United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners

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United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners
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Location Springfield, Greene County, Missouri
Status Operational
Population 980[1]
Opened 1933[2]
Managed by Federal Bureau of Prisons
Warden Linda Sanders

The United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners (MCFP Springfield) is a United States federal prison in Springfield, Missouri which provides medical, mental health, and dental services to male offenders. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.[3]

History

During the Great Depression, the people of Springfield, Missouri offered 620 acres (250 ha) of land to the federal government to build the prison. Congress authorized the building of the prison in 1930. The prison opened in 1933 under superintendent Dr. Marion R. King.[4] The land surrounding the prison was used by the prisoners for farming until 1966. In 1977, the federal government returned some of the original 620 acres back to the city.[4] Prison riots occurred in 1941, 1944 and 1959.[4]

Several political prisoners and spies arrested during World War II were held at MCFP Springfield for medical treatment. Anastasy Vonsyatsky served 3 years of a 5-year sentence there for conspiring to aid Hitler's Germany in violation of the Espionage Act before being released in 1946.[5] Robert Henry Best and Herbert John Burgman, who were sentenced to life in prison for treason in 1948 and 1949 for making propaganda broadcasts for the Nazis, served their sentences at this prison. Best died at MCFP Springfield in 1952, Burgman in 1953.[6][7][8]

Several high-profile Mafia Bosses received medical treatment at MCFP Springfield, including Joseph Bonanno of the Bonanno crime family, Vito Genovese and Vincent Gigante of the Genovese crime family, and perhaps the most well-known Mafia figure of all time, John Gotti of the Gambino crime family.[9] Genovese died at MCFP Springfield in 1969, Gotti in 2002, and Gigante in 2005. Other notable inmates held at MCFP Springfield for treatment include Robert Stroud, known as the "Birdman of Alcatraz", racecar driver Randy Lanier, drug trafficker Michael Riconosciuto, and "The Toxic Pharmacist" Robert Courtney.[10][11] Terrorists Omar Abdel Rahman and Jose Padilla were also held there for brief periods.

Notable incidents

On January 26, 2010, inmate Victor Castro-Rodriguez, 51, was found dead on the floor of his cell. Castro-Rodriguez originally was convicted of assault and resisting arrest in the U.S. District Court of Southern Florida and was being held at the MCFP because of a mental illness. MCFP inmates Wesley Paul Coonce, Jr., 34, and Charles Michael Hall, 43, were charged in connection with his death and on May 7, 2014, were convicted of one count of first-degree murder. Coonce was also found guilty of one count of murder by an inmate serving a life sentence. Both were sentenced to death on June 2, 2014.[12]

Notable inmates

  • The following inmates are currently held at MCFP Springfield or served the majority of their sentence there.

†Inmates who were released from custody prior to 1982 are not listed on the Bureau of Prisons website.

Current

Inmate Name Register Number Photo Status Details
Mohammad El-Mezain 92412-198 Serving a 15-year sentence; scheduled for release in 2021. Chief of Endowments for the Holy Land Foundation, once the largest Islamic charity in the US; convicted in 2008 of providing material support for terrorism for funneling money to the terrorist organization Hamas. Four co-conspirators were also sentenced to prison.[13]

Released

Inmate Name Register Number Photo Status Details
Joseph Bonanno 07255-008 Released from custody in 1986 after serving 14 months at MCFP Springfield. Boss of the Bonanno crime family in New York City from 1931 to the mid-1960s; imprisoned for refusing to testify in a federal racketeering trial of the leaders of the five New York Mafia families.[14][15]
Fritz Duquesne N/A† Fbi duquesne.jpg Released from custody on compassionate grounds in 1954; served 14 years.[16][17] Convicted in 1941 of leading the Duquesne Spy Ring, a group of spies for the Nazis which operated in the US from 1939 to 1941 and aimed to obtain information regarding military and industrial sabotage targets; all ring members were convicted in what was the largest espionage case in US history.[18]
Larry Flynt 78407-012 Released from custody in 1984; served 6 months at FMC Butner and MCFP Springfield. Publisher of the pornographic magazine Hustler and the center of several high-profile First Amendment cases; imprisoned for contempt of court for disrespecting a federal judge.[19]
Anastasy Vonsyatsky N/A† Held at MCFP Springfield from 1942 to 1946. Russian-born American fascist leader; convicted under the Espionage Act of 1917 for his associations with Nazi sympathisers during World War II; released early.[20]
Henri Young N/A† Held at MCFP Springfield from 1948 to 1957. Bank robber and murderer; attempted to escape from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in 1939; Young was the subject of the 1995 film Murder in the First.[21][22]
Juan Lopez-Sanchez 14115-051 Held at MCFP Springfield before his deportation in 2009. Illegal alien accused of the murder of Kathryn Steinle in 2015 in San Francisco; following his reentry in 2009 he was placed in Victorville FCI and released to San Francisco authorities on a 20-year bench warrant.[23]

Died at MCPF Springfield

Inmate Name Register Number Photo Status Details
Clayton Fountain 89129-132 Died in 2004 while serving a life sentence. Member of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang; murdered Correction Officer Robert Hoffman at the United States Penitentiary, Marion in 1983; held in solitary confinement until his death.[24]
Hemant Lakhani 25753-050 Died in 2013 while serving a 47-year sentence. British businessman; convicted in 2005 of providing material support for terrorism and other charges for attempting to sell shoulder-fired missiles to what he thought was a terrorist group intent on shooting down US airliners.[25][26]
Garrett Brock Trapnell 72021-158 Died in 1993 while serving a life sentence; served the majority of his sentence at USP Marion. Serial bank robber; convicted in 1973 of aircraft hijacking and in 1974 of armed robbery and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.[27][28]

In popular culture

John Sacramoni, boss of the fictional Lupertazzi crime family in the hit HBO television series The Sopranos, dies at MCFP Springfield in the season 6 episode entitled "Stage 5".

Gallery

Photos of the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield
US-MCFP entrance
The entrance to the medical center in August 2006. 
Aerial view of the medical center in October 2003.
Aerial view of the medical center in October 2003. 

See also

Source Notes

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  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Duffy 2014, p. 272.
  17. ↑ AngloBoerWar 2007.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ [1][dead link]
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

References

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External links

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