Prison Furlough Abuses
1976-77

Following the SCI probe and May 1976 public hearing, a State Grand Jury indicted in December 1976 a former Trenton State Prison clerk for false swearing and perjury. These charges related to a forged Superior Court Appellate Division opinion which was inserted into the record of an inmate, Patrick Pizuto, enabling him to obtain a premature release from incarceration. (Pizuto became a federally protected informant in an unrelated case.) In January 1977, five former inmates of Leesburg Prison were indicted on charges of escape by means of fraudulent furloughs. These indictments led to convictions or guilty pleas. The Commission’s report is contained in the 8th Annual Report.