Metropolitan Correctional Center, San Diego

Metropolitan Correctional Center, San Diego
Location San Diego, California
Status Operational
Security class Administrative security
Population 1,000[1]
Managed by Federal Bureau of Prisons

The Metropolitan Correctional Center, San Diego (MCC San Diego) is a United States federal administrative detention facility in California which holds male and female prisoners of all security levels. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.

Most prisoners held at MCC San Diego have pending cases in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. MCC San Diego also holds prisoners serving brief sentences.[2] MCC San Diego is an administrative facility designed to house federal prisoners of all security levels, including both male and female offenders. The building is 23 stories and can house 1,300 inmates.[3]

History

MCC San Diego opened in December 1974 and represented the first shift within the Bureau of Prisons to a new generation of high-rise prison buildings, along with MCC New York and MCC Chicago.[4]

Notable incidents

On March 18, 2011, the office of Laura E. Duffy, the US Attorney for the Southern District of California, announced that Brandon McKinney, a former correctional officer at MCC San Diego, had been indicted on suspicion of having sexual relations with a female inmate while on duty on July 20, 2010. Since sexual relationships between prison staff and inmates are prohibited by law regardless of consent, McKinney was terminated and charged with assault. McKinney subsequently pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 months in prison on August 10, 2012.[5][6]

Duffy's office issued a press release on July 18, 2013 announcing that Kirk Borja, an inmate at MCC San Diego, had pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and possessing heroin with the intent to distribute it. Borja was originally indicted on the methamphetamine trafficking charge following his arrest in January 2012 as part of Operation Carnalismo, an investigation into the Mexican Mafia gang. Borja also admitted in his plea to concealing heroin inside his body while he was at MCC San Diego and planning to distribute it to other inmates before it was discovered by correctional officers.[7] Borja is still being held at MCC San Diego pending sentencing.[8]

Notable Inmates

Inmate Name Register Number Status Details
Cesar Meza-Garcia 38533-298 Currently awaiting trial. Leading figure in the Tijuana Cartel; extradited from Mexico in 2013 to face charges that he oversaw the cartel's efforts to import methamphetamine into the United States; Meza-Garcia is the first person to be extradited to the US under Mexico's new president, Enrique Peña Nieto.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Federal Bureau of Prisons - Weekly Population Report". Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  2. ↑ "Federal Bureau of Prisons - MCC San Diego".
  3. ↑ Huspek, Michael (August 24, 1997). "THE STATE; Why Violence Is Growing Along the U.S.-Mexico Border".
  4. ↑ Bosworth, Mary (2002). The US Federal Prison System. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. p. 45.
  5. ↑ "Office of the US Attorney - Southern District of California: News Release Summary". US Department of Justice. March 18, 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  6. ↑ "Man Sentenced for Assault with Intent to Commit Another Felony". Federal Bureau of Investigation. August 10, 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  7. ↑ "Inmate Pleads Guilty to Heroin Trafficking Inside the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Downtown San Diego". Federal Bureau of Investigation. July 18, 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  8. ↑ "Federal Bureau of Prisons - Inmate Locator". Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  9. ↑ Associated Press (March 7, 2013). "First Mexican extradited to US under Mexico's new leader to face drug smuggling charges". Fox News. Retrieved 20 September 2013.

External links

Coordinates: 32°42′50″N 117°9′57″W / 32.71389°N 117.16583°W