The Department Of Corruptions

The Department Of Corruptions

- or –

Connoisseurs Of Crime

 

 

     First off, I want to say that the vast majority of correctional officers whom I have dealt with have been professional and decent to me. A few have even gone out of their way to show kindness; I think particularly of a guard at the County Jail who talked with me just after I was sentenced to 54 years. Although I shall never forget his name, it’s better that I not mention it here. No – the only names I will mention here will be those who went out of their way in quite the opposite direction.

     Of Course, when I was first arrested, I went to the county jail. That first night, I was placed under suicide watch. That meant I was only allowed to wear this paper “gown” they provided me. Even though it was August, the air conditioning there made it quite cold. No sheets on the bed either – just a mattress. From the C.O.’s radio next to me, I heard the big announcement that Senator Joe Lieberman was picked by Al Gore to be his running mate.

     Though I was initially placed in protective custody, after a couple of days I was moved to general population. I don’t remember particular officers harassing me at the time, though I do remember a couple of them encouraging some of the other inmates to do so. I recall one of the inmates “befriending” me – a (black) guy named Craig. T. Jones, who went by the name of “Real.” He asked me some things that I didn’t think much about at the time, but in hindsight, I realized that he wanted to “snitch” on me so he could get a reduction in his sentence. What made me think that? For one thing, pretty much out of the blue, he asks me: “Did you finger fuck him?” (I adamantly told him that I did not.) And for another thing, when it looked like I was going to get bailed out, he made a point of writing down his name and asking that I write to him (I didn’t). I have no doubt that Veronica Dumas, the person prosecuting my case at the time, had asked him to get me to admit to something. Had I done so, she would have him testify against me (and naturally she wasn’t about to have him come testify that I denied it).

     Shortly before I was bailed out, an inmate who I didn’t know from Adam came into my cell and started asking aggressive questions about my charges. Then he started punching me. But because he was a lot shorter than me, I just sort of held his head as he swung. Still, he did give me a bloody nose. I’ve never forgotten his name: Ian May. I was told that he had a lot of “tickets” (misbehavior reports). I strongly suspect he was put up to this by a guard.

     Once bailed out, I was home, wearing an ankle bracelet, for about nine months. However, upon being convicted by Judge Paul Czajka, I went back to county jail. Besides the kind guard mentioned above, the only other one I recall is this shorter, sort of “slow” guard who, nevertheless, was quick to say harassing things to me. I think I may have known his name at one time; but no longer.

     A couple of weeks after I was sentenced, I was sent to Downstate Correctional Facility, in Fishkill. That felt more than strange to me because when I was a boy, my father lived in Fishkill. I spent a lot of weekends there, and more time in the summer. In fact, I could see the construction of that very facility going on at the time (the 1970’s).

     Not long after my arrival, I was put in a small room and told to change into the “state greens” I’d just been provided. Then, a middle-aged C.O. with long, curly, greasy black hair stepped into the room and aggressively started talking about my charges (apparently, he’d been ‘tipped off’ by one of the Albany County guards who’d brought the group of us over there). An older, white-haired man had also come in with him – apparently as “backup” – but remained silent. The dark-haired one then punched me several times in the stomach (presumably, so as not to leave any marks).

     Later on, I would hear that the Sergeant in charge of this “reception” area was demoted on account of his tolerance – or even encouragement – of such behavior on part of those he was supposed to be supervising.

     I was then placed in a kind of protective custody unit. Largely for that reason, that harassment I received from then on was minimal. I do, however, recall one “correctional officer” pulling me aside and indicating that it would really be best for all concerned if I ended my life that night. Though I did not respond to him, I have often wished I’d said something along the lines of “you first.” There was also another C.O. Of Cuban extraction, who liked to make little snide comments. I would probably recognize his name if I heard it again but cannot recall it now.

     From there I went to Clinton Correctional Facility, way up north in Dannemora. I was placed in a special unit within it known as “APPU” (which, apparently, stands for “Alternative Placement and Preparation Unit”). This was another kind of protective custody unit, except with more “freedom” than one would have in other protective custody units. APPU was and is for people with high-profile or otherwise “bad” (i.e. sex) cases. I would end up staying there for over four years. Once again, because the officers there were used to dealing with controversial cases, there was little harassment. However, I do recall one inmate who liked to pick on me. Later on, I heard that when they moved him to a different facility, another inmate punctured both of his lungs.

     Because the powers-that-be at APPU had decided it was time to move as many people out of that unit as possible, spearheaded by a man with the unfortunate name of “Mr. Liberty,” I was moved to Green Haven Correctional Facility in Stormville, which is actually quite close to Fishkill. Things were OK there at first, in general population, until a C.O. told my psychotic neighbor about my charges. The latter then started banging the crap out of my wall, at which point I asked to be moved. They sent me to another general population cell upstairs, and then, the following day, to protective custody. That was okay until they moved the very same psycho right next to me a few weeks later. Apparently, he was now the one “in danger.” When I notified a C.O. about this, there was a flurry of activity to get him the heck out of there.

     After only a few months at Green Haven, I was sent to Great Meadow Correctional Facility, in Comstock, which is not far from Lake George (as my mother commented, the named they give some of these places make them sound so inviting).  When I got there, I was actually excited to see that they had in-cell TVs. I’d had one at Clinton, but not at Green Haven. Then, not too long after I got to my new cell, a C.O. they called “Red” (who seemed drunk) came over to my cell and started about “hey, I hear we have a new pedophile on the block.” He continued in this vein for a minute or two with me just staring at him. Then he left.

     Because he wasn’t assigned to my block, I saw him only rarely after that. C.O. Steve Beaury, on the other hand, was a different story. He was there on C-block 3-11 shift, four days a week. And he made a habit of standing just outside my cell loudly “asking” the C.O.s at the front desk “Hey ______, do you think it’s wrong to fuck little boys?” Over and over again he did this – must have been dozens of times. I never said anything to him, and never complained about it either, though I wish I had. One time I did say his name waiting in line for chow, which really seemed to fluster him because he had no idea where it came from. Actually, the only reason I know his first name is because another “Connoisseur Of Crime” – the waddling C-block head C.O. – (whose name I’ve forgotten) mentioned it as he was writing me a pass to get moved to honor block.

From Hilson v. Beaury, 2016 WL 1069954 NDNY 3/18/16

     “Plaintiff Lerome Hilson . . . Alleged that defendant, Correctional Officer S. Beaury, retaliated against [him] for having written a grievance by, inter alia, issuing a false misbehavior report and, for four days, turning off the electrical power in [his] cell and not allowing him to eat . . .”

     “Plaintiff alleged that Beaury told [him], ‘I will get you for the grievance you wrote . . .”

     For quite a while, things were a lot better in Honor Block. For one thing, I was told there was a high percentage of ‘sex offenders’ there anyway. I soon became an ‘honor rec’ porter, which meant helping to clean up the kitchen area where there were stoves we could cook on, since, a microwave and color TVs.

     After a while, though, a friend of mine (with very similar charges also – I am convinced – false) started telling me about this C.O. who worked down there a lot who was harassing him. This C.O.’s name is either Brett or Brent Smith. Smith was absolutely obsessed with him – even rattling his cell door in the middle of the night. Smith was a young guy from way up north somewhere I heard (Ellenburg?)

     When my friend pointed out who was bothering him, I was shocked: “That nonentity?” I responded. Because of his incessant harassment of my friend, Smith was eventually forced to undergo “re-training,” a fairly humbling experience where they have to stick real close to a sergeant for a certain amount of time. Even so, Smith would also “find out” about my own charges. Though he never said anything to me directly about them (I overheard him telling another C.O. that I was “a writer,” meaning I would write people about C.O. misconduct, etc. This probably explained his reluctance to harass me overtly. He would find any excuse he could to “mess” with me, including threatening to fire me because I – supposedly and ludicrously – wasn’t fast enough doing my clean-up work. He also did this bizarre thing where he’d twirl his baton right next to me really fast in an apparent effort to intimidate.

     Meanwhile, a psychiatrist named Dr. Gonzalez, whom I’d only ever seen via closed circuit teleconference, decided it would be a good time to take me off my anti-depressant. I told him that would be a really bad idea because I’d tried doing that once when I was on the “outside,” with disastrous consequences. But he went ahead and did it anyway. Though I was initially okay, after a few weeks of being off it, and then with the one-two punch of both my federal appeals going against me, I was in very, very rough shape, mentally speaking. While no one would ever use these words with me, I think I was experiencing a nervous breakdown.

     The following are a couple of various newspaper articles about Great Meadow / Comstock:

“Cruel, But Not Unusual: Great Meadow in Washington County Ranks 5^th Worst Nationwide for Inmate Sex Abuse” by Robert Gavin (Albany) Times Union, 3/28/10, A1, A13.

     [A1] “Behind the walls of Great Meadow Correctional Facility, on old stereotype remains hauntingly true: go to prison, risk rape. The maximum-security lockup in Washington County ranked fifth worst nationwide in the most recent study of the prevalence of sexual assault in U.S. prisons – and convicted criminals housed there were only part of the problem. Similar sex abuse – including staff members victimizing females – was discovered [at] the Albany County Jail.”

 

From Accompanying Table: “Great Meadow’s figure of 11.3% of inmates reporting one or more sexual assaults by an inmate or staff member in 2007 was almost twice as high as the next closest facility, Wende, at 6.2%. Albany County Correctional Facility (County Jail) had a 3.1% staff on inmate rate.”

[A13] “The alarming rank of Great Meadow, on Route 22 in Comstock, came after the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics surveyed inmates in hundreds of state and federal prisons, as well as county lockups for the new law {Prison Rape Elimination Act {‘PREA’} of 2003] . . . Great Meadow, where 268 inmates were surveyed, showed considerably less inmate-on-inmate abuse (3 percent), than the staff-on-inmate rate (9.3 percent), though both exceeded national rates. And while 1 percent of the victims reported being “physically forced” by another inmate, that figure was 6 percent in attacks by members of staff. In turn, 2.8 percent of victims reported being “pressured” by other inmates, while 6.3 percent reported it from staffers . . . In Washington County, where Great Meadow is located, District Attorney Kevin Kortright did not return multiple calls for comment.

 

“Prison Suicides, Assaults Up: Cuts Debated,” by Joseph Spector, The Gazette (Schenectady), 2/23/11.

     Prison suicides rose from 10 to 20 between 2009 and 2010 . . . All but one of the suicides occurred at the state’s maximum security facilities including four at the Great Meadow Correctional Facility in Washington County, north of Albany. Three occurred at the Elmira Correctional Facility and two at Downstate Correctional Facility in Fishkill. One occurred at the Mohawk Correctional Facility, a medium-security prison in Rome, Oneida County . . . [T]he suicide rate in 2010 was the highest in 28 years.”

     Therefore, Great Meadow / Comstock was not only #1 in suicides that year; it had nearly as many suicides as all the other prisons combined.

     For the first time in my life (which will also be the last), I myself attempted suicide in 2009. In the infirmary, while I was also being stitched up, I heard one of the medical people just outside the door say something along the lines of: “well, he did it wrong. He should have cut . . . “ And that was hardly an isolated case. Many years later, I ran into another inmate who had attempted suicide at a different facility. He heard a “medical professional” there say: “Well, maybe next time, he’ll do it right.”

