost-saving measure. Its board members include state Rep. John Perzel, R-Phila. The arrangement with GEO, which is unique among county prisons in Pennsylvania, has saved the county millions in construction and operating costs and protects the county from most lawsuits filed by inmates and their families. But anti-privatization advocates condemn the practice, saying that companies like GEO are ultimately accountable to their stockholders, not the taxpayers. GEO has had its fair share of mishaps over the years in Delaware County - including settling wrongful-death lawsuits, letting inmates walk out because of mis-identification and firing several guards who committed serious crimes of their own. County officials, however, say they are largely satisfied with the company's performance and recently awarded it an $80 million contract extension that runs through 2009.

November 28, 2007 Philadelphia Daily News
The GEO Group, a multinational corrections company, will continue operating Delaware County's prison through 2009 under the terms of an $80 million contract extension announced yesterday. But the warden GEO hired in 2004 to run the tax-funded facility might not make it through the end of the year, according to prison sources. Warden Ronald Nardolillo's $130,000-a-year job is in jeopardy amid a spate of complaints from his staff and county officials who say his dictatorial style is causing frequent problems, the sources said. The George W. Hill Correctional Facility has been run by the Florida-based company since 1995, but Delaware County officials hold the purse strings and have the final say on how it is run. And they want Nardolillo out. "The issue here is a poor management climate, and it stems directly from his deficiencies as a warden," said John Reilly, the acting superintendent and top county official at the prison. "We don't believe we're getting our money's worth from that position," he said. "We're not getting $130,000 worth of effort. He doesn't have $130,000 worth of ability." Formerly Wackenhut Corrections Corp., GEO beat out two rival corrections companies last year to maintain control of the lockup, one of the largest in its international network. County officials who oversee the prison have been dissatisfied with Nardolillo for the past 18 months and recently have been "keeping him off to the side," dealing mostly with his staff, Reilly said. "Not one day goes by that a GEO employee doesn't complain to us about something that was said or done to him or her, or a friend of his or hers, by the warden. It's constant," Reilly said. GEO spokesman Pablo Paez declined to comment yesterday and Nardolillo did not return phone calls yesterday or Monday. As Nardolillo, a former New York City police officer, struggles to hold on to his job, GEO is trying to determine the source of a racially charged photograph aimed at the the prison guards' union chief. The picture, placed in a union mailbox several weeks ago, shows a noose drawn around the head of Angela Blocker, who is black. Reilly said the incident is evidence of continued mismanagement on Nardolillo's watch. "It's par for the course. Instead of facing the issue head on, there's all kinds of games and machinations and denials," Reilly said.

September 28, 2007 AP
Prison officials in Delaware County violated workplace discrimination laws when they fired a Muslim nurse who insisted on wearing a head scarf on the job, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charged yesterday. The agency charged in a lawsuit that the Geo Group Inc., a private company that operates the county prison in Thornton, refused to make religious accommodations for Carmen Sharpe-Allen and other female Muslim employees. Sharpe-Allen, who had a good performance record, was fired in December 2005 after a meeting with warden Ronald Nardolillo, the suit said. The prison "has forced its Muslim female employees to compromise their religious beliefs by removing their khimars while on duty or risk termination," according to the federal suit. The prison instituted the ban on head scarves in early 2005, the suit said. Calls to the Florida-based Geo Group and to Nardolillo were not immediately returned.

September 5, 2007 Daily Times
A nurse at George W. Hill Correctional Facility was recently put on administrative leave for allegedly violating a prison policy forbidding association or relationships with prisoners that would be “contrary to the best interest of GEO (the private firm that runs the prison) or the safety or security of the facility,” the Daily Times has learned. According to internal documents, a licensed practical nurse was in contact with at least two inmates via contraband mobile phones found in their cells. The nurse did not return calls for comment; the Times is not identifying her because she has not been charged with any crime. A DVR recording showed the nurse, whose cell phone number was identified on both phones’ number storage systems as “Baby Girl,” calling one of the prisoner’s phones from a fax machine with working voice line located in the prison medical unit, according to the documents. No one else was observed using the line, and the call time matched that recorded by the prisoner’s phone, according to the report. The report also notes the nurse’s personal cell phone number was listed among the stored numbers in the contraband phones of two inmates. Neither inmate cooperated with the investigation, according to the report. During the Aug. 10 search of one cell on a tip, which turned up the first phone, officials also found contraband allegedly including suspected marijuana, several cigarettes, a phone charger, lighters and three pictures, two of which were a female later identified as the nurse. A search of the other cell turned up a phone and charger, plus three additional pictures “immediately identified as” the nurse. The searches led Warden Ron Nardolito to authorize the investigation that day into the possibility of an inappropriate relationship between the nurse and an inmate, according to prison documents. The nurse was allegedly contacted by telephone several times by prison officials, but ended the call before any conversation took place. She was scheduled to work shortly thereafter, but did not appear and was subsequently sent a letter informing her she was on administrative leave and not permitted to report to work without prior authorization from the human relations office. Prison Solicitor Robert DiOrio confirmed the nurse had been suspended without pay pending the conclusion of an investigation being conducted by GEO and the prison supervisor’s office. Another internal document from the prison indicates U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Trish Pepe notified the prison Aug. 1 that Correctional Officer Saye Gartie had been arrested for immigration law violations and is currently being held in York County Prison, pending deportation. Neither Pepe nor GEO prison officials returned calls seeking details on the arrest or background investigation techniques for potential prison employees.

August 3, 2007 Delco Times
A guard at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility (Run by Geo Private Prison) was arrested early Thursday, charged with attempting to lure two teenage girls into his car, Chief John Finnegan confirmed Thursday night. Samuel Willis, 32, of Glassboro, N.J., was arraigned on charges of stalking, luring a child into a motor vehicle, harassment, disorderly conduct and recklessly endangering another person. Magisterial District Judge Spencer B. Seaton Jr. set bail at $100,000 cash at a preliminary arraignment. According to Finnegan, Willis was arrested in the 2400 block of West Ninth Street by officers Donald Jackson and Victor Heness, members of the city's newly established curfew unit. Shortly before 1 a.m. Thursday, the officers observed two young females as they were standing near a yellow Toyota Matrix with New Jersey tags, according to the arrest affidavit. As the officers approached the car, the driver flashed a badge and identified himself as a correction officer. "Due to the age of the girls he was talking to, the two officers decided to investigate further," police said. The girls, ages 15 and 16, appeared to be close to tears, officials said. The girls were unharmed. According to the affidavit, the girls told police the driver had followed them for about four or five blocks, driving behind them and asking them to come over to his car. He told the girls he was a "nice guy." Willis, who was wearing a prison guard uniform, allegedly told the girls he was a guard and that he was looking for an escaped convict and he wanted their help. When they continued to walk away his demeanor changed, authorities said. "When the girls attempted to leave fearing for their safety, he ordered them to stay and to listen to him," according to authorities. One of the girls had a cell phone in her hand and was about to dial 911 when the two officers arrived. According to officials, Willis had been a guard at the county prison for 10 days. He had finished his shift 40 minutes before approaching the girls, police said. He allegedly told police that he was on his way home from work and decided to pull over to the side of the road to take a nap. Inside of Willis' car, police found a pair of children's toy handcuffs, an emergency light, several badges, coloring books, sticker books and stuffed animals.

July 25, 2007 Philadelphia Enquirer
A mentally ill woman died last year after being held for six weeks in Delaware County Prison without receiving medication for a thyroid condition, according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court. The suit says the family of 38-year-old Cassandra "Sandy" Morgan of Aston repeatedly "attempted to contact" the privately operated county prison to express concern over her mental condition and hypothyroid problem. The family's lawyer, Harold I. Goodman, said the family had been "virtually ignored." Morgan died in Riddle Memorial Hospital on March 29, 2006, four days after lapsing into a coma at the prison. Her death resulted from complications caused by hypothyroidism. She had been imprisoned after being charged with shoplifting at the Wal-Mart in Upper Chichester on Feb. 16, 2006. James Morgan, her brother, said that the Public Defender's Office had not returned his repeated calls for help, and that the prison had made no attempt to contact them about his sister's medical condition. "At any point in the system where she could have been saved and treated humanely, there were lapses," said Goodman, of Philadelphia. The lawyer called the case an "institutional failure" and a convenient way to get Morgan off the streets. Michael Joseph Harper, the assistant public defender who represented Morgan, said he had not heard from her family until she had been hospitalized in a coma. "I returned those calls." Among defendants in the lawsuit are the county, the prison, Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland, and the Geo Group Inc., the Florida company that manages the prison. A call to John Reilly, deputy superintendent of the George W. Hill Correctional Facility - the county prison - was not returned yesterday. Robert DiOrio, the lawyer for the prison, said he was not familiar with the case and would not comment.

December 12, 2006 Delco Times
Delaware County officials say they are closing in on a small group of crooked prison guards as they implement sweeping policy changes aimed at ending the contraband trade at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility. The goal, according to Deputy Superintendent John Reilly, is not just to slow the influx of drugs, cigarettes and cellular phones, but "eradicate" the prison’s black market altogether. Last month, the county Board of Prison Inspectors unanimously voted to ban all tobacco products from the premises -- even within parked cars. While the measure was passed partly to clean up the prison grounds and prevent employees from leaving their posts for frequent smoke breaks, it is also designed to counteract what Reilly called a relatively small group of "corrupt corrections officers" running a lucrative contraband ring inside the Concord lockup. "We now know who the players are," Reilly said, citing "phenomenal intelligence" from inmates, their families and former guards. "It’s just a question of following them every day, pursuing them every day and getting rid of them," he said. Employees are currently permitted to drive off the prison grounds to smoke a cigarette, but starting next month they will be barred from leaving the facility’s secure perimeter once they begin their shift -- whether it be a standard eight hours or a 16-hour double. Exceptions will likely be made for medical conditions. County officials hope the no-tobacco policy, combined with an increased K-9 presence in the parking lots and daily shakedowns, will staunch the smuggling of cell phones, cigarettes and drugs into the prison. Several guards walking to their cars have turned around upon seeing drug-sniffing dogs, Reilly said. Michael Pelleriti, president of the Delaware County Prison Employees Independent Union, which represents the guards, said some members have complained about the smoking policy. But he said the union had little say because the county owns the property. Reilly said certain corrections officers are using their female colleagues as "mules" to smuggle contraband into the jail, usually by hiding it in a body cavity. Without probable cause, a body cavity search is illegal. He said the GEO Group Inc., the Florida-based firm that has managed the publicly funded prison since 1996, is planning to implement a cell phone scanner to prevent such activity. The company is also considering purchasing a body scanner -- which presents an image similar to an X-ray -- to detect contraband hidden in body cavities. "It’s a for-profit business," Reilly said of the prison’s black market. A pack of cigarettes, for instance, can be sold for between $40 to $50, according to word of mouth. The going rate for a cell phone is considerably higher. Cell phones are particularly problematic in jails because they can be used to intimidate witnesses or order drugs, among other criminal activities. Some prisoners, including accused killer Lamar Haymes, have attempted to coordinate an escape using an illegal phone. Prison officials have had trouble stemming the drug trade in recent years, as evidenced by the case of Brian Sullivan, the 25-year-old Marple resident who overdosed twice while in prison custody. The second one killed him in April 2005. "They use these inmates that are given preferential treatment to run the drugs for them inside the prison," said Richard Golomb, the Philadelphia attorney who sued GEO in October 2005 on behalf of the Sullivan family. The inmates that move the drugs for the guards are known as "trustees," he said. GEO settled the Sullivan suit about three months ago for a "substantial" amount, Golomb said Monday. The settlement included a confidentiality clause, which he said prevented him from disclosing the amount. GEO admitted no wrongdoing, as is standard with such cases. "They have problems in that facility," Golomb said of the drug activity.

December 5, 2006 Philadelphia Enquirer
Higher costs at the state's only privately managed prison are the major contributor to an $11.3 million, or 3.8 percent, increase in Delaware County's proposed 2007 general budget. The George W. Hill Correctional Facility is expected to cost $41.1 million to run in 2007, up $4 million from this year's $37.1 million. Even so, the county would hold the line on taxes by using a $8.8 million surplus from the 2006 budget. Revenue this year will be $7.3 million higher than the $293.4 million budgeted. The jump in prison expenses results from higher management fees paid to the Geo Group Inc., the private manager, and an increase in the number of local inmates incarcerated. That occurred after the prison returned 350 inmates to Philadelphia this year to relieve overcrowding, thereby giving up rental income that had offset the prison's costs since it opened in 1998. The prison has a capacity of 1,851 inmates, according to the Geo Group. "Corrections is the budget item that is straining every budget," said Marianne Grace, the county's executive director.

June 29, 2006 Philadelphia Inquirer
Guards at the Delaware County jail have extended their labor contract from June 30 to July 17 as their employer, Geo Group Inc., studies their latest demands. The county's George W. Hill Correctional Facility is the only privately operated prison in Pennsylvania. Members of the Delaware County Prison Employees Independent Union have rejected two earlier company offers by lopsided margins. In the latest vote, on June 20, the margin was 101 members against ratification to 58 for it. "We expect a positive response from the company," union president Mike Pelleriti said. A Geo spokesman declined to comment.

June 21, 2006 Delco Times
Delaware County prison guards voted down a second contract proposal on Monday and authorized a strike by a nearly 2-1 margin. The new contract garnered more support than one that was rejected last month, 183-11, but union members remain dissatisfied with wages, overtime restrictions and perhaps other issues, said Michael Pelleriti, president of the Delaware County Prison Employees Independent Union. "There are some people that feel the wages are not sufficient at this point," Pelleriti said. The union, which represents about 300 guards at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Concord, voted against the contract 101-58, despite the fact that GEO Group Inc. had dropped vacation restrictions and reinstated "shift splitting," in which guards divvy up their mandated overtime. Pelleriti said wages also had been improved over the first proposal, but declined to specify by how much. The current starting hourly wage is $11.24, with an increase to $13.40 after 90 days. "Right now, the wages are still a little low," compared to what other corrections officers are making nationally and across the tri-state area, Pelleriti said. "Some of the members see that and they want to catch up to everyone else." In addition to increased wages, the guards want time-and-a-half for working more than eight hours, instead of only receiving overtime pay when they work a double shift or more than 40 hours a week. Pelleriti said there could be other areas of discontent that have not yet been relayed to the union leadership. "We still have our feelers out and are trying to pinpoint exactly where the problems are," he said. A vote against the contract was a vote to authorize a strike -- something the union could not legally do prior to 1996 when the county ran the prison and the guards were government employees. As GEO employees, the guards have the right to walk out. Last month, GEO secured a new $58 million county contract to operate the prison through 2007. The contract will boost GEO’s revenue by at least 10 percent in the first year. Some union members feel their pay should increase accordingly, according to one guard who voted against the contract. "They got $58 million," said the guard, who declined to be identified. "The personnel that are part of the union want some of that money." While a strike has been authorized, Pelleriti said the union intended to continue talking with the Florida-based company and considers a strike to be the "last resort." "We’re more than willing to go back to the table and try to iron out the differences," he said. A GEO spokesman did not respond Monday to a request for comment and has previously said the company would have no public comment until an agreement is reached. The guards are currently working under an extension to the labor contract that was ratified in 2003 after three votes by the union membership. The new three-year contract would be retroactive to June 1 and run through May 2009. The county Board of Prison Inspectors, which contracts with GEO and monitors its performance at the prison, has remained neutral during the labor negotiations. If a strike were to occur, however, the prison board "certainly would support GEO," said board Solicitor Robert DiOrio. "Because they’re employees of a private company, they would have the right to strike, but then there are public safety issues that would have to be addressed," DiOrio said. "The personal rights of the employees would not be able to trump the public safety, in my opinion."

May 31, 2006 Delco Times
With a staggering vote of 183-11, prison guards at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility overwhelmingly rejected a labor contract proposed by GEO Group Inc. Michael Pelleriti, president of the Delaware County Prison Employees Independent Union, said he wants to return to the bargaining table to renegotiate wages, vacation restrictions, sick time and other provisions in the contract. While the union, which represents nearly 300 guards at the county prison, has not authorized a strike, Pelleriti said he would not rule it out if GEO refuses to budge. "A strike down the road - if talks break down - is always an option," Pelleriti said late Tuesday afternoon after the votes had been tallied. No date has been set for further negotiations. The vote came after GEO granted concessions on a health-care provision that union officials say would have increased premiums for all guards. Under the revised proposal, the current health-care plan remains in place - single guards receive full coverage and married guards pay $200 a month for their spouses and children. The contract would run from June 1, 2006 to Dec. 31, 2010 and raise wages between 3.5 percent to 8 percent in the first year, 4 percent in the second and third year and 2 percent in the last seven months. Pelleriti said many guards were satisfied with the proposed health-care coverage, but the union may push for increased wages or work rule changes in response to the "excessive mandated overtime" at the prison. Some guards, he said, are required to work 16-hour shifts every other day. "If we're going to continue that, they need to be compensated," he said. A GEO spokesman could not be reached Tuesday and Warden Ronald Nardolillo declined to comment. Robert DiOrio, solicitor for the county Board of Prison Inspectors, said the board does not interfere in labor negotiations. In 1996, the county outsourced the management of the prison to GEO, formerly Wackenhut Corrections Corp. "We have never gotten involved in any employment affairs of Wackenhut or GEO," DiOrio said. "It's just none of our business." Last week, GEO secured a $58 million contract to run the prison through 2007. The 19-month contract will boost the company's revenue there by at least 10 percent in the first year and another 4 percent in the last seven months of the contract, plus additional compensation when the prison population exceeds 1,883 inmates. GEO will not reveal its profit margin at the publicly funded prison. Based in Boca Raton, Fla., the company operates 61 facilities in four countries that generate more than $600 million in annual revenue.

May 27, 2006 Philadelphia Inquirer
GEO Group Inc. will continue to manage Delaware County's George W. Hill Correctional Facility through 2007, despite a rash of incidents there, including inmate deaths. The Board of Prison Inspectors this week voted to renew the firm's contract, raising its monthly fee by 10 percent to $3 million when the new 19-month pact begins June 1. The county has increased its 2006 jail budget by 30 percent to cover higher costs, due to the new contract and a growing number of local prisoners. "We have never wanted for customers," said Robert D'Orio, the board's solicitor. The board has been "generally pleased" with GEO, which has managed the jail in Thornton since its opening in 1996. "The other providers out there also have problems," he said. "It is not an easy operation when you run a jail." A spokesman for GEO, formerly Wackenhut Corrections Corp., didn't return phone calls. The Delaware county facility is the only privately run adult jail in Pennsylvania. House Speaker John M. Perzel (R., Phila.) is on the GEO board of directors. But D'Orio said, "I'd bet that most or all of the board had no idea" of Perzel's ties before recent news articles. GEO recently paid a $100,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging that the jail failed to diagnose or treat a grave illness that caused inmate Rosalyn Atkinson's death in 2002. Six inmates have died of unnatural causes since 2001. C. Scott Shields, a lawyer in Media who has represented inmates and their families, said GEO has "serious personnel issues" at the jail. Shields won a undisclosed settlement for James Johnson, who was held 44 days at the jail by mistake by GEO employees "who were completely indifferent" to his plight, Shields said.

May 15, 2006 News of Delaware County
Prison board officials hope to make a decision by the May 17 meeting on who will run the Delaware County Prison. "We'll continue to talk to bidders of the next few days," said board president Wallace Nunn. "Hopefully we'll be able to make a decision." The prison has been under contract with GEO Group Inc. since August 1995. In June 2003, they renewed the contract for a three-year base with subsequent terms of three years until 2009. The contract allows the county to receive bids from other companies every three years. With the deadline on May 31, Nunn insisted the board hoped to reach a decision by the May 17 board meeting. The board, "would have to get an extension at the point," Nunn said if they did not have a decision by the May meeting. He added that the board would like to avoid that process. The prison board originally formed a four-member committee to review the proposals. The members were prison board solicitor Robert DiOrio, board member George Hill, prison CPA Chris Reynolds and Richard Culp, the assistant professor at the department of public management at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. On April 19 they announced three additional members; Blank Rome attorney Lawrence Beaser, the county finance department's James Hayes and Delaware County Councilman Jack Whelan. "The county said, we'd like to be at the table," Nunn said of the county members being added. The committee has narrowed GEO's competition for running the prison to one other company, Management and Training Corporation (MTC). GEO has run the Delaware County Prison since it became the first privatize facility in 1993. The prison accounts for the largest cost for the taxpayers in the county with $37 million budgeted for 2006. With facilities all over the world, GEO has 44 correction and detention centers in the United States. A worldwide organization, GEO has accumulated almost $613 million in revenue for 2006 including over $72 million in profits, according to the New York Stock Exchange. The MTC's philosophy to prisons is "rehabilitation through education," according to communication director Carl Stuart. "We believe inmates can only succeed when given the opportunity to better themselves while imprisoned," Stuart wrote in an email. Created in 1981, MTC operates 12 correctional facilities in the United States and 25 federal Job Corps centers, according to Stuart. The company earned about $468 million in revenue for 2005. Nunn removed himself from the selection process last month because of his employment with CitiGroup. "One of those (CitiGroup) divisions or another may or may not have at some point in time dealt with one or more of the people that are making the proposals," Nunn said. "I don't know that we've done any business," Nunn said. "But just to be sure since we're so large."

March 14, 2006 Philadelphia Inquirer
Disoriented and scared, Rosalyn Atkinson awoke crying and asked the nurse at her bedside a prophetic question: "Am I going to die?" It was Oct. 18, 2002, and Atkinson was on the 11th day of an 18-day odyssey that would take her from the Delaware County jail to a local hospital, back to jail, and then, as she feared, to her death. Officially, Atkinson, 25, died because of a fatal overdose of a single high-blood-pressure drug administered by jail infirmary staff, the Delaware County medical examiner determined. Jail operators admitted no wrongdoing but agreed to a $100,000 settlement. For Atkinson's two children, it means each will receive $31,782.42 after legal fees and medical costs, according to a court document filed early this month. The story of the final weeks of Atkinson's life, however, encompasses far more than a single error in a prison infirmary. A review of court filings and medical and hospital records provided by Atkinson's family revealed: Prison staff did not consistently provide prescribed medication, failed to monitor her vital signs, and misinterpreted Atkinson's psychotic behavior as a sign of drug abuse. Atkinson was jailed on a probation violation three days after she was diagnosed with a severe form of lupus, a potentially fatal autoimmune disorder that can cause psychotic behavior. She was locked up because of a shoving match with another woman at Crozer-Chester Medical Center in which no one was injured. Probation officers ignored numerous pleas from her mother to give Atkinson house arrest instead of incarceration. When Atkinson fell seriously ill, the jail transferred her to Riddle Memorial Hospital, which later sent her back to prison even though, medical records show, she was still suffering from delusions. Atkinson died about 40 hours later. Six inmates have died from unnatural causes since 2001 at Delaware County's George W. Hill Correctional Center in Thornton. Operated by the GEO Group, it is the only privately run adult jail in the state. In addition to Atkinson's death, two prisoners committed suicide, another was killed by a fellow inmate, and the fourth died of an overdose of heroin smuggled into the jail. A fifth died in 2005 of head and neck injuries after repeatedly throwing himself against his cell door, county officials said.

