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FBI: Inmates in prison riot upset over treatment

Published 3:54pm Monday, August 13, 2012

Staff and wire reports

JACKSON (AP) — The deadly May riot at the Adams County Correctional Center was started by a group of Mexican inmates angry about what they considered poor food and medical care and disrespectful guards, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit.

One guard was killed and 20 people were injured in the May 20 riot at the privately-run prison owned by Corrections Corporation of America, which holds illegal immigrants convicted of crimes in the United States.

The leaders of the Mexican inmates, known as the Paisas, demanded to take a list of grievances to the warden that day and told others in the group to disobey orders from prison staff, according to the FBI affidavit. The affidavit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Jackson, is part of a complaint charging one of the inmates with rioting.

Correction officer Catlin Carithers was beaten to death during the riot, which officials have said involved as many as 300 inmates and left the prison badly damaged. The affidavit does not say who killed Carithers.

The affidavit says the Paisas were the most influential group in the prison. But it had recently gone through a shake-up in its leadership because members thought the old leaders weren’t effective in communicating complaints to prison officials. The new leaders — Ernesto “Neto” Granados and Juan “Bobby” Arredondo — allegedly ordered the Paisas to disobey prison staff by refusing to return to their cells until their demands were met.

FBI spokeswoman Deborah Madden said Paisas are a loosely affiliated group within the prison, without ties to organized gangs.

“The Paisas were further instructed by their new leaders to destroy the prison if staff made any attempts to break up the riot,” the affidavit said. It says damages to the prison are estimated at more than $1.3 million. “In addition to destroying the prison, Paisas planned to assault the correction officers.”

At one point, the inmates gained access to a section of the prison by telling the warden they wanted to go back to their cells, but they ended up taking more hostages once they got into that part of the facility, the affidavit said. Other inmates were able to break through a fence and get a 32-foot ladder, which they used to get on the roof of a building. That’s where Carithers was killed.

The affidavit describes a chaotic scene in which inmates were picking up tear gas canisters and hurling them back at guards. Some guards locked themselves in safe rooms, but the inmates used keys taken from other officers to get into the rooms. They also looted the kitchen and commissary.

The affidavit is part of a criminal complaint that alleges that Juan Lopez-Fuentes was in charge of a group of inmates who took hostages in one section of the prison. Lopez-Fuentes allegedly forced one of the hostages, a prison guard, to relay orders for tactical teams to drop their weapons and back off.

The prison’s special response team and the Mississippi Highway Patrol’s SWAT team worked to end the riot while state and area law enforcement officers, some from neighboring Louisiana, helped secure the outside, officials have said.

The prison holds nearly 2,500 low-security inmates, with most serving time for coming back to the United States after being deported. The Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of America is one of the nation’s largest private prison companies.

Attorneys could not be found for Granados and Arredondo. Lopez-Fuentes’ attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

ACCC Warden Vance Laughlin said in July that investigations showed the riot was planned well in advance, but he believed it quickly got out of control. The incident started on a Sunday afternoon during a mass movement of people. He said between 500 and 700 inmates were believed to have participated.

  • Anonymous

    Similar to war crimes, it seems the new leaders could be held responsible for Carithers’ death since they issued orders to incite the rioters, including attacking the guards.  In the end, they were responsible, we just need some backbone in the justice system to make it stick.

  • vilou09

    So the rumors were true! Come on, it’s prison! If they don’t like it then let’s ship their asses back south of the border ! Buh-bye!!

  • Anonymous

    There can be “NO” excuses for these animals. They were in a cage for a reason. They had limited privaleges for a reason. ALL of the rioters should be charged with the death of Carithers…every last one of them. Let the court system sort them out.

  • Anonymous

    Take every one of those Mexican criminals to the border with Mexico and stand them against a wall in full view of the other side. THEN SHOOT THEM!!!
    Use a bull horn and tell the Mexicans that ANYONE wading across the river will be shot. I am tired of this bull.

  • Anonymous

    Charles Manson is behind bars for ordering the killing of others; and the ones that ordered the riot and killing should be put behind bars in a maximum security prison (or receive the death penalty) NOT deported back to their country to be able to come back and do the same thing over again or worse.
    Please explain to me where in the Constitution of the United States that it says non-citizens are given the same rights and privledges as the citizens of the US??!!

  • Anonymous

    Would it be cheaper to just ship these illegal aliens back to Mexico or where they came from?  Keeping them rocked up is just risky and too expensive.  This is a good example of how the government is wasting our tax dollars.  This policy didn’t start four years age.    

  • Anonymous

    Let me guess…you’re a Democrat

  • Anonymous

    They are in prison because they keep coming back illegally. Now they have taken the life of a guard and damaged the prison. The ones responcible should be sent to a maximum security prison and complain to them about their treatment. Personally I’d like to beat the crap out of them and tell them to stay in Ole Mexico…

  • Anonymous

    Nah, a Dem would want to keep them here for the rest of their lives so we can feed, clothe, and house them and give them free medical treatment.

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