Federal prisoners to be released to halfway houses

The federal Bureau of Prisons announced Tuesday it will be releasing nearly 6,000 inmates early from federal prison.

Colorado has two federal prisons, the United States Penitentiary and the Supermax near Florence. It’s unknown how many inmates will be released from Colorado.

A majority of the prisoners released will be sent to halfway houses and home confinement. KRDO spoke with Comcor, a nonprofit organization in Colorado Springs that provides homes and transition programs for inmates. Officials could not comment if they’ll be receiving any prisoners but say they do work closely with the state’s federal prison.

Ed Ross with Bureau of Prisons says the decision to release prisoners is intended to reduce overcrowding and provide relief to drug offenders who received harsh sentences.

We spoke with a retired DOC captain, who’s worked in several Colorado prisons. He says he sees both sides of the issue but agrees the prisoners should be released if it’s for a minor crime.

“I don’t believe in throwing someone in prison for 20 years for possessing some cocaine with baking soda. That’s just wrong,” said Larry Nutter, the retired Colorado DOC captain.

Nutter says he’s worked with prisoners who’ve committed much worse crimes than drug offenders, yet they’re serving more jail time.

“Somebody selling an undercover police officer cocaine is going to do three times the sentence of a pedophile is that right? No it isn’t right,” said Nutter.

A third of the 6,000 inmates from federal prisons are planned to be released between Oct. 30 and Nov 2. It’s unknown when the rest will be released.