Deputy Zeke Caged For 4 Months — GOP Chester County (Pa) Sheriff Candidate Roy Kofroth points out in this ad that the department under Fredda Maddox and her subordinate Kevin Dykes separated a valuable K-9 from his partner and put him on ice for four months.
Once you get past the indifference and cruelty look at the stupidity and incompetence.
Ms. Maddox is now seeking to be a county Common Pleas Court judge and Dykes is now looking to be sheriff.
Vote for Kofroth for sheriff. Don’t vote for Ms. Maddox for anything.
If the Sheriff Department under Fredda hadn’t gutted its award-winning K-9 unit, Chesco Prison escapee and multiple-murderer Danelo Cavalcante would not have terrorized the county for two weeks.
Holland Warned Of Cavalcante Escape Plan Month Before It Happened — Chester County Commissioner Joshua Maxwell implied, Sept. 20, that somehow Chesco prison’s former warden, Ronald M. Phillips, was somehow to blame for the conditions that led to multiple-murderer Danelo Cavalcante Aug. 31 escape.
Phillips, who started at the prison in 1983 and moved up the ranks to top job, was placed on administrative leave in July, allegedly due to the May escape by o Igor Vidra Bolte. He officially retired the day before Cavalcante’s break out.
Taking over as interim warden was Howard Holland. He had been Downingtown police chief, while Maxwell served as the borough’s mayor.
Being a police chief does not make one skilled in running a prison. It has now been revealed that a prison officer warned had warned his superiors that Cavalcante was planning an escape a month before it happened.
“I am just sending this cause I don’t want this to come back on us or [Officer] Hernandez in anyway.He noted back in July that this inmate was planning an escape,” Chester County Prison Sgt. Jerry Beavers said in an email to Cpt. Harry Griswold several hours after the escape on Aug. 31.
The document had been obtained via a right-to-know request by ABCNews.
The present County Board of Commissioners had allowed the prison to become woefully understaffed — 60 of 300 positions were vacant — before Phillips was forced out.
If Chesco didn’t gut the sheriff’s K-9 unit, they wouldn’t need a Border Patrol dog to catch killer Cavalcante
Holland Warned Of Cavalcante Escape Plan Month Before It Happened
John Emmons Hangs On With Chesco GOP Despite Move To Berks — We reported in July that John Emmons, the executive vice chair of the Chester County GOP, moved up to Berks yet remained registered to vote in Chesco.
And remained executive vice chair of the Chester County GOP.
Well, we have an update. As per Chester County Voter Services:
Alison Emmons: Canceled her voter registration with Chester County on September 18th, 2023. She is now registered in Berks County.
John Emmons: Our office mailed him an Address Verification Notice (AVN) on July 28th, 2023. We have yet to receive confirmation from him. Once his address is confirmed, his voter registration with Chester County will either be reactivated and show his new address, or his voter registration will update to reflect he has moved to a different county.
And he remains the executive vice chair of the Republican Chester County Committee.
Yoda Endorses Chesco GOP — Yoda –the K-9 who put the bite on multiple murderer Danelo Cavalcante after he climbed out of horrifically mismanaged Chester County Prison, Aug. 31, and wandered the woods of Southeast Pennsylvania for two weeks — has come out strong for the Chesco GOP ticket in the Nov. 7 election.
What Happened To Zeeke And Moose? — Nine months after taking office Chester County Sheriff Fredda Maddox announced the acquisition of Zeeke and Moose to her department’s K-9 unit.
This would have been in September 2020.
Well Zeeke and Moose are no longer there along with most of the units other dogs.
Whatever happened to them? Flyers are being placed around the county
If the K-9 unit had been fully staffed Danelo Cavalcante would not have had his two-week vacation.
She’s trying for a promotion to Common Pleas Court judge, Nov. 7, and running as her successor is hand-picked Kevin Dykes.
Running against Dykes is Roy Kofroth. Ms. Maddox is one of 12 candidates for five open seats for for judge. If you want competency don’t vote for the Democrats.
