The first escape from USP Marion was on July 21, 1971, when Warren George Briggs leapt over two 15 foot fences and escaped to Kansas City, Missouri via Interstate 57. Four days later, Warren turned himself in to the FBI. He reportedly did this so he could draw attention to his invention, a water desalination process that would enable mankind to purify water at a reasonable cost.[6]
On October 10, 1975, five inmates used an illegal homemade electronic device to open the front gates of the prison. One of them had been an electrician and was assigned to work on the lock mechanisms of all of the doors in the main corridors. He also converted a radio into a remote control, with which he opened all of the doors. The five escapees were all eventually captured and returned to prison, the last one being apprehended in Canada on October 31, 1975.
Two escape attempts occurred in 1978 involving the same inmate, Garrett Brock Trapnell. On May 24, 1978, Trapnell's friend, 43-year-old Barbara Ann Oswald, hijacked a St. Louis based charter helicopter and ordered the pilot, Allen Barklage, to fly to USP Marion. Barklage complied, but he wrestled the gun away from Oswald and fatally shot her while he was landing in the prison yard, thwarting the escape. On December 21, 1978, Oswald's 17-year-old daughter, Robin Oswald, illegally hijacked TWA Flight 541, which was en route from Louisville International Airport to Kansas City International Airport and threatened to detonate dynamite strapped to her body if the pilot did not fly to Williamson County Regional Airport, located only miles from USP Marion. When the pilot landed at the airport in Marion, hundreds of cops showed up, Robin Oswald surrendered to F.B.I. negotiators at the Williamson airport without incident about ten hours later. The dynamite was later found to be fake.[7][8]
The last escape from the maximum-security prison area was on February 14, 1979, when Lawrence Caldwell, Albert Garza and Howard Zumberge climbed both exterior fences in a dense fog; Caldwell was caught before he could clear the first of the two fences.[9] Both Garza and Zumberge were apprehended three days later near Cypress, hiding in a church basement. During the capture of the escapees, Garza shot Johnson County Sheriff Elry Faulkner in the chest at almost point-blank range; Faulkner, however, was wearing a ballistic vest and only suffered minor bruises. Garza was shot and wounded, but survived and returned to Marion two months later.[10][11]
Murders of Correction Officers Clutts and Hoffmann
Correction Officer Merle CluttsCorrection Officer Robert Hoffmann
On October 22, 1983, correctional officers Clutts and Hoffmann were killed in separate incidents only hours apart, both at the hands of members of the Aryan Brotherhood, a white-supremacist prison gang. Officer Clutts was stabbed to death by Thomas Silverstein.[12][13] While walking down a hall accompanied by Clutts, Silverstein was able to turn to the side and approach a particular cell. The prisoner in that cell subsequently unlocked Silverstein's handcuffs with a stolen key and provided him with a knife.[13] Later that same morning, Officer Hoffmann was stabbed to death by Clayton Fountain, after Hoffmann had pulled Fountain off another officer who was being attacked.[14]
Permanent lockdown and the birth of the supermax
As a result of the murders of Clutts and Hoffmann, USP Marion went into "permanent lockdown" with all inmates locked in their cells for the majority of the day.[15] USP Marion was effectively transformed into a "control unit" prison, also called supermax, or "super-maximum" security. This method of prison operation involves the keeping of inmates in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, and does not allow communal dining, exercising, or religious services.
Years later, Norman Carlson, director of the Bureau of Prisons at the time of the Marion incident, said that as draconian as the permanent lockdown was, he believed it the only way to deal with "a very small subset of the inmate population who show absolutely no concern for human life." He pointed out that the two inmates who killed the guards were already serving multiple life sentences, so adding another would have had no effect. The "control unit" model at Marion was later the basis for ADX Florence, which opened in 1994 as a specifically designed supermax prison.[16]
Downgraded to medium-security prison
In 2006, USP Marion's designation was changed to a medium security prison and major renovations were made. The renovations increased Marion's inmate population from 383 to 901.[17]
Communication Management Unit
Although the facility no longer operates as a "supermax" facility, USP Marion is now home to one of two "Communication Management Units" in the federal prison system. The other is at the Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute, Indiana. The Federal Bureau of Prisons created the Communication Management Unit (CMU) in response to criticism that it had not been adequately monitoring the communications of prisoners. "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.[18][19] In a Democracy Now! interview on June 25, 2009, animal rights activist Andrew Stepanian talked about being jailed at the CMU. Stepanian is believed to be the first prisoner released from a CMU.[20]
Notable inmates (current and former)
† Inmates who were released from custody prior to 1982 are not listed on the Federal Bureau of Prisons website. †† The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 eliminated parole for most federal inmates. Inmates sentenced for offenses committed prior to 1987 are eligible for parole consideration.[21]
Site of 1998 United States embassy bombing in NairobiThe Brooklyn Bridge was one of the potential targets of the NYC landmark bomb plot
Foreign Terrorists
Foreign citizens who committed or attempted terrorist attacks against United States citizens and interests.
