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FLORIDA - Agent Paul Lio handcuffs Sgt. Montrez Lucas, who is charged with an altercation with Frank Valdes the day before he was beaten to death by a gang of guards.

"IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE SCUM OF THE EARTH, GO TO ANY PRISON, AND WATCH SHIFT CHANGE."

Winston Churchill

ARKANSAS

WORLD'S LEADING JACK-BOOTED THUG

by Wayne Hicks, with Henrietta Bowman - Published: 01.21.01
www.SierraTimes.com

The death of an Arkansas man may be only the latest in a long line of eliminations performed by a rogue BATF Agent. Carl Ray Wilson, who was sixty years old at the time of his death on January 12th, was a known felon. He had been sentenced to prison twice - once in Oklahoma, and once in Arkansas. He was paroled in 1968.

Carl had been known in his younger days as something of an outlaw, "the dynamite man," and was thought of by some as a white supremacist. He was once a suspect in a murder case, although he was never charged due to the fact that he had a realistic and apparently honest alibi. He'd even been accused of being an accomplice in another murder because he had provided a small bottle of explosive to a man, and later learned that the man and a woman who had been with him used it to try to kill a woman. He wound up as a prosecution witness, but was not charged - neither the prosecutors, nor the court believed he was guilty of a willful participation in the crime.

But apparently one man did.

Very early on Friday, January 12th of this year, BATF Agent Bill Buford led local police and sheriff's deputies to Wilson's rural home. He had obtained a search warrant, apparently authorizing a "no-knock" search of Wilson's property. A "no-knock" search means that officers are authorized to enter the home by surprise or stealth, but must still announce themselves and their lawful intent to execute the warrant. Buford and his team, which included SWAT Team members from the local Sheriff's office entered by stealth. They were already inside the house at 6:30 that morning when Carl Wilson's alarm clock went off. Until that moment, no one inside the home knew they were there.

According to Wilson's wife and a niece who was staying with them, shots were fired immediately after an alarm clock rang. Mrs. Wilson, who was sleeping in another room, and the niece ran to Carl's room and were thrown to the floor by the officers, guns shoved forcibly against their heads, while other agents shouted at Wilson - who had been shot seven times - to "Get up!" Mrs. Wilson could only see her husband's arm from where she lay on the floor, and agents repeatedly shouted at her, "Don't look at us!" and "Don't you look around here!" She saw Carl try to raise himself from the bed, fall back, and heard him say weakly, "I can't...."

No attempt was made to get medical attention for Carl. The agents stood and watched as he bled to death in his own bed, wearing only his underwear as they joked about what to have for lunch. After Carl had ceased moving and no sign of life could be found, a call was finally made for someone to remove his body.

Less than two hours after the raid began, Mrs. Wilson and her niece were alone in the house. There was no "crime scene" tape warning people to stay clear of the area - no attempt had been made to recover the spent shell casings, or any of the dozens of bullets that littered the place. Even the 44 caliber slug that allegedly bounced off the Kevlar vest of a local deputy was left behind for Mrs. Wilson to clean up. Apparently someone decided there would be no need to analyze the crime scene, do ballistics tests or conduct a fatal police shooting incident investigation.

As far as the family knows, no photos were taken, and the bed where Carl died lay as it was when his body was removed from it, with a perfect outline of the upper half of a man's body, drawn in blood.

Agent Buford made a public statement that same day. In it, he said that Wilson began shooting at his team as they approached the house, and that while he was constrained from revealing the nature of the search, it involved drugs and explosives. He also stated that he was certain that Carl "knew we were officers."

All of these statements were apparently false - and Buford would have known that when he made them.

Let's take them one by one.

First, Buford said Wilson fired at the officers as they approached the house.

This is obviously a bald-faced lie because we now know without doubt that Carl died in his bed - he never got near a door or window. In fact, the five shots that were fatal to Carl were not fired at point blank range, from within his bedroom - they were fired through a wall that divided his bedroom from the kitchen, and when Mrs. Wilson came running, officers actually demanded to know why she wasn't in the bed with him. They thought she was, you see.

Second: Buford said the search involved drugs. Well, in the first place, drugs had never figured very big in Carl's life. He'd never had a drug charge, nor had any of his friends or family ever known him to be interested.

And in the second place, a copy of the warrant was left with members of his family and specifically did NOT mention drugs. In fact, the only thing it mentioned, according to Carl's brother, was a single deer rifle and ammunition for the gun, of which there were only four rounds.

The last statement made by Buford, that Carl knew they were law enforcement officers could, just possibly be true. But ask yourself this: If you awoke to the sounds of gunfire in your home, would you ask who was there - or grab the nearest weapon and use it?

