The Federal Bureau of Prisons has
upped the ante in its efforts to derail the
Parole Commission from adopting the hearing
examiner?s recommendation that Puerto Rican
political prisoner Carlos Alberto Torres be released in April of 2010.
This month, BOP officials notified
Carlos Alberto that he has been assigned a
?Security Threat Group? [STG] status of ?Domestic
Terrorist Associate?? not insignificant timing,
given his 29 years of conduct as a model
prisoner. But the timing is not at all odd, for
the BOP?s purposes of derailing his parole.
For the BOP?s efforts, timing has
been everything. First, on the eve of his January
parole hearing, the BOP leveled false
disciplinary charges. The hearing was postponed;
the charges were expunged. At the rescheduled May
parole hearing came the recommendation of release
in April of 2010. Within days, the BOP renewed
the same false disciplinary charges. The Parole
Commission then issued an order postponing for 90
days its decision whether to adopt the
recommendation for release in April of 2010.
Before the 90 day period expired, and while
awaiting the adjudication of the false
disciplinary charges, the BOP surfaced the STG status.
In addition to trying to impact the
parole decision, the BOP?s efforts are also
calculated to destabilize Carlos Alberto. As a
result of the false disciplinary charges, the BOP
held him completely incommunicado for 60 days,
cutting off all telephone calls and visits.
Though he was supposed to be able to communicate
by way of mail, officials significantly delayed
his outgoing and incoming Spanish language mail,
due to a new translation policy, applicable
solely to him. Their vigorous application of the
new policy penetrated even his confidential legal
mail, as officials confiscated privileged legal
materials in the Spanish language. Thus, added to
the uncertainty as to his future is the
insecurity as to his ability to communicate, even with his attorney.
Protest letters to the warden and
the director of the BOP are available at:
http://boricuahumanrights.org/2009/08/01/puerto-rican-political-prisoner-carlos-alberto-torres-parole-bid-foiled-by-bureau-of-prisons/.
Jan Susler
October 23, 2009
****************************************
Chronology of Federal Bureau of Prisons Intervention in
Puerto Rican Political Prisoner
Carlos Alberto Torres? Bid for Parole
Carlos Alberto Torres has served 29 years in
prison for his commitment to the independence of
his country, Puerto Rico, serving a 70 year
sentence. His release date is currently set for
December of 2024. His conduct in prison has been
above reproach. In 1994, he appeared before the
U.S. Parole Commission, seeking release on
parole. The commission denied parole and set him
for another hearing in 15 years. That hearing was
scheduled for January 22, 2009. The following
events demonstrate the Federal Bureau of Prisons?
attempts to intervene in and derail his efforts to win parole:
November 2008
There is a disturbance in the prison population
at FCI Pekin. Prison officials mismanage the
incident. Officials then lock down the entire population for a month.
December 2, 2008
As a result of the disturbance, FCI Pekin
officials transfer all the prisoners from the
housing unit where Carlos had been assigned to a
two man cell, and place him in Illinois 1 unit,
cell A09, a ten man cell where the other
occupants had been living for many months.
December 2008
Carlos makes more than one request for a cell
change to a two man cell, but his requests are rebuffed.
January 14, 2009
Prison staff serve Carlos with an Incident
Report: ?On January 14, 2009 at 3:00 p.m., while
conducting a shake down of A09 in Illinois 1
unit, I found three shanks concealed in a light
fixture in the bathroom area of the cell. This
area is considered common area, and inmate Carlos
Torres #88976-024 is assigned to this cell.?
January 16, 2009
At his Unit Disciplinary Committee [UDC] hearing,
Counselor Gebur tells Carlos that another inmate
had assumed responsibility for the weapons.
Maurice Wilkins, one of the occupants of the
cell, told the UDC that the weapons were his, and
that neither Carlos nor the other cell occupants
had any responsibility for them.
Lieutenant Haynes, who investigated the Incident
Report, tells Carlos that he had no information
pointing to his guilt, and no information
indicating that Carlos had any knowledge of or
involvement with the weapons; and further, that
he had information implicating Maurice Wilkins as the guilty party.
January 22, 2009
The disciplinary hearing officer finds Carlos
guilty, stating, ?Although inmate Torres
indicated he had no knowledge of the weapons,
they were found in a common area of the cell. His
contention the owner of the weapons was to come
forward and claim them, does not diminish his
responsibility for them, as no one inmate in the
cell was given sole responsibility for possession
of the weapons. Therefore, since the weapons were
found in a common area of the cell, they are
considered to be in his possession.?
