Policy change delays Marra’s transfer to halfway house
A change in federal prison policy means nearly three more months in jail and less time in a halfway house for the former executive director of the Fayette County Housing Authority. John E. Marra would have been eligible for halfway house placement starting March 22, six months before his scheduled Sept. 22 release date. But John Owen, public information officer for the Federal Correctional Institution at Loretto, said inmates are now limited to a maximum halfway house time of 10 percent of their original sentence.
Since Marra had a 37-month sentence, Owen said the earliest he can head to a halfway house to finish out his sentence is June 17, nearly three months longer than under the prior policy.
The change basically means that Marra qualifies for a maximum of 3.7 months in a halfway house, down from the prior maximum of six months.
“If he got the full amount of halfway house time, that (June 17) would be the earliest release date (from prison) to a halfway house,” said Owen.
However, Owen said he couldn’t reveal where Marra might be headed to serve out his halfway house time. He said that federal prison bureau policy prohibits giving out information on inmate transfers ahead of time.
“That’s not public information,” said Owen. “Any information related to an inmate’s transfer is not public information. And Mr. Marra does not want to release any other information other than the official release date that we have on record.”
Owen said that once Marra is transferred from FCI-Loretto, he would be able to name the new location.
“If he goes to (a halfway house) the day he is assigned to that place, we can release where he’s at. But if we’re pending the transfer of that individual, that location would not be releasable,” said Owen.
Owen said that Marra, 78, is still an inmate at FCI-Loretto, a minimum-security lockup in Cambria County.
Marra started serving his sentence in January 2001 at the Federal Medical Center in Lexington, Ky., but was sent to FCI-Loretto after four months.
Marra’s projected Sept. 22 release date takes into consideration shaving five months off his original sentence for good behavior. Owen confirmed last August that a team of prison officials – composed of Marra’s unit manager, case manager, counselor and psychologist/education representative – would make a determination on his halfway house eligibility.
Owen said Friday that it’s impossible to predict what rules Marra will live under once he moves to a halfway house. That facility probably would be located in the Pittsburgh area.
“Some halfway houses require people to be there longer, before they would be eligible for a home visit,” said Owen. “Each halfway house would operate their own rules on that.”
In 1999 Marra pleaded guilty to orchestrating a bribery and kickback scheme involving housing authority contractors Edward and Eloise Festor. Their companies kicked back to Marra 15 to 20 percent of the $1.3 million in contracts he illegally helped them win from 1985 through 1993.
Those contracts were for moving and storage of tenant possessions during remodeling projects, asbestos removal that was later found to be improperly done and termite wood damage repair that was later found not to have occurred.
At his sentencing, Marra also was ordered to make $315,775 in restitution to the authority, which was later adjusted downward to $278,125 after Marra’s attorney appealed that part of his sentence.
However, Marra isn’t required to make substantial regular monthly payments until his release from prison. Marra had paid $75,000 of that amount by the time he began his prison sentence.
Once released from prison, Marra will begin a three-year probation period.