Inmate transfer
went smoothly

The 308 prisoners were sent
to two states, with the worst
offenders going to Tennessee

By Rod Ohira
Star-Bulletin

Hawaii's latest shipment of inmates to the mainland included 126 men convicted of capital crimes, among them 13 murderers and 72 rapists.

Not all out-of-state facilities can accept murderers and rapists now, which is why the 308 inmates that left Hawaii on Wednesday were sent to separate prisons in Oklahoma and Tennessee operated by Corrections Corp. of America.

Oklahoma law does not allow for facilities to accept out-of-state inmates convicted of sex offenses and capital crimes, said Keith Kaneshiro, Hawaii Public Safety Director.

Texas passed a similar law since the 1995 transfer of Hawaii inmates to three jails there. The new law, which targets sex offenders, is not the result of any incidents involving isle transfers, Kaneshiro said.

Of the inmates who left Hawaii Wednesday, 180 were sent to North Fork Correctional Facility in Sayre, Okla., about 120 miles west of Oklahoma City.

Those convicted of the most serious crimes arrived yesterday at the Hardeman County Correctional Center in Whiteville, Tenn., 50 miles east of Memphis.

Kaneshiro said inmates are being housed in prison facilities, unlike previous transfers who were put into "dormlike facilities." They are more secure and have 24-hour medical, dental and mental health services, he said.

"We've received word they're all settled," he said. "There were no incidents during the transfer. A lot of the inmates that went on this transfer seemed willing and happy to go, and they did not resist in any way."

Kaneshiro noted that the private operations, and not the state, picks the inmates who are transferred.

The state is paying Corrections Corp. $44 a day per inmate as compared to $42 in Texas. Since CCA paid the transfer costs and provides on-site medical services at its facilities, the cost factor is about the same, he said.

At a news conference yesterday, Kaneshiro also said 64 female inmates from Hawaii will be transferred in August from Texas to the new Central Oklahoma Correctional Facility.

The state is negotiating for the transfer of 300 more inmates to mainland facilities before the end of the year. Once completed, the total transfer of 1,200 inmates will have cost the state more than $18 million.

Kaneshiro said the state also is looking at transferring Hawaii inmates being housed in Texas to other mainland prison facilities.

A recent Justice Department study said the Texas facilities failed to provide adequate security and inmate protection.

Reports of a fight Tuesday at the North Fork facility involving 200 inmates from Wisconsin and Oklahoma nearly held up Wednesday's transfer, Kaneshiro said.

"We talked to the warden there, and he assured us the Hawaii inmates would be in a separate housing facility from the inmates that are currently there," said Kaneshiro, who also received assurances from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections before allowing the transfer.

Kaneshiro added that he or staff members have done on-site inspections of all mainland facilities housing Hawaii inmates.

Prisons have high security, health services Of the 308 Hawaii inmates transferred Wednesday, 180 were sent to North Fork Correctional Facility in Sayre, Okla., and 128 to Hardeman County Correctional Center in Whiteville, Tenn. North Fork Correctional Facility Location: Sayre, Okla. Operator: Corrections Corp. of America Warden: Rich Hudson Capacity: 1,440 beds Inmate population: 960 from Oklahoma, 300 from Wisconsin, 180 from Hawaii Opened: January 1998 Housing: Two inmates per cell Security: Electronic surveillance, motion detectors, closed-circuit television cameras, double fencing with multiple coils of razor wire, armed perimeter patrol Programs: Counseling, basic education, vocational training, substance abuse treatment, facility work lines, correctional industries Medical: 24-hour on-site medical, dental, mental health and pharmaceutical services Hardeman County Correctional Center Location: Whiteville, Tenn. Operator: Corrections Corp. of America Warden: Alan Bargery Capacity: 2,016 beds; entire facility under one roof Inmate population: 1,500 from Tennessee, 100 from Indiana, 128 from Hawaii Opened: May 1997 Housing: Two inmates per cell Security: Electronic surveillance, motion detectors, closed-circuit television cameras, double fencing with multiple coils of razor wire, armed perimeter patrol Programs: Counseling, basic education, vocational training, substance abuse and sex-offender treatment, facility work lines Medical: 24-hour on-site medical, dental, mental health and pharmaceutical services Notorious notables now in Tennessee Star-Bulletin Convictions for the 128 Hawaii inmates sent to Hardeman County Correctional Center in Tennessee include 13 for murder, 72 for sex offenses, 27 for assaults, seven for manslaughter and seven for attempted murder. Notables include: Segundo "Cuco" Matias: Subject of "America's Most Wanted" television program manhunt for April 1988 shooting of fashion model Lee Ann Kauhane. Jeffrey Kealoha: Enforcer for organized crime boss Henry Huihui who pleaded guilty to taking part in 1977 shooting death of David Rivera, a suspected police informant. Robert Krug: Killed Philippine-born wife Helen and tossed her dismembered body down a rubbish chute of his Ala Wai condominium building. Timothy Gieffels: 1979 ax slaying on Maui of a Kihei man. Paul Piko: Admitted in 1980 that he was paid $100 by prison inmate Walter Joao to shoot Raymond Deicken in 1973 in a dispute over a debt owed. Robert Claude Jones: July 1995 stabbing death of Robert Harlak in Kailua-Kona. Gary Karagianes: June 1997 shooting death of 18-year-old Ramien Bocanegra on Maui. Brian Luton: April 1993 stabbing death of Joanna Larson-Hammink, a visitor from Minnesota, in her Aston Waikikian on the Beach hotel room. John Oliveira: 1981 Christmas Eve stabbing death of drinking acquaintance James Cunningham at a Kakaako park in a dispute over a dollar. Rudy Tabios: December 1991 stabbing death of girlfriend Jermalyn "Josie" Manuel in Kalihi. Charles Tai: April 1986 shooting death of Victor Ohelo in Chinatown. Peniamina Tanoa: 1993 stabbing death of Robert Sevaatasi at Makua Beach. Rejean Boucher: Canadian visitor who strangled his girlfriend, Heide Stoiber, in December 1990 in Waikiki. James Dilwith Jr.: Retired Kauai police lieutenant who sexually assaulted a juvenile girl in 1994. Richard Blaisdell: A piano tuner who sexually assaulted three neighborhood girls, ages 9, 12 and 14, in 1994.