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| Former Wackenhut inmates return from Virginia |
| By Albuquerque Journal |
| Published: 09/19/2003 |
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The New Mexico Corrections Department said it plans to return all but one of what it has labeled troublemaker inmates from Virginia's super-maximum-security Wallens Ridge State Prison. The return will end a controversial four-year stint in which problem prisoners were transferred and housed in the lockup nearly 2,000 miles away. The arrival of the 16 prisoners back in New Mexico is tentatively set for Sept. 19, state corrections spokeswoman Tia Bland said. 'These inmates are (those) that have gang ties, primarily. They're instigators. They start trouble,' Bland said. Bland said the return of the inmates is favored by Gov. Bill Richardson, who formed a series of teams earlier this year that looked at ways of cutting costs across state government. Bland said bringing the prisoners home is projected to save the state $671,000 over the next five years. Bland said New Mexico pays $64 a day to house inmates at Wallens Ridge. It costs about $12 a day more to house prisoners at the Penitentiary of New Mexico outside of Santa Fe- this state's version of a 'super max' where the troublemakers will be sent. However, when things such as transporting the prisoners from Virginia to New Mexico for court dates are eliminated, savings will be achieved. The prisoners' security classifications also could be lowered over time, requiring less expense in keeping them locked up. Former corrections secretary Rob Perry began shuffling inmates to Wallens Ridge just days after a deadly 1999 prison riot near Santa Rosa. But Perry's replacement, Joe R. Williams, said Monday the New Mexico system can handle its own problem prisoners. 'At the beginning, it served its purposes,' Williams said of the transfers. But 'we're capable of running our own system. I don't see any cause for alarm or any potential disruption because they're here.' New Mexico sent 109 suspected prison rioters to Wallens Ridge after the Aug. 31, 1999, riot at the privately run Guadalupe County Correctional Facility near Santa Rosa. Officer Ralph Garcia was killed in the uprising, and his alleged killers are now being prosecuted. Bland said suspected rioters have since been returned to New Mexico lockups, but transfers of other troublemakers to Wallens Ridge continued into 2002. The 17 who remain at Wallens Ridge were not part of the Santa Rosa riot but were 'hand-picked' to do their time in Virginia because of other problems, including attacking officers and other prisoners, she said. 'Most of them have some affiliation with a prison gang- that's a huge factor,' Bland said. 'The distance alone kind of breaks that connection.' Dozens of the transferred New Mexico prisoners have alleged they were mistreated at Wallens Ridge, and several have filed lawsuits alleging abuse. The returning 16 will be housed in the Level 6 lockup at the Penitentiary of New Mexico. That means they will spend 23 hours each day in solitary cells, getting one hour for recreation- also by themselves. |
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