Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York

Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York
Location Manhattan, New York City
Status Operational
Security class Administrative facility
Population 781[1]
Opened 1975
Managed by Federal Bureau of Prisons

The Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York (MCC New York) is a United States federal administrative detention facility in Manhattan, New York 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 New York have pending cases in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. MCC New York also holds prisoners serving brief sentences.[1]

History

Opened in 1975, MCC New York was the first high-rise facility to be used by the Bureau of Prisons. Prisoners are assigned to ten separate, self-contained housing units, resulting in little movement within the facility. It has been widely reported that MCC New York is severely overcrowded.[2]

Numerous high-profile individuals have been held at MCC New York during court proceedings, including Gambino crime family Bosses John Gotti and Jackie D'Amico, drug kingpin Frank Lucas, Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernard Madoff, terrorists Omar Abdel Rahman and Ramzi Yousef, and weapons trafficker Viktor Bout.[3]

Facility

In an article published on April 5, 2011, Jim Dwyer of the New York Times described the experience of an inmate being transferred from the facility to the federal court across the street: A prisoner going to court from the Metropolitan Correctional Center is presented to federal marshals in the basement of the building. Shackled at the ankles, chained at the waist and cuffed at the hands, the prisoner hop-marches through a tunnel nearly 40 feet below the street. The prisoner and escorts go through channels, or corridors, with electronic doors at each end. These are controlled remotely by officers who watch the journey through cameras.

During this passage from jail to court, no one lays eyes on the prisoner except the marshals and the people in the surveillance stations. Once they have reached the north end of the tunnel, they wait for the prisoner elevator. Inside is a locked cage that the prisoner stands in for the ride up to the courthouse cells.[4]

Notable inmates (current and former)

Inmate Name Register Number Status Details
Abu Anas al-Libi

Khalid al-Fawwaz
Unknown

67497-054
Al-Libi died on January 2, 2015 while awaiting trial; al-Fawwaz is awaiting trial.[5] High-ranking Al-Qaeda operatives; indicted in 2000 on conspiracy charges stemming from Al Qaeda’s 1998 bombings of two US embassies in East Africa, which killed 224 people.[6]
Ross Ulbricht 18870-111 Sentenced to life on May 29, 2015. Computer hacker known as "Dread Pirate Roberts"; convicted in 2015 of founding and operating the online illegal drug marketplace known as Silk Road; drugs obtained from the marketplace led to at least six overdose deaths across the world.[7][8]
Horst Overdick 91938-054 Currently awaiting trial. Drug trafficker linked to the Los Zetas Cartel in Mexico; extradited from Guatemala in 2012 to face charges that he directed the shipment of large quantities of cocaine to the US through Guatemala.[9]
Franqui Flores 92493-054 Currently awaiting trial. Nephew of Venezuelan First Lady Cilia Flores; arrested in Haiti by the DEA and charged with conspiring to import and distribute cocaine in the United States.[10]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "MCC New York". Federal Bureau of Prisons.
  2. Bosworth, Mary (2002). The US Federal Prison System. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. p. 272.
  3. McShane, Larry (13 March 2009). "Inside Bernard Madoff's new home: the Metropolitan Correctional Center prison in Manhattan". Daily News (New York). Retrieved 16 October 2009.
  4. Dwyer, Jim (April 5, 2011). "A Passageway for Prisoners, 40 Feet Below". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  5. Jomana, Karadsheh (January 3, 2015). "Alleged al Qaeda operative Abu Anas al Libi dies in U.S. hospital, family says". cnn.com. CNN. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  6. Weiser, Benjamin (October 15, 2013). "Terror Suspect Caught in Libya Appears in Manhattan Court". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  7. "Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht found guilty". CNN Money. Cable News Network. May 29, 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  8. Hong, Nicole. "Silk Road Founder Ross Ulbricht Sentenced to Life in Prison". The Wall Street Journal. 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  9. "Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Extradition Of Guatemalan Drug Trafficker Linked To Los Zetas Drug Cartel". US Department of Justice. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  10. "Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Extradition Of Guatemalan Drug Trafficker Linked To Los Zetas Drug Cartel". US Department of Justice. Retrieved 14 November 2015.

Coordinates: 40°42′47″N 74°00′07″W / 40.71306°N 74.00194°W / 40.71306; -74.00194

External links

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