By Bob Kalinowski and Michael R. Sisak
Citizen’s Voice
CANAAN COUNTY — The suspect in the killing of federal correctional officer Eric Williams had much more freedom at the U.S. Penitentiary at Canaan than he did when he was imprisoned in Arizona.
That state treats members of violent prison gangs, like Jessie Con-ui and his New Mexican Mafia cohorts, as major security threats and keeps them locked away, in isolation, for 23 hours a day, prison officials there said.
At Canaan, it appeared Con-ui was in the general population - free to leave his cell for meals and other activities and free to ambush Williams just before lockdown on Feb. 25.
“We had him listed as a member of the Mexican Mafia. We housed him in a lockdown setting. At that time, he was doing his time, awaiting his case,” Sgt. D. Gomez, intelligence supervisor for the Fourth Avenue Jail in Maricopa County, Ariz., said.
Full story: Gang affiliation no concern to federal prison