Killer gets two years solitary confinement for selling art on eBay
Repo...@home.net
Associated
Press news wire:
Killer gets two years solitary confinement for selling art on eBay
By JESSE J. HOLLAND
Associated Press Writer
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- A serial killer whose paintings were sold on the
Internet
auction site eBay was punished with two years in solitary confinement
and lost
his art privileges for five years, prison officials said Friday.
Arthur Shawcross, imprisoned for life for killing 11 Rochester-area
women, will
be confined to a cell for 23 hours a day at Fallsburg's Sullivan
Correctional
Facility, Department of Corrections Commissioner Glenn Goord said.
Officials say he has been mailing drawings, oil paintings and portraits
--
notably of Marilyn Monroe and stock-car driver Dale Earnhardt -- as well
as
autographs to dealers. His work would then show up on the Internet for
public
auction. EBay is based in San Jose.
In return, Shawcross would occasionally get gifts such as clothes and
shoes
instead of cash, officials said.
It is illegal for inmates to run any kind of business in prison, Goord
said.
During his two years in solitary confinement, he also will not be able
to
receive packages, visit the prison commissary or use the prison
telephones for
illegal business.
Shawcross also will not be able to participate in any arts or crafts
programs
or be allow to buy or sell any arts or crafts items for five years,
Goord said.
--------------------------------------------------------
Killer gets two years solitary confinement for selling art on eBay
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - No new artwork from serial killer Arthur Shawcross
will
show up on eBay for at least five years, prison officials say.
That's because the man who killed 11 Rochester-area women was sentenced
Friday
to two years solitary confinement and five years without art privileges
for
running an illegal prison business.
Shawcross will be confined to a cell for 23 hours a day at Fallsburg's
Sullivan
Correctional Facility in the Catskills, Department of Corrections
Commissioner
Glenn Goord announced. He will only be brought out for one hour of
court-mandated exercise, Goord said.
During those two years, he also will not be able to receive packages,
visit the
prison commissary or use the prison telephones for nonlegal business,
prison
officials said.
The sanction took effect on Friday.
Shawcross, 54, is serving 250 years to life in prison for killing 11
Rochester-area women, nine of them prostitutes. He was convicted in
1991.
Officials say he has been mailing drawings, oil paintings and portraits
-
notably of Marilyn Monroe and stock-car driver Dale Earnhardt - as well
as
autographs to dealers. His work would then show up on the Internet for
public
auction.
In return, Shawcross would occasionally gets gifts such as clothes and
shoes
instead of cash, officials said.
It is illegal for inmates to run any kind of business in prison, Goord
said.
The punishment came after a disciplinary hearing on Friday. Shawcross
had been
charged with soliciting goods or services and selling personal articles
without
approval, Goord said.
Shawcross has a month to appeal the ruling to Goord, who can take two
months
after the appeal to make a decision.
Shawcross also will not be able to participate in any arts or crafts
programs
or be allow to buy or sell any arts or crafts items for five years,
Goord said.
His art privileges were originally suspended on Monday.
Prison officials said Shawcross did not violate the state's "Son of Sam"
law
because he is not accused of benefiting from the actual crimes that led
to his
arrest.
eBay has been in the news lately after hoax items like human kidneys and
babies
were posted for auction. The company has suspended all of the kidney and
baby
dealers from their site, and contacted law enforcement.
AP-ES-09-18-99
Robb 62277
reporting: ">During his two years in solitary confinement, he also will not be
able >to >receive packages, visit the prison commissary or use the prison
>telephones for >illegal business."
LOL Taking away his ability to run an illegal business for 2 whole years.
Isn't this cruel and inhuman punishment?
Tom