David
05-06-2003, 10:45 PM
2003-05-05
By Bob Doucette
The Oklahoman
State corrections officials are investigating the possibility that people living outside prison walls were trying to smuggle weapons and wire cutters into at least two Oklahoma prisons.
The escape plots were foiled Thursday, but a second unrelated escape attempt during the weekend has prison officials worried that inmates are taking advantage of staffing shortages.
“I think you have to look at that,” said Bobby Boone, deputy director of the Corrections Department’s eastern region. “There’s fewer people showing up for work and more people thinking about an escape.
“The fact we’re short-handed might have something to do with that.”
Few details about Thursday’s plot were available Monday, but officials confirmed that two groups of inmates at the Joseph Harp Correctional Center near Lexington and the Mack Alford Correctional Center at Stringtown had been plotting to escape the medium-security prisons.
“I’m not surprised. It’s getting warmer, and you have a number of bad actors and they’ll test the system,” said state Sen. Cal Hobson, D-Lexington. “These are some of the realities you confront when you have a $700 million budget shortfall.”
Joseph Harp is in Hobson’s district.
The schemes at the two prisons had similarities. In both cases, the plotters were suspected members of prison gangs.
“We did have some gang members” involved in the escape plan at Joseph Harp, prison spokeswoman Debbie Dorris said. “We think it’s gang-affiliated, but we’re still checking into it.”
Dorris did not say what gang or how many inmates were involved. She said the plot at Joseph Harp is still being investigated, but didn’t divulge any more details.
Boone reported similar findings at Mack Alford. He said 10 inmates were involved in the plot. All 10 were members of the Aryan Brotherhood, a prison gang made up of white inmates, he said.
“They’re all so-called members of the Aryan Brotherhood,” Boone said. “Whether they (the gang) had anything to do with it, I don’t know, but it’s pretty astonishing that they were from the same group.”
The plot included getting weapons and wire cutters smuggled into the prison from the outside. Boone didn’t say what weapons were supposed to be brought in.
Dorris said corrections officials are trying to see if the two plots might have been a coordinated effort.
Both plots were quashed before an escape was attempted. Investigators want to see if someone was helping the inmates from the outside. Inmates suspected of being involved in the plot were locked down in their cells.
Boone credited correctional officers with exposing the plot at Mack Alford. Dorris said an informant inside Joseph Harp helped officers foil the plan.
There were also rumors a similar scheme was hatched at the Davis Correctional Facility, a private medium-security prison in Holdenville, Boone said.
Officials at the Corrections Corporation of America, which runs Davis, said they were unaware of any attempted escapes there.
“We’re kind of at a loss where that information came from,” company spokesman Steve Owen said.
Two days after the escape plots were foiled, two more inmates tried to flee from the medium-security Dick Conner Correctional Center at Hominy.
Larry Henthorn, 40, and Jerry E. Blevins, 24, wrenched a stool loose from the floor of their cell and tried to use it to break out a window. They had a rope made from bedsheets with a homemade hook attached.
Officers at the prison stopped them before they could escape, Boone said.
Henthorn is serving a 25-year sentence for robbery with a firearm while Blevins is serving 21 years for second-degree murder and second-degree assault.
Boone said both men were also members of the Aryan Brotherhood.
The escape plans come at a time when the state’s prison population is at near-record levels. At the same time, nearly 20 percent of the Corrections Department’s positions are unfilled, leaving fewer officers to watch more inmates.
Budget cuts at all state agencies the past two years have forced the department to leave many vacancies open and to furlough employees. Corrections employees took one day of unpaid leave in April, and will take another in May and three more in June.
The furloughs - as well as the overall staffing situation - are a concern to state lawmakers, said Rep. Jari Askins, D-Duncan.
“I think every legislator is concerned about the ratio between officers and inmates,” Askins said. “It’s not worth it (furloughing employees) if it puts the safety of the workers at high risk.”
Askins chairs the House appropriations subcommittee on corrections.
Publicity over the furloughs and staffing shortages has probably filtered into the prisons, making inmates more bold, Askins said.
“It’s certainly been no secret that the department has tried to make the public aware of its budget situation. It the public is aware, certainly so are the inmates.”