     For quite a while now, there has been a broad consensus amongst inmates  --  who have been at various facilities around the state  --  that the two worst places to be housed are Comstock and Attica. The only real disagreement consisted of which of the two was the worst. However, it is now generally agreed that Comstock / Great Meadow is number one. Part of it has to do with the fact that, while Attica now has surveillance cameras (and microphones) throughout the facility, the powers-that-be at Comstock have managed to delay the installation of cameras and microphones. But another reason for this is probably the fact that, several years ago, several Attica C.O.s were charged with the gang assault of an inmate (See Prisons section).

     I was eventually (in December of 2009) brought to the Central New York Psychiatric Center in March, New York, not far from Syracuse.  This is where state prisoners with significant mental health issues are sent. What a change for the better that was. For the most part, really decent people, much better food, you name it. The only exception to that was one of the “therapy assistants,” a fairly young blond woman named Sally Fletcher. She informed one of the other guys in my ward that I was a “homo” and a “rapo.” Subsequently, I heard her call me a “pedophile.”  I filed a complaint about this, but did not hear anything back, however, shortly thereafter, I was – prematurely I thought – sent to Auburn C.F., which is not far from there. This happened I January 2010.

     Typically, just before an inmate is transferred from one prison to another, a C.O. comes to his cell with several “draft bags” and fills out what is called an “I-64” form. The C.O. reads off the list of every possible item the inmate might have in his personal property, and the inmate then shows him how many of each he has so the C.O. can mark it on the form and then bag them. However, because I was sent from Comstock directly to March Psychiatric Hospital, and then to Auburn my property as packed up FOR me by other inmates with a C.O. (supposedly) supervising.

     So, in February of 2010, I was called down to the Auburn property room to get my stuff. However, all of the higher-priced items were missing: My TV, Typewriter, radio, calculator and fan. When I looked at the I-64 form, I saw that, of course, none of these items had been checked off as being in my property that was packed up. Clearly the C.O. who “supervised” the pack up had, at the very least, allowed (if not encouraged) the inmates involved to steal these items. Such theft within “Correctional” facilities abetted or outright committed by C.O.s is very common). So, who was this C.O.? At the bottom right of the I-64 form, there is a space where the supervising officer is supposed to sign his or her name. But in this case, it was – surprise, surprise – left blank.

     Soon thereafter, I filed a claim to be reimbursed for this stolen property amounting to just under $500. The Auburn Superintendent, Harold Graham, denied it. So, then I filed with the Court Of Claims. Well over two years passed before I heard anything back from them. By that time I was back at APPU-Clinton.

     Judge Richard E. Sise, of the Court Of Claims informed me, in writing, that I would need to appear – in person – at Comstock (Great Meadow), where they would set up a Video Link with the court.

     I couldn’t believe it. This just was insisting that, in order to have any chance of getting reimbursed for this stolen property, I would have to go back not only to the place that had driven me to the only suicide attempt of my life, but also the very place I had accused of doing the stealing.

     They have – and then had – video conferencing available right there at Clinton, where I was. Why in the world couldn’t I have done the link right from Clinton? Naturally, I never did get any sort of answer to that question. I did try to get my “counselor” here to help me with this situation, but she wouldn’t even try.

     Having declined to be brought back to Comstock for a video conference that could just as easily have been done from where I was, this “judge” ruled in the state’s favor. It’s all just one more facet of the Department of Corruptions.

     My first few months at Auburn were okay. I was just settling in, figuring out what’s what. Mostly, I was immensely relieved to be somewhere other than Comstock. It wasn’t until May of that year that I really experienced my first harassment incident, and thus, began keeping a log of such events. I sent my father copies of everything, in several batches. Below, I will break down each incident by C.O. But for the moment, I want to give a general overview of the next couple of years, in chronological order.

This idiot C.O. named “Tortorella” appeared to be starting to “play” with me. Yesterday, he asked me why I was hanging out with “that guy,” meaning my friend Mike. I said “What’s it to you?”, to which spork-checker (his main job was to make sure we deposited our hard plastic sporks into the bin before we left the mess hall) replied: “You must be just like him.” I then said “you’re an idiot” and walked away. Today, he made a special project of spying on me in the mess hall, then patted me down as I left, taking my rice krispies. Made sure to get his name at which point I said “got ya!”

     If some of that seems aggressive on my part, it’s because I’d decided I was done appeasing these people. I’d tried that at Comstock and saw where it got me. This targeting of me for talking with Mike would eventually get me sent to “the box” (SHU, or Special Housing Unit) on a false charge of weapon possession.

     There were additional incidents involving Tortorella, which will be noted below. But for now, let’s go to my log entry of 12/3/10:

Walking back from lunch, I took a good look at the I.D. of the C.O. who’s been calling Mike “toucher” virtually every time he passes by him. He then put me on the wall (where I had to put my hands high up on the wall, with my feet several inches away from the latter, so he could frisk me – i.e. check my pockets, etc. Then this other thug C.O. comes over and says “you know what he’s in for, right?” I said I did. He then asked me what I was in for. I said “why?” He then called to ask someone I guess and said something about “under 11-year-old boys?” He was screaming at this point. Then he said he’d have me moved to A-block where I’d be “his.” . . . I really thought that P. Vanacope (the guy who kept saying “toucher” to Mike and who pulled me over when I looked his I.D. [note: I actually misread it. It was really R. Vanacore] had stopped doing that.

The former C.O.s full name is actually Richard Vanacore. And the second one referred to above is Michael Ramsey. They each have their own sections below. Vanacore did start harassing me as well at this point. But I will skip over move of those details for now.

     By the way, the person they had called above to find out what I was “in for” turned out to be the law library C.O. there. Basically, everyone who’s ever done an appeal is in that system. C.O.s (and inmates as well) should be prohibited from “looking up” people like that – at least those who are at the same facility. But, so far as I know, there has never been an attempt to stop this.

     C.O. Michael Ramsey would later be put in charge of the block I was housed in, which would lead to further problems.

     C.O. Eric Van Ness (or VanNess), among others, then targeted me for harassment. Just as they had threatened to do (see above) on 4/4/11, I was moved to A-Block (where Vanacore was in charge).

     Part of my 4/22/11 log reads “I also meant to note that one of their dirty tricks would be to plant something in my cell like a weapon . . . and then of course send me to the box, etc.”  Just a few months later, that is precisely what they did.

     But the following month, I was moved back to E-block. This would engender enormous resentment on Ramsey’s part (see Below).

     Part of my log from 8/4/11: “When I got back from yard today at 3:30pm, my cell was torn up – it had been searched, but only partially, from the looks of it. When I got everything back together, I realized that the following were missing: my journal, going back to when I was at Marcy up to the present, all of the printouts of my case website, including entire trial transcript . . . “

From 12/21/11: “5pm. Back from yard. While I was out, some cretin got into my cell and took my Walkman, headphones and a bin of food . . .”

     From 12/23/11: “9am. I just got called down to speak to a Sgt. Greco or something, and in the meantime, someone got into my cell and took my hotpot and tapes. The porter was locked in the slop-sink at the time.” [This is done to make sure that the porter doesn’t witness the c.o.’s thievery].

     “10:38am. These cowards just turned my power off.”

     “5:20pm. Back from the law library and sure enough, these cowards were at it again. Took my desk and lamp and one boot.”

     From 12/25/11: “11am. They sent a porter (inmate) around to tell me (and others) that I do have a package . . . Just gotta take a chance and go . . . They sent a lot of us back from the yard without getting our packages and sure enough, the coward was in here again. Stole virtually all of my food, and now my typewriter too . . . Oh, and my power was turned off again.”

     From 12/29/11: “11am Ramsey is here – I Heard him – Noon: Ramsey and [Sgt.] Rizzo walked by. When Ramsey got downstairs, he said “Hey Eddie – did you find out his crime? A Nine-year-old . . “ That’s all I was able to catch. I also heard Ramsey say “you Know he’s not moving, right?”

     This last comment says a lot. The entire purpose of stealing my stuff, turning my power off, etc, was to try to get to me “sign into” protective custody.”

     From 12/30/11: “1:45pm R Brown (the actual thief of my stuff) just opened my cell and told me I needed to go to the front of the company (tier) and talk to a Sergeant.  I told him I wouldn’t because the last time I did I had more stuff taken. Then the Sgt. Came down to talk with me. A Sgt. M Valentino, who seemed decent. I told him about everything that was stolen and when. The sergeant talked about “your father called the Dep.”

     When R. Brown was walking about I said “excuse me” and got a good look at his I.D. Later he came back and said “you see, I told you that’s what it was. I haven’t fucked with you before, have I?”  I responded “I don’t know. Someone’s been stealing my stuff . . I wonder if they’ll try to move me tomorrow morning.”  The Sgt. Also asked me – twice – If I wanted PC (protective Custody). I said No and signed something to that effect.

     From 1/1/12: Early afternoon. C.O. J [I believe Jeffrey W.] Clafin said “I’m sick and tired of these bullshit complaints.” I respond “well, I’m tired of having my stuff stolen.” Then he said “keep it up and I’ll set fire to your sell and you’ll have no property left.” I said nothing further and he walked away. (Up until this point, Mr. C. had been basically professional with me, although I did suspect he was involved in the 8:20am theft of my hotpot and tapes . . .).

     The above was my last log entry at Auburn. Four days later, I go out to the (night) yard. On my way there, I see the C.O. Currently in charge of the block – whose name turns out to be C. Brown – standing there, and once he sees me, a sort of nervous smile comes over his face.

     Not long after I go outside, I am called over to the Sergeant’s booth. Upon doing so, I find myself being taken to
“the box” officially called the Secure Housing Unit (SHU).

     At this point, I’ll just transcribe the entirety of the report written (also on January 5^th) by Sgt. M. Reilly to Lt. T. Mitchell (Grammar / Spelling / Syntax errors have been left uncorrected).

“On the above date, Officer C. Brown notified me that E-8-27, the cell belonging to Inmate Nickel 01A4077 had wire strung around his cell. At this time I authorized Officer Brown to perform a cell search. Following the search, Officer Brown notified me that at approximately 7:45 pm, he recovered an ice pick type weapon fashioned from a plastic pen tube and metal eye glass bow. The ice pick weapon measured 7-1/2” by 3/8” and was recovered from a plastic storage bin in the rear of the cell. The cell search was completed with no further contraband found. At this time you were notified. At the time of the incident Inmate Nichel was in the yard for evening recreation and not present for the cell search Following your notification I located inmate Nichel in the main yard and escorted hi to first aid for urinalysis and then to SHU pending disciplinary action. Photographs were taken and the weapon was secured per directive 4910a. All pertinent paperwork filed including p.c. waiver and misbehavior report.”

     Officer C. Brown is a liar. He was solicited to plant this weapon by Sgt. “Eddie” Rizzo, who was, in turn, doing a favor for his buddy C.O. Michael Ramsey (See Ramsey section below).

     First, let us examine several of the logical problems with the above “report:”

1) At that time, absent exigent circumstances, inmates were supposed to be allowed to witness their cell being searched (but of course when you’re up to no good, you don’t want any witnesses).

