ASHEVILLE - Five people sentenced in connection with Buncombe County government corruption likely will serve their timeat minimum-security facilities, some of them possibly being sent tomedical centers, according to experts on federal prisons.
Former manager Wanda Greene, three other county administrators and a longtime contractorwill report to the federal Bureau of Prisons for their sentences after U.S. District Judge Robert Conrad on Aug. 28 handed down penalties ranging from six months to seven years.
Despite requests from several defendants to avoid prison time, Conrad said the sentences were needed to help restore public faith in local government aftera "betrayal of trust."
The sentence for 68-year-old Greene—Buncombe's manager for nearly two decades and according to Conrad, the "architect" of a culture of corruption in county government—carried the most time: seven years for a series of crimes that included using taxpayer funds for personal credit card purchases and life insurance, along with other fraudulent schemes.
One of Greene's schemes also involved her assistant managersMandy Stone and Jon Creighton, who took vacations funded by Georgia-based engineer Joe Wiseman in exchange for county contracts.Sixty-year-old Stone was sentenced to 33 months, and 68-year-old Creighton received 18 months.
Wiseman, 59, was sentenced to 37 months.
Michael Greene, Wanda Greene's 48-year-old son and former Buncombe business intelligence manager, was sentenced to six months in prison for his involvement in the abuse of county-issued credit cards.
• Hubris, greed and arrogance — and some humility — on display at sentencings
When the corrupt officials will voluntarily surrender to begin their sentenceshas not been disclosed. Conrad allowed the defendants to self-report because they have complied with the conditions of their release since being charged and have no criminal history prior to their white-collar offenses. Federal prosecutors did not oppose.
In an email to the Citizen Times, the Bureau of Prisons' public affairs office said the agency in some cases establishes an individual's surrender date but does not disclose that information for security reasons.
"Per BOP policy, if an individual were to come into BOP custody for designation to a facility, the inmate's specific designation information (i.e., location and arrival date) is not releasable until after an individual arrives at his or destination," the agency said.
Outside experts say on average, offenders report for their prison terms aboutfour weeks after sentencing. The process will include court documents, including sentencing reports and other filings, and a process by federal officials using those records to classify the inmate's security level and medical classifications.
"Without any kind of special requests, the average judge is saying anywhere from four to six weeks for the surrender date," said Jack Donson,a federal prison expert who worked for the Bureau of Prisons for more than 20 years as a correctional treatment specialist and case management coordinator.
Read more about Buncombe County corruption:
►Recap of live updates: Corrupt Buncombe County officials have been sentenced in federal court
►Prosecutors say Greene's 4-year sentence request is not enough for 'breathtaking' crimes
►Wanda Greene's CPA license revoked for 'deceptive conduct'
Where will they serve their sentence?
The Bureau of Prisons said it has the sole responsibility in determining where its more than 177,000 offenders will serve their sentence.
"While we cannot speak specifically to the circ*mstances relating to an individual inmate's designation to a BOP institution, we can share that there are a number of factors that are considered when designating inmates, such as security, population, programming, and medical needs," the agency said.
The bureau said on its website that it generally attempts to designate inmates to facilities within a 500-mile radius of their residence. If that inmate is placed farther, it's likely due to "security, programming or population concerns," it said.
Donson said the nature of the county officials' crimes likely means "they're camp-bound"— designated tofederal prison camps, the system's minimum-security facilities.
The Bureau of Prisons said these facilities comprise "dormitory housing, a relatively low staff-to-inmate ratio, and limited or no perimeter fencing." Some prisons with other security levels also have what's known as a satellite prison camp, housing minimum-security offenders who "provide inmate labor to the main institution and to off-site work programs."
There are 122 prisons in the federal system.
The Butner prison complex, located about 25 miles northwest of Raleigh,houses low- and medium-security male inmates. It also has a medical center which includes inmates of all security levels with health issues. Former Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Medford is serving his15-year sentence there for a separate public corruption scandal in which he took bribes from illegal video poker operators.
Fewer options for women offenders
For Stone and Greene, there are fewer options — only 29 house women, and only two are considered solely minimum-security, according to the Bureau of Prisons website: A federal prison camp more than 1,000 miles away from Ashevillein Bryan, Texas;and about 250 miles away in Alderson, West Virginia, where television personality Martha Stewart served time stemming from her insider trading case.
There also are medical centers that take minimum-security female inmates.
Bruce Cameron, founder of Texas-based consulting firmFederal Prison Authority whose career at the Bureau of Prisons included overseeing inmate treatment in a five-state region, saidfewerfemale inmates make for fewer options. Women make up just 7% of the federal prison system's population.
"So statistically, 93% of their cohorts are males and they're going to have more availability," Cameron said.
