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United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners

Coordinates: 37°10′39″N 93°19′29″W / 37.1776°N 93.3247°W / 37.1776; -93.3247
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United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners
Map
LocationSpringfield, Greene County, Missouri
StatusOperational
Security classAdministrative
Population870
Opened1933[1]
Managed byFederal Bureau of Prisons
WardenEric Williams

The United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners (MCFP Springfield) is a United States federal prison in Springfield, Missouri for male offenders. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.[2]

History

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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 as the "United States Hospital for Defective Delinquents", under superintendent Marion R. King.[3] 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 to the city.[3] Prison riots occurred in 1941, 1944 and 1959.[3]

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.[4] 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.[5][6][7]

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 John Gotti of the Gambino crime family.[8] 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" who died there in 1963, racecar driver Randy Lanier, drug trafficker Michael Riconosciuto, and "The Toxic Pharmacist" Robert Courtney.[9][10] Terrorists Omar Abdel Rahman and José Padilla were also held there for brief periods.

Notable incidents

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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.[11]

Notable inmates

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  • 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.

Living

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Inmate Name Register Number Photo Status Details
Juan Matta-Ballesteros 37671-133 Serving a life sentence under the name Juan Ramon Matta-Lopez.[12] Drug kingpin with ties to the Medellin Cartel in Colombia; convicted in 1990 of orchestrating the 1985 kidnapping and murder of Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Enrique Camarena.[13][14]
James Alex Fields Jr. 22239-084 Serving a life sentence; currently at USP Allenwood. White supremacist, pleaded guilty in 2019 of 29 federal hate crime charges using his car to harm counter-protestors during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing 32 year-old Heather Heyer and injuring up to 19 more. Previously held at USP Hazelton and USP Allenwood.
Marvin Charles Gabrion 09184-055 Serving a life sentence, commuted from the death penalty. Originally sentenced to death on March 16, 2002. Convicted in 2002 of the 1997 kidnapping and murder of 19-year-old Rachel Timmerman, who had accused Gabrion of rape; Tried federally as victim's body was found on federal land. Gabrion was the first person to receive a federal death sentence in a non-death penalty state since the federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988. Commuted from the death penalty by President Joe Biden on December 23, 2024.
Michael Sarno 01042-424 Serving a 25-year sentence, scheduled for release in 2031. Italian-American mobster, who is a powerful captain in the Chicago Outfit who leads the Cicero crew.
Walter Myers 29796-016 Sentenced to life imprisonment in July 2010. Convicted of espionage in relation to his spying activities for Cuba while working for the U.S. State Department.
Daniel Larson 12626-511 Currently awaiting sentencing. Initially, it was believed that Larson's arrest was related to multiple probation violations, as in the days leading up to his arrest, Larson defrauded a Buffalo Wild Wings, and admitted to viewing exploitive material of children. However, according to a call made to his manager, Larson was arrested for the several terroristic threats he had made over the past year. These claims were later backed by documents which revealed that Larson had been charged with seven counts of threats, carrying a maximum sentence of 65 years.

Released

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Inmate Name Register Number Photo Status Details
Joseph "Joe Bananas" 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.[15][16]
Fritz Duquesne N/A† Released from custody on compassionate grounds in 1954; served 14 years.[17][18] 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.[19]
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.[20]
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.[21]
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.[22][23]
Rosario "Russell" Bufalino 04891-054 Held at MCFP Springfield from 1987 to 1989. An Italian-born American mobster who became the Boss of the Northeastern Pennsylvania crime family known as the Bufalino crime family from 1959 - 1994. He was a cousin of attorney William "Bill" Bufalino, the longtime counsel for Jimmy Hoffa.[24]

