U.S. Representatives Andy Ogles (R-TN-05), Matt Gaetz (R-FL-01), and Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) have sent a letter to the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons requesting that unjustly imprisoned January 6 defendant Stewart Parks be moved to the minimum security satellite camp located at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Memphis.
Parks is currently serving an eight-month prison term for misdemeanor trespassing, disorderly conduct, and theft charges related to his presence at the January 6 Capitol riot.
Despite not having a criminal history or history of violence, Parks was ordered to serve out his sentence at the medium security facility, FCI Memphis, instead of a minimum security satellite camp.
“To the best of our understanding, Mr. Parks did not possess a criminal record and has difficulty hearing, as well as a speech impediment,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter obtained by The Tennessee Star to Collette S. Peters, the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, on Wednesday.
“Mr. Parks’ placement among hardened criminals appears to be disproportionate when compared to his conviction and to the information provided in the FBI affidavit, which confirms that Mr. Parks willingly left the Capitol building after approximately a half hour,” the congressmen added.
The letter went on to cite reporting by The Star in regards to an audit conducted of the FCI Memphis facility that showed there had been one allegation of inmate-on-inmate sexual abuse and three allegations of inmate-on-inmate sexual harassment in a 12-month period with no charges being filed.
“Mr. Parks’ continued exposure to physical harm remains a cause for concern: an April 2022 audit of the Memphis FCI facility indicated that in the preceding twelve-month period there had been several allegations of inmate-on-inmate sexual abuse and harassment, with no charges being filed,” the congressmen wrote.
“We were therefore concerned to learn last week that the Bureau does not currently have plans to transfer Mr. Parks to the satellite camp. We encourage you to consider the totality of his case and approve his transfer without delay and request a response by COB Wednesday March 27,” the letter said.
Wednesday’s letter comes exactly a week after Ogles received a month-long delayed response from Bureau of Prisons Legislative Affairs Chief David Mapp, who claimed the medium-security prison is an “appropriate facility” for Parks to serve his sentence.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Stewart Parks” by Stewart Parks.
