YOUNGSTOWN Another jail inmate has work privileges revoked by sheriff

The inmate is serving 90 days for DUI and driving under suspension.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- For the second time this week, a Mahoning County jail inmate has had his work-release privileges yanked.
John J. Bialik, 26, of Matthews Road, Boardman, was met at a job site on South Avenue on Thursday morning and taken into custody after a review of his work status by the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department.
Earlier this week, the sheriff's department learned from The Vindicator that inmate Nimala I. Alamin left the jail each weekday to work at an address on Belmont Avenue that doesn't exist. Alamin, 24, of Roxbury Avenue, received a speeding ticket and driving-under-suspension charge at 10:30 a.m. Monday, which led the newspaper to question his work status.
Municipal Judge Elizabeth A. Kobly then revoked Alamin's work privileges. He began serving 40 days for his fifth loud-music conviction Oct. 28.
Bialik has been in jail since Nov. 4, convicted of DUI and driving under suspension. Judge Kobly sentenced him to a total of 90 days and granted him work-release privileges, which she revoked Thursday.
Not at fixed location
The employer Bialik listed -- American Dream Designs, 6590 South Ave. -- hasn't been in that location for at least two months. Henry Martin, the owner, told The Vindicator that he obtains work by word of mouth and has two women, one of whom is Bialik's sister, take messages for him.
Community Corrections Association Inc., a halfway facility on Market Street, was responsible for monitoring Alamin's and Bialik's work status.
Although Martin is listed as the contact person for CCA to verify Bialik's work, Martin said he never spoke to anyone at CCA until Wednesday, when the sheriff's department began making inquiries. Martin blames CCA for what happened to Bialik and said he now has to find another roofer to finish the job at a car sales lot on South Avenue.
"I don't blame the sheriff's department," Martin said. "It was CCA's job to get hold of me and that should have been done weeks ago."
Martin described Bialik as a good kid, a private subcontractor, currently working at three job sites. Martin is upset with the mix-up.
Taken to meals
Sheriff's Maj. Michael Budd said Bialik's mother picked him up at the jail at 6:42 a.m. Thursday, took him to breakfast then to work at 8:12 a.m. The night before, Bialik's father took his son to dinner before dropping him off at the jail at 6 p.m.
Budd said inmates are permitted to travel only to their job and back, with no side trips. He said the cell phone number he checked for Bialik's work contact turned out to be Bialik's sister, who acknowledged that she's been confirming that he was at work when CCA called to check.
"He may have been working sometimes, other times not," Budd said. "CCA is missing the whole intent of the program. We need to tighten this up."
Budd said Alamin and Bialik falsified their work-release applications. The major said he intends to confer with the city prosecutor about filing charges against both inmates.
Sheriff's view
Sheriff Randall A. Wellington said Alamin and Bialik took unfair advantage of the work release program and may have ruined it for others. He said it's a good program, if monitored properly.
Richard J. Billak, chief executive officer at CCA, said Thursday that he's going to recommend to judges who grant work release that they not consider giving it to inmates who don't have a fixed job site. Otherwise, there's no way to verify the employment of inmates, such as Bialik, who may have been moving from site to site, he said.
Billak said he would check further into the Bialik situation. The woman at CCA responsible for tracking Alamin was reprimanded.
meade@vindy.com