39°57′10″N 75°09′05″W / 39.9529°N 75.1515°W / 39.9529; -75.1515

Federal Detention Center, Philadelphia

Federal Detention Center, Philadelphia in April 2013
Location	700 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Status	Operational
Security class	Administrative facility (all security levels)
Population	1,030
Opened	January 1, 2000
Managed by	Federal Bureau of Prisons

The Federal Detention Center, Philadelphia (FDC Philadelphia or FDC Philly) is a United States Federal prison in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which mostly holds pretrial male and female inmates as well as inmates serving brief sentences or those that are being transported to another prison within the federal prison system. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the U.S. Department of Justice.^[1]

The jail, across from the William J. Green Jr. Federal Building,^[2] is on a 1-acre (0.40 ha) site the southwest corner of Arch Street and 7th Street, across from the African American Museum in Philadelphia and in the Independence Mall area.^[3]

The jail is 12 stories tall across eight floors and multiple basements. It has 628 cells for United States Marshal Service pre-trial inmates, primarily from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the District of New Jersey and the District of Delaware. Federal Detention Center Philadelphia is also a United States Parole Commission Revocation Site. Upwards of 120 female prisoners, already sentenced, serve as work cadre inmates. The prison is connected to a tunnel that allows inmates and US Deputy Marshals to travel to and from the James A. Byrne United States Courthouse.^[4]

History

The proposal to build the jail at its current site, which at the time was a mostly vacant plot of land, was made public in February 1992.^[3] The museum, the businesses at the East Market Street,^[5] Chinatown businesses, and U.S. House of Representatives member Thomas Foglietta all opposed the proposal. The East Market Street businesses did not want prisoners close to their businesses. The African-American museum objected to a reminder of the incarceration of black men. Chinatown businesses stated that the prison may drive away customers and block expansion of Chinatown from the Vine Street Expressway.^[2]

In February 1992, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the tunnel directly connecting the jail with the courthouse "appeared to appease nearly every critic" against the prison's construction, and that the prison did not visually appear like one.^[2]

In August 1992, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the jail could damage efforts to revitalize portions of Center City.^[6]

As of April 1993, prior to the opening of the detention center, there were 18 federal prisons throughout the U.S. that housed pretrial inmates awaiting proceedings in Philadelphia. FDC Philadelphia, scheduled to cost $85 million, was built so the pretrial federal inmates could be housed in Philadelphia itself.^[7]

The federal government pursued building the prison at its selected site, with the legal processes for condemning structures on the site and acquiring the site beginning in March 1995 and with groundbreaking at a former parking lot on the tract in January 1997.^[2] Its formal opening was scheduled for June 1, 2000. Its ultimate construction cost was $68 million. 120 prisoners whose sentences were about to end served as a work cadre from April 1 until the prison's opening.^[4]

Facility

Each 96-square-foot (8.9 m²) prison cell has slit windows, a bunk bed, a toilet, twin lockers, a writing table, a basin, and drains at the perimeters.^[4] The prison includes a caged recreation area with basketball and handball facility. The prison has facilities for reheating meals meant to be served to prisoners.^[8]

Notable incidents

• On September 13, 2011, the former warden of FDC Philadelphia, Troy Levi, was indicted by a federal grand jury on multiple charges of obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and making false statements to federal officials. The incident described in the indictment details a situation whereupon a staff member at the FDC accidentally brought a firearm into the facility in violation of federal law. Levi attempted to obstruct justice by inducing the employee to lie about why he brought the firearm to work and instructing him to create a cover story by obtaining a false receipt from a mechanic to establish that the employee's car trunk was broken so he intended to bring the firearm into the facility to secure it in a weapons container. Levi eventually pleaded guilty to six federal charges and was sentenced to four months of home confinement, supervised release, and a fine.^[9]

• On March 19, 2012, Richard Spisak, 35, pleaded guilty to engaging in a sexual act with a male prisoner over whom he had disciplinary authority while Spisak was a Senior Corrections Specialist at FDC Philadelphia in 2010. Spisak further admitted to threatening to set off his body alarm and falsely report that the inmate had attacked him if the inmate did not perform oral sex on him. The victim acquiesced after Spisak's threats. Two other inmates testified at Spisak's sentencing hearing that Spisak victimized them in a similar manner. Spisak was sentenced to 32 months in federal prison on June 28, 2012.^[10][11][12]

• On May 10, 2023, inmate Kevante Washington was severely beaten, presumably by another inmate, while housed in the FDC Philadelphia Special Housing Unit. A day later, he succumbed to his injuries.^[13][14] As of August 2023, no charges have been filed and the investigation remains ongoing.

Notable inmates (current and former)