 | |
 Interactive map of United States Penitentiary, McCreary | |
| Location | McCreary County, nearPine Knot, Kentucky |
|---|---|
| Status | Operational |
| Security class | High-security (with minimum-security prison camp) |
| Population | 1,632 [1,553 at the USP, 79 in prison camp] (September 2023) |
| Opened | 2003 |
| Managed by | Federal Bureau of Prisons |
| Warden | Christopher Gomez |
TheUnited States Penitentiary, McCreary (USP McCreary) is a high-security United Statesfederal prison for male inmates inunincorporatedMcCreary County, Kentucky.[1] It is operated by theFederal Bureau of Prisons, a division of theUnited States Department of Justice. The facility also has an adjacent minimum-security satellite camp for male offenders.
USP McCreary (the name comes from the surrounding Kentucky county, which has no incorporated towns) is located approximately 88 miles (142 km) north of Knoxville, Tennessee, 125 miles (201 km) south of Lexington, Kentucky and 208 miles (335 km) south of Cincinnati, Ohio.[2]
The Education Department at USP McCreary offers a wide variety of academic and vocational programs ranging from Adult Literacy to post-secondary studies through correspondence. All programs are voluntary with the exception of General Education Development (GED) and English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. A representative from the Education Department interviews each inmate shortly after their arrival at the institution to determine their educational needs and goals. An inmate who does not have a verifiable high school diploma or GED is required to attend 240 hours of GED classes. For inmates who cannot proficiently speak English, mandatory attendance in ESL classes is required until the inmate is able to pass a certification test.[3]
Two correction officers at USP McCreary were stabbed on November 8, 2010. A prison spokesperson told The Associated Press that the officers were conducting routine cell searches when an inmate attacked them with ahomemade prison knife. The officers were taken to a local hospital with what officials called serious but non-life-threatening injuries to the chest, back and shoulder. They were later released after treatment. An investigation identified the assailant as 38-year-old James Edward Rose, an inmate with a lengthy criminal history who was serving a sentence for armed bank robbery andwitness tampering. Rose was convicted of attempted murder in 2011 and sentenced to life in prison.[4] He is currently being held at theUnited States Penitentiary, Florence ADX, the federalsupermax prison in Colorado which holds inmates who pose the highest security risks and require the tightest controls.[5]
On October 15, 2013,WBIR-TV, anNBC affiliate in Knoxville, reported that 350 federal employees, primarily correctional officers, were working without pay during the2013 federal government shutdown. The story quoted Don Peace, an employee at USP McCreary and president of theAmerican Federation of Government Employees local, "There are probably 1,700 inmates behind the wall. The staff is putting their life literally on the line every time they come to work and go behind that fence. You don't know if you're going to walk out at night or not and now they're asking us to do that for free or for an IOU. This job is already stressful enough without all of these added things we have no control over." While the correctional officers and other prison employees worked for free, the inmates continued receiving pay for their labor during the shutdown.[6] The shutdown ended on October 17, 2013.[7]
| Inmate name | Register number | Status | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corey Hamlet | 27912-050[dead link] | Transferred toUSP Lee. Serving a life sentence. | Leader of the Grape Street Crips in Newark, NJ; Convicted of six homicides and ten attempted murders.[8] |
| Ronell Wilson | 71460-053Archived 2013-09-29 at theWayback Machine | Transferred toUSP Florence High. Serving a life sentence. | Gang leader in Staten Island, New York; murderedNYPD Detectives James Nemorin and Rodney Andrews, who were conducting asting operation to buy an illegal gun in 2003.[9][10] |
| Thomas Pitera | 29465-053 | Transferred toUSP Big Sandy. Serving a life sentence.[11] | Formerhitman for theBonanno Crime Family in New York City; convicted in 1992 of murder andmurder conspiracy for torturing and murdering six people, as well asracketeering for operating a largedrug trafficking operation.[12] |
| Haji Bagcho | 29820-016 | Released on December 16, 2022. | Afghanistan national and drug trafficker. Convicted of conspiracy, distribution of heroin for importation into the United States and narco-terrorism. Bagcho also used a portion of his drug proceeds to fund Taliban governor of Nangarhar Province and two Taliban commanders responsible for insurgent activity in eastern Afghanistan with cash, weapons and other supplies so that they could continue their "jihad" against western troops and the Afghan government.[13] |
| Gustavo Colon | 07984-424 | Serving a life sentence. | Major figure of theLatin Kings gang who was convicted of assisting with cocaine trafficking.[14] |
| Gerald Rubalcaba | 02552-748 | Transferred toADX Florence. Serving a life sentence. | One of the five highest-ranking members in theNuestra Familia prison gang. He and 4 other "generals" were tried under theRacketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act and sentenced to life imprisonment for overseeing a gang that distributedcocaine,heroin,marijuana, andmethamphetamine within prison systems. Rubalcaba was transferred into USP McCreary fromADX Florence in July 2020. |
