The first 10 felons to be set free in a state plan to save millions have records of assault, escape and rioting. (The Denver Post)
By Kirk Mitchell
The Denver Post
Posted: 10/15/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT
Updated: 10/15/2009 06:13:48 AM MDT
A man accused three times of sex offenses, a drunken driver convicted of vehicular homicide and a third man nabbed 46 times for alleged crimes including assault are all among the first 10 Colorado inmates granted early prison releases.
And they were considered the best of the bunch.
The 10 whose sentences were cut by weeks or months by the Colorado Parole Board were among a smaller-than-expected number the board considered safe to let go. And the volume and diversity of the 10 inmates' prior offenses shows how difficult it will continue to be for the state to choose among thousands of convicted criminals for early release.
The early-release initiative, announced Aug. 18, is part of a plan to save $19 million toward
filling a $318 million gap in this year's state budget.
State officials have projected that over the two years, 8,003 inmates will be eligible. Gov. Bill Ritter has said that killers, kidnappers and sex offenders would not get out early.
Corrections officials initially estimated that the parole board would deny 20 percent of the early-release cases, leaving about 6,400 who could be released up to six months early.
Ritter administration officials referred questions about the releases to Parole Board chairman David Michaud , who said the process of finding offenders deserving of early release has proven much more difficult than anticipated.
80 percent deemed too risky
He said the board is rejecting about 80 percent of eligible offenders for early release, including 149 sex offenders whose cases were brought before the board.
This means the state won't realize the anticipated savings.
"I've been a cop since 1963 and I've spoken to hundreds of victims. I'm not going to let someone out early if I don't think it's safe," said Michaud, who was Denver's police chief for six years. "I don't care how much money they save or don't save."
He said Ritter has told him there is no quota and he wouldn't object to the parole board not releasing any offenders if they aren't deemed safe.
If the Parole Board continues to reject the bulk of inmates for early release, the savings will be just a fraction of the $19 million projected.
The Parole Board bases release decisions on two risk-assessment scales. The board reviews victim input, institutional behavior, commitment to sobriety, participation in programming, family support, job opportunities and prior criminal records, Michaud said.
In response to an open-records request, the state released the names of the first 10 this week.
Jose Madrigal, 27, convicted of vehicular homicide in 1999, was released the first day that early releases were granted on Sept. 22. It was 26 days before his mandatory release date. Madrigal had trouble following rules in prison.
In 2007, he was convicted of rioting in prison and got another two years tacked on to his sentence.
Michaud said that Madrigal drove drunk, rolled a van and killed a passenger, but he didn't intentionally kill someone. The board will not give early releases to inmates guilty of first- or second-degree murder, he said.
Although Benny Joe Rael, 51, was serving a nonviolent theft conviction when he was released 16 days early — also on Sept. 22 — he had been arrested previously three times for sex offenses and was convicted in one child sex-assault case in 1982, Colorado Bureau of Investigation records say.
Rael also is a convicted drug dealer and has been arrested for assault threats, possession of a weapon, obstructing police, larceny and forgery.
Michaud said he was unaware of the sex-assault conviction, but that an assessment had determined Rael's risk of committing a new sex offense was so low that he didn't need treatment.
Offenders' records typical
Of the first 10 offenders, released Sept. 22 and 23, seven have been convicted previously of violent crimes, including three convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence or assault and four convicted of felony violent crimes from robbery to vehicular assault.
Attorney General John Suthers, a former executive director of the Department of Corrections, said the records of the 10 offenders are very typical, even of offenders now serving time for crimes the department classifies as nonviolent.
"I have to assume the first 10 released were deemed to be among the lowest risk of the possible releases," Suthers said. "Frankly, this doesn't portend well for public safety, as large numbers of such offenders are released early in the coming years."
State officials say that intensified parole services will be provided, including mental-health treatment and expanded satellite-based monitoring.
According to Colorado Bureau of Investigation records, the first 10 inmates released in the program have previously been arrested an average of 19.5 times.
Of the 10 offenders, seven had previously violated parole conditions and six had been charged with escape.
Rick Martinez, 48, who was released 26 days early, had been arrested for escape in 1994 and for numerous parole violations, according to CBI records.
To make room for offenders being paroled early, about 2,600 former inmates currently on parole will no longer be supervised.
LINK: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13564285
First 10 Felons Set Free Under Colorado Early Release Initiative
