Jail inmates have a blue Christmas

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BANGOR – For Travis Noyes, Christmas behind bars was made all the worse because of what could have been.

The 23-year-old Penobscot County Jail inmate had expected to be out on furlough, celebrating the holiday with his family in Hermon.

Instead, a confrontation in the jail kitchen two weeks ago landed him in a 30-day “lockup,” his brief bid for freedom rescinded and his sentence for operating under the influence extended until June.

“I don’t understand what it is with me. Everything blows up in my face,” he said to his mother who dabbed at her eyes on the other side of a glass partition in the jail’s visiting area Christmas Day.

Noyes wasn’t the only Penobscot County Jail inmate feeling blue Wednesday.

“The least said about Christmas the better,” said Lovie Riddle, 57, as he sat in the “day area” with several other inmates whose cells surrounded the common room.

“To me, it’s just like any other day,” said the Stetson resident, who is awaiting sentence for violating the probation he received for an assault.

Riddle misses his wife the most, he said. Since she doesn’t drive, he knew there would be no visitors for him Wednesday.

Figuring he would do the next best thing, he pressed a note into the hands of a visiting news photographer.

“When you print your paper, please say that Bear loves Jellybean and I am sorry,” he wrote on the back of an envelope.

Although he held back at first, inmate Mike Slobuszewski, 22, decided in the end that he didn’t mind being interviewed.

Incarcerated for violating the probation he received for driving offenses, the Milo resident has been out of jail for Christmas only once since 1998, he said.

That was last year, when he spent the day opening gifts and snowmobiling with his son, Joseph.

“But I can’t make bail, so here I sit,” Slobuszewski said glumly.

Since the national suicide rate among inmates is higher around the holiday season, guards are asked to pay closer attention to inmates’ actions and to be aware of certain warning signs, said Sgt. Ty Babb, program director at the jail.

If an inmate’s personality has changed or if he’s agitated or crying, an officer should ask whether he’s thinking about hurting himself, Babb said.

Putting the inmate on suicide watch and calling for a counselor are the next steps, said Babb, who will take on the position of assistant jail administrator Jan. 1.

Although a special meal, a church service and a movie were scheduled, giving inmates “some space” is about the only thing officers really can do to make the holiday easier, said Sgt. Chris Boulier.

“I think a lot of them want to be left alone, so I don’t try to initiate a lot. I keep an eye on them and do the standard things I need to do. But I believe in giving them a little room,” he said.

Officer Craig Florey said he makes it a point on Christmas “to go into the cellblocks to see if [inmates] want to talk.”

“Nine out of 10 times they do,” he said. “They’re trying to reach out.”

Back from a visit downstairs with his girlfriend, Jon Atwood, 21, was grinning broadly.

“It’s hard here today, but friends and visitors make it easier,” said Atwood, who likes to set his sights on the future.

“I just remember that I’ll get out someday. They can’t keep me here forever,” said Atwood, who’s in jail for driving without a license.

Down in the kitchen, inmates Chris Roderick and Tony Cameron were helping to prepare a ham for the holiday dinner. They tried not to dwell on the fact that they’re spending Christmas in jail.

“There’s nothing I can do about it, so I just put it out of my mind,” said Roderick, 27, who is in for theft.

The Christmas carols don’t help, said Cameron, 49, serving time for violating the probation he received for criminal threatening.

“Listening to ‘Little Drummer Boy,'” he said, “that’s when it really gets a little depressing.”

The brief visit behind glass with his mother, father and grandparents has made Noyes more determined than ever to turn his life around. He lives with his father and has had a troubled relationship with his mother. He hasn’t spent Christmas with her in years.

But their talk has changed things.

“We’ve cleared a good path,” he said.