Parole Officer

Kenneth Dupree loves his country, as evidenced by the number of Ol' Glories that dot his front lawn and an "I USA" placard hanging on the front porch of his Northeast Philadelphia home. The 46-year former parole officer also loves quality countertops, as alleged by the state Attorney General yesterday. Dupree, of Benner Street near Jackson, was arrested Thursday and charged with bribery and other offenses involving alleged extortion of parolees he supervised, the Attorney General's Office announced.

Nat R. (Goldberg) Arluke, 83, a longtime parole officer and retired chief of the New Jersey Parole Bureau, died Jan. 6 at his home in North Beach Haven, Long Beach Island. Born and raised in Trenton, he lived in Levittown, Pa.; Westmont; Cherry Hill and Delran before moving to Long Beach Island. Mr. Arluke began working for the New Jersey Parole Bureau in 1945 and rose to supervising parole officer. In 1965, he was named chief of the state bureau. He retired in 1980. Before becoming a parole officer, Mr. Arluke was a teacher at Rahway and Leesburg State Prisons from 1932 until he entered the military.

Robert Owens, a former probation officer on trial for allegedly extorting cocaine from a man he was supervising, was found guilty yesterday of solicitation of a controlled substance but was acquitted of other charges by a Common Pleas Court judge. Owens, 39, who worked as a probation officer with the Crisis Intervention Network until he was arrested in March 1987 in the alleged cocaine extortion scheme, was found not guilty by Judge Mark I. Bernstein of bribery, tampering with public records, obstructing the administration of law and official oppression.

A probation officer told a man he was supervising to "give him a little" cocaine or face a probation violation, the man testified yesterday. "I thought it was a joke because he was my parole officer," James Butts, 27, told Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Mark I. Bernstein. The former probation officer, Robert Owens, who worked for the Crisis Intervention Network, was arrested in March 1987 in an alleged cocaine extortion scheme after Butts reported the cocaine demand to a lawyer, who then informed the District Attorney's Office.

A former state parole officer was sentenced yesterday to a year and a day in prison and fined $2,500 on racketeering and mail-fraud charges for accepting $3,450 in payoffs from lawyer-turned-informant Barry H. Denker and another man. James A. Roane, 58, a former supervisor and parole officer for the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, pleaded guilty in December 1987 and agreed to cooperate with authorities. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Daniel H. Huyett 3d in federal court in Reading.

A former state parole officer pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court to racketeering and mail-fraud charges accusing him of accepting a total of $3,250 in payoffs from lawyer-turned-informant Barry H. Denker and another man. James A. Roane, 58, a former supervisor and parole officer for the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, entered the plea before U.S. District Judge Daniel H. Huyett 3d, who postponed sentencing until June....

James M. Asman, a retired parole officer who was active in Democratic politics and volunteer youth work, died Friday. He was 63 and lived in the Oxford Circle section of Northeast Philadelphia. Asman was a parole officer for Common Pleas Court for 19 years before illness caused him to retire in October. Upon his retirement he was cited in a special proclamation from City Council for his years of public service. Also upon his retirement he received a plaque of appreciation from President Judge Edward J. Bradley.

Kenneth Dupree loves his country, as evidenced by the number of Ol' Glories that dot his front lawn and an "I USA" placard hanging on the front porch of his Northeast Philadelphia home. The 46-year-old former parole officer also loves quality countertops, as alleged by the state attorney general yesterday. Dupree, of Benner Street near Jackson, was arrested yesterday and charged with bribery and other offenses involving parolees he supervised, the Attorney General's Office announced.

A state parole officer was in critical condition last night after being shot by a parolee he was trying to detain in his Norristown office for questioning about a postal robbery, police said yesterday. The parole officer, Willie Edward Jones Jr., 45, of Abington, was reportedly shot by Julius Dotson, 31, of West Norriton, who had arrived for what Dotson thought was a routine visit to the state Probation and Parole Board's Office. Police said that when Dotson realized that Jones wanted to detain him, he pulled out a semiautomatic handgun and, after a brief scuffle, shot Jones in the back.