Missouri Escapee Arrested In Chesco — Mario Che-Tiul who escaped from a Missouri jail was arrested today, Sept. 21, in Chester County, Pa. in Avondale.
He was facing charges of child molestation.
What was he doing in Chesco?
It sure is a long way from the Show Me State.
Did the word go out on the criminal grapevine that Chesco was a nice, woke place to hide out considering murderer Danelo Cavalcante managed to bust out of Chesco’s prison and spend two weeks on the lam?
Sheriff Louderback Supporting Roy Kofroth — AJ Louderback, who served five-terms as sheriff of Jackson County, Texas until his retirement in December 2021, will be special guest at a reception for Roy Kofroth who is running for Chester County sheriff.
It should be a no-brainer that Kofroth wins but there are many voters who have no brains.
Ex-Chesco Warden Pushed Out By May Escape — Former Chester County Warden Ronald M. Phillips was pushed out due to Igor Vidra Bolte’s escape in May.
And the county prison had a K-9 program that ended in 1986.
County Commissioner Joshua Maxwell revealed these bits at today’s (Sept. 20) meeting of the prison board.
The board consists of the county commissioners, District Attorney Deborah Ryan, Sheriff Fredda Maddox, the county controller and the president judge of Common Pleas Court.
Phillips started at the prison in 1983 and worked his way up the ranks. He began a leave of absence in July and officially retired Aug. 30, the day before Danelo Cavalcante’s escape.
He was replaced by Howard Holland, who had been police chief of Downingtown where Maxwell had been mayor.
Was there a search for Phillips’ replacement or was Holland merely ordained? That’s assuming Holland gets the permanent job as he is now merely interim warden.
We asked this earlier. Police and correction skills are not necessarily interchangeable and if Bolte’s escape caused Phillips to lose his job, is Holland’s in jeopardy?
Probably not considering the reception he got at today’s meeting.
Anyway, Maxwell conceded the prison has been short staffed with 60 of the 300 positions not being filled. He also admitted information about Cavalcante’s escape was woefully delayed from being transmitted to the community.
He said there were plans to return a K-9 program to the prison.
It has been widely noted that if the county Sheriff Department had maintained its highly regarded one, Cavalcante would have been rounded up within hours.
The program, however, was allowed to whither when Fredda Maddox was elected to the office in 2019.
Why is Chesco having so much trouble keeping people?
Ms. Maddox, a Democrat, is stepping down as sheriff in a bid to become a Chesco Common Pleas Court judge. The election is Nov. 7.
Bunny Welsh, who was Ms. Maddox’s predecessor, pointed out that it took her 10 years to develop the K-9 unit. She noted that it doesn’t just take highly trained dogs but highly trained handlers who will work unexpected hours.
Prison Fixes Get Green Light
The board approved, in response to the escape, a design phase for prison renovations with TranSystems. Proposed renovations include are enclosing the eight exercise yards, adding a sally port, and removing the basketball hoops as they are a liability issue along with a security one.
The TranSystems presenter noted that an enclosed yard would prevent drones from dropping contraband to the inmates.
The cost was estimated at between $2.5 and $3.5 million and the job will take six to nine months.
Also a temporary barrier will be installed where Cavalcante made his escape.
Holland Addresses Board
Holland addressed the board from the floor saying plans are in place to add razor wire to where Bolte escaped but there are construction delays. He said there also plans to add metal fencing where Cavalcante broke out.
He said he wants to add 50-75 cameras for $70,000 along with eight people to watch them. Holland says he plans to have more drills. He said wants an alarm system on an outside fence, drones and drone operators, oh, and a K-9 unit.
He said if he these programs Cavalcante would never have escaped.
On the other hand, if the prison was fully staffed and had more than one guard watching the exercise yard he probably wouldn’t have escaped either.
Public Comments
Before public comments, the audience was specifically told not to bring up the Sheriff Department K-9 unit.