February 3, 2006 Philadelphia Inquirer
A Colwyn man who was imprisoned for 44 days last year after Delaware County jail officials refused to check his repeated, and true, claim that they had the wrong person has netted a cash settlement, court records show. James J. Johnson, 28, filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that correctional officers missed opportunities to verify his identity and threatened to charge him with additional crimes if he did not stop claiming that he was not Shawn Carter, the name on the arrest warrant used to jail him. Shawn Carter is also the real name of rap artist Jay-Z and a common alias in prison, a search of prison aliases on the state Department of Corrections Web site shows. The county jail is run by the GEO Group, formerly known as Wackenhut Corrections Corp., of Boca Raton, Fla., and is the only privately run prison in the state. The company, not the county, is responsible for all settlements and court awards. The amount of the settlement was not disclosed. Throughout the intake process, jailers at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility missed numerous opportunities to correctly identify him, the suit alleged. The Carter named in the arrest warrant had a dragon tattoo. Johnson did not. Authorities never compared the two men's fingerprints, the suit said. Also, the prison failed to compare his physical characteristics to those of the Carter named in the warrant and ignored the results of an iris scan that confirmed he was the wrong man, the suit stated.

December 6, 2005 Delco Times
While several Delaware County municipalities are planning to levy a new $52 tax on their workers and increase property taxes for their residents, county government is eyeing the same slice of your pie. The $293.7 million 2006 budget proposal county council will present this morning holds property taxes at 4.45 mills for the second year in a row. That translates into $572 for the average assessed property of $128,500. The county prison, meanwhile, is expected to absorb an additional $8.7 million in tax dollars. Operated through a contract with GEO Group Inc., total 2006 spending at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility is estimated at $37.4 million, an increase of 30 percent over this year's budget. Spending there increased about 19 percent between 2004 and 2005. The county Board of Prison Inspectors voted in October to terminate a lucrative Philadelphia inmate housing contract. Overcrowding has become so severe at the prison that the board was forced to begin sending 350 inmates back to the city and give up between $1 million to $1.5 million in annual profits.

December 2, 2005 Delco Times
The former Delaware County prison supervisor charged with sexually assaulting a female inmate waived his preliminary hearing Thursday. Joseph Franklin Henderson, an employee of GEO Group Inc., is charged with two counts each of institutional sexual assault, bribery and official oppression. He was in Concordville District Court, accompanied by his attorney Robert Dixon. Henderson was brought to court from Chester County prison, where he is being held. Henderson is accused of sexually assaulting the female inmate twice. Both times, Henderson allegedly picked up the woman from her work-release job and instead of dropping her off at the prison, drove her to secluded areas, where sexual activity occurred. The alleged victim told investigators that on three occasions, Henderson picked her up from her job, drove to a secluded spot, then threatened to interfere with her upcoming parole hearing if she didn't perform oral sex, according to the affidavit of probable cause. She also claimed Henderson used personal information about her ailing relative, saying she wouldn't be able to visit with the relative if Henderson went to the parole board about her, the affidavit states.

November 17, 2005 Philadelphia Inquirer
Delaware County's beleaguered jail wants to add 350 beds, even as it begins returning that number of inmates to Philadelphia. The George W. Hill Correctional Facility, the only privately run prison in the state, will end its practice of leasing beds to Philadelphia by late May, said prison board chairman Charles P. Sexton. The county is getting rid of the city prisoners because its jail is overcrowded, and expectations are that the local inmate population will keep growing. The decision to expand comes as the Delaware County jail has been faced with a spate of deaths and lawsuits in recent months, including a heroin overdose. A correctional officer was charged with raping a female inmate last week. Officials also recently announced that they would be seeking bids on the contract held by GEO. Sexton said that announcement was not connected to the recent deaths and that GEO would be considered if it bid. He also said the state would inspect the prison in 2006. The jail had been the only one in the state to take advantage of a loophole that allowed it to opt out of annual state inspections. Instead, it has been inspected every three years by a national corrections association. District Attorney G. Michael Green has been investigating how drugs that killed inmate Brian Sullivan on April 15 got into the prison. He died of a heroin overdose. Sullivan's father, who claims he'd warned jail officials that his son was an addict and needed help, has filed suit against the prison seeking $500,000. The GEO Group, not the county, would be fiscally responsible for any award or settlement. As part of that investigation, a visitor was arrested last week after attempting to smuggle drugs into the jail in her vagina, a jail official said. Also last week, a guard was charged with sexually assaulting a female inmate on two separate occasions, most recently on Nov. 7.

November 10, 2005 Delco Times
The supervisor of the work-release program at George Hill Correctional Facility was on his way to county lockup late Wednesday, charged with sexually assaulting a female inmate twice in a prison van. Dropping his head into his hands, Joseph Franklin Henderson, 47, of the 2100 block of McKinley Street in Philadelphia, made a plea for unsecured bail -- but Magisterial District Judge Richard Cappelli was adamantly opposed. Henderson, an employee of GEO Group Inc., is charged with two counts each of institutional sexual assault, bribery and official oppression. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 17. He's accused of sexually assaulting a female inmate twice, first back in late September or early October, and again on Monday. Both times, Henderson picked the woman up from her work-release job and instead of dropping her off at the prison, drove her to secluded areas. Allegations involve both oral and vaginal sex. Back at county detective headquarters, Henderson admitted he had oral sex with the woman two times, according to the affidavit. He said he was neither threatening nor forceful, and that the woman had been coming on to him.

November 2, 2005 Delco Times
Lying on his stomach and propped up by his elbows, a middle-aged man stares through a window with a slightly curious, but otherwise blank, expression. The window doesn't lead outside, but to a secluded hallway where a prison guard is staring back. It is the guard's sole responsibility to prevent that inmate from becoming another Michael Rafferty, the accused triple-murderer who died in August after slamming himself into a prison wall. The guard, an employee of the private corrections firm GEO Group Inc., has been assigned to one-on-one suicide watch, the most intense form of observation practiced at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility. While this particular inmate is isolated in a small room, he is one of hundreds of mentally ill inmates living at the overcrowded county prison on Cheyney Road. Like other prisons around the country, it has become a repository for some of society's most unstable citizens. "Prisons are housing more and more mentally ill people because we have no other place to put them," said Jessica Raymond, a member of the Pennsylvania Prison Society who monitors conditions at the county prison. The society advocates for better living conditions for inmates. Last year, the county prison expanded its medical unit to 53 beds, more than twice the size of the previous unit. During a recent visit, it was packed with inmates, some wearing "suicide gowns" that will rip if used as a noose. Frank Green, an assistant superintendent employed by the county to monitor GEO's management of the prison, said that volume is not unusual. "It's double the workload," he said. "It makes everything tougher." The increasing workload, combined with high turnover and low wages, prompted 15 registered nurses, physician's assistants and nurse practitioners to unionize in September, voting unanimously to join the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals. In March, about 80 other GEO employees - including all the licensed practical nurses -- unionized through Teamsters Local 312. "If you have substandard salary and benefits, you simply cannot recruit and retain the kind of quality professionals you need to do the job," said April Smith, director of organizing for PASNAP. Nurses at the prison, for example, receive no paid vacation during their first year on the job, according to Smith. Temple University Hospital, she said, gives new nurses three weeks paid vacation. Delaware County's jail is the only privately run county prison in the state. Reducing labor costs is one of the ways GEO and other private corrections firms are able to run prisons more cheaply than the government that hires them. With privatization comes a tradeoff in the level of services, said Ken Kopczynski, executive director of the Private Corrections Institute, a group that opposes privately run prisons. He said private corrections companies are prone to "cut corners" - including in the administration of medical services - in order to maintain their profitability. "Why is it better for the county to do it? Public officials are accountable to the public. The board of directors for GEO is accountable to whom, the public? Hell, no. They're accountable to the shareholders," Kopczynski said. "And what are the shareholders interested in? The profit. They have to turn a profit." "Guess what, that's bad criminal justice policy," he said.

October 29, 2005 Delco Times
A Delaware County prison guard has been indicted on a federal conspiracy charge for his role in three armed bank robberies in 2004. Henry Myers, an employee of GEO Group Inc., is one of five defendants named in the indictment filed by U.S. Attorney Patrick L. Meehan on Oct. 20. Although Myers is not charged with robbing the banks, he allegedly played a pivotal role in the conspiracy. "He cased the banks," said Vickie Humphreys, an FBI spokeswoman. Myers and four other men allegedly conspired with Burnie Tindale -- who was charged earlier this year -- to rob the Artisans Bank in Wilmington, Del., on April 14, the Citizens Bank in Brookhaven on June 15 and the M & T Bank in Bristol, Bucks County, on Sept. 27. Myers allegedly "cased" a PNC Bank on Bustleton Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia and provided bank layout information for the robbery. That robbery, however, was ultimately not committed, the indictment states. Myers was also advised of the location of "switch" cars to be used in the Citizens Bank robbery, in the event the cars had to be retrieved if the robberies were unsuccessful, according to the indictment. Switch cars are usually parked about a mile from the robberies and used by the robbers after they abandon stolen get-away cars.

October 20, 2005 Delco Times
Concerned that overcrowding at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility could expose Delaware County to future lawsuits, the county is pulling out of a contract to house hundreds of Philadelphia inmates. The Delaware County Board of Prison Inspectors voted Wednesday to terminate the contract effective Jan. 15, more than four months before it was scheduled to expire. The move will free up about 350 beds at the prison but cost the county approximately $1 million a year in profits.

October 20, 2005 Philadelphia Enquirer
The parents of an inmate who died in jail of a heroin overdose are suing the facility, claiming the drug was easily accessible to prisoners and, in some cases, smuggled in by guards. Paul and Maureen Sullivan of the Philadelphia suburb of Broomall filed a federal lawsuit last week seeking more than $500,000 in damages. Their 26-year-old son, Brian Sullivan, died in Delaware County's George W. Hill Correctional Facility on April 15 from a heroin overdose, a medical examiner's report shows. He was in jail for failing to attend a court-ordered drug treatment program after a DUI arrest. It was the second time in six months that Sullivan had overdosed on heroin while in the county prison, despite his parents' pleas with corrections officials to help their son fight his addiction. The lawsuit accuses the county, Geo Group and the prison board of allowing Sullivan "to remain in a general prison population into which heroin was smuggled and easily accessible by prisoners," even though he had a history of abusing drugs while in custody. The lawsuit also alleges that some corrections officers were smuggling drugs into the jail. The suit adds to a growing list of problems at the state's only privately run county jail, which announced Wednesday that it would ease overcrowding by returning about 350 Philadelphia inmates to the city.

September 24, 2005 Delco Times
A convicted murderer who died last month while in custody at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility gave no indications in the weeks leading up to his death that he was planning to kill himself, according to a prison report released Friday. Kevin Parks, who killed his wife with a claw hammer in June 2003, died Aug. 2 at Riddle Memorial Hospital after he was found unresponsive in his cell. The original prison incident report implied that he might have committed suicide by overdosing on prescription medication he could have been hoarding. But a new report by The GEO Group, which manages the publicly funded prison, suggests otherwise. The prison lieutenant who listened to several of Parks’ telephone conversations beginning July 1 said the inmate "sounded upbeat and gave no indications of his contemplating or planning suicide ..the general topic of these conversations consisted of baseball, food and letters he had received from various individuals," the report states. At Wednesday’s prison board meeting, Chairman Charles Sexton Jr. questioned John Hurley, GEO’s senior vice president of North American Operations, about the possibility that Parks may have intentionally overdosed. "How can they hoard medication? Because my understanding is the way it’s supposed to be done is when medication is given to an inmate, they are supposed to take the medication in front of the individual that’s giving it" to ensure that it is swallowed, Sexton said.

September 22, 2005 Delco Times
The multinational corrections corporation that manages the George W. Hill Correctional Facility was informed Wednesday that it will be forced to compete with other companies to maintain its $28 million-a-year county contract that expires May 31. At its monthly meeting Wednesday, the five-member Delaware County Board of Prison Inspectors took the first steps toward opening the contract to companies other than The GEO Group Inc., voting unanimously to compile bidding specifications by Dec. 15. The board's actions come amid a spate of high-profile deaths at the prison, including those of accused triple murderer Michael Rafferty, 29, who died Aug. 18 after jumping from his bed into a wall, and convicted wife-killer Kevin Parks, who died Aug. 2. A prison incident report suggests that Parks may have committed suicide by hoarding prescription medication. "Competition is healthy," Sexton said, adding that he had personally decided six months ago to put the contract out to bid and had since discussed it with other board members who "had no problem with it." Nonetheless, two other recent deaths and a near suicide are not helping GEO's image. Clyde Tyler, 49, a convicted rapist, died March 27 during a fistfight with another inmate. Brian Sullivan, 25, of Broomall, Marple Township died April 15 of an overdose.

September 19, 2005 Philadelphia Inquirer
James Johnson can trace his troubles back to rapper Jay-Z's Hard Knock Life. He spent more than a month and a half in jail in Delaware County charged with a crime he didn't commit, accused of being a man he wasn't. And prison officials had to ignore a lot of facts to keep him there. Five years later, Johnson, now head custodian at the World Cafe Live on Walnut Street in West Philadelphia, learned that the past has a way of catching up with a man. Johnson spent 44 days in the George W. Hill Correctional Facility beginning April 6 for crimes committed by a man known as Shawn Carter. During that time, he told guards, a counselor, a public defender and prosecutors that he was the wrong man. Nobody listened. Any of these known facts could have sprung Johnson: He was in jail at the time of Carter's arrest. Johnson's sister and sister-in-law are Hill Correctional Facility employees. Officials ignored their pleas that Johnson was not Carter. Carter had a dragon tattoo, which was described in the arrest warrant. Johnson did not. Authorities never compared the two men's fingerprints. Officials had photographs of both men. Carter is 3 inches taller than Johnson. His case adds to pressure against the appointed county prison board and the GEO Group, the private firm that runs the jail. A series of recent prison deaths - five in five months - has brought the scrutiny of the county's top prosecutor and prompted an internal investigation by the company. And earlier this year, GEO agreed to pay $125,000 to the family of an inmate who hanged himself by his boot strings in 2002. Now, Johnson is suing the county, the correctional facility, and GEO, accusing them of violating his civil rights. Because of the lawsuit, county and company officials refused to comment on the Johnson case. While Johnson was complaining on the inside that he was wrongly jailed, his fiancée, Shilonda Hargrove, was banging on doors on the outside. "My fiancée kept calling and calling and saying, 'All you have to do is look at the fingerprints,' " Johnson said last week. He said GEO also refused to hear the pleas of his sister and sister-in-law, both correctional officers at the jail. At the prison, Delaware County District Attorney G. Michael Green's office has been investigating four deaths - a heroin overdose, two apparent suicides, and an unexplained fatality. The fifth death stemmed from a fight, and the killing was ruled self-defense.

September 6, 2005 Philadelphia Inquirer
Delaware County's privately run prison has come under the scrutiny of county investigators, and the company that runs the facility was scrambling to examine its policies and identify any missteps after five questionable inmate deaths in the last five months, officials said. Four deaths - a heroin overdose, two apparent suicides and an unexplained fatality - are under review by Delaware County District Attorney G. Michael Green. The fifth death, from a fistfight, was investigated earlier this year, but no charges were filed. William M. DiMascio, executive director of the Prison Society in Philadelphia, said five questionable deaths in as many months seemed unusually high. The George W. Hill Correctional Facility is privately run by GEO Group, formerly Wackenhut Corrections Corp., but controlled by an appointed board. Prison and county officials have refused to release incident reports for the deaths. Charles P. Sexton, chairman of the county Board of Prison Inspectors, was unavailable for comment, said the board's attorney, Robert M. Diorio. The prison has room for 1,800 prisoners sleeping two to a cell. Now, the prison averages 2,000 inmates a day and is in some cases sleeping three to a cell. GEO agreed to pay $125,000 in a settlement earlier this year to the family of an inmate, John Focht, 43, who used his boot strings to hang himself in February 2002, court documents show. "It seems awfully suspicious when somebody is willing to pay out $125,000 in a case where somebody killed themselves," said the Prison Society's DiMascio. "It just seems pretty obvious that something has gone awry."

August 25, 2005 Delco Times
What is going on at Delaware County’s prison? Answers were few this week, even as bodies continue to pile up at the county-owned facility in Concord Township known as the George W. Hill Correctional Facility. Two high-profile inmates have died there in the last month, both apparent suicides. Last Thursday, it was Michael Rafferty, the 29-year-old Drexel Hill man who was awaiting a court date for stabbing to death his parents and a neighbor and seriously wounding the neighbor’s wife. On Aug. 2, it was Kevin Parks, the 42-year-old Bethel Township man beginning a life sentence for beating his wife, Teresa, to death with a hammer. Both men had histories of mental illness. Parks may have overdosed on medication he stashed away in his cell, according to preliminary reports. Rafferty died from injuries he sustained when he leaped from a table and slammed into a prison cell wall. On top of those deaths, a prisoner named Vincent Burton was found dead in his cell on Sunday morning; his cause of death remains undetermined. Last month, an unidentified inmate nearly killed himself by hanging from his bunk; fortunately, he was found in time to be revived. And last March, a convicted serial rapist named Clyde Taylor died after a fistfight with another inmate. Some might argue that these prisoners only got what was coming to them. But that would be wrong; whatever their crimes, or alleged crimes, none of these men was sentenced to death. They were, however, in the care and custody of Delaware County and its agents. But trying to get any answers from county officials this week was almost impossible. Prison Superintendent George W. Hill, for whom the jail is named, was unavailable, as was prison board Chairman Charles Sexton. Members of county council and other prison board members had little to say. The GEO Group, contracted by the county to run the 1,800-inmate lockup, declined comment on any of the prison’s policies. Only prison board lawyer Robert DiOrio had anything substantive to say, and that wasn’t much. "The prison board has nothing to determine at this time as to whether or not any of these deaths was preventable," he said. "Sometimes procedures are followed that are good procedures and valid and recognized procedures throughout the industry and nevertheless people still find a way to take their lives, unfortunately, without anyone being culpable except themselves." Here’s a translation: The board members appointed by the county to oversee the operations of the prison don’t have any idea what’s going on out there, or whether standard rules and regulations are in place. That’s simply not good enough -- particularly in the cases of Rafferty and Parks, who were more vulnerable than other inmates because of their mental illnesses. Why was Parks moved out of the prison’s medical unit, even after his sentencing judge ordered that he be carefully monitored? How does a prisoner "hoard" medication in his cell? What kind of medications were being given to Rafferty and was anyone watching him a day after he had to be restrained while suffering demonic delusions? Without any better explanations from county officials, it seems that oversight is, minimally, lacking at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility. Taxpayers need to know that those being remanded to county custody are being monitored and accounted for. There’s no reason for Delaware County’s prison to become a branch office of Delaware County’s morgue.

August 23, 2005 Delco Times
An inmate at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility died this weekend of undetermined causes, following the deaths of two high-profile prisoners this month, a suicide resuscitation last month and the March beating death of a convicted serial rapist during a fistfight with another inmate. The Delaware County District Attorney’s office is reviewing the death of Vincent Burton, 42, who was found dead in his bunk Sunday morning, according to a prison report released Monday. Burton’s cause of death is pending an autopsy by the county medical examiner, but the prison report stated that no signs of foul play were observed. Also under investigation is the death of Michael Rafferty, the Upper Darby man accused of stabbing his parents and neighbor to death during a July 23 rampage. Rafferty, who according to a family attorney had been diagnosed as having depression with psychosis, died last Thursday after jumping from his bed into a wall. Another inmate, convicted wife killer Kevin Parks, died Aug. 2 at Riddle Memorial Hospital of undisclosed causes. Though the medical examiner has not ruled in that case, either, a prison report suggests that Parks may have overdosed by hoarding prescription anti-depressant medication. Parks’ defense attorney, Stephen Patrizio, said Monday that Parks was "absolutely" a known suicide threat. Convicted of killing his wife Teresa Parks with a hammer, Parks said in court: "I look forward to the time when we will be united in heaven." "Judge (Frank) Hazel specifically ordered that he be monitored very closely and carefully," said Patrizio. "My understanding is he was in the medical unit, but due to either overcrowding or some determination made by a doctor there, he was removed from the medical unit," Patrizio added. That statement could not be verified Monday by anyone affiliated with the prison.

July 24, 2005 Delco Times
Seventeen health-care professionals at the Delaware County prison have signed cards indicating they want to unionize, a union official said Saturday. April Smith, director of organizing for the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, said all but one of the nurses, nurse practitioners and physician assistants at the facility signed union cards over the last two weeks.  "We’re delighted that the professionals at the George W. Hill correctional facility have decided to join PASNAP," Bill Cruice, the union’s executive director, said.  The Thornbury prison is managed through the GEO Group Inc., formerly Wackenhut Corrections Corp., through a publicly funded contract. Its daily average population last year was 1,785 residents.  Representatives from the GEO Group Inc. were also unable to be reached Saturday.
In March, non-security employees voted to join Teamsters Local 312 by a more than 2-1 margin. That union covers about 80 employees such as counselors, supervisors, clerical workers and some medical personnel.  The prison guards, who number about 280, have been represented by the Delaware County Prison Employees Independent Union since 1999.

April 16, 2005 Delco Times
A prosecutor said Friday that Sandra Denise Belt has pointed an accusatory finger at everybody but herself in the theft of more than $26,000 while working as a clerk for the Wackenhut Corp., which ran Delaware County’s prison. Belt, 36, of Colmesneil, Texas, who worked in a prison, will now be part of the inmate population as she was sentenced Friday to 11½ to 23 months in jail. Assistant District Attorney Gregory Hurchalla said that Belt, whose husband worked as an assistant warden, has refused to accept any responsibility "despite overwhelming evidence." A jury convicted her of theft charges following a trial last month. "She was living a comfortable lifestyle," said Hurchalla. "There’s no reasonable explanation as to why she stole the money. She’s willing to point the finger at everybody but herself."