Died at MCFP Springfield

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Inmate Name Register Number Photo Status Details
Robert Henry Best N/A† Died in 1952 while serving a life sentence American Nazi collaborator and radio broadcaster of Nazi propaganda
Herbert John Burgman N/A† Died in 1953 American Nazi collaborator and radio broadcaster of Nazi propaganda
Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo 08341-016 Died in 2000. The Boss of the Lucchese Crime Family From 1973 - 1986. in 1986 sentenced to 100 years along with then Underboss Salvatore "Tom-Mix" Santoro and then Consigliere Christopher "Christie Tick" Funari.
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. The incident resulted in a 23-year lockdown at Marion, and contributed to the creation of the federal supermax prison, Florence ADX.[25]
John Gotti 18261-053 Died in 2002. John "The Teflon Don" Gotti was head of New York's Gambino crime family. One of the most powerful and dangerous crime bosses in the world, Gotti was charged with five counts of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, loansharking, illegal gambling, obstruction of justice, bribery and tax evasion. Convicted on all counts, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole and a $250,000 fine.
Kareem Ibrahim 64657-053 Died in 2016 while serving a life sentence Convicted in 2012 for conspiracy to commit a terrorist attack at JFK Airport died in 2016 from Heart Failure
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.[26][27]
Gennaro "Gerry Lang" Langella 10405-054 Died in 2013. Was the Acting Boss Of the Colombo Crime Family During the '80s most notable for being a defendant in the Windows Trial in 1987 and being convicted and sentenced to 40+ years.
Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno 12812-054 Died in 1992. Was the Front Boss for the Genovese Crime Family from 1981 - 1986 after being convicted in the Windows Trial and being sentenced to 100 years.
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.[28][29]
Frank "Cadillac Frank" Salemme 24914-013 Died on 20 December 2022 Serving a life sentence Boston mobster who became a hitman and eventually the boss of the Patriarca crime family from 1991 - 1996.[30]
Robert Spangler 29442-013 Died of cancer on August 5, 2001, while serving a life sentence. Serial killer who murdered his first wife and two children in 1978 in Littleton, Colorado and his third wife at the Grand Canyon in Arizona in 1993. Pleaded guilty in October 2000 to murder on federal land of third wife. Sentenced to life imprisonment.

David Waters

95107-080 Died in 2003 from lung cancer Known for his role in the kidnapping, robbery and murder of the famed atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair, her son Jon Garth and granddaughter Robyn in 1995.
Robert Franklin Stroud Died November 21, 1963 The "Birdman of Alcatraz"
Gary Lee Sampson 23976-038 Died on December 21, 2021. Carjacked and murdered three people in 2001. Sentenced to death on December 23, 2003, and resentenced to death on January 9, 2017.
Clarence Carnes 61805-132 Died on October 3, 1988 Murdered a man in Oklahoma, and later participated in the Battle of Alcatraz. Carnes was the only participating inmate to neither be killed nor executed afterwards.
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John Sacrimoni, 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".

Ercole "Eckley" DiMeo of the fictional Soprano crime family in the hit HBO television series The Sopranos is only seen in the many Saints of Newark and is the boss of the Soprano crime family and it is mentioned in season one that he is incarcerated here.

The American crime drama limited series Black Bird follows the true story of James Keene during his time at MCFP Springfield. The series is based on the 2010 autobiographical novel In with the Devil: a Fallen Hero, a Serial Killer, and a Dangerous Bargain for Redemption by James Keene and Hillel Levin.

