Wait agonizing for family of men jailed in Mexico

Published 11:28 pm Saturday, February 21, 2009

ARLINGTON — A trip to visit grandpa starts at 2 a.m. outside the concrete walls of an 19th-century Mexican prison.

There, Shannon Perkins joins a line that will stretch out with thousands of people by daybreak.

When she arrives, people already are there: mothers and brothers, wives and children. They sleep on mats on the ground or stand all night clutching babies in the dark chill.

Perkins goes to see her 88-year-old grandfather, Edward Chrisman, and her brother. Both men were detained by Mexican police Jan. 8 in the border town of Los Algodones.

Edward Chrisman, a longtime resident of Arlington, was wintering in Yuma, Ariz., when he decided to take a quick trip across the border with his grandson, Gary Chrisman Jr. Police arrested both men, alleging they pair tried to pay young girls to pose nude for photos.

The Chrisman family adamantly maintains the men are innocent.

The family said Gary Chrisman Jr. stopped at a convenience store for a soda and, while there, asked a woman if he could take photos of her daughters. He’d been taking photos of Mexican culture all day with a new camera. The mother granted permission and he gave her $25. He snapped head shots of the two fully clothed girls and left the store. Edward Chrisman never even went into the store.

For 45 days, the two men have been caught in the cogs of a judicial system they don’t understand, in a country where they don’t speak the language. Their family, which has branches both in Yuma and Arlington, is frustrated and worried, especially about the health of Edward Chrisman, a World War II veteran with a spotless record.

An emergency hearing Feb. 9 was supposed to provide speedy resolution. The Chrismans’ attorney thought the family would get an answer in as little as 48 hours.

The decision has been made but the lawyer now says it likely won’t be revealed for weeks.

So the family waits.

Saturday is the only day of the week visitors are allowed at the prison. Perkins and her father make an exhausting trek from Yuma, bringing the men food, phone vouchers and company.

“It’s difficult; it’s depressing,” she said. “The ups and downs are real hard.”

After hours of waiting in the cold and dark, the pair finally make their way into the prison, the Carcel de Mexicali in the state of Baja California Norte. There, they’ll spend several hours wending their way through a maze of long concrete hallways and security checks. The last trip, Perkins walked past her grandfather’s cell: M3.

Prisoners in Mexico depend on family to bring food and other basic necessities. When Perkins and her father come, they bring garden salads, steak and fresh fruit, all of it cut into pieces so guards can search for contraband.

Edward Chrisman loves sweets and his granddaughter brings his favorite: Snickers bars. They bring soap and flip-flops and blankets and phone cards.

Visiting is allowed in a huge, open-air arena inside the prison, one Perkins equates to a skating rink. The guards largely stay away. Prisoners and their families mingle for most of the day, while loud rock music blares in the background. Small children toddle about. If it wasn’t a prison, it could almost be a party.

“They try to make it good for the prisoners,” she said.

At first, Perkins said she was leery at the prison with the press of thousands of people around her. She’s since become more comfortable. For up to six hours, she can learn face-to-face how her brother and grandfather are doing and what prison life is like.

Edward Chrisman and his grandson initially were held in a cramped cell with several dozen other men. The elder man appeared to develop pneumonia and he was moved to an elderly ward in the prison. Life there is better now, and Chrisman’s health appears to have improved. He has a bed with a mattress, a blanket and four roommates. He pays another elderly prisoner 50 pesos each day to help him manage laundry and other tasks. It appears Chrisman is the most elderly inmate by far in the prison, Perkins said.

“He seems to be his old self, except he’s disheartened,” Perkins said. “He’s a very practical man.”

Edward Chrisman doesn’t require support to walk. The family still is concerned about his condition. The U.S. Consulate in Mexico has arranged for an American doctor to enter the prison and examine Chrisman. But there’s a catch.

“We have to find a doctor willing to go into a Mexican prison,” she said.

The family already has spent thousands of dollars on legal fees and other costs. Paying for a doctor who makes house calls in prison will be just one more.

They just want the two men home.

In Arlington, Edward Chrisman’s home awaits his return. There is a yellow ribbon tied around a nearby street sign. His son Don Chrisman lives next door. A grandson lives on the other side. They take care of the place. Don Chrisman wonders if his father will make it home before his 89th birthday in April.

“He’s tough,” he said. “I can’t believe how tough. He went through the Depression and he’s always been a tough nut. He always says, ‘I got to keep moving,’ even when he isn’t feeling good.”

Anybody who knows Edward Chrisman can’t believe he’s locked up in prison, Don Chrisman said. His said his father is a family-oriented, religious man who has led a blameless life.

“Anybody who knows my dad knows this whole story never happened,” he said. “They’ve got a lot of support from the church. We’ve got neighbors who are just in shock.”

At the end of each prison visit, Perkins said she tells her brother and grandfather that she loves them.

“We tell them don’t give up hope, be strong, be brave.”

Debra Smith: 425-339-3197, dsmith@heraldnet.com