A state official yesterday lifted the suspension of a New Jersey parole officer who was accused of neglecting his duties following a June shooting rampage by an Atlantic City parolee that left seven people dead. John Goodman will be assigned to desk duties in Atlantic County pending the outcome of an administrative hearing that could result in his dismissal. Goodman had been suspended with pay since July 13. As a parole officer in Atlantic City, Goodman was assigned to supervise parolee Darnell Collins, who went on a killing spree in mid-June that left seven people dead in New Jersey and New York.

The gunshot that left a rookie Philadelphia cop crippled 45 years ago continues to echo through the city's criminal-justice system. But it's the man who fired the bullet - and who remains behind bars, despite having served his entire prison sentence - who now seeks a measure of justice. William Barnes' recent appeal to the federal courts to be released from prison may not win much public sympathy for the 76-year-old inmate. It was Barnes' weapon, fired during a 1966 burglary, that paralyzed Police Officer Walter Barclay.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Cephus Johnson, an uncle of Oscar Grant III, waited patiently outside the Los Angeles County Men's Jail on Sunday night, hoping to catch a glimpse of the man who killed his nephew. Instead, Johnson said yesterday, all he saw as midnight approached was a cadre of police cruisers and a helicopter, followed by an automated phone call notifying him that former Bay Area Rapid Transit police Officer Johannes Mehserle was set free after 11 months in jail. "It's totally disappointment, anger, hurt and pain," Johnson said of Mehserle's release.

Kenneth Dupree loves his country, as evidenced by the number of Ol' Glories that dot his front lawn and an "I USA" placard hanging on the front porch of his Northeast Philadelphia home. The 46-year-old former parole officer also loves quality countertops, as alleged by the state attorney general yesterday. Dupree, of Benner Street near Jackson, was arrested yesterday and charged with bribery and other offenses involving parolees he supervised, the Attorney General's Office announced.

HARRISBURG - A former state parole officer from Philadelphia was charged Thursday with taking cash from parolees in exchange for overlooking positive drug tests or allowing people who should be jailed to remain on the streets. The state Attorney General's Office filed public-corruption charges against Kenneth Dupree, 46, of Wissinoming, who worked as a parole agent for the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole until April 2010. He was charged with bribery, official oppression, and obstruction.

PLAXICO BURRESS emerged from a prison in Rome, N.Y., wearing almost all black - hooded sweat shirt, athletic shorts, sneakers. But there was a noticeable hint of red - old-school Phillies red to be exact. Burress was wearing a Phillies cap, fueling additional speculation that Burress is hoping to land with the Eagles now that his nearly 2-year prison sentence on a gun charge is over. Burress' Giants teammate, Brandon Jacobs, had said last week that Burress' preferred destination was the Eagles because of his relationship with quarterback Michael Vick and a chance for a Super Bowl.

TRENTON - Republican lawmakers have come forward to sponsor bills to repeal the automatic early release of certain inmates six months before the end of their sentences, as called for this week by Gov. Christie. The move comes after an inmate who had been freed early was charged six weeks later with shooting a man to death outside a party in Jersey City. "Protecting the public is one of the first duties of government," said Assemblyman David Rible (R., Monmouth), a sponsor of the Assembly bill to repeal the provision.

"Time will tell," Louis Mickens-Thomas would always say to his family. The phrase never felt so real until the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the release Thursday of the West Philadelphia man who has spent more than 40 years behind bars for the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl in 1964. Mickens-Thomas, 82, has maintained his innocence ever since and his life sentence was commuted 16 years ago. "He's been saying all along he's innocent," said nephew Calvin Mickens, 62. "His spirit is good and he's not bitter.

The federal judges who heard the latest appeal in the legal saga of Louis Mickens-Thomas seemed inclined to release the 82-year-old inmate, who is being held at Graterford Prison in part for planting an unwanted kiss on a woman from his church. John Knorr, who argued Tuesday on behalf of the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, barely had introduced himself before Circuit Judge Maryanne Trump Barry interrupted him. "You're a brave man for being here today, given the arguments we've heard and the papers we've read," she said.

William Barnes remains behind bars on charges so flimsy it's clear that justice isn't his prosecutors' goal. A jury acquitted Barnes in May in the death of a Philadelphia police officer who died of an infection 41 years after he was shot by Barnes. But he has been kept in prison for more than three years for minor parole violations. Barnes was caught carrying a cell phone and car keys without permission from his parole officer. It seems unlikely that anyone else would be jailed for such petty charges.