Check out the Auburn Citizen for Thursday, July 7, 2005. The FBI has been investigating there for several months and the word is that a number of CO's have already been suspended as the investigation continues. Our attorney was one of those who have repeatedly filed complaints with the Justice Dept and I guess they finally took the allegations seriously. As usual, DOC's acts likes it's no big deal.

I posted an article that was in today's paper under the News Forum. Interesting....I just think that there is more to this story.

Probe involves former inmates


By Louise Hoffman Broach / The Citizen
Wednesday, July 13, 2005 9:49 AM EDT



AUBURN - The Federal Bureau of Investigation's civil rights inquiry at Auburn Correctional Facility involves two inmates, in seemingly unrelated matters.

Rochester attorney Gary Muldoon said Tuesday his client Dino Carocelli has been questioned by FBI officials within the past two months. Carocelli, now serving time in Shawangunk Correctional Facility in Ulster County, was convicted of a 2002 assault against two corrections officers in ACF. Carocelli's wife, Anna Horan, of Florida, filed a complaint with the FBI in Washington, D.C. in relation to the assault, in which Carocelli and the officers were injured. Horan has accused the corrections officers of using excessive force.

Carocelli was in ACF at the time of the assault, serving 35 years to life for a 1992 bank robbery in Brooklyn.

The second part of the FBI inquiry involves Virgil Owens, a state prisoner who was accused of killing a fellow ACF inmate in 2003. In June, the indictment charging Owens with killing Shane Hotmer was dismissed because Owens did not have an opportunity to testify at grand jury proceedings, although he had requested to do so.

"It's my understanding the FBI wants to chat with him," said Auburn attorney Michael Bass, who represents Owens. Bass would not disclose why the FBI was interested in Owens, but he did say it was not related to the Carocelli matter. So far, agents have not met with his client, Bass said.

Bass said that Owens' case will be re-presented to a grand jury in August. Steuben County District Attorney John Tunney is the special prosecutor in the matter. Tunney is also the special prosecutor in the FBI inquiry, being conducted in conjunction with the state police.


Owens is serving a 100-years-to-life sentence for second-degree murder, first-degree robbery, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and second-degree assault. He will be eligible for parole in 2095. He has been moved to the Great Meadow Correctional Facility in Washington County.

The FBI confirmed last week it is conducting a civil rights inquiry at ACF. A spokesman for the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association said corrections officers have been questioned in connection with the investigation, although no charges have been brought.

Law enforcement officials have acknowledged Carocelli and Owens are the focus, but would make no further comment regarding the investigation.

Horan, reached at her home in Florida Tuesday, said she complained to the FBI because of Carocelli's injuries, which she said were more serious than those of the corrections officers.



"They are paid with our money, our tax money, and they do this," she said. "This is wrong. They can't do this."

She said her husband accused the officers of setting him up with "dirty" urine and starting the fight. Carocelli was treated for a broken leg, a broken hand, broken fingers and facial injuries.

During the trial, Carocelli's then-attorney, Doug Bates, said the incident unfolded when his client had been confined to his cell as a result of a urine test. Carocelli suspected an officer of setting him up with "dirty urine" and had told other inmates. Bates said the officer then slammed his client's head repeatedly against the wall and Carocelli fought back.

One of the corrections officers suffered a bite to his face that required stitches and the other officer received broken fingers. When Carocelli was sentenced in February 2004, Cayuga County Court Judge Mark Fandrich discounted Carocelli's contention he was a victim and not the assault's instigator.

Sgt. Anthony Volpe, the officer who suffered the facial injury, said at sentencing that without help from his fellow officers, he believed Carocelli would have killed him.

Horan wrote the letter to the FBI after the sentencing, she said. She received a reply back a few months later that indicated there would be an investigation, but then heard nothing.

Her husband told her late this spring that FBI agents had recently visited him and asked questions about the incident. She said her husband also notified Muldoon about the meeting.

Muldoon said he is handling Carocelli's appeal of his assault conviction to the state Appellate Division. While he is aware of the civil rights complaint, Muldoon said he does not represent Carocelli in the matter. Carocelli, 48, was sentenced to an additional 30 years to life for the assault conviction. He will be eligible for parole in 2057.

Staff writer Louise Hoffman Broach can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or louise.hoffman@lee.net

It's about time the Feds finally step up and start correcting all the wrong that these over zealous CO's have been doing! I hope that all goes well and swift justice is brought to those who do the wrong! Chalk one up for our side!:D