Suzio Petition: Nearly 300 Signatures

Resto

As of late Thursday afternoon, 288 people had signed an online petition asking Gov. Malloy to suspend a program that allows prisoners in the state to earn credits toward their early release, an aide to state Sen. Len Suzio says.

The petition website notes that inmates can participate in the program even if they have been convicted of violent crimes. It also allows people to send letters to the editors of 11 news publications, most of them based in the central part of the state near Suzio’s senate district.

Suzio, a Republican from Meriden, will be in his hometown this morning to publicly launch the petition drive with the family of Ibrahim Ghazal, a 70-year-old convenience store clerk who was shot and killed in a June robbery. Frankie Resto, the man accused of killing Ghazal, received 199 days of credits while serving a prison sentence for a 2006 robbery conviction.

A Malloy administration official has said the credits program did not help Resto get out of prison earlier than he would have without the program.