2) Because we’re talking about around 6:30pm on a day in January, the ambient lighting would have been very low indeed. And the lights in the “hallway” outside my cell didn’t give a lot of illumination either. So, we’re supposed to believe that C.O. C. Brown, just doing his regular rounds just happened to see some wire and then, sensing a real emergency situation that had to be dealt with right away, asked a Sergeant if it was okay to search my cell, when I just happened to be in the yard.

3) If I had a weapon, I presumably would have carried it with me when I left my cell (no one shared this cell with me).

4) Never in my life have I used a weapon against another human being.

5) By far, the people who posed the greatest threat to me were “Correctional” officers and other DOCS personnel, against whom a weapon would have been pure folly. In any event, the pen truly is mightier than the sword.

6) When Officer C. Brown, or whoever put this weapon together, they forgot to use the kind of pen that was given out at the law library there (neither did they use the type of pen sold in the commissary).

     I, and my family, offered to pay corrections to have this supposed “weapon” tested for fingerprints. Nope – “corrections” wouldn’t allow it.

     Six days before this “weapon” was allegedly found the Sergeant who interviewed me about some of the thefts from my cell asked me if I wanted protective custody (PC). I declined. I believe that I was “supposed” to accept PC at that point. That’s what the string of thefts was designed to accomplish. This is their typical M.O. for getting rid of someone they can’t move through regular channels (and as Ramsey himself acknowledged, he could not move me because a ”higher up” – actually Lt. Ouimette – had me oved back to E-Block). But when I said “no” to PC, the machinery was set in motion to place a weapon in my cell.

     C.O. Michael Ramsey was the central figure in the harassment I experienced in E-Block. My logs show how I got onto his “radar” when he and another C.O. were harassing a friend of mine and I called them on it.

     How believable is the “finding” of this supposed weapon? An officer says he was just doing his rounds and happened to notice a wire in a cell? Now, this cell is dark. Presumably, he’s talking about a very thin wire commonly used as an antenna (indeed probably half the company had such antennas).  But if he’s simply doing a round his eyes would be focused much further into the cell, near the head of the bed. That’s what he’s supposed to be doing – simply walking by to see who’s in and that those who are in are OK, etc.

     How believable is this? He said the weapon was found in a bin at the back of the cell. Why does he make a point of saying “in the back” of the cell, “inside a bin?” Very simple - in order to prevent the inmate from saying anyone could have thrown it into his cell.

     Ramsey unrelentingly lobbied his nominal supervisor to move me to another block; eventually he succeeds. But when I’m moved back to my original block about a month later, Ramsey is beside himself with rage. (See further details in his section below). He’s just bound and determined to get me out of “his” block. When getting other C.O.s to steal lots of my stuff (more than $500) worth doesn’t drive me into PC, Ramsey pleads with his nominal supervisor to “arrange” something to get me not only out of his block, but into “the box.” Now, that’s believable.

     The Department of “Corrections.” (DOCS) has a three-tiered disciplinary system, with Tier 1 being the least serious and tier 3 being the most. This “weapon” charge was a Tier 3. It was the only Tier 3 misbehavior report (or “ticket”) I have ever received in more than twenty years in DOCS custody. I’ve never so much as been charged with being in a fist fight (which would have been a Tier 2).

     When given a misbehavior report, one does eventually get a “hearing,” but these are largely viewed as kangaroo courts. I think they should actually be called “not really listenings.”

     My “hearing” officer was a man named J. Wolczyk. Upon discussing him with other inmates, no one could ever recall him ever finding an inmate not guilty. Despite going over the above-referenced points (and ore), without his even attempting to rebut or discount anything I was saying, he found me guilty. He gave me an effective sentence of two months in “the box,” loss of privileges, and a recommended loss of 4 months of “good time” (meaning I would spend an extra four months in prison before I was released).

     Wolczyk argues that, because the person who searched my cell was not someone I’d alleged had been harassing me, that somehow meant, ipso facto, that these charges must have been completely unrelated to that harassment. That’s absurd. Obviously, these harassers are not going to be stupid enough as to do the search themselves, Naturally they got someone else to do it.

     At least to my face, the SHU C.O.s were – for the most part – actually pretty decent to me. But then again, unlike general population (at least back then) there were cameras all over the place in the SHU. Therefore, C.O.s can’t get away with as much as they can elsewhere. The only (attempted) harassment incident I became aware of happened on Valentine’s Day. There was this one tall, white, fairly young C.O. working on the 3-11pm shift. I didn’t catch his name. He told the guys in the two cells to my left the nature of my charges and told them that they shouldn’t help me in any way.

     My SHU tie was due to end March 5^th. Just before that, a Sergeant, named T. Quinn, came and briefly interviewed me, asking whether I’d had problems in general population. I said that I had but that all of the major ones were caused not by inmates, but by C.O.s. He then recommended that I be placed in “Involuntary Protective Custody” (IPC) when I left the SHU. And sure enough, on March 4^th that’s exactly where I went.

     So now, not only had Ramsey succeeded in (wrongfully) sending me “the box;” I was now in (I)PC, which is where he’d said months ago that I “should” be. And the Department of Corruptions bureaucracy was happy to just go right along with all of this. Gerard Jones, Auburn’s Assistant Superintendent for Administration, rubber-stamped Quinn’s IPC recommendation.

     Another facet of the Department of Corruptions is that it condones massive amounts of theft within its “facilities.” To say it is common for inmates to have property stolen from them when they are sent to “the box” would be an understatement. This is, in fact, a nearly universal practice. Because you aren’t there when they pack up your (old regular) cell, it’s very easy for the C.O.s and (especially) inmates who do this pack up to take whatever they wish. After all, there’s no real way of proving you ever had any given item. Even when I was able to prove that I had certain items, I was told: “who’s to say you didn’t give them away to someone?”

     A couple of days after I had been sent to the SHU, I was briefly allowed to see my property – at least that much of it that hadn’t been stolen while it was packed up. But it was really only enough time for a quick glance – as opposed to a full inventory. Among other things, I do remember seeing my fan and (two) gay porn magazines.

     However, when I next saw my property, a few days after I was moved to IPC, the fan was missing as well as one of the magazines. The one magazine that was (sort of) still there had most of the pages ripped out of it. And the few pages that remained were not in very good condition. Someone had deliberately cut out all of the genitals.

     A few days after I got to the SHU I was told – by C.O. Putnam – that I had a food package. He said that, while I couldn’t get it in my SHU cell, he would bag it up and I’d be able to get it when I left the SHU. Great, I thought. But when that bag was opened at IPC, a lot of the items were missing (I had the invoice from the company I had ordered from). Most of the rest had been smashed to bits. That was no “accident.” Of this $85 order, I ended up getting just $22 worth of food.

     The above thefts and destruction occurred within the SHU. It was done by the C.O. and/or inmates who worked there. (only two or three [protective custody (PC)] inmates worked up there at a time). The following, however, could have either at E-block or the SHU:

• Two pockets were deliberately ripped off my army jacket
• One of my good winter gloves was stolen and the other had the thumb ripped open
• A pair of black socks was cut in half
• A light greed T-shirt, as well as a pair of dark green shorts were deliberately ripped
• One of my brushes was smashed
• The (black) shoelaces were taken out of my winter boots
• All of my receipts for the items stolen in E-Block in December were missing
• The cord on my immersion heater (“stinger”) was ripped; and
• One of my boots had been split open (with a sharp blade – which only a C.O. would have had

     Other missing items included an “Acqua” watch, slippers, belt, size 12 “fila” sneakers, coat, light yellow dress shirt, colored pen set, four bowls, a green sweater, scarf, heavy socks, large bucket, dishpan, pair of black socks, two mirrors, three bins, a large net bag, and a few dollars worth of food.

     The C.O. who signed the form when my cell was packed up on January 5^th (8:20pm) was R. Roberts. C.O. S. Pino signed the form when my property arrived at the SHU. It was pretty apparent that a real knife was used to cut at least some of the items. Only C.O.s have knives.

     March 16, 2012 was my first unrestricted commissary buy since late December. Finally, I’d be able to buy some food items again. But because I was now in IPC, I couldn’t actually go to the commissary myself. Instead, the procedure was to put the filled-out sheet on my bars that morning and my buy would be brought over that afternoon. I ordered around $90 worth of stuff. But when my box came, there was only about $40 worth of stuff in it. Suspiciously, the taped-up box in which the commissary had sent over was already open. Other guys who’d been in IPC for a while told me that the usual procedure was to open the box right in front of the inmate, and then check off each item, and then check each item against the receipt. But even more suspicious was the fact that there was no receipt.

     The C.O. who brought my box over to me is named (I Believe Michael) Parish. He may or may not have had something to do with the theft of most of my buy. Certainly, he and/or Ramsey was/were responsible. Other inmates there had told me that Parish had planted weapons in people’s cells (See Smith v. Prack in D. Vitale section below).

     Not wanting to jump to any conclusions, I wrote to the commissary to ask for copies of 1) my receipt and, 2) my actual buy sheet. Though unlikely, it was possible that I’d only been charged for the $40 or so worth of items that I’d actually received.

     However, when I finally got the above copies, it became apparent that: 1) almost $34 worth of stuff had been stolen; 2) someone had crossed off some 14 items I’d put down on my sheet; and 3) someone had added some 12 items that I had not ordered. I have little doubt who was responsible for this. It was just more theft by the very people entrusted to “correct” the behavior of, other convicted thieves.

     My next commissary day was March 30^th. That time, my buy didn’t arrive at all. Apparently, as happened during the summer (when I was keep-locked), my sheet never made it down to the commissary. Ramsey told me: “Hey Nickel – your commissary sheet didn’t get down there yesterday. I think somebody threw it away or something. Four days later, though, I was able to get a “make-up buy.”

     I should make it clear that, by being sent to IPC, I was being sent right back to E-block – the very block where I’d had all that stuff stolen from my cell in December, where a C.O. had planted and then “found” a weapon and where C.O. Ramsey was still the “A-man.” That’s how he had access to my commissary sheet – as with all of the IPC guys sheets, it had to go to his desk (literally for his stamp of approval).

     When my SHU sentence was almost up, I wrote to and spoke with several Auburn officials asking them to please send me to B-block, where I knew several people, and had reason to believe I would be subject to far less harassment. Instead, I was sent to IPC, a place that is supposed to be reserved for those inmates who have unnamed inmate enemies in that same facility (regular PC is for those whose enemies’ names are known to the administration). Indeed, a Sergeant had informed me that, in my file, there was a notation indicating that I had an unnamed inmate enemy at Auburn. That is simply false. My being sent to IPC had nothing to do with other inmates. It was because of C.O. misconduct – in particular, that of Michael Ramsey.

     In the meantime, on March 28^th, my Tier III (weapon) conviction was affirmed by the DOCS central office. The person responsible for that was a D. Venettozzi, Acting Director, Special Housing Unit / Inmate Disciplinary Program. Of course, no explanation was provided. This person was supposed to listen to the audiotape of my hearing and carefully review all documents, but I doubt that actually happened. This appeared to be yet another Department of Corruptions rubber-stamping of C.O. malfeasance.