Carl tried to defend himself and his family. The 44 Magnum handgun that he fired at least once (although the official version says he fired four times) was in an old stereo cabinet that was near the foot of his bed. One of the fatal shots that struck him entered the back of his neck and exited through his shoulder as he scrambled to reach the only means of self-defense in the room, and then struck the lid of the cabinet. In other words, Carl was shot in the back - through a wall. According to Carl's widow and niece, his gun was fired only after the firing began. And anyone who's ever been around a 44 Magnum knows the deep roar that it makes.

But he tried to defend his home and family, and according to Arkansas statutes he was completely within his rights since no announcement of the intruders' identities or intentions had been made prior to that moment! A resident of Arkansas finding himself in that situation is perfectly justified in using any force necessary - including deadly force - to repel invaders in his home.

Carl did fire at least one shot before he was too badly wounded to do so again because at least one officer was slightly wounded by a bullet that struck his bulletproof vest and shattered, allowing a fragment to strike or graze his arm. It must be a comfort to the people who lived around Carl to know that this dangerous man will never fire a shot again! There are just a couple of problems, though:

Carl was a convicted felon, of that there's no doubt. He was sent to prison twice, and the law enforcement officers who arrested him on the numerous times he had to be taken into custody would tell you how violent and resistant to arrest he was - all they had to do was call him on the phone and tell him to come in and he did.

Carl was paroled from his last conviction in 1968 and returned to his home in the Mayflower area. He married and then went into construction until an injury forced him to retire. A tragic accident in his home took the life of one of Carl's best friends as a gun discharged unexpectedly, after which Carl sank further and further into a bottle - . until another accident involving his wife brought him back out.

And for the last fifteen years of his life, Carl had been a regular attendee at church, spent as much time as he could with his family, and adored his nine-year-old granddaughter.

Carl had little time for much else. His family was what was important to him. He was known as a nice guy around the area, although a reformed outlaw, and he spent the two months during which Buford says he was being "investigated" selling Christmas trees and joking to friends about the "guy in cammies in the woods, watchin' me!"

And now, Carl Ray Wilson is dead, and his family and friends want to know why.

Possible reasons: 19 years ago, Carl sold a small bottle of explosive to a friend of his who wanted to blow a stump out of his yard. When he heard a few days later that a woman had been nearly killed with a homemade bomb using the same type of explosive, he put two and two together and called the prosecutors, saying, "I think I might be in trouble." He became a key witness in the famous Mary Lee Orsini Murder Trial, which became the subject of the book Widow's Web. The senior investigator in that case said repeatedly that he thought Carl had more involvement than he admitted, but neither the court nor the prosecutors could find any credible evidence so he was never charged and the enraged investigator told Carl, "I'm gonna get you yet!" Carl's wife, and many others heard the threat.

Bill Buford was that investigator.

Could it be, that now that the Clinton/Reno regime has come to an end, Buford is expecting his career to come to an end as well? Perhaps he devised the entire "investigation" into Carl's "drugs and explosives" because he knew that if he had nothing to accuse Carl of, he'd never get a warrant, never get the other officers and agencies to go with him to carry out his threat at last, and murder Carl Ray Wilson?

But there may be even more to it than that.

Carl may have known something. John Brown, an investigator into the double murder of two boys who may have stumbled across the Mena, Arkensas drug-running operation that has been tied to ex-president Clinton, was a friend of Carl's. And no one is sure whom else Carl might have known. Brown called in the FBI when he discovered that law enforcement officers and government agents may have been involved in the boys' murders Carl was very aware of Clinton's "Dixie Mafia" tales and may well have known where some of the bodies - figuratively speaking, of course - were buried.

For whatever reason, Carl is dead, and there are many unanswered questions; unanswered questions that all involve the same man who helped to plan and execute the worst debacle in law enforcement history, the same man who lied to the press in this case.

Bill Buford, of the Little Rock Arkansas office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Bill Buford, the Arkansas ATF Agent who planned and orchestrated the raid on the Branch Davidian Compound in Waco, and may well have done so on the instructions of his "old buddy" Bill Clinton.

Bill Buford - the man I nominate for the world's Number One Jack-Booted Thug!

EX-GUARDS INDICTED IN ABUSE CASE

By Kelly P. Kissel / Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A federal grand jury indicted six former prison guards Wednesday, alleging that three inmates were shocked on the genitals and elsewhere after being disruptive in 1998.

The state prison system fired two of the guards after an internal investigation, and the other four quit during the inquiry, Arkansas Department of Correction spokeswoman Dina Tyler said.

"The force used was inexcusable and unacceptable," Ms. Tyler said. The prison system reported the incidents to the FBI.

U.S. Attorney Michael Johnson said the officers abused the inmates, then denied them medical care in an effort to cover up the incidents. Ms. Tyler said prison officials learned of the alleged attacks after an inmate filed a grievance.