| Carl Mark Force | 58633-037 | Released on October 9, 2020. | FormerDEA Agent convicted of money laundering, obstruction of justice, and "extortion under color of official right" during the investigation of theSilk Road online drug marketplace.[15] |
| John DeRoss | 10451-054 | Transferred toFCI Cumberland and then toMCFP Springfield. Serving a life sentence. | FormerUnderboss of theColombo crime family and perpetrator of the 1999 Cutolo murder, and the 1991 Campanella attempted murder. |
| Kenneth McGriff | 26301-053 | Transferred toUSP Beaumont Serving a life sentence. | Founder of theSupreme Team, a violent gang which sold crack cocaine in Queens, NY. Convicted in 2007 of murder, racketeering, and drug trafficking. |
| Matthew Madonna | 03789-158 | Serving a life sentence. | Former acting boss of theLucchese crime family, convicted in 2017 of racketeering, ordering the November 15, 2013 murder ofEast Harlem Purple Gang leader Michael Meldish.[16] |
| Inmate name | Register number | Status | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Russell Defreitas | 64347-053 | Transferred toUSP Coleman I. Serving a life sentence. | Convicted in 2010 forconspiracy to commit a terrorist attack at JFK Airport. |
| Ghassan Elashi | 29687-177Archived 2012-12-12 atarchive.today | Serving a 65-year sentence; scheduled for release on June 24, 2068. | Former Chairman of theHoly Land Foundation; convicted in 2008 ofproviding material support for terrorism charges for funneling money to the terrorist organizationHamas. Four co-conspirators were also convicted.[17][18] |
| Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani | 02476-748 | Serving a life sentence. | Al-Qaeda terrorist convicted for his role in thebombing of embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. He was on theFBI Most Wanted Terrorists list from its inception in October 2001. In 2004, he was captured and detained byPakistani forces in a joint operation with the United States, and was held until June 9, 2009, atGuantanamo Bay detention camp. He was then sentenced to life imprisonment in the United States and sent toADX Florence, but then later transferred to USP McCreary. |
| Sami Osmakac | 55958-018 | Transferred toFMC Rochester. Serving a 40-year sentence; scheduled for release on April 29, 2046. | Convicted of one count of attempted use of aweapon of mass destruction, and one count of possession of an unregistered automatic firearm in connection with a terrorist plot |
| Inmate name | Register number | Status | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chevie Kehoe | 21300-009 | Transferred toUSP Big Sandy. Serving three consecutive life sentences. | White supremacist convicted on charges ofracketeering, racketeering in aid of murder androbbery conspiracy in connection to the kidnapping, torture and murders of William and Nancy Mueller and their 8-year-old daughter, Sarah Powell. Co-defendantDaniel Lewis Lee was executed for the murders atUnited States Penitentiary, Terre Haute on July 14, 2020. Transferred intoUSP Florence - High fromADX Florence in 2019, and subsequently to McCreary in December 2020. |
| Cristóbal Véliz | 88389-054[dead link] | Transferred toUSP Atwater. Serving a life sentence. | Responsible for theMurders of Bernice and Ben Novack Jr. Now atUSP Atwater. |
| Ricky Mungia | 26372-077[dead link] | Transferred toUSP Pollock.[19] Serving a life sentence. | White supremacist; convicted of civil rights violations for a shooting spree targeting African-Americans in Lubbock, Texas, which killed one man and wounded two others, in an attempt to start a nationwide race war. His co-defendants, Eli Mungia and Roy Martin are housed atUSP Big Sandy andADX Florence respectively.[20][21] |
| Brendt Christensen | 22127-026 | Transferred toUSP Coleman II. Serving a life sentence. | Kidnapped, raped, and murdered a Chinese student at theUniversity of Illinois. |
| Scott Lee Kimball | 14444-006 | Transferred toUSP Florence High. Serving a 70-year sentence; scheduled for release on January 7, 2082 | Suspected of having committed additional murders. Convicted of attempted escape in 2020 after a prisoner he was plotting with three years earlier informed the FBI; transferred from state to federal custody in 2021 for unknown reasons.[22] |
| Tim Durham | 60452-112[dead link] | Transferred toFCI Leavenworth. Serving a 50-year sentence; scheduled for release on September 21, 2054.[23] | American lawyer andfinancier; convicted in 2012 ofconspiracy to commitwire fraud andsecurities fraud for cheating his clients out of $200 million in aPonzi scheme; his story was featured on theCNBC television showAmerican Greed.[24][25][26] |
| Christopher Jeburk | 09029-021 | Transferred toUSP Allenwood. Serving a life sentence. | Bank robberies, kidnappings, jail and prisons escapes, case featured on TV showThe FBI Files. |
| Auburn Calloway | 14601-076 | Transferred toUSP Coleman I. Serving two consecutive life sentences. | Flight engineer, convicted of Attempted Aircraft Piracy Interference With Flight Crew Members and Attempted Terrorism in the attempted hijacking of aFederal ExpressMcDonnell Douglas DC-10 flight fromMemphis, Tennessee toSan Jose, California. The flight crew managed to land the aircraft safely back at Memphis. |
| Richard McNair | 13829-045 | Serving two consecutive life sentences on a state murder charge fromNorth Dakota in 1987. | Previously held at ADX due to multiple prison escapes until November 2022; escaped from theWard County Jail inMinot, North Dakota in 1987, from theNorth Dakota State Penitentiary inBismarck in 1992, and fromUSP Pollock in Louisiana in 2006. |
United States Penitentiary McCreary
36°41′17″N84°23′18″W / 36.68806°N 84.38833°W /36.68806; -84.38833
