CAMPAIGN ’88 : Prison-Site Probe Ends

A preliminary FBI inquiry into allegations the Administration of Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis gave developers confidential information about prison-siting plans has ended with no charges filed.

FBI spokesman John Cloherty said: “The FBI is conducting no further investigation with regard to the placing of a state prison at New Braintree, Mass., and-or the procurement of land for that prison.” He declined to elaborate, but two law enforcement sources said the inquiry found no evidence that federal laws had been broken.

Dukakis, the Democratic presidential nominee, has announced plans for the state to build a 500-bed, medium-security prison in New Braintree at the site of a defunct religious academy.

The prison plan has drawn bitter opposition, largely from residents of the rural town of 800 people. Some opponents have alleged that the Dukakis Administration, unable to buy the land directly because the church that owned it had agreed with town officials not to sell it for a prison, leaked its interest in the site to two developers who bought it and then offered it to the state.

The allegations have been cited by Dukakis critics to attack the good-government pledges that are a major theme of his presidential campaign.

The developers, Daniel Striar and Gary Jacobson, offered the land to the state for $9.5 million, but the state contends the land is worth only $5 million and has threatened to invoke eminent domain if the owners do not yield.