"We had a group of officers who apparently overreacted to an inmate who had been unruly and disruptive," Ms. Tyler said.

The indictment says the inmates were taken in handcuffs to a captain's office where they were beaten, then Officer Kenneth C. Bell shocked them with a stun gun.

The six officers are charged with conspiracy to violate the inmates' civil rights. Officer Bell and Officer Charles Wade Jr. also are named in three other counts alleging assault and civil rights violations.

The other officers named are Loren D. Burrer, Glen Jackson, Percy Sergeant Jr. and Neica Lee Threet. The victims were Michael Lenz, Kiloe Page and George Proby.

The incidents occurred from Jan. 7 to 24, 1998, at the Cummins Unit prison near Varner, about 85 miles southeast of Little Rock.

ARIZONA

3 YUMA COUNTY DETENTION OFFICERS ARRESTED ON SEX CHARGES

ASSOCIATED PRESS

June 13, 2007

PHOENIX - Three detention officers with the Yuma County Sheriff's Office have been arrested on suspicion they had ongoing sexual relationships with four female inmates, authorities said Wednesday.

Officers Jose Espinoza and Justin Herrera, both 26, were arrested Tuesday night and Kenneth Smith, 34, was arrested Wednesday morning on felony unlawful sexual conduct charges. They were being held on a $25,000 bond each.

Sheriff's Capt. Eben Bratcher said the department, which learned about the relationships Tuesday, was still trying to figure out where the sexual acts occurred, when and who was involved each time.

"Part of the problem that we're running into right now is trying to identify every single event," he said. "This officer with that inmate, later another officer with the same inmate, and the original officer with another inmate kind of thing."

He said there may have been a couple instances in which one officer had sex with two inmates at a time.

He said it was unclear whether the officers knew of each others' relationships with the women. He did say not all three officers had sex with all four inmates.

The Yuma County Public Defender's Office said it had not yet been assigned to defend any of the men. The Yuma County Attorney's Office did not immediately return calls for comment Wednesday.

Bratcher said the relationships between the officers and inmates lasted from weeks to at least several months and that it appeared the relationships were consensual.

"We have nothing to indicate at this time it was anything but consensual," he said. "We don't, at this point, consider (the women) victims."

However, Bratcher said the women could face charges themselves. "You can't have sex with an officer," he said, adding that the inmates could have been manipulating the officers.

Dan Pochoda, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, said the fact that the sheriff's office would consider charging the inmates is troubling.

"It's obviously criminalizing the victim, further victimizing the powerless in this equation," Pochoda said. "It's impossible to imagine any situation that would justify the criminal prosecution of women in these case.

"It could not be consensual sex," he added. "Given the dynamic between guards and prisoners, it is not an informed consensual decision."

Pochoda said the women could very well have a good case against the guards, the sheriff's office and the county.

Bratcher said if investigators had found the detention officers were using their power to force the women to have sex with them, they would have faced more serious charges, such as sexual assault.

Yuma County Sheriff Ralph Ogden said the alleged actions of officers are not representative of his department.

"The accused, if determined guilty of the charges, have violated not only the law and an oath they took on becoming detention officers, but have abused the authority entrusted to them to provide care and security for the inmates in their custody," Ogden said in a statement. "This has not and will not be tolerated."

The sheriff's office learned of the sexual relationships Tuesday after one of the inmates mentioned it casually in conversation with a male guard, Bratcher said.

The inmates - varying in ages from 21 to 40 - were in the jail on various charges, mostly drug-related, and had been behind bars anywhere from a few weeks to eight months. Their names were not immediately released.

Bratcher said investigators were looking into whether the women traded sexual favors for drugs or other privileges.

Investigators also were reviewing jail cameras to see if any sexual encounters were caught on tape.

Bratcher said the officers all worked at the jail between one and three years. He did not know whether they were married or in relationships.

He said Smith faces seven counts of unlawful sexual conduct, Espinoza faces six counts and Herrera faces two counts.

Both a criminal investigation and an investigation into how the sexual relationships could have occurred at the jail were ongoing. The jail command staff member in charge of the security and well-being of the inmates was suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.

CALIFORNIA

JURY CONVICTS PRISON GUARD

14-year veteran officer guilty of drug possession

Patrick S. Pemberton
http://www.thetribunenews.com/
Dec 22, 1999

A jury convicted a prison guard of felony drug possession charges Tuesday, but acquitted him on a loftier charge of conspiracy to deal drugs to an inmate.

The District Attorney’s Office had alleged that Wilfred Eric Rivera, a 14-year veteran at the California Men’s Colony, was dealing drugs to Son Kim Nguyen, a 31-year-old inmate serving time for burglary.

