Prison News | Ohio

• Education & Rehabilitation
• Executions, Death Row, & the Death Penalty
• Gangs in Prison
• Health & Medical Treatment
• Prison Classification, Placement, and Release
• Prison Conditions & Corruption
• Prison Life & Prison Culture
• Riots, Lockdowns & Escapes
• Suicides in Prison
• Workplace & Industry News and Science & Tech

Education & Rehabilitation

• Jail operator sold; to focus on re-entry services
  
  The companies will work to reduce the repeat-offender rate. ... [ more ]
  Youngstown Vindicator , Wednesday, May 30, 2007
  
  

Executions, Death Row & the Death Penalty

• Ohio Death Row Inmate Has Sentence Reduced To 30-To-Life
  
  A judge reduced the sentence of an Ohio death row inmate Thursday to 30 years to life after his conviction was overturned based on new evidence suggesting his infant daughter's death was accidental.... [ more ]
  WOSU Radio Home, Thursday, June 27, 2019
  
  

Gangs in Prison

• Members and Associates of Vic Boys Street Gang Arrested and Indicted
  
  The Mahoning Valley Violent Crimes Task Force, an FBI-sponsored task force, announces the arrest of Vic Boys criminal street gang members and their associates after a Mahoning County grand jury returned a 48-count indictment charging nine people for their participation in the Youngstown-area criminal street gang and four others because of their association with the criminal street gang. In addition, three people were charged through the Mahoning County Juvenile Court for their participation in the criminal street gang.... [ more ]
  US Department of Justice, Monday, August 12, 2013
  
  
• Bid to smuggle contraband into Lucas County jail brings 4-year term
  
  Maples, 19, of 818 Fernwood Ave. was sentenced to four years in prison on one count of conveying illegal drugs into a detention facility... [ more ]
  Toledo Blade , Friday, June 15, 2007
  
  
• Jail operator sold; to focus on re-entry services
  
  The companies will work to reduce the repeat-offender rate. ... [ more ]
  Youngstown Vindicator , Wednesday, May 30, 2007
  
  
• Do Women Have it Better than Men in Prison?
  
  A recent study conducted by Ohio and New Mexico researchers found that women in prison have better social supports, and participate in...... [ more ]
  Insideprison.com, Wednesday, November 1, 2006
  
  

Health & Medical Treatment

Prison Classification, Placement, & Release

• Escape draws heightens concerns at Ohio prison
  
  LIMA, Ohio -- The escape by three inmates, including the killer of three students in the 2012 Chardon High School rampage, from the Allen Oakwood Correctional Institution drew accusations from union officials about inadequate staffing levels and security problems at the facility.... [ more ]
  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Friday, September 12, 2014
  
  
• Ohio�s prison population expected to increase
  
  Columbus — Two years ago, lawmakers adopted sweeping reforms to crime and punishment in Ohio on the promise that it would lead to fewer inmates in the state prison system and taxpayers would save big money. But so far the changes have not paid off.... [ more ]
  Dayton Daily News, Thursday, August 29, 2013
  
  

Prison Conditions & Corruption

• Issue 11 aims to prevent jail overcrowding for female inmates
  
  Portage County Sheriff David Doak said the jail began to see a spike in its female population about two years ago. Doak attributes the rise in female inmates to drug use and said Portage County isn’t the only jail having trouble with overcrowding.... [ more ]
  U-Wire, Friday, October 31, 2014
  
  
• State prison workers caught having sex with inmates Guards fired for relationships with women inmates.
  
