 What he didn't say was that those broken rules included at least 17
allegations of violent crimes, including attempted murder, armed
robbery and aggravated assault of a police officer, according to
Associated Press interviews and reviews of both public and internal
Corrections Department documents.One offender who's back after he
was released under the program known as ''MGT Push'' allegedly shot
his victim in the leg. Victims of nine others who earned return
trips to the penitentiary contend they were battered.
Seven parolees are back in lockup for crimes involving guns or
other weapons.
Two who returned after arrests on domestic battery allegations
could have been picked up by the Corrections Department earlier,
following busts for less serious crimes, but were not.
The cases represent new problems for Quinn, who already is facing
intense criticism over MGT Push -- so-named because it refers to
giving prisoners ''meritorious good time'' credit.
The program, and how much Quinn knew about it before The
Associated Press revealed its existence in December, have become
major issues in the governor's race. This week the primary union for
prison guards and parole officers issued the latest call for a
legislative investigation.
MGT Push involved secretly changing a Corrections policy that
required inmates to stay a minimum of 61 days. Inmates also were
given as much as six months' time off for good conduct as soon as
they arrived, before they had a chance to display any conduct, good
or bad.
That made inmates -- some of them violent -- eligible for release
in as little as three weeks, including county jail time. Quinn has
stressed that even without MGT Push, discretionary awards of
good-conduct credit would have qualified them for release in another
month or two.
When he reinstated the minimum-stay policy and announced other
reforms on Dec. 30, Quinn said eight MGT Push parolees were back in
prison serving sentences for new crimes, including domestic battery,
aggravated drunken driving, theft and drug charges. A ninth was
returned for a new drug sentence the next day.
The remainder of the 56 he labeled ''technical violations'' held
over parolees' heads for not following the rules.
Spokesman Bob Reed said Quinn wasn't trying to mislead anyone
about the conduct of the inmates who had been released early. Quinn
was not told that those technical violations included allegations of
serious crimes, he said.
''The governor worked with the best information he had at the
time,'' Reed said. He stressed that the new offenses are
accusations, not convictions.
Documents and police reports show allegations of new crimes
against 21 of the 48 parolees, with 17 accusations of violence,
including:
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Anthony Finley,
21, arrested in Chicago nine days after leaving prison for
allegedly shooting a victim in the thigh. He is charged with
attempted murder and nine counts of battery and weapons charges.
Finley, who has pleaded not guilty, had been sentenced in 2008
to three years for a drug charge. He spent a little under a year
in Cook County Jail, was transferred to state prison and was
released three weeks later, on Oct. 10.
-
Eric Hicks, 24,
arrested Nov. 23 for allegedly using a gun to rob a pedestrian
in Chicago of cash and a cell phone. He faces a charge of armed
robbery and others and has pleaded not guilty. Hicks had been
sentenced in 2008 to three years for attempted robbery, served
14 months in county jail and was paroled Oct. 6 after 14 days in
state prison.
[to top of second column]
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-
Timothy Warren,
38, arrested Oct. 10 in Chicago when a search of his home turned
up a .32-caliber handgun and two pit bulls. He is charged with
two counts of unlawful use of a weapon and has pleaded not
guilty. He had been paroled 11 days earlier after serving just
six months of a two-year sentence for a similar weapons charge,
with just under five months in county jail.
-
Alfred Wooten, 40, arrested Dec. 2 on
domestic battery allegations after police saw him knocking a
woman to the ground and striking her head. The charge was
dismissed Dec. 16 when the accuser did not appear in court, but
it could be reinstated, according to the Cook County state's
attorney's office. The arrest alone is a parole violation and
enough to keep Wooten locked up. He had been paroled Oct. 15
after serving just 54 days -- 13 in state prison -- of a
one-year sentence for retail theft.
Wooten is one of the two criminals accused of battery who could
have been returned to prison earlier. Police arrested him Nov. 17 on
suspicion of criminal trespass to a vehicle, but internal
Corrections documents indicate officials decided not to pick him up
on a parole-violation warrant.
The other is Joshua Paddock, 21, paroled Nov. 6 as part of MGT
Push after serving a stint for aggravated battery. He was arrested
Nov. 19 on a traffic violation but was not returned to prison. Zion
police arrested him Dec. 17, and he was charged with four counts of
domestic battery. That earned him a trip back to prison. He has not
appeared in court to answer the charges.
According to the Corrections documents, the victim contends
Paddock stripped her, kicked her, choked her and dragged her across
the pavement and back into a hotel room over the course of four
hours.
Decisions to revoke parole are made individually on each case,
said Corrections spokeswoman Januari Smith, adding that officials
may also stiffen a parolee's restrictions instead of taking him back
to the pen.
Since Quinn's Dec. 30 statement, The Associated Press has
repeatedly requested details on the 56 returnees. The state finally
produced a document Thursday, confirming the AP findings.
It shows 13 offenders went back to prison after going AWOL from
parole or failing to comply with regulations, testing positive for
drug use, or moving to another location without permission. Fourteen
spent little if any time on the street because they failed to find
or keep an approved place to live.
[Associated Press;
By JOHN O'CONNOR]
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
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