He took over on May 19th, but the new CEO at the Kolbe Central Prison was abruptly dismissed yesterday. It came as a surprise since he had understudied the retired Virgilio Murillo, who had served as the prison's CEO for the past 20 years.
Less than 50 days after George Gomez fully took over, he was hand-delivered a dismissal letter and escorted from the prison grounds.
The chairman of the board, Francis Woods, who is now taking over as the Acting CEO, downplayed it in a phone interview saying that they will simply work with the board to recruit a new CEO.
Jo-Marie Lanza:
"Would you be able to speak a bit about whether or not the new prison CEO George Gomez has been released from his post?"
Voice of: Francisco Woods, Acting CEO, Kolbe Foundation
"Yes ma'am, that is true."
"He left yesterday, the 7th of July."
"As capacity of CEO, well, he started in December 2025 as Acting CEO because the existing CEO was ill, so he acted there for a while and with the former CEO."
"Definitely, I will assume all CEO's duties reviewing all the data, all the policies. I will be there a lot of the time and then we will work with the team from the board members to recruit another potential CEO."
We spoke with George Gomez today who told us, quote, "The termination was without merit and a lot of good work was being done under his tenure and a lot more can be done."
