This was sent out to the Ru Mills RMNews Egroups mailing list by Doretta Wildes:

COLEMAN STILL INSIDE

I heard from Les Coleman this eve. Today, September 17, was his official release date. You'll remember that federal district court Judge James Moran (Ohio) terminated his case and advised the BOP that he should be sent directly to Lexington, KY.

This order has been ignored and Les remains in prison.

Currently he's being held in the OK City FTC detention center. Today he had an asthma attack serious enough to warrant his being treated by the "pros" at the prison. His back hurts and his lungs are challenged, but he remains hopeful and his sense of humor seems to be intact.

"I keep expecting Roger Rabbit to bounce into my cell," he said, in reference to the cartoon-like interior décor, consisting of fuschia walls trimmed in lime-green set off by checkerboard flooring. Apparently, the OK City Prison décor director thinks this color scheme is appropriate for the 1500 men it houses. (Why?) Les estimates that each day about 450 prisoners come and go via plane and bus.

Les's itinerary of the past several months reads like that of a lost FedEx package:

Lexington KY (4/14) to Oklahoma City FTC (4/21) to MCD Brooklyn (4/26) to Oklahoma City FTC (8/01) to MCC Chicago (8/09) to FCD Milan, Michigan (9/08) to Oklahoma City FTC (9/14)

Apparently, the Federal Bureau of Prisons thinks nothing of transporting prisoners back and forth to temporary holding facilities, despite the expense, even if this makes no sense from the standpoint of the prisoner's court appearances or lack thereof.

In Les's case, there appears to be some question remaining about the terms of his 10-month sentence, pronounced by Judge Thomas Platt (NY) on June 1. I will not go into the details here, but since he was detained per order of the Chicago court during his incarceration in Kentucky (from 9/99 through 4/14), he should be credited for five of those months EVEN THOUGH he was facing charges brought against him by the state of KY.

There are sound legal reasons why he should be a free man today. There are also plenty of other reasons. You already know what these are.

Please say prayers for Les Coleman and his family. Should the need arise, we'll let you know if we need your help writing letters to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.