FEDERAL COURT APPROVES SETTLEMENT BY THE UNITED STATES IN NEW YORK FEDERAL PRISON TORTURE CASE

CONTACT: Keith Maydak
613 Cross Street
East McKeesport, PA 15035
kmpr@u2send.com
www.maydakupdate.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 9, 2006

FEDERAL COURT APPROVES SETTLEMENT BY THE UNITED STATES IN NEW YORK FEDERAL PRISON TORTURE CASE

Utica, New York
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

On May 2, 2006, United States District Judge David N. Hurd approved a settlement of $9,275.00 to be paid by the United States Government to Keith Maydak, 35 of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, based on a lawsuit filed in 1998 that alleged federal official at the Federal Correctional Institution at Ray Brook, New York, engaged in abuse constituting torture as retaliation for filing complaints.

The lawsuit alleged that, during 1998, Maydak was placed into a room without water facilities or food for five days while kept in handcuffs and shackles for allegedly “threatening the warden” with a lawsuit. During the period, Maydak only received a single apple and two pieces of bread as food. In addition, he was removed from the room only once to use toilet facilities.

After removal from restraints, federal officials placed Maydak in a small cell, designed for two people, with four other inmates (three of which had to sleep on the floor), for a six week period. As a result of the overcrowding, the floors were flooded with sewage and the food was spoiled, the lawsuit contended. Prison staff only allowed segregated inmates water for about ten minutes per day, resulting in dehydration.

“While I am pleased to settle this lawsuit without the need for a trial, the conditions at FCI Ray Brook have not improved. The federal prison continues to overcrowd and they do not allow inmates in segregation to flush their toilets despite the potential spread of hepatitis A, MRSA, and other bacterial based illnesses,” Maydak said. “People need to realize that the government isn’t just treating Iraqi prisoners inappropriately, but abuse is occurring by federal officials against United States citizens here at home.” Maydak attributes the problems to the lack of funding for prisons coupled with the increase in sentences for non-violent prisoners, which results in overcrowding and a strain on prison employees’ mental states.

The settlement also provided $1,000 to inmate Paul Lee who was not housed at the Ray Brook prison, but was at FCI Allenwood, Pennsylvania. Lee contended that federal agents violated his right to privacy protected by the Privacy Act of 1974 by giving false information to his investment broker. The settlement stipulates that the prison system will not interfere with inmates’ right to protect their legitimately obtained assets. “It took six years of litigation before the United States recognized that sabotaging inmates’ investments was improper, and I am pleased that the government chose to take responsibility.”

The settlement provides that the federal government does not admit to any wrongdoing.