An executive assistant at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Memphis told The Tennessee Star on Sunday that Warden F.J. Bowers will not respond to a letter from Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) requesting action for a J6 defendant until the congressman follows the “proper channels” for communication.
Ogles sent a letter to the facility on February 13 after The Star reported the conditions inside FCI Memphis as relayed by Stewart Parks, a former Tennessee candidate for U.S. House and unjustly convicted January 6 defendant who began serving an eight-month sentence at FCI Memphis in February.
In his letter, Ogles requested the facility to move Parks from the main facility to a minimum security satellite campus, where Parks was initially told he would serve his sentence.
The Star contacted FCI Memphis on February 13 to ask about a reply to Ogles’ letter and did not receive a response until February 22, when an unnamed executive assistant at the prison wrote in an email, “We have every intention on responding to U.S. Rep. Ogles letter. Unfortunately, I can’t provide you specifics due to confidential laws and procedures. I can only share what is already readily available to the general public.”
After clarifying a response to Ogles had not been sent, the assistant did not reply until on March 3, when they told The Star, “U.S. Rep. Ogles has to go through the proper channels for a formal response from the Warden. His request normally has to go through Mid-Atlantic Region Office first. So, once it is requested correctly, then we will respond.”
A press inquiry sent to Ogles’ office by The Star was not returned prior to press time.
During a February 22 appearance on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy, Ogles said he received a brief response from the prison five days after his deadline, and said he would “continue to be proactive” in an effort to “try to get Stewart moved” out of the troubled facility.
According to Ogles, Parks’ case “should trouble everyone.”
Ogles explained, “If you look, he walked into the capitol, whether you agree with that or not, but he didn’t break anything, he didn’t destroy anything, he didn’t hurt anybody and yet he’s in a federal prison with rapists.”
In a series of phone calls to Michael Patrick Leahy, the editor-in-chief of The Star, Parks has described FCI Memphis as dilapidated and prone to floods. He told Leahy his cell regularly floods, and inmates are reduced to using toilet paper to insulate their walls.
He additionally told Leahy that prison staff have warned him against continuing his phone conversations.
Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to pappert.tom@proton.me.
Photo “Andy Ogles” by Congressman Andy Ogles.
