The Colorado Department of Corrections placed the top leaders of three state prisons on administrative leave on the same day earlier this month, agency officials confirmed Monday.
Warden Jeff Long at the Sterling Correctional Facility, his brother, Warden Ryan Long at the Denver Reception and Diagnostic Center, and Warden Shane Stucker at the Fremont Correctional Facility in Cañon City were all placed on paid administrative leave on March 5, department spokeswoman Alondra Gonzalez said.
She would not say why the three wardens were placed on leave, whether there is an overarching investigation that connects the wardens or whether any criminal investigations were underway, though the Colorado Bureau of Investigation confirmed Friday that it does not have an ongoing criminal investigation into the wardens.
In addition to the Long brothers and Stucker, a fourth Department of Corrections employee, Joshua Dorcey, was placed on paid leave on March 6, Gonzalez confirmed. He worked as a program manager, she said in an email.
All four of the men placed on leave have worked for the Department of Corrections for more than a decade. Ryan Long was hired in 2000, Jeff Long and Dorcey were hired in 2005, and Shane Stucker was hired in 2008, Gonzalez said.
Stucker declined to comment when reached by phone Monday; Ryan Long did not return a request for comment, and Jeff Long and Dorcey could not be reached.
The three wardens oversee prisons with a combined capacity of more than 4,600 prisoners.
“We can not comment on personnel matters, including the reasons for administrative leave or potential investigations,” Gonzalez said.
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