August 17, 2004 - The Associated Press (US) Federal Prison Won't Accept Former CIA Contractor By The Associated Press

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FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- The federal prison at Butner won't accept former CIA contractor David Passaro while he awaits trial on charges that he beat a prisoner in Afghanistan, the U.S. Marshals Service has said.

Passaro is being held without bond at the Wake County Jail.

The jail has kept him in solitary confinement and handcuffed most of the time, his lawyers have said.

The Lillington resident is accused of beating an Afghan prisoner with a flashlight while working in Afghanistan last year for the CIA. The prisoner later died, though Passaro is not charged with his death.

If Passaro is convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 40 years in prison and fined $1 million.

U.S. District Court Judge Terrence W. Boyle last week instructed the marshals to ask the prison at Butner to hold Passaro.

The prison won't take him, the marshals said in court papers filed Friday, the deadline for them to answer Boyle's request.

"The Federal Bureau of Prisons has determined that they are not equipped to house pretrial defendants at any of their institutions at Butner," U.S. Marshal Charles Reavis wrote.

The nearest federal facility that could house Passaro is in Petersburg, VA., Reavis said.

Boyle had previously asked that Passaro be held with the general population at the Wake County Jail.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers opposed the idea, saying it would be dangerous for him.

At previous hearings, lawyers have discussed releasing Passaro to a neighbor or halfway house or sending him to Butner.

Passaro's supporters want him freed.

If the judge doesn't like the conditions at the Wake County Jail, "then let him out pending trial," said Mike Russell, brother-in-law to Bonnie Heart, Passaro's girlfriend.

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