THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 16, 1995 TAG: 9511160251
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARGARET EDDS AND LAURA LAFAY, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long : 107 lines
The Allen administration has completed a behind-the-scenes investigation into allegations that Parole Board Chairman John B. Metzger III kept inmates jailed by illegally backdating papers and violated parole board policies.
The results of the inquiry were delivered Wednesday to Secretary of Public Safety Jerry Kilgore.
The report, requested by Kilgore and written by acting State Internal Auditor Joe Freiberger, is a private Allen administration document and will be withheld from the public, Kilgore said. The outcome of the investigation could not be determined.
Kilgore said he ordered the probe last month in response to complaints against Metzger, including a claim that Metzger backdated parole revocation warrants. Two state officials who asked not to be named said the investigation was prompted primarily by concerns of Metzger's fellow parole board members.
Among their claims: that Metzger denied parole to inmates without consulting them and made sexually offensive remarks to female board members, the sources said. They said the four other members of the parole board had signed a letter calling for Metzger to resign.
A spokesman for Attorney General James S. Gilmore III said a person convicted of falsifying public records could face either of two penalties:
Forging such records is a felony, punishable by two to 10 years in prison.
``Fraudulent false entry'' on records by a state officer is a misdemeanor punishable by being stripped of office, up to 12 months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Anyone convicted under the statute may be deemed ``forever incapable of holding office of honor, profit, or trust under the Constitution of Virginia.''
Metzger, 48, a former political director for the state Republican Party, was appointed last year by Gov. George F. Allen to one of the signature posts in his administration. On Wednesday, he refused comment on the report.
``I have nothing whatsoever to say,'' he said, referring calls to Kilgore.
Although the report reached his office late Wednesday, Kilgore said he will not act on it before today.
``I may have a chance to review it, but I won't have a chance to finalize recommendations and send them on,'' he said.
Allen is aware of the allegations and is awaiting the report, Kilgore said. He declined to comment on the report by the two government sources that Metzger's colleagues on the board had requested his resignation.
``I'm not going to go into any of that. . . . I'm not prepared to confirm or deny that,'' Kilgore said.
The report by the internal auditor is considered ``governor's working papers,'' and is therefore exempt from public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, he said.
According to several sources familiar with the internal workings of the parole board, tension between Metzger and other parole board members dates at least to last spring.
As the public was focused on Allen's highly publicized bid to abolish parole, parole board members apparently were arguing behind the scenes about staffing arrangements and policy shifts.
High on the complaint list, according to the sources, was a concern that Metzger was denying parole arbitrarily without consulting other board members.
``In at least half a dozen cases, he acted on his own,'' alleged one official familiar with the board.
According to written policy , ``a majority of no less than three'' board members must concur on a decision to grant or not to grant parole. As chairman, Metzger is not supposed to vote except to break a tie.
Perhaps the most serious of the allegations, from a legal standpoint, is the suggestion that Metzger backdated parole revocation warrants.
When a parolee is accused of violating the terms of parole, board members can issue a warrant asking a local jail to hold that person until a hearing can take place. But if parole has ended before the board receives word of a possible violation, no warrant can be issued.
If the date on a warrant is incorrect, said former board Chairman Clarence Jackson, ``it could have implications for (a parolee's right to) due process and could raise questions about whether the incarceration of anyone in prison because of the warrant is legal. A warrant is not valid unless all the information on it is correct.''
An Ohio native and former undercover police officer, Metzger came to Virginia in the mid-1980s to take a post with the state party. A friend of former GOP Executive Director Joe Elton, also from Ohio, Metzger made a name for himself in party circles as a tobacco-chewing raconteur.
He worked briefly as an aide to Rep. Thomas Bliley, R-Richmond, before being appointed U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Virginia by President George Bush in 1992.
Metzger and his wife, Janet, supported Allen's 1993 campaign for governor with contributions totaling $1,925. Three months after the governor's January inauguration, Allen appointed Metzger to head the parole board.
Metzger oversaw a dramatic shift in the parole-grant rate. At one point, the grant rate dipped to about 6 percent, down from about 40 percent in the last year of the Wilder administration.
Figures released recently by Allen put the current grant rate at between 16 and 20 percent.
Members of the parole board are appointed by the governor and accountable only to him and to his Cabinet. Although there is no legislative oversight of the board, Courts of Justice Committee Chairman Del. James F. Almand said Wednesday that the allegations against Metzger concern him.
``If the allegations are accurate, I would expect the governor to remove him. Those kinds of actions are highly improper,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Metzger: Accused of keeping inmates jailed by illegally backdating
papers and of violating board rules.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA STATE PAROLE BOARD INVESTIGATION by CNB