An eight-day lockdown and search for contraband has ended at an Arizona prison where two Hawai'i inmates died last month, Hawai'i public safety director Ted Sakai said today. The deaths of Iulani Amani and John Kia prompted the measures at the Florence Correctional Center, where 555 Hawai'i inmates are housed. Sakai said he spoke with the prison warden today about the search. They did find some homemade alcohol.
Inmates do that.
It is pretty common. Normal educational and rehabilitation programs resumed today for the others. Prison officials suspect he overdosed on cocaine or methamphetamine. The men are among thousands sent by Hawai'i public safety officials to Mainland prisons since 1995 as a way to ease overcrowding here. Nearly 1,200 Hawai'i prisoners are serving time at privately run facilities in Arizona and Oklahoma.