     Still believing that someone at DOCS might actually have a conscience, I appealed to the commissioner himself, Brian Fischer. In Mid-April, I received a letter from an Albert Prack, Director of Special Housing / Inmate Disciplinary Program (apparently Venettozzi had since been replaced). He wrote, in part: “I do not believe that there are sufficient grounds to reconsider the pervious decision on that hearing . . . I encourage you to continue to exhibit positive behavior and avoid disciplinary action in the future.” Really?!?!?

     Now, with my letter, I had enclosed copies of my harassment logs relating to Ramsey (i.e., much of the information in this section of the website), laying out the whole sequence of events leading yup to the weapon being planted in my cell. If these weren’t sufficient grounds, what in the world would be? Moreover, exactly how was I supposed to “avoid disciplinary action in the future” when C.O.s can apparently set up “troublesome” inmates with impunity? And, what, Mr. Prack, do you think will be the effect of your rubber-stamping of egregious C.O. misconduct, as well as inmates?

     On April 17^th, I was transferred to Attica. Now, I knew that I was leaving Auburn; everyone sent to Involuntary Protective Custody is eventually sent elsewhere. But Attica? It had the reputation of being the worst spot in the state. There is little doubt in my mind I was set there in retaliation for my complaints about C.O. misconduct at Auburn.

     In any event, as I was leaving Auburn, I had to pass by Ramsey’s desk. He tried everything he could to get me angry enough that I’d lunge at him, and he would then have an excuse to hit me back, etc. But to his obvious frustration, I just silently stood there. He said, among other things, that he was tired of having to respond to my Dad’s complaints (well, we’d simply told the truth about what he and others had been up to). In a not-so-veiled threat, he indicated that he would pay my father a visit – even reeling off his address. I guess that was supposed to intimidate us from making all of the above information public.

     A week after arriving at Attica, I got my belongings, which had been bagged up a couple of days before I left Auburn. Because I was in “Ramsey’s Block,” he had access to those bags. Sure enough, he cut the strings off the top of the bags and stole the following items:

• The manila folder containing the claim form and receipts related to his previous thievery.
• A large accordion folder of legal material.
• A pair of sneakers, hot pot and fan.
• About $20 worth of food, and last, but not least,
• My only pen (I guess to discourage me from writing).

     I started working on an appeal of the weapon Tier 3 ticket, but because I was soon sent to Attica, where I did not feel safe going to the law library, I was unable to follow this through. So, the phony Tier 3 remains on my record.

 

At This point, I will break down the harassment I received at Auburn Correctional Facility:

C.O. Michael Ramsey

     Me and a friend of mine, who I will call “Mike” would often walk together to the mess hall. For whatever reason, the nature of his charges – which were similar to mine – was rather well-known to both inmates and C.O.s alike. To get to the Mess Hall, we would have to pass through A-Block .As we would go by that block’s mailbox, this one particular C.O. would yell “toucher!,” clearly at Mike.

     This made me angrier and angrier until one day, in December 2010, I made a point of looking at his name tag (R. Vaacore). Apparently startled, Vanacore then ordered me to get on the wall and be frisked. Very soon after that, a C.O. (who I would later find out was named Michael Ramsey) came over to where Vanacore was frisking me.

     Ramsey said to me “You know what he’s in for, right?” I responded that I did. He then asked what I was in for.” I responded simply “why?” He then made a call to the law library C.O. who was more than happy to give him this information. Ramsey returned, red-faced, screaming about “under 11-year-old boys!” He then said he’d have me moved to A-Block, where I’d be “his.” After throwing my I.D. at me, he told me to go.

     When we passed by him a few days later, Ramsey informed me that I would be “his” worker when he worked my block (E) the following day. (My assignment was “E Block Porter” though I hadn’t actually been called out to work by that point). Although he did not actually call me out to work the following day, I learned that Ramsey would soon be the “A-man” or boss, of E-Block on the 7am to 3pm shift.

     In January, another friend of mine, who I’ll call “Jim” told me he overheard Ramsey talking about me with the inmate porter. Ramsey said he’d like to call me out to do the “real shit jobs,” but he’d rather not be around me at all. That feeling was mutual. He also told this inmate that he would like to move me to another block but couldn’t, because of the mental health program I was in at the time.

     Two months later, Jim told me that he heard Ramsey (while at his desk) refer to me as a “self-proclaimed pedophile.”  The following day, I learned from someone at mental health that Ramsey was indeed trying to get me moved.

     In April, he got his wish. On the same day that Mike was moved to D-Block, I was moved to A, the very block headed by Vanacore, against whom I’d filed a grievance regarding the December incident (see his section below). Just prior to the move, Sgt. “Eddie” Rizzo, Ramsey’s nominal supervisor, had asked both me and Mike to sign papers saying that we didn’t need protective custody, and would be okay going to any block. This was to cover their asses in case something happened to either of us after we were moved. Ramsey had been pushing Rizzo to get me (and Mike) moved for some time.

     About a week after the move, I made the following log entry: “I also meant to note that one of their tricks would be to plant something in my cell, like a weapon.”

     I was prepared to make a go of A-Block, but Vanacore’s behavior made that impossible (see his section below). In May, I was moved back to E-Block, after some lobbying by myself and my family to get me out of A. But of course, this did not sit well with Ramsey at all. The first time he saw me coming down the stairs (One of A-Block’s C.O.s had just yelled “toucher” in reference to me), he turned to his “boss” and said “Rizzo, what is this shit? That mother fucker’s going to the box.” Although it would take him eight months to accomplish it, he made good on his threat.

     The very next day, another friend I was walking with told me how Ramsey was making gestures that he wanted to push me down the stairs. And later that same day, as Ramsey and Rizzo passed my cell on their noon rounds, the former said to the latter, “We gotta get rid of him.”

     A few days later, Rizzo, told me I had been given a misbehavior report (“Ticket”). I was briefly “Keep-locked” (meaning not allowed to leave my cell) and given a “feed-up” tray. The young C.O. who Ramsey put up to writing it – S. Retome – had spun quite a yarn. He claimed I wasn’t up for the count, had a sheet up (blocking their view of my cell), and refused to obey several direct orders. He even claimed that he had rung the morning bell for 3 and 1/2 minutes! At no facility I have been at has the bell been rung for more than 30 seconds).

     Although this was a total lie, Rizzo gave me as a ”punishment,” one loss of a commissary buy. A couple of days later, Ramsey appeared disappointed to see me walking around again, asking Rizzo, “You Gonna Lock Him Up?” Later, as I passed by Ramsey again, he was hanging onto a fence talking to another C.O. when he suddenly said “he looks like a ‘toucher’ to me, someone who likes little kids.”

     In June, I ended up getting keep-locked for something I did do: having an antenna strung outside of my cell for better radio reception. This meant, among other things, that, for the duration (until mid-July), I would only be able to get a “Restricted” commissary buy, which they would have to bring to me. And though another C.O. did pick up my commissary sheet (we have to write down what we want ahead of time), the following day, as Ramsey walked by, he said “Hey Nickel, your commissary sheet didn’t get down there yesterday. I think somebody threw it away.” Needless to say, I didn’t get my commissary items. Same thing the following commisary.

     Right around this time, I heard Ramsey yelling at Sgt. Rizzo as if the former were the latter’s boss.

     One day in July, when Ramsey was doing his lunch-time rounds, he said to Rizzo, “I like best to jerk off at home with the curtains drawn, when the kids walk by.” Later that same month, when I knew I had a package because of a friend had seen my name on the master list,  Ramsey made sure I was not on the list posted in E-Block.

     Around the middle of August, I passed by Ramsey on my way out to the yard and I heard him say to a young C.O. sitting at the desk: “not the black guy, the white guy with the red shirt,” referring to me. And then, as I came back in, I heard him mutter “He should be in PC.” He was still nagging Rizzo to get me moved to another block. Passing by again at lunchtime, Rizzo said to Ramsey: “I’d help you if I could, I but I can’t.” One of the higher-ups had gotten me moved back to E-Block, and made it clear that I was to stay there.

     Around this time, I had a cell “Search” (when I wasn’t there to witness it) – but seemingly only a partial one. My headphones, metal pot, some cooking utensils and other items were taken; and yet, on the copy of the search form that was left on my bed, the C.O. who performed it – J (I believe Jeffrey) Claflin – indicated that “No contraband was found). If that was the case, why did he take the above items from me?

     Just four days later, when I returned to my cell from the yard, I saw that it was somewhat torn up. A “random” search apparently. But then I realized they’d taken some items they had no business taking: my personal journal (logs), a complete printout of this very website, and a gay porn magazine. I would later learn that Ramsey had shown this last item to another guy on my tier, saying, in part, that some of the guys in it looked underage, which was baloney. He also discussed the website in derogatory terms. Last, but not least, he told other inmates that he couldn’t move me to another block “because his dad’s strong (which means that someone higher up told Rizzo that my father had called and he, in turn, told Ramsey).

     Later that same month, again passing at lunchtime (but on the tier right under mine), Ramsey said (apparently referring to some other inmate): “At least he’s not a fucking toucher, because those are disgusting human beings. Note that Ramsey was using Vanacore’s term (see his section below). Of course, feckless Rizzo said nothing.

     In early September, the inmate on my tier who told me what Ramsey had done during the August “search” told me that Ramsey had just come up to him and spoke to him belligerently, asking why this inmate had “told on him.” This inmate also told me he was worried that Ramsey might be gunning for him now, which made me feel just awful. Of course, I’d never mentioned his name or exact location, but that was of little comfort to either of us.

     Things were pretty quiet for a while, until one day in late November, when – passing on the tier below me – Ramsey said to Rizzo – “Let’s get him a Coach Sandusky T-shirt.” For him, I guess that qualified as witty.

     Just before (or even on) Christmas, however, things escalated dramatically. Four separate times, some C.O.s got into my cell and stole my Walkman, headphones, a bin full of food, my hotpot, my tapes, my desk, my lamp, my typewriter, and a whole bunch of other food. During one of these thefts, they locked the porter in the slop-sink, apparently so he wouldn’t witness the robbery. Actually, during that theft, I was downstairs talking to a Sergeant about a previous theft.

     In mid-January, I received a letter from Capt. Timothy McCarthy, informing me of the results of the “investigation of the thefts.” Needless to say, no DOCS personnel were found to be at fault in any way.

     A Couple of days later, another Sergeant came to interview me. He asked if I wanted protective custody, and I said no. I don’t blame him for asking that – it’s part of his job. But the truth is, the reason why Ramsey had orchestrated all these robberies was to scare me into signing into PC. Indeed, on December 29^th, on his pass by, Ramsey said: You know he's not movin’ right?” He also said (downstairs): “Hey Eddie – did you find out his crime? A nine-year old . . .”).

     On New Year’s Day, C.O. Clafin said to me “I’m getting sick and tired of these bullshit complaints.”  I responded “Well, I’m getting tired of having my stuff stolen.” He then said, “keep it up and I’ll set fire to your cell and you’ll have no property left.”

     On January 3^rd, I heard Ramsey talking to Rizzo about when “It” (apparently some kind of move) was going to happen. When Rizzo asked “what?” Ramsey pointed toward my cell and said “That!” Ramsey then expressed a desire to be on duty when it happened, and Rizzo replied, “It’s possible.”

