Lompoc inmate speaks out on conditions in prison during COVID-19

LOMPOC, Calif. - A Lompoc prisoner and his family are speaking out about the conditions in a Lompoc prison since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.

“I worry about him…” said Patty Kuburovich as she broke down in tears describing what it's been like having a husband in a Lompoc prison during the pandemic.

“I fear for his life! I don't know what's going on,” said Patty.

Her husband, Gus Kuburovich, is a 60-year-old inmate at the Lompoc USP Minimum Security Camp. He is serving a 3-year sentence for omitting assets in a bankruptcy.

“He's told me it's horrible … They are pretty much stuck to their bunks, and this is 160 men all over each other. They are not practicing social distancing at all,” said Patty.

According to Gus's letters, he is not getting proper medical attention. He says the prison has stopped testing inmates for COVID-19.

“At Lompoc, which is a minimal security prison with prisoners who don't pose any safety risk to the community, they are not being treated according to the general guidelines that Attorney General Barr has laid out,” said Gus's attorney David Zarmi.

Those guidelines state that non-violent inmates with high-risk health conditions can be permitted to appeal for release on house arrest, in hopes of not getting COVID-19.

“The prisoners are submitting requests and they are just being ignored by the prisons in general,” said Zarmi.

Zarmi was hired to represent Gus after his requests were not responded to after the 30 day deadline. Zarmi has reached out to the acting warden and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

“They are still going to have to repay society for what is going on, but they were not sent to prison to get sick and die,” reasoned Zarmi.

The Lompoc Federal Prison has the largest COVID-19 outbreak in the country, with numbers exceeding 1,000.

“They are hiding the numbers in there, I think there are more people sick in there than the public knows about. Gus said a nurse on the inside told him they stopped testing them for COVID-19 to hide the true high numbers,” cried Patty.

Gus has a bad heart and diabetes and Patty worries time is running out.

We reached out to the prison's acting Warden and the Federal Bureau of Prisons for comment but they have yet to respond.