March 31, 2005 Delco Times
Sandra Denise Belt testified that when she was hired as a clerk handling inmates’ money for the Wackenhut Corp. that ran Delaware County’s prison, she told officials that she wasn’t good with numbers. "I told them when I took this job I transposed numbers real bad," she said. Belt, 36, of Colmesneil, Texas, whose honey-colored hair cascaded to her waist as she spoke with a sugary Southern accent, was found guilty Tuesday of charges she pocketed more than $26,000 while working at the Thornbury-based facility. Following the verdict, as tears rolled down her face, Belt was handcuffed and taken off to prison to await sentencing, which Judge George Koudelis tentatively set for Tuesday. The judge raised her bail from 10 percent of $10,000 to $10,000 cash bail.

December 30, 2004 Newsof DelawareCounty.com
With the prisoner population at Delaware County's George W. Hill Correctional Facility on the rise, some inmates are complaining about conditions, including claims of overcrowding, problems accessing attorneys and counselors, and a lack of maintenance or cleanliness. "Intake there's three to a cell," said George W. Hill inmate Wanell Davis. "They got you in like a dog bed. You sleep on a floor." Davis, of Wilmington, Delaware, had served one year in the facility awaiting sentencing at the time of the interview. He said overcrowding has caused overfilling of cells, mostly in receiving areas, but also in other parts of the prison. Board solicitor Robert DiOrio, however, confirmed that the facility's population has risen by "several hundred" in recent years, but said cell capacity is only exceeded in receiving areas, and only for very brief periods when it is unavoidable. Currently, DiOrio said, the population is not exceeding capacity. Davis, however, disagrees. "They're supposed to give out this thing, it's called care bags," he said. "We're short on something they're supposed to give us-soap, toilet paper ... We just got the water fixed. The water was broke for six months. There's guys that haven't cleaned their cells for six months." "The people that come in and out, they don't clean the blankets," Mark said. "They give you no cleaning materials." DiOrio confirmed that occasionally water service is interrupted. Other prisoners say they have trouble speaking with counselors or lawyers. Defense attorney Mike Malloy, who practices in Media, said he has experienced long waits when going to visit with clients at the prison. "They seem to be understaffed and they also have a high (employee) turnover rate," Malloy said. Prisoners also spoke of guards selling cigarettes for as much as $5 a piece in the smoke-free facility. DiOrio said this was against the rules, but said it was an employment issue for GEO, the private company that manages the jail. The county plans to increase its funding for the prison for 2005, with most of the new money going toward that contract, Delaware County budget director Dan Fahey said. The cost of the contract is increasing about $1.29 million, bringing it to $31.97 million for 2005.

December 11, 2004 Delco Times
Criminal justice expenditures are set to increase by 10.5 percent in 2005 because of $4.6 million in new spending at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility, which is managed by The GEO Group Inc., formerly Wackenhut Corrections Corp. The 4.45 property-tax millage requirement will remain the same in 2005 if the proposed budget is adopted at Tuesday’s council meeting, as expected. The $28.7 million in anticipated spending at the county prison -- an increase of 18.9 percent over 2004 -- is due to an all-time-high prison population that has recently peaked at 1,870 inmates, according to prison board Chairman Charles P. Sexton Jr.

November 19, 2004 Delco Times
Delaware County’s 2005 budget proposal shows a spending increase of $12.4 million but holds the property tax millage at the 2004 rate. Criminal justice expenditures would increase 10.5 percent, fueled by $4.6 million in new spending at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility. Total county spending at the prison, which is managed by The GEO Group Inc., formerly Wackenhut Corrections Corp., is expected to reach $28.7 million in 2005 -- a 19 percent increase over 2004.

June 13, 2004
The GEO Group, formerly Wackenhut Corrections Corp., fired the warden of the George W. Hill correctional facility Thursday. According to Delaware County Prison Board Chairman Charles P. Sexton, Jr. and several other high-ranking county sources, Warden John "Doug" Caulfield was let go for both budgetary and personal reasons.  "I'll confirm that Caulfield's out," Sexton said. "But I won't comment any further because it's not a county personnel matter."  Sources said the budgetary issues stemmed from a failure on Caulfield's part to meet staffing levels agreed upon in the county's contract with the corrections conglomerate.  A clause, fought for by county negotiators, was put in place to penalize GEO for a failure to meet or maintain staffing standards on a monthly basis.  (Delco Times)

February 9, 2004
A Delaware County prison guard was fired Tuesday after an internal investigation found that he had assaulted an inmate, the prison warden said. Lt. Victor Lay was given a letter of termination from the GEO Group Inc. - formerly Wackenhut Corrections Corp. - after he physically assaulted an inmate last month, said Warden Douglas Caulfield.  "He used excessive force to control an inmate who was being uncooperative with (returning to his cell)," said Caulfield.  "There are acceptable ways of handling such an insurgent. We do have a force continuum in place that calls for light force to be taken. But for some reason, Lay just snapped on the guy and started beating him to a pulp," he said.  The identity of the inmate was not available.  Caulfield said Lay was immediately suspended from his job pending an internal investigation. GEO corporate offices gave Caulfield the green light earlier this week.  "We have a zero tolerance policy for this type of behavior," Caulfield said.  Caulfield, who could not confirm Lay’s residence or salary, said questions had been raised about Lay’s performance before.  "I know he’s had a history of questionable behavior," Caulfield said. "We’ve just never able to nail him down until now. We finally had other officers come forward and tell us about this."  Delaware County Assistant District Attorney Joseph Brielmann said the case has not been referred to his office for review, although Caulfield said he expected that such a referral was "imminent."  Since Delaware County privatized its jail operations in 1996, a series of alleged misconduct and outright crimes by correctional officers, on and off the job, have been reported.  Among them:- On Aug. 11, 2001, an altercation between since convicted murderer Kareem Bahiy and Wackenhut correctional officer Thernell Hardy Jr. resulted in criminal charges against Hardy.  Bahiy, 24, of Philadelphia, is serving a life sentence after killing Springfield CVS manager John DiOstilio in June, 2001.  Former district attorney Patrick Meehan said Hardy, 35, of Chester, stabbed Kareem Bahiy, 24, of Philadelphia in the neck after a conversation Meehan termed "aggressive."  Hardy was charged with aggravated and simple assault and related offenses and was subsequently fired by Wackenhut.  Hardy, who had worked at the jail since 1999, denied stabbing Bahiy with a knife, claiming the prisoner’s injury was caused by Hardy’s thumbnail.  - On April 18, 2001, off-duty Wackenhut correctional officer Jermaine Richardson of Philadelphia was arrested for shooting a man in the city that night.  Richardson was charged with attempted murder and related offenses for allegedly firing at Bruce Cox in the 1000 block of 64th Street. Cox was treated at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for gunshot wounds to his legs, police said. The case was dismissed in Philadelphia because an eyewitness refused to testify and Richardson was allowed to return to work at the prison after a suspension.  - In June 1999, Wackenhut hired as a correctional officer Michael D. Kemp Carter of Chester. Carter had entered the county’s Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program for first-time offenders earlier that year after admitting to stealing computers from the Chadds Ford office of accounting firm Deloitte & Touche, where he had worked as a security guard.  Carter was fired by Wackenhut in December 1999 and later accused of leading a forgery ring. He told prosecutors that he supplied three co-defendants with numerous fraudulent checks, including some stolen from Wackenhut and drawn on a company account.  In 2001, he pleaded guilty to a pair of felony theft charges related to $12,200 in bad checks.  - In March 1998, Wackenhut suspended Assistant Warden Richard Robinson indefinitely after he was accused of improper contact with a female inmate. A criminal probe into the matter by Delaware County detectives found no criminal wrongdoing. Robinson no longer works at the jail.  - In two separate incidents in February 1997, officials reported the company fired five male correctional officers accused of sexually harassing female colleagues.  (Zwire)

December 16, 2002
Unless contraband cigarettes stop flowing through George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Philadelphia, the warden could be sent to jail, a Deleware County official said in October.  Charles Sexton, chairman of the Deleware County Board of Prison Inspectors, which oversees the Wackenhut-operated facility, told Warden John Caulfield he had to eliminate the black market in cigarettes and narcotics, allegedly aided by correctional officers, or defend himself against charges that could send him to jail.  A June search of one prison building turned up 117 packs of cigarettes and unauthorized money.  Sexton told Caulfield he would try to have the new warden arrested if the cigarette and alcohol contraband problem continued to go unchecked.  (Corrections Professional)

November 26, 2002
A Delaware County corrections officer with a criminal history is jailed in the prison she guarded on charges that she delivered a death threat to a witness in a police officer's murder.  Police say Angeline McKellar, while working Wednesday at the Delaware County prison, told a female inmate who is a state's witness in the October 2001 shooting death of Chester Police Cpl. Michael Beverly that she would be killed, according to the affidavit of probable cause.  A review of Delaware County court files shows that McKellar established a criminal history while working as a guard at the prison.  She was sentenced to one year's probation in March 1999 for simple assault, stemming from a 1998 Chester bar fight. In September 1999, McKellar was sentenced to one year's probation after pleading guilty to welfare fraud. In August 2001, she was sentenced to time served in an in-patient program and community service for driving under the influence the year before.  A document dated May 25, 2000, says that McKellar was employed as a guard at the prison, but it is unclear how long she had worked there. She has been suspended without pay, Robert DiOrio, solicitor for the county Prison Board, said yesterday.  Though the Prison Board is charged with running the county prison, Diorio said hiring and oversight of guards are handled by the for-profit Wackenhut Corrections Corp., a Florida company that has a contract with Delaware County to operate the prison.  (Philadelphia Inquirer)

November 5, 2002
Delaware County executive director Marianne Grace has submitted a $245.8 million proposed county budget for 2003 that calls for a 7.9 percent tax increase.  A substantial increase is proposed in the cost of running the county prison, which is operated by the for-profit Wackenhut Corrections Corp. in 2001, Wackenhut said it was losing money on the prison and began taking steps to end its contract with the county.  The county subsequently renegotiated the contract and gave the company more money.  Wackenhut then decided to stay.  (Philadelphia Inquirer)

July 18, 2002
The new warden at Delaware county's prison was put on notice yesterday that if he does not stop the flow of contraband cigarettes into the facility in the next month, he could end up in a cell of his own.  Charles P. Sexton, the chairman of the Delaware County Board of Prison inspectors, which oversees operations at the George W. Hill correctional Facility, told Warden John D. Caulfield at a board meeting that some "guards are corrupt and profit off of certain people's misfortune- the inmates who have trouble getting off (tobacco)."  Caulfield had just started his first day on the job, replacing James Janecka, who had been assigned by Wackenhut Corrections Corp., the company that has a contract with Delaware County to operate the prison.  John Reilly, the prison's assistant superintendent, said after the meeting that an investigation in January concluded that "there was a significant black market in cigarettes and narcotics" at the prison.  A search last month of one building turned up 117 packs of cigarettes and money in excess of the amount prisoners are allowed to have, Reilly said.  Also, one guard was fired and two others were disciplined earlier this year for allowing sexual contact between inmates and visitors and for bringing in food, whiskey and cigarettes.  Turnover and understaffing at the prison are a longstanding problem that contributes to contraband smuggling, Reilly said.  The prison is 22 guards short, and more than two-thirds of the staff had worked there for less than four years.  (Penna Edition)

March 7, 2002
Life behind bars at the Delaware County Prison wasn't so bad - if you had a little money and knew the right guard. You could get sex, booze, food, cigarettes and other comforts, according to an internal prison investigation. But the gravy train might be over. The "right guard" has been fired. Delaware County District Attorney Patricia Holsten said she was investigating the money-for-sex scheme for "possible criminal activity." Reports say the guard, who has not been identified, permitted visitors and inmates to have sex in exchange for cash. Holsten said prison officials had never told her about the case. She had to read about it in the Delaware County Daily Times, which reported the allegations Monday after obtaining the results of an internal prison investigation.  Two other guards were disciplined following the probe, Prison Board Solicitor Robert DiOrio said. He said the investigation confirmed the officer had permitted male inmates to have intercourse with female visitors on several occasions. The prison, the George W. Hill Corrections Facility in Concord , is run by Wackenhut Corrections Corp., a private company.  (Philadelphia Daily News)

October 9, 2001
Charles P. Sexton Jr. would like to see more prison cells - a lot more prison cells - built at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility, Delaware County's prison.  It's not that Sexton, the head of the county board that oversees the prison operation, is expecting a Delaware County crime wave. The 1,634-bed prison, opened in 1998 and operated for the county by Wackenhut Corrections Corp., has more than enough space for all of the county's inmates.  Instead, he wants to greatly expand the county's current practice of taking in prisoners from other counties, because that policy brings in millions of dollars and promises millions more - money that could help pay the substantial cost of housing Delaware County inmates.  (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

August 16, 2001
A suspended Delaware County prison guard surrendered to authorities yesterday after a warrant was issued for his arrest in the stabbing of an inmate inside his cell.  Thernell Hardy Jr., 33, of Chester, voluntarily turned himself in to the district attorney's office in Media.  Delaware County District Judge Richard M. Cappelli arraigned Hardy on charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and a weapons offense. Hardy has worked for 22 months as a private guard at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Concord Township.  He posted 10 percent of $5,000 bail and was released. The inmate, Kareem Bahiy, 22, who is awaiting trial in the June 5 slaying of John Ostilio, the night manager of a CVS pharmacy in Springfield, received four stitches to close a three-quarters-of-an-inch cut on the right side of his neck Saturday night at Crozer-Chester Hospital.  (Daily News)

August 14, 2001
Delaware County authorities say a prison guard stabbed the accused killer of a CVS pharmacy night manager inside his prison cell on Saturday night.  But the suspended guard, Thernall Hardy Jr., 33, of Chester, said he had been struggling with the inmate when his arm slipped and his right thumbnail left a gash in the prisoner's neck.  Delaware County District Attorney Patrick Meehan said Hardy would be charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, and possession of an instrument of crime.  (Daily News)

July 26, 2001
Five years ago, it was the corrections industry equivalent of a Hollywood marriage: The Delaware County prison contracted its total operation - management, medical and food - to Wackenhut. It would be the second-largest prison to be operated by Wackenhut in the world, and the first county prison to be privatized in the Northeast.  It's all over now, a marriage of five years that was terminated in a week. "Nothing is forever," Sexton said last week. "You've got to be ready when things change, and we were. " What changed is that Delaware County, borrowing a page from other governments, found a way to make money at its prison.  Wackenhut responded by saying it wasn't getting a fair share of the proceeds.  In 1998, Delaware County began taking inmates from overflowing prisons in Chester County and the City of Philadelphia and charged $55 and $57 a day respectively. (The fees have since risen to $58 and $60 a day.)  Meanwhile, it was paying Wackenhut about $35 a day for each prisoner (now up to about $39), regardless of county of origin.  Now, the prison board, which has contracts to take 100 Chester County and 300 Philadelphia inmates, is looking to increase its import business. It is about to open a 220-bed unit for minor offenders, including repeat drunken-driving offenders. This will free up space in the main prison for more outsiders. Sexton says he is interested in deals with the state, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.   Meanwhile, Wackenhut said the daily per-inmate fee of $39 wouldn't cover its increasing costs, especially the medical and litigation expenses posed by additional prisoners.   So it said it would end its contract to run the 1,538-bed complex in western Delaware County on Nov. 11, and the prison board responded by saying it would run the prison - as it had before.  Now cut Wackenhut out of the deal and add the 220 beds created by the opening of the minor-offender unit. At a projected rate of about $60 a day, that is 620 inmates times $60 times 365 days. That's $13.6 million at full capacity. Let's figure the daily average will be only two-thirds of that. Now we're at about $9 million.  But might we also be creating a public detriment by putting all these financial incentives on filling Delaware County beds with inmates from elsewhere? Might decisions by the criminal justice system be based not on what is right and fair for society and the criminal, but rather on what is financially most beneficial?   "Absolutely not," Sexton said.   I want to believe that, but first I want to see how this whole new world of prisons as money makers shakes itself out.  (The Inquirer)

July 19, 2001
Delaware County authorities will take over at least some operations of the county prison once the private firm running the facility leaves in the fall. The prison board voted 5-0 in favor of a resolution Wednesday not to seek a third-party contractor to replace Wackenhut Corrections Corp. of Palm Gardens, Fla. The company invoked an escape clause in its contract with the prison board last week and will cede operations Nov. 11. Company officials said Wackenhut was not making enough money to justify continuing the arrangement. (AP)

July 11, 2001
Wackenhut Corrections Corporation (NYSE: WHC) today reported that it has issued a 120-day notice to the Delaware County Board of Prison Inspectors, pursuant to the terms of its contract, to discontinue its operation of the George W. Hill Correctional Facility, located in Thornton, PA, effective, midnight November 11, 2001.  Mr. George C. Zoley, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Wackenhut Corrections, said, "We are pleased with our accomplishments in Delaware County, including the development of a new prison facility on time and under budget, saving the County approximately $30 million over its initial construction cost estimates.  However, we have been unsuccessful in negotiating a proposed contract amendment with new financial terms we believe are necessary to satisfactorily address the county's planned intake of additional prisoners from outside the county and risks of higher medical costs and litigation associated with such prisoners.  "The Delaware County Prison has been a financially under-performing contract for some time.  The discontinuance of this contract eliminates the negative impact that higher than anticipated inmate medical and litigation costs have had on our earnings over time.  The Company does not expect the discontinuation of the current management contract to have any impact on the Company's financial guidance for the fiscal year 2001," Mr. Zoley concluded.  (PR Newswire)

May 30, 2001
A Delaware County prison guard turned herself in yesterday on charges of supplying inmates with cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana, authorities said.  Lisa Clark, 27, of Philadelphia, was caught in April with 13 packs of cigarettes, according to an incident report from the George W. Hill Correctional Facility.  She later admitted to Delaware County detectives that she had been smuggling marijuana, cigarettes and alcohol into the prison to sell to inmates, authorities said.  (The Inquirer)

Joseph E. Coleman Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Community Education Centers
July 12, 2005 Philadelphia Daily News
An inmate at a halfway house in Juniata Park was found shot to death in his room yesterday morning, police said. Geary Turner, 56, was shot once in the chest and pronounced dead at the scene at about 8 a.m., said Sgt. John Taylor of the homicide division. Security is tight at the Joseph E. Coleman Center, named after the late City Council president. The 300-bed community corrections center is occupied by ex-state prisoners. Though it is called a halfway house, it looks like a medium security prison. The facility is surrounded by high chain-link fences and barbed wire. Inmates may leave the facility on work passes, but must return by night. The facility, which opened in November 2001, is operated by a Roseland, N.J., company called Community Education Centers. Last September, one of CEC's youth facilities - the Wynona M. Lipman Education and Training Center in Newark - came under fire when a prison worker severely beat a 17-year-old inmate. Though CEC either fired or suspended 8 staff members, the facility had admissions suspended by state officials due to the violence. Last month, the Lipman center was permanently closed because of financial problems, just three years after it had opened.

Lancaster County Prison
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Correctional Care, Inc. (formerly run by Armor Correctional Health Services)
February 20, 2008 The Times-Tribune
County officials are mum on a report released by the regional chapter of an international justice advocacy group that calls for a number of reforms to medical care at Lackawanna County Prison. In a report released to The Times-Tribune, Pax Christi of Northeastern Pennsylvania alleges existing conditions such as heart problems and broken ribs were not addressed when inmates arrived, distribution of medication was deficient and sporadic, requests for medical care were answered slowly, and prenatal care for pregnant inmates was almost nonexistent. The report, based on face-to-face surveys of 16 current or former inmates, also suggests medical care has been rationed to boost profits for the medical care provider. “We feel there are very, very serious criticisms that need to be followed up on,” said Father William Pickard, who serves as chaplain for the county’s prison ministry program on behalf of the Diocese of Scranton. Father Pickard also is a member of the regional chapter of Pax Christi, an international Catholic nonprofit group that advocates peace, justice and human rights. Provider under fire -- Medical care at the prison is provided under contract by Correctional Care Inc., of Moosic, a company co-owned by the prison’s medical director, Dr. Edward Zaloga. The report says the relationship is a potential conflict of interest and suggests that money not spent on medical care results in higher profits for CCI. “It’s an inference, but it would seem to be to his (Dr. Zaloga’s) advantage, for example, not to fill medications,” said Joan Holmes, a member of Pax Christi and volunteer with the prison ministry program. Attempts to reach Dr. Zaloga were unsuccessful. It is not clear exactly how Dr. Zaloga would directly benefit from limiting or denying care. Under its five-year contract that expires Nov. 14, 2009, Correctional Care Inc. is paid a flat fee of $250,000 a year regardless of medical expenses and is reimbursed separately for all costs of medical care inside and outside the prison. The report does say that inmates have “major consternation” with Dr. Zaloga and says the fact “that the person best positioned to provide inmates with care was the one they most disrespected was telling.” In the report — dated Jan. 29 — Pax Christi recommended that the Prison Board hire an independent party to evaluate the prison’s medical services. The purpose of the study is not conflict, but change, said Mrs. Holmes. The idea for a review was triggered by the birth of a baby in a prison cell on July 10, Father Pickard said. Then-inmate Shakira Staten, 22, of Chambersburg, accused Lackawanna County Prison officials of ignoring her repeated pleas to go to the hospital before her daughter dropped from her womb and to the floor of a cell monitored by a closed-circuit television camera. Although the Prison Board initially denied the staff did anything wrong in that incident, county officials later publicly apologized to Ms. Staten for what happened. According to the report, Ms. Donate denied Pax Christi access to current inmates. Father Pickard and Mrs. Holmes conducted interviews during regular visits with prisoners as part of the prison ministry program. Joseph Rogan, Ed.D., heads the regional chapter of Pax Christi. Other members of the prison health care review team included Sister Barbara Craig of the Sisters of Mercy and Ann Marie Crowley. Inmates give examples -- The report details many complaints registered by the interviewed inmates. Among them were the claims of two women who were pregnant while incarcerated. The report says the pregnant inmates received no checkups after entering the prison, and “received inconsistent prenatal vitamins and received no prenatal care.” Another inmate reportedly claimed that “medicines are routinely replaced or unavailable to save the (medical care) firm money.” Several complaints were reported about a lack of response to inmate requests to see a doctor or to file grievances about medical care denials. “A few did get the care they requested ... ,” the report says. “Most, however, reported that their requests were ignored, or, if addressed at all, only very slowly. When they did get attention, in many cases no treatments were prescribed. One (inmate) was told that he was just getting old.” The report said two interviewed inmates independently confirmed that when one inmate they knew filed a grievance about medical care, the “entire unit was locked down while a guard read the details of the inmate’s complete medical history over the intercom for all to hear.” None of the interview subjects is identified in the report, and it contains a disclaimer that says some responses “may have been colored by personal motives.” However, the document also says that there were underlying themes amid the responses that triggered the recommendations. “We thought there was enough of a common thread there to release the report,” Father Pickard said. “I could tell by (the inmates’) emotions that they were sincere, that they went through a terrible ordeal. They weren’t play-acting. It was very obvious in the interaction I had with them.” Prisoners faced possible retribution by answering the survey questions, Father Pickard said. The committee recorded a majority of the inmates’ names, and Father Pickard said the committee verified what inmates told them “as best they could.” However, Mrs. Holmes admitted they did not have a way to verify all claims. Pax Christi received 38 responses when input was solicited, but was only able to interview 16 people because of time and logistical constraints. Of the 16 people who responded, 14 were current inmates. The report recommends that the Prison Board: Review the prison’s inmate intake procedures. Review the prison’s medical response procedures. Review the possibility that inmates with mental health issues could be better placed. Review whether inmates who have substance-abuse problems could be served through treatment and education. Review the prison’s policies and procedures related to pregnant inmates. Review the prison’s food-service system to determine whether inmates receive proper nutrition. Officials not talking -- County communications director Lynne Shedlock said the study was referred to Prison Warden Janine Donate, who was not immediately available for comment. “There is no further comment until the warden has had a chance to review it,” Ms. Shedlock said. “She’ll present a report back to the Prison Board at the appropriate time.” Majority Commissioner Mike Washo, who chairs the board, was out of town and not available for comment. Minority Commissioner A.J. Munchak, who served as Prison Board chair when he was majority commissioner through last year, deferred questions to Mr. Washo. “Any official response has to come from the chairman,” Mr. Munchak said. Commissioner Corey O’Brien, also a member of the Prison Board, declined comment as well. In addition to the three county commissioners, the Prison Board includes District Attorney Andy Jarbola, Sheriff John Szymanski , Judge Vito Geroulo and County Controller Ken McDowell. Mr. McDowell said he read the study and anticipates the warden will review it and make a report to the Prison Board. Efforts to reach Mr. Jarbola, Mr. Szymanski and Judge Geroulo were unsuccessful.

