The Associated Press
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — New York corrections officials say an inmate serving time for raping a 12-year-old female relative in 1996 has returned to prison after an outcry over his eligibility for a heart transplant.
Department of Correctional Services spokeswoman Linda Foglia said Monday that Kenneth Pike was flown back to Coxsackie prison in the Hudson Valley on Friday from a Rochester hospital where he was taken for a transplant evaluation last month.
The 55-year-old’s sister, Sharon Cardinal, says he changed his mind about the transplant after news reports sparked a debate over inmates receiving organ transplants at taxpayers’ expense. The procedure could have cost up to $800,000.
Pike is serving an 18-to-40-year sentence. Relatives say he has a pacemaker, recently underwent a triple bypass and would likely die without a transplant.