Diagnosed with congestive heart failure,inmate patient Frederick Gusta, 46, was slated for “compassionate release,” an early release for patients determined to have less six months left to live. The release, granted to only a small percentage of applicants, sets him free two years early from his sentence of nine years and four months for kidnapping, terrorist threats and vehicle theft.
Gusta was released the day after this picture was taken.
For the last few weeks I’ve been working on a project called News 21, based out of UC Berkeley, reporting on California’s prison system. On one of the many stories I’ve been working on within that is on sick and elderly inmates, which can cost two or three times as much as a younger, healthy prisoner. Due to the aging baby boomer population and three-strikes laws, the California state legislative analyst’s office predicts that there will be at least 30,200 inmates aged 55 and older by 2022.
Above is Frederick Gusta at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, which specializes in care for sick and elderly inmates. Gusta is 46, but his congestive heart failure earned him a spot in CMF’s hospice unit and a coveted “compassionate release.”