Federal Correctional Institution, Terre Haute
Map
LocationTerre Haute, Vigo County, Indiana
StatusOperational
Security classMedium-security (with minimum-security prison camp)
Population1,190 (455 in prison camp)
Opened1940 (as the United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute)
Managed byFederal Bureau of Prisons

The Federal Correctional Institution, Terre Haute (FCI Terre Haute) is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Indiana. It is part of the Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute (FCC Terre Haute) and is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. The facility also has an adjacent satellite prison camp for minimum-security male offenders.[1]

FCC Terre Haute is located 2 miles (3 kilometers) south of the City of Terre Haute and 70 miles (110 kilometers) west of Indianapolis.

Communication Management Unit

FCI Terre Haute has a controversial high-security wing known as the Communication Management Unit (CMU) for inmates who were determined to pose a serious threat if their communications were not severely restricted. The CMU at FCI Terre Haute is a 55-cell unit located in the former death row and was opened in December 2006. Prisoners there are under open and covert audio and video surveillance, and all of their phone calls are monitored except for talks with their attorneys. Prisoners are prohibited from touching family members during tightly controlled visits. All telephone calls and mail are monitored, and inmates are required to conduct all conversations in English unless special permission is arranged for conversations in other languages. Without such strong security, the government claims, inmates would be able to conspire with outsiders to commit terrorist or criminal acts. The Federal Bureau of Prisons created the CMU in response to criticism that it had not been adequately monitoring the communications of prisoners. According to the Bureau of Prisons, "By concentrating resources in this fashion, it will greatly enhance the agency's capabilities for language translation, content analysis and intelligence sharing," according to the Bureau's summary of the CMU.[2]

When the CMU at FCI Terre Haute opened, 15 of the first 17 inmates were Muslim. In August 2008, 38 prisoners signed up for Ramadan observances. The disproportionate number of Muslims at the CMU led the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to raise a concern about racial profiling.[3] The ACLU also charged that the communication restrictions were unduly harsh for prisoners who are not sufficiently serious security threats to warrant placement in USP Florence ADX, the federal supermax facility in Colorado.[citation needed] In response, according to civil rights lawyers, the Bureau of Prisons started moving in non-Muslims. The group included tax resisters, a member of the Japanese Red Army and inmates from Colombia and Mexico. Inmates say the guards there called them "balancers." As of 2011, the Bureau of Prisons says a total of 71 men now live in the units.

Most of the inmates are Arab Muslims convicted of terrorism-related offenses. The CMU population has included men convicted in high-profile post-September 11 cases, as well as defendants from the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the 1999 "millennium" plot to bomb the Los Angeles airport, and airline hijacking cases from 1976, 1985 and 1996. Also in the CMUs are men who have threatened officials from behind bars, ordered murders using contraband cellphones, or engaged in other communications that officials deem threatening. The population also includes several black Muslims who have been disciplined for alleged radicalization and recruitment while incarcerated for other crimes at other facilities.[4]

Minimum-security prison camp

The minimum-security prison camp at FCI Terre Haute was built in 1960 for the purpose of housing non-violent felons to perform farm and maintenance duties. The camp has two, eight, and twelve-person rooms. Programs provided for inmates in this facility include GED, ESL, and drug education classes. Sports, cards, golf, and crafts are all different recreational activities in which the inmates may take part within the camp. A selected group of inmates at the camp take part in a community talk tour called, "Choices," where these inmates visit schools and speak to children that are already involved in meth. The Federal Bureau of Prisons National Bus Center is operated through this camp.[5]

Notable inmates (current and former)

Domestic terrorists

Inmate Name Register Number Photo Status Details
Brandon Russell 14777-104 Released August 2021.[6] Terrorist organization Atomwaffen Division founder; Convicted in January 2018 in federal court of possessing an unregistered destructive device and illegally storing explosives.[6]
Dennis Mahon[7] 30289-424 Serving a 40-year sentence; scheduled for release in 2043. White supremacist; convicted of conspiracy to damage buildings and property by means of explosive in 2012 for sending a mail bomb to the Office of Diversity and Dialogue in Scottsdale, Arizona in 2004, which injured two people.[8]
John Cameron Denton 13957-579 Was serving 41 months; released from custody on December 20, 2022.[9] Denton called in a large amount of death and bomb threats against journalists, politicians, predominantly African-American churches and even a member of the cabinet. According to the court documents the calls by Denton impacted 134 different law enforcement agencies.[9]
John Walker Lindh 45426-083 Served a 20-year sentence; Released May 23, 2019. Enemy combatant captured in Afghanistan; convicted of supplying services to the Taliban and carrying an explosive during the commission of a felony.

