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8B – Daily News – Monday, May 17, 2010 Agents use award ruse to reel in fugitives * SACRAMENTO (AP) — California corrections officials dangled an attrac- tive offer Saturday before hundreds of parolees who have become fugitives: Turn yourself in, get a $200 reward and qualify for an amnesty program. *Get a $70 prepaid MasterCard with the purchase of a set of 4 Michelin brand passenger or light truck tires. • Brake Service • Alignment Mon –Fri. 8am-5pm Sat. hours coming soon! Tehama Tire Service Inc. 525 Antelope Blvd. Red Bluff (530) 527-5272 Authorities said 81 who showed up in Oakland were sorry they did. Instead of getting a check, they soon found themselves in handcuffs and, for most, headed back to state prison for violating their parole. Agents set up the elabo- rate ruse with its own web- site and e-mail account. They appointed an agent to the fictitious post of ‘‘amnesty program direc- tor.’’ They sent 2,700 letters to relatives of parolees-at- large advertising the reward and fake amnesty program. The sting was aimed at some of the more than 14,000 California ex-con- victs who broke off contact with their parole agents, are suspected of committing new crimes or of violating terms of their parole. It was an updated varia- tion on an old bait-and- switch. In the past, agents have reeled in fugitives with fake notices that they had won cash or prizes but needed to show up at a cer- tain location to collect. ‘‘Using the Web page and such is a new way to do it. We used to play on the greed, and now we’re play- ing on the promise that they might be released from cus- tody,’’ said Tony Chaus, who runs the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s Office of Correctional Safety. Corrections officials confirmed the ruse after The Associated Press learned of it independently. The offer had the hollow ring of truth, piggybacking on the state’s colossal bud- get deficit and a bona fide state law that took effect in January. The law creates a new non-revocable parole for some offenders who are considered to be less dan- gerous. Those on non-revo- cable parole don’t have to report to parole agents, are free to come and go as they please, and can’t be sent back to prison unless they are convicted of a new crime. The fugitives were told they would either be put on non-revocable parole or dis- charged from parole entire- ly to help the state cut costs and prison crowding. ‘‘If you have received a letter, you are pre-qualified for Amnesty or Discharge,’’ read the offer posted on the website. ‘‘Your warrant will be canceled and a $200.00 check will be issued.... A Non Revocable Parole card will be issued and you will be free to go.’’ The amnesty ended Sat- urday, warned the website, and parolees-at-large were told they ‘‘must call for reservations.’’ About 130 felons showed up at the Oakland parole office, some with family members in tow. They were told to wait in an auditorium until they could be taken, one at a time, to see a counselor. They were arrested as they got off an elevator and were soon en route to the Alame- da County Jail. ‘‘I think they were pretty stunned, to be honest with you,’’ Chaus said. Midway through the process, word filtered back to those waiting in the audi- torium that it was a sting. ‘‘Things got pretty loud,’’ said Chaus, and a dozen or more parolees escaped. Officers rushed in and arrested the remain- ing parolees without inci- dent. Chaus said other parolees slipped away earli- er Saturday and were allowed to leave for fear of revealing the sting prema- turely. Seven fugitives who had received the letters were arrested before Saturday, including one who flew in from Tonga, when they arrived at the office to take advantage of the amnesty, he said. A few of those arrested might actually qualify for the non-revocable parole program, Chaus said. But his team targeted ‘‘the worst of the worst’’ for the sting: most are suspects in new crimes or have outstanding warrants beyond being in trouble as wayward parolees. Some lawmakers, vic- tims’ rights and law enforcement organizations have criticized the new non- revocable parole law for eliminating supervision for thousands of ex-convicts, some of whom served time for serious offenses. But half of the projected $200 million first-year sav- ings is going back into reducing the number of offenders supervised by each parole agent from about 70-to-one to about 48-to-one. Dave’s Boots Sales & Repairs 478 ANTELOPE BLVD. • RED BLUFF • 529-5466 2 old favorites are up for a redesign. 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