     Two days later, I was taken to “the box.” Why? Because they’d supposedly found a weapon in my cell while I was out in the yard. The liar who actually performed this “search” was a C.O. C. Brown. Ramsey’s May threat and my own April prediction had finally come to fruition.

     At my disciplinary hearing, conducted by a man named Joseph Wolczyk I demanded that this “weapon.” Be tested for fingerprints. Denied! I asked to be able to inspect it myself. Denied! I asked to call as witnesses higher-ups who knew my history of being harassed by Ramsey, et. Al. Denied! Needless to say, I was found guilty.

     It appears that C.O. Michael Ramsey is still up to his old tricks, as seen in the following case from 2017 (McMillan v. Walters (2017 WL 2688228, NDNY):

     “In October and November 2016, [McMillan] filed motions for preliminary injunctive relief and claimed that on September 13, 2016, as he was returning from breakfast, unidentified officers at Auburn Correctional facility harassed him, called him a “rapist” and referred to him as a “child molester.” . . . [McMillan] also alleged that on October 3, 2016, and October 11, 2016, [C.O. Daniel] Walters circulated material about [McMillan’s] legal case resulting in additional harassment by guards.

     “In his most recent motion for injunctive relief, [McMillan] claims that . . . Officer Michael Ramsey . . . confiscated his legal work from his cell in 2014, 2015, and 2016 . . . [McMillan] seeks an order directing {Ramsey] to return his legal material . . . [McMillan] also reiterates his claims related to verbal harassment by Ramsey and renews his request for an order restraining such conduct. [Emphases added].

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Richard Vanacore

     (The first three paragraphs are the same as the first three paragraphs in the “Ramsey” section above. For context, we are reprinting them here.

     Me and a friend of mine, who I will call “Mike” would often walk together to the mess hall. For whatever reason, the nature of his charges – which were similar to mine – was rather well-known to both inmates and C.O.s alike. To get to the Mess Hall, we would have to pass through A-Block. As we would go by that block’s mailbox, this one particular C.O. would yell “toucher!,” clearly at Mike.

     This made me angrier and angrier until one day, in December 2010, I made a point of looking at his name tag (R. Vaacore). Apparently startled, Vanacore then ordered me to get on the wall and be frisked. Very soon after that, a C.O. (who I would later find out was named Michael Ramsey) came over to where Vanacore was frisking me.

     Ramsey said to me “You know what he’s in for, right?” I responded that I did. He then asked what I was in for.” I responded simply “why?” He then made a call to the law library C.O. who was more than happy to give him this information. Ramsey returned, red-faced, screaming about “under 11-year-old boys!” He then said he’d have me moved to A-Block, where I’d be “his.” After throwing my I.D. at me, he told me to go.

     The following day, an inmate I’ll call “Jim” told me that he witnessed Vanacore actually shut the gate briefly and tell a Jamaican inmate on my tier some details about my charges in an apparently effort to “sic” him on me. Apparently referring to Mike and Me, Vanacore also talked about “two tall white guys” who always walked together being “rapos." And two days later, as I passed by Vanacore, he said to another C.O. “he mauls under 11-year-olds.”

     Two months would go by before I heard from Vanacore again. I think that was partly because of the harassment grievance I’d filed against him (which, by the way, I never got any official response to), which had caused him to get chewed out by one of the higher-ups (I heard him discussing this). But another reason why I didn’t “hear from him” much during that time was that I simply didn’t go to breakfast and lunch as often as I had previously. Because Vanacore leaves at 3pm, I wouldn’t see him while going to and coming back from dinner.

     In mid-February, though, as Mike and I walked to Lunch, Vanacore plucked up his courage and said, “nice sausage, nice young sausage today” (I believe they were serving Italian Sausage for Lunch). Nearly another month had passed by when, on the way back from Lunch, I heard Vanacore talking about some porter they couldn’t let out for some reason; as Mike and I passed by, he said “And he likes kids, Sergeant Rizzo.”

     In mid-April, I was moved to A- Block, the very block where Vanacore was the “A-man.” As I was bringing my property over there, I heard Vanacore yell over to Mike – who was simultaneously being moved to D-Block - “Hey [Mike], you’re moving – and they’ve got little boys over there.” Mike’s charges actually had nothing to do with “little boys” but anyway . . . “ Sgt. Rizzo was right there, but only laughed.

     Later that same day, once inside, I heard Vanacore say to another C.O. “He’s new; touching little boys.” The following day, as I was returning from lunch, the C.O. standing right next to Vanacore said to me “hey Chester, where’s your boyfriend?” – several times. I had heard Vanacore say the word “boyfriend” to him as I was going to chow. Apparently they were referring to Mike. The day after that, early in the morning, I heard some A-Block C.O. say “NAMBLA” and “Boys Tonight.” On the way to dinner, another said “That’s the King of the Pedophiles.” Last, but not least, on the way back from dinner, another inmate informed me that some A-Block C.O.s were spreading the word about my case.

     Three days later, as I was leaving the block, one C.O. said “That’s the one. That’s the one right there.” In the late morning the very next day, I heard one A-Block C.O. ask another what a certain inmate was in for. Then the former yelled at the inmate: “Hey toucher, go lock in!” The next day, on my way out to the law library, another C.O. said “King of the touchers” as I walked by.

     As the A-man for A-Block, Vanacore certainly was seeing the tone, for good or for ill.

     Just two days subsequent to that, as I’m walking back from lunch, this other C.O. on the block claimed I was walking over the yellow line. I wasn’t. But in any event, the only reason anyone ever gets hassled over something as trivial as that is simply in order to harass them. He and Vanacore put me on the wall for a while, shook out my little seasoning packet, and told me to go into the slop sink to find a boom and dustpan to clean the mess they had just made. Whether on purpose or not, there was no dustpan there. But I stayed in there and kept looking for one anyway.

     Several people I knew walked by and asked what was up. I just smiled. Eventually Vanacore said: “Come over here, NAMBLA.” Then he asked me if I was a member of a gang. I laughed a little and said “no.” Then he said: “This isn’t ‘easy block.’ You’re not in Kansas anymore.” I could tell Vanacore was standing there wracking his brain, trying to figure out how to trip me up. But I just stood there, smiling. In the end they just threw my I.D. at me and told me to go.

     Almost a week later, coming back from lunch, a friend of mine on the block very kindly put his hand on my shoulder and told me how, the day before, a C.O. was ‘talking greasy’ about me, which made my friend really mad. The next day, when I came back from dinner, one C.O. said to another “that’s the king of the pedophiles right there.” And the morning after that, as Vanacore walked by, the latter said: “he claims himself the king.”

     The following morning, I heard Vanacore say: “Rizzo, meet me in my office.” This would seem to imply that, in reality, Vanacore was actually Rizzo’s boss rather than the other way around. Then, back from lunch, I heard Vanacore say “NAMBLA” to the C.O. next to him. The next day (it’s now early May), as I’m coming back from lunch, the C.O. next to Vanacore said, as I walked by: “Keep pushing your luck.” (I hadn’t actually done anything). Vanacore nodded his head approvingly. Later, when I came in from the yard, I heard Vanacore say “NAMBLA” yet again. Two days later, as I was walking out of the block, this fat, dour C.O. said, “one little, two little, three little touchers.”

     One morning, a few days following that, when I was trying to get back into A-block, Vanacore says: “No, you go out there like everybody else and make friends.” As I was heading back out to the yard, he said “he sucks off little boys.” And then, when I eventually did get in, and he was walking to my cell, he rattled his keys real loud as he walked up the stairs, and informed the C.O. letting me in, “he really likes little boys.” Later, apparently referring to someone else, he screamed: “right there, the old toucher, the old toucher.”

     Just a few days later, I was moved to E-Block. Therefore, I rarely saw (or heard) Vanacore from that point on. But we weren’t done with one another entirely. In June, when I was in the yard, I heard him call another inmate “touch boy” from inside A-Block. And then one day in July, when I was let out to go to the law library, Vanacore screamed at me “toucher!  Fuckin’ Pedophile.” Lastly, in Mid-August, on my way to church, he yelled “toucher, toucher” loudly as I passed his doorway.

     Several years later, looking through legal cases, I ran across a reference to a Sergeat Vanacore at Attica, which may, or may not, be this same person.

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Eric Van Ness (VanNess)

     He came to my attention when, in 2010, he was engaging in a campaign of harassment against an inmate – who I’ll call Mark – who, of course, had child sex abuse charges. He repeatedly called him names (“toucher” etc.) and even went to far as to print out (from the internet), bring in, and show Mark’s charges to others on his tier, in an apparent effort to get inmates to join in his campaign of harassment. Later on, he would do the same exact thing to Mike as well.

     Initially, I myself had no problems with Van Ness. But not long after the incident in December 2010 with Ramsey and Vanacore (see above), who apparently then “spread the word” about me and things changed significantly.

     In mid-January, Van Ness was checking off names as I went into the Chapel. When he saw me, he said “NAMBLA” to the C.O. next to him. I then said, “Van Ness.” The other C.O. must have then asked him what he meant, because Van Ness then said to him: “I’ll tell you in a second.” Later that same day, Jim told me that, as he was leaving the gym building, he heard Van Ness say, “he’s the king of the child molesters here.” Then, referring to Jim, he said: “and that’s his boy.”

     In mid-March, when I was out in the “small yard” I saw Van Ness standing next to the guard post in front of the shower. He was actually supposed to be at his post at the far end of the yard, but instead talked to the shower to C.O. the whole time. Apparently they spent some time talking about Mike, me and this other guy we were walking with, because the one at the shower post (D. Gentile – see his section below) yelled out to us: “yo, you guys walk together?” (Duh!)

     In April Mike was moved to D-Block, which is actually Van Ness’ regular post (he only worked E-Block maybe two days a week). I soon learned that Mike was not doing well there at all. A friend of mine who worked in the General Library told me that he had recently seen Nike, who said that a lot of the time, the C.O.s there weren’t opening his cell for Chow, yard or meds and had even gone so far as to tell other inmates not to mail letters for him.

     In early May, Jim ran into Mike in the school building. Mike told him that inmates in D-block were trying to extort him. Then in early June, we got the news that a C.O. (guess who) had let three other inmates into Mike’s cell. They beat him up seriously enough that he had to be hospitalized. A couple of days later, I learned that Mike had actually been assaulted in D-block on three separate occasions.

     Given Van Ness’s history of harassing Mike while he was in E-Block, harassing a former inmate of that same block (Mark), as well as harassing me, it seems safe to assume that Van Ness was the driving force behind Mike being harassed in D-block.

     In mid-June, when I was keep-locked for putting up a wire antenna, and was walking back from my shower, I noticed that on the red “glove,” (indicating keep-lock) on the handle that opened my cell, someone had written the words “toucher” and “shitbag.” This must have been Van Ness’s handiwork – he had been posted on my tier the previous week. Moreover, I’d heard him call Mike both of those names, particularly the latter, which wasn’t used very often around there. A week later, that same marked-up glove was still on the handle.

     In Mid-July, as Van Ness was walking up to my cell, he was telling Sgt. Rizzo “ . . . There’s a new guy in D-block with a 90-something number (which indicates the year of conviction). He’s in prison for sexually abusing, sodomizing, and incest . . .” For whatever reason, that was the last time I heard or say Van Ness say or do anything along those lines.

