Federal Correctional Institution, Beckley

Federal Correctional Institution, Beckley
Location Raleigh County,
near Beaver, West Virginia
Status Operational
Security class Medium-security (with minimum-security prison camp)
Population 1,660 (430 in prison camp)
Managed by Federal Bureau of Prisons

The Federal Correctional Institution, Beckley (FCI Beckley) is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates in West Virginia. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. An adjacent satellite camp houses minimum-security inmates.

FCI Beckley is located approximately 51 miles southeast of Charleston, West Virginia and 136 miles northwest of Roanoke, Virginia.[1]

Notable incidents

While they occur less frequently than at high-security prisons, serious acts of violence also occur at medium and minimum-security institutions such as FCI Beckley. In April 2010, FCI Beckley inmate Sylvester Cuevas, who was serving a sentence for mailing threatening communications, repeatedly punched a correction officer, causing the officer to sustain a broken nose and facial cuts. Cuevas was charged with felony assault and transferred to the Southern Regional Jail in Raleigh County, West Virginia pending court proceedings. Cuevas assaulted another correction officer at that facility in August 2010, who suffered a broken facial bone. On February 2, 2012, Cuevas pleaded guilty to felony assault in connection with both incidents and was sentenced to an additional eight years in prison.[2] Cuevas is currently serving his sentence at ADX Florence, the federal supermax prison in Colorado which holds inmates requiring the tightest security controls.[3]

Notable Inmates (current and former)

Inmate Name Register Number Status Details
Christian Castro-Alvarez 14493-298 Serving a 40-year sentence; scheduled for release in 2044. Pleaded guilty in November 2009 to murdering a federal official in connection with the robbery and fatal shooting of US Customs and Border Patrol Agent Robert W. Rosas, Jr. on July 23, 2009; two other perpetrators are awaiting sentencing.[4][5][6]
Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez 33230-068 Serving a 25-year sentence; scheduled for release in 2033. Pleaded guilty to terrorism and weapons offenses for using a semi-automatic assault rifle to fire at least eight rounds at the White House on November 11, 2011 in an attempt to kill President Barack Obama, whom he believed was the antichrist.
Narseal Batiste 76736-004 Serving a 13-year sentence; scheduled for release in 2018. Leader of the Universal Divine Saviors religious cult; convicted of terrorism conspiracy in 2009 for masterminding a foiled plot to bomb the Sears Tower in Chicago. Four co-conspirators were also convicted.[7][8]
Brandon Piekarsky 15063-067 Serving a 9-year sentence; scheduled for release in 2018. Convicted in 2010 of civil rights violations in connection with the 2008 fatal beating of Mexican immigrant Luis Ramirez; Piekarsky was acquitted of a state murder charge in 2009; Accomplice Derrick Donchak is also serving a 9-year sentence.[9]
Warshak, StevenSteven Warshak 04431-061 Serving a 10-year sentence; scheduled for release in 2017. Founder of Berkeley Nutraceuticals; convicted in 2008 of fraud and money laundering for bilking customers out of $100 million; the story was featured on the CNBC television program American Greed.[10][11]

See also


References

Coordinates: 37°49′0.8″N 81°7′45.9″W / 37.816889°N 81.129417°W