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| Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, 1622 Folsom Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 | Tel: (415) 621-5661 | Fax: (415) 621-5466 |
Authorities have found a letter at the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad that contains death threats against a state lawmaker leading a fight against prison corruption.
The document, under investigation by the FBI and California Highway Patrol, contains a white powdery substance and threats against state Sen. Gloria Romero and her family.
Romero, D-East Los Angeles, is chairwoman of the Senate Select Committee on the California Correctional System.
She's been at the center of highly charged Senate hearings that revealed the presence of an alleged gang of correctional officers at Salinas Valley State Prison, a maximum-security prison which sits adjacent to CTF.
The letter, discovered Feb. 6 among a bundle of legal mail addressed to an inmate, contained a white powdery substance that's yet to be identified, said Terri Thorton, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections.
In January Senate hearings, former SVSP correctional officer Donald Vodicka testified about the Green Wall. Intimidating inmates is one of its alleged purposes.
Thorton said it's unclear whether the letter addressed to Romero is related to the investigation into the Green Wall.
"I don't know if it relates," she said. "I'm sure the investigation will look at it."
Romero said she will not back down from her inquiries. "I will not be intimidated by threatening messages and acts of cowardice," she said.
No presence of the Green Wall has been detected at CTF, said Thornton.
Edward J. Caden, acting warden of SVSP, said he deplores the threat made against Romero.
"We fully support the senator in her oversight of the Department of Corrections," he said in a statement, adding that she would be welcome to tour the prison any time.
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