September 22, 2006 Intelligencer Journal
Charges will not be filed against the head of a Florida-based private medical services company unless new information comes to light, District Attorney Don Totaro said Thursday. Doyle Moore, CEO of Armor Correctional Health Services, was being investigated by Totaro’s office for allegedly falsifying information on an application for a county contract. Totaro based his decision on an affidavit Armor submitted in February when it applied for a 5-year, $17-million contract to provide all medical services to Lancaster County Prison. The affidavit — one of three submitted by Armor — sought information on “employee criminal history.” A county detective discovered Moore was convicted in Massachusetts in 1994 of tax evasion, a felony offense. Moore was sentenced to 2 years in prison, but he never served jail time, according to an article in the Boston Globe, because a judge suspended the prison term. Moore also was fined $68,650 and ordered to pay all legal costs, the paper reported. The instructions on the “employee criminal history” affidavit required the person completing it to place his or her initials next to one of two statements: The first stated no one who would work on “this contract” has ever been convicted of a misdemeanor or felony or has any criminal action pending. The second stated some employees have been convicted of crimes and instructs the person completing the document to list the names of those workers. An “X,” rather than someone’s initials, was typed on the line next to the first statement. “This affidavit was the only one of the three that did not include space for a signature or a notary seal,” Totaro said. Although Moore signed the two other affidavits, Totaro said there was no way to prove he completed the third one because it had no signature and no initials on it. Had Totaro been able to prove Moore completed the document, Moore could have been charged with falsifying an official document because of his criminal record. “There is no way for us to prove who completed this” affidavit of employee criminal history, Totaro said. “Our burden of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt, and we cannot meet that burden.” ••• In June, county prison Warden Vince Guarini told the prison board Armor was the most qualified firm to provide medical services to the county prison. He has been pushing for about a year to outsource those services to save money and because the current in-house program is understaffed and cannot provide sufficient care to the prison’s 1,200 inmates. With Guarini’s endorsement, the prison board voted at its June meeting to recommend the county commissioners negotiate a contract with Armor. But shortly after the commissioners were charged with that task, Commissioner Molly Henderson has said, the board received e-mails from the public regarding the track record of Armor and several of its executives, including Moore. James Laughman, the county’s interim director of human services, said the e-mails contained newspaper articles that suggested Armor and its executives had used various forms of influence to procure contracts to provide prison medical care, primarily in Florida, and that Moore’s former company, Prison Health Services, had been sued several times for providing poor service to its customers. Guarini said he received that information, too, moving him to ask the district attorney’s office to investigate. That is when the county detective discovered Moore’s 1994 tax evasion conviction. Guarini has said he knew nothing about Moore’s conviction before the detective discovered it. ••• Contracting for prison health care is new to Lancaster County, said Totaro, who sits on the county’s prison board. Guarini, who said he’s known Moore for more than 30 years (the two worked together in the 1970s when Guarini was deputy warden of Delaware County’s prison and Moore was a health care professional there), was responsible for the process of soliciting bids and reviewing contracts. “The documents the county sent out to potential bidders were provided by the warden,” Totaro said. “The warden obtained these documents from Armor.” Guarini deferred all comment on the Armor situation to Laughman. Laughman said “there were serious flaws throughout the process.” “It appears going to Armor (for documents used in the bidding process) was a huge concern,” he said. Laughman also said he found it “alarming” the affidavit of employee criminal history did not require a notarized signature of the person who completed it. Totaro concurred with Laughman’s assessment of the process. “It most certainly was flawed,” he said. Armor’s attorney could not be reached Thursday for comment. As the county moves forward with its search for a prison health care provider, Laughman and county solicitor Don LeFever will oversee the process. “We are starting over again from square one,” Totaro said. He added that he is “confident” the process has been corrected.

Lackawanna County Jail
Correctional Care, Inc., National Corrective Group (formerly run by PrimeCare)
January 29, 2010 Courthouse News
Now they're privatizing the justice system. It's not enough that we hire mercenaries to fight our wars and interrogate our prisoners overseas, and let private companies imprison our citizens at home, now we're letting private debt collectors use district attorneys' letterhead to threaten people with jail - so long as the collectors kick back some money to the district attorneys. I didn't believe it either, until I read Courthouse News reporter Erin McCauley's story this week, and read for myself the federal class action Shouse v. National Corrective Group and Andrew Jarbola III. But there it is, in a federal court filing. The class claims that "approximately twenty" Pennsylvania counties have contracts with the National Corrective Group, allowing it to use the counties' "district attorney brand." Lackawanna County District Attorney Andrew Jarbola - the only named DA defendant - "permits NCG to use his office, his official letterhead and his signature in communicating with individuals who have issued checks which have been dishonored," according to the complaint. "NCG thereupon uses the district attorney's identity in threatening prosecution and imprisonment, stating or implying that criminal charges have been filed and that court appearances will be required, and stating that payments are due that far exceed the amount of the dishonored check." The debt collectors also tell debtors - in violation of Pennsylvania law - that they may not pay their creditors directly: they have to pay the National Corrective Group, masquerading as the district attorney, and they have to pay extra, according to the complaint. The class claims that Jarbola and other district attorneys have "authorized NCG to use their name, signature and letterhead to charge individuals numerous incidental fees over and above an administrative and accountability class fee. These incidental fees include late payment fees, rescheduling fees, payment/convenience fees and overpayment/handling fees. "Pursuant to the contract with NCG, Defendant Jarbola receives 100 percent of the administrative fees generated by NCG. NCG receives 100 percent of the class fees and incidental fees." Let us pause for a moment, to let this sink in. I'm not a lawyer, but I know a constitutional violation when I see one. I'm not an expert on elephants either, but I'd know it if you dropped a dead elephant in my living room. After these bogus, private district attorneys browbeat and effectively extort money from debtors, with threats of jail, I wonder if they really could send them to prison? They could send them to one of the dozens of private prisons that incarcerate thousands of people all over the country. I've worked in private prisons, and I know what the private contract does - it enables both the government and the private company to duck liability for what goes on inside the walls. We all know what our private mercenary armies have done in Iraq. Remember the Blackwater guards who were charged with murdering 17 people, for no particular reason, in Baghdad's Nisour Square? Those charges were dismissed because of government misconduct. That's what a private contract does, and despite any claims you may hear to the contrary, that's what it is supposed to do: to let both the government and the mercenaries walk. The U.S. Navy hires private contractors to scrub and paint ships at its San Diego base, leaving the sailors free to do - what? Our 535 water boys in Congress push privatization of government services because it's supposed to be cheaper and more "efficient." But how is it efficient to pay a private company to do what sailors would have to do anyway? It's just another way to curry favor with campaign contributors. We let bankers write our banking regulations; we let hedge fund sharks write the no-rules for hedge funds; for eight years we let oil companies write our energy and environmental policies; and now we've made it possible for U.S. citizens to be threatened with jail by bogus, private "prosecutors," and sent to private prisons. All that's left is to let private companies set up private courts to try people - perhaps corporations could try their own employees, and punish them in their own private jails. They could charge advertisers for naming rights to the prisons, like we do with our sports temples ... I mean stadiums. The system going on today in Pennsylvania resembles in many ways the system of "tax farming" under Louis XVI. French tax farmers paid off the king and then got to keep all the taxes they could collect from the people. Do you recall how that worked out? King Louis ended up a head shorter.

December 15, 2009 Times-Tribune
County commissioners are expected to sign a new contract with the current Lackawanna County Prison medical care provider today that will ensure the cost of medical care at the prison, in the future at least, is not kept secret. But the new contract will be signed despite Correctional Care's refusal to hand over, or make public, detailed financial records to prove what the cost of medical care at the prison has been during the last five years. Meanwhile, the commissioners and county controller's office approved paying $114,083 to Correctional Care to cover hospital bills, $75,000 of which was paid without receipts to back up the payment. Not until last month were county officials given access to the records, and only then under a confidentiality agreement, which barred discussing or making copies of the records, or taking notes. Majority Commissioner Mike Washo said the county prison board, of which the commissioners are a part, made demands of Correctional Care, and those demands have been met. "We may not have been fully satisfied with (Correctional Care) not releasing records, but we have to look at the impact on the county budget. We have to look at the whole picture. I'm confident we made the right choice," Mr. Washo said. Though a confidentiality agreement is in place, the county still has a lawsuit, filed in September, to compel Correctional Care to make public its financial records related to medical service at the county prison. Part of the suit is to satisfy the state Office of Open Records, which ruled that financial records related to Correctional Care's pharmacy must be turned over to the president of the local chapter of a Catholic human rights advocacy group. The group, Pax Christi, represented by the ACLU of Pennsylvania and Cozen O'Connor law firm, has joined the suit on the county's side. While the county had refused to pay Correctional Care any additional expenses without first seeing receipts for payments - the exception is a $143,660 monthly bill required by the previous contract - the commissioners last month approved two payments to the vendor for hospital bills. One payment, worth $39,083, was made so Correctional Care could settle a lawsuit filed by Community Medical Center against the prison vendor and the county for $135,000. The three parties settled the matter out of court, said county solicitor Larry Moran, and the lawsuit was discontinued. CMC spokeswoman Jane Gaul declined to comment on the settlement. Efforts to reach Dr. Edward Zaloga, the prison medical director and co-owner of Correctional Care, were unsuccessful. A second payment of $75,000 was made to Correctional Care to pay bills at Moses Taylor Hospital. Mr. Washo said there was concern about whether inmates would be accepted in the future because bills hadn't been paid. Moses Taylor spokeswoman Meaghan Comerford confirmed Correctional Care made a payment to the hospital, but declined to comment otherwise. But that second payment to Correctional Care was not supported by receipts for the expenses, said county Chief Financial Officer Tom Durkin. Mr. Washo said the decision to pay $75,000 - without receipts - was made because Mr. Durkin had reviewed the records for Correctional Care, under the confidentiality agreement, and determined the county owed at least in excess of that. "We knew we owed them money. This was an amount we were comfortable providing them because we saw documentation in excess of that amount," he said. The county will not make further payments until Correctional Care has given the county adequate information, Mr. Washo said. Mr. Durkin said he doesn't know yet how much the county owes Correctional Care under the previous contract - no other bills have been submitted by the vendor in addition to the hospital bills. In a countersuit to the county's September lawsuit, Correctional Care had indicated $471,931 was still owed by the county. Efforts were unsuccessful to ask Controller Ken McDowell on Monday why his office approved the payment without backup documentation. Speaking in general terms on the Correctional Care issue last week, Mr. McDowell said he would not authorize payment "unless I am satisfied it is reasonable and that we were provided with satisfactory evidence of such."

December 2, 2009 The Times-Tribune
A national law firm has agreed to represent the local chapter of a Catholic human rights advocacy group in its fight to obtain financial records from the medical care provider for Lackawanna County Prison. Philadelphia-based Cozen O'Connor and the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania filed a motion Monday on behalf of Pax Christi to intervene and join with Lackawanna County in its lawsuit against its prison health care vendor, Correctional Care Inc. The county lawsuit asks that Correctional Care be compelled to release detailed financial records related to pharmaceutical services, so the county can comply with a state Office of Open Records ruling that found the records must handed over to Pax Christi. The lawsuit also requests Correctional Care be compelled to release all financial receipts and invoices to back up county payments it has received for services. Since the suit was filed in September, the county and Correctional Care signed a confidentiality agreement allowing only county Chief Financial Officer Tom Durkin and county Deputy Controller Reggie Mariani to view the records. Although a confidentiality agreement is in place, solicitor John O'Brien said the county is still pursuing release of all financial records. The motion to intervene taken Monday adds the weight of Cozen O'Connor and the ACLU to the county's suit. "The more interests, motivations and legal rights put forward to obtain these documents, the better chance we have of getting them," said ACLU staff attorney Valerie Burch. Cozen O'Connor, which recently opened a branch office in Wilkes-Barre, is one of the largest law firms in the U.S. "Our plan is to cooperate with the county to get those documents," Cozen O'Connor attorney Micah Knapp said. Attempts to reach Edward Zaloga, M.D., owner of Correctional Care, were unsuccessful. Despite the lawsuit, the county and Correctional Care are in negotiations on a new contract. The current contract was extended by a month, until Dec. 15, to work out details on a new contract. Cozen O'Connor and the ACLU are also seeking a special injunction to ensure records from Correctional Care's current contract are not destroyed.

November 11, 2009 The Times-Tribune
The Lackawanna County Prison Board unanimously approved a new contract for its prison health care vendor based on a proposal that did not include details other bidders were required to submit. Meanwhile, one of the rejected bidders said his proposal could have been more cost-effective than the one submitted by Correctional Care Inc., but county officials did not give him an opportunity to clarify or negotiate costs in the proposal. Correctional Care provided no cost estimates for the next three years for hospitalization, pharmaceuticals or any indication of what staffing levels will be under the new contract, as required by the county's October request for proposals. Instead, the company made reference to a large packet of financial records given to prison board members Oct. 26. Correctional Care didn't have to provide new information on staffing levels or costs because the firm has already proven itself, said minority Commissioner A.J. Munchak, a prison board member and longtime friend of Dr. Edward Zaloga, prison medical director and co-owner of Correctional Care. Asked if he knew how much it will cost the county to send inmates to hospitals for treatment under Correctional Care's proposal, Mr. Munchak said, "I'm not going to do your research for you." Efforts to reach Dr. Zaloga were unsuccessful. Tom Durkin, the county's chief financial officer, estimated the county's cost to send inmates to a hospital under the current contract with Correctional Care has been less than $103,000 per year, based on records the vendor provided to the prison board. However, he acknowledged he could not say for sure how much it cost because the records were not specific. Because Correctional Care provides no breakdown of estimated costs for services in its proposal, there is no way to determine how much the company is budgeting for hospitalization in its $6.7 million bid, Mr. Durkin acknowledged. How much Correctional Care budgets for hospitalization matters because the county must pay the difference if costs exceed the vendor's estimate. Prison board members raised this concern in rejecting the proposal of Health Professionals Limited. The Denver, Colo.-based vendor submitted a bid with a price significantly lower than Correctional Care. Correctional Care's new contract will cost $187,237 a month, compared to $143,660 a month under the previous deal. Health Professionals Limited submitted a proposal that would have cost $147,050 a month. Health Professionals Limited left out the cost of hospitalization and underestimated staffing needs and the cost of pharmaceuticals, Mr. Durkin and prison board members said. For instance, Health Professionals included funding for a physician/medical director who would work only 12 hours per week. Dr. Zaloga is at the prison 40 hours a week, Mr. Munchak said. "They grossly misrepresented themselves," said District Attorney and prison board member Andy Jarbola. "They basically tried to misinform us." Dr. Larry Wolk, chief operations and medical officer of Health Professionals Limited and a native of Lackawanna County, denied any misrepresentation and said the company would have answered the prison board's questions if asked. "We do this for 190 jails in 20 states," Dr. Wolk said. "To say that we don't know what the cost is, is pretty inaccurate." The Health Professionals proposal estimated costs for pharmaceuticals at $140,000 a year. Pharmaceuticals have cost an average $253,000 a year since Correctional Care took over at the prison in November 2004, Mr. Durkin said. Dr. Wolk said his company can obtain lower prices for medications because of its size. "By our estimates, Lackawanna County is spending a lot, lot more than they should be (for pharmaceuticals)," he said. Majority Commissioner Corey O'Brien said the prison board had a sense of staffing levels needed at the prison and what the cost of hospitalization was. With that information, it decided Correctional Care offered the better deal. He said Health Professionals Limited was not called because "we did not have questions on their proposal." "(Correctional Care was) the lowest, most responsible bidder," he said. The prison board on Friday approved a $6.7 million contract with Correctional Care after the county agreed to a confidentiality agreement that allowed county officials to view company records, but forbid them from discussing the records, making copies or taking notes. The county had to file a lawsuit to gain access to detailed financial records in September after Correctional Care refused to turn them over. Dr. Wolk said he was surprised by an arrangement in which a prison medical care provider would retain ownership and control of receipts, invoices and other financial records related to billing. "We may be the vendor that's providing the health care, but we consider that information to be property of the county," Dr. Wolk said.

November 10, 2009 The Times-Tribune
A confidentiality agreement between Lackawanna County and its prison health care vendor is "legally inappropriate" and does not supersede the state's Right to Know Law, said attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union and Pennsylvania Newspaper Association. Lackawanna County entered into a confidentiality agreement with Correctional Care Inc. last week, clearing the way for county officials to inspect financial records of the vendor. The county filed a lawsuit to gain access to the records in September, after Correctional Care refused to turn them over. The county's suit was filed in part so it could comply with a state Office of Open Records ruling that the records be released to Pax Christi, a Catholic human rights advocacy group. In October, the ACLU filed suit on behalf of Pax Christi. The county's suit remains active, despite the confidentiality agreement, under which county officials are forbidden to discuss, make copies or take notes related to the Correctional Care records. The county's position remains that Correctional Care must release the records to the public, majority Commissioner Corey O'Brien said Monday. He said the county agreed to the confidentiality agreement because it was the only way to obtain quick access to the records before deciding on a new prison health care contract. Correctional Care's original contract was set to expire Sunday. The Lackawanna County Prison Board unanimously approved a new three-year, $6.7 million contract with Correctional Care on Friday. The contract still must be approved by county commissioners. "We believe it's public information," Mr. O'Brien said of the financial records. "(Correctional Care) disagrees. We've not waived any claims with respect to what is public information." The courts have repeatedly ruled that confidentiality agreements between a public agency and a second party are inappropriate and unenforceable, said Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel for the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association. She questioned the county awarding a new contract to a vendor that refuses to release documents that by law are public records. "It's legally inappropriate. ... And I question why an agency would renew a contract with someone who doesn't comply with the law," she said. "Any vendor that doesn't want to recognize legal authority shouldn't be a government contractor anymore." County Solicitor John O'Brien agreed that a confidentiality agreement is not enforceable if the records are public - but said it will take a court decision to determine whether they must be released. In a defining case, Lackawanna County Judge Terrence R. Nealon ruled in September that records of an agency vendor are public if the vendor is performing a government function. He ruled that SWB Yankees, the management group that operates Lackawanna County's minor-league baseball team and stadium, cannot keep its contracts with concessionaires secret from taxpayers. The ACLU is reviewing the action taken by the county and will continue to seek the records on behalf of Pax Christi, said Valerie Burch, an ACLU staff attorney. "The right to view these financial records belongs to the people," she said. "The county does not have the power to contract that right away." Pax Christi's determination to obtain the records has not diminished, said Joseph Rogan, Ed.D., president of the local chapter. He said he was surprised the county's one-day review of Correctional Care's books was adequate to award a new $6.7 million contract. "If this is the way the county conducts its financial affairs, it's no wonder that it is in such dire straits," Dr. Rogan said.

