For WPRI's previous report on Derrick Parnell, click here.

Derrick Parnell tested positive for cocaine shortly after his early release from state prison, but Corrections decided not to place him in custody for that failed test, leaving him in the community after the results came in, WPRI has learned.

Parnell was only placed in custody after he committed another violation of supervision rules (for not showing up for a meeting with his agent). Furthermore, he has now been released again from the correctional facility where he was placed on Feb. 10 for the violations, even though they were verified, and he will likely transition soon into a residence in the community, Corrections confirmed Thursday after questions from WPRI. Corrections has decided not to revoke his supervision.

It took Corrections almost two weeks to get the results of Parnell’s failed cocaine test after he took it, WPRI learned. Corrections’ spokesman says that Corrections conducts the tests and attributed the delay to “volume.” Parnell remained on the streets for a week after Corrections got the results, until he committed the new violation.

Parnell, a 12-time Milwaukee felon who was released on Jan. 5 as part of the first wave of state early release inmates, tested positive for cocaine just 16 days after his early release, said Corrections Spokesman Tony Streveler. Parnell took the urine analysis test on Jan. 21, but Corrections didn’t get the results until Feb. 3, Streveler said.

Corrections decided not to place him back in custody at that time, Streveler said.
“One incident does not necessarily mean you put him in custody,” said Streveler. Instead, “he was directly confronted, his EMT (electronic monitoring) schedule was tightened up, and he was referred to appropriate services,” Streveler said. Streveler said he could not identify those services due to patient privacy laws.

On Jan. 30, Parnell committed another violation of supervision rules - he had a 43-minute tardiness beyond his electronic monitoring curfew, said Streveler.

It was only after Parnell didn’t show up for a meeting with his agent on Feb. 9 that Corrections yanked his release, placing him in the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility, a medium security correctional facility in downtown Milwaukee that houses probation and parole violators.

However, Parnell was released Wednesday from the MSDF, even though Corrections has verified the positive drug test and the other 2 violations, Streveler confirmed. Streveler said that Parnell is currently in a different secure facility where inmates are not allowed to leave “for 30 days minimally.” Then, he said, Parnell will probably return to a residence in the community. Corrections decided not to revoke his supervision and send him back to prison.

“He will be referred for appropriate services,” Streveler said, again saying he couldn’t specify what they are. “They continue to supervise him at a high level of surveillance. He is in a structured environment - for minimally 30 days he can’t leave. More than likely, he will then go back to a residence. In our world, it’s an intermediate sanction. It’s part of how you supervise folks for things short of criminal behavior.” He said that Parnell’s curfew has also been “tightened up.” He said that Corrections had used a “carrot and a stick” in Parnell’s case.

Asked whether drug possession isn’t a crime, Streveler said urine analysis results are not admissible in court because Corrections can’t prove how Parnell got the drugs in his system, just that they were there.

“He now goes back into the community on supervision,” Streveler said. “It happens quite frequently, by the way. Otherwise, we would be building a prison on every corner for revocation.”

WPRI reported last week that Parnell was back in custody and asked Corrections for the details a week ago, but Corrections did not provide details until Thursday.

Parnell was released Jan. 5 to a transitional living center short of his confinement time as part of 2009’s sweeping sentencing modifications, which allow some inmates to get out early and start serving their supervision time. Asked how Corrections decides whether to put someone back in custody based on a failed drug test, Streveler said, “One incident doesn’t necessarily mean that you detain them or pursue revocation. You look for alternatives. You counsel the person, obviously and reinforce to them the seriousness of those violations. You have to look at the totality of the case itself. Do the violations warrant revocation back to prison, or can alternatives safely be put in place? You have to look at the profile of the individual, how that connects to criminal behavior, the amount of risk posed to the community, and so on.”

Streveler said that Parnell was due to be released from confinement time Jan. 31 as part of his original sentence, but he has a term of extended supervision to serve after that point.

“In this particular case, there were three different types of violations that took place in a relatively short period of time,” Streveler said.

Asked whether any other early release inmates have been placed back in custody thus far, Streveler said he wasn’t certain. “This is a relatively new thing,” he said. “We’re still building this process.”

As WPRI reported previously, a second Milwaukee County early release inmate, Robert Morris, was detained and booked into the jail last week for alleged violation of supervision. However, he was released after a one-day detainment when it was deemed that his electronic monitoring curfew violation was the result of working overtime, Streveler said.

Parnell has a long record of recidivism. In prison, he had at least 30 prison conduct violations. Three years ago, a Milwaukee judge told him, “You can’t be supervised in the community.” Four years ago, Corrections agreed, calling Parnell “a serious risk and danger to public safety.”

Sentenced for a burglary, he once reoffended just 50 days after being paroled. Parnell’s conviction record included 7 counts of burglary in 1994, and three revocations of supervision. A judge had denied his bid for early release in 2009 before the sentencing changes stripped elected judges of a role in deciding whether the inmates are released under the program. Now, Corrections decides.
Parnell did not respond to a request from WPRI for an interview left last week with a supervisor at MSDF.

PARNELL TIMELINE – according to Streveler

Jan. 5 – Corrections grants Parnell early release

Jan. 21 – Parnell takes a drug test as part of his supervision rules

Jan. 30 – Parnell violates his electronic monitoring curfew by 43 minutes

Feb. 3 – Corrections receives the results back that Parnell tested positive for cocaine and decides not to place him in custody for the violation

Feb. 9 – Parnell doesn’t show for a meeting with his agent. Corrections puts out a warrant for him

Feb. 10 – Corrections places Parnell in custody for the three violations of supervision rules

Feb. 24 – Corrections decides not to revoke Parnell’s supervision and releases Parnell from the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility

-February 26, 2010