Tennessee Prison Officials Concoct Cover-Up Story to Fitzpatrick Allegations

BUT ARE WE SURPRISED?

by Sharon Rondeau

(Jul. 6, 2015) — On Monday morning, a Tennessee citizen who last week contacted State Rep. John Forgety’s office regarding allegations made by Walter Francis Fitzpatrick, III that he was threatened with assault by a prison instructor at the Northwest Correctional Center (NWCX) has received a response.

In numerous letters received over the last six weeks by The Post & Email, Fitzpatrick has described escalating harassment, unwarranted screaming on the part of Correctional Officer Lexie Smith, threats of losing privileges and being thrown in “the hole.”  He was then scheduled for a disciplinary hearing after staff insinuated that he is mentally ill.

Fitzpatrick wrote in a subsequent letter that on June 19, the threat of “I’ll beat you into the middle of next week” was made against him by instructor Terry Hopper if he were to continue to refuse to participate in the Pro-Social Life Skills (PSLS) course.  Fitzpatrick said that prison authorities often enroll inmates in classes which they do not need or have already taken in order to bill the federal government for up to $3,000 for each participant.

Fitzpatrick said he declined to take part in the Pro-Social Life Skills class because the workbook exercises require inmates to admit to criminal behavior.  Fitzpatrick maintains he is innocent of any wrongdoing.  His attorney, Van Irion, argued on May 19 in an appeals hearing that the case against Fitzpatrick arose only because “he annoyed the wrong person.”

On June 30, The Post & Email reported that Fitzpatrick had sent us a grievance form he completed which was rejected by prison staff for alleged “inappropriateness.”  The Post & Email has written to both NWCX warden Mike Parris and TDOC Commissioner Derrick Schofield but received no response from either official.

Since April 2010, Fitzpatrick has been jailed a total of seven times between Monroe and McMinn Counties in the state’s Tenth Judicial District after attempting to expose constitutional and statutory violations on the part of judges and others. Last August, he was sentenced to three years in state prison after a trial jury convicted him of aggravated perjury and extortion after seeking an audience with the McMinn County grand jury.

In his latest letter, Fitzpatrick stated that on the morning of June 26, Smith unexpectedly announced during breakfast that an inmate, meaning Fitzpatrick, had accused his fellow inmates of bilking the federal government and that that inmate would be promptly moved to a different section of the prison. Fitzpatrick also wrote (spelling errors left intact):

Authorities here at NWCX are in a panic news of their federal funds ripoff is out in public.

Correctional officers, as I reported–are coming through my paperwork frantically searching for their names in your print articles.

I mentioned before Correctional Officer Dorton (first name not known… yet), in a statement he made to me during his interrogation during my cell shakedown using the word “incriminating” referring (I thought then) to paperwork Dorton was accusing me of concealing.

I reacted as sternly as was prudent–but effectively–I was insulted taking great offense to his suggesting I had hidden fruits of a crime I’d committed.  I thought Dorton was shakeing me down (with Corporal Spillers and CO Jenkins) to find written work product incriminating me.

But now the course correction–brought to my attention unsolicited from another source–

Post & Email print articles and companion radio interviews bring public notice to–for the first time–the explosive fraud TDOC/NWCX officials have perpetrated on the federal treasury for years and years.

Rencent news reports on told about narrate an FBI nationwide raid on medical care providers caught bilking federally backed to Medicade and Medicare programs.  Arrests of hundreds of nurses, doctors and other health care professionals for billing the federal government for services not rendered, or double billing or over billing.

TDOC authorities, as evidenced here at NWCX, use the same fraudulent financial schemes to steal federal funds by way of the Pro Social Life Skills and Therapeudic Community programs.

With the interlude comparison, the course correction being made now is this:

CO Dorton’s specific comment and focus on “incriminating”printed materials during the cell shakedown was a demonstration of aroused fear and anger I was hiding print media or other documents “incriminating” TDOC/NWCX authorities (guys like Dorton, Spillers and Jenkins)… not myself!!

It was widly observed, recognized and accepted the forcing function driving the strip search and cell shakedown was the revelation, at last, of the truth regarding the massive–years long–scan making it to a credible, respected major (countrywide) news outlet…

The Post & Email

Forgety represents Tennessee’s 23rd House district, which includes McMinn County, where Fitzpatrick was residing before he was arrested for bringing a petition to the local grand jury alleging corruption on the part of judges, prosecutors, and the grand jury foreman.  Tennessee law permits any citizen believing he has evidence of a crime to approach his county grand jury to petition for a hearing. The Fifth Amendment to the Bill of Rights describes the grand jury as an intervening body between and accused and the government, acting on behalf of and accuser.

In Tennessee, frequently there is no accuser accept a government prosecutor. In Fitzpatrick’s case, alleging the victim Jeffrey Cunningham denied at the pre-trial hearing that he ever filed a criminal complaint or spoke to a prosecutor about anything Fitzpatrick had done.  The sole “evidence” presented against Fitzpatrick was the numerous petitions he attempted to advance to the grand jury over roughly the space of a year and half.

Following Fitzpatrick’s conviction, Irion said that the verdict had a “chilling effect” on free speech and that he was now afraid to approach a grand jury or recommend it to any of his clients.

The response from Forgety’s office to the Tennessee citizen reads:

We have received a response from our liaison with the Department.  Please see that response below.  As it states, the allegations of threats will be investigated and appropriate action will be taken if deemed necessary.

Please let us know if you have further questions.

On Saturday, The Post & Email published a portion of a letter received on Friday from Fitzpatrick in which he reported that the disciplinary hearing and his participation in the Pro-Social Life Skills course were canceled. He has also been moved to a different part of the prison. Reportedly, Hopper said to him as he moved his belongings out of his former cell, “You all come back and see us some time now, ya hear!”

Nearly five hours after we sent the email to Thrasher and Forgety, no response has been received.

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Update, July 7, 2015, 6:38 p.m. EDT:  No response from Thrasher or Forgety has been received.

The Post & Email wishes to correct the record in that the accuser referred to in the Roane County article referred to above did, in fact, contact The Post & Email afterward to dispute it.  We hope to interview Andrew Cook later this month.