
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 8, 1994                   TAG: 9406080068
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

STATE PRISONS TO INCREASE MEASURES TO RESTRICT DRUGS

The recently appointed head of the Virginia Department of Corrections says two recent drug incidents do not necessarily indicate a widespread security problem in the state's prisons.

But Ronald Angelone, who took the reins last month, said he hopes to beef up measures to keep contraband out of the hands of inmates.

Angelone said the department may review visitation policies and tighten procedures for searching incoming packages to stifle the availability of drugs and weapons.

"We are going to tighten things up on inmates," he said. "We run prisons to run them safe."

Angelone said he plans to inspect the state's penal institutions to find out how much contraband is available to inmates.

Occasionally, he says, a small number of employees will break the rules and bring in contraband. He said they will be vigorously prosecuted.

"We'll keep our ear to the ground to see if people are turning their loyalties around," he said.

Botetourt County authorities on Monday confirmed that a guard at the Botetourt Correctional Unit had been charged with attempting to deliver drugs to an inmate.

Donald Scott Paderick, 28, of Troutville was arrested late last month following an internal investigation.

On May 26, Joseph Savino, who has been sentenced to die for the 1988 murder of Thos McWaters in Bedford County, injected an overdose of cocaine in his death row prison cell at Mecklenberg Correctional Unit.

Prison officials, who found a syringe in Savino's cell, said it was an apparent suicide attempt.

Savino survived. He is appealing his conviction in the death of McWaters, who was beaten with a hammer and stabbed.

Angelone said a preliminary investigation has ruled out inmate or employee involvement in providing Savino with the cocaine. Prisoners have been known to keep supplies of drugs or to manufacture their own.

Savino testified at his trial that he was high on cocaine at the time McWaters was killed.

"The vast majority of people in corrections never do anything wrong," Angelone said. "We're continuously trying to stop the leaks in the dam."

by CNB