This prison is a low-security facility for male inmates. Its adjacent Federal Detention Center houses pretrial and holdover inmates.[3] The institution covers approximately 332 acres (1.34 km2) and consists of 59 buildings with a total gross floor area of 504,200 square feet (46,840 m2).[citation needed]
The facility is 45 miles (72 km) southwest of Detroit, 15 miles (24 km) south of Ann Arbor, and 30 miles (48 km) north of Toledo.[3]
History
FCI Milan main entrance
FCI Milan was activated on April 6, 1933, as a "Federal Detention Farm" and has undergone mission changes throughout its history. FCI Milan held female inmates from 1933 to 1939, housed offenders sentenced under the Federal Youth Corrections Act of 1950, and was once a medium-security institution.[citation needed] The only federal execution in Michigan occurred on July 8, 1938, when Anthony Chebatoris was hanged for the murder of Henry Porter, a truck driver from Bay City, whom Chebatoris mistook for a police officer during a bank robbery.
Helen Gillis and Evelyn Frechette, the wives of notorious bank robbers Baby Face Nelson and John Dillinger, served one-year sentences at FCI Milan in the mid-1930s after being convicted of aiding their husbands as they evaded authorities.[4][5]
Facility and inmate programs
FCI Milan covers 300 acres (120 ha) and offers a Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP), which offers inmates completing its 500-hour residential program up to a 12-month sentence reduction and up to six months in a halfway house. There are very strict guidelines for admission due to the program's popularity.
The Life Connections Program (LCP) is an 18-month residential voluntary multi-faith restorative justice program which is offered in only four other federal prisons. The program is designed to reduce recidivism and bring reconciliation to the victim, community and inmate through personal transformation using the participant's faith commitment.
FCI Milan offers a unique program in federal prisons in conjunction with Milan High School where inmates can earn a high school diploma. Milan is the only federal prison which has a high school diploma program.[6]
Notable incidents
2019 inmate murder
On January 2, 2019, inmate Christian Maire was found beaten and stabbed to death. Maire, who was serving a 40-year sentence for his role in a child pornography production ring,[7] was attacked by inmates Adam Taylor Wright, Jason Dale Kechego, and Alex Albert Castro. Wright and Castro began stabbing Maire before Kechego stomped on Maire's head multiple times before tossing him down a flight of stairs. Wright and Kechego began attacking other inmates and correctional officers responding to the scene. All three men were charged with second-degree murder. Wright and Castro were sentenced to 24 years in prison, while Kechego was sentenced to 28 years. All sentences are running consecutive to previous convictions.[8][9][10] Wright, Castro, and Kechego are all currently housed at ADX Florence.
Alleged leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, which imports hundreds of tons of cocaine into the US from Mexico each year and is responsible for thousands of drug-related murders in both countries; extradited to the US in 2010.[12]
Involved in scandal after his discovery of the SS Central America on September 11, 1988. His many technology inventions and eventual discovery were documented in the biography, "Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea" (Gary Kinder) and Thompson's own book, "America's Lost Treasure". Arrested in 2015 at a West Palm Beach, Florida hotel for contempt of court.
Former mayor of Detroit who was convicted of mail fraud, wire fraud, and racketeering. Was held during trial in Detroit. Would be escorted to Detroit daily by helicopters and many military vehicles. Sentenced to 28 years in federal prison. Sentence was commuted by President Donald Trump in January 2021.
Transferred to USP Lewisburg. Serving a 60-year federal sentence; scheduled for transfer to a state prison on January 30, 2068. Afterwards, he will serve a state sentence from Michigan ranging anywhere from 40 to 175 years.
Former USA Gymnastics team physician, and Michigan State University professor and clinician, convicted on federal charges relating to the possession of thousands of items of child pornography. Also convicted for sexually assaulting hundreds of underage girls countless times over decades.
^"2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Milan city, MI"(PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2022-08-15. Federal Correctional Institution Milan - The facility has a Milan address, and while most of the prison is in York Township, this map indicates a portion extends into Milan: see the red "X"s.
