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Gasso�s job awaits his Feb. 21 release GOLD HILL � Gold Hill�s public works director still has a job waiting for him when he gets out of federal prison in February. Royal Gasso will be released Feb. 21 from the Federal Corrections Institution in Sheridan, the U.S. Parole Commission has decided. Gasso was sentenced Aug. 25 to eight months at the Sheridan prison after violating the conditions of his probation stemming from a 1984 heroin conviction, according to documents obtained by the Mail Tribune through a Freedom of Information Act request. Because Gasso waived his right to a hearing before the commission, the charges against him have not been made public. Federal officials have declined to provide details surrounding Gasso�s June 21 arrest. Gasso, 48, remains on unpaid administrative leave from his Gold Hill post, said Tony Paxton, city recorder. Gasso offered to step down as public works superintendent, but the City Council declined to accept his resignation, Paxton said. In Gasso�s absence, public works employee Alan Jennings is running the plant that draws and treats Rogue River water and distributes it to 1,200 residents. Lee Engineering of Medford is supervising the operations. Terry Hinzman, a qualified sewer plant operator, is running the waste water treatment plant until Gasso�s return. The City Council is assuming Gasso will be allowed to return to work when he is released in February, Paxton said. "If he�s released to home detention, we hope the Parole Board will allow him to return to work as a work release situation," Paxton said. The Parole Commission has not yet informed the city of Gold Hill why Gasso was arrested. City officials only know that the violation was technical and that it was not a new offense, Paxton said. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.