     Also see Smith v. Prack in the Daniel Vitale section below.

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Daniel Vitale

     On the morning of July 4, 2010, Vitale was working on Mike’s (and my) tier in E-block. That being a Sunday, it was time for razor exchange. Even if you didn’t want / need a razor, you still had to show the C.O. that you had one, just so they could make sure it hadn’t been converted into a weapon. Mike put his razor on his bars, but then made the mistake of bending down to tie his shoes, during which time Vitale snatched the razor and walked away (without giving him a new one).

     Mike, of course, then strenuously objected that his razor had been taken without a new one being provided to him. Vitale then wrote Mike a “ticket” claiming he had never turned his razor in and escorted him to a SHU (“The Box”), where he would remain for several months. This incident prompted me to get what’s called a “Razor Exemption Permit,” whereby I permanently gave up my razor. I was determined that what happened to Mike wouldn’t happen to me.

     It wasn’t until April of 2011, that Vitale again came to my attention. This time, he was working over in the school building. He approached my friend Jim – who was waiting to go back to the block – and started asking what he was “in for.” When Jim declined to answer, Vitale made a call to the ever-helpful Law Library C.O. (See Ramsey section above). Of course, Vitale then had a few choice words for Jim.

     Almost exactly three months later, Vitale was working the 3-11pm shift as the “A-man.” In my block As I was walking to dinner, he said to me “you like little boys?” I just ignored him and proceeded to the mess hall. But when I returned to the block, he stopped me and asked my name. I told him. He then asked if I was “giving him attitude.” Then I asked him what his name was. When I looked down at his nametag, I saw that he had covered it up with a little piece of paper, on which was written “fuck you.” I strongly suspect that Van Ness, who was the “A-man” on the block for the first shift of that day, put him up to this.

     From Smith v. Prack, 2015 WL5512951 (NDNY 9/14/15):

“[P]laintiff contends that defendants [Michael] Parish, Eric Van Ness, and Daniel Vitale . . . retaliated against him after he filed various grievances against them and . . . other corrections officers at Auburn . . . Specifically, Plaintiff contends that (these three C.O.s) started a fire in his cell on October 25, 2009.

[From Smith’s Deposition]: “ . . . and they went on to conspire to steal 95 percent of my property . . . No other staff did I have any problems within my entire period of being at Auburn . . .”

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Harrington

     He first got onto my radar in early April of 2011. I was sitting at a table in the small yard with my friend Jim when I noticed him pass by. I recognized him as the B-block C.O. who works in the “bubble” at nighttime, who I saw on my way toward and from dinner. As he went by, he said to another C.O. “Is this the Rapo / Pedophile table?”

     Five days later, I was walking back from dinner. As I approached Harrington’s post, I heard him whistling. Then after I’d passed by, he said “stay away from the playground.”

     It wasn’t until early September that I heard from him again. This tie, as I passed by on my way back from dinner, Harrington said to me: “and then one day, when this man met a child . . .” I turned around and looked at him, but of course the coward didn’t’ have his name tag on. I wouldn’t find out his name until much later.

     About two weeks after that, coming back from dinner, from upstairs, Harrington yelled down in this high-pitched voice “No, Grandpa, that’s my naughty spot.” Even though I would continue to pass by Harrington, this was the last time I heard this from him.

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D. Gentile

     In mid-march of 2011, when I was out in the small yard, I saw Van Ness standing next to the guard post in front of the shower. He was actually supposed to be at his post at the far end of the yard, but instead talked to the shower post C.O. the whole time. Apparently, they spent some time discussing Mike, me and this other guy we were walking with because the one at the shower post (D. Gentile) said “yo, you guys walk together?”

     In Early April, when I was again out in the small yard, Gentile, at the same post alternatively shouted “dirtbags” and “fags” to me and Mike as we walked by. Even more petty, when he saw Mike pick up an empty water bottle, he demanded that Mike hand it to him, whereupon Getile took out a knife and cut it.

     It wasn’t until late July that I had my next run-in with Gentile. Once again, he was assigned to the guard post right in front of the small yard shower. I was waiting in the shower line when he opened up the shower. He let the six guys in front of me go in, then told me to stop. But that was fine – there were only six shower heads working at the time. However, he then said to me: “You go shower somewhere else.”  I replied, “I’ll shower here, thanks.” (Wanting a shower that say, I had no other option).

     He then wittingly retorted “you think so?” I didn’t budge. About fifteen minutes later, when one of the first six guys came out, I went in (as is the usual procedure). I took my shower (and my time). When I eventually left the shower building, he said “yo!” so I went over to the booth, whereupon he told me “when I give you an order, you follow it or I’ll give you a ticket.” I replied “Thank you. I’ll be sure to make a note of that.”

     I filed a grievance against Gentile for the above incident. Now, the “investigation” they typically do in such cases is basically a farce. Naturally, they interview you (the complainant). They interview the accused C.O. of course, who then lies with utter impunity. They then ask if you have any witnesses. At that point, you’re thinking okay, assuming inmate(s) actually did see or hear what happened, do I really want to drag them into this? Such persons could face real retaliation for actually telling the truth about a C.O.’s misconduct. So even though it’s an agonizing decision, most of the time, I just end up saying “no witnesses.” This time, though, was different. The guy right in back of me in the shower line actually volunteered to be a witness on my behalf and he was, in fact, interviewed.

     About six weeks later, I received Captain Timothy McCarthy’s response to this grievance. Incredibly, he claimed that I had no “evidence.” To support my allegations. Therefore – surprise – he found my allegations to be “without merit,” thereby clearing Gentile of any wrongdoing. Now, what other evidence would an inmate possibly have? A camcorder recording of the incident? But at least my grievance accomplished one thing: I never had a problem with Gentile again.  

     From McRae v. Gentile, 2015 WL 7292875 (NDNY 10/20/15)

“Plaintiff alleges that on May 2, 2012, . . . C.O. Gentile . . .  pinned his hands against the iron bars of a cell and repeatedly punched him. . . C.O. Gentile, along with. . . C.O. Peters and. . . C.O. Gifford and other unidentified corrections offiers, then brought plaintiff to a single room. There, C.O. Gentile battered plaintiff for fifteen minutes while C.O. Peters and C.O. Gifford looked on . . . with delight . . . Plaintiff immediately made C.O. McConnell aware of the injuries he sustained as a result of the incident . . . However, C.O. McConnell, ignored Plaintiff’s request for medical attention. Plaintiff made Superintendent Graham aware of the incident but to no avail [emphasis added].

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Other Correction Officers

     The very first real C.O. harassment I experienced at Auburn occurred in late April 2010. I had been at Auburn for about three months at this point. A C.O. named J. Tortorella – whose task it was to stand next to the bucket outside the mess hall and make sure inmates returned their sporks – asked me why I was hanging out with “that guy,” meaning my friend Mike. I said, “what’s it to you?” to which he replied “you must be just like him.”  I then said, “you’re an idiot.” And walked away.

     The following day, he glared at me the whole time I was eating breakfast; and when I left, he put me on the wall and patted me down. I filed a grievance against him regarding the above incidents. About two weeks later, he blew me a “raspberry” as I left after lunch.

     Then things were quiet, until September, when a C.O. in one of the booths in the “big yard” yelled to Mike (with whom I was walking): “You baby raper piece of shit.” On our next pass, he simply said “shitbag.”

     I think this is as good a point as any to mention the fact I am convinced that Mike did not do what he was convicted of; or anything else criminal, for that matter. Though I certain would not call him mentally disabled, he is, well, a bit on the odd side. What is striking about him is how he’s nearly always smiling. He also treats people nicely virtually to the point of gullibility. His personality is precisely what made him easy prey for manipulative interrogators – a phenomenon (‘false confession’) which has been extensively documented. It often struck me how ironic it was that probably the biggest target of “anti-toucher” harassment there had never even done anything along these lines.

     December broke another three-month lull. When walking to lunch, the C.O. in the “bubble” just before the mess hall said as me and Mike walked by: “Oh no, Uncle Billy, stop stop!” This coward was not wearing a nametag either (I’d heard him say the preceding before but hadn’t jotted it down).

     In February 2011, Auburn went on lock down. As part of that, everybody’s cell got searched. Mike told me that the C.O. who searched his cell threw out a lot of legitimate stuff. He even made Mike face away from the cell as he was searching it, which is absolutely against the regulations. A sergeant saw and asked him about this, but then just left things continue on the same way.

     In late March, walking about from dinner, I heard a C.O. in the area between B and A Blocks say something in a “childish” voice – I couldn’t quite catch it. Then, at the A-block “bubble,” I heard another C.O. say “ . . . except the child molester, who [sic] we must kill . . . “ I think that both of these were directed at Mike. Later, going out to the yard this C.O. they call “Tonto” (A heavyset Native American guy with lots of tattoos) said, referring to Mike “I’ll take this piece of shit, and pats him down real close, cupping his testicles and having him spread his legs really wide.

     The very next day, a C.O. working my company who I didn’t recognize walked by my cell and sang “We are the world. We are the children.” This is almost certainly because Ramsey said something to him. Ramsey was standing at the end of the tier as we went to lunch. Then, on the way to the shower in the big yard, another C.O. – I believe referring to Mike – said “ . . . likes little kids.”

     Just a few days later, in early April, Mike told me that a C.O. sitting near the metal detector at the entrance to the library was singing “where in the world is the child molester?” as he walked by. He then sent another C.O. into the library to tell Mike he had to leave, and not to come back to the library for two weeks. Jim later told me that, at dinner that day, he heard two C.O.s at the end of the serving line talking about: “What’s worse? A body (murder) or kids?” And he apparently kept saying kids with emphasis. Then he said, referring to me, Mike and Jim: “There are three of them right there.”

     A week later, Mike, who’d been waiting for a phone, told me that a C.O. in the post near the phones was walking by them and telling other inmates they shouldn’t let Mike use a phone because he was a “child molester.”

     About a week after that, shortly after I’d been moved to A-block, at breakfast, the C.O. who’d tried to make trouble for me and Mike at the meds window about a month or so ago (I failed to jot this incident down at the time) came over, stood right near me, and started talking about how “things are crazy now. Then years ago, things would have been very different. They would have strung him up. If it were my kid, I would have killed the guy.” Trying to be the voice of reason, the C.O. next to him said “It’s just a job. Don’t let it get to you.” Then the first one said, “You never know when an opportunity might present itself.”

     In late April (when I was still in A-block), when I was returning to the block, this same (“string him up”) C.O. said, right after I passed by “yeah, he’s the biggest toucher in the place.” Then, at dinner, I heard another C.O. in the mess hall say to one if his co-workers: “They should all be killed.”

     For all subsequent incidents, I was in E-block. In July, I ordered a gay porn magazine. One evening, in early August, after dinner, a C.O. by the name of A. Mascioli came to my cell with a piece of paper in his hand. He then said very loudly “Hey Nickel, they denied your gay porn!” The “Media Review Committee” had decided for whatever reason that I wouldn’t be allowed to get this magazine. However, I subsequently was able to. “So, what do you want to do with your gay porn?” He must have said those two words at least six times really loudly.