Foreign terrorists

Inmate Name Register Number Photo Status Details
Mohammed A. Salameh 34338-054 Serving a life sentence. Currently at USP Marion. Palestinian terrorist, convicted perpetrator of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Khalid Aldawsari 42771-177 Now at USP Pollock Saudi Arabian citizen and former Texas resident; convicted in 2012 of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction for collecting bomb-making materials and researching possible targets, including the Dallas home of former President George W. Bush.[10][11]
Adis Medunjanin 65114-053 Serving a life sentence but with an official release date of January 15, 2091. Al-Qaeda operative; convicted in 2012 of plotting to conduct coordinated suicide bombings in the New York City subway system in September 2009; co-conspirators Najibullah Zazi and Zarein Ahmedzay pleaded guilty.[12][13] Transferred to the Communications Management Unit from ADX Florence in 2021.
Oussama Kassir 05151-748 Serving a life sentence. Originally convicted in Sweden for drug-related charges before being tried in America due to attempting to create a training camp in Oregon for al-Qaeda members to use.[14][15]
Wali Khan Amin Shah 42799-054 Released from custody in September 2021. Participant in the foiled Bojinka plot.
Hysen Sherifi 51768-056 Serving a life sentence; now at USP Coleman I Member of the Raleigh jihad group; convicted in 2011 of terrorism conspiracy; convicted in 2013 plotting to kill six witnesses who had testified against him at his 2011 trial.[16][17]
Hosam Smadi 39482-177 Scheduled release in 2031; now at USP Allenwood. Pleaded guilty in 2010 to the attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction for plotting to destroy the 60-story Fountain Place office building in Dallas, Texas with a truck bomb in 2009.[18][19]
Dritan Duka 61285-066 Serving life plus 30 years. One of the six men that conspired to attack an Army Base in Fort Dix, New Jersey. His brothers Eljvir Duka and Shain Duka are being held USP Hazelton and ADX Florence, respectively.

Others

Inmate Name Register Number Photo Status Details
Aldrich Ames 40087-083 Serving a life sentence.[20] Former CIA counterintelligence operative; pleaded guilty in 1994 to espionage for passing classified information to the Soviet Union and later to Russia over a 9-year period; compromised more American spies than anyone in US history prior to Robert Hanssen.[21]
George Ryan 16627-424 Released from custody in July 2013; served 5 years.[22] Governor of Illinois from 1999 to 2003; convicted in 2006 of racketeering and fraud for awarding state contracts, including a $25 million IBM computer deal, to his political allies in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of money and gifts.[23][24]
Stewart Nozette 25004-016 Released from custody on November 13, 2020. Planetary scientist and consultant to NASA and the US Department of Defense; pleaded guilty to attempted espionage for selling classified information to an FBI Agent posing as an Israeli Mossad operative.[25]
James Ford Seale 09193-043 Died in custody in 2011 while serving a life sentence. Former Ku Klux Klan member; convicted in 2007 of conspiracy and kidnapping charges for his role in the 1964 abduction and murder of two 19-year-old African-Americans, Henry Dee and Charles Moore.[26][27][28]
Mufid Abdulqader 32590-177 Scheduled release in 2025; now at FCI Seagoville Former Chief Fundraiser for the Holy Land Foundation, once the largest Islamic charity in the US; convicted in 2008 of providing material support for terrorism for funneling money to the terrorist organization Hamas. Four co-conspirators were also sentenced to prison.[29]
Oscar Lopez Rivera 87651-024 Released from custody in May 2017 after President Barack Obama commuted his 70-year sentence.[30] Leader of the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional Puertorriqueña (FALN), a Puerto Rican militant group which carried out bombings in Chicago, Washington, DC, Newark, and Miami between 1974 and 1980.[31]
Russell Wasendorf 12191-029 Serving a 50-year sentence; scheduled for release in 2054. Currently at FCI Jesup. Peregrine Financial Group founder; pleaded guilty in 2012 to mail fraud, embezzlement and making false statements for stealing over $100 million from the clients over a 20-year period and falsifying documents to cover up the fraud.[32][33][34]
Ronald Isley 31215-112 Released April 13, 2010 served a 3 year sentence Lead singer and founder of The Isley Brothers convicted in 2006 for tax evasion.[1]
Shaun Bridges 20436-111 Released from custody on October 19, 2021. Former Secret Service Agent arrested for money laundering and obstruction of justice in relation to the Silk Road investigation. Later rearrested for another bitcoin heist and had two years added to his sentencing.[35]
Matthew F. Hale 15177-424 Scheduled release in 2036; now at USP Marion. Soliciting an undercover FBI informant to kill Judge Joan Lefkow. Initially held at USP Florence ADMAX, Hale was transferred to FCI Terre Haute in 2016 but by late 2017 he was back in USP Florence ADMAX.[36] In July 2020, Hale was transferred to USP Marion in Illinois.
Rajinder Sachdeva 47889-424 Released from custody on January 8, 2020. Receiving nearly $300,000 in kickbacks from IT contractors while working as a department manager at Pace.[37]
Abduwali Muse 70636-054 Serving a 33-year sentence; scheduled for release in 2038. Somali pirate leader; pleaded guilty to hijacking in 2010 for leading a group who seized the Merchant Vessel Maersk Alabama and took the captain hostage in 2009; US Navy SEALs killed the three other pirates involved in the hijacking and rescued the captain.[38][39] Transferred back to the CMU in Terre Haute after spending time at FCI Edgefield.
Walter Bond[40] 37096-013 Released April 2021. Sentenced to serve 60 months (five years) in federal prison for use of fire to destroy Sheepskin Factory in 2011. After the fire, Bond posted a message on the Internet taking responsibility for the Sheepskin Factory fire. At the end of that message he used the nickname “ALF Lone Wolf.” In 2011 he was sentenced to another 87 months for additional attacks to be served consecutively.[41]

