35-593: The Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn ( MDC Brooklyn ) is a United States federal administrative detention facility in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn , New York City . It 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 MDC Brooklyn have pending cases in
70-457: A correctional officer, punching him in the head multiple times until he was restrained by correctional officers. As a result of the assault, the officer, whom the Bureau of Prisons did not identify, suffered serious injuries, including a broken nose, broken facial bones, a fractured eye socket, a laceration requiring stitches and two slipped discs in his neck. An 18-year veteran of the Bureau of Prisons,
105-485: A former federal correction officer, had engaged in a sexual relationship with Ronell Wilson , an inmate at MDC Brooklyn, and that Gonzalez was carrying Wilson's child. Wilson, who was convicted and sentenced to death in 2007 for the 2003 murders of NYPD Detectives Rodney Andrews and James Nemorin, was awaiting a resentencing hearing in Brooklyn federal court after his original death sentence was overturned in 2010, when he began
140-624: A former high-security facility, is presently a low-security facility with the primary purpose of holding inmates until they are transferred to other institutions. In 2024, all former USP facilities were renamed to FCI facilities to more accurately reflect their security level. Many current USPs include minimum-security satellite camps on the same property and under the same administration as the higher-security units. Federal correctional institutions (FCIs) are medium- and low-security facilities, which have strengthened perimeters (often double fences with electronic detection systems), mostly cell-type housing,
175-485: A historic intermodal shipping, warehousing, and manufacturing complex. The Federal Bureau of Prisons initially proposed converting two buildings at Industry City into a federal jail in 1988, due to overcrowding at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York . There was large opposition from members of the local community, who feared that traffic congestion in the area would rise. Critics feared that
210-435: A man's sentence if he was sent to MDC Brooklyn due to the "dangerous, barbaric conditions" of the jail. The same month, renowned musician and record producer Sean "Diddy" Combs was incarcerated at the prison's Special Housing Unit. On June 29, 2009, Ronald Atkinson (62416-054), an inmate at MDC Brooklyn who had been arrested in connection with six bank robberies twelve days earlier, committed an allegedly unprovoked assault on
245-571: A relationship with Gonzalez. Gonzalez was terminated and arraigned in federal court on charges of sexual abuse of a person in custody, because an inmate cannot legally consent to sex. Wilson was subsequently transferred to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan . Gonzalez pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual abuse of a ward on July 3, 2013. Gonzalez was sentenced to a year and a day by Federal Judge Brian Cogan on February 9, 2014. Cogan remarked, "[Gonzalez has] severe emotional dysfunction". Wilson
280-458: A relatively low staff-to-inmate ratio, and limited or no perimeter fencing. These institutions are work- and program-oriented. Many are located adjacent to larger institutions or on military bases, where inmates help serve the labor needs of the larger institution or base. Administrative facilities are institutions with special missions, such as the detention of pretrial offenders; the treatment of inmates with serious or chronic medical problems; or
315-476: A week during the January 2019 North American cold wave . Numerous inmates reported ill health and were seen banging on windows for help. Activists and some New York officials became involved in seeking to improve conditions. The incident started on the weekend of January 26–27 with a power outage. A problematic electrical panel was repaired but caught fire the next day. Power was restored on the evening of February 3, and
350-494: A wide variety of work and treatment programs. FCI Terre Haute contains a more restrictive section designated as a communication management unit for inmates considered high-security risks. FCI Marion contains one of two highly restrictive communication management units , which holds inmates under stricter controls. In August 2016, Justice Department officials announced that the FBOP would be phasing out its use of contracted facilities, on
385-495: Is unsworn and uncrossed, but the Fifth Amendment is violated when the defendant is denied a charge that limits the Fifth Amendment waiver to that which is said in the allocution and the jury is invited to consider more generally that the defendant declined to testify." Because these constitutional violations were not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, the court vacated Wilson's and his co-defendants' death sentences and remanded to
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#1732869920270420-597: The Stapleton Houses , a public housing complex in Staten Island. He was convicted for murdering New York City Police Department detectives James Nemorin and Rodney Andrews in a gun sale, then searching their bodies and stealing their car. The victims' family members and fellow police officers greeted pronouncement of his death sentence with cheers and applause; Wilson reacted by sticking his tongue out in their direction. The case has attracted media attention because of
455-628: The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York . MDC Brooklyn also holds prisoners serving brief sentences. As of April 2022, 1,712 prisoners are held in MDC Brooklyn. In 2019, one former warden, Cameron Lindsay said that "The M.D.C. was one of the most troubled, if not the most troubled facility in the Bureau of Prisons." MDC Brooklyn occupies land that was originally part of Bush Terminal (now Industry City ),
490-614: The Department of Justice planned to investigate the incident. Inmates, family members and lawyers have said that those inmates involved in protesting these harsh conditions through non-violent disobedience and hunger strikes have faced draconian reprisals from jail staff, including being pepper sprayed, subjected to