     Now, I have deliberately tried to refrain from making gratuitous disparaging remarks against the C.O.s I have discussed here. To that end, I have (mostly) chosen not to even describe their physical appearance. However, in Mascioli’s case, I simply cannot resist noting the following: many people here – inmates and staff alike – refer to Mascioli as “George Costanza” because he looked – as well as acts – a LOT like that character from Seinfeld. Not surprisingly, he appeared to find this quite humiliating. Therefore, it seemed that the above incident was likely an attempt to: 1) humiliate someone else for a change; and 2) try to make some “points” with both inmates and staff.

     All right, about a week later, on my way back from diner, the above “string him up” C.O. was working in A-block as I passed through, shouted “toucher!” as I walked by. And five days after that, a C.O. in/near the sergeant’s post in the small yard yelled “toucher!” as I walked by.

     Lastly, (for this section anyway), around the middle of September, when I went through the metal detector to get to the shower area, my netbag apparently set it off. A tall, young C.O. asked me what I had in my bag. “Nothing” I replied, meaning nothing metal so far as I knew. C.O. K. Kirkwood then whispered something to this first C.O., who then passed his hand-held detector over my bag and said “Huh. I guess it just doesn’t like Rapos.” “Or Geniuses” I replied.  This reminded me of how, several months previously, Kirkwood had asked me if I was “King” of something. I jokingly said “Yeah. Prussia.”  He replied that he thought I was King of something else.

     From Adams v. O’Hara 2018 WL 5728040 (NDNY 7/24/18)

“On the evening of January 18, 2015, plaintiff was attending religious services at the Auburn Chapel . . . during the service, C.O. Kirkwood  . . . ordered plaintiff to leave the service and meet hi in the foyer or entranceway of the chapel. . .  Plaintiff contends that, when he reached the foyer, Kirkwood and . . . O’Hara . . . began to verbally harass him. O’Hara then ordered Plaintiff to place his hands against the wall and conducted an ‘aggressive’ frisk while making crude racial and sexual comments.

 

Plaintiff contends that . . . O’Hara repeatedly poked him in the back and neck while saying “you scared little bitch, come off the wall or I’m going to beat your ass.” . . .  Plaintiff remained on the wall . . . [It is further alleged that] O’Hara then ‘grabbed the Plaintiff by the back of his neck and arm and threw him to the floor.’ . . .  At some point during this altercation, an alarm was sounded and C.O.s Curtis, Seery, Diallo and Walshvelo arrived in response. . .  Plaintiff described a lengthy assault during which  . . . Kirkwood, O’Hara and Curtis repeatedly punched, kicked and stomped on him.

Plaintiff further alleges that while he was standing in the corner, he could overhear . . . O’Hara saying “Hit me” to Kirkwood and witnessed Kirkwood punch O’Hara on the right side of his face . . . This punch left a small cut over O’Hara’s right eye . . . O’Hara then approached Plaintiff [Adams – the inmate], pointed at the cut on his own face and told plaintiff “You did this.”

 

On January 19, 2015, Plaintiff was served with three misbehavior reports arising from the previous day’s incident . . . In the first, O’Hara charged that Plaintiff came off the wall during a pat-frisk and struck O’Hara in the head with a closed fist. . .  In the second misbehavior report, Kirkwood charged that Plaintiff elbowed him in the chest and spat on him . . . Another C.O. [Cornell] Searched plaintiff’s Cell after the incident and issued a misbehavior report charging that Plaintiff had taped a sharpened piece of metal can top that can be used as a weapon to the underside of his bed.

     From an audiotape of the disciplinary hearing. Plaintiff [Inmate Adams] speaking:

“So, I’m on the ground, and Officer Kirkwood, he like comes over and he puts his knee on my head and he is pulling my hair out. I had these same braids on my head. He grabs a handful of my hair pulls, I start screaming . . . He’s got like two hand-fistfuls of my hair.”

     Note that, in order to make it look like this inmate had punched C.O. O’Hara, the latter got another C.O. – Kirkwood – to strike him in the face.

From Brisman v. Volpe, 2018 WL 3121616 (NDNY 2/9/18):

“Plaintiff alleges he was assaulted on June 6, 2014 by [C.O.s] Reilly, Kirkwood and four unnamed officers, in retaliation for filing a grievance against the gymnasium staff on June 4, 2014 . . .  Plaintiff testified regarding this incident as follows:

“I was waiting in line to go into the gym . . . Kirkwood told me to step out of the line and he told me to . . . hand him my ID, which I did. He read it and said ‘you like writing grievances, get the F-U-C-K out of here’ . . . I made it to the first flight of stairs to the right, about three or four officers along with Kirkwood and Reilly tackle me into the wall. I fall to the floor. They all ran down the steps, which I had come up from. I went and locked in my cell. The next day I received a misbehavior report, I requested  . . . the audio and video footage of the entire incident.”

     It appears that cameras and microphones were installed at Auburn sometimes between 2012 and 2014.

     Now, let us take a look at a couple of legal cases which will help to shed some more light on the general situation at Auburn. They also provide strong evidence to back up my above allegation that a weapon was planted (and then immediately “found”) in my cell, as well as my records of other misconduct:

From Pittman v. Forte, 2002 WL31309183 (NDNY 7/11/02):

“On March 25, 1998, Correction Officer S. Miller confiscated two tapes and a pair of headphones that belonged to Pittman, claiming that they were unauthorized. After Pittman’s cell search, he claimed that he was assaulted by Officer Miller, [E] McDonald, and Erickson. Thereafter, he was transported in a wheelchair to the Special Housing Unit since he was having difficulty walking. When he arrived at the SHU, [Officer Z.] Hoefling conducted a body search. As he [Pittman] watched, Hoefling withdrew a dark-colored object and wrapped it in a pair of underwear that did not belong to him. Thereafter, Hoefling reported that he found a razor blade in a pair of [Pittman’s] underwear.

     In other words, C.O. planted this weapon on him. Note that this federal court decision does not merely say that Pittman claimed that this planting had occurred; it clearly states that it did occur.

From Linares v. Mahunik, 2009 3165660 (NDNY 9/29/09):

[Linares] alleges that while incarcerated at the Auburn Correctional Facility, . . . [C.O. David] Mahunik retaliated against him because [Linares] filed two grievances against [Mahunik] . . . [Linares] states that he filed a grievance against Mahunik because Mahunik prevented him from going on his law library call-out and planted a weapon in [his] cell . . . Mahunik [subsequently] wrote a Misbehavior Report against [Linares] for possession of contraband, a charge that was subsequently dismissed.”

     Well, it appears Linares had better luck than I did in that respect. Maybe there were actually some honest Auburn staff back then, or perhaps Linares was just better at fighting “the system” than I was.

“Given the fact that [Linares] was found innocent of the infraction alleged by Mahunik and given also the temporal proximity between the alleged threats [that Mahunik would plant another weapon in his cell] and the date [Linares] filed his first grievance, [Linares] filed his first grievance, [Linares] has raised a plausible claim of a causal connection between the protected conduct and the alleged adverse action taken.”

     The “acquittal” on the weapon charge strong implies that this weapon was, in fact, planted by (C.O. Mahunik). Apparently, some hearing officers – unlike Joseph Wolczyk who found me guilty of possessing a weapon on the flimsiest of evidence – actually are interested in getting at “the truth” and do not act simply as rubber stamps.

From: Allen v. Graham, 2017 WL 9511168 (NDNY 9/16/17):

“In this civil rights action, [Allen] alleges that, on several occasions between July 2014 and December 2014, multiple staff and officials at Auburn . . . retaliated against [him] for his work on the Inmate Liaison Committee (“ILC”), by using excessive force during pat frisks, sexually assaulting and humiliating him during pat frisks, fabricating a weapons charge, and imposing disciplinary sanctions against him” [emphasis added].

"At all times relevant to the complaint, [Allen] was confined at Auburn, where he served as a representative on the ILC . . . In this role, [Allen] collected complaints from the prison population and forwarded them to [Superintendent] Graham.”

“On July 13, 2014, [Allen] sent the monthly agenda for the upcoming July 30, 2014, ILC meeting to defendants Graham and [Captain Brian] Chuttey . . . The first item on the agenda was a discussion of an allegedly improper pat-frisk technique used by certain Auburn correctional officers, which involved “coming up from behind inmates and grabbing them by the wrist and forcing them to the wall and making them open their mouth.”

“On July 25, 2017 [C.O.] Gifford entered [Allen’s] cell, grabbed him by the wrist and forcibly dragged him out of his cell and put him on the company bars . . . He was then taken for a urinalysis test, while unidentified officers ‘vandalized’ his cell.”

     This is just like what Attica C.O.s did with me: Call me for a urinalysis test, which was merely a pretext to get me out of my cell, so that they could rummage through it, looking for – and then removing – notes I had taken regarding C.O. misbehavior there. (See Attica section below).

“[Allen] alleges that during the interaction, [C.O.] Gifford asked him “You’re an ILC rep. Why Captain Chuttey messing with you for?”

“On July 30, 2014, [Allen] raised the inmate complaints about the pat-frisk technique at the ILC meeting and identified [C.O.] Manna as one of the officers who was violating DOCCS policy. After the ILC meeting that day, Gifford, Manna and Gilmore (also a C.O.) ‘aggressively approached’ [Allen] in the recreation yard, along with three other unidentified [C.O.s] . . . Gifford grabbed [Allen] by the wrist, forcefully dragged him to the wall and told [him] to open his mouth . . . He then roughly pat-frisked [him] . . . Allen alleges that . . . Manna and Gilmore threatened him when the pat-frisk was finished. According to [Allen], Manna told him “we’re doing our job and protecting ourselves just in case of an inmate [sic] try to attack us and you just came here and you tring to change policies and that’s going to cause a big problem between you and us . . . I’ll set you up with a weapon or write you up for an assault on staff that won’t look good at the parole board [emphasis added].

“A short time later . . . Gilmore ordered [Allen] to leave the yard and escorted him into a small room located on C & D block . . . Manna and Gilmore were already in the room along with four unidentified [C.O.s] . . .Gifford then ordered [Allen] to remove his clothes . . . [Allen] estimated that he stood naked for approximately then minutes while . . . Manna, Gifford and Gilmore made ‘sexual ribald comments and threats’ . . . Allen alleges that . . . Gifford repeatedly touched [Allen’s] penis with his nightstick and told [him] that ‘your dick is really small for a black man [sic].’”

“While this was going on . . . Gilmore ordered [Allen] to open his mouth six times and laughed each time . . . When [Allen] complied with these orders . . . Gilmore told him “see, you don’t have a problem opening your mouth.” . . . [Allen] interpreted that statement as a reference to the complaints that he raised during the ILC meeting . . . Mann was even more specific in referring to [Allen’s] complaints about the pat-frisk policy, telling [Allen] that “Captain Chuttey told us to conduct searches like that and we will [continue] to do so and you can’t change shit. And if you file any grievance, it will disappear and we will kill you in here.” [emphasis added].

“In light of the threats to frame him for assault or to kill him, [Alle] did not file a grievance related to the July 25 or July 30 incidents . . . However, he did send letters to Governor Cuomo and the DOCCS Inspector General . . . He also reported the July 30 sexual assault to metal health staff, who provided the information to Auburn officials.