October 3, 2009 The Times-Tribune
A proposal by Correctional Care Inc. to provide medical care to Lackawanna County Prison will cost $1.2 million more per year than the service the company currently provides, a review of four medical care provider proposals shows. But even if county officials went with the lowest bidder, Correctional Telecare Solutions, the cost of medical care would be $1.1 million more per year. The county made public Thursday the four proposals submitted for medical care provider at the county prison. Last week, the Lackawanna County Prison Board voted 5-2 to exclusively negotiate a contract with Correctional Care and discard the three other proposals. The vote came two days after a lawsuit was filed raising concerns about the accountability of Correctional Care, which has refused to release financial records to reconcile bills submitted to the county. The county filed suit Sept. 28 to compel Correctional Care to release the financial records and information about its pharmacy vendor, which the company has refused even to name. County taxpayers pay $1.7 million annually to provide medical care to the prison under the current contract with Correctional Care. But without financial invoices to back up the cost from Correctional Care, it is unclear what the actual cost is. Dr. Patrick Conaboy, who submitted a proposal through a Scranton startup company Epidarus Medical Management, said he couldn't be sure how accurate his bid was because the prison was unable to provide direct financial information on its medical care. "If they were able to supply better information, I think it would have changed the pricing totally," Dr. Conaboy said. Dr. Conaboy, who realized he was a "dark horse" pick because he was a startup company, said he also offered a one-year contract in his proposal that could be renegotiated once he understood what the costs were to provide medical care. In its proposal, Correctional Care priced the cost per year to provide medical care at between $2,630,287 for 900 inmates and $2,919,619 for 1,000 inmates. Correctional Telecare, the low bidder, would cost on average per year between $2,591,148 for 900 inmates and $2,879,053 for 1,000 inmates. The county prison population fluctuates between 900 and 1,000 inmates. No matter the outcome of the prison board meeting, majority Commissioners Corey O'Brien and Mike Washo said there isn't an extra $1 million in the county budget available to pay for medical care at the prison. "I've said that relentlessly now, we can't afford these proposals," Mr. Washo said. He recommended scrapping all the proposals and starting over. "I don't know where the money would come from, I have no idea, but we're not raising the taxes." Epidarus Medical Management submitted a proposal to offer services on an average of $3.1 million a year, with no mention of an amount per inmate. Harrisburg-based Primecare Medical, which manages medical care for 31 prisons, submitted a proposal that would have cost on average $3.8 million a year for 850 inmates. In a letter to the editor published in The Times-Tribune on Friday, minority Commissioner A.J. Munchak questioned the county's timing in filing a lawsuit against Correctional Care two days before proposals were discussed by the prison board. Mr. Munchak pointed out county solicitor Larry Moran is the brother-in-law of Epidarus owner, Dr. Conaboy. As chief solicitor of litigation for the county, Mr. Moran handled filing the lawsuit against Correctional Care. Asked Friday if he was suggesting impropriety by Mr. Moran or the majority commissioners, Mr. Munchak would say only "the timing is suspect." Mr. O'Brien and Mr. Washo called any implication of impropriety "ludicrous." "A.J. must be confusing us with his administration. I'm not going to dignify that kind of comment with a response," Mr. O'Brien said. Mr. Washo said the timing of the lawsuit was coincidental and the issues raised in the lawsuit against Correctional Care had been developing for months. Mr. Moran called Mr. Munchak's comments "despicable" and said they were made to divert attention from Correctional Care and its co-owner, Edward Zaloga, M.D., a longtime friend of Mr. Munchak. "I think his smokescreen bomb is a dud," Mr. Moran said. "It's a transparent effort to divert scrutiny from his lifelong friend, a friend who despite a ruling of the (state) open records office and a lawsuit has refused to account for the expenditures of millions of dollars over five years." Dr. Conaboy, who also denied any impropriety. "More than half the city is related to me in someway," he said. "I will tell you I never had a single discussion with anybody in the commissioner's office."

September 25, 2009 Scranton Times
A Lackawanna County Prison inmate made half a dozen requests seeking medical help for a severe skin condition, but was ignored until the American Civil Liberties Union intervened, an ACLU attorney said Thursday. The inmate's condition became so severe it shocked Valerie A. Burch, an attorney with the ACLU of Pennsylvania. "He looked like a burn victim," she said. "He had severe psoriasis all over his body. His skin was cracked and bleeding. It was immediately apparent this man was not getting the treatment he needed." Prison advocacy group Pax Christi and the ACLU of Pennsylvania brought the case of inmate Cal Burns, 32, to light after a decision by the Lackawanna County Prison Board to negotiate a new contract with the current prison medical care provider, Correctional Care Inc. The decision was made on a 5-2 vote, with majority county Commissioners Corey O'Brien and Mike Washo voting against negotiating with Correctional Care and discarding proposals from three other medical care providers. Board members who voted for retaining the company said they are satisfied with the medical care provided at the prison. Told of the board's action, Ms. Burch said she was surprised. The ACLU receives more inmate complaints about medical care at Lackawanna County Prison than from any other prison in the state, she said. Complaints are so common, she said, they are immediately assigned an attorney, bypassing a standard screening process. "This is one (prison) we've been watching because we do think the medical care at Lackawanna County Prison is bad," Ms. Burch said. The ACLU and Pax Christi are each actively investigating complaints at Lackawanna County Prison, according to officials at both organizations. However, they said it is difficult to measure exactly how many complaints they receive. Mr. Burns remains in the prison and could not be interviewed Thursday. He gave Ms. Burch permission to speak with The Times-Tribune on his behalf. Ms. Burch said she visited the prison in March to interview Mr. Burns. The inmate's pain was so intense, he could not sleep, Ms. Burch said. Mr. Burns submitted six requests for medical treatment over a period of several weeks, she said, but prison officials failed to respond. "Before jail, he was getting injections that kept him completely healthy and normal," she said. "In prison, he wasn't getting the same treatment. They reduced it to a cream, which was obviously inadequate." Ms. Burch said she sent a letter to Warden Janine Donate, threatening a cruel and unusual punishment suit if Mr. Burns did not receive different treatment. Soon after, proper treatment was given, and Mr. Burns has since recovered, Ms. Burch said. Citing medical privacy laws, Ms. Donate refused to discuss Mr. Burns' case, or the claim his requests for treatment went unanswered. She insisted Correctional Care provides satisfactory medical care to inmates. The state Bureau of Corrections gave Lackawanna County Prison a 100 percent rating in 2009 for an inspection that included questions about medical care, she noted. "We've been inspected on state and federal levels several times since 2004 ... and we've never had any notable issues," she said. "So on an objective level, yes, they're doing what they're supposed to be doing within the standard of a medical provider of the prison." Minority county Commissioner A.J. Munchak, Judge Vito P. Geroulo, District Attorney Andy Jarbola, Controller Ken McDowell and Sheriff John Szymanski - the prison board members who voted for negotiating a new contract with Correctional Care - said they were unfamiliar with Mr. Burns' case and stood by their votes Thursday. "There are a couple of people who are dissatisfied with the care and that's the basis of (complaints)," Mr. Munchak said. "The bottom line is medical complaints have decreased substantially." Mr. Jarbola said claims made by Pax Christi can't be trusted. "I don't give Pax Christi any credibility whatsoever," he said, declining to elaborate. He said he is unaware of any ACLU concerns with the prison, but would be open to hearing about them. Judge Geroulo, who regularly speaks with inmates, said it is "extremely rare" he receives complaints about medical care at the prison. "I get hundreds of letters per year directly from prisoners, I question any prisoner before me that looks like they need medical attention and I immediately speak with the warden if there is a problem," the judge said. Judge Geroulo said he is aware of inmate complaints about the types of medications they receive. He said Correctional Care told him while some medications may have different brand names, inmates are receiving the same types and quality of medicine. The judge said he was unfamiliar with Mr. Burns' experience, and could not comment. Pax Christi has never been concerned with who is providing medical care at the prison, said Joseph Rogan, Ed.D., president of the local chapter. "We've never asked to have anybody replaced," he said. "What we've asked for is good health care and we believe the county has a duty to take care of their inmates."

May 7, 2008 The Times-Tribune
The medical care provider at Lackawanna County Prison filed a lawsuit against the president of a local social justice advocacy group, alleging defamation, slander and interference with contract because of a report that blasted prison health care. Correctional Care Inc., of Moosic, filed a three-count complaint against Joseph Rogan, Ed.D., seeking damages in excess of $50,000. Mr. Rogan, who heads Pax Christi of Northeastern Pennsylvania, said he had not seen the lawsuit as of Tuesday afternoon. Pax Christi, an international nonprofit Catholic organization that advocates peace, justice and human rights, issued a report calling for major reform of the prison’s medical care. Specifically, the lawsuit alleges tortious interference with existing contractual relations, intentional interference with prospective contractual relations, and defamation, libel and slander. The report suggested prenatal care was inadequate and requests for medical care were answered slowly, among other things. The report, based on face-to-face surveys of 16 current or former inmates, also suggested distribution of medication was deficient. “Mr. Rogan acted irresponsibly and without sufficient due diligence in issuing his report, and as a result, has harmed our client,” said attorney James Scanlon, representing CCI. Pax Christi submitted the report to the Prison Board on Jan. 29. Warden Janine Donate subsequently issued a response dismissing the allegations at a Prison Board meeting March 12. Minority Commissioner A.J. Munchak, who formerly served as Prison Board chairman, had not seen the lawsuit but said he was surprised one hadn’t been filed sooner.

March 13, 2008 The Times-Tribune
Several members of the Lackawanna County Prison Board on Wednesday railed against a review of prison health care released last month by the regional branch of an international social justice group. Pax Christi, a Catholic nonprofit group that advocates peace, justice and human rights, undertook the project after the birth of a baby in a prison cell in July. Among a multitude of Pax Christi’s allegations rebutted by Warden Janine Donate were deficient distribution of medication, ignored inmate requests for care and almost nonexistent prenatal care. Ms. Donate assured the Prison Board that pregnant inmates are given appropriate prenatal care and prenatal vitamins. “As for the allegation that inmates are ignored and services have significant delays, it’s simply not accurate,” she said. The survey’s eight recommendations were based on 16 face-to-face interviews with current and former inmates. Fourteen were current inmates interviewed by members of the prison ministry program. However, Pax Christi was denied access to prison inmates when Joseph Rogan, Ed.D., head of the regional Pax Christi chapter, made the request in December. Ms. Donate said she denied the request because she’d never met Dr. Rogan and did not know who the other members of the review team were or what qualifications they had to conduct a health care survey. District Attorney Andy Jarbola, a member of the Prison Board, questioned the qualifications of the review team and the way in which the study was conducted. “I have a huge problem with this report,” he said. “We have no idea whether these individuals have done such a survey in any other prison or institution anywhere in Pennsylvania or the United States.” Compared with the 5,000 inmates incarcerated since Correctional Care Inc., of Moosic, took over the prison’s medical care, the number of complaints was minuscule, Mr. Jarbola said. “If you’re only talking about 16 complaints over 5,000, that’s less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the individuals that were incarcerated,” Mr. Jarbola said. Other members of the health care review team included the Rev. William Pickard, Joan Holmes, Sister Barbara Craig, of the Sisters of Mercy, and Ann Marie Crowley. Members of Pax Christi were not specifically invited to Wednesday’s Prison Board meeting. The group has not been contacted by county officials and only knew the warden was reviewing its findings from a Feb. 20 article in The Times-Tribune. Contacted later by phone, Dr. Rogan said he hopes the commissioners send a response. “Nothing changes in terms of our views,” Dr. Rogan said, adding that he expects the group will make a decision about how to proceed at its next meeting March 26. “I would guess (the group) would be interested in pursuing it further. It’s not expected that we drop the ball now.” Minority Commissioner A.J. Munchak, former Prison Board chairman, said the report should not have been given credence by the board. “All it is, is a shot at our prison and a shot at the doctor who’s running this,” he said of Dr. Edward Zaloga, the prison’s medical director and his longtime friend. “I think it’s absolutely terrible, and if it were up to me, this wouldn’t have even been addressed here today in public.”

February 20, 2008 The Times-Tribune
County officials are mum on a report released by the regional chapter of an international justice advocacy group that calls for a number of reforms to medical care at Lackawanna County Prison. In a report released to The Times-Tribune, Pax Christi of Northeastern Pennsylvania alleges existing conditions such as heart problems and broken ribs were not addressed when inmates arrived, distribution of medication was deficient and sporadic, requests for medical care were answered slowly, and prenatal care for pregnant inmates was almost nonexistent. The report, based on face-to-face surveys of 16 current or former inmates, also suggests medical care has been rationed to boost profits for the medical care provider. “We feel there are very, very serious criticisms that need to be followed up on,” said Father William Pickard, who serves as chaplain for the county’s prison ministry program on behalf of the Diocese of Scranton. Father Pickard also is a member of the regional chapter of Pax Christi, an international Catholic nonprofit group that advocates peace, justice and human rights. Provider under fire -- Medical care at the prison is provided under contract by Correctional Care Inc., of Moosic, a company co-owned by the prison’s medical director, Dr. Edward Zaloga. The report says the relationship is a potential conflict of interest and suggests that money not spent on medical care results in higher profits for CCI. “It’s an inference, but it would seem to be to his (Dr. Zaloga’s) advantage, for example, not to fill medications,” said Joan Holmes, a member of Pax Christi and volunteer with the prison ministry program. Attempts to reach Dr. Zaloga were unsuccessful. It is not clear exactly how Dr. Zaloga would directly benefit from limiting or denying care. Under its five-year contract that expires Nov. 14, 2009, Correctional Care Inc. is paid a flat fee of $250,000 a year regardless of medical expenses and is reimbursed separately for all costs of medical care inside and outside the prison. The report does say that inmates have “major consternation” with Dr. Zaloga and says the fact “that the person best positioned to provide inmates with care was the one they most disrespected was telling.” In the report — dated Jan. 29 — Pax Christi recommended that the Prison Board hire an independent party to evaluate the prison’s medical services. The purpose of the study is not conflict, but change, said Mrs. Holmes. The idea for a review was triggered by the birth of a baby in a prison cell on July 10, Father Pickard said. Then-inmate Shakira Staten, 22, of Chambersburg, accused Lackawanna County Prison officials of ignoring her repeated pleas to go to the hospital before her daughter dropped from her womb and to the floor of a cell monitored by a closed-circuit television camera. Although the Prison Board initially denied the staff did anything wrong in that incident, county officials later publicly apologized to Ms. Staten for what happened. According to the report, Ms. Donate denied Pax Christi access to current inmates. Father Pickard and Mrs. Holmes conducted interviews during regular visits with prisoners as part of the prison ministry program. Joseph Rogan, Ed.D., heads the regional chapter of Pax Christi. Other members of the prison health care review team included Sister Barbara Craig of the Sisters of Mercy and Ann Marie Crowley. Inmates give examples -- The report details many complaints registered by the interviewed inmates. Among them were the claims of two women who were pregnant while incarcerated. The report says the pregnant inmates received no checkups after entering the prison, and “received inconsistent prenatal vitamins and received no prenatal care.” Another inmate reportedly claimed that “medicines are routinely replaced or unavailable to save the (medical care) firm money.” Several complaints were reported about a lack of response to inmate requests to see a doctor or to file grievances about medical care denials. “A few did get the care they requested ... ,” the report says. “Most, however, reported that their requests were ignored, or, if addressed at all, only very slowly. When they did get attention, in many cases no treatments were prescribed. One (inmate) was told that he was just getting old.” The report said two interviewed inmates independently confirmed that when one inmate they knew filed a grievance about medical care, the “entire unit was locked down while a guard read the details of the inmate’s complete medical history over the intercom for all to hear.” None of the interview subjects is identified in the report, and it contains a disclaimer that says some responses “may have been colored by personal motives.” However, the document also says that there were underlying themes amid the responses that triggered the recommendations. “We thought there was enough of a common thread there to release the report,” Father Pickard said. “I could tell by (the inmates’) emotions that they were sincere, that they went through a terrible ordeal. They weren’t play-acting. It was very obvious in the interaction I had with them.” Prisoners faced possible retribution by answering the survey questions, Father Pickard said. The committee recorded a majority of the inmates’ names, and Father Pickard said the committee verified what inmates told them “as best they could.” However, Mrs. Holmes admitted they did not have a way to verify all claims. Pax Christi received 38 responses when input was solicited, but was only able to interview 16 people because of time and logistical constraints. Of the 16 people who responded, 14 were current inmates. The report recommends that the Prison Board: Review the prison’s inmate intake procedures. Review the prison’s medical response procedures. Review the possibility that inmates with mental health issues could be better placed. Review whether inmates who have substance-abuse problems could be served through treatment and education. Review the prison’s policies and procedures related to pregnant inmates. Review the prison’s food-service system to determine whether inmates receive proper nutrition. Officials not talking -- County communications director Lynne Shedlock said the study was referred to Prison Warden Janine Donate, who was not immediately available for comment. “There is no further comment until the warden has had a chance to review it,” Ms. Shedlock said. “She’ll present a report back to the Prison Board at the appropriate time.” Majority Commissioner Mike Washo, who chairs the board, was out of town and not available for comment. Minority Commissioner A.J. Munchak, who served as Prison Board chair when he was majority commissioner through last year, deferred questions to Mr. Washo. “Any official response has to come from the chairman,” Mr. Munchak said. Commissioner Corey O’Brien, also a member of the Prison Board, declined comment as well. In addition to the three county commissioners, the Prison Board includes District Attorney Andy Jarbola, Sheriff John Szymanski , Judge Vito Geroulo and County Controller Ken McDowell. Mr. McDowell said he read the study and anticipates the warden will review it and make a report to the Prison Board. Efforts to reach Mr. Jarbola, Mr. Szymanski and Judge Geroulo were unsuccessful.

August 18, 2007 Times-Tribune
The Lackawanna County Prison’s medical director was fired from a similar post at a Pittsburgh-based health care services company in 1999 in an apparent dispute over a new treatment for hepatitis C in state prisons the company served. Company officials could not be reached to explain his termination, but in a lawsuit later filed against the company, Dr. Edward J. Zaloga claimed he was fired because he disagreed with a plan to begin treating the liver disease with a then-new, unproven drug that ultimately would be a waste of taxpayer money. The treatment “would waste more than $7 million of the (state) taxpayers’ money on unnecessary and unwarranted medical treatment,” he charged in a suit filed against Wexford Health Sources Inc. in November 1999. He claimed in his suit that his management practices had created a profit for the company of $4.1 million, and the company — which at the time was trying to get the state to pay for the new treatment — feared it might have to pay for treating inmates if the state found out about its profits. He was fired for raising the concerns, he alleged. The suit demanded more than $1 million in unpaid wages, expenses, lawyer’s fees and punitive damages. The company, in its legal responses, denied earning anywhere near $4 million. It denied his other claims as well. County judges rejected Dr. Zaloga’s suit in separate rulings in 2002 and 2004 with one judge writing that Dr. Zaloga failed to establish “a report of wrongdoing ... or waste.” Wexford in its legal filings acknowledged firing Dr. Zaloga but did not say why. Dr. Zaloga is now co-owner of a company, Correctional Care Inc., of Moosic, that provides medical services to county prison inmates, and oversees those services. A former inmate, Shakira Staten, 22, a federal prisoner who gave birth at the prison July 10 and has since been transferred to Adams County Prison to await sentencing, has sued him, the company and the prison in federal court. She claims she was a victim of cruel and unusual punishment because her pleas to be taken to the hospital when she went into labor were ignored and she had the baby alone in a cell. The county Prison Board this week apologized for the way she treated and blamed a Correctional Care nurse for “serious errors of judgment” that included failing to properly monitor her labor and unnecessarily delaying taking her to the hospital. The board barred the nurse from working in the prison. A secretary in the company’s office said Dr. Zaloga was not available for comment and would only reply to written questions. A secretary at Wexford Health Sources said no company officials would be available to comment until next week. Dr. Zaloga was Wexford’s regional medical director for its central Pennsylvania operations from Feb. 1 to Sept. 29, 1999, the day the company’s operations director dismissed him, according to court records.

November 24, 2004 Scranton Times Tribune
PrimeCare Medical Inc., the Harrisburg company that lost out last month on a lucrative contract for medical care at the Lackawanna County Prison, hit the county with a $926,000 lawsuit Tuesday.  PrimeCare President Carl A. Hoffman claims county officials, namely Commissioner Robert C. Cordaro, breached an oral agreement with him when they hired another company to take over prison medical services. Earlier this year, PrimeCare said it would forgive about $400,000 in outstanding bills in exchange for a new five-year contract, according to the lawsuit. The county paid PrimeCare $900,000 instead of the $1.3 million owed and later awarded the health care contract to a local upstart company, Correctional Care Inc.

October 15, 2004 Scranton Times Tribune
Divided on the issue days ago, Lackawanna County Commissioners voted unanimously Thursday to award a multimillion-dollar prison health-care contract to a new, local provider instead of the veteran incumbent company. Correctional Care Inc., of Moosic, was founded four months ago by Dr. Edward Zaloga and investors Joseph Compagnino, William Drazdowski and Ronald Halko for the sole purpose of taking over medical operations at the county jail. The upstart company beat out PrimeCare Medical Services of Harrisburg for the five-year service contract.  Having no experience to draw on, the company was unable to estimate its annual cost, Commissioner A.J. Munchak said. PrimeCare has been the prison's health-care provider since 2001. It has been working without a contract since January and proposed a $5.4 million five-year contract. The question of the contract had been hotly contested since May, when PrimeCare officials answered the Prison Board about concerns raised in a county grand jury report. In it, jurors cited "failure to adequately treat inmates for serious medical conditions" and "failure of medical staff to report, document or question suspicious injuries."

Luzerne County Court
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care LLC
May 27, 2010 Billings Gazette
A state panel investigating the "kids for cash" scandal in northeastern Pennsylvania called Thursday for improved oversight of judges among dozens of other recommendations meant to strengthen the state's juvenile justice system. The Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice was created last August by the Legislature and Gov. Ed Rendell to look into the causes of the judicial scandal at the Luzerne County Courthouse and to suggest ways to prevent a recurrence there or elsewhere. Former judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella are charged in federal court with racketeering for allegedly taking millions of dollars in kickbacks to place youth offenders in for-profit detention centers. Conahan has agreed to plead guilty for his role in the $2.8 million scheme. Ciavarella awaits trial. The state Supreme Court tossed thousands of juvenile convictions after federal prosecutors charged the judges last year. In its report, the interbranch commission said that corruption in the Luzerne County courthouse "has been deeply ingrained for many years" and that "many individuals may be seen to have shared the responsibility" for failures in the juvenile justice system there, including prosecutors, public defenders and probation officials. The commission's work also revealed failures in state oversight of the court system. Its recommendations cover a range of issues, from improving the state Judicial Conduct Board _ the agency that investigates and prosecutes misconduct by Pennsylvania judges _ to ensuring that juveniles have access to legal representation, to reducing or eliminating the use of shackling in juvenile courtrooms. The commission voted Thursday to approve the report and recommendations and send them to Rendell, Chief Justice Ronald Castille and legislative leaders.

January 25, 2010 AP
A northeastern Pennsylvania prosecutor has dropped her effort to retry as many as 46 youths who appeared before a judge charged in a corruption scandal, bringing an end to a legal saga that involved an estimated 5,000 tainted juvenile convictions. The agreement between defense lawyers and Luzerne County District Attorney Jackie Musto Carroll means that none of the thousands of youths who appeared before disgraced former Judge Mark Ciavarella Jr. between 2003 and 2008 will face retrial, and all will have their juvenile records wiped clean. "It's in the interest of fairness and justice that these cases be reversed, too," Carroll said in court Monday, exactly one year after Ciavarella and another judge were charged with accepting millions in kickbacks to place juvenile offenders in for-profit detention centers. Anthony Brennan, who spent more than a year in detention after being caught breaking into an abandoned building when he was 15, said he was gratified by the decision. "It's a sense of relief," said Brennan, now 18, of Hazleton. "I can get on with my life now." The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has said that Ciavarella ran a kangaroo court in which he systemically denied youths their constitutional rights, including the right to counsel and the right to intelligently enter a plea. After being found delinquent, the youths were often shackled and taken to private jails whose owner was allegedly paying bribes to the judge. Federal prosecutors have said that Ciavarella and another former Luzerne County judge, Michael Conahan, took a total of $2.8 million in payoffs.

