|
|
|
Man admits to impersonating prisoner — Inmate who agreed to serve another's term was set to be freed in weeks (This article is reprinted from the San Gabriel Valley News, February 16, 2001. Thanks to Dale Falicon , LASD.)
By KRISTEN WYATT ATLANTA – Pierre Carlton easily fooled federal authorities, who, after all, aren't used to people trying to sneak into prison. Carlton agreed to serve another man's 20--month prison sentence after he was promised cash and free crack, authorities say. He spent 15 months posing as Dexter Mathis, and proved to be a model prisoner who earned a high school equivalency degree, kicked a drug habit and spent most of his time reading. He was 47 days from being released early for good behavior when he got sick of pretending and didn't show up at a halfway house. Since then, authorities have found the real Mathis, who allegedly cooked up the scheme when he was out on bail after pleading guilty to receiving $2,762 in proceeds from a bank robbery. Mathis is back in jail and has pleaded innocent to conspiracy charges that could add five years to his original sentence. Mathis' lawyer, Steven Berne, said his client was only trying to help Carlton by sending him to a minimum--security prison where he could get off drugs. “Mr. Carlton had a drug addiction, and Mr. Mathis educated him on the benefits of drug treatment in prison,” Berne said Thursday. “This was a decision made by Mr. Carlton.” However, authorities say Mathis was Carlton's drug supplier and was able to persuade Carlton to serve his sentence by offering him cash and free crack after his release. On June 7, 1999, Mathis drove Carlton to the U.S. Marshal's office where Carlton, who had memorized Mathis' biographical information, turned himself in. Carlton is 32 and Mathis is 31, but the pair don't look much alike. Carlton is at least four inches shorter than Mathis, who is 6--foot--3 and weighs more than 200 pounds. “The only thing they have in common is they're both black males.” said Paul Kish, Carlton's lawyer. “It's a production line in there.” It was unclear whether federal officials compared Carlton's fingerprints to Mathis'. A spokesman for the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta, Mike Binion, said inmates are fingerprinted and photographed, but prison officials also rely on federal marshals to deliver the correct inmate. “He was Dexter Mathis as far as everybody knew,” Binion said. While Carlton was behind bars, Mathis pumped $500 to $1,000 into his prison account. And Carlton, who already had a high school equivalency diploma, pursued another one because he was bored and enjoyed the prison class. The sentence was supposed to be served in a minimum--security camp in Atlanta. But after authorities heard rumors that Mathis was still selling drugs in Atlanta, they put Carlton in solitary for eight months to be sure that he wasn't leaving the camp during the day. He was eventually transferred to another prison. The ruse unraveled when Carlton was to be released early for good behavior. On Sept. 27, Carlton was put on a bus and ordered to report to an Atlanta halfway house for the final seven weeks of the sentence. He never showed up. A week later, an FBI agent investigating a bank robbery spotted a car with tags that were traced to an alias once used by Mathis. He followed up and found the real Dexter Mathis. After authorities realized Mathis was not the man who had spent 15 months in prison, he was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and is now serving the sentence he was supposed to serve in the first place. Dan Dunne, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, said admissions procedures have been tightened but wouldn't give details. Carlton has pleaded guilty for his role in the scheme and will probably face probation, Kish said. “I was hoping I was going to head out of prison either clean and sober or either have me drugs,” Carlton told a judge. Berne, Mathis' lawyer, said the scheme wasn't illegal because Carlton agreed to do it. He pointed to cases of men paying others to take their place in war, a practice that dates at least to the Civil War.
This article was printed in “THE PRINT” |