Panel: Senator did not influence son's case

OLYMPIA — A state senator committed no ethical missteps in her son's early release from state prison on drug charges, a watchdog agency said Tuesday.

The Legislative Ethics Board's ruling found no reasonable cause to believe that Sen. Pam Roach, R-Auburn, used political clout to benefit son Stephen Roach.

Corrections supervisors may have had their own "desire to avoid conflict with a state legislator," the ethics board said. But there is no evidence that Roach tried to influence the agency's decisions about her son, officials said.

The complaint was filed March 5 by Willie Russell, an inmate at the state prison in Monroe.

Pam Roach, a five-term state senator who has championed tough-on-crime measures, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Stephen Roach was released from prison last year after officials found he was eligible for a 50 percent sentence reduction for good behavior.

Roach was serving a 20-month sentence on drug charges, in part for selling the prescription narcotic OxyContin to an undercover officer in 2004.

He planned to live at his parents' house after being released. But two corrections officers who went to review the Roach home refused Pam Roach's request to remove their shoes before treading on the white carpeting.

The home inspection ended early because of the conflict, and there was no follow-up inspection. Roach complained about the incident to the officers' supervisor and to Corrections Secretary Harold Clarke.

One of the officers later reviewed Stephen Roach's criminal record, looking through more files than the agency required in its early-release reviews, the ethics board said.

After searching that larger file, the officer found a previous assault. That could have delayed Stephen Roach's good-behavior release by about 100 days.

The officers claimed a supervisor told them not to share the information. The supervisor denied that allegation, saying it was assumed that the note on Stephen Roach's record would automatically be available to other officials. No days were added to his prison stay.

Supervisors also overruled the officers' refusal of the home placement and ordered one officer to delete a note in Stephen Roach's file that identified Pam Roach as a senator and said her behavior had been "hostile," the ethics board said.

Officials have said officers are asked to avoid any opinions in such file entries.