Metropolitan Detention Center, Los Angeles

Metropolitan Detention Center, Los Angeles
Location Los Angeles, California
Status Operational
Security class Administrative facility (all security levels)
Population 980
Opened 1988
Managed by Federal Bureau of Prisons

The Metropolitan Detention Center, Los Angeles (MDC Los Angeles) is a United States federal prison in downtown Los Angeles, California which holds male and female inmates prior to and during court proceedings, as well an inmates serving short sentences. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.[1]

History

MDC Los Angeles opened in December 1988. With the opening of the $36-million Metropolitan Detention Center, Los Angeles became the fifth major urban area in the country to have a downtown federal prison and the first in the nation to adopt a prison-wide no-smoking policy.

The high-tech, 272,000-square-foot facility, with its balconies, sunny atrium and expansive plate-glass windows, does have more the look of a downtown office building than a prison. The cells are not cells, they are "rooms," complete with bunk beds and wooden doors; the common areas are equipped with microwave ovens and hot lines to the public defender's office; there is not an iron bar in sight.

Before then, federal prisoners awaiting trial and sentencing were kept 25 miles south at the Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island, which was designed to house only medium-security prisoners who had already been sentenced. Filled to nearly double its capacity since it began housing pretrial and convicted but not-yet-sentenced prisoners in 1981, FCI Terminal Island prison was plagued with a rash of escapes and attempted escapes among the higher-security inmates it was forced to accommodate.

The opening of MDC Los Angeles allowed prisoners whose trials are pending to be housed just two blocks from the U.S. District Courthouse, ending the time-consuming process of transporting them back and forth down the Harbor Freeway each day court is in session. The U.S. Marshal's Service saves at least $200,000 a year by not having to transport the usual 250 to 300 prisoners a week from FCI Terminal Island and the federal public defender's office saves $18,000a year in telephone bills alone because it no longer has to rely on clients calling person-to-person collect from FCI Terminal Island.[2]

Programs

Various services are available to inmates at MDC Los Angeles, including drug treatment and education programs, Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings, GED and ESL classes, and correspondence classes. Inmates may meet with a chaplain or a priest upon request.[3]

Notable Inmates (current and former)

Inmate Name Register Number Status Details
Vianna Roman

Aaron Soto

 64108-112

64072-112

 Currently awaiting trial. Daughter and son-in-law of imprisoned Mexican Mafia kingpin Danny Roman; indicted in 2012 for allegedly receiving orders from Roman and directing gang activities which include extortion, robbery, drug trafficking and murder.[4]
Walter Lee Williams 65562-112 Currently awaiting trial. Former FBI Ten Most Wanted fugitive and University of Southern California professor; apprehended in Mexico in June 2013 and indicted for engaging in sexual conduct with minors and producing child pornography for allegedly molesting two 14-year-old boys whom he met online in 2010.[5][6]
David Kaup 62547-112 Currently awaiting trial. Former mortage firm owner and federal fugitive; pleaded guilty in 2012 to wire fraud for defrauding 50 families out of $11 million in bogus mortgage refinancing scams; apprehended in 2013 after being featured on the CNBC television program American Greed: The Fugitives.[7][8][9]

See also


References

  1. ↑ "MDC Los Angeles". Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  2. ↑ Murphy, Kim (January 3, 1989). "U.S. Opens a High-Rise Prison in Civic Center". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  3. ↑ Bosworth, Mary (2002). The U.S. Federal Prison System. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. pp. 253–254. ISBN 978-0761923046.
  4. ↑ Martinez, Michael (December 6, 2012). "Feds bust Los Angeles gang controlled by inmate". CNN. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  5. ↑ "Former University Professor Charged in California with Engaging in Sexual Conduct with Minors and Producing Child Pornography". US Department of Justice. June 17, 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  6. ↑ Lopez, Robert (June 20, 2013). "Ex-USC professor accused of sex with children to appear in court". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  7. ↑ "A capture after 'American Greed: The Fugitives' profile". CNBC. December 4, 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  8. ↑ Lopez, Robert J. (November 26, 2013). "San Gabriel con man who defrauded victims captured in Las Vegas". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  9. ↑ "Fugitive Who Failed to Appear for Sentencing for Carrying Out a Multi-Million-Dollar Scheme That Defrauded Homeowners Arrested in Las Vegas". Federal Bureau of Investigation. November 26, 2013.

Coordinates: 34°03′14″N 118°14′18″W / 34.0538°N 118.2382°W