Jurors agreed that Rivera, 41, attempted to bring drugs into the prison, but they were not convinced that he was dealing them.

A conspiracy conviction could have added six years in prison to Rivera’s sentence. While the jury tossed out the conspiracy charge, Deputy District Attorney Lee Cunningham said the convictions he won might still result in incarceration.

“I just think that kind of conduct calls for a prison sentence,” Cunningham said, adding that he will suggest a two- or three-year term.

Rivera, who has been terminated from his CMC job, was convicted of drug possession and attempting to bring drugs into the prison. He will be sentenced Jan. 26.

Rivera’s attorney, Ilan Funke-Bilu, said he was pleased that the jury acquitted Rivera of the more serious offense.

“I think we’re very happy with the results,” Funke-Bilu said.

Initially, Nguyen was a co-defendant on trial for conspiracy. But, on the seventh day of the trial, he agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy. Three other charges against Nguyen were dropped, and he agreed to testify against Rivera.

Funke-Bilu said Nguyen and other prosecution witnesses were not credible.

“All of the evidence that was the basis for the conspiracy was derived from career felons,” he said.

“The defense just asked the jury to look at these people. They were just slimy, unreliable, almost proud to be career criminals.”

During his opening statement, Cunningham said inmates surfaced with the allegations of misconduct in February.

“They reported crimes in their neighborhood,” Cunningham told jurors.

The allegations claimed that Rivera was providing marijuana and cocaine to Nguyen.

After the accusations came about, security officers secretly videotaped a storage-room transaction between Rivera and Nguyen on Feb. 22.

“The inmate information was corroborated by video,” Cunningham told jurors during the trial.

The next day, prison security confronted Rivera as he arrived for work and found cocaine in his possession.

“He had cocaine in his wallet, but that doesn’t mean he’s a drug dealer,” Funke-Bilu said.

While the video did prove a money transaction occurred between Rivera and Nguyen, Funke-Bilu said, the deal was not related to drugs. Nguyen gave Rivera money, Funke-Bilu said, for allowing him to get a tattoo — which he displayed during the video. While that transaction would be illegal, it is not as serious a crime as drug dealing.

Funke-Bilu said the drug-dealing charges surfaced when other inmates sought revenge against Nguyen, whom they wanted to oust as the head of the prison’s Vietnamese clique.

Nguyen had also been in scuffles with fellow inmates that might have motivated the charges, Funke-Bilu said.

Once called to the stand, Nguyen implicated Rivera, saying the guard had supplied him with marijuana and cocaine on multiple occasions.

Funke-Bilu thinks Nguyen lied on the stand because he had been offered a deal by the District Attorney’s Office.

Cunningham, however, said Nguyen did not want to defend Rivera.

“He testified that he was just tired of trying to protect Rivera, and he just wanted to get it over with,” Cunningham said.

During the trial, the District Attorney’s Office had filed an intimidation charge against Nguyen for allegedly threatening potential witnesses. That charge — along with two other drug charges — was later dropped. Also, the conspiracy count, which had earlier been charged as a strike offense, was reduced.

Nguyen, who was nearing a release date, will serve a four-year term for conspiracy, and he will lose some credit for time served.

Funke-Bilu said Nguyen’s testimony was not convincing.

“Obviously, the jury didn’t believe him,” Funke-Bilu said.

FORMER JAIL GUARD ADMITS TO HAVING SEX WITH INMATE

A former guard at a federal jail pleaded guilty Tuesday to a misdemeanor charge of having sex with an inmate.

Harold Washington admitted in federal court to having sex with a female inmate at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown San Diego on Jan. 28, 1999. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 3. The maximum sentence is one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.

Also Tuesday, another former guard at the jail, Mark Hagan, was arraigned on a misdemeanor charge that he had sex with an inmate in August 1998. Washington and Hagan worked for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and were assigned to the Metropolitan Correctional Center.

The charges followed an investigation by Department of Justice into allegations by inmates of misconduct by MCC officers, said U.S. Attorney Gregory A. Vega

COLORADO

7 guards indicted in inmate-abuse case

By Mike McPhee
Denver Post Staff Writer

Nov. 3, 2000 - Seven guards at a federal prison in Florence were indicted Thursday by a Denver grand jury for alleged abuses ranging from smashing inmates' heads into walls to mixing human waste in prisoners' food.

Five of the men, Mike LaVallee, Rod Schultz, Ken Shatto, David Pruyne and Brent Gall, belonged to "The Cowboys," a renegade group who roamed the maximum-security penitentiary in 1995 and 1996 administering punishment, according to the indictment. Also indicted were guards Robert Verbickas and James Bond.

The indictment says abuses included dropping handcuffed inmates on their faces, kneeing them in their kidneys, squeezing their testicles and falsifying reports to cover up the guards' actions.

