Forget the grim prison movies with prisoners cooped up behind bars in cellblocks crammed with convicts suited up in drab uniforms.
John J. Merla For today’s convicted felons like former Keyport mayor John J. Merla, prison has taken on a whole new look.
Aspokeswoman for the Bureau of Prisons confirmed last week that Merla reported to the U.S. Penitentiary at Lewisburg, Pa., at 10:31 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 8.
On that day, Merla begin serving a 22-month sentence for accepting bribes after being swept up in the feds’ Operation Bid Rig sting that snared some two dozen local and county officials and others.
However, Merla isn’t serving time in the high-security federal facility that houses about 1,521 inmates. Instead, he will serve out his sentence in the adjacent minimum security “camp” along with some 566 male inmates who are considered nonviolent offenders with no history of escape tries.
At the camp, prisoners dress not in jumpsuits, but in khaki pants and buttondown shirts, no doubt looking more like workers at The Gap than the ball-andchain crews of old.
According to the spokeswoman, there is no perimeter fencing around the camp and there’s a lower staff-to-inmate ratio. Prisoners are supervised, but they can walk around freely. There are no cellblocks either, with inmates housed dormitory style.
Every able inmate is required to work seven and a half hours a day, filling jobs such as food service workers, warehouse staff or groundskeepers, at a pay rate of between 12 cents to 40 cents per hour.
Barring any unforeseen occurrence, Merla will finish serving his term on Aug. 12, 2009.
After finishing his 22 months, he will face three years of probation, part of a sentence handed down last October that included a $20,000 fine. Sentencing guidelines for the crime call for 24 to 30 months in prison.
After being charged with eight counts of accepting bribes, extortion, mail fraud and other corrupt activities, Merla staunchly maintained his innocence – and his office – for almost two years before pleading guilty in January 2007 to one count of accepting a bribe and stepping down as mayor.
On Oct. 23, 2007, three years after his 2005 arrest, the former Keyport mayor was sentenced to 22 months in a federal penitentiary for accepting $23,000 in bribes in 2003 from undercover FBI informants. The bribe was in exchange for setting up a nobid government contract to demolish a bulkhead. Although he will serve time for only one count of bribery, Merla also admitted taking at least three more bribes, up to $24,000 worth, between 2003 and 2004.
“He may get it today, but he didn’t get it for a long time,” U.S. District Court Judge William Martini said after Merla gave a tearful apology to the residents of Keyport and his family at his sentencing.
The judge added that if Merla had stepped down right away, it would have shown some remorse.
“You chose not to do that,” Martini said. “You chose to stay in public office for close to two years. Your public statements offended people even more.” more bribes, up to $24,000 worth, between 2003 and 2004.
“He may get it today, but he didn’t get it for a long time,” U.S. District Court Judge William Martini said after Merla gave a tearful apology to the residents of Keyport and his family at his sentencing.
The judge added that if Merla had stepped down right away, it would have shown some remorse.
“You chose not to do that,” Martini said. “You chose to stay in public office for close to two years. Your public statements offended people even more.”