  Allegations of sex, romance and other inappropriate relationships between inmates and staff at a southwest Ohio prison increased after it switched to an all-female prison, costing four employees their jobs and spurring more than a dozen internal investigations, the Journal-News has found.... [ more ]
  Dayton Daily News, Sunday, June 15, 2014
  
  
• Correction officer released by Ohio jail inmates
  
  WARREN, Ohio (AP) - A correction officer taken hostage by three inmates at an Ohio county jail has been released unharmed, and the inmates have been taken to a maximum-security facility.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Wednesday, April 23, 2014
  
  
• Ohio addresses sex assaults in youth prisons
  
  COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Ohio officials plan to spend $200,000 for a consultant to help reduce inmate sexual assaults in the state's youth prisons.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Wednesday, February 26, 2014
  
  
• Past audits show Aramark charged states for unserved prison meals, subbed ingredients
  
  COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A private vendor in line to begin feeding roughly 100,000 prison inmates in Ohio and Michigan has a track record of billing for food it doesn't serve, using substandard ingredients and riling prisoners with its meal ...... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Sunday, July 14, 2013
  
  
• Report: Ohio prison staff members use force more often against black inmates
  
  COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Prison staff members use force more often against black inmates than whites, according to new state-commissioned report.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Friday, July 12, 2013
  
  
• Ohio staff to evaluate climate at youth prisons after report lists high sexual assault rates
  
  COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Prompted by a federal report on sexual assaults of incarcerated young people, Ohio is sending employees to its four juvenile corrections facilities to talk with youth and reiterate their options for reporting assaults ...... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Tuesday, June 11, 2013
  
  
• Bid to smuggle contraband into Lucas County jail brings 4-year term
  
  Maples, 19, of 818 Fernwood Ave. was sentenced to four years in prison on one count of conveying illegal drugs into a detention facility... [ more ]
  Toledo Blade , Friday, June 15, 2007
  
  

Prison Life & Culture

• Ohio prisons, private vendor, developing new menu
  
  Inmates and staff were surveyed about current foods they like and dislike, along with items they want eliminated or added, according to a list of responses by the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to recommendations by a legislative oversight committee.

  The agency also said it has raised the bar for determining when Philadelphia-based Aramark Correctional Services must take action based on evaluations. Previously, action plans were required if evaluation scores fell below 80 percent. The agency has raised that to 84 percent, according to the recommendations provided by agency director Gary Mohr.... [ more ]

  theState.com, Wednesday, September 24, 2014
  
  
• Ohio inmates advise students on 'what not to do'
  
  LIBERTY, Ohio (AP) — At one time, the four men standing in front of the roomful of eighth-graders at W.S. Guy Middle School were just like them.

  They were making their transitions from childhood to adulthood — about to step up from junior high to high school.

  They had their dreams about what they wanted out of life. For them, it was careers in law enforcement, engineering, construction and sports.... [ more ]

  Associated Press, Sunday, June 8, 2014
  
  
• OHIO INMATE FREED IN 1988 MURDER SUES PROSECUTORS
  
  CINCINNATI (AP) -- An Ohio man freed after spending 20 years in prison for a murder that his attorneys say he didn't commit has sued those responsible for his conviction, accusing them of taking advantage of his mental illness and railroading him into confessing.

  The civil rights lawsuit, filed in federal court in Cleveland on Monday, says that Richland County Prosecutor James Mayer...... [ more ]

  Associated Press, Wednesday, April 2, 2014
  
  
• Cleveland man confesses to murders, rapes, sentenced to 445 years
  
  CHICAGO, Dec 30 (Reuters) - A former neighbor of Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro pleaded guilty on Monday to murders and rapes committed nearly two decades ago and was sentenced to more than 400 years in prison with no chance of parole, prosecutors said.... [ more ]
  Reuters, Monday, December 30, 2013
  
  
• Ariel Castro had a Bible open next to him and a list of his children's names next to him when he hanged himself
  
  Details about Cleveland kidnapper and rapist Ariel Castro’s suicide have revealed that he hanged himself in his prison cell and left notes with Bible verses and the names of his children and grandchildren written beside him.... [ more ]
  Daily Mail Online, Friday, September 20, 2013
  
  
• EXCLUSIVE: Ariel Castro's victims have 'mixed feelings' about his suicide because of the bond they shared with him for ten years
  
