FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

Life if precious, sacred, beyond value that is why our society honor and reward those who save lives. Because life matters. When you save a life you are considered a hero right? What if you save a female prison guard from being viscously raped and choked to death by an insane and violent inmate who was also gang member? By most standards you would be categorized as a Hero. What if this hero who saved this female prison guards life was an inmate? Is he still not a hero? Should we not reward this man for bravery? I think we all can agree this inmate who is serving time would still be considered a hero for his quick thinking and willingness to save a life of a prison guard. Prison guards can give punishment and given punitive admonishments at will. For William Westervelt to put his safety and life on the line for this female prison guard without giving a thought to how is this going to impact me in the future shows a character of selflessness and respect for humanity.  Should the Florida Department of Corrections recognize this heroic behavior maybe even reward him for this act of bravery?  Most people would say yes, this heroic act needs to be acknowledged and addressed by the Florida Department of Corrections.  But it was not. Not even close.

Here is the story of how the powers that be in the Florida Department of Corrections attempted to cover up this atrocity and furthermore squelch William Westervelt – Heroic and courageous action. 

This event includes the female prison guard Ms. Penny Sullivan and the heroic inmate William Westervelt. In August 2016, while patrolling the therapeutic care unit, Officer (SGT.) Penny Sullivan, was doing her rounds throughout the cell block. As she walked by checking the cells, she was overtaken and pulled into vacant cell by a gang member, Fernando Carpio. This attack was so sudden and overwhelming officer Penny Sullivan was unable to reach her (PBA) Personal body alarm only managing a few startling cries for help before being put in a choke hold rendering her almost unconscious. Thankfully, her cries were heard by inmate Westervelt from his nearby cell. Inmate Westervelt and his cell mate responded immediately not thinking about his personal safety he sprang into action with his cell mate. They located officer Sullivan in a desperate fight for her life and losing fast. Inmate Westervelt entered the fray and managed to separate officer Penny Sullivan from her attacker,  with help from his cellmate. Inmate Westervelt helped her towards the officers station to get immediate medical attention. Westervelt’s brave actions and timely response no doubt saved officer Penny Sullivan from the horrible brutality that could have ended her life by the violent gang member Fernando Carpio. What a display of selfless courage and a truly heroic act.

How was William honored? He was not. He was never publicly recognized or thanked. Willam Westervelt would never be honored, recognized or even thanked by the Florida Department of Corrections. Why? The FLDOC (Florida Department of Corrections) and the Inspector Generals Office wanted to keep the attack under wraps the decided to shelf the investigation and would transfer Inmate Westervelt after an attempt was made on his by Carpios fellow gang members for saving “one of them. It was clear to Dade administrators that William needed to transferred for his heroic honesty.

It was his sister who made many many phone calls to the prison and the FLDOC asking, Is there going to be an IG investigation? Many months had passed when an Inspector general was placed on the case. The sister called and spoke to this IG throughout a period of 3 years. There was clearly push back from he FLDOC especially head of Inspector generals division run by Jeff Beasley Former Head, Intelligence Division at Florida Department of Corrections at the time. Jeff Beasley, was finally forced out of this position due to his style of mismanagement of “ sweeping many deaths and attacks in the prisons under the preverbal rug.”  See Miami Herald article, Cruel and Unusual published Feb. 7, 2015, Mary Ellen Klas & Julie Brown.  Through all the roadblocks the smart inspector on this case was able to finalize the IG report. The sister of William was finally able to ascertain the the final I G Report from FLDOC Records Division Head Mr. Roger Sockman. It was clear the inspector did her job well but unfortunately was hampered to reveal all the facts. Since this report, Williams sister has found Sgt. Sullivan and become friendly with each other. Sgt. Sullivan reviewed the IG report recently and was shocked on how much information was not included and some untruths included. See Inspector Generals Report # 16-15532

 Todate, William Westervelt has been since moved around the FDC without a word of his heroic measures that were never noted on his DOC file jacket. Why? Since William has been recently acknowledged by Sgt. Sullivan thanking him for his heroic acts on that fateful day that changed her life forever, William has been the recipient of recent unverified DR’s. Why does FDC want to squelch this incident? It would be bringing up too many incidents that were covered up in the name of protecting FDC members and unfollowed protocols. What we do know now, is that Sgt. Marshall was not aware of the many things that FDC hid from her during her attack and her healing process. The resurrection of the incident, report and the many unanswered questions is not what FDC needs right now. Hiding William with falsified DR’s denying him of his due process is a sure way to keep him quiet on this topic despite his heroic efforts of doing the right thing.

Williams Family will continue to pursue justice for William and document all of the atrocious that have appeared to be recently happening since Sgt. Marshall has acknowledged the reality of this issue.