RALEIGH, N.C. _ After six coronavirus-related deaths over the past eight days, Butner officials have ordered mass testing for all inmates at a low-security prison in the federal correctional complex, according to an email obtained by The News & Observer.
Butner Warden Thomas Scarantino said in the email that the testing would take place Tuesday and Wednesday at the prison, one of three at the complex, which also includes a medical center. The prison complex roughly 30 miles north of Raleigh has had 15 inmates with the virus die since March, more than any other federal prison site.
The most recent death, on Monday, was Juan Ledoux-Moreno, 74, who was serving a one-year sentence for firearms and drug charges. He had been at Butner since Aug. 20. The Bureau of Prisons said in a news release Tuesday that Ledoux-Moreno tested positive on May 19, after being evaluated for other medical issues, and had other pre-existing conditions that contributed to his death.
The low-security prison is housing 1,170 male inmates, or roughly a quarter of the complex's total population of 4,386 inmates.
The complex's first major outbreak happened at one of its two medium-security prisons, then spread to an adjacent minimum-security camp. The other nine deaths happened at those facilities, including one last week. Fifteen cases have also been reported at the medical center, and two inmate cases have turned up at the other medium-security prison.
While the complex dealt with outbreaks at the medium-security prison and camp, it began moving inmates who had the virus into what had been a closed special housing unit within the low-security prison. That alarmed staff and inmates who saw it as an exposure risk.
Those fears now appear to have come true. The low-security prison now has the most active cases with 270 inmates and seven staff. The bureau said 43 inmates and six staff there have recovered from the virus.
"Now, as you can see, the LSCI (low-security prison) is experiencing an increase in positive inmate cases," Scarantino wrote Monday in his email to staff. "At this time, and due to the number of positive tests so far, we are going to be testing ALL LSCI inmates over the next 2 days."
The email was shared with The News & Observer by an employee who wished not to be identified.
Bureau officials declined comment on the testing and said Butner officials also would not be available for comment.
Last week, a Charlotte law firm and two public interest groups filed a class-action lawsuit against the Butner complex on behalf of 11 inmates. The lawsuit asks a federal judge to designate a public health expert to quickly identify inmates vulnerable to the virus who could then be released to home confinement. The lawsuit also calls upon the complex to put together a plan for other measures such as increased testing and social distancing to protect inmates and staff at the complex. The judge would have to approve the plan and a public health expert would oversee it.
The lawsuit said the complex is overcrowded, citing a federal report listing capacity at just under 4,000 inmates.
Jaclyn Maffetore of the ACLU of North Carolina is one of the attorneys representing the inmates in the lawsuit. She said the outbreak at the low-security prison shows that Butner and bureau officials don't have a handle on the virus and the judge needs to step in.
She said the plan to test all inmates at the facility is a good step.
"But it's pretty plain to me, based on the fact that the virus ended up at the low-security facility, that the virus continued to spread despite those attempts at a quarantine," she said. "And that is in large part because of the movement of staff and the movement of incarcerated people who still have to report to their jobs within the facilities."
The bureau has released 3,610 inmates nationally to home confinement during the pandemic, but has not said how many of them have been released from Butner.
Scarantino said in the email that the prison has hired 21 new employees and continues to get temporary staff from other facilities to fill in.
All told, 538 inmates and 51 staff have tested positive for the virus. Of those, 234 inmates and 38 staff have recovered, the bureau reported Tuesday.
The bureau has sought to limit inmate and staff movement in federal prisons since it became clear the virus was spreading throughout the country. On Monday, bureau officials confirmed they tightened security further, but for a different reason _ they are seeking to keep reaction to the death of George Floyd, who died under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer last week, from spiraling out of control.
"In light of extensive protest activity occurring around the country, the BOP � in an abundance of caution � is implementing an additional, temporary security measure to ensure the good order and security of our institutions, as well as ensure the safety of staff and inmates," said Sue Allison, a bureau spokeswoman in an email to the N&O.
She said the bureau hoped that the security measure is "short-lived and that inmates will be restored to limited movement in the very near future."
