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Birthday Candles Unlikely For Bollea

By STEPHEN THOMPSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 24, 2008

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Michael McKinney

LARGO - Nick Bollea turns 18 on Sunday, and as a result he will be transferred from his juvenile quarters at the Pinellas County Jail to an adult section, Pinellas sheriff's spokeswoman Marianne Pasha said.

Bollea, son of celebrity Hulk Hogan, is serving an eight-month sentence for a car wreck that left his passenger, Iraq war veteran John Graziano, semi-conscious and with severe brain damage.

Since early June, Bollea has been housed in a six-bed cell with other juveniles that opens into a common area, where he has interacted with additional juveniles.

Now he's heading toward a so-called direct-supervision housing unit that accommodates up to 71 adult inmates, Pasha said. All of the inmates there agree to abide by special rules. They must agree, for instance, to help keep the unit clean and make their bed a particular way. They also get privileges, such as use of a microwave oven, the ability to do their own laundry, and their own recreation center.

"Everyone has to behave," she said.

Bollea's new quarters will be much bigger and more open than his quarters housing juveniles.

One detention deputy is inside the unit, among inmates, around the clock, Pasha said. The inmates there are not considered serious offenders or behavioral problems, she said.

Bollea will keep his job assignment in inmate property and his video visitation days will remain the same, Pasha said. If an inmate in direct supervision is found incapable of abiding by the special rules, he is put in another adult section, where he might have to interact with someone who is a behavioral problem, she said.

There will be no special events to mark Bollea's birthday, said his attorney, Kevin Hayslett.

"Unless the sheriff's office is throwing a surprise party for him, we'll just be waiting for Nick to get out," Hayslett said.

News Channel 8 reporter Samara Sodos contributed to this report. Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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