2 Jail Officers Indicted Over Inmates’ Fight

Two corrections officers were indicted Wednesday for allegedly orchestrating a fight between two inmates at Seal Beach City Jail, prompting the city to review its ties to the private company that operates the facility.

The guards, who worked for Correctional Systems Inc. before being fired, are accused by a federal grand jury of arranging and concealing an attack on a drunken inmate who was singing boisterously in the jail’s detoxification cell.

According to the U.S. attorney’s office, one of the jail guards allegedly goaded the attacker before escorting him to the detoxification cell where the beating took place.

The second guard allegedly helped cover up the incident, which left 28-year-old Arrow Stowers of Huntington Beach bloodied and badly bruised.

The motive for the June 21 attack was to quiet Stowers, prosecutors said.

“He was yelling and singing,” said Deputy U.S. Atty. Debora Rodriguez. “That’s pretty standard in the detox cell.”

The U.S. attorney’s office charged Javier Ferreira, 32, of Riverside with federal civil rights violations for allegedly inducing the attack on Stowers.

The second guard, James Edward Smith, 27, of Long Beach, was charged with being an accessory after the fact for attempting to conceal the incident.

Convictions Could Mean Prison Terms

The former guards, who did not return telephone calls Wednesday, are to appear in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana on Sept. 4. If convicted, Ferreira faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Smith could face up to five years in prison.

Correctional Systems operates jail facilities throughout Southern California and the West. It has run the 30-inmate Seal Beach City Jail since 1994, when officials there decided a private operator would save money.

The firm has had problems in the past, including lawsuits contending that guards did not properly respond to the medical problems of two inmates who died at the Seal Beach facility.

Still, city officials said they generally are pleased with the contractor’s performance.

After the Stowers beating, however, the city initiated a review of the jail arrangement and are considering other options, according to the Seal Beach Police Department and the city manager.

“Obviously we’re going to have to revisit the contract to see if we want to maintain a long-term relationship with CSI,” said Seal Beach City Manager John Bahorski.

“We save money [with the contract] and earn an extra $100,000 a year” [by charging the firm to use the jail].

Stowers’ attorney said his client was “thoroughly beaten” and continues to suffer emotional wounds. He contends that the city and the contractor are responsible.

“When you get sucked into a jail like this, your life and limb are totally at the whim of your jailer,” said lawyer Colin C. Swainston. “The protections at the jail were totally inadequate.”

John R. Forren, president and chief executive of Correctional Systems, did not return telephone calls Wednesday seeking comment.

The company came under scrutiny in 1996 after an inmate at the Seal Beach jail contended that inmates regularly smoked marijuana and drank alcohol in view of guards.

Those allegations prompted police and company officials to search the facility, but no drugs or alcohol were discovered.

Hawthorne Police Canceled Contract

Other cities that have contracted with Correctional Systems have cited problems.

Hawthorne police canceled their contract with Correctional Systems last year after 18 months and took back the jail.

“The biggest issue with CSI was they didn’t have sufficient guards to handle our jail. They would have them work as long as 18 hours, so the guards were unhappy and we were unhappy,” said Hawthorne Police Capt. Richard Prentice.

“But we didn’t have any problems like this; never did we have any indication they were abusive to prisoners.”

The company also has been hit with two wrongful-death lawsuits since 1999 related to two inmate deaths at the Seal Beach jail. It was accused in each case of failing to protect inmates admitted with medical problems. One suit was settled and the other is pending, said attorney Timothy Ryan, who represented family members in both cases.

The Seal Beach jail is known as a “pay to stay” facility, where some people convicted of nonviolent crimes can serve out their terms for a fee.

The U.S. attorney’s office said it does not plan to charge the inmate who allegedly beat Stowers.

But the Orange County district attorney is still considering charges.

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Times staff writer Stanley Allison contributed to this report.