Inmate Kozlowski sues to join work release

ALBANY, N.Y., June 27 (UPI) -- Former Tyco Chief Executive Officer Dennis Kozlowski is suing the New York prison system so he can join a work-release program, court papers show.

Kozlowski has served more than five years of an 8-to-25-year sentence for stealing millions of dollars from Tyco.

The New York Post reported Monday that Kozlowski has been offered a job "that suits his background and skills," court papers say.

The court filing says Kozlowski has been a model inmate at the Mid-State Correctional Facility, staying out of trouble, tutoring other inmates and completing anger management and substance abuse programs.

But he has been denied permission to join a work-release program three times in the past 12 months, even though he has a job offer waiting as director of "former offender instructional solutions" at Assets Technology Group, the court filing says.

The filing also says Kozlowski has paid back about $90 million of the $100 million he has been ordered to give up as restitution for his crimes.

A spokesman for the state Department of Correctional Services turned down a request to comment on the case.

The Post said three committee tribunals have approved a temporary-release program for Kozlowski but the superintendent at Mid-State vetoed the option due to the "seriousness and sophistication" of Kozlowski's crimes.

Kozlowski appealed but the state correctional commissioner refused to overturn the decision.