Stating that, ?Although not directly related to
the infraction, privileges were taken to deter
the inmate from this behavior in the future,?
disciplinary hearing officer imposes punishment:
60 days forfeited commissary; 60 days forfeited
visiting; 60 days forfeited use of telephone; 30
days disciplinary segregation, suspended if there
is clear conduct for 180 days; and 41 days forfeited statutory good time.
The finding of guilt is a departure from the
norm. Routinely, when one cell occupant accepts
responsibility, the other cell occupants are found not guilty.
January 31, 2009
Maurice Wilkins, one of the occupants of the
cell, makes a sworn statement accepting sole
responsibility for the concealed weapons, stating, inter alia:
* ?no one living in cell A09 other than me had
any knowledge of the shanks found. The shanks
were mine, and mine alone. I am the one who made
the shanks and hid them in the light fixture
undeknown [sic] to any other person who lived in the cell.?
* ?the shanks were mine and mine alone, and no
one other than me had knowledge of them.?
February 2009
The National Boricua Human Rights Network, the
Comit? Pro Derechos Humanos de Puerto Rico, and
other groups and individuals commence an ongoing
letter writing campaign to support Carlos? bid
for parole and denounce the Bureau of Prisons?
efforts, sending hundreds of letters to the warden and the director of the BOP.
April 30, 2009
BOP regional director, in response to Carlos?
administrative appeal of the guilty finding,
admits a ?procedural error,? and returns the
incident report to the prison ?for reconsideration.?
May, 2009
FCI Pekin staff inform Carlos the Incident Report has been expunged.
May 26, 2009
Parole hearing at FCI Pekin via videoconference
with hearing examiner for U.S. Parole Commission;
hearing examiner recommends release on April 3, 2010.
June 10, 2009
FCI Pekin Warden Smith approved the unit team?s
request to process the re-written Incident Report.
June 2009
At the second UDC hearing, Carlos restates his
innocence and provides the committee with Maurice
Wilkins? sworn statement accepting sole responsibility and absolving Carlos.
July 2009
At the second DHO hearing, Carlos restates his
innocence and provides the committee with Maurice
Wilkins? sworn statement accepting sole
responsibility and absolving Carlos.
Additionally, Maurice Wilkins testifies in person
and tells the DHO that he was solely responsible
and that Carlos had nothing to do with, and did
not know about, the weapons. Regardless, the DHO
finds Carlos guilty once again.
During the hearing, Carlos asks the DHO what
information he needs to affirm Wilkins? statement
and prove his innocence. The DHO tells him ?a UDC investigation.?
Carlos? efforts to obtain such an investigation
have been for naught, with officials telling him there is no such thing.
July 27, 2009
U.S. Parole Commission issues Notice of Action,
stating: ?Defer decision for up to 90 days to
determine the outcome of the pending disciplinary
report for Possession of a Weapon. Upon
disposition by the DHO, a copy of the misconduct
report and DHO findings should be submitted to the Commission for review.?
September 2, 2009
The bilingual prison intelligence officer--- who
has been translating Carlos? Spanish language
mail for more than a year, and who continues to
translate other prisoners? Spanish language mail?
informs Carlos that he will be subject to a new
procedure for screening his Spanish language
mail? that henceforth his mail must be sent to a
translator outside the prison, which will delay
for a month the delivery of his incoming and
outgoing mail. The officer also tells Carlos that
the order comes from higher up, and that ?they?
are watching Carlos? every move. The officer
provides Carlos with nothing in writing.
The initial response to Carlos? grievance
indicates only that ?the change in mail handling
procedures is to ensure the safety and security of the institution.?
October 9, 2009
The warden?s response to Carlos? further
grievance about his mail informs Carlos, for the
first time, that ?you are on enhanced mail
monitoring status due to your STG assignment of
Domestic Terrorist Associate. This STG assignment
requires translations to be completed by a
certified linguist. Currently, there are no staff
members at FCI Pekin that are a certified linguist for Spanish.?1
No one provided Carlos with any documentation of
such status, or with the criteria for placement on or removal from such status.
October 10, 2009
Prison staff violate Carlos? confidential
attorney-client mail, confiscating legal
materials written in the Spanish language,
telling him they must copy and translate the privileged materials.
October 25, 2009
The Parole Commission?s 90 day deferral expires.
October 23, 2009
Jan Susler
Attorney for Carlos Alberto Torres
People?s Law Office
1180 N. Milwaukee
Chicago, IL 60642
773/235-0070 x 118
<mailto:jsusler@aol.com>jsusler@aol.com
1It is believed that STG stands for Security
Threat Group, but the BOP has not provided Carlos with any definition.
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