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Member of Infamous Escape Plan Killed in Prison Riot

A man convicted of taking part in a notorious 1971 escape attempt from San Quentin State Prison that left a founder of the Black Guerrilla Family prison gang dead was slain Wednesday in a riot in Folsom State Prison, officials said.

By Nanette Asimov

A man convicted of taking part in a notorious 1971 escape attempt from San Quentin State Prison that left a founder of the Black Guerrilla Family prison gang dead was slain Wednesday in a riot in Folsom State Prison, officials said.

Hugo Pinell, 71, was serving two life sentences. He was convicted of a 1964 rape in San Francisco and was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. Months before the attempted 1971 breakout, he killed R.J. McCarthey, a prison officer at Soledad State Prison, and was sent to San Quentin.

In August of that year, Pinell and the other members of what became known as the San Quentin Six -- Johnny Larry Spain, Fleeta Drumgo, Willie Tate, David Johnson and Luis Talamantez -- allegedly took part in an escape attempt that led to the death of George Jackson, a Black Panther member and founder of the Black Guerrilla Family. Guards shot Jackson to death during the escape attempt, in which two other inmates and three guards also were killed.

During the 16-month trial, Pinell leaped from his seat one day and jabbed his own lawyer in the throat with a ballpoint pen. After that, he represented himself at trial, painting himself as a victim.

According to a 1976 report in The Chronicle, Pinell, gazing steadily at the jurors before addressing them, said: "I can't tell you how to put yourself in my position. Unless you been a prisoner, you couldn't possibly understand."

Pinell was convicted of assaulting two guards.

While at Folsom prison east of Sacramento in 1984, Pinell was stabbed and survived.

On Wednesday, he was not so lucky. Pinell was stabbed to death during a riot at Folsom, officials said. Five other inmates were stabbed and numerous others suffered other injuries in the riot, which broke out just before 1 p.m. Wednesday in a maximum-security yard, authorities said.

Despite his violence -- including slitting a San Quentin guard's throat in 1971 and stabbing another guard at Soledad -- Pinell had a dedicated fan club who called him by the nickname "Yogi Bear."

They revered him as a counterculture icon of the prison revolutionary movement of the 1960s and 1970s.

In 2013, the San Francisco BayView, which calls itself a national black newspaper, printed a tribute to Pinell and described a "Rally for Yogi" held to urge the state to parole him. The tribute calls Pinell, who was born in Nicaragua, "one of the longest held political prisoners" and identifies him as a freedom fighter. The paper also printed a poem for Pinell.

"Although they try to hide you, we find you and sing your praise song," one line says.

Last year, the state Parole Board turned down Pinell's latest bid for parole. He would have been up again in 2019.

No prison employees were hurt in Wednesday's melee, which involved handmade weapons, officials said.

Prison officials said they used pepper spray, "less-than-lethal force," and at least two warning shots to stop the fight.

Chronicle staff reporter Kevin Fagan contributed to this report.

(c)2015 the San Francisco Chronicle

Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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