JAMES CROSBY JUST SENTENCED
Tuesday, April 24, 2007 5:01 PMFull details are in report by Dan Miller, Ex-FSP warden Ron McAndrew and others who were in the Florida courtroom today..
What we know at this minute is that ex-FDOC secretary James Crosby was sentenced to eight (8) years in prison and a number of other stipulations which I do not know at this time.The female judge was reported to be fair but firm. She told Crosby, "You were entrusted with the entire department and everyone connected with it. You failed everyone."Allan Clark will be sentenced tomorrow.Someone once told me that efforts to reform Florida's prisons was like "pushing sh-t up a hill with a pointy stick." My reply, "At the very least it's good for my spirit, so give me another stick!"Victory to everyone who keeps pushing.Kay Lee
kaylee1@charter.net
James Crosby et al
https://www.angelfire.com/oz/today/leaders.htmlThe sentencing of former Florida DOC Secretary James V. Crosby
By Dan MillerDear Friends & Fellow Supporters of Florida DOC Reform:
1:45 p.m. April 24, 2007, United States District Courthouse, Jacksonville, Florida:
I had never seen him in person before. And there he sat between his two attorneys … swiveling back and forth slightly – clearly nervously -- his earned throne enveloping him; the chair in which he would finally meet Lady Justice.
James Vernon Crosby, Jr.: former Secretary of the Florida Department of Correction, current criminal defendant in U.S. v. Crosby, 3:06-cr-207-J-33 MCR. He had pled guilty to charges involving an illegal kickback scheme in which he engaged with codefendant protégé Allen Clark.
But there was so much more; his plea agreement provided he would not be charged with other offenses for having engaged in a taxpayer-subsidized crime spree covering nearly the entire Florida Penal Code.
Now-Secretary James McDonough was called by the United States Assistant Attorney to give an impact statement. Secretary McDonough testified that the day he was appointed by former Governor Bush to take control over the DOC, he arrived at his office to find it taped off with tape reading “Crime Scene.”
He testified to the number of people involved in the Florida prison system: 28,000 employees, 90,000 inmates, another 150,000 or so former inmates now under probation supervision. He explained he found “a cancer in the department,” that “DOC senior management did damage” and that “staff took the law into their own hands.”
Somewhat humorously he mentioned, when confronted over their corruptness, many wanted him to excuse them since they were “only a little corrupt.” He volunteered that the inmates ultimately suffered. Never before from a government official have I ever witnessed such true candor.
In the Pre-Sentence Investigation Report, the prosecutor noted, told the federal probation officer he didn’t engage in the $100,000-plus kickback scheme for pecuniary gain; that he did it for social reasons. The U.S. Attorney further noted the report stated Crosby took issue over co-conspirators not being charged.
Crosby yet seemingly unashamed voice, he says: “I’m sorry for what I did … I failed a lot of people. He acknowledged he set “a real poor example.” He said he wanted to apologize to Secretary McDonough for the condition of the DOC when McDonough took his place. But sincerity appeared lacking. It seemed the only thing he was genuinely sorry for was his having been caught.
And then came the turn of the Honorable Virginia M. Hernandez Covington; soft-spoken, very polite, extraordinarily professional, yet clearly in charge. She told Crosby she was disappointed he hadn’t yet made any effort to pay the $130,000 he owed under his plea agreement; she said she was taking that fact into account. Responding to defense protests that Crosby should not be sentenced any more severely than Clark, who was expected to be afforded more leniency, she observed that Crosby was in charge of the entire department and in a position of trust.
James Vernon Crosby, Jr. was sentenced to serve 96 months imprisonment. He was given 30 days to turn himself in. He was also sentenced to three years post-release supervision, during which time he will be required to be regularly tested for drug and alcohol use. And he was further directed to pay the $130,000 he owes under the terms of his plea agreement. Judge Covington then made clear that the sentence could not be appealed since it fell within the middle range of the advisory federal sentencing guidelines.
Under federal law inmate James V. Crosby, Jr. will have to serve 85% of his sentence in custody; slightly over 6 years, 9-1/2 months. But under federal law he can cut his time behind bars by up to a year for successful completion of a chemical dependency rehabilitative program. And the last few months of his sentence can be served in a halfway house. As it stands, at minimum he will serve more than four years inside a federal prison.
There is, however, yet another opportunity for Crosby to further cut his sentence; under Rule 35 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, within one year of sentence imposition, the government may move for reduction of a defendant’s sentence based on his or her substantial assistance in the investigation or prosecution of others.
The defense made known to the court that Crosby had been cooperating with authorities, the prosecuting attorney acknowledged his ongoing cooperation. Conceivable then is that Crosby may be re-sentenced in the future to a lesser term.
