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Another inmate freed by mistake

A Brooksville man serving time on drug charges was released in May, two months early, jail officials say.

By JONATHAN ABEL
Published July 29, 2006

BROOKSVILLE - Corrections Corporation of America faces a $20,000 fine after accidentally releasing another inmate from jail, this time two months early.

The mistake happened in May but wasn't discovered until this month, when inmate Joel G. Ford was due to be released.

Ford, 22, of Brooksville was sent to jail after being found guilty of possession of marijuana, possession of paraphernalia and possession of cocaine.

For the first two counts, he received 46 days in jail. He had already been held for 46 days, so he was released May 3.

But the charge of possession of cocaine came with a longer sentence, and the jail employee overseeing the release failed to spot that charge.

That meant Ford went free when he should have remained locked up.

Hernando County Jail officials didn't realize the mistake until July 11, the day he was supposed to be released.

They notified the county's contract monitor, Barbara Fisher, who wrote a memo for next week's County Commission meeting recommending that 2.5 percent of the monthly payment to CCA, roughly $20,000, be withheld.

"Investigation of the matter," she wrote, "revealed that the inappropriate release of the inmate was due to a breakdown in procedure and due care on the part of CCA staff."

Jail warden Don Stewart said assistant shift supervisor Mary Mills, "the supervisor whose job it was to review the file," was suspended for three days because of the mistake.

Ford was not the first person to be released accidentally from the county jail, though this is the first reported error since Stewart took over as warden in February.

In January, inmate Aaron Hagen was mistakenly transferred to the Department of Corrections, despite a court order saying that he should be kept locally so that he could testify in a trial.

In December, Daniel Swetokos was released from jail accidentally and then recaptured a day later by jail guards.

And in May 2005, the jail allowed two women to be extradited to the U.S. Virgin Islands without a hearing or a warrant from the governor.

As for this latest error, Stewart said he acknowledged it and was moving forward.

"If the commission determines that they should penalize us, we agree with that decision," Stewart said.

Jonathan Abel can be reached at jabel@sptimes.com or 352 754-6114.

[Last modified July 28, 2006, 22:38:38]