Indictments spotlight prison rehab scams

Substance abuse claim can get time cut from sentence.

It’s a tip that has been passed onto convicts for years: On your way to federal prison, say you have a substance abuse problem, and you could qualify for a treatment program that knocks up to a year off your sentence.

Federal prosecutors have long suspected abuses in the program, which has enrolled a deep list of high-profile con- victs. Recently, a grand jury in Connecticut indicted three people accused of coaching ineligible convicts on how to get into the Residential Drug Abuse Program, or RDAP, by telling them to show up to prison intoxicated and fake withdrawal symptoms. The charges are among the first filed against prison consul- tants involving the program.

The case has put a spot- light on the unregulated world of prison consulting, in which some ex-convicts and former prison employees charge thousands of dollars for their inside knowledge to help prepare for life behind bars. Some consultants say there has been wrongdoing in the industry for decades, including encouraging cli- ents to scam their way into the rehab program.

The small industry now is “totally the Wild West,” said Jack Donson, president of New York-based My Federal Prison Consultant and a retired federal Bureau of Prisons employee.

“I hope it brings light to things,” he said, referring to the Connecticut case. “I hope it gives people … pause to not cross that line to illegal- ity and unethical conduct.”

Co m pleting the nine- month, 500-hour treatment program for nonviolent offenders is one of only a few ways inmates can get their sentences reduced. About 15,600 inmates — nearly 10 percent of the current federal prison population — par- ticipated in the program last year, and thousands more are on waiting lists. To get in, convicts must present evidence they had substance abuse or addiction prob- lems during the year prior to their arrest. Upon com- pletion, their sentences can be reduced and they can spend the last six months of their sentences in a half- way house.

Christopher Mattei, a former federal prosecutor in Connecticut, said the U.S. attorney’s office increasingly saw white-collar convicts make use of the program.

“It undermines the public’s confidence that all peo- ple when they go before a court for sentencing will be treated fairly. People who know how to game the system know how to get the benefits, whereas people who are struggling with addiction don’t know all the angles to play,” said Mattei, former chief of the financial fraud and public corruption unit in the Connecticut U.S. attorney’s office.

Former Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim went to prison for nearly seven years for corruption. Ganim took part in the drug treatment program, got released early in 2010 and made a stunning comeback by winning back the mayor’s seat in 2015.

That Ganim even had a substance abuse problem surprised the federal judge who sentenced him, since there had been no indication of such a problem. After his release, Ganim himself worked as a prison consultant and touted his knowledge of the drug program. He did not return messages seeking comment.

Questions have been raised about other prominent convicts. Former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell, sentenced to 30 months for tax evasion, completed the program, but the four-month early release he received was revoked in 2008 after prosecutors raised questions about whether he really had an alcohol problem.

Former Enron Treasurer Ben Glisan Jr. got five years after pleading guilty in 2003 in the fraud scandal, but he shaved 18 months off through good behavior and the drug treatment program.