Convict Dying of AIDS Released Early

SACRAMENTO — A 35-year-old convict dying of AIDS received early release from a Chowchilla women’s prison just before midnight Friday under an order approved by Gov. Pete Wilson.

Patricia Contreras, who is from Mexico, had served nearly 11 years of a 15-years-to-life prison sentence for second-degree murder. She left the Central California Women’s Facility in a station wagon that took her to a San Francisco Bay Area hospice.

A physician said in September that Contreras would probably live six more months. She is expected to remain at Belmont House, a hospice run by Catholic Charities, for the rest of her life.

Contreras is one of an estimated 1,000 HIV-positive women and one of at least 20,000 illegal immigrants in California prisons, according to a Wilson spokesman. Sean Walsh said the governor let the recommendation of the state Board of Prison Terms stand strictly on the basis of “whether or not this individual was a threat” to the public. Contreras’ release marks the third time the current board has recommended a compassionate release of a terminally ill inmate with a life sentence, her lawyer said.