Pruyne no longer works for the federal Bureau of Prisons. Verbickas transferred to another facility within the bureau. The five others still work at the prison.

"The message here is that it doesn't matter who you are or what you do: If you violate someone's civil rights, you will be pursued and prosecuted," said U.S. Attorney Tom Strickland.

The indictment lists 52 incidents against at least seven inmates. The guards and their attorneys could not be reached for comment.

The men are charged with a total of nine counts of depriving inmates of their civil rights while acting in an official capacity. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years and a fine of $250,000.

The U.S. attorney's office issued summonses for the men Thursday in lieu of having them arrested. They have been ordered to appear in U.S. District Court in Denver on Nov. 16 before Judge Wiley Daniel.

The Cowboys first came to light during chilling testimony by Lt. David Armstrong, one of the Cowboys, before Daniel in July 1999. Armstrong named five of the indicted Cowboys and three others, including a lieutenant and captain. He testified at length about how the Cowboys beat the inmates for minor infractions as small as kicking a door.

Charlotte Gutierrez, the only female Cowboy, and guard Jake Geiger accepted offers earlier this year to plead guilty to misdemeanor charges in exchange for testifying against the guards who eventually were indicted. Both are to be sentenced later this year. They and Armstrong no longer are working for the Bureau of Prisons and have left the state.

Christie Achenbach, spokeswoman for the Florence prison, said it was the first instance in her 14 years with the Bureau of Prisons that an organized group of guards was indicted. Warden R.E. Holt was out of the state and unavailable for comment.

In Washington, Bureau of Prisons officials declined to comment, saying they didn't have enough time Thursday to compile a statement.

According to the indictment, it was LaVallee who got "the green light" from management "to take care of business" in the spring of 1995. LaVallee and Pruyne are accused of throwing a flaming piece of paper into a cell in order to justify spraying two inmates inside with a fire extinguisher.

LaVallee and Schultz are accused of concealing feces and urine in the inmates' food. Schultz allegedly cut himself with a shank in order to justify beating inmate William Turner, whose federal lawsuit launched the investigation.

The indictment alleges that Schultz taught guards how to hit an inmate without leaving marks and held inmate Jamar Phenis while Gutierrez allegedly squeezed Phenis' testicles. Pruyne is accused of choking an unidentified inmate until his eyes began to bulge.

Verbickas allegedly threatened other guards if they reported any of the abuses to management. He also is accused of telling a guard the Cowboys might be slow to help him if an inmate attacked him.

Other victimized inmates were identified as Christopher Harris, Howard Lane, Felton Wiggins, Kevin Gilbeaux, Keith Overstreet and Ellis Lard.

Copyright 2000 The Denver Post. All rights reserved.

DELAWARE

PRISON GUARDS CHARGED IN ASSAULT ON INMATE

Two accused of breaking prisoner's jaw, covering up incident

THE NEWS JOURNAL

By ESTEBAN PARRA and LEE WILLIAMS

May 25, 2007

Two correction officers were charged Thursday with breaking a prisoner's jaw earlier this year after an argument.

The fracture, caused by several punches to his face, was so severe the jaw needed to be wired shut. The correction officers, Daniel Sosa, 28, of Newark, and Stephan J. Bruckner, 52, of Hockessin, tried to cover up the incident, a two-month state police investigation found.

A state Department of Correction spokesman said Thursday that Bruckner remains an employee of the penal system while an internal affairs investigation is conducted. An investigation of Sosa has been completed, and he will no longer be employed by the department as of Monday.

The state's prisons have been under scrutiny after a series of News Journal articles and a subsequent U.S. Justice Department investigation that found poor medical and mental health care violated inmates' constitutional rights.

The prison system signed a compliance agreement with the Justice Department last year promising to improve medical and mental health care in prisons.

Former state Superior Court Judge Joshua W. Martin III, now in private practice in Wilmington, serves as independent monitor under the agreement.

On Thursday, state police said Sosa and Bruckner argued with the inmate, housed at Young Correctional Institution in Wilmington, on Feb. 21. During the altercation, police said, Sosa punched the inmate in the face several times, breaking his jaw.

Investigators determined the inmate posed no physical threat to either of the correction officers, state police spokesman Sgt. Joshua A. Bushweller said.

After the attack, police said, the two correction officers attempted to intimidate the inmate, telling him not to report it to prison officials. The two then filed incident reports that did not accurately depict what happened, Bushweller said.

A preliminary review by correction officials indicated the documents may have been falsified and state police were asked to conduct an independent investigation.

Bruckner was subsequently charged with hindering prosecution, falsely reporting an incident to a law enforcement agency and official misconduct with unauthorized exercise of official function. All are misdemeanors.

