The Michigan Parole Board’s tough stance on releasing inmates has
been unaffected, in at least two cases, by recommendations from judges,
police officers or even the United Nations.
Consider Jan Borek of West Bloomfield Township, who was 23 in 1991
when he was sentenced to five to 25 years in prison for killing his
abusive, alcoholic stepfather during an argument.
Borek is to be deported to the Czech Republic as soon as he’s
released, but he’s been denied parole four times since becoming eligible
in 1995. In prison, he’s scored high on board guidelines for parole,
learned to speak English and earned two college degrees.
A U.N. group that examined Borek’s case in 2000 said his continued
incarceration was arbitrary and contrary to the international
declarations of human and civil rights.
The parole board instead has said Gustav Prilepok’s body was never
found. In pleading guilty, Borek admitted stabbing Prilepok and burying
him in west Michigan. Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan
said Prilepok’s family wants to know where to find the body.
Wayne County Circuit Judge Bruce Morrow said the board oversteps its
discretion when it makes decisions based on the circumstances and nature
of crimes. Both factors already are taken into consideration in
sentencing guidelines approved by the Legislature, Morrow said.
“It seems, in that regard, you are being punished twice for the same
offense, and it doesn’t matter whether you pleaded guilty or took
responsibility early on, it doesn’t matter to the board,” he said.
Nor has the parole board been persuaded by Washtenaw County Sheriff’s
Detective Ronald Blackwell, who lobbied for the release of Dan Ray
O’Bryan, who is serving one to 15 years for home invasion and
manslaughter.
O’Bryan, 36, of Ypsilanti pleaded guilty in 2002 to killing his
sister’s ex-boyfriend, who had been harassing her. He had confronted the
man at his home. A fight ensued, the two exchanged blows, and O’Bryan
knocked the man to the floor and left.
O’Bryan didn’t know the man was asthmatic. He choked to death.
Blackwell said O’Bryan accepted responsibility for his crime and
would not be a threat to the community. A union bricklayer who made
$50,000 a year and had no criminal record, O’Bryan owns a home and is
married with two children.
O’Bryan was sentenced in October 2002. He also was told to enroll in
a 44-week assaultive behavior program in prison. He immediately began
writing letters to prison officials asking to be put into the program,
but he wasn’t enrolled until April.
In June, O’Bryan was given a rating of high probability for release
based on the parole board’s own guidelines. But in September, the board
denied him parole for at least another year.
The board said continuing in the behavior program would benefit
O’Bryan’s aggressive tendencies, control his temper and reduce risk.
O’Bryan’s wife suggested that he continue the program in Ann Arbor, but
the idea has been ignored by the parole board.
The family gets food stamps and Medicaid benefits. O’Bryan’s parents
help pay his mortgage. His former employer said he can have his job back
if he is released. The extra year he spends in prison will cost
taxpayers more than $29,000.
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