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Carlos Henriquez remains jailed, despite his being cleared for early release three weeks ago.

Yawu Miller
Yawu Miller is the former senior editor of the Bay State Banner. He has written for the Banner since 1988.... VIEW BIO

As the deadline for filing papers for the November state election looms, former state Rep. Carlos Henriquez remains jailed, despite his being cleared for early release three weeks ago.

Henriquez, who was due to be released Friday, April 25, was informed that day by a corrections officer that the Parole Board is delaying his release in order to add an unspecified condition to his release, according to Henriquez’s friend Sheena Collier.

The sudden and unexplained delay led some to question whether Henriquez was being held for political reasons.

“I find it hard to believe that in a politically-sensitive case like this, the Board is acting unilaterally,” political activist Jed Hresko wrote in a message on facebook.

“The corrections officer told Carlos he wouldn’t be able to share what the condition was until next week,” Collier said.

Henriquez has not yet heard from a representative of the Parole Board.

Henriquez last met with the Parole Board the second week of April and agreed to a list of conditions for his release. He was cleared to be released on April 25, according to Executive Office of Public Safety Spokesman Terrel Harris, who was quoted in an April 15 Boston Herald report. Harris told the Banner that the Parole Board is reviewing a modification to the conditions for Henriquez’s release, but declined to elaborate.

While Henriquez waits in legal limbo, he will likely miss the April 29 deadline for filing nomination papers for the November election.

Henriquez has said in recent months he plans to run for the 5th Suffolk District seat he held until the House voted him out in February following his conviction on two misdemeanor counts of assault.

Henriquez was in good spirits when she visited, Collier said, although somewhat taken aback by the Parole Board’s sudden move.

“He was a little surprised,” she said. “He had been waiting Friday to find out what time we would be leaving.”