December 8, 2009 Philadelphia Inquirer
A special panel investigating judicial corruption in Luzerne County heard a woman testify last night that her 14-year-old daughter was sent to jail by former Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. despite her warnings that the girl was epileptic and subject to seizures under stress. "Two days later, I got a call at 5 in the morning telling me that she had had a seizure," she said. "I almost lost her." Mother and daughter sat side by side in witness chairs before the Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice, which is conducting hearings into judicial corruption here. For at least five years, young defendants routinely appeared in Ciavarella's courtroom without lawyers for hearings that lasted just a few minutes. After being found delinquent, the youths were taken to private jails, often in shackles. Federal prosecutors charge that the owner of two of the jails paid some $2.8 million in bribes to Ciavarella and former Judge Michael T. Conahan. The mother said her daughter was released from the detention center, placed under house arrest, and not allowed to go to school despite being an A student. After being allowed to resume her schooling, she said, her daughter was very introverted. "I had to force her to go to her prom. It's taken a lot of years for her to come out of her shell, and I blame Ciavarella for that." The girl was accused of defacing public property with a felt pen, using phrases such as "Vote for Michael Jackson." Her daughter testified that during her hearing, Ciavarella and the policeman who arrested her spent most of the time talking about a previous night's football game. Asked what she had learned from her experience with the juvenile justice system, she said: "People in power are not always people we should trust." Seven children and their parents, most of whom were in tears for at least part of their testimony, appeared last night. The commission members appeared shaken and angered by the testimony. A college student told the commission that when she was 16 years old she was arrested for "giving a police officer the finger." She said a probation officer advised her that she didn't need an attorney, but Ciavarella sentenced her to two months in prison even though she had no record. She was placed in shackles and taken out of the courtroom to detention. She said she was a good high school student, involved in numerous extracurricular activities, and plans to go to law school. A 16-year-old girl who was sent away for eight months by Ciavarella when she was 13 for fighting with another girl in school testified that she had emotional scars from the experience that made her unable to return to school after she completed her sentence. "I am unable to deal with large groups of people, and I am now being homeschooled," she said. Judge John Cleland of the state Superior Court, chairman of the commission, said the juveniles' testimony would "serve as a reminder to us that court policies and court procedures have real-life consequences for people. Good and bad." The child defendants were among about 6,000 young people whose convictions were overturned in October by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on grounds they did not get a fair hearing in Ciavarella's court. Earlier in the day, witnesses painted a picture of a legal establishment bending to the iron will of Ciavarella. "We trusted the judge," said Thomas Killino, a former assistant district attorney when asked why he did not challenge many of Ciavarella's actions, including illegally obtaining forms from young defendants waiving their right to a lawyer. Much of the questioning centered on why prosecutors, probation officers, and public defenders did not challenge Ciavarella's failure to explain to defendants the consequences of waiving their right to counsel and of pleading guilty. This process, called a colloquy, is required by state court rules. "Did it ever bother you that there was no colloquy?" asked George D. Mosee, head of the juvenile division of the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office. "It was a fast-paced environment," Killino replied. "This was the established practice of the court. Everyone went along with it." Mosee, who oversees the prosecution of about 10,000 juveniles a year, added: "I've never prosecuted a child who didn't have an attorney. How do you handle it?" Killino said he was told that the defendants had signed written waivers outside the courtroom and that he believed those overrode the requirement for a colloquy in open court to determine that the juveniles understood that they had a right to an attorney. When Killino confirmed estimates that more than half the child defendants who appeared before Ciavarella did not have attorneys, Judge Dwayne D. Woodruff asked him if he had ever read the juvenile law that required them to have counsel. Killino said he had read parts of the law but not the entire law. Later, Woodruff said he had heard about 4,000 juvenile cases and every defendant had a lawyer. Judge John C. Uhler asked Killino if there were instances when defendants without lawyers were sentenced without ever speaking in their own defense. Killino said there were, and that in those cases Ciavarella would move right on to sentencing in a matter of minutes. Later, Uhler said that in his 20 years as a juvenile court judge, no defendant had ever appeared before him without an attorney. Killino testified that he and other prosecutors did not have enough information available to them to determine whether a sentence from Ciavarella was unduly harsh. "Didn't you want to know?" demanded Jason D. Legg, a commission member who is a prosecutor from rural Susquehanna County. "It was not part of our purview," said Killino. Later, Legg said he prosecutes hundreds of juveniles every year and they always have legal representation.

November 23, 2009 Claims Journal
Two former county judges accused of taking millions of dollars in kickbacks to send juveniles to private detention facilities are partially immune from civil lawsuits, a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled Friday. The decision by U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo could make it harder for the people suing former Luzerne County judges Michael T. Conahan and Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. to collect damages. Caputo said Ciavarella will avoid civil consequences for "the vast majority'' of his conduct, because much of it occurred inside a courtroom, such as determination of delinquency and sentencing. He said Conahan largely would not be immune, because his alleged actions were more administrative in nature, such as signing a placement agreement with the detention centers. The decisions have no bearing on the federal criminal charges that Ciavarella and Conahan are currently facing in what has become known as the kids-for-cash scandal. Marsha Levick, a lawyer with the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia, a co-counsel for plaintiffs in the case, said Friday she did not consider the ruling to be a major setback. There are more than 400 named plaintiffs in the case, and lawyers are seeking class-action status. "I think what's important is the judges remained in the litigation,'' Levick said. "Conahan is extremely vulnerable because most of what Conahan did with respect to the plaintiffs' allegations, it was all outside the courtroom.''

November 11, 2009 Philadelphia Inquirer
To the frequent frustration and occasional exasperation of a special panel investigating judicial corruption in Luzerne County, yesterday's testimony gave off the steady and unmistakable sound of the buck being passed. Phrases like "I was not aware," "Yes, but," and "It was not my responsibility" wafted from the witness chair as officials who oversee the county's courts denied knowing that thousands of adolescents were being locked away, often for petty offenses, after hearings in which they had been effectively denied lawyers. When Luzerne County District Attorney Jacqueline Musto Carroll challenged the 11 members of the state-appointed Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice to "tell me what you do when you have a judge who is a crook," she was promptly interrupted by the questioner-in-chief. "You report him," interjected John M. Cleland, the commission chairman and a judge on the state Superior Court. Cleland and his fellow panelists have until May 31 to discover how two former judges, Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan, managed to get away with what federal prosecutors say was a five-year, $2.8 million kickback conspiracy, a scheme that one juvenile-justice advocacy group called "one of the largest and most serious violations of children's rights in the history of the American legal system." Musto Carroll said she was unaware that more than half the teenagers whose cases came before Ciavarella did not have legal representation. She said the judge's "zero-tolerance" policy was a result of the 1999 Columbine High School shootings. "I think Judge Ciavarella was probably doing what he thought he ought to do," the district attorney testified. "I have heard in a number of cases, what he did actually straightened out kids' lives. Some went on to get scholarships and college educations." That brought an angry response from panel member Robert L. Listenbee, head of the juvenile unit of the Defender Association of Philadelphia. "Ms. Carroll, I remind that you and I as attorneys took an oath to uphold the Constitution. There were children here whose basic constitutional rights were being violated every day. Let's keep that in mind." Lawyer Kenneth J. Horoho Jr., a commissioner from Pittsburgh, offered a litany of questions about Musto Carroll's having not known or questioned Ciavarella's methods. Horoho concluded, "The bottom line is that 'zero tolerance' went unchallenged by your office." "Don't worry about Luzerne County," Musto Carroll assured the commission. "As long as I'm here, it's in good hands." Yesterday's first witness was David W. Lupas, Musto Carroll's predecessor as district attorney and now a county judge, who said that none of his assistants ever brought concerns about Ciavarella's conduct to his attention. Panel member Dwayne D. Woodruff - the head juvenile judge in Allegheny County, and a former Pittsburgh Steelers safety - noted that 54 percent of the children brought before Ciavarella did not have lawyers. "Would you expect your assistant D.A.s to come to you with that?" Woodruff asked. "No one came to me," Lupas said. Cleland interjected, "I could understand a case here and a case there. But 6,000 cases? This went on for years, and it was a massive deprivation of rights. No assistant D.A., no public defender, no private lawyer ever raised a question? That's hard to believe." Basil G. Russin, who has been chief public defender in Luzerne County since 1980, said that even if he had known the extent of Ciavarella's denial of rights to juvenile defendants, he would not have had many options. "We don't have the time or the money to look into things very deeply. We just do the best we can," he said. Besides, Russin said, the judges' get-tough stance against juvenile misbehavior had wide public support. "Everybody loved it. The schools loved it because they got rid of every problem kid. The parents loved it because there were kids they couldn't control. The cops loved it because it got kids off the streets, and the D.A. loved it because they were getting convictions." In earlier testimony, Sandra Brulo, a former Luzerne County probation official, said she had raised concerns about Ciavarella with her boss, but did not hear back. "Don't you think you should have taken it further when you didn't get any satisfaction from your supervisor?" asked Ronald P. Williams, a panel member from nearby Wyoming County, raising his arms in amazement. "I took it to my boss," Brulo replied. "That's as far as I thought I should go." She testified that probation officers, not attorneys, asked young defendants to sign forms just before they entered Ciavarella's courtroom that waived their right to a lawyer. Commissioner George D. Mosee, a deputy Philadelphia district attorney, asked Brulo if this was a proper role for probation officers. "We did what the judge instructed us to do," she said. "Even when their very liberty was at stake?" Mosee asked. Brulo did not answer. Joseph Massa, senior counsel for the state Judicial Conduct Board, which investigates complaints against judges, told the panel that his agency had acted properly more than two years ago when it referred allegations it received against Ciavarella and Conahan to federal prosecutors. By not acting on its own, the board allowed the jurists to stay on the bench until they resigned this year. The judges stepped down after a federal grand jury indicted them on racketeering, bribery and fraud charges. "To allege the [Judicial Conduct Board] members put their heads in the proverbial sand while juveniles in this county were sent to the hoosegow is a disgrace," Massa told the panel. Ciavarella is accused of taking bribes from operators of two for-profit detention centers in return for sending children to the centers. Conahan is accused of securing lucrative contracts for the private jails, which the state paid according to the numbers of inmates they housed. Once the scheme was set up, prosecutors say, Ciavarella guaranteed that the jails were filled with a steady stream of juvenile offenders. Ciavarella and Conahan are awaiting trial. They initially pleaded guilty but withdrew their pleas after a federal judge rejected the terms of their plea agreements.

October 29, 2009 AP
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed thousands of juvenile convictions issued by a judge charged in a corruption scandal, saying that none of the young offenders got a fair hearing. The high court on Thursday threw out more than five years' worth of juvenile cases heard by disgraced former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella, who is charged with accepting millions of dollars in kickbacks to send youths to private detention centers. The Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law Center, which represents some of the youths, said the court's order covers as many as 6,500 cases. The justices barred any possibility of retrial in all but a fraction of them. "This is exactly the relief these kids needed," said Marsha Levick, the center's legal director. "It's the most serious judicial corruption scandal in our history and the court took an extraordinary step in addressing it." Children routinely appeared in front of Ciavarella without lawyers for hearings that lasted only a few minutes. Ciavarella also failed to question young defendants to make sure they fully understood the consequences of waiving counsel and pleading guilty, showing "complete disregard for the constitutional rights of the juveniles," the Supreme Court said. After being found delinquent, the youths were often shackled and taken to private jails whose owner was paying bribes to the judge. Federal prosecutors have said that Ciavarella and another Luzerne County judge, Michael Conahan, took a total of $2.8 million in payoffs. "Ciavarella's admission that he received these payments, and that he failed to disclose his financial interests arising from the development of the juvenile facilities, thoroughly undermines the integrity of all juvenile proceedings before Ciavarella," the Supreme Court said.

October 28, 2009 The Citizens Voice
Former Judge Mark A. Ciavarella said little during a hearing today on his request to be dismissed from a series of civil lawsuits filed in the aftermath of the Luzerne County kids-for-cash scandal. Ciavarella, who is representing himself, declined to make a formal argument before U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo, instead deferring to a brief he filed asking for dismissal on grounds of judicial immunity. Ciavarella's co-defendant, former Judge Michael T. Conahan, did not attend the hearing, despite previously asking to be dismissed from the case. Both former judges have said their alleged conduct in the kids-for-cash scheme, including the closure of a county juvenile detention facility and the contracting with a private jail, were within the bounds of their duties as judges and courthouse administrators. Attorneys for the plaintiffs in the lawsuits, the hundreds of juveniles sentenced by Ciavarella between 2003 and May 2008, argued Ciavarella and Conahan's conduct went beyond the scope of normal court business. Conahan acted as a political lobbyist when he forced the closure of the county facility and pressured county commissioners to approve a lucrative lease with the private facility, the plaintiffs' attorneys said. Ciavarella acted as a dictator on the bench, running a "star chamber" that left juveniles' constitutional rights in tatters, the attorneys said. "Ciavarella made up the rules on his own," Marsha Levick, the legal director of the non-profit Juvenile Law Center, said. "He may as well have set up the courtroom in his garage and put on the black robe." Levick acknowledged the difficulty of clearing the hurdle of judicial immunity, which was designed to give judges freedom to make rulings without fear of legal retribution. "There is no question we are testing the bounds of established legal principles," Levick said. "But we have never seen anything like this."

October 25, 2009 Philadelphia Enquirer
In October 2005, a 16-year-old boy appeared in Luzerne County Court to answer charges that he had shot out several windows in a city home with a BB gun. The boy had never been in trouble with police before, and even the homeowner asked the judge to be lenient, according to a federal lawsuit. Nevertheless, Judge Mark A. Ciavarella, after repeatedly silencing the boy's court-appointed attorney, ignored the homeowner's request and in a matter of minutes banged his gavel and said, "Adjudicated delinquent!" The boy was handcuffed, shackled, and taken in a van about 50 miles to a juvenile "boot camp" for the next three months, the complaint states. The boy's brief hearing in dark-paneled Courtroom 4 was closed to the public, but it was witnessed by an assistant district attorney, the public defender, other lawyers, probation officials, bailiffs, clerks, and other court staff, according to the suit, filed by the Juvenile Law Center of Philadelphia. Now the monumental task facing a special 11-member commission investigating what one advocacy group called "one of the largest and most serious violations of children's rights in the history of the American legal system" is to determine how something like that could happen, how it can be prevented - and why no one spoke up. State Superior Court Judge John M. Cleland, chairman of the Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice, said the goal is to identify "those who knew but failed to speak" and "those who saw but failed to act." While it cannot indict or prosecute, the commission is empowered to investigate and recommend legislation, rules, and other procedural changes. Ciavarella is accused of taking bribes from private prison operators for every child he sent to two private juvenile detention centers. Also accused is fellow Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Conahan, who secured lucrative contracts for the private jails, which were paid by the state according to their number of inmates. Last month, Conahan and Ciavarella pleaded not guilty to federal racketeering charges. They had agreed to plead guilty in February to lesser charges that called for 87-month prison sentences, far below federal guidelines. But a federal judge rejected the deal and said the two judges had not fully accepted responsibility. They switched their pleas to not guilty, and prosecutors secured a 48-count indictment that includes racketeering, bribery, and extortion charges. Ciavarella presided over juvenile court in Luzerne County between 2003 and 2007. According to the Juvenile Law Center, children were summarily dispatched to incarceration after the briefest of hearings, often without legal representation. Parents who had accompanied their children to court and expected to return home with them instead left, stunned and bewildered, without them. The Juvenile Law Center alleges that something clearly was unusual about Ciavarella's courtroom. To wit: A 15-year-old boy was sent away for three months for pushing a classmate into a locker. A 15-year-old girl was jailed for shoplifting a $4 jar of nutmeg. A 13-year-old girl went before Ciavarella for fighting on a school bus. The judge asked why she had done it. Rather than answer, the girl started crying. The lawsuit states that Ciavarella sent her away for three months for not answering his questions. Records and interviews paint a picture of a kangaroo court. Yet no one involved, directly or indirectly, spoke up. Lawyers, elected officials, police, school administrators, teachers, probation officers, prosecutors, and civil servants charged with protecting children all remained silent. Ciavarella guaranteed that the jails were filled with a steady stream of juvenile offenders. The prosecutors say the two judges received kickbacks totaling $2.6 million from the former owner of two detention facilities and their developer. There were bright red flags all over the city well before the judges were charged in January. The Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader published articles in 2004 raising serious and disturbing concerns about juvenile cases. Robert Schwartz, the Juvenile Law Center's executive director, said in an interview that detention-center workers had been told in advance - before the hearings in Ciavarella's courtroom - how many new child inmates to expect at the end of each day. For the commission, which has the power to subpoena witnesses, there is no shortage of places to look. The other judges. Judge Chester B. Muroski, who succeeded Ciavarella as president judge this year, said he and his colleagues on the bench had been completely shielded from the proceedings in juvenile court, first by Conahan and later by Ciavarella when they served as president judge. He said the court seldom met as a unit to discuss court matters. In 2006, when he began to suspect kickbacks, he contacted the FBI. The court staff. Muroski said Conahan and Ciavarella had packed the courthouse with relatives. Conahan's cousin was the court administrator, a brother-in-law was jury management supervisor, and another brother-in-law was paid $1.1 million in public funds for court-ordered psychological evaluations. According to Muroski, other court-related workers knew they were "there at Conahan's pleasure." "When I bucked them in 2005, they reassigned me," he added. "That was a message to everyone: Keep your mouth shut." According to the Juvenile Law Center, Ciavarella routinely pressured probation officers to recommend detention even when it was not appropriate. Often probation officers advised juvenile defendants to appear before Ciavarella without legal counsel. Sometimes, the center said, he pressured them to change their more lenient recommendations to detention. The center cited the case of a 14-year-old boy arrested for stealing loose change from unlocked cars. Police told his mother that he would receive probation because it was a minor offense. Just before entering Ciavarella's courtroom, his mother was asked to sign a waiver of counsel. She said she wanted her son to have a lawyer, but could not afford to pay one. He appeared before Ciavarella without counsel - and after a three-minute hearing was sent to a detention center for a year. The county commissioners. To further the kickback scheme, the center said, Conahan shut down Luzerne County's juvenile detention facility in 2002, contending it was unsafe. Then he persuaded the county commissioners to enter a 20-year, $58 million agreement with PA Child Care L.L.C. to lease the new private facility. Soon Ciavarella was filling the prison beds with delinquents, allegedly in exchange for kickbacks. "Conahan had no power to close the center like that," said Ronald P. Williams, a member of the interbranch commission and a former commissioner in nearby Wyoming County. "Why did the commissioners allow him to get away with it?" The schools. Ciavarella's "zero tolerance" policy was warmly embraced by school administrators, teachers unions, and many teachers, Muroski and Williams said. "Everybody loved him," said Muroski. "He was putting bad kids away. That's how it was perceived." Indeed, even six months after the scandal became public, two administrators at the Wilkes-Barre Area Vocational Technical School wrote a letter to the editor of the Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader praising Ciavarella. "His dedication to working with our students created a bond of trust and confidence among him, the students and the staff," the administrators wrote. The state court system. The Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board, which is charged with investigating and prosecuting complaints of wrongdoing by judges, received an anonymous complaint about Conahan in 2006. However, the board has strict confidentiality rules, and it has refused to say whether it followed up on these allegations. The interbranch commission had hoped to hear testimony from the board at its first hearing two weeks ago, but the appearance by a board representative was canceled pending resolution of the confidentiality issue. Ciavarella's tough stance with juveniles had widespread public support. In 2006, the Wilkes-Barre Friendly Sons of St. Patrick named Ciavarella its man of the year. This prompted U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski (D., Pa.) to read a congratulation into the Congressional Record. The commission, which must complete its work by May 31, plans to hold two days of hearings in Wilkes-Barre next month. Among the scheduled witnesses is Judge Arthur E. Grim, a special master appointed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to review about 6,000 juvenile cases handled by Ciavarella. Because of the allegations of wrongdoing, the state Supreme Court has already overturned hundreds of convictions on the ground that Ciavarella violated the constitutional rights of the defendants.