Experts said high-profile cases could mean prison designations far from home — either to remove them from where they once held power or to separate co-defendants, among other reasons.
Donson said if an offender has gained particular notoriety, the bureau may tend to put the case "under a microscope, as far as every activity and designation." He said those offenders typically have attracted national press, however, and such treatment likely wouldn't extend to those whose cases were high-profile only locally.
Jose Santana, a retired Bureau of Prisons executive and consultant with Federal Prison Authority, said officials will consider a "broad publicity" category when deciding where to designate high-profile offenders.
"The philosophy is to place these individuals out of their area of influence," he said.
Health issues to play key factor
Conrad said in court will he recommend that Wiseman, who suffers from serious health problemsincluding a severe case of Type II diabetes, be designated to a facility with the lowest possible security level and that is equipped to handle his medical needs. He mentioned Butner, which has a medical center within its complex.
Wiseman's attorneys, David Brown and Holly Pierson, had described the ex-contractor's health issues at length during his sentencing hearing. The engineer previously has suffered skin cancer and was forced to have a toe amputated because of diabetes complications, they said. His diabetes requires expensive and regular treatment to avoid future amputations.
Wiseman also has a history of substance abuse.
It's possible federal officials also may consider a prison closer to his Roswell, Georgia, home. And the agency may consider housing Wiseman and Creighton at separate facilities.
"For the most part, if they're co-defendants or testified against each other, they can't live in the same institution," Santana said.
Greene's medical conditions narrow the possibilities even further. She is undergoing treatment for lymphoma after previously battling breast cancer, attorney Noell Tin said, and she's expected to soon resume radiation.
Experts said if Greene has aserious medical condition, she'll likely be assigned tothe Carswell medical center.
A female-only facility in Fort Worth, Texas, Carswell has nearly 1,300 inmates at its medical center and more than 300 at its adjacent minimum security satellite camp.It's about 1,000 miles away from Asheville.
"The BOP provides timely and efficient designations and movements of inmates with health care needsfrom initial commitment or from current institutions to locations that possess the required health care resources while meeting the community standard of medical care," the agency told the Citizen Times.
'She'll be miserable'
In a statement issued after sentencing, U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray called Greene the "ringleader" of "a reprehensible group of individuals."
"Their actions destroyed the public's trust in whose ethical standards should have been beyond reproach," he said. "But today is their day of reckoning. Today, justice was served, as prison time is in their future for their deliberate violations of the law— a law that applies equally to everyone regardless of stature or position."
Federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole. Inmates can reduce some time with good behavior or previous time served, sometimes securing a release after serving 85% of their sentences.
There also is an elderly offender pilot program, eligible to certaininmates older than 60 or terminally ill, that allows an early release to serve the remainder of the sentence under home detention.
Santana said "prison is prison, no matter the security level."
"The fact is, they're told what to eat, told what to wear, told when to go to bed, told when it's lights out," he said. "You're controlled in an environment where you're prohibited from the basics of the free world, of living in the community."
Cameron and Santanaboth said the corrupt officials will be subjected to a subculture of the inmates' unwritten rules.
"They'll know her before she gets there," Cameron said. "She'll have the welcome committee waiting on her."
"She'll be miserable," Santana added.
On sentencing day, all handed prison time
Wanda Greene
- Sentence: Eighty-four months and a $100,000 fine. One year of probation upon release.
- Crimes: Two counts of federal program fraud, one count of making and subscribing a federal tax return and one count of receipt of kickbacks and bribes
- Maximum penalty: Thirty-three years, $1 million fine.
- Advisory sentencing range: Seventy to 87 months.
Joe Wiseman
- Sentence: Thirty-seven months and $15,000 fine. One year of probation upon release.
- Crime: Conspiracy to commit honest services fraud.
- Maximum penalty: Five years and $250,000 fine.
- Advisory sentencing range: Thirty-seven to 46 months.
Mandy Stone
- Sentence: Thirty-three months and a $15,000 fine. One year of probation upon release.
- Crime: Conspiracy to commit federal program fraud through the receipt of kickbacks and bribes.
- Maximum penalty: Five years and a $250,000 fine.
- Advisory sentencing range: Thirty-seven to 46 months.
Jon Creighton
- Sentence: Eighteen months and a $25,000 fine. One year of court supervision upon release.
- Crime:Conspiracy to commit federal program fraud through the receipt of kickbacks and bribes.
- Maximum penalty: Five years and a $250,000 fine.
- Advisory sentencing range: Forty-six to 57 months.
Michael Greene
- Sentence: Six months and a $5,000 fine. One year of probation upon release.
- Crime: Conspiracy to embezzle Buncombe County funds.
- Maximum penalty: Five years and a $250,000 fine.
- Advisory sentencing range: Zero to six months.