“In September 2014, an investigator from the Inspector General interviewed [Allen] as well as . . . Chuttey, Manna, and Gifford . . . At the September 29, 2014 ILC meeting . . . Chuttey threatened to retaliate against [Allen] for complaining to the Inspector General, and for his continued presence on the ILC.”

“On October 7, 2014 . . . Gilmore stopped [Allen] for a pat-frisk . . . [Allen] alleges that . . . Gilmore gabbed [him] forcefully by the wrist, told him to open his mouth and dragged [him] to the wall to assume a pat-frisk position . . .While [Allen] was facing the wall, Gilmore started ‘punching his fists together in an [intimidating] manner, while [C.O.] Zirbel stood nearby and laughed . . . Gilmore then conducted the pat-frisk in what [Allen] considered an ‘inappropriate manner” . . . Gilmore warned him that he could receive a ticket for assault on staff and that ‘[w]e do what we want because we’re untouchable and I don’t care what you tell I.G. about me, I’ll still be here tomorrow touching your sweet ass’.” [emphasis added].

“On November 14, 2014, [Allen] was re-elected to a position on the ILC . . .On November 25, 2014 . . . [C.O.s] Sternberg and Conners conducted a strip frisk of [Allen] . . . Following the strip frisk, Sternberg issued a misbehavior report for weapon possession . . . Sternberg reported that he found a grey knife made out of sharpened plastic in [Allen’s] sock . . . [Allen] claimed that . . . Sternberg had planted the weapon on him, and then told [him] ‘you overstepped your boundaries. Didn’t Captain Cuttey tell you not to run [for reelection to the ILC]? . . . Connors also told [Allen] ‘You like to help these scumbags with your ILC crap and inform on my officers . . . Let [sic] see who’s going to help you. You should’ve listen [sic] to [Chuttey] when he told you not to run’ . . . [Allen]also alleges that defendants made a number of other self-incriminating statements in the days following the incident [emphasis added]. (NOTE: Connors’ reference to “my officers” indicates that he may have held the rank of Sergeant or higher).

“Defendant Vasile presided over [Allen’s] disciplinary hearing related to the weapon possession charge and found him guilty on December 19, 2014 [NOTE: To conduct such a hearing, Vasile could not have been a ‘regular’ C.O.; he’d have to be the equivalent of a captain or higher. The superintendent appoints such hearing officers. My hearing was presided over by Joseph Wolczyk, who appeared to be a ‘civilian’ (not in uniform) staff member at Auburn] . . . [Allen] was sentenced to sixteen months in the special housing unit with a sixteen month loss of privileges and twelve months of recommended loss of good time [In Other words, Allen’s release from Prison could be pushed back a full year]. Superintendent Graham and [D.] Venettozzi (the same DOCCS central office official who rubber-stamped my tier 3) denied [Allen’s] subsequent appeals, but reduced his SHU confinement to five months.

     For other examples of retaliation by “correctional” officers, see the Prisons section.

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The Attica Log

     In April of 2012, I was transferred from Auburn to Attica, where I would remain for just four months. Because my Attica Log is not very lengthy, I’ll just go ahead and transcribe it as a whole:

4/17/12 – Arrive at Attica. Get to C-Block (27 tier, 35 cell) around 4pm. The C.O. on the tier, B. Naab, asks the other guy I arrive with what he was in jail for. He mumbles something about endangering the welfare of a trial. Then he asks me. I answer honestly and he yells “pedophile!” for all to hear. Later on, he comes by my cell and asks: “How does a grown man sodomize a nine-year old?” I say nothing.

4/18/12 – around 8pm. Naab, obviously having looked me up in the meantime, comes by my cell and says: “32 years – that’s a lot of time.”

4/21/12 – On the way to breakfast, a C.O. downstairs says: “Oh, the Chesters are in the rear,” apparently referring to me and the guy I arrived here with – we were at the back of the line of inmates. Then, on the way back from breakfast, the same C.O. said: “And the Chesters are in the rear.”

4/30/12 – On my way to lunch, one C.O. says “Jeepers Creepers” as me and the guy I came in with go by. Then another one said: “I’m gonna hit one of ‘em one day.”

5/2/12 – Returning from lunch, C.O. at the entrance to the tier says “we got the representative of the North American Man/Boy Love Association leading this crew.” Presumably this was in reference to me, although I was actually about 5^th/6^th in line.

5/9/12 – About 5:15 pm They open my door to get some legal mail, and Naab said: “Bring your pen, creeper.”

5/17/12 – Coming back from dinner, where we have to make a right turn, Naab points me out to another C.O. All I heard the former say was “…the brown shirt…” (I was wearing a dark brown, long-sleeve shirt”

6/7/12 – About 10:30am. The tall ‘missing link’ C.O. with the big nose, who likes to make anti-sex-offenders comments was talking about C-block being “full of rapos and pedophiles – makes me sick.”

6/18/12 – On the way back from lunch, one of the C.O.s right outside the messhall kept saying “toucher” (I was last in line).

6/27/12 – About 5:30pm. After being gone several days, Naab is back. And he made sure to tell the younger C.O. working with him about my “9 y/o victim” as I was waiting to go to meds.

6/28/12 – Just back from meds. As I walked by one of the C.O.s ‘supervising’ the meds run said in a childish voice: “oh – I like to touch little kids.”

7/3/12 – Once again Naab ‘forget’ to let me out for meds. So, they let me out later, and I went down alone. One C.O. down there whispers something to another, and then the latter slams the door against my left arm as I'm leaving the meds area. One of the med run C.O.s was a really fat, tall, blonde guy. A shorter, dark-haired one with a cowlick said: “Whoa – you gotta be careful about that door.”

7/4/12 – As I was waiting on my tier with other inmates, to go down to get psych meds, a C.O. Banaszak, who was working with Naab, threw a wad of paper at me. Then, in front of dozens of inmates – from my tier as well as ones from upstairs waiting in the stairwell behind a set of bars – Banaszak discusses my case in great detail. He asks me if “it was really a 9-year-old” etc. I do not respond. I then go down and get my meds. Banaszak follows me down there and after I get my meds, shuts the door to prevent me from going back upstairs. He demands to know whether my victim was a boy or a girl, and when I decline to say, he shoves me quite hard against a set of bars. Then, as I finally walk back upstairs, two inmates grab me through the bars, yelling “Rapo!” They yank me hard enough to tear my shirt and pop the lenses from my eyeglasses. The lenses fall down the stairs, from where I’m unable to retrieve them. (It would be over a month before I would get new glasses).

7/5/12 – I ask an inmate to tell my tier C.O. that I’d like to speak to a Sergeant about protective custody (P.C.). When my door opens, I go up to the C.O. area. When one C.O. asks me why I want PC, I explain what happened the day before. This C.O. then tells me that I was lucky there was a set of bars between us, because otherwise he’d probably kill me. Then, the ‘missing link’ C.O. is sent to escort me downstairs. As he then asks me why I want PC, he whacks me upside the head pretty hard. Then, he says he can’t send me down to talk with the Sergeant because they were busy interviewing someone else.

7/12/12 – As a result of my father then calling Attica officials about the above incidents, a Sgt. Musialowski interviews me. He asks me to show him my bruises and scratches. Then, he issues me a misbehavior report for failing to report my injuries.

7/23/12 – A dark-skinned black guy whacks me really hard through the bars, as I’m walking back from meds.

7/25/12 – I get a visit from two guys from the inspector general’s office. The C.O.s on my block are very aware of this, and when I get back, they ask me whether I discussed any C.O.s

7/27/12 – (approximate date) – Naab tells the (inmate) porter on my tier not to give me anything “because he likes to suck little boys’ dicks.”

8/1/12 – Despite being keep-locked for three days prior to PC review, I am moved to 33-tier, 27-cell (this is another general population cell, just across the hall. In transit, the bags of personal property I bring over and set down ‘disappear’ and then reappear shortly thereafter with all of my food, lamp, mirror, good gloves, etc. now missing. Apparently, in order to keep me occupied while someone else was stealing my stuff, a light-skinned, black inmate menaced me for several minutes while I was on 27-tier. Then, when I finally went downstairs to go to my new tier, I found a tall, white inmate waiting for me. Without saying a word, he began pummeling me on the face and chest. C.O.s just stand and watch and listen to all of the above, which they had clearly arranged themselves earlier that morning. I ended up with a black eye and bruising on my chest. Given that the C-Block Sergeant, T.Will would have to have approve my being moved – an action for which there was absolutely no justification, given that I was keep-locked pending a possible move to PC – it would appear that Sgt. T. Will was also complicit in arranging for this assault / theft.

Here is a Legal Case involving Sgt. T. Will – Agostini v. Backus, 2015 WL 1579288 (WDNY 4/9/15):

“On October 4, 2013, Plaintiff was residing in D-Block, the “honor block” at Attica, which is where he wanted to remain. In order to remain in Honor Block, however, Plaintiff needed to have a certain type of work assignment. On October 4, 2013, Plaintiff was working as the Honor Block Clerk. However, [C.O.] Victor . . . fired Plaintiff from his clerk position and vowed to prevent Plaintiff from obtaining any other work that would allow him to remain in D-Block.”

“Thereafter, Victor and . . . [C.O.] Backus . . . attempted to prevent Plaintiff from obtaining another job, and threatened Plaintiff with retaliation when he indicated that he was going to notify their superior officer [Sgt. T. Will]. Eventually, Plaintiff complained about Victor and Backus, after which they issued him retaliatory misbehavior reports. Additionally, Victor and Backus continued to verbally harass and threaten plaintiff . . . [emphasis added].”

“The pleading [i.e. the present lawsuit] contends that Victor and Backus violated Plaintiff’s First Amendment rights, by writing false misbehavior reports and threatening him. The pleading further contends that Sergeant T. Will . . . Covered up the misconduct by Victor and Backus, and violated Plaintiff’s due process rights by preparing a false investigation report.” [emphasis added].

Back to My log:

8/5/12 – After again being gone for several days, Naab returns. He then sends me, via an inmate, an article about child pornography, which he had taped to a picture of a small boy eating corn on the cob.

8/7/12 – While I was out of my cell for a drug test, C.O.’s went into my cell and stole my notebook, which included my harassment log, as well as out going letters I was working on. They also took my calendar and only pen. F. Nowicki was the C.O. who signed the receipt indicating that this ‘search’ was performed. The following day I was moved to P.C.

     I left Attica on August 17^th and on August 20^th, I arrived (back) at APPU-Clinton.

     For other misconduct by Attica C.O.s, see the Prisons section.

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Cameras and Microphones

     None of the facilities (regarding which I discuss various harassment-related incidents) had cameras or microphones at the time(s) I was there. Not surprisingly (because they would subject C.O.s to far more accountability, despite being ordered by the DOCCS central office years ago), the actual installation of cameras and microphones is being resisted / delayed at certain facilities.

     Comstock (Great Meadow) apparently does not yet (as of 2020) have them. I’m not sure of their status at Auburn. But they have been installed at Attica (as well as at Clinton), where they’ve reportedly had a quite salutatory effect indeed.

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     For possible motives behind some of the misbehavior described herein, see Politics section; “Projection Issues” subsection.