Sally Mininger (sp) from Tredyffrin noted the hero of the Cavalcante matter was Border Patrol dog Yoda and then said Bunny Welsh had great program but was gutted when Freda Maddox took over as sheriff. She said there were but two dogs left when Cavalcante escaped at which point she was told to stop talking about the Sheriff Department’s K-9 unit.
She ended by saying it wouldn’t be necessary to reinstate the program if it had been gutted “in 1986 or whenever.”
Guy Ciarrocchi of Tredyffrin said commissioners failed the community. He wanted to know if the prison would start taking murderers until fully staffed or at least keep them in isolation.
Shelia Learner (sp) of Westtown said she never came to these meetings but is livid.
“You had one job to do . . .” she said. “And you failed it. You are not doing a good job and I think you have to think that this is not job for you.”
Daryl Cooper (sp) of East Marlboro Township said the board ratified two major proposals without the expertise to understand them. He did, however, complement Maxwell on his expressions of empathy at the start of the meeting.
A Malvern woman criticized Sheriff Maddox and Commissioner Marian Moskowitz for being almost invisible during the escape.
TranSystems proposed temporary fix where Cavalcante made his escape
They really, really want to get rid of the basketball hoops.
Was There A Search To Replace Chesco Warden?— Former Downington Police Chief Howard Holland was running Chester County Prison when Danelo Cavalcante broke out Aug. 31 which was the day after the official retirement of Warden Ronald M. Phillips.
Phillips had been at the prison since 1983 and had been deputy warden under his predecessor Ed McFadden, who retired in 2020.
He had been on administrative leave since July.
Was he just using up his vacation time? Or was it something else?
Holland was serving with the title interim warden. While having a long career in law enforcement, he does not appear to have experience in running a prison.
Why was he tapped for the job? Was there no one in the prison’s administration who could have stepped in? Was there a search? Could Phillips have been asked to hang on a little longer for the county to start one?
Or was it because Holland worked with Chesco Commissioner Josh Maxwell, while Maxwell was mayor of Downingtown and Maxwell liked him, and nobody considered the requirements of the job?
If so, that’s one more pretty big strike against those running Chester County.
How much of a search did Chester County do to find Ronald Phillips’ replacement as prison warden?
Suit Seeks Lifetime Ban On 2 Chesco Commissioners — Chesco resident William R. Borton, Sept. 11, filed a petition for declaratory judgement in the county’s Common Pleas Court that Chester County commissioners Marian Moskowitz and Joshua Maxwell be forever banned from holding public office in Pennsylvania.
Ms. Moskowitz and Maxwell in their role as members of the Board of Elections certified the Nov. 8, 2022 election while petitions for recounts were outstanding, says Borton in his filing.
Judge Jeffrey Sommer scheduled a hearing, Nov. 21, and the Election Board was immediately informed via a hand-delivered copy of the order.
Election law expressly states that boards of elections may not certify while recount petitions are pending.
Ms. Moskowitz and Maxwell filed a request on Nov. 23 asking the court to dismiss the petitions but Sommer scheduled a hearing on Dec. 5.
Regardless, the board certified the election on Nov. 28 despite Commissioner Michelle Kichline’s vehement dissent out of concern that it would be a violation of election law.
Chesco Commissioners Josh Maxwell and Marian Moskowitz Nov. 28
Borton, in his filing says a recount could have been done in a day.
Sommer dismissed the recount request on Dec. 12, and those seeking them appealed to Commonwealth Court, which overturned Sommer’s decision.
Ms. Moskowitz and Maxwell then appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court which vacated the Commonwealth Court decision without a hearing.
Justices Sallie Updyke Mundy and P. Kevin Brobson dissented. Justice Mundy noted that the action of the court broke with its traditional process.
Borton wants the lifetime ban based on Section 1851 of the state election code which provides that Any person who shall, while a candidate for office, be guilty of bribery, fraud or willful violation of any provision of this act, shall be forever disqualified from holding said office or any other office of trust or profit in this Commonwealth.
This should especially apply to members of election boards, he says.
Ms. Moskowitz and Maxwell are seeking re-election this November.
