(Ken Silva, Headline USA) In May, a U.S. judge ordered that alleged Satanic pedophile Angel Almeida be hospitalized for four months before she determines whether he has the mental capacity to stand trial for his role in the online abuse of children.
It took roughly six months before Almeida was transferred. During that time, he continued to sit in solitary confinement, which “exacerbated Angel’s psychosis,” his lawyers argued in October.
Almeida’s was transferred within days of his lawyers filing a motion that alleged constitutional rights violations.
“At this point, Angel has been held awaiting hospitalization for longer than the period Congress authorized for the entire length of a defendant’s hospitalization,” his lawyers said on Oct. 19.
“The highly restrictive conditions within the [solitary confinement] have undoubtedly exacerbated Angel’s psychosis.”
A judge ordered the Justice Department to explain why Almeida wasn’t transferred. The DOJ filed an explanation, but it remains sealed. The DOJ then informed the judge on Nov. 12 that Almeida was transferred to a psych ward on Nov. 6.
Future hearings have not been set as Almeida remains under psychological evaluation.
The Almeida case seems to be a microcosm of the broken U.S. Bureau of Prisons’ broken mental illness facilities. A DOJ Inspector General’s report from earlier this month highlights some of the other problems, including staffing shortages and decrepit facilities.
For example, at Federal Medical Center Devens, which houses inmates with serious mental health conditions, only about 80% of the staffing positions are filled, according to the DOJ-OIG. FMC Devins does have room—it’s only at about 66% capacity—but Almeida may not have been transferred there because it’s a minimum-security facility.
FMC Devens was also found to have serious infrastructure issues due to a plethora of unfunded repair projects, including roof repairs and replacement of cooling and heating systems. The facility told the DOJ-OIG that the repairs cost $15 million, which it doesn’t have.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