Served a 20-year sentence; released on August 18, 2020.
Al-Qaeda operative; pleaded guilty in 2003 to terrorism conspiracy for researching potential targets, including the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City, and obtaining equipment to be used in attacks at the behest of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.[25]
Transferred to RRM Seattle. Serving a 25-year and ten-month sentence; scheduled for release on September 6, 2024.
Leader of the Alaska Peacekeepers Militia; convicted in 2012 of murder conspiracy for plotting the murders of judges and law enforcement agents; two co-defendants were also sentenced to prison.[29][30][31][32]
Transferred to FCI Bennettsville. Serving a 28-year sentence; scheduled for release on January 11, 2034.
Follower of the late militant cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki; pleaded guilty in 2011 to attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction for plotting to destroy a federal building in Illinois with a truck bomb in 2009.[33][34]
Transferred to FCI Fairton. Serving a 20-year sentence; scheduled for release on June 20, 2027.
Pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder persons outside the US, and for attempting to join Al Shabaab, a terrorist group based in Somalia; co-conspirator Mohamed Alessa was sentenced to 22 years.[35][36]
Serving a seven-year sentence; scheduled for release on June 17, 2025.
The FBI had sought an Extreme Risk Protection Order against Cole and seized his cache of weapons which included five assault rifles, a shotgun and pistols in October 2019. According to the FBI Cole had also acquired separate parts needed to manufacture untraceable AR-15s. Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes told the media they "firmly believe, prevented a massacre". Cole was sentenced for conspiring to threaten Jews, black people and journalists in Washington and two other states.[37][38]
Serving a 25-year sentence; scheduled for release on January 1, 2032.
Convicted in 2010 for attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization by aiding Al-Shabaab, a militant group with ties to Al-Qaeda. He was also convicted for desensitizing law enforcement by ordering people to plant fake explosive devices. Chesser was also convicted for sending threats (via Revolution Muslim website) to Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of South Park, after they aired an episode of the show with depictions of Muhammad.
Deceased. Served most of his life sentence at ADX Florence and died on May 11, 2019 due to complications from heart surgery.
Aryan Brotherhoodprison gang leader (considered one of the most dangerous inmates in the federal prison system); transferred to ADX after murdering Correction Officer Merle Clutts at USP Marion in 1983 while serving a sentence for bank robbery. The murder of two correctional officers in 1983 was the impetus for creating the "super-max" prison classification.[40]
Transferred to the FCI Butner Medium, a medium-security facility; was serving a 55-year sentence; was scheduled for release in 2033 but died at Butner on 17 January 2017 at age 87.[41][42][43]
Former boss of the Bruno Crime Family in Philadelphia;[44] he was convicted on multiple counts of murder, attempted murder, distribution of methamphetamine, and extortion.[45]
Former correction officer at FCI Danbury in Connecticut; sentenced to prison in 2008 for having sex with an inmate; convicted in 2010 of trying to hire a hitman to kill the inmate, his ex-wife, his ex-wife's boyfriend and a federal agent while incarcerated at USP Coleman in Florida.[48][49]
Deceased; died of natural causes in 1993 while serving a life sentence.
Convicted in 1973 of air piracy for hijacking TWA Flight 2 and threatening to ram the plane into the terminal of JFK Airport unless he received a ransom.[52][53]
Serving a 40-year sentence; scheduled for release on April 2, 2037.
Neo-Nazi leader of the World Church of the Creator. Convicted in 2005 for soliciting an undercover FBI informant to kill federal judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow after she ruled against him in a copyright case and ordered the name of his church to be changed. He was transferred into USP Marion from ADX Florence in July 2020.
Serial killer; pleaded guilty along with Joseph Jesse Vaccaro in 1980 to kidnapping a young couple in Louisiana, repeatedly raping the female victim. The two were also convicted of an unrelated state murder charge. Willie was executed in 1984 and Vaccaro was sentenced to life in prison.
Not currently in BOP custody. Scheduled for release on March 26, 2024.[54]
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.[55]
