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HomeNewsArchivesPRISONER RETURN FROM MAINLAND COMPLETED

PRISONER RETURN FROM MAINLAND COMPLETED

The Virgin Islands Justice Department has completed the return to the territory of 146 inmates who were housed in federal facilities since 1989.
Under an agreement with the Commonwealth of Virginia, about a dozen prisoners, including the twice-escaped murder convict Bradley "Hurtie" Maxwell, will be sent back to maximum security prisons on the mainland, Attorney General Iver Stridiron said Wednesday. Negotiations continue with Virginia officials on an agreement to house the more notorious V.I. criminals there.
Twelve of the inmates to be kept in maximum security mainland prisons are already housed in stateside prisons. Stridiron said three more now housed in the V.I., including Maxwell, will be sent to maximum security facilities stateside.
Along with the return of the prisoners will hopefully come forgiveness of a $9.7 million debt to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Stridiron said the debt is down from the $16 million the Turnbull administration inherited two years ago.
He noted that the return of the prisoners to the V.I. has "gone without incident to date." Most of the prisoners are pleased to be back in the Virgin Islands in a jail that is familiar to them, he said.
"I am sure they would rather be in the V.I. than in state prisons which, as I understand it, are far worse in terms of security, lockdown and discipline," Stridiron said.
On another prison-related issue, Stridiron said the $25 million expansion of the Golden Grove Correctional Facility on St. Croix is just about completed. A dedication ceremony is being planned for Feb. 20.
"It's not that we are celebrating building more jails," Stridiron noted, but that the government was compelled "to increase the prison capacity by 200 beds to ensure safe conditions at the jail in St. Croix."

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