WASHINGTON — UPDATE:
The U.S. Marshal’s Service reached out to WUSA9 Tuesday evening to say that Joel Castón will not be moved out of the DC Jail. He will be allowed to finish the remainder of his sentence in the District.
ORIGINAL STORY:
The U.S. Marshal’s Service (USMS) has begun moving 400 inmates out of the D.C. Jail due to what the Marshal's described as conditions that “do not meet the minimum standards of confinement as prescribed by the Federal Performance-Based Detention Standards.”
The move follows an unannounced inspection of the DC Department of Correction Facilities in mid October. DOC oversees the Central Detention Facility where most inmates are held and the Central Treatment Facility, where roughly 120 detainees in federal custody are held, including defendants facing charges stemming from the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
The Central Detention Facility inmates will be moved into the custody of Bureau of Prisons at a facility in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
Among the inmates on the to-be-moved list is 44-year-old Joel Castón, the District’s recently elected Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner. Castón has spent 26 years in the D.C. Jail and in this role, he represents inmates at the D.C. Jail, people at the Harriet Tubman Woman's Shelter and Park Kennedy apartment residents.
Commissioner Castón was set for release on parole next month, according to DC Councilmember Charles Allen.
In a tweet Tuesday, Councilmember Allen said he’s working with Castón to make sure he remains at the D.C. Jail.
“This is at exact same time he’s scheduled to testify at our oversight hearing on conditions at the Jail," Allen tweeted. "This is outrageous & insulting to every DC resident. We think the US Parole Commission is requiring him to return, only to turn around & be released from an unknown prison."
A petition is also circulating to keep Commissioner Castón in D.C.
“This inhumane and unjustifiable transfer will not only hinder his ability to represent the individuals in Ward 7, it will also separate Joel from his friends, family, and supporters in the D.C. community,” the petition reads.
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