Sosa faces the same charges as well as second-degree assault, a felony punishable by up to eight years in prison.

Bruckner was arraigned and released on $3,000 unsecured bail, and Sosa on $6,000 unsecured bail.

Last year, another inmate reported that he had been abused by state prison guards.

David L. Kalm, a 56-year-old disabled merchant marine sailor, said he was nearly beaten to death at Sussex Correctional Institution near Georgetown last October.

Kalm, who was serving a 60-day sentence for DUI, said two guards wearing black gloves took turns pounding his head into a cinder block wall until he passed out.

In written reports, the guards said Kalm's injuries were self-inflicted, and Kalm acknowledges an earlier physical confrontation with guards after he refused to be moved to a cellblock where he feared other inmates would harm him. But Christiana Hospital medical staff who examined Kalm concluded that the injuries were suffered during an "assault."

Kalm's medical records show he suffered injuries including a concussion, a moderate coma, a broken nose, a bleeding eyeball, two broken ribs, a punctured lung and extensive bruising. He also suffered injuries to his throat that medical professionals said were caused by repeated blows to his neck or by an object such as a nightstick being shoved down his throat.

Kalm spent seven days recovering in hospitals.

In January, the FBI began collecting preliminary information on the incident. Department of Correction spokesman John Painter said an internal investigation into Kalm's allegations is ongoing.

Kalm, who is legally disabled, has a heart condition, high blood pressure, stomach problems and arthritis in his spine that aggravates his sciatic nerve, causing intense, shooting pain down his leg, according to his medical records. His lungs were damaged while serving in the Merchant Marine, so he uses a "breathing machine" daily to treat a condition similar to asthma.

Contact Esteban Parra at 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com
Contact investigative reporter Lee Williams at 324-2362

FLORIDA

FRANK VALDES MURDERED BY GUARDS

GUARD URGED TO COOPERATE

PHIL LONG AND STEVE BOUSQUET plong@herald.com


STARKE -- Sgt. Montrez Lucas, once a rising young star in Florida's prison system, went from jailer to jailed Wednesday in what authorities hope will be a break in the investigation of the death of inmate Frank Valdes.

The 30-year-old corrections officer posted a $50,000 bond and was released after he was charged with three felonies in connection with an altercation with Valdes on July 16, a day before the inmate died in a clash with guards who forcibly removed him from a Florida State Prison cell.

An hour after a bond hearing, Lucas and his court-appointed lawyer met with Alachua State Attorney Rod Smith, who urged Lucas to tell what he knows to a grand jury investigating Valdes' death.

''There have been discussions between the public defender and our office,'' said Smith's spokesman, Spencer Mann. ''But about exactly what they are we can't say.''

Lucas' cooperation would puncture the wall of silence erected by nine prison guards under investigation in Valdes' July 17 death.

Lucas is not charged in Valdes' death. He is accused of assaulting Valdes the day before, then coercing a subordinate prison guard into not filing a report on the incident. He faces three charges, each a felony, with the assault charge punishable by up to 15 years in prison.


'DELICATE STAGE'

Despite the pending charges, Lucas remains on the state payroll. He's suspended with pay, said prison spokesman C.J. Drake, who added that any disciplinary action could disrupt the investigation into Valdes' death.

''Obviously, things are at a delicate stage in the investigation,'' Drake said. ''We can't do anything that might jeopardize that. All of the parties participating in the investigation will be consulted before we take any action affecting his employment status.''

Lucas arrived at the Bradford County Courthouse accompanied by two men who police said were his father and brother. None would speak with reporters.

''You are under arrest,'' Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent Joe Nickmeyer told a tight-lipped Lucas, who was ordered to put his hands on the jailhouse wall.

Within 90 minutes, Lucas stood before a TV camera for an electronic initial appearance hearing, with the judge in the courthouse a half-block away.

''Do you understand those charges, sir?'' County Judge Johnny Hobb asked Lucas.

''Yes, sir,'' Lucas said sharply.

The guard, with nine years' experience, told the judge he pays child support for his three sons and that his take-home pay after the payments is about $420 every two weeks. Lucas was assigned an assistant public defender, Johnny Kearns.

''Obviously, he is concerned,'' Kearns said. ''This is a long process and things are not going to be resolved in a couple of minutes.''


RACIAL EPITHETS

On July 16 and 17, Lucas was housing supervisor on X-Wing, a cluster of tiny disciplinary cells for the maximum-security prison's worst troublemakers. Lucas was not a member of Florida State Prison's extraction team that forcibly removed Valdes from his cell with a flurry of fists, chemical grenades and electrified shields.

Two sources close to the case say the July 16 incident was triggered in part by repeated racial epithets Valdes hurled at Lucas, who is black.

