Is Deputy Chief Prison Officer Oscar Puga being made to be the scapegoat for bigger, wider corruption at the Kolbe Foundation Prison? That's what many sources suggest to us. But when we reached him to ask for comment today, Puga said he was consulting his attorney and still had nothing to say. But one thing we do know is that his case has attracted special attention from police. And to understand that, you'd have to know that Puga was a former inspector of police but was sent on early retirement after being accused of corruption. And then on Monday, police broke standard procedure and sent out his name in a press release before he had been charged.
That release went on even to mention the name of his attorney Michael Peyrefitte - and in 13 years of seeing police press releases, we've never seen one with an attorney's name on it. On Tuesday, that same attorney Michael Peyrefitte told 7NEWS that he doesn't think that his client committed a criminal offence. And while every attorney says that, even Prison CEO Marlon Skeen told us that he thought the offence was administrative more than criminal. Still though, Puga was charged for three counts of contempt of judicial order and one count of willfully allowing a prisoner to escape from lawful custody.
Couple all that with what we know about the fact that the prison was under pressure because of some other high profile prisoners who have been seen out on weekend passes and it again begs the question, was Puga set up for the fall? Today, Officer in Charge of Crimes Investigation Branch and the lead investigator Superintendent Aaron Guzman categorically denied that the department's actions were the result of any vendetta.
Supt. Aaron Guzman - O.C. C.I.B
"Personally I have no axe to grind with Mr. Puga. I do not know if the department has an axe to grind. I will not comment on this statement that
this should be an administrative matter because the matter is before the court. When the court decides, then we will have that decision to comment on. If the court finds that the police acted properly, if the court finds that the police did not act properly then that is a decision for the court. What I will say though is that in that matter we did an investigation and what we had was taken to the DPP who is also an attorney at law and a senior one at that and he advised the police department in particular CIB, myself, as to what charges to lay against Mister Puga."
Interestingly, Guzman also denied Skeen's characterization which had it that the Police and Kolbe Foundation were working together in investigating Puga. Guzman said that the police received a tip that that led them to search and check Puga's vehicle when it stopped at the check point at mile four on the Western Highway. Inside the vehicle the authorities found inmates Taedron Bennett and Joseph Kee who are both on remand for the double murder of the Brannon brothers and prisoner Harry Trapp who is serving a 25 years sentence for manslaughter.
