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 Interactive map of Federal Correctional Institution, Atlanta | |
| Location | Atlanta, Georgia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 33°42′40″N84°22′7″W / 33.71111°N 84.36861°W /33.71111; -84.36861 |
| Status | Operational |
| Security class | Admin/Low/Minimum/High/Max[1] Low-security FCI with [3+] detention centre[s] (administrative, pre-trial and with additional detention center unit[s]),[2] and also an adjacent minimum security camp for males |
| Population | 1,838 (September 2024) |
| Opened | 1902 |
| Managed by | Federal Bureau of Prisons |
| Warden | Sylvester Jenkins |
| Website | Official website |
TheFederal Correctional Institution, Atlanta (FCI Atlanta) is a low-security United Statesfederal prison for male inmates inAtlanta, Georgia. It is operated by theFederal Bureau of Prisons, a division of theUnited States Department of Justice. The facility also has a satellite prison camp for minimum-security male inmates, a detention center for male pretrial inmates (also likely used for inmates serving brief sentences), and also has an additional high and/or maximum security detention center unit[s] (possibly for holdover inmates from former USP, higher risk inmates serving brief sentences and/or inmates from the FCI with behavioural concerns).[3][4]
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In 1899, PresidentWilliam McKinley authorized the construction of a new federal prison in Atlanta, Georgia.[5]
Georgia CongressmanLeonidas F. Livingston advocated placing the prison in Atlanta.William S. Eames, an architect fromSt. Louis, Missouri; andUnited States Attorney GeneralJohn W. Griggs, on April 18, 1899, traveled to Atlanta to select the prison site.[6]
Construction was completed in January 1902 and the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary opened with the transfer of six convicts from theSing Sing Correctional Facility in upstate New York.[5] They were the beneficiaries of the Three Prisons Act of 1891, which established penitentiaries in Leavenworth, Kansas; Atlanta, Georgia; and McNeil Island, Washington. The first two remain open today, the third closed in 1976. The Atlanta site was the largest Federal prison, with a capacity of 3,000 inmates. Inmate case files presented "mini-biographies of men confined in the penitentiary. Prison officials recorded every detail of their lives - their medical treatments, their visitors, their letters to and from the outside world"[7]
The main prison building was designed by theSt. Louis, Missouri architect firm ofEames & Young, which also designed the main building at theUnited States Penitentiary, Leavenworth.[8] It encompassed 300 acres (1.2 km2) and had a capacity of 1200 inmates. The facility was subsequently renamed the United States Penitentiary, Atlanta when US government created theFederal Bureau of Prisons in 1930.
In the 1980s, USP Atlanta was used as a detention center forCubanrefugees from theMariel boatlift who were ineligible for release into American society.
USP Atlanta was one of several facilities, including theFederal Transfer Center, Oklahoma City, that were used to house prisoners who are being transferred between prisons.
In November 1987, Cuban detainees, tired of indefinite confinement and in constant fear of being deported back to Cuba,rioted for 11 days, staged a bloody riot, seizing dozens of hostages and setting fire to the prison. At least one prisoner was killed. Local hospitals reported admitting a total of eight Cubans suffering gunshot wounds, along with two prison guards who were slightly injured.[9]
*Inmates released from custody prior to 1982 are not listed on the Bureau of Prisons website.