Lucas filed an incident report accusing Valdes of calling him a ''n-----'' and saying Valdes threatened to kill him. The next day, guards demanded to search Valdes' X-Wing cell. The combative Valdes resisted, leading to a violent confrontation with guards.

Law enforcement agents, relying heavily on an autopsy report, believe Valdes was beaten to death.

''We are going to continue our investigation and we are not going to stop until we get to the truth in this matter,'' said Ken Tucker, Northeast Florida director for the FDLE.

Lucas' arrest likely will have no effect on today's planned meeting in Gainesville among prosecutor Smith, a judge and the other suspended guards. Kearns said the session is being held to force the other guards to hire separate lawyers. All are represented by the Police Benevolent Association, the corrections officers' labor union.

CLICK THE BUTTONS ON THE LEFT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE LIFE AND DEATH OF FRANK VALDES AND READ THE REST OF THE STORY OF THE GUARDS WHO MURDERED HIM.

THANKS TO KAY LEE
"MAKING THE WALLS TRANSPARENT"
OTHER CASES OF CRIMINAL FL DOC STAFF

CAPTAIN JERRY L. GAUSE - DRIVE-BY WITH PEPPERSPRAY

OFFICER MIKE - DO MY 8 AND HIT THE GATE

ANONYMOUS - THE MAN ON DUTY vs THE MAN BEHIND THE DOOR

GUARD ROBERT FOSTER SUCKER PUNCHES THE MAYTAG MAN

RETIRING, SGT. MCKENZIE

ANONYMOUS TAYLOR, CI GUARD

SEXUAL HARASSMENT IS ALSO A CRIME

UNIFORMED THUGS LIST

ABUSIVE GUARDS IN SOCIETY

MASSACHUSETTS

7 OFFICERS INDICTED IN JAIL BEATING CASE

This story ran on page A01 of the Boston Globe on 5/17/2001.

In the most serious blow yet to the besieged Suffolk County Sheriff's Department, a federal grand jury indictment unsealed yesterday charged seven officers of the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department with beating detainees in their custody at the Nashua Street Jail, conspiring to cover up the beatings, and lying to investigators and to the grand jury.

Among the officers are two lieutenants and three deputy sheriffs,who are deputized and granted special powers authority to carry weapons by the sheriff, Richard J. Rouse.

The indictments follow 29 firings after allegations of excessive force and sexual misconduct at the two facilities Rouse oversees, the House of Correction at South Bay and the Nashua Street Jail.

"An individual's rights do not stop at the jail cell door," US Attorney Donald K. Stern said in a statement. ''Our system of justice requires that everyone, even those charged with crimes, receive the same protections under the law.''

Yesterday's charges, including criminal civil rights violations, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury related to the beatings of six men held while awaiting trial, led to the suspensions yesterday of five of the seven indicted officers who still work at Nashua Street Jail.

Lieutenant Randall R. Sutherland, cq 43, of Randoloph, Randolph, Deputy Sheriff Anthony Nuzzo, cq 30, of East Boston, Jail Officer Brian Bailey, 29, of South Boston, Deputy Sheriff Thomas M. Bethune Jr., 49, of West Peabody; and Deputy Sheriff Melvin J. Massucco III, 37, of Revere, were all suspended without pay, according to Rick Lombardi, spokesman for the department.

The two other guards named in the indictment, Lieutenant Eric J. Donnelly, 34, of Brighton, and Jail Officer William R. Benson, 49, of Kingston, were fired last year after a department investigation.

The two officers' alleged beating in 1999 of an 18-year-old detainee who suffered from a rare disease formed the foundation from Tourette's Syndrome, a neurological disease, formed the foundation for yesterday's charges. , which expanded after the two were first indicted last year.

Donnelly and Benson have already pleaded not guilty to charges in the case. Nuzzo, Bailey, Bethune, and Massucco are expected to do the same when they are arraigned next week, said their attorney, Stephen Pfaff.

Tourette's causes patients to make involuntary movements and verbal outbursts. Donnelly and Benson are accused of entering the detainee's cell, accusing him of faking the symptoms, and telling him they would ''beat the Tourette's out of him,'' according to then indictment.

Donnelly and Benson, first indicted last year, have already pleaded not guilty to charges in the case. Now the charges have been expanded, and include allegations that the indicted officers acted to cover up the beating of that detainee and others.

Nuzzo, Bailey, Bethune, and Massucco are expected to plead not guilty when they are arraigned next week, said their attorney, Stephen Pfaff.

''They unequivocally deny the charges against them, and they look forward to being vindicated,'' Pfaff said.

A separate attorney for Sutherland could not immediately be reached for comment yesterday. But Sutherland's wife and other relatives packed a federal courtroom in support as he and four others were read the charges and maximum penalties they face up to 10 years each for most of the charges.