October 15, 2009 Philadelphia Inquirer
The question hung over the hearing like a toxic cloud all day long: How could two judges in Wilkes-Barre conspire over several years to deprive hundreds of children of their most basic constitutional rights and send them off in shackles to detention centers in which they had personal financial interests? "There is no precedent that provides guidance about how to proceed with anything we are being asked to do," said Judge John M. Cleland of the state Superior Court, chairman of the Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice. The 11-member commission has been established to investigate what Cleland called "the breathtaking collapse of the juvenile justice system in Luzerne County." It includes judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and victims' advocates. They sat grim-faced and listened to the first day of testimony on the extraordinary case of two former Luzerne County judges - Mark A. Ciavarella and Michael T. Conahan - who are accused of taking $2.6 million in bribes from private prison operators over a period of seven years for sending young offenders to two private juvenile detention centers. Under the "cash-for-kids" scheme, prosecutors say, the judges conspired to deprive young defendants of their right to counsel, ordered them into detention even when probation officers didn't recommend it, pressured probation officials to change their recommendations, and institutionalized them for offenses as minor as fighting with other students in school. The main witness was Judge Chester B. Muroski, who took over as president judge in Luzerne County after the scandal broke. Muroski said that in 2005 he was in charge of the court's juvenile dependency function and complained because his unit was underfunded by $800,000 while Ciavarella's juvenile delinquency court was $2 million over budget. He said that a few days later Conahan transferred him to criminal court even though he had not handled a criminal case since 1979. But several commission members pressed Muroski on why he and other Luzerne County Court judges had not done more to stop Conahan and Ciavarella. "We knew there was something not right," he said. "But the scheme was so contrived and had so many labyrinths that at first we didn't know money was involved. Our main concern was the high incarceration rate." Cleland said the commission would seek to identify "all of those involved who, whether by action, inaction, or silence, whether by willful choice or benign ignorance, engaged in an assault on the fairness and impartiality of our legal system." In addition to the other judges, the commission wants to know the roles of prosecutors, public defenders, defense attorneys, police, school administrators, probation officers, court staff, county commissioners, and state agencies with responsibilities for juveniles. To these, Muroski added another layer of responsibility - the public. "A lot of people admired what these judges were doing," he said. "Many people knew how quick these proceedings were, but they supported them." Muroski said school administrators, teachers, and police supported and applauded the judges' efforts to get disruptive youths out of the classroom and off the streets. And he said there was nepotism in the courtroom itself that provided a "protective shield" for Conahan and Ciavarella. Muroski noted that between 2001 and 2007, Dr. Frank Vita, Conahan's brother-in-law, was paid $1.1 million in public funds for court-ordered psychological evaluations - and many of these reports had evaluation references that were copied and pasted from other reports. Muroski said that he and the other judges were kept in the dark about juvenile court proceedings by Ciavarella and Conahan, and that the court seldom met as a unit to discuss problems. "What you had was a perfect storm for a court gone rogue - no meetings, no information, and public support." State Rep. Todd Eachus (D., Luzerne) testified that in 2006, the state Public Welfare Department informed state legislators from the Wilkes-Barre area that there was an inordinate amount of incarceration of juveniles in Luzerne County, "but they said they would handle it." Eachus, a cosponsor of the bill that created the commission, said Conahan and Ciavarella were responsible for "one of the darkest chapters in Pennsylvania history." State Sen. Lisa Baker (R., Luzerne), the bill's other principal sponsor, cited an "atmosphere of intimidation that permeated the courtroom and the courthouse." Then she asked: "Do we really want a commonwealth where we rigorously track every dollar that moves through casinos, but where we casually lose track of the constitutional rights of thousands of kids?" There was considerable discussion on whether the State Judicial Conduct Board, which is charged with investigating and prosecuting complaints against judges, had received complaints about the two judges. Muroski said he believed a complaint had been filed in 2005, but he could not confirm this. Muroski said Conahan arbitrarily, without consulting the other judges, shut down a county juvenile detention center in 2002 on grounds it was substandard, paving the way for their young offenders to be sent to the favored private center. This prompted Judge John C. Uhler of York County, one of the 11 commission members, to ask, "Did you or your colleagues ever challenge the closing of this center?" "We were astonished that he did this, but what could we do?" Muroski replied. "The commissioners went along. They could have stopped it." The expressions on the commission members' faces went from anger to disbelief to shock as the testimony unfolded. The plan is to hold as many hearings as necessary, including two days of sessions next month in Wilkes-Barre. The scandal led the state Supreme Court to overturn hundreds of convictions on the ground that Ciavarella violated the constitutional rights of youths who appeared in his courtroom without lawyers for hearings that lasted just a few minutes. More convictions are under review. Last month Conahan and Ciavarella pleaded not guilty to federal racketeering charges growing out of the scheme. They had agreed to plead guilty in February to lesser charges that called for 87-month prison sentences, far below federal guidelines. But a federal judge rejected the deal and said the two judges had not fully accepted responsibility for the crimes. They switched their pleas to not guilty, and prosecutors secured a 48-count indictment that includes racketeering, bribery, and extortion charges.

September 10, 2009 Times-Leader
A federal grand jury filed a 48-count indictment Wednesday against Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan, charging the former Luzerne County judges with racketeering, extortion, bribery, money laundering, fraud and tax violations. The indictment, issued by a grand jury in Dauphin County, alleges Conahan and Ciavarella received millions of dollars in illegal payments in connection with improper actions they took to facilitate the construction and operation of the PA and Western PA Child Care juvenile detention centers, according to a press release issued by U.S. Attorney Dennis Pfannenschmidt. In addition to the charges, prosecutors are seeking forfeiture of at least $2.8 million they allege is the proceeds of criminal activity, the release said. Pfannenschmidt issued the press release at around 5 p.m. Wednesday. The document provided only a vague description of the charges. It did not provide any further details of the former judges’ conduct. A copy of the indictment could not be obtained Wednesday as it was not publicly filed with the federal court’s electronic system. Pfannenschmidt did not respond to a request to provide a paper copy of the indictment. He also declined to comment further on the case. Speculation that Conahan and Ciavarella would be indicted has been rampant since a plea deal the men reached with federal prosecutors fell apart last month. The former judges pleaded guilty in February to charges of honest services fraud and tax evasion under plea agreement that called for them to serve 87 months in prison. They withdrew the plea on Aug. 24 after U.S. District Judge Edwin Kosik rejected terms of the agreement, saying the men had not adequately demonstrated they accepted responsibility for their conduct. Ciavarella’s attorney, Al Flora, and Conahan’s attorney, Philip Gelso, declined comment on the indictment. Flora said he expects Ciavarella and Conahan will next appear before a federal magistrate judge for arraignment on the charges. He did not know when that arraignment would take place. The charges contained in the indictment are far more serious and carry significantly stiffer sentences than what Conahan and Ciavarella faced under the plea deal, according to Douglas McNabb, a Washington, D.C., defense attorney who specializes in federal law. “It is a very serious set of charges that could bring substantial jail time if they are convicted on all counts,” McNabb said. For instance, McNabb said the money laundering and fraud charges alone each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Although the indictment was not available, information contained in a complaint filed against Conahan and Ciavarella in January and documents filed in connection with charges against two other defendants involved in the scheme provide some insight into the conduct that likely was the basis of the indictment. The extortion charge likely refers to attorney Robert Powell, who co-owned the PA and Western PA Child Care Centers. Powell alleges Ciavarella demanded he pay kickbacks totaling $772,500 to compensate the judges for decisions they made that benefited the two juvenile centers. Those decisions included Conahan’s closure in 2002 of the county-run juvenile facility. Prosecutors allege Ciavarella, the county’s long-time juvenile judge, ensured a high occupancy rate at the centers by incarcerating youths even when probation department officials recommended against detention. Powell pleaded guilty in July to failing to report a felony and being an accessory after the fact to tax evasion for his role in the scheme. In addition to the money he paid, prosecutors allege Powell helped funnel approximately $2 million that was paid to the judges by Robert Mericle, the contractor who built the two centers. That funneling of money is likely the basis of the money laundering charge contained in the indictment. Money laundering involves a scheme to disguise the source of illegally obtained income to make it appear as though the money was legitimately earned. According to the initial complaint filed against Conahan and Ciavarella, Powell disguised the money he paid the judges by listing it as rental payments for a Florida condominium owned by the judges’ wives. Prosecutors also alleged the part of the money Mericle paid was funneled through Vision Holdings, a company Powell owned. It was not clear Wednesday whether the money Mericle paid could be considered as part of the money laundering charge. Prosecutors do not contend the payment of the money was illegal, which is a necessary element of money laundering. Mericle pleaded guilty last week to failing to report a felony. Prosecutors say Mericle knew that Ciavarella had not reported the money Mericle paid him on his income tax returns, but failed to disclose that information to federal authorities. At Mericle’s plea hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Zubrod said the $2 million Mericle paid was a “finder’s fee” to reward Ciavarella for introducing Mericle to Powell. Zubrod said the payment of the fee itself is a standard practice in real estate and is not illegal. The illegality came when Mericle failed to reveal that information to a grand jury and federal prosecutors when questioned about it.

August 1, 2009 Philadelphia Inquirer
In a major reversal, a federal judge rejected plea agreements yesterday for two disgraced former Luzerne County Court judges accused of taking kickbacks for sending juveniles to for-profit detention centers. U.S. District Judge Edwin M. Kosik issued a five-page order saying Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan had taken actions or made public statements since their February guilty pleas that demonstrated that they had not accepted responsibility for their crimes. The order opened the door for the defendants to withdraw their guilty pleas and go to trial, renegotiate their plea deals, or throw themselves on the mercy of the court, said Daniel Richman, a law professor at Columbia University and a former federal prosecutor. For the third option, however, "this judge has demonstrated that there might not be that much mercy involved," Richman said. The agreements, in exchange for pleading guilty to corruption and tax fraud, had been criticized as too lenient. Both defendants were facing 87 months - less than 71/2 years - in prison, which was "well below the sentencing guidelines for the charged offenses," Kosik wrote. Ciavarella and Conahan originally faced maximum sentences of 25 years each and substantial fines, Kosik wrote. The plea deals were binding, meaning the judge did not have the discretion to impose his own sentence. "This is a relatively rare instance," Richman said, "where a judge is given a take-it-or-leave-it choice on sentencing, and the judge chose to leave it." Ciavarella and Conahan are accused of collecting a total of $2.6 million over seven years from a former owner of two for-profit detention centers - one in Luzerne County and the other in Butler County - and their developer. The ex-judges are accused of helping the detention centers obtain $58 million in contracts, suppressing a critical audit of one of the centers, and closing a competing county-run detention center. "The matter is under review with our client and in consult with the U.S. Attorney's Office," said Al Flora Jr., Ciavarella's lawyer. Conahan and his lawyer could not be reached for comment. "We are reviewing the court's order to determine the appropriate course of action in this case in light of the court's ruling," Martin C. Carlson, U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, said in a statement. Kosik wrote that in the presentence report, Conahan "refused to discuss the motivation behind his conduct, attempted to obstruct and impede justice, and failed to clearly demonstrate affirmative acceptance of responsibility." Ciavarella, Kosik wrote, "continues to deny what he terms 'quid pro quo,' his receipt of money as a finder's fee." Kosik said Ciavarella's denials "are self-serving and abundantly contradicted by the evidence." In a brief interview with the Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice on Monday, Ciavarella took issue with the way the media have described him. "You people said I took bribes, that I committed extortion, that I traded kids for cash, that I had a quid pro quo," Ciavarella told the newspaper. "Where in my guilty plea does it say that?" Marsha Levick, chief counsel for the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia, which is seeking to overturn rulings against juveniles the ex-judges sent away and who has filed civil-rights lawsuits on the youngsters' behalf, said she did not anticipate Kosik's rejection of the plea deals. Levick said the order reflected Kosik's "concern about the magnitude of what happened in Luzerne County and the importance of restoring public confidence in the justice system." As for the defendants, "I think it's pretty bad news for them," Levick said. In his order, Kosik paraphrased what has been said about judges, that "integrity is their lot and proper virtue, the landmark, and he that removes it corrupts the fountain." "In this case, the fountain from which the public drinks is confidence in the judicial system, a fountain which may be corrupted for a time well after this case."

July 28, 2009 American Free Press
Lawyers who argue that thousands of juveniles were sentenced to prison terms by corrupt judges are petitioning a US federal court in Pennsylvania to preserve the case record so they can sue for damages. Attorneys are seeking to stop the destruction of files related to the cases of an unknown number of juveniles who received prison sentences for minor offenses from two judges who were later found to have accepted bribes from private prison companies. The petition before a federal judge in Scranton, Pennsylvania came after the state's Supreme Court in March agreed to expunge the youths' criminal records, but also ordered the destruction of their files. Without at least one copy of the relevant files, attorney Lourdes Rosado told AFP, the juveniles will be unable to pursue a civil case seeking damages. "The federal court needs that information in order to decide whether or not that claim is valuable and whether or not the children are entitled to relief," said Rosado, associate director of the Juvenile Law Center, a non-profit group which advocates for children's rights. After months of procedural battles, the state Supreme Court agreed last week to preserve under seal a copy of documents related to 400 juveniles who have so far been identified as victims and have filed lawsuits. But, according to Rosado, the total number of victims "could be up to 6,500" and attorneys are now calling for a class action lawsuit to be certified for all the children who appeared before the judges between 2003 and 2008. Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania admitted last February to having accepted 2.6 million dollars from private prisons in exchange for giving juveniles sentences that were disproportionate to their offenses. Ciavarella and Conahan have filed a petition seeking the dismissal of lawsuits seeking damages, citing "the doctrine of judicial immunity." Among those sentenced by the judges was a young man who received nine months for having stolen a jar of nutmeg worth four dollars, and another juvenile who was sentenced to three months for stealing some change from a car.

July 24, 2009 The Morning Call
The sense of putrefaction in everything the Pennsylvania Supreme Court touches keeps growing. Even if this court did not play a key role in other scandals -- including the illegal pay grab for judges and other politicians, and the illegal enactment of slot machine casino legislation -- its actions in the Luzerne County Court corruption case would illustrate just how wretched it is. Most recently, we learned that the Supremes connived to help a fellow robe wearer, former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella, escape accountability in lawsuits that threaten to put a dent in the millions of dollars in payoffs he took. (Ciavarella and another judge pleaded guilty in federal court in a case that involved the placement of juveniles -- on the flimsiest of evidence and in return for big payoffs -- in a commercial detention facility run by the son of a former Supreme.) On Wednesday, the front page had an Associated Press story saying the current Supremes refused to preserve juvenile records deemed essential for the lawsuits. That story noted a ''Hobson's choice'' offered by the court. It would preserve the records of any juvenile who requested it, but that would mean the juvenile's ''adjudication'' (in essence, a finding of guilty by Ciavarella the crook) would be reinstated. We'll let you smart alecks preserve the documents necessary for you to sue our kindred spirit, the Supreme seemed to be saying, but maybe we'll throw you back in juvie jail for trying to exercise that right. On Thursday, a smaller AP story said the Supremes would allow records to be preserved, but only for juveniles who have already filed lawsuits against Ciavarella. Records showing how Ciavarella victimized thousands of other juveniles, who might sue if they can get the documentation to prove their claims, will not be protected. It was not clear if the Hobson's choice was still in place. Ciavarella and fellow Judge Michael Cannon began their corrupt jurisprudence in 2003, taking money to confine juveniles in a private jail owned by Gregory Zappala, the son of former Supreme Stephen Zappala Sr. By 2007, the Pennsylvania Juvenile Law Center found a pattern of children being denied their rights in Luzerne County. In April 2008, the JLC petitioned the Supremes to intercede. The Supremes trashed the petition without explanation. In this climate, similar to the one in Mississippi involving civil rights cases a half century ago, there was no way those two Luzerne judges were going to be held accountable in any state court. (All state courts are regulated by the Supremes.) When the two judges were finally prosecuted in federal court in January, the state Supremes were forced to act. They appointed a master, retired Berks County Judge Arthur Grim, to investigate. By March, the Supremes had to accept Grim's recommendation to vacate the obviously bogus Luzerne County juvenile adjudications. In May, the Supremes issued a notice saying the juvenile victims could get copies of their records, but the JLC observed it was ''replete'' with so much legalese that parents could never understand it, and it also gave them only a few weeks to act. The JLC asked the Supremes for a clarification the families could understand. They refused, again with no explanation. A few days later, however, Master Grim did issue an order to provide for such a clarification. That move was killed by the Supremes the very next day. When the JLC sought a federal court order to protect the records, the state Supremes sent a letter to the federal court opposing it, and kept that letter secret from the JLC or any of the parents. The feds went along with the Supremes, citing ''federalism'' prerogatives that serve to keep systems independent of each other. A JLC motion then observed that the Supremes delivered a threat. ''The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in denying requests for preservation of a single copy of juveniles' records for the sole purpose of federal litigation, has explained that it will not permit juveniles' adjudications to be vacated ... if they request a copy of their records to prevent their destruction,'' the JLC motion says. In other words, if you try to preserve the proof so you can sue our fellow robe wearer for some of the loot he took in illegal payoffs, we may arrange for you to do it from a cell in a juvenile detention center. All Pennsylvanians, not just the families of Luzerne County, need to start looking at what happened here -- and they need to start sniffing at the smell of putrefaction -- from a very personal viewpoint. If innocent, or relatively innocent, children in one county can be incarcerated just so a couple of judges can collect millions, it can happen anywhere. It can happen to your children, and you can expect no help from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. In fact, you can expect the opposite. I keep wondering what it will take for people to get angry enough to demand that their elected officials make some changes.

February 26, 2009 New York Times
More than 70 juveniles and their families filed a class-action lawsuit Thursday against two former judges who pleaded guilty this month in a scheme that involved their taking kickbacks to put young offenders in privately run detention centers. The suit contends that before resigning last year, the judges “used kids as commodities that could be traded for cash,” placing an “indelible stain” on the juvenile justice system of Luzerne County in northeastern Pennsylvania. The suit, filed in the Federal District Court in Scranton by the Juvenile Law Center, seeks to have all profits that the detention centers earned from the scheme placed in a fund that would compensate the youths for their emotional distress. In an earlier filing, the law center, based in Philadelphia, asked the State Supreme Court to clear the records of all juveniles who appeared before the judges, Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan. The suit brought Thursday is the third filed on behalf of juvenile offenders. The two others, one of which also seeks class-action status, were filed by private lawyers. Mr. Ciavarella and Mr. Conahan pleaded guilty on Feb. 12 to federal charges of wire and income-tax fraud for having taken more than $2.6 million in kickbacks to send teenagers to the two privately operated centers, run by PA Child Care and a sister company, Western PA Child Care. “Judge Ciavarella’s placement of so many children in juvenile facilities without regard for their underlying charges suggests a Procrustean scheme that violated one of the core principles of the juvenile justice system — the right to individualized treatment and rehabilitation,” Lourdes M. Rosado, associate director of the Juvenile Law Center, said in a statement. Lawyers for the two former judges declined to comment on the suit. As for the criminal investigation of court personnel, two additional people have already been charged, and federal officials say they may soon charge others involved in the scheme.

February 19, 2009 Standard-Speaker
A witness will testify that one or both of the disgraced Luzerne County judges who’ve pleaded guilty to accepting millions in kickbacks have “direct connections” to jailed mobster William “Big Billy” D’Elia, according to a petition to be filed today in the state Supreme Court by lawyers for the owners of the Standard-Speaker. The petition asks the court to vacate a $3.5 million defamation verdict issued by suspended Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. in June 2006 against The Scranton Times L.P., a related company called The Times Partners and former Citizens’ Voice reporter Edward Lewis. Following a non-jury trial, Ciavarella ruled in favor of West Pittston businessman Thomas A. Joseph, who claimed he was defamed in a series of newspaper stories in 2001 following federal raids at Joseph’s business and homes owned by Joseph, D’Elia and others. In its petition, Scranton Times L.P. alleges that then-President Judge Michael T. Conahan and his first cousin, Court Administrator William T. Sharkey Sr. “steered” the case into Ciavarella’s courtroom, ignoring the usual practice in which cases were assigned on a rotating basis. Ciavarella issued one-sided rulings and ignored evidence that Joseph and D’Elia were close associates who were suspected of money laundering, the petition says. D’Elia was arrested on money laundering charges in May 2006, a month before the trial. Joseph was never charged. In his opinion, Ciavarella wrote “there was no credible evidence presented at trial linking the two men beyond being social acquaintances.” In the past week, Conahan and Ciavarella have pleaded guilty to accepting $2.6 million in kickbacks from a juvenile detention owner and contractor and Sharkey has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $70,000 from the county. “The unusual handling of judicial assignments in Joseph v. Scranton Times, the scope and subject of newspaper articles in question, and a cascade of recent revelations regarding corruption in the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas strongly suggest the $3.5 million non-jury verdict was rigged …” the petition says. “Petitioners have identified a potential witness who, on reliable information and to Petitioners’ belief, would testify concerning direct connections between D’Elia and Judge Conahan and/or Judge Ciavarella.” The petition asks the court to allow Scranton Times L.P. to gather evidence that it believes will reveal additional evidence of ties between D’Elia and one or both of the judges. Kevin C. Abbott, an attorney for Scranton Times L.P., declined comment on the petition or the identity of the unnamed witness. “We’re going to let it speak for itself,” he said. Joseph and his attorneys did not immediately return phone messages. Conahan, Ciavarella and Sharkey could not be reached for comment. Ciavarella’ attorney, Albert Flora Jr., said he hadn’t seen the petition and could not comment. Conahan’s attorney, Philip Gelso, and Sharkey’s attorney, Bruce Miller, did not immediately return phone messages. D’Elia’s attorney, James Swetz, did not immediately return a phone message. D’Elia, 62, the longtime reputed head of the Bufalino crime family is serving nine years in federal prison for money laundering and witness tampering. Scranton Times L.P.’s petition argues that Ciavarella ignored evidence in federal search warrant affidavits presented during the trial that stated D’Elia and Joseph were “involved in and/or have knowledge of various federal criminal violations.” The affidavits quoted confidential sources who alleged Joseph and D’Elia were involved in money laundering. The petition also argues that Sharkey and Conahan worked together to ensure the pre-trial hearings and the actual trial would be assigned to Ciavarella even though Ciavarella and Conahan had assured Scranton Times L.P. that the selection of a trial judge would be made at random by the Court Administrator’s Office. The petition cited a record recently obtained from the Court Administrator’s Office that notes the case was assigned by WTS, which are Sharkey’s initials, at the direction of MTC, which are Conahan’s. Conahan refused a request from Scranton Times L.P. to have a judge from another county hear the case. Scranton Times L.P. unsuccessfully appealed the Ciavarella’s verdict in state Superior Court, which upheld the verdict in September. The petition to be filed today cites numerous aspects of the corruption investigation that led to charges against Conahan, Ciavarella and Sharkey including: A statement from attorneys for Robert J. Powell, a Butler Township attorney whose company allegedly paid some of the kickbacks to the two judges, that claimed Conahan and Ciavarella had extorted payments from him because he was “particularly vulnerable to the pressures that these Judges could bring to bear on him and his clients.” A review of the system for appointing neutral arbitrators in certain insurance cases in Luzerne County Court ordered by President Judge Chester B. Muroski in reaction to media reports of rumors of case-fixing and the possible manipulation of that process by Conahan and Ciavarella. A column in the legal journal The Legal Intelligencer citing rumors that “the investigation of the judges was the result of William D’Elia talking. D’Elia has been in federal custody since October 2006. In July 2007, he appeared before a Dauphin County grand jury that later recommended perjury charges against Dunmore landfill magnate Louis A. DeNaples. DeNaples is accused of hiding his ties to D’Elia and other crime figures when seeking a state casino license. Joseph appeared before the same grand jury in August 2007. Federal prosecutors say D’Elia aided the Dauphin County case against DeNaples and he could win a reduced sentence for continued cooperation. The perjury case against DeNaples has been stalled by his appeals in state Supreme Court. Conahan and DeNaples served together on the board of First National Community Bank in Dunmore, where DeNaples was chairman until federal bank regulators suspended him in reaction to the perjury charges in January 2008. Conahan resigned from the board last month after the charges against him were announced. In the past two weeks the bank has filed legal action to collect $4.15 million from defaulted loans guaranteed by Conahan, Ciavarella, bank board member Michael G. Cestone, Powell and his law partner, Luzerne County Prothonotary Jill A. Moran. The loans were taken by W-Cat Inc., the company behind a failed townhouse development in Wright Township.

