WARREN, Maine — Since getting released from the Bolduc Correctional Facility in Warren, Hunter Andrews of Waterville, age 25, has a car and a job. While he was incarcerated, he worked at a lobster trap processing facility to save money.
At Bolduc, one of the programs is a work release program, allowing incarcerated people to leave the prison to work and earn money.
"Everyone that goes down there is excited, everyone is excited to go down and make money," Andrews said.
He described the work as hard but was happy to get out of the prison. He told NEWS CENTER Maine he worked overtime and even on weekends during the months in which traps are in high demand.
"I just want to be a good father to my son and never have to go through what I went through ever again," Andrews said.
He noticed once he was released, he didn't get his last couple of weeks of pay.
"On the low, low scale, probably $600 to $800 at least between those last two weeks," Andrews said. "That's fixing my car, a month's rent, helping stuff for my son who is two-and-a-half years old."
According to the Maine Prisoners Advocacy Coalition, Andrews is not alone. MPAC said it spoke with current and former inmates from Bolduc and found many complained of delayed or absent pay.
NEWS CENTER Maine reached out to the Department of Corrections Thursday morning, and in the afternoon, was told that an answer wouldn't likely be given that day and possibly in the next week.
"This is definitely something that is familiar," Joseph Jackson, executive director for Maine Prisoners Advocacy Coalition, said. "I've heard from folks themselves, they are having a hard time accessing their money."
Jackson said he brought the complaints to the Department of Corrections, and was told the department would look into it.
"When most folks enter a prison facility, they lose almost everything... it's crucial and it's vital and not providing the access to those resources creates barriers to folks for successful re-entry," Jackson said.
Meanwhile for Andrews, he wants people to know a paycheck is critical for people who are first leaving the criminal justice system.
"Just because someone has made mistakes in their life doesn't make them a bad person or deserving of what they are going through," Andrews said.