In popular culture

FCI Terre Haute was referenced in the film The Blues Brothers by Matt "Guitar" Murphy, who said that the prison served cabbage rolls for dinner.

The song "1st Day Out the Feds" by rapper Gucci Mane is a reference to Terre Haute Federal Correctional Institution, where he served out most of a 3-year 3-month sentence for firearm possession. His radically altered appearance, mannerisms, and demeanor upon exiting the prison in May 2016 led many to speculate that he was subjected to an experimental government program at Terre Haute and possibly even cloned by the Central Intelligence Agency. A spokesperson for the CIA dismissed these theories as mere internet rumors and refused to comment on them.[42]

British drug smuggler Howard Marks was incarcerated in Terre Haute[citation needed].

See also

References

  1. ^ "FCI Terre Haute". Federal Bureau of Prisons.
  2. ^ Eggen, Dan (February 25, 2007). "Facility Holding Terrorism Inmates Limits Communication". The Washington Post. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  3. ^ "Benkahla v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, et al". American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  4. ^ Williams, Carrie; Williams, Margot (March 3, 2011). "'Guantanamo North': Inside Secretive U.S. Prisons". NPR. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  5. ^ Steve Eckert, Ph.D.; Jacqueline Cranmer, Psy.D. "Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute, Indiana: Predoctoral Psychology Internship 2013-2014" (PDF). Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  6. ^ a b Chokshi, Niraj (January 10, 2018). "Neo-Nazi Leader in Florida Sentenced to 5 Years Over Homemade Explosives". The New York Times.
  7. ^ "P.O.W." www.resist.com. Archived from the original on 2017-01-01.
  8. ^ "USAO Press Release -". www.atf.gov. Archived from the original on 2012-05-12.
  9. ^ a b "Leader of 'Atomwaffen' Conspiracy Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Threatening Journalists and Advocates". Department of Justice. August 25, 2021.
  10. ^ "Texas Resident Convicted on Charge of Attempted Use of Weapon of Mass Destruction | OPA | Department of Justice". Justice.gov. 2012-06-27. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  11. ^ "Saudi man Aldawsari sentenced to life in prison in failed US bomb plot". Fox News. 13 November 2012.
  12. ^ Secret, Mosi (2012-11-16). "Medunjanin, Convicted of Subway Bomb Plot, Gets Life Sentence". The New York Times.
  13. ^ "FBI — Al Qaeda Operative Sentenced to Life Imprisonment in One of the Most Serious Terrorist Threats to the United States Since 9/11". Fbi.gov. Retrieved 2013-02-12.
  14. ^ "Swede charged in plot to build Ore. terror camp".
  15. ^ "Swede Gets Life for U.S. Terror Camp Plot".
  16. ^ Cratty, Carol (November 8, 2012). "Convicted terrorist guilty of plotting murder-for-hire from behind bars". CNN. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  17. ^ "Convicted Terrorist Sentenced to Life in Prison for Plotting to Kill Witnesses in His Terrorism Trial". US Department of Justice. May 13, 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  18. ^ Associated Press (18 October 2010). "Jordanian Man Faces Sentencing in Plot to Blow Up Dallas Skyscraper". Fox News. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  19. ^ "Jordanian man sentenced to 24 years in undercover bomb plot". CNN. October 19, 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  20. ^ "Spy Files Motion to Alter Guilty Plea". Los Angeles Times. September 15, 1999. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  21. ^ Johnston, David (April 29, 1994). "Spy Voices Shame and Defiance Before Receiving a Life Sentence". The New York Times.