  Ariel Castro's victims have mixed feelings about the suicide of the man they spent ten years of their life with due to the warped bond they shared with him, MailOnline can reveal today.... [ more ]
  Daily Mail Online, Wednesday, September 4, 2013
  
  
• Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro, who held 3 women captive for a decade, will be isolated from inmates in prison
  
  CLEVELAND (AP) - The Cleveland man sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison for kidnapping and raping three women over the last decade will start his term isolated from other inmates.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Friday, August 2, 2013
  
  
• Captor to captive: What's in store for Ariel Castro?
  
  (CNN) -- Though one of the women Ariel Castro kidnapped, raped and held against her will for 11 years told him during his sentencing hearing that his hell was "just beginning," that may not exactly be the case.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Friday, August 2, 2013
  
  
• Do Women Have it Better than Men in Prison?
  
  A recent study conducted by Ohio and New Mexico researchers found that women in prison have better social supports, and participate in...... [ more ]
  Insideprison.com, Wednesday, November 1, 2006
  
  

Riots, Lockdowns & Escapes

• Ohio Man Jailed, Said He Shot at Jewish Center
  
  An Ohio man is in jail after police received a tip about an online video where he identified himself as the shooter at a Jewish community center, an incident that hadn’t happened yet. James Reardon, 20, was arrested Friday on charges of telecommunications harassment and aggravated menacing, the FBI said, reports USA Today. ... [ more ]
  thecrimereport.org, Monday, August 19, 2019
  
  
• Inmate dies after assault at jail
  
  DAYTON — An inmate who suffered serious injuries in an assault at the Tri-County Jail died early Friday morning at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton.... [ more ]
  Daytona Daily News, Saturday, April 12, 2014
  
  
• Ohio inmate walks away from work assignment crew along Interstate 70, search under way
  
  COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - State prisons officials say an inmate has walked away from a work assignment along Interstate 70 near London, Ohio. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said 28-year-old Spencer Johnson left an outside ...... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Monday, August 5, 2013
  
  

Suicides in Prison

• State to pay cost of Cleveland kidnapper autopsy
  
  COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The state prisons agency has agreed to reimburse county taxpayers for the autopsy of Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro after his prison suicide last year.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Thursday, February 6, 2014
  
  
• Ohio death row inmate called suicide inevitable
  
  COLUMBUS, OHIO — An Ohio death row inmate who killed himself just days before his execution called his suicide inevitable in a three-page note and expressed resentment that Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro got a life sentence, according to a police report released Thursday.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Thursday, October 24, 2013
  
  
• Ariel Castro found dead in prison
  
  Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro has been found dead inside his cell at the Correction Reception Centre in Orient, Ohio, according to prison authorities.... [ more ]
  RTE.ie, Wednesday, September 4, 2013
  
  
• Man Who Held Ohio Women Captive Is Found Dead
  
  Ariel Castro, the Cleveland man sentenced last month to life in prison for holding three women captive in his home for a decade, was found hanging in his prison cell on Tuesday night after apparently committing suicide, officials said. He was later declared dead at the hospital.... [ more ]
  New York Times Online, Wednesday, September 4, 2013
  
  

Workplace & Industry News, and Science & Tech News

• Report on Ohio inmate escape cites prison staff errors in crew counts, response to alarms
  
  Corrections staff failed to properly count work crews and follow policy in responding to alarms when an inmate used ladders to escape a state prison last month, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said. The department said four employees from the Mansfield Correctional Institution have been placed on administrative leave pending further review and might face discipline. ... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Friday, August 9, 2013
  
  
• 2 officers working at time of Ohio death row inmate's suicide put on leave amid investigation
  
  COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Two corrections officers working when a death row inmate apparently hanged himself have been put on paid administrative leave as the Ohio prisons department investigates what happened.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Friday, August 9, 2013