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

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Mary Bosworth (2002). The U.S. Federal Prison System. SAGE Publications. p. 79. Retrieved 2010-08-17.
  2. ^ "MCFP Springfield". Federal Bureau of Prisons. Archived from the original on 2013-11-02. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  3. ^ a b c "United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners". Springfield Greene County Library. Archived from the original on 2012-10-18. Retrieved 2012-06-24.
  4. ^ "Anastase Vonsiatsky and Marion Ream papers". National Endowment for the Humanities. Archived from the original on 2013-11-04. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  5. ^ Stadler, Glen (December 27, 1952). "Portrait of a Traitor". Eugene Register-Guard. Archived from the original on 2020-05-19. Retrieved 2013-01-03.
  6. ^ "Traitor Given Six to 20 Years". Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. December 21, 1949. Archived from the original on 2022-02-25. Retrieved 2013-01-03.
  7. ^ "Standard Certificate of Death – Herbert John Burgman" (PDF). The Division of Health of Missouri. December 28, 1953. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2012-10-05. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  8. ^ Raab, Selwyn (June 11, 2002). "John Gotti Dies in Prison at 61; Mafia Boss Relished the Spotlight". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2016-12-23. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  9. ^ "Jury Says Guilty -- Man Claims Frame-Up But Faces 20-Year Term After Verdict On Seven Drug-Related Charges". The Seattle Times. January 19, 1992. Archived from the original on 2012-06-12. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
  10. ^ Virginia Lee McCullough (February 18, 2008). "Is puppet master Michael Riconosciuto pulling the strings in the Betty Cloer murder trial?". NewsMakingNews. Archived from the original on 2010-10-09. Retrieved 2010-08-17.
  11. ^ News-Leader Staff (June 3, 2014). "Two Fed Med inmates sentenced to death in killing". Springfield News-Leader. Archived from the original on 2018-01-28. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
  12. ^ Sisak, Michael R.; Kalinowski, Bob (December 19, 2013). "Free to kill: Canaan inmate had freedom inside prison". The Citizens' Voice. Archived from the original on 2016-01-28. Retrieved 2015-10-10.
  13. ^ Weinstein, Henry (September 7, 1989). "Major Drug Ring Leader Is Convicted". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2016-11-04. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  14. ^ Lee, John H. (May 9, 1991). "Camarena Figure Gets 3 Life Terms : Drugs: Honduran Juan Matta Ballesteros has received two other lengthy sentences for his role in the DEA agent's murder". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2013-11-20. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  15. ^ Raab, Selwyn (May 12, 2002). "Joe Bonanno Dies; Mafia Leader, 97, Who Built Empire". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2016-12-23. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  16. ^ "Joseph Bonanno". A&E Television Networks. Archived from the original on 2013-03-02. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  17. ^ Duffy 2014, p. 272.
  18. ^ "Lord Horatio Kitchener, War Criminal". AngloBoerWar.com. Archived from the original on 2014-07-26. Retrieved 2014-07-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  19. ^ "The Duquesne Spy Ring". FBI. December 13, 1941. Archived from the original on 2013-09-30. Retrieved 2014-01-25.
  20. ^ Bruno, Anthony (2013). "Adventures of Larry Flynt". Turner Entertainment Networks. Archived from the original on 2012-04-20. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  21. ^ "Anastase Vonsiatsky and Marion Ream papers". Rhode Island Archival and Manuscript Collections Online. Archived from the original on 2013-11-04. Retrieved 2015-09-03.
  22. ^ "Henri Young 244-AZ". Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  23. ^ "Henri Young". Ocean View Publishing. Archived from the original on 2015-04-26. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  24. ^ "Profiling the low-profile godfather, Russell Bufalino". Times Leader. August 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-12-05. Retrieved 2019-12-24.
  25. ^ W. Paul Jones (January 14, 2012). "Clayton A. Fountain: The Murderer Who Became a Monk". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 2016-09-13. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  26. ^ Jonathan Wald; Maya Mantri (April 27, 2005). "Man convicted of missile plot". CNN. Archived from the original on 2013-11-04. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  27. ^ "Terror Briton jailed for 47 years". BBC News. September 12, 2005. Archived from the original on 2012-11-08. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  28. ^ Garrett Trapnell, 55; Charismatic Criminal, September 11, 1993, Garrett Brock Trapnell Hijacker, Con Man And Lothario – Has Died Of Emphysema at A Hospital For Federal Prisoners. He Was 55.[full citation needed]
  29. ^ Killen, Andreas (January 16, 2005). "The First Hijackers". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2022-02-25. Retrieved 2015-10-09.
  30. ^ Eustachewich, Lia (November 1, 2018). "This man may have waited 38 years for his revenge on Whitey Bulger". New York Post. Archived from the original on 2021-06-24. Retrieved 2018-11-02.

Sources

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