January 27, 2009 AP
Two Pennsylvania judges agreed Monday to plead guilty to fraud charges accusing them of taking $2.6 million in kickbacks in return for placing juvenile offenders into certain detention facilities. The plea agreements for Luzerne County President Judge Mark Ciavarella (shiv-ah-REL'-lah) and Senior Judge Michael Conahan (CON'-ah-han) call for sentences of more than seven years in prison. Both judges have agreed to step down from the bench. Authorities say the judges took kickbacks between 2003 and 2007 in exchange for guaranteeing the placement of juvenile offenders into facilities operated by PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care LLC. In some cases, Ciavarella ordered children into detention even when juvenile probation officers did not recommend it. "They sold their oaths of offices to the highest bidders," Deron Roberts, chief of the FBI's Scranton office, said at a news conference Monday. U.S. Attorney Martin Carlson stressed the charges were "the first developments in an ongoing investigation" into public corruption at the courthouse in Wilkes-Barre. PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care have not been charged with wrongdoing. Luzerne County District Attorney Jackie Musto Carroll said her office would review cases in which offenders might have been improperly placed into juvenile detention. The Juvenile Law Center, a Philadelphia-based advocacy group, complained last year to the state Supreme Court about the treatment of children in Luzerne County juvenile court, asking for the nullification of decisions in hundreds of cases. Juveniles were often denied their constitutional right to lawyers and were disproportionately sentenced to ill-advised, out-of-home placements, the group said. "We feel that it's a great day for the young people and the youth of this area to see the system really does work, the system really isn't rigged against them," said Jack Van Reeth, whose daughter was ordered detained in 2007 by Ciavarella. "It's just wonderful to see that the scheme of jailing for dollars has come to an end." Jessica Van Reeth, then 16, was sent to a juvenile wilderness camp for three months after admitting that she had possessed a cigarette lighter and pipe in school. She told The Associated Press last year that the items were found in a purse she agreed to hold for a friend. The family, expecting probation, waived her right to a lawyer, unaware of the potential consequences. Jack Van Reeth said Monday his daughter is "extremely happy. She said that this is better than Christmas."

Moshannon Valley Correctional Center
Clearfield, Pennsylvania
Cornell
September 17, 2009 The Tribune-Democrat
Two former guards at a federal prison in Philipsburg pleaded guilty Wednesday to providing inmates with contraband, including cell phones, cigarettes, MP3 players and muscle enhancers. Bryan Williams II and Ryan J. Spicher were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kim Gibson in Johnstown to one year of probation and a $1,000 fine each. They had pleaded guilty to one count each of providing contraband inside the Moshannon Valley Correctional Center in Centre County. The prison is a low-security lockup for male prisoners in the federal system. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie L. Haines said Williams was involved in the criminal activity from June 2007 to Dec. 11, 2007. Spicher furnished the contraband to inmates from January 2007 to Aug. 31 of that same year, Haines said. The men could have faced prison terms of up to six months and fines of up to $5,000. Moshannon Valley prison is run by Cornell Cos.

February 11, 2009 The Progress News
At yesterday's Clearfield County commissioners' meeting, Decatur Township Supervisor Andy Rebar asked the commissioners to correct inequities in property taxes by performing a countywide property reassessment. According to Mr. Rebar, county residents are unfairly shouldering too much of the property tax burden while commercial property owners are getting a break. Mr. Rebar said the impetus for this occurred when the Cornell private prison opened several years ago in Decatur Township. He said it was projected to provide local municipalities and the school district with $1 million a year in tax revenue, but after the county assessed the property it only ended up paying roughly half that. Mr. Rebar said he then looked at what other commercial property owners were paying in real estate taxes and said he discovered that they were disproportionately low when compared to residential properties.

May 5, 2008 The Progress News
Some 126 local, county and state officials and guests gathered Friday at Brady Township Community Center for the Clearfield County Association of Township Officials Spring Convention. There are 30 second class townships in the county as well as 19 boroughs and one city… Andy Rebar, Decatur Township supervisor, spoke to the group about the Cornell facility that he said is a federally funded, federally contracted private prison built in Decatur Township. He said he was "wholeheartedly" in favor of it and the annual funding for the township was to be $57,000 to $62,000 but instead only $15,290 was received. He said the township has hired a legal team and will fight this. He asked for help from other officials by writing a letter of support. He said property assessments need to be fair and balanced. Clearfield County commissioner Mark McCracken said the county is aware of the situation and is taking action.

September 22, 2007 Altoona Mirror
A federal judge has rejected a request by an inmate at the Moshannon Valley Correctional Center to stop sending “Latino” inmates to the facility. Rudolph P. Keszthelyi contended in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Johnstown that prison authorities are segregating primarily illegal immigrants at Moshannon Valley, a private prison operated by Cornell Co. Inc. of Houston, Texas. The prison, located in the Phillipsburg area, has been open for about a year. In his suit, Keszthelyi claims that the atmosphere at the prison is volatile because of a large number of Latino inmates, and a minority of black inmates from Washington, D.C., are being housed there. The prison holds few whites. Keszthelyi asked for an injunction to bring about an immediate change so that the inmate population will be more racially balanced. Federal magistrate Lisa Pupo Lenihan recommended in August that no injunction be issued because she said Keszthelyi could not show “irreparable harm” if the request was denied. The inmate filed objections to Lenihan’s report, arguing that segregation of inmates was illegal and noting that “the atmosphere at Moshannon Valley is oppressive, as at any time the majority of Latino prisoners can decide to take matters into their own hands and cause harm to a minority group or one individual.” He said the situation is causing him “severe emotional distress.” U.S. District Judge Kim Gibson this week adopted the magistrate’s recommendations and dismissed the request for an injunction. The magistrate said any request for an injunction “must always be viewed with great caution because judicial restraint is especially called for in dealing with the complex and intractable problems of prison administration.” She said “The federal courts are not overseers of the day-to-day management of prisons.” Keszthelyi claims a race riot broke out Feb. 6 at the prison, resulting in a month-and-a-half lockdown of the facility.

May 1, 2007 Centre Daily Times
A school district and township, set to take in more than $200,000 in annual property tax revenue from Pennsylvania's first private prison, are now appealing a county assessment of the $74 million facility in an effort to get additional funds. The appeals process could take months and discussion at the first hearing Monday indicated the matter is likely headed to the Clearfield County Court of Common Pleas. "This is an unusual facility that is going to take some unusual valuation, conclusions, theories, projections and assumptions, and I see this case in court," said Anthony R. Thompson, an Allentown attorney representing Cornell Cos. Inc. -- a Texas firm that built the Moshannon Valley Correctional Facility. The 1,300-bed prison, owned by W.B.P. Leasing Inc., is located in Decatur Township, which filed an appeal in March. Shortly thereafter, the Philipsburg-Osceola Area school board authorized its solicitor, Winifred Jones-Wenger, to join with the township in the appeal. She has not yet filed the paperwork to intervene but plans to do so, she said Monday. But the local solicitors won't be handling the case themselves. The township and school district have retained a Pittsburgh firm, Hollinshead, Mendelson, Bresnahan and Nixon. Clearfield County assessed the prison at about $2.5 million, and its market value is listed about $10 million. From the time Decatur Township and Philipsburg-Osceola Area School District received their first tax payments from the facilities, officials from both entities voiced displeasure, saying the revenue wasn't what they expected. The facility cost $74 million to construct. In correspondence dating back to the late 1990s, the prison had promised almost $1 million annually in combined tax revenues and payments. The township and school district haven't seen a third of that since the prison opened a year ago, and they won't, based on the current full assessment. But Cornell, which was embroiled in a legal battle over whether state law allows private prisons, has said the scope of the project changed significantly, resulting in a much smaller facility with less business than was first proposed seven years ago. At the onset of the hearing Monday, the county assessment appeals board asked to see an appraisal of the prison. Attorney William P. Bresnahan, of the Pittsburgh firm, was unable to provide one because an appraiser had only been retained 10 days ago. He asked the board for more time. "We thought it would be much more helpful if we went through this proceeding with the real estate appraiser to give you his insight," he told the board. In an interview afterward, Bresnahan explained that finding someone certified in Pennsylvania who could appraise the prison was a difficult task. But Paul Griffith, of Integra Realty Resources, was retained, he said. Thompson asked the board not to allow the hearing to continue. The matter will go to court, he said, and he would like to see it "resolved sooner rather than later." He also questioned whether the board had the authority to issue a continuance for the hearing. The board decided to talk with its solicitor and make a decision sometime this week.

February 8, 2007 Altoona Mirror
An inmate at the recently opened private prison in Clearfield County wants more diversity in its population. Rudolph P. Keszthelyi, serving a 10-year federal sentence, said the prison, Moshannon Valley Corrections Center, and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons have limited the population to illegal immigrants who have committed crimes and to inmates from Washington, D.C., who are almost all black. Keszthelyi says it’s a violation of the 14th Amendment to segregate inmates. Keszthelyi said in its first five months, the facility experienced two food strikes and “numerous violent assaults between prisoners of different ethnic origins.” He was one of two Moshannon Valley inmates whose lawsuits were filed in the U.S. District Court clerk’s office in Johnstown this week. The second inmate, Ervin Leka, serving 18 months for conspiracy to possess marijuana, complained that the prison is stamping mail that inmates send to their families outside the U.S. with large red letters, stating “Inmate Mail.” “My family is in a small village and now is ostracized because somebody saw the envelope with ‘Inmate Mail’ stamped on it,” Leka stated in a complaint to prison authorities.

February 7, 2007 WJAC TV
Security has been heightened and the Moshannon Valley Corrections Center remains on lockdown, after a Tuesday lunch-hour inmate fight. According to officials, at least one person was hurt and additional personnel had to be called in to help clear the scene. Prison administrators said things got out of hand when two groups of inmates began arguing about a basketball game. One inmate suffered a head injury and a medical helicopter was called to the scene. Ambulance and other emergency crews were called in, but were held at the prison perimeter until the scene was secured. There is no word yet on other possible injuries.

January 15, 2007 Centre Daily Times
The Moshannon Valley Correctional Facility, a $74 million private prison expected to provide an economic boom to Clearfield County, will not generate the amount of tax revenues it promised local officials years ago. Cornell Companies Inc., a Texas-based firm that owns the facility and may soon merge with Veritas Capital in New York, says the 1,300-bed facility is markedly smaller than what was initially proposed. And that's why the prison's tax bill is several hundred thousand dollars less than local officials expected. "The scale of the project was cut fairly significantly," said Christine Parker, a Cornell spokeswoman. In correspondence dating back as early as 1999, Morris and Decatur townships and the Philipsburg-Osceola Area School District were told that they would see almost $1 million annually in combined tax revenues and payments. The townships and district haven't seen a third of that since the prisoners arrived in spring 2006. And they won't ever see what they expected, now that the facility has been fully assessed. "I truly hope that this is a mistake and not some sort of favoritism," said Andrew Rebar, supervisors chairman of Decatur Township, where the facility is located. "I won't be able to live with that." In a letter to the state attorney general in 2001, then- Superintendent Sam Peterson explained the grave situation facing the Philipsburg-Osceola school district and how he thought the private prison would help. At the time, concerns were raised about whether state law would allow a private prison to be built, and the project was in jeopardy. "I have seen our district student population drop by 1,000 since the late 1970s," Peterson wrote. "This is primarily due to the decline of the coal industry and the loss of a couple of significant employers." Based on company-driven estimates, the facility would bring $600,000 annually in property taxes to the school district, he said. "I have lived in this area for 26 years and can assure you that nothing of such magnitude has ever presented itself as a viable economic option to the area's residents," he wrote. The attorney general allowed the project to move ahead. But it wasn't the same project that was originally proposed. In the seven years that had passed in resolving legal issues, the federal Bureau of Prisons changed the scope of the project. The prison was supposed to comprise three buildings. Now it has only one. And Cornell, Parker said, "lost all of the business that would have come along from it." Private prisons sprung up elsewhere, and "the needs of the federal Bureau of Prisons changed," she said. So did the expected tax revenue. Last week, Philipsburg-Osceola Area school officials said they did not receive any tax payments from the prison. After digging further through their records, they realized that they did receive about $51,000, which was based on a partial assessment of the facility. Now the facility has been fully assessed at $2.5 million. And, at most, the district will receive $232,730 annually from it in tax payments. "I would love to have it much higher, but I am very restricted by what I can do," said Mary Ann Wesdock, director of the Clearfield County Assessment Office. "I have to work within the structure that we have with regard to our base year and the values that we are permitted to use." Clearfield County's last reassessment was in 1989. Rebar said he was sick to his stomach when he realized that the township would receive only about $15,000 annually in tax revenues. "It is a drop in the bucket," said Rebar, who expected about $60,000. "That is our philosophy here." Morris Township, where the prison's water tower sits, is also not satisfied. Cornell's chief operating officer, in a 1999 letter to the township, said its general contractor would make a "one-time only investment in Morris Township of $250,000 upon the township's endorsement of this facility." The letter also indicated that the township would get an annual $191,734 payment in lieu of property taxes. Troy Hill Road, near the prison, also was supposed to be paved by Cornell, the letter indicated. Township Solicitor F. Cortez Bell III said the township hasn't received anything. Although a prison building was not constructed in Morris Township as planned, "there is a water tower." "The supervisors have authorized me to take whatever action is necessary," said Bell, who also is a Clearfield County assistant district attorney. "We have even talked about eminent domain proceedings." Morris Township would have received payments, Parker said, if the prison was constructed as originally planned.

January 10, 2007 Centre Daily Times
Uncertain of what its financial situation is, the Philipsburg-Osceola Area school board is trying to decide which way to throw the dice as it develops next year's budget. And the one revenue source the board hoped to get tax dollars from this year -- the newly constructed private prison -- appears to have slipped between the cracks. The district has not received a single tax payment from the prison so far, school officials said Tuesday. The crux of the dilemma facing Philipsburg-Osceola is that the board must have a preliminary budget drafted by Jan. 25. But school officials, who just stepped into their positions a few months ago, say they have no clue what all of their expenses are and don't want to rely on the figures contained in the previous deficit-laden budget. The board could wait until the end of the year to draft a complete budget, but then it must vow not to raise taxes above the state-mandated limit of 4.9 percent. If the district needed additional revenue, it would have to cut staff and programs in order to pay for its expenses. "I don't want to do that," said Cathy Hayes, a board member. On the other hand, if the board decided to increase taxes more than 4.9 percent, its budget would need voter approval by referendum. Several school officials doubted that they could win the taxpayers' support. Nor are they sure the community could handle any more tax increases. Last year, the board increased taxes 27 percent in Clearfield County and 5 percent in Centre County. "I could not, in my best judgment, ask to go over 4.9 percent. It would just be devastating," said Mike Conte, the school district's director of finance. "Whatever we have to do, we have to keep within that range." The budget constraints, including the tax-increase limit and early budget schedule, are all the result of the state's latest property tax law, Act 1. The legislation mandated a series of new budget changes for almost all school districts across the state. The board was at odds over what to do by the end of its meeting Tuesday night. It is expected to decide at its next meeting on Tuesday. Board member Thad Ritter appeared to be supportive of drafting a preliminary budget by next week. He said if the district had to raise taxes above 4.9 percent, it would have to sell its case to the taxpayers and explain what programs would be cut without the additional revenue. "I think we need to submit the preliminary budget just in case we need the referendum," he said. The board was hoping to receive some tax revenues from the Moshannon Valley Correctional Facility. Earlier reports show that the district expected at least a couple hundred thousand annually. The prison is up and running, and Conte said the district has not received any payments to date.

March 25, 2003
Ending a four-year standoff, a Texas corrections firm has won the go-ahead to build Pennsylvania's first privately owned prison, officials said Tuesday.  The 1,000-bed prison for federal inmates, which will be built by next year on reclaimed strip mines in Clearfield County, Pa., will be maintained and operated by Houston-based Cornell Companies, Inc. Cornell owns eight other prisons nationwide.  The company was stalled in Pennsylvania since 1999 because state law does not allow private firms to house federal prisoners. But a rare agreement, finalized this week, will let Cornell guards use deadly force to control prisoners - with authority delegated by the federal Bureau of Prisons.  No other prison in the state will be allowed to be owned by a private company.  (AP)

March 23, 2002
For more than two years, Pennsylvania's Attorney General Mike Fisher has stood by his objections to Cornell Corrections' plans to build a private prison in Clearfield County, saying that state law did not allow a corporation to be a jailer.  In an exclusive interview with the Progress, Mr. Fisher said his office has formulated a plan that might "satisfy everyone concerned."  "What we're trying to do is federalize the prison," Rep. Lynn Herman said yesterday, "it will then be legal."  Cornell, which would be the contracted operator of the facility, would also own the property and the structure, allowing the local tax-base to benefit.  Not everyone sees the proposal as good news, however.  "It was Mr. Fisher who said that private companies cannot own and operate prisons without the General Assembly's authorization," said state Rep. Camile "Bud" George, D-74 of Houtzdale, in a statement this week.  "I can assure you that authorization has not been given."  He called the proposal a "deal kept secret from the media, the citizens of Clearfield County and legislators of all stripes," and said the issues has become "a political animal rather than a question of what is right for the people..."  (Clearfield Progress) 

The federal government yesterday lifted a moratorium that helped put a two-year freeze on what would be Pennsylvania's only privately owned prison.  That left developers suggesting that the Clearfield County project could go to construction by spring.  But they still face stiff opposition from Gov. Tom Ridge and state Attorney General Mike Fisher.  "Our position has remained unchanged, that state law as currently written doesn't allow incarceration of inmates by private entities," Fisher spokesman Sean Connolly said yesterday.  The federal government froze work in June 1999, when a locally based group, the Citizens Advisory Committee on Private Prisons, filed a complaint charging that bureau hadn't done environmental homework on the project.  Wednesday, federal Judge D. Brooks Smith in Johnstown ruled that all was well -- a decision that opponents are deciding whether to appeal.  (Post Gazette)

Monroe County Correctional Facility
Monroe County, Pennsylvania
Canteen (formerly run by Aramark)
September 10, 2009 Pocono Record
A new company is serving meals to inmates and staff and the Monroe County Correctional Facility. Canteen Correctional Services, a division of Compass Group USA, has been doing the cooking since Sept. 1. Canteen was awarded a three-year contract at $622,388 per year, replacing Aramark, which had been employed at the Snydersville jail for five years. Staff members are happy with the new menu and larger portions, says Acting Warden Donna Asure. "We've gotten great comments," said Asure, who also is a county commissioner. "The staff is satisfied with the staff meals." Four Canteen employees, assisted by inmates who apply for positions, prepare about 1,200 meals daily in the prison kitchen. Inmates eat in the day rooms of their assigned units. Staff members eat in the employee dining room. Aramark was the subject of at least a few complaints before losing its bid for a renewed contract. "We have had several complaints," Asure said. "We tried to work things out." The county has options to extend Canteen's contract beyond the current three years, she said.

Montgomery County Jail
Eagleville, Pennsylvania
Correctional Medical Care
March 20, 2010 Democrat & Chronicle
During the past decade the family that now manages medical care for Monroe County jails has been entangled in lawsuits with claims ranging from significant misappropriation of company funds to unusual contentions that marital infidelity led to a private investigator bugging their house. Emre Umar, the president of Correctional Medical Care Inc., is now accused in a local lawsuit of harassing and ultimately firing a jail medical employee, April D'Amico of Rochester, who alleges she had an affair with Umar. D'Amico alleges that Umar assured her "that she was a valuable employee; that he would always take care of her; and, that if she ever tried to use their relationship against him that he 'would destroy' her." When D'Amico wanted to end the relationship, Umar proceeded to call her dozens of times, constantly harassing her before finally firing her, alleges the lawsuit, filed this month in U.S. District Court in Rochester. Timothy Myers, a Pennsylvania-based attorney representing Umar and his company, said the allegations "are baseless." The attorneys are seeking dismissal of the lawsuit and allege that D'Amico cost Correctional Medical Care "hundreds of thousands of dollars" through "misconduct." Despite the legal issues for Correctional Medical Care, there have not been any concerns raised about the medical care the company provides. In isolation, D'Amico's federal lawsuit may not raise questions about the management of CMC. But Umar and his wife, Maria, the company's chief executive officer, have been involved in another unusual lawsuit, in which the couple alleged they were harassed by a Chicago businessman and his contracted private investigator after Maria broke off a seven-year relationship with the businessman. And Emre Umar and his father, Dr. Kenan Umar, were embroiled in litigation against each other after the sale of a previous prison health care provider the two managed and owned, court records from Pennsylvania show. The father and son accused each other of harming the company through unauthorized personal use of its revenues. Reached Tuesday at his office near Philadelphia, Emre Umar declined to comment about his current or past litigation. He did say the company is providing quality medical care for Monroe County's two jail facilities. Sheriff's Office spokesman John Helfer also said CMC is providing good care to inmates. He noted that CMC is accredited by a national agency. "We have found they either meet or exceed those (accreditation) standards," Helfer said. Privatized jail care -- The county privatized jail medical services about a decade ago but has struggled to settle on a company to provide quality, cost-effective care. The first company hired was Prison Health Services, but the county stopped contracting with PHS in 2003 in the aftermath of an inmate death in which the state was sharply critical of care. The county then contracted with Correctional Medical Services into 2008. The county is now suing CMS, alleging that the company did not provide staffing at the jails as contractually promised. CMS has denied the allegations. In 2008, the county began its contract with Correctional Medical Care, the Umar-run company. The County Legislature unanimously approved the CMC contract. The county contends that CMC was the best choice among five providers that answered a request for proposal — or RFP. Asked whether any information about past lawsuits involving Umar came to light during the county's due diligence, county spokesman Noah Lebowitz responded in an e-mail: "It doesn't appear so based on the information in the RFP file." The key issues for county officials were a company's "proposed fees; understanding of the project; degree of relevant experience; technical competence; references; capacity and availability to perform the services; and local office," Lebowitz wrote. County officials believe that privatized health care, like that provided by CMC, is "the best way to ensure quality services at a fair cost for taxpayers," Lebowitz wrote. The Umars have experience managing a major prison health care provider — Correctional Physician Services Inc., which provided care in Pennsylvania state prisons and elsewhere. CPS was created in 1989 by Dr. Kenan Umar, who later employed his son, Emre, and made him a vice president, court records show. In 1999, Dr. Umar alleged that his son removed all of the CPS money from a bank account — more than $1 million — without permission. Emre Umar contended he was entitled to the money, and the t