Warden of U.S. prison charged in Web postings

The warden of a federal prison in San Bernardino County was indicted Wednesday on charges of disclosing confidential information about a pending criminal investigation and then lying to investigators about having done so, authorities said.

Scott A. Holencik, warden of a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility in Adelanto, is charged in a six-count indictment, which includes two felony counts of making false statements to investigators, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.

Holencik, 45, is accused of lying to investigators from the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General last year in connection with an inquiry into Internet postings that disclosed confidential information, prosecutors said.

“All I can say is there are two sides to every story,” Holencik said in a brief interview with The Times. He declined further comment, saying he had not seen the indictment and had not yet hired an attorney.

According to the indictment, Holencik made multiple postings to www.prisonofficer.org. The postings allegedly contained “sensitive information concerning criminal investigations at the prison” as well as other confidential government information.

The two felony counts are for allegedly lying to investigators about not having made the posts, according to prosecutors. Holencik is also charged with four misdemeanors for disclosing information about a prison employee suspected of involvement in an inmate gambling operation, as well as details about a homicide that occurred at the prison in August.

In the postings, made under the user name “VIMshooter,” Holencik referred to one of his own employees as “stupid,” another as “a hard pipe hittin’ captain.” He referred to inmates as “drunk natives,” according to the indictment.

The prison, called the Federal Correctional Institution I Victorville, is a medium-security facility that houses about 1,500 inmates. It is about 85 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

Holencik is scheduled to be arraigned April 21 in U.S. District Court in Riverside, Assistant U.S. Atty. Charles Pell said.

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