  22. ^ Yaccino, Steven (January 30, 2013). "Then There Was One: An Illinois Ex-Governor Leaves Prison". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  23. ^ Slevin, Peter (September 7, 2006). "Ex-Governor Is Sentenced To Prison". The Washington Post. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  24. ^ Associated Press (April 17, 2006). "Jury finds former Ill. gov. Ryan guilty". USA Today. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  25. ^ Washington Post, Maryland scientist Stewart Nozette sentenced for passing secrets to supposed Mossad agent, expresses regret, Mar 12 2012
  26. ^ "Hate Crimes Selected Case Summaries: US v. Seale". US Department of Justice. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  27. ^ "Reputed former Klansman convicted in 1964 kidnappings dies in prison". CNN. August 3, 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  28. ^ Hevesi, Dennis (August 4, 2011). "James Ford Seale, Imprisoned Klansman, Dies at 76". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  29. ^ "Federal Judge Hands Downs Sentences in Holy Land Foundation Case | OPA | Department of Justice". Justice.gov. 2009-05-27. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  30. ^ Kennedy, Merrit (17 May 2017). "Puerto Rican Nationalist Oscar López Rivera Is Released". NPR. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  31. ^ Kolb, Ron (December 22, 2010). "The Unrepentant Terrorist". The American Spectator. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  32. ^ "Peregrine Financial Group CEO Pleads Guilty To Fraud, Embezzlement, And Lying To Regulators". US Department of Justice. September 17, 2012. Archived from the original on May 2, 2014. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
  33. ^ "Peregrine CEO Wasendorf pleads guilty in $100 million embezzlement scheme". Thomson Reuters. Reuters. 2012. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
  34. ^ Huffstutter, P.J. (January 31, 2013). "Peregrine Financial's Ex-CEO sentenced to 50 years in jail". Fox Business. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
  35. ^ Cyrus Farivar (November 7, 2017). "After admitting to new crime, ex-Secret Service agent sentenced to 2 years". Ars Technica. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  36. ^ "Nick in the AM: East Peoria white supremacist Matt Hale back in the news". www.pjstar.com. 2017-11-29. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  37. ^ "Former Manager at Pace Bus Service Sentenced to a Year and a Day in Federal Prison for Pocketing Nearly $300,000 in Kickbacks". www.justice.gov. 2018-12-03. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  38. ^ Rivera, Ray (May 18, 2010). "Somali Man Pleads Guilty in 2009 Hijacking of Ship". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  39. ^ "Somali pirate sentenced to 33 years in US prison". BBC. February 16, 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  40. ^ "Walter Bond Sentenced to Federal Prison for the Arson at the Sheepskin Factory in Glendale".
  41. ^ "Arson, Cracked Testicles, and Internet Death Threats: How Animal Rights Extremists Are Learning from the People Who Murdered George Tiller".
  42. ^ Miranda, Leticia (June 23, 2016). "This Gucci Mane Conspiracy Theory Is Wild But People Totally Believe It". Buzzfeed. Retrieved July 24, 2016.

39°24′44″N 87°27′12″W / 39.41222°N 87.45333°W / 39.41222; -87.45333

Categories