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Prison Officials Accused Of Causing Riot, Covering It Up
Reprinted from theKCRAchannel.com
Updated: 2:11 p.m. ET Jan. 09, 20046:35 p.m. PST

January 8, 2004 - There are new allegations that some Folsom Prison officials intentionally allowed an April 2002 inmate riot to happen and that those same officials then launched a cover-up.

The allegations are put forth in documents exclusively obtained by KCRA 3. The documents show that a group of current and former Folsom State Prison supervisors and staff presented their allegations before two state senators. Included in that group is Evette Pieper, the widow of Capt. D.F. Pieper -- a custody captain who committed suicide during the investigation into the riot.

Pat O'Dea was a correctional officer injured the riot. He says evidence contained in their packet of allegations suggests a certain prison official allowed a southern Hispanic inmate gang to intentionally attack a northern Hispanic inmate gang.

The documents state: "We are concerned about this individual's potential association, membership, and/or influence in this 'prison gang' and (that person's) ability to retaliate against inmates and staff by calling 'hits.'"

"It appears there might have been an administrator who made a choice to allow the southern Hispanics to seek revenge for an incident that took place earlier that year," O'Dea said.

On Thursday, Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, and Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, confirmed how serious the allegations are.

"(There are) some very serious allegations. So serious, that we forwarded these concerns for a comprehensive, full, thorough investigation of the matter," Romero said.

"Those are very, very tough charges to make. And if they are sustained, it would suggest that the department needs to be totally cleansed," Speier said.

KCRA 3 also obtained a confidential copy of the Office of the Inspector General's investigative report on the riot. In it, investigators point out there were "substantial irregularities" in the prison's own internal investigation of the riot, and that those reports "contained statements contradicted by other information." The report even shows the warden ordered an "...audio portion of the riot videotape to be removed." However, the Inspector General's final conclusion read: "This investigation did not reveal criminal misconduct."

But Evette Pieper says state senators need to dig deeper. She says her husband left a suicide note behind, saying he did what he did because of extreme pressure during a cover-up. She says the Office of the Inspector General's official report even lends some credence to her claim. The report points out two men, who admitted they didn't follow the proper procedure that could have prevented the riot, were promoted, while her husband and another supervisor -- both cleared of wrongdoing -- were demoted.

The official report goes so far as to say, "The job changes ordered by the warden demonstrated poor judgment in that they were easily perceived by the staff to have been motivated by a desire to cover up events of April 8, 2002."

"It still reeks of cover-up. The report out there says this is wrong and that's wrong, but it's not criminal. Well, there's penal code that shows criminal acts were committed. So, to me, a criminal cover-up continues," Evette Pieper said.