| Location | USP CANAAN, U.S. PENITENTIARY, 3057 Easton Turnpike, Waymart, PA 18472 |
|---|---|
| Status | Operational |
| Security class | Maximum (Male), Care Level: 2[1] |
| Capacity | 1088 (Currently has USP 1452, Camp 131[2]) |
| Managed by | Federal Bureau of Prisons |
United States Penitentiary, Canaan is a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility located in Canaan Township, Pennsylvania, near Waymart.[3][4]
USP Canaan is approximately 20 miles (32 km) east of Scranton, Pennsylvania.[5] The United States Penitentiary-Canaan is a high security prison that houses male inmates. A satellite camp, which is also operated by the USP Canaan, houses minimum security male inmates. The Warden is Ronny R. Holt and has a staff of 387.
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USP Canaan is a 170,000 square yard (142,000 m²) high-security prison designed by David R. Cassara Associates, Structural Engineering and Consulting of Rochester, New York[6] for US$141 million and operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (B.O.P).
It opened in March 2005 and is designed to house 1088 male inmates in 6 housing units. USP Canaan is constructed very similar to the new federal penitentiaries at Victorville, California, Atwater, California, Inez, Kentucky, Coleman, Florida, Hazelton, West Virginia, Pennington Gap, Virginia, McCreary, Kentucky, Terre Haute, Indiana and United States Penitentiary, Tucson.
Six V-shaped buildings facing each other and a larger maintenance building surround a central yard with a tower in the middle. Six additional towers are lined along the rectangular shaped facility. The facility is surrounded by a lethal electrical double fence. Cells are approximately 4 × 2 m (13 × 7 feet) in size equipped with a bunkbed, a stainless steel sink-toilet combination and a small table with a non-removable stool. Cells are usually occupied by two inmates and are air conditioned. The administrative and disciplinary unit (special housing unit or "SHU") can hold approximately 250 inmates. Cells in the disciplinary unit have showers and are occupied by two inmates.
Inmates get counted 5-6 times a day at 12:01 a.m., 3:00 a.m., 5:00 a.m., 4:00 p.m. (stand up count) , 10:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m. (on weekends and holidays). Initial work movements start at 4:30 a.m. and inmates must be up at 7:30 a.m. All inmates must be back to their cells at 10:00 p.m.[7]
Prisoners have access to the text-based e-mail program known as TRULINCS[8] (Trust Fund Limited Inmate Communication System). Prisoners are only allowed 13,000 characters per e-mail, and attachments cannot be sent, received, or viewed. Inmates are not allowed to retain more than two newspapers, 10 magazines and 25 letters in their cells. Inmates are allowed to place phone calls to up to 30 approved numbers. Phone calls are restricted to 15 minutes per call and five hours per month. Inmates pay for their phone calls through their trust accounts. Inmates can buy additional food, hygiene articles and clothes from commissary for a maximum of $290 a month.
There have been two inmates killed since opening: Joseph O'Kane (Reg. No. 01191-748) was stabbed to death in his cell block on 25 April 2010 [10] and Jose Antonio Perez (Reg. No. 12651-014) was stabbed to death in the laundry area on 23 August 2010.[11]
The prison has also recorded one of the largest institutional outbreaks of Salmonella food-poisoning in recent years. In July 2011, 320 inmates and at least 4 prison staff became ill after eating chicken fajitas in the prison dining room.[12]
| Name | Number | Status | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sholam Weiss | 32610-054 | as of 2008 in USP, Canaan[13] | The sentences (845 years) imposed on Weiss and an accomplice were believed to be the longest known to have ever been imposed for a white-collar crime. |