Regardless of how much time he actually ends up serving in prison, today justice was served. Life will not be pleasant for Good Ole Boy Jimmy. He’ll no doubt serve his time in minimum security camp somewhere, but he’ll be counted three or four times each day. He’ll be told when to sleep and when to eat. He’ll have to scrimp on toilet paper and toothpaste. He’ll be on par with every other inmate in the system. And his identity and past will be known; from the corrections officers who tell him what to do to the inmates sleeping next to him, he will be known as James V. Crosby, former Secretary of the Florida Department of Correction, arguably the most corrupt and volatile prison system in America.
Prison officials will all know he disgraced their profession. The inmates will all know of the brutality Florida inmates suffered under his watch. He’ll live in constant uncertainty and fear. He won’t know if or when he’ll be raped, beat up, stabbed, or worse. The fear he put into so many Florida DOC inmates will soon be his own. Be it one year or twenty, 24 hours a day 365 each he will know it, smell it, taste it, and he will feel it, for that is the way of prisons.
Undeniable is that prisons serve a viable need in this country. There are the ruthless murderers, child rapists and such from which society needs and deserves to be forever protected.
And then there are the drug dealers, the thieves, and the many other less dangerous types; the offenders who will one day be re-released back to society, the offenders we as a body public entrust our prison officials to rehabilitate. As an educated society we know that rehabilitation is best fostered by the setting of examples.
Crosby’s administration viciously murdered inmates (Frank Valdes and Archie Davis to name two), they savagely assaulted many more, they ignored established security protocol resulting in the death of Correction Officer Darla Lathrem, they condoned the sexual assaults and harassment of other female employees, they stole from inmates and their families, they stole from the public, they lied, they did much more.
The question therefore begged is, as a society, how can we reasonably expect law breakers to be rehabilitated by corrections officials who flagrantly break the law themselves?
As a man who was wrongly convicted and imprisoned in the State of New York where I was personally subjected to countless fabricated misbehavior reports, many months of unwarranted solitary confinement, numerous assaults at the hands of rogue corrections officers, and myriad other injustices by prison officials, I hereby express my sincere gratitude to the following people for having played such an important part in my ability to fight for meaningful prison reform today as a law-abiding concerned citizen:
New York State Correction Officer Pierre Brisson. Through his having stood up for me time and again against his superiors when I was falsely accused of some phantom disciplinary violation, it was he who first impressed upon me that there are indeed good corrections officials concerned with the mistreatment of inmates, good corrections officials who refuse to be corrupted by morally bankrupt co-workers bent on making sport of inmate abuse.
Former Florida State Prison Warden Ron McAndrew. By his having bravely cut squarely across the grain of the Good Ole Boy system in Florida’s prisons, and by having commendably reported to authorities the illegal activities of his co-workers, he reinforced in me my long-held belief that with enough perseverance, one person can make a difference. And beyond that, knowing of my personal past, his willingness to communicate freely with me – his acceptance of me – he encourages me to become proof positive that ex-offenders can indeed successfully reintegrate back into society without bearing the shame of their status as such.
Florida DOC Secretary James McDonough. By his having fired so many corrupt corrections officials, by his having promoted the ones demonstrating professionalism, by his having implemented an employee code of conduct, and by his having done during his short tenure so many other commendable things intended to bring credibility to the DOC, he has shown to me remarkable leadership qualities seemingly heretofore so very foreign to the Florida prison system.
Moreover, that today he testified with such candor as to the state in which he found the DOC when first appointed Interim Secretary, shows he truly is a man of integrity in which we can all trust to make the DOC operate as it should.
Governor Charlie Crist. By his having reappointed Secretary McDonough to the helm of the DOC, he has demonstrated commitment to long-overdue meaningful prison reform I Florida. And by having recently pushed through legislation restoring the civil rights of ex-offenders, he has further shown a commitment to helping ease the insurmountable burdens faced by former Florida prisoners.
And finally, I express my sincere thanks to all the many other public officials and private citizens who have in any way supported my efforts aimed at meaningful prison reform in the State of Florida.
With his sentencing to prison, the story of Crosby Corrupts Corrections is now over. But yet remaining are the aftereffects of his evil regime; both inmates and staff too yet suffer, we still have a long way to go. I therefore urge you one and all to continue forward in your missions to improve the system for everyone involved, and that you each throw your support behind Secretary McDonough.
Dan Miller, President
dan_miller@irontriangle.org
The Iron Triangle Accountability Project, Inc.
P.O. Box 7076
Panama City Beach, Florida 32413
