By VINAYA SAKSENA

CENTRAL FALLS — The consultant charged with overseeing the operations of the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility may become a target of a legal complaint from a second detainee alleging mistreatment at the facility, just months after the death of a Chinese national there.

Both the Wyatt and the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency have in recent weeks released the results of internal investigations into the death of Hiu Lui “Jason” Ng.
A Hong Kong native, Ng died in ICE custody waiting to face immigration-related charges. He succumbed last summer to advanced stage cancer that had apparently gone undiagnosed during his brief stay at the Wyatt.
Now a former Wyatt detainee who once shared a cell with Ng has filed a legal complaint regarding his own treatment there. In that complaint, Marino De Los Santos is looking to have Wyatt executive director Anthony Ventetuolo and his consulting firm, Avcorr, named as defendants.
On Friday, attorney Angel Taveras confirmed that he had submitted a request in federal court to have Ventetuolo and his company recognized as defendants, as an amendment to a complaint originally filed by his client, de Los Santos, who is from Bridgeport, Conn.
According to Taveras, De Los Santos made several complaints to Wyatt staff in writing, alleging that he received inadequate medical treatment or no medical treatment on several occasions during his incarceration. He claims that he fell and suffered injuries on two occasions.
According to a New York Times report, Ng had indicated that he might have been singled out as a possible “troublemaker” by Wyatt staff after he had been observed speaking with De Los Santos.
A complaint filed by Taveras states that De Los Santos was being held on drug-related charges at the Wyatt on two occasions: the first from April 2006 to May 2007, the second from November 2007 until August 2008.
According to the complaint, De Los Santos continues to endure physical pain and difficulty walking due to injuries suffered as a Wyatt detainee and subsequent lack of proper treatment. The complaint named several defendants, including Cornell Corrections Inc. (which formerly ran the facility), the Central Falls Detention Facility Corporation, Wyatt Warden Wayne Salisbury, an associate warden, and several correctional and medical staffers.
In the complaint, De Los Santos claims that he suffered injuries after falling near the showers on two occasions. The first fall allegedly occurred on Aug. 30, 2006.
“Due to an excessive and unsafe accumulation of water in the shower area, there was water leaking out from the showers and running into the hallway,” the complaint read. “Despite the unsafe conditions of the floor, there were no signs posted indicating that the floor was wet or slippery. As Mr. De Los Santos was walking toward the showers, he slipped on the slippery floor and fell.”
De Los Santos allegedly “suffered severe pain and injuries to his neck, back and right foot” as a result of the fall. A guard then allegedly ordered employees to mop the floor and, following “several minutes of Mr. De Los Santos unsuccessfully attempting to pick himself off the floor,” requested medical attention for him.
According to the complaint, De Los Santos was seen by a doctor, who sent him back to his cell after giving him “two Tylenol.” He allegedly “remained bedridden for approximately two weeks,” requiring the assistance of other inmates in daily activities.
The complaint alleges that De Los Santos made several unsuccessful attempts to get further medical attention. On Nov. 5, 2006, he reportedly suffered a similar fall, causing him to “defecate and temporarily lose consciousness,” and further injuring his back and neck.
De Los Santos was then taken to a hospital, the complaint states, where he was diagnosed with a chest wall contusion, a soft tissue contusion and a neck sprain. He was prescribed a neck brace, but a Wyatt doctor allegedly removed and confiscated it upon his return.
In May 2007, De Los Santos was transferred to the New Haven (Conn.) Correctional Center in response to his written request to the U.S. Marshals Service. In November of that year, however, he was transferred back to the Wyatt.
Continuing to experience pain, De Los Santos allegedly submitted several requests for medical care and a wheelchair. A nurse is said to have indicated that he did not “meet the criteria” for a wheelchair, and that her department would not communicate with him further regarding his medical issues.
The complaint added that in April 2008, a corrections officer placed his hands around De Los Santos’ chest without consent, in an effort to “straighten” him out. A grievance form he submitted regarding this incident allegedly “received no response.”
Wyatt spokesman Dante Bellini had no comment on the matter. He had previously indicated that Ng had received ample medical attention, and that the facility’s staff was held to high standards.
Several staffers were reportedly disciplined or fired following the ICE investigation into Ng’s death. The ICE abruptly removed all 153 of its detainees from the Wyatt in December after the Ng investigation.
As part of an effort to get ICE detainees back — and the funding that comes with them —Mayor Charles Moreau has replaced four of the five board members that oversee Wyatt operations via the Central Falls Detention Facility Corp.