| Inmate Name | Register Number | Photo | Status | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giuseppe Morello | Unlisted* |  | Entered USP Atlanta in 1910, released in 1920 | Head of the 107th Street Mob and founder of Morello crime family, the precursor to Genovese family; convicted of counterfeiting but numerous arrests for murder and racketeering. from Mike Dash, The First Family, p. 219-223 |
| Ignazio Lupo | Unlisted* |  | At USP Atlanta from 1910 to 1920 and from 1936 to 1946. | Founder of theMorello crime family; convicted ofcounterfeiting in 1910; returned to prison in 1936 forracketeering; suspect in numerousMafia-related murders.[10][11] |
| Whitey Bulger | 02182-748 |  | Entered USP Atlanta in 1956; transferred toAlcatraz Federal Penitentiary in 1959.[12] | Former Boss of the Boston Irish Mob crew known as theWinter Hill Gang. Imprisoned in 1956 forbank robbery andtruck hijacking. Transferred toAlcatraz in 1959.[12] |
| Meyer Harris "Mickey" Cohen | Unlisted* |  | Cohen was transferred fromAlcatraz Federal Penitentiary to USP Atlanta in January 1963. He was released in 1972.[13] | Gangster based in Los Angeles and boss of the Cohen crime family. He also had strong ties to the Italian American Mafia from the 1930s through 1960s. On August 14, 1963, fellow inmate Burl Estes McDonald scaled the wall of a secure compound within USP Atlanta, entered an electronics repair training facility and wielding a three-foot iron pipe, snuck up from behind and bludgeoned the unsuspecting Cohen into unconsciousness. Cohen sustained a critical head injury resulting from shards of skull fragments that had to be removed from brain tissue which had hemorrhaged. He underwent extensive neurosurgery and following a two-week coma, doctors inserted a steel plate to replace the mangled bone fragments in the rear skull region.[13][14] |
| James Burke | Unlisted* | Released from custody in 1978; served 6 years. | Associate of theLucchese crime family; convicted in 1972 ofextortion with fellow associateHenry Hill; suspected mastermind of the 1978Lufthansa Heist, in which nearly $6 million in cash and jewels were stolen atJFK Airport; Burke and Hill were portrayed in the 1990 filmGoodfellas.[15] | |
| Al Capone | Unlisted* |  | Transferred toAlcatraz Federal Penitentiary in 1934. | Leader of theChicago Outfit, whichsmuggled andbootlegged liquor duringProhibition in the 1920s; convicted oftax evasion in 1931.[16][17] |
| Vincent Papa | Unlisted* | Murdered at USP Atlanta in 1977. | Associate of theLucchese crime family; convicted in 1975 masterminding the theft ofheroin seized during theFrench Connection investigation from theNew York City Police Department property office from 1969 to 1972.[18][19] | |
| Nicodemo Scarfo Sr. | 09813–050 |  | Scarfo began his sentence at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. He was later transferred to theFederal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina, where he died of natural causes on January 13, 2017. | Member of theAmerican Mafia who became theboss of thePhiladelphia crime family after the deaths ofAngelo Bruno andPhil Testa. |
| Inmate Name | Register Number | Photo | Status | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlo Ponzi | Unlisted* | .jpg) | Released from custody in 1924 after serving 3 years. | Inventor of the financial fraud known asPonzi scheme; convicted ofmail fraud in 1920.[20][21][22] |
| Charles W. Morse | Unlisted* |  | Pardoned in 1912 after serving 2 years, as he feigned terminal illness. | Imprisoned 1910 for frauds and corrupt business practices. In 1912 Morse drank soapwater with chemicals to appear seriously ill. He managed to be released for medical treatment in Germany, as he claimed to haveBright's disease.[23] |
| Robert E. Inganamorte Jr. | 42497-074 | Released from USP Atlanta in 2008 on supervised release. | Imprisoned for conspiracy to possess and utter counterfeit securities with the intent to defraud the United States of America in excess of 1.7 million dollars. Due to improper search and seizure after his initial arrest he was only convicted of 9,997 dollars in damages. |
| Inmate Name | Register Number | Photo | Status | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eugene V. Debs | 9653[24] | .jpg) | Released in 1921 after his sentence was commuted byUS PresidentWarren G. Harding. | Founding member ofIndustrial Workers of the World and US Presidential candidate for theSocialist Party of America; convicted ofsedition in 1918 for promoting opposition to themilitary draft duringWorld War I under both theEspionage Act of 1917 and theSedition Act of 1918; received over 900,000 votes while incarcerated in1920.[25] |
| Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher | Unlisted* |  | Released in 1962 as part of aprisoner exchange with the Soviet Union. | Convicted of espionage with relation to theHollow Nickel Case and sentenced to 45 years' imprisonment[26] |
