Wabash Valley Correctional Facility - Incidents

Incidents

Within the first three years, the state prison was in the news regarding treatment of inmates. On April 18, 1995, inmate Ted Lee began a hunger strike claiming that the prison food provided “inadequate nutrition” and medical attention was lacking.

Prison officials claimed that Lee was not eating because of religious reasons, but his mother claimed that he was protesting the conditions. The following month, six other inmates began their own a hunger strike protesting the prison’s conditions of confinement. Ted Lee, whose previous hunger strike lasted ten to fourteen days, joined the six inmates. The inmates protested because of violent treatment by guards and lack of medical attention. They also claimed that a staff member threatened to poison their food.

The death of an inmate due to a drug overdose focused attention on drug dealing in the prison. On December 17, 1996, inmate Mark J. Ferrell #882213, age 26, died of a cocaine overdose after visiting with an acquaintance. The autopsy revealed that he had swallowed thirty balloons, of which twenty-nine contained marijuana and one contained cocaine. When reporters requested the prison’s visitor log and video footage of the visit, prison officials refused to cooperate. They claimed that the video had been taped over. However, the video was eventually released to the press revealing that Scott Strahle was Mark Ferrell’s last visitor. Ferrell’s cellmate told authorities that Ferrell would drink shampoo to regurgitate the balloons. The prison later revealed that Scott Strahle frequently visited Ferrell and that Ferrell had engaged in a “sex act” with Strahle in a previous visit that was caught on tape. Though this “sex act” was known to have taken place and Ferrell was reprimanded, Strahle was still allowed to visit Ferrell. Strahle eventually turned himself into authorities.

On October 3, 1996, Lee Hoefling, administrative assistant to the superintendent, and Don Tyler, internal affairs investigator, received five-day suspensions without pay for “the miscommunication concerning the existence of the videotape.”

Ferrell’s death raised questions about the extent of the drug problem at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility. Between February 1992 and April 1996, more than one in six inmates tested positive for drugs. Following the death of Mark Ferrell, the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility changed its taping policy and heightened security for inmate visitors.