Speaking of Federal Grand Juries,
John Kiriakou fell afoul of one.
He was a whistleblower that didn't
have a Protection Program.
So, he went deep inside, jail. Here's the
announcement of his first letter from
inside, and I'll post his letter and
comment on it, soon.
He tells of the Medieval treatment of people
in jail (we've seen the movies. here's reality).
He's been set up to get killed. He's had his
stuff trashed. and this is a good guy. It's like
nobody cares what happens to inmates.
Oh, and send him a letter. He'll answer it.
checkit: Firedoglake
Imprisoned CIA Torture Whistleblower John Kiriakou Pens “Letter from Loretto”
By: Brian Sonenstein Wednesday May 29, 2013 5:25 pm
Former CIA agent John Kiriakou, who blew the whistle on the US government’s use of torture under the Bush administration, is currently serving a 30 month sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Loretto, Pennsylvania. Below is a letter he recently sent us detailing his life in prison.
If you haven’t already, please consider adding your name to our petition asking President Obama to pardon John Kiriakou.
part 1: the intro to slammer life. How do you do, Mr Jailer? cell-mates?
"Letter
From Loretto"
Greetings
from the Federal Correctional Institution at Loretto, Pennsylvania. I arrived
here on February 28, 2013 to serve a 30 month sentence for violating the
Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982. At least that's what the government wants people to believe. In
truth, this is my punishment for blowing
the whistle on the CIA's illegal torture program and for telling the public
that torture was official US government policy. But that's a different story.
The purpose of this letter is to tell you about prison life.
At
my formal sentencing hearing in January,
the judge, the prosecutors, and my attorneys all agreed that I would serve my
sentence in Loretto's Federal Work Camp. When I arrived, however, much to
my surprise, the Corrections Officer
(CO, or "hack") who processed me said that the Bureau of Prisons had
deemed me a "threat to the public
safety" and so I would serve the entire sentence in the actual prison, rather than the camp.
Processing
took about an hour and included fingerprinting, a mug shot (my third after FBI
and the Marshals), my fourth DNA sample, and a quite comprehensive strip search. I was given a pair of baggy brown
pants, two brown shirts, two pairs of underwear, two pairs of socks, and a pair
of cheap sandals. My own clothes were boxed
and mailed to my wife. The CO then led me to a steel bunk in "Central
Unit" and walked away. I didn't know what to do, so I took a nap.
My
cell is more like a cubicle made out of a concrete block. Built to hold four men, mine holds six. Most others hold eight. My
cell-mates include two Dominicans serving 24- and 20-year sentences for drugs, a Mexican serving 15 years for drugs, a Puerto Rican serving 7 1/2
years for drug conspiracy, and the
former auditor of Cuyahoga County, Ohio who's doing a long sentence for corruption. They're all decent guys and
we actually enjoy each other's company.