''My husband is not a monster,'' said Arla Sutherland, who also works for the department.

The investigation into alleged beatings continues, Stern's office said yesterday.

With charges involving not just sors who allegedly allowed vicious beatings and sometimes took leading roles in them, the indictments challenge a premise Sheriff Richard J. Rouse has maintained in the last two years: that the problems plaguing his department are merely the isolated misdeeds of a few bad apples.

With 14 firings for egregious misconduct in two years, more suspensions and demotions, and fresh allegations of sexual misconduct and excessive force as recently as February, Rouse yesterday said he still believed the blame falls on individual guards, not the institution or his leadership.

''I've been working to root out any inappropriate behavior in the department, and we've made great progress,'' he said.

Asked about the three deputy sheriffs included in the indictment, Rouse laid the responsibility for their promotions at the feet of his subordinates.

''I don't vouch for them personally,'' he said. ''Their superiors are the ones who submit their names for deputy sheriff.''

Lombardi, Rouse's spokesman, later said deputy sheriffs are granted powers by virtue of their specific jobs, including transporting prisoners.

Peter Costanza, an attorney with Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, said yesterday's indictments should surprise no one familiar with Rouse's department.

''We have been aware that there has been a serious problem at South Bay and Nashua Street for a considerable period of time,'' said Costanza. ''... Unless the facility is properly administered there is always the possibility of this situation.''

NEW YORK

POLICE PREDATORS

January 25, 2001
IN AMERICA
By BOB HERBERT

There were many clues that the Police Department in upstate Wallkill, N.Y., had a problem. One was the widely reported discovery of the police chief, James Coscette, having sex with a woman in the back seat of a police vehicle.

That was deftly characterized in an official report as "the chief's dalliance."

And then there was the harassment, intimidation and outright coercion of women by Wallkill cops, both on and off duty. Predatory behavior was the rule.

Last spring a 23-year-old woman driving alone was stopped and arrested for drunken driving. "In fact," according to court papers filed by State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, "she was not intoxicated." A videotape of the stop showed that the woman had "passed the field sobriety test."

Nevertheless, she was taken into custody. The following week the arresting officer approached the woman and suggested he could get the charges dropped if she would go out with him. The woman declined. A judge later dismissed the charges.

In another case, a cop who had arrested a woman on a petty larceny charge ordered her into a holding cell and told her to take her pants down so he could search for contraband. The woman, frightened, complied. Later the officer told the woman that he would try to have the charges reduced if she would meet with him privately.

The Wallkill cops even had a special vehicle, known as the "stealth car," that was used for following women drivers. The front of the car had no markings to indicate that it was a police vehicle. Late one night a cop in the stealth car followed an 18- year-old woman as she was driving home from her job at a movie theater. On a particularly dark, almost deserted road, the officer began flashing his headlights.

"Not seeing any police marks on the car, she became afraid for her safety and continued driving," the court papers said. The woman pulled into the driveway of her parents' home and began blowing the horn. By the time her mother came out of the house, the driver was crying. When the mother attempted to comfort her daughter, the cop pulled his gun, cursed, and told her to stay back.

The teenage driver was arrested and taken to jail, where she was held for a couple of hours and then released on $500 bail.

Wallkill is an Orange County town of about 25,000, and for the past few years its residents have had to put up with a variety of torments from the 25-member police force. Teenage girls employed at a local food store took to hiding in a back room because of the repeated pawing and suggestive comments of an on-duty, uniformed police officer. When the town's voluntary civilian Police Commission conducted an investigation of the department (prompted by complaints about its crime-fighting ineptitude), the members of the commission found themselves and their families being harassed by the police.

The commission's investigation showed what was already widely known the Wallkill cops were out of control. "There is no sense of responsible leadership in the Police Department," the commission said in a report released last summer.

Eventually the Police Commission recommended that the Police Department be dismantled. The Town Board, protective of the police, disagreed. It abolished the commission.

Attorney General Spitzer, responding to the continued insanity, filed a federal lawsuit against the town of Wallkill last week, charging that it had failed to rein in its lawless Police Department. The suit asks the court to impose a series of reforms on the police and to appoint a federal monitor to oversee the department.

"This was a breakdown at many different levels," Mr. Spitzer said. "We want the proper governing structure to be put back in place."

Mr. Spitzer's suit is a civil action. I asked the Orange County district attorney, Francis D. Phillips, whether criminal charges would be pursued for false arrest and sexual misconduct, among other things.

Mr. Phillips sounded reluctant to follow that route. He said he wouldn't know "for sure" until he meets next week with Mr. Spitzer's office.

We'll see if yet another public official, sworn to uphold the law, chooses to avert his eyes to outrageous police behavior.

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