How convicted felons make money selling art

SALEM, Ore. - The office art adorning the walls of the Oregon Department of Corrections in Salem is varied in style and content.  Look closely, and you’ll see unusual artist details.

One piece, featuring trucks, is called “Foot Puller.”  The artist’s name is Nathan Harris, inmate number 11020095.  It’s selling for $75.  Another piece, titled “The Sentry,” was created Jack Crescenzi, inmate number 11020095.  Sale price: $45.

A check of public records by KATU News reveals inmate Nathan Harris is in prison for sodomy and sex abuse.  Jack Crescenzi was convicted on the first-degree murder of his wife, Bobbi Crescenzi.

The art was created by inmates housed at Oregon correctional facilities.  The Oregon Department of Corrections says it displays the art, making the paintings and drawings available for sale to the public.

Mike Gower, Assistant Director of Operations, says the prisoners get the money, and it “goes into inmate trust accounts.”  Trust accounts can be used by inmates to buy snacks and other personal items at their prisoner commissary.

This is the third year in a row prison officials have helped inmates sell their art for personal profits.  Officials say the prisoners price the art themselves.  One inmate priced his piece at $3,500.

Former Deschutes County Deputy District Attorney Patrick Flaherty, who prosecuted Jack Crescenzi, tells KATU News, “The main problem I have with that is that the money is not going to the victims of this crime.  I think it's perfectly okay for the corrections department to display the art and sell the art, but I think the proceeds should go to the crime victims, not to the inmate.”

KATU News has also learned there is no system in place in Oregon that automatically garnishes inmate earnings to pay their victims court-ordered restitution, unless the inmates are working minimum-wage jobs within the prison.  The Oregon Department of Justice does go after individual inmates for money owed to the state, but only on a case-by-case basis.  And crime victims often have to file civil lawsuits against offenders to claim money due to them.

Meg Garvin, Executive Director of the Lewis and Clark College’s National Crime Victim Law Institute, says, “If the system is set and money is being made by offenders and it’s not going to restitution, there’s a flaw in the system because victims should have the priority there.  We should be making sure any money made should be going to restitution for the victims.”

Garvin says the restitution system nationwide is flawed, and victims often get restitution ordered but collecting it is a challenge any victim of crime faces, including crime victims in Oregon.