United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners
File:USMCInteriorPic2SpringfieldMO.jpg | |
Location | Springfield, Greene County, Missouri |
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Status | Operational |
Security class | Administrative |
Population | 870 |
Opened | 1933[1] |
Managed by | Federal Bureau of Prisons |
Warden | Eric Williams |
The United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners (MCFP Springfield) is a United States federal prison in Springfield, Missouri for male offenders. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.[2]
History
During the Great Depression, the people of Springfield, Missouri, offered 620 acres (250 ha) of land to the federal government to build the prison. Congress authorized the building of the prison in 1930. The prison opened in 1933 as the "United States Hospital for Defective Delinquents", under superintendent Marion R. King.[3] The land surrounding the prison was used by the prisoners for farming until 1966. In 1977, the federal government returned some of the original 620 acres to the city.[3] Prison riots occurred in 1941, 1944 and 1959.[3] Several political prisoners and spies arrested during World War II were held at MCFP Springfield for medical treatment. Anastasy Vonsyatsky served 3 years of a 5-year sentence there for conspiring to aid Hitler's Germany in violation of the Espionage Act before being released in 1946.[4] Robert Henry Best and Herbert John Burgman, who were sentenced to life in prison for treason in 1948 and 1949 for making propaganda broadcasts for the Nazis, served their sentences at this prison. Best died at MCFP Springfield in 1952, Burgman in 1953.[5][6][7] Several high-profile Mafia bosses received medical treatment at MCFP Springfield, including Joseph Bonanno of the Bonanno crime family, Vito Genovese and Vincent Gigante of the Genovese crime family and John Gotti of the Gambino crime family.[8] Genovese died at MCFP Springfield in 1969, Gotti in 2002, and Gigante in 2005. Other notable inmates held at MCFP Springfield for treatment include Robert Stroud, known as the "Birdman of Alcatraz" who died there in 1963, racecar driver Randy Lanier, drug trafficker Michael Riconosciuto, and "The Toxic Pharmacist" Robert Courtney.[9][10] Terrorists Omar Abdel Rahman and José Padilla were also held there for brief periods.
Notable incidents
On January 26, 2010, inmate Victor Castro-Rodriguez, 51, was found dead on the floor of his cell. Castro-Rodriguez originally was convicted of assault and resisting arrest in the U.S. District Court of Southern Florida and was being held at the MCFP because of a mental illness. MCFP inmates Wesley Paul Coonce Jr., 34, and Charles Michael Hall, 43, were charged in connection with his death and on May 7, 2014, were convicted of one count of first-degree murder. Coonce was also found guilty of one count of murder by an inmate serving a life sentence. Both were sentenced to death on June 2, 2014.[11]
Notable inmates
- The following inmates are currently held at MCFP Springfield or served the majority of their sentence there.
† Inmates who were released from custody prior to 1982 are not listed on the Bureau of Prisons website.
Living
Inmate Name | Register Number | Photo | Status | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
Juan Matta-Ballesteros | 37671-133 | Serving a life sentence under the name Juan Ramon Matta-Lopez.[12] | Drug kingpin with ties to the Medellin Cartel in Colombia; convicted in 1990 of orchestrating the 1985 kidnapping and murder of Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Enrique Camarena.[13][14] | |
James Alex Fields Jr. | 22239-084 | Serving a life sentence; currently at USP Allenwood. | White supremacist, pleaded guilty in 2019 of 29 federal hate crime charges using his car to harm counter-protestors during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing 32 year-old Heather Heyer and injuring up to 19 more. Previously held at USP Hazelton and USP Allenwood. | |
Marvin Charles Gabrion | 09184-055 | File:Gabrion.jpg | Originally sentenced to death on March 16, 2002. Resentenced to death on May 28, 2013. | Convicted in 2002 of the 1997 kidnapping and murder of 19-year-old Rachel Timmerman, who had accused Gabrion of rape; Tried federally as victim's body was found on federal land. Gabrion was the first person to receive a federal death sentence in a non-death penalty state since the federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988. |
Michael Sarno | 01042-424 | Serving a 25-year sentence, scheduled for release in 2031. | Italian-American mobster, who is a powerful captain in the Chicago Outfit who leads the Cicero crew. | |
Walter Myers | 29796-016 | File:Kendall Myers (cropped).jpg | Sentenced to life imprisonment in July 2010. | Convicted of espionage in relation to his spying activities for Cuba while working for the U.S. State Department. |
Released
Inmate Name | Register Number | Photo | Status | Details | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno | 07255-008 | File:Joseph Bonanno (cropped).jpg | Released from custody in 1986 after serving 14 months at MCFP Springfield. | Boss of the Bonanno crime family in New York City from 1931 to the mid-1960s; imprisoned for refusing to testify in a federal racketeering trial of the leaders of the five New York Mafia families.[15][16] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fritz Duquesne | N/A† | File:Fbi duquesne.jpg | Released from custody on compassionate grounds in 1954; served 14 years.[17][18] | Convicted in 1941 of leading the Duquesne Spy Ring, a group of spies for the Nazis which operated in the US from 1939 to 1941 and aimed to obtain information regarding military and industrial sabotage targets; all ring members were convicted in what was the largest espionage case in US history.[19] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Larry Flynt | 78407-012 | File:Larry Flynt 2009.jpg | Released from custody in 1984; served 6 months at FMC Butner and MCFP Springfield.
Died at MCFP Springfield
In popular cultureJohn Sacrimoni, boss of the fictional Lupertazzi crime family in the hit HBO television series The Sopranos, dies at MCFP Springfield in the season 6 episode entitled "Stage 5". Ercole "Eckley" DiMeo of the fictional Soprano crime family in the hit HBO television series The Sopranos is only seen in the many Saints of Newark and is the boss of the Soprano crime family and it is mentioned in season one that he is incarcerated here. The American crime drama limited series Black Bird follows the true story of James Keene during his time at MCFP Springfield. The series is based on the 2010 autobiographical novel In with the Devil: a Fallen Hero, a Serial Killer, and a Dangerous Bargain for Redemption by James Keene and Hillel Levin. GalleryPhotos of the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield
See alsoReferences
Sources
External linksWikimedia Commons has media related to United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners. |