By Bob Doucette
The Oklahoman
State corrections officials are investigating the possibility that people living outside prison walls were trying to smuggle weapons and wire cutters into at least two Oklahoma prisons.
The escape plots were foiled Thursday, but a second unrelated escape attempt during the weekend has prison officials worried that inmates are taking advantage of staffing shortages.
“I think you have to look at that,” said Bobby Boone, deputy director of the Corrections Department’s eastern region. “There’s fewer people showing up for work and more people thinking about an escape.
“The fact we’re short-handed might have something to do with that.”
Few details about Thursday’s plot were available Monday, but officials confirmed that two groups of inmates at the Joseph Harp Correctional Center near Lexington and the Mack Alford Correctional Center at Stringtown had been plotting to escape the medium-security prisons.
“I’m not surprised. It’s getting warmer, and you have a number of bad actors and they’ll test the system,” said state Sen. Cal Hobson, D-Lexington. “These are some of the realities you confront when you have a $700 million budget shortfall.”
Joseph Harp is in Hobson’s district.
The schemes at the two prisons had similarities. In both cases, the plotters were suspected members of prison gangs.
“We did have some gang members” involved in the escape plan at Joseph Harp, prison spokeswoman Debbie Dorris said. “We think it’s gang-affiliated, but we’re still checking into it.”
Dorris did not say what gang or how many inmates were involved. She said the plot at Joseph Harp is still being investigated, but didn’t divulge any more details.
Boone reported similar findings at Mack Alford. He said 10 inmates were involved in the plot. All 10 were members of the Aryan Brotherhood, a prison gang made up of white inmates, he said.
“They’re all so-called members of the Aryan Brotherhood,” Boone said. “Whether they (the gang) had anything to do with it, I don’t know, but it’s pretty astonishing that they were from the same group.”
The plot included getting weapons and wire cutters smuggled into the prison from the outside. Boone didn’t say what weapons were supposed to be brought in.
Dorris said corrections officials are trying to see if the two plots might have been a coordinated effort.
Both plots were quashed before an escape was attempted. Investigators want to see if someone was helping the inmates from the outside. Inmates suspected of being involved in the plot were locked down in their cells.
Boone credited correctional officers with exposing the plot at Mack Alford. Dorris said an informant inside Joseph Harp helped officers foil the plan.
There were also rumors a similar scheme was hatched at the Davis Correctional Facility, a private medium-security prison in Holdenville, Boone said.
Officials at the Corrections Corporation of America, which runs Davis, said they were unaware of any attempted escapes there.
“We’re kind of at a loss where that information came from,” company spokesman Steve Owen said.
Two days after the escape plots were foiled, two more inmates tried to flee from the medium-security Dick Conner Correctional Center at Hominy.
Larry Henthorn, 40, and Jerry E. Blevins, 24, wrenched a stool loose from the floor of their cell and tried to use it to break out a window. They had a rope made from bedsheets with a homemade hook attached.
Officers at the prison stopped them before they could escape, Boone said.
Henthorn is serving a 25-year sentence for robbery with a firearm while Blevins is serving 21 years for second-degree murder and second-degree assault.
Boone said both men were also members of the Aryan Brotherhood.
The escape plans come at a time when the state’s prison population is at near-record levels. At the same time, nearly 20 percent of the Corrections Department’s positions are unfilled, leaving fewer officers to watch more inmates.
Budget cuts at all state agencies the past two years have forced the department to leave many vacancies open and to furlough employees. Corrections employees took one day of unpaid leave in April, and will take another in May and three more in June.
The furloughs - as well as the overall staffing situation - are a concern to state lawmakers, said Rep. Jari Askins, D-Duncan.
“I think every legislator is concerned about the ratio between officers and inmates,” Askins said. “It’s not worth it (furloughing employees) if it puts the safety of the workers at high risk.”
Askins chairs the House appropriations subcommittee on corrections.
Publicity over the furloughs and staffing shortages has probably filtered into the prisons, making inmates more bold, Askins said.
“It’s certainly been no secret that the department has tried to make the public aware of its budget situation. It the public is aware, certainly so are the inmates.”