| Marcus Garvey | Unlisted* | .jpg) | Released from custody in 1927 after serving 4 years. | Founder of theUniversal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and leading figure in theBlack Nationalist andPan Africanist movements; convicted ofmail fraud in 1923 for promoting theBlack Star Line, a UNIA business dedicated to the transportation of goods and eventually throughout the African global economy.[27][28] |
| Pedro Albizu Campos | Unlisted* |  | Transferred to a hospital prison in 1943 and released in 1947 after serving 10 years. | President of thePuerto Rican Nationalist Party from 1930 to 1965; convicted in 1936 ofsedition in connection with the assassination of Puerto Rican Police Chief Elisha Riggs, which was in retaliation for theRío Piedras massacre, during which police killed four unarmed party supporters.[29] |
| Enrique Tarrio | 98721-004 | .jpg) | Transferred toFederal Correctional Institution, Manchester. Pardoned by PresidentDonald Trump on January 20, 2025. | Convicted ofseditious conspiracy and other things in theJanuary 6 United States Capitol attack. |
| Inmate Name | Register Number | Photo | Status | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ed Norris | 41115-037 | .jpg) | Released from custody in 2005; served 6 months. | Baltimore Police Commissioner from 2000 to 2002; pleaded guilty in 2004 to misusing police department funds for personal expenses andtax fraud.[30][31][32] |
| George A. Caldwell | Unlisted* | Released from custody in 1941 after serving 1 year andpardoned byUS PresidentHarry Truman. | LouisianaGeneral contractor who supervised the construction of 26 public buildings; convicted in 1940 oftax evasion and acceptingkickbacks in connection with the Louisiana Hayride scandals in 1939 and 1940. | |
| William Colbeck | Unlisted* |  | Released in 1940 after serving 16 years. | Politician and organized crime figure inSt. Louis; convicted in 1924 of two 1923armed robberies which netted over $2 million.[33] |
| Inmate Name | Register Number | Photo | Status | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roy Gardner | Unlisted* | Served several years of a 75-year sentence at USP Atlanta; attempted to escape in 1926. | Notoriousbank robber andescape artist; stole over $350,000 in cash and securities from banks and mail trains in 1920 and 1921.[34][35] | |
| Willie Aikens | 01732-031 |  | Released in 2008; served 14 years. | FormerMajor League Baseball player; convicted in 1994 of sellingcrack-cocaine.[36] |
| Christopher "B.G." Dorsey | 31969-034 | .jpg) | Released in 2023. | Better known by his stage name B.G. (acronym for Baby Gangsta), is an American rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana. On July 18, 2012, B.G. was sentenced to 14 years in a federal prison for gun possession and witness tampering.[37][38] |
| Daniel Kilgore | 96225-020 | Was serving a 6-year sentence; released from custody on April 13, 2020. | Peanut Corporation of America manager convicted of conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, and the sale of misbranded and adulterated food. | |
| Christopher Jeburk | 09029-021 | Currently serving a life sentence. Now atUSP Allenwood. | Bank robber and former FBI Ten Most Wanted fugitive; kidnapped bank teller Amy Shaw and her family, then escaped from prison twice before he could be sentenced for his crimes.[39][40] Several weeks into his sentence, he was transferred here fromLeavenworth Federal Penitentiary after a prison guard caught him trying to escape a third time by hanging on to a laundry truck before it could reach the front gate. | |
| Larry Lawton | 52224-004 |  | Released in 2007; served three years in Atlanta, later transferred toFCI Coleman and others. | Ex-jewel thief andGambino crime family associate. Lawton now helps and inspires younger people to stay out of prison and change their life path. |
| Alan Li, MD | 07507-506 | Serving a 10-year sentence with a scheduled release in 2030, followed by 10 years of supervised release.[41] Currently atFCI Elkton. | Li was a resident emergency medicine physician atMount Sinai Medical Center when he was arrested and charged by theFBI in May 2022 for attempted child sex trafficking.[42] | |
| Paul Nicholas Miller | 32607-509 | .jpg) | Was serving a 41-month sentence; released from custody on July 3, 2023. | Americanfar-right political commentator and streamer, known online as 'GypsyCrusader'. Miller is best known for his cosplays of various characters, most notablyJoker. Miller was indicted on charges of possessing a firearm as convicted felon and possession of unregistered rifle on February 25, 2021, stemming from an incident that took place in January 2018.[43] |
| Jim Rivera | Unlisted* |  | Paroled in 1949; Sentenced to life imprisonment for attempted rape in 1944. | FormerMajor League Baseball player; In 1944, Rivera was convicted of attempted rape following an incident at Barksdale Field and sentenced to life in prison. After gaining attention for his performance on the prison baseball team, his sentence was reduced, and he was paroled in 1949; he was subsequently signed by theAtlanta Crackers. |
