Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 16, 1995 TAG: 9511160052
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS AND LAURA LAFAY STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long
The results of the probe were delivered Wednesday to Secretary of Public Safety Jerry Kilgore. The report's conclusions could not be determined Wednesday.
The report, requested by Kilgore and written by acting State Internal Auditor Joe Freiberger, is a private Allen administration document and will be withheld from the public, Kilgore said Wednesday.
Kilgore said he ordered the investigation last month in response to complaints against Metzger, including a claim that Metzger backdated parole revocation warrants. Two state officials who asked not to be named said the probe was prompted primarily by concerns of Metzger's fellow Parole Board members.
Among their claims: that Metzger denied parole to inmates without consulting them and made sexually offensive remarks to female board members, the sources said. They said the four other members of the Parole Board had signed a letter calling for Metzger's resignation.
A spokesman for Attorney General Jim Gilmore said a person convicted of falsifying public records could face either of two penalties:
Forging such records is a felony punishable by two to 10 years in prison.
``Fraudulent false entry" on records by a state officer is a misdemeanor punishable by being stripped of office, up to 12 months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Anyone convicted under the statute may be deemed "forever incapable of holding office of honor, profit, or trust under the Constitution of Virginia."
Metzger, 48, a former political director for the state Republican Party, was appointed last year by Gov. George Allen to one of the signature posts in his administration. On Wednesday, he refused comment on the report.
"I have nothing whatsoever to say," he said, referring calls to Kilgore.
Kilgore said he will not act before today on the report, which reached his office late Wednesday.
"I may have a chance to review it, but I won't have a chance to finalize recommendations and send them on," he said.
Allen is aware of the allegations and is awaiting the report, Kilgore said. Kilgore declined to comment on the report by the two government sources that Metzger's colleagues on the board had requested Metzger's resignation.
"I'm not going to go into any of that. ... I'm not prepared to confirm or deny that," Kilgore said.The report by the internal auditor is considered "governor's working papers" and therefore is exempt from public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, he said.
According to several sources familiar with the internal workings of the Parole Board, tension between Metzger and other board members dates at least to last spring.
As the public was focused on Allen's highly publicized bid to abolish parole and bring truth in sentencing, board members apparently were arguing behind the scenes about staffing arrangements and policy shifts.
High on the complaint list, according to the sources, was a concern that Metzger was denying parole arbitrarily without consulting other board members.
"In at least half a dozen cases, he acted on his own," alleged one official familiar with the board.
According to written policy, "a majority of no less than three" board members must concur on a decision to grant or not to grant parole. As chairman, Metzger is not supposed to vote except to break a tie.
Perhaps the most serious of the allegations from a legal standpoint is the suggestion that Metzger backdated parole revocation warrants.
When a parolee is accused of violating the terms of parole, board members can issue a warrant asking a local jail to hold that person until a hearing can take place. But if parole has ended before the board receives word of a possible violation, no warrant can be issued.
If the date on a warrant is incorrect, said former board Chairman Clarence Jackson, "it could have implications for [a parolee's right to] due process and could raise questions about whether the incarceration of anyone in prison because of the warrant is legal. A warrant is not valid unless all the information on it is correct."
Metzger, an Ohio native and former undercover police officer, came to Virginia in the mid-1980s to take a post with the state Republican Party. A friend of former GOP Executive Director Joe Elton, also from Ohio, Metzger made a name for himself in party circles as a tobacco-chewing raconteur.
He worked briefly as an aide to Rep. Thomas Bliley, R-Richmond, before being appointed U.S. marshal for the Western District of Virginia by then-President Bush in 1992.
Metzger and his wife, Janet, supported Allen's 1993 campaign for governor with contributions totaling $1,925. Three months after the governor's January inauguration, Allen appointed Metzger to head the parole board.
Metzger oversaw a dramatic shift in the parole grant rate. At one point, the grant rate dipped to about 6 percent, down from about 40 percent in the last year of the Wilder administration.
Figures released recently by Allen put the current grant rate at between 16 percent and 20 percent.
Parole Board members are appointed by the governor and accountable only to him and to his Cabinet. Although there is no legislative oversight of the board, Courts of Justice Committee Chairman Del. James Almand, D-Arlington, said Wednesday that the allegations against Metzger concern him. "If the allegations are accurate, I would expect the governor to remove him."
by CNB