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Supermax inmate gets 18 months for threats to doctor
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
When he threatened a prison doctor last September, William Brown was 18 days away from getting released from the Ohio State Penitentiary and state Department of Corrections custody on a series of crimes dating back to 1981.
Thursday, he was sentenced in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to an additional 18 months of prison after pleading guilty to charges of intimidation and retaliation, both third-degree felonies that carry maximum sentences of 36 months.
Brown said the threats came after he was informed that a brother he does not get along with knew he was getting out of prison.
“I was madder than a hornet in a bumblebee’s nest,” Brown told Judge Anthony M. D’Apolito, who handed down the sentence. “I asked him not to do something, and he did it anyhow. That’s what set me off.”
Assistant Prosecutor Michael Yacovone said when officials notified Brown he would be released, they also notified his brother in Akron, who has a restraining order. Brown then made several threats against his brother and also against police officers.
The prison staff then decided to have a meeting with Brown, and a doctor was brought in to help talk with Brown, Yacovone said. Yacovone said Brown again became angry during the meeting when the doctor informed him the prison informed Brown’s brother of the threat. He threatened to come back to the prison with an Ak-47 and kill everyone, and he called the doctor a racial slur several times in a profanity-laced tirade.
Yacovone asked for a sentence of 30 months, saying Brown has a criminal record dating back to 1973 and shows no interest in changing his behavior.
“I see nothing positive in this case that shows he can be rehabilitated,” Yacovone said.
Jeffery Kurz, Brown’s lawyer, asked for a sentence of six months and said he would be filing a motion for early release as soon as he could even though prosecutors said they would oppose it. He said he did not condone Brown’s words but added that in prison, inmates have a habit of issuing threats as a sign to show how tough they are. They are rarely followed through on, Kurz said.
“This is very common in the prison system,” Kurz said.
Kurz also said prolonging his client’s sentence was not in the best interest of society because more prison time would only make him more hardened.
Judge D’Apolito said he understands the concept of threats in prison, but added that Brown went way over the line, and in normal society, his conduct would not be tolerated. He said in normal society, people take such threats seriously.
“When you are back in the community, when you say things to people, they believe you,” Judge D’Apolito said.