The women, who had been held in a special transitional wing at the ACI, failed to return from an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

01:00 AM EDT on Friday, October 7, 2005

BY ZACHARY R. MIDER
Journal Staff Writer

CRANSTON -- Two female inmates in a special program at the Adult Correctional Institutions escaped Wednesday night, but were arrested hours later in Providence, according to a prison official.

The ACI correctional officers union, a frequent critic of the Women's Transitional Housing program, yesterday drew attention to the escapes, calling them further evidence that the privately run program is ineffective and unsafe.

But the ACI official, Ann J. Fortin, defended the program, declaring that it has reduced recidivism and helped women nearing the end of their sentences adjust to life outside prison.

The inmates, Tammy Sullivan, 33, and Janine Marfeo, 40, were held overnight in Providence and returned to the ACI yesterday, Fortin said. They were removed from the program and may face escape charges, she said.

Under the program, up to 15 women live in a special wing of the Dorothea Dix Building, and enjoy privileges not given to other inmates. The wing is locked, but mostly to keep other inmates out, Fortin said.

On Wednesday night, Sullivan and Marfeo were due to return on a bus from an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting shortly after 10 p.m., Fortin said. They did not show up on time, and after waiting a while, program staff notified prison officials and police departments in communities where the women had connections, Fortin said.

The Providence police found the women during a traffic stop and arrested them, Fortin said. She said she had few details about the circumstances of the arrest because the police had not yet provided that information.

Sullivan's 10-month sentence, for loitering for indecent purposes, was to conclude in February. Marfeo, convicted of a misdemeanor count of receiving stolen goods, was to complete a nine-month sentence in January.

"The risk posed to the public by these women was minimal," Fortin said.

Ronald P. Brodeur, a second vice president of the Rhode Island Brotherhood of Correctional Officers, said program staff waited too long to notify the authorities, and said the escape shows the program fails to prevent recidivism.

"It shows the incompetence that exists out there," he said.

The union has recently called attention to a practice, now discontinued, of holding inmate visitation hours at the food court at the Warwick Mall.

The housing program used the food court on Sunday afternoons for several months earlier this year, Fortin said, while the Dix building was undergoing renovations. Up to eight women were allowed to go at once, and they were always supervised, she said.

The ACI did not notify mall officials or security about the practice, Fortin said. "I can only assume it's because these were not violent offenders," she said.

Richard Ferruccio, the union president, said the visitation program put the public at serious risk. "It's absolutely one of the dumbest things I've seen in corrections," he said.

The union contends the food court visits were canceled after a "security incident," in which an inmate confronted a former boyfriend who was forbidden from contacting her under a court order. Fortin said she had not heard about any such incident, and said the visits ended when the Dix building repairs were completed.

The housing program costs $538,000 per year and is run by Phoenix House, a private company, Fortin said.

The program staff are not members of the Rhode Island Brotherhood of Correctional Officers, which prompted the union to file a grievance declaring that the program violated its labor contract. An arbitrator agreed, ruling that any new hires or replacements in the program had to be union members.