New Corrections Director appointed after major inmate transfer
~~Adz:Left~~St. Thomas, USVI- FOLLOWING the September 19 ‘prison break’ on St. Croix where three inmates escaped the Golden Grove Adult Correctional Facility, a number of actions have been taken by Governor John deJongh Jr. to guide the Bureau of Corrections (BOC) through “a period of transition and of crisis”.
The first involved the September 27 transfer of 98 prisoners from the territory to three correctional institutions in Virginia.
The most recent shake up however, came last week Wednesday (Oct. 1) when deJongh Jr. announced the appointment of Bureau of Corrections Director Julius Wilson and Assistant Director Hilary Herman.
Wilson comes to the territory with over 20 years experience in the Corrections system with his most recent stint being warden of Richland Correctional Institution in Ohio. As a native son, Herman is also no stranger to the system, having served in the US Army and most recently holding the position of Corrections Director in St. Lucia.
According the VI Daily News, deJongh intends to separate the BOC from the V.I. Justice Department and make it into an independent federal agency. The transition is expected to occur over the period of one year.
DeJongh said that the BOC was in a state of crisis with overcrowding, neglect and mismanagement as well as insufficient resources and “severe personnel issues”. The recruitment of additional guards to staff the ‘undermanned’ facility will be one of the most pressing reforms undertaken by the new BOC Director.
It was suspected that Corrections Officers played a role with regard to the escape of Carlos Burgos, 33; Edwardo Carmona Jr., 19; and Derrick Fredericks, 28.
Burgos was apprehended without incident a few days after the escape but unfortunately Carmona Jr. was shot dead when police attempted to take him into custody after he had been on the lam for about one day. Fredericks remains at large with a $10,000 reward being offered for information leading to his recapture.
VI Attorney General, Vincent Frazer has said that significant improvements to the Golden Grove facility should be swiftly undertaken in order to have the inmates returned to St. Croix as the transfer will cost the VI tax payers $3.4 million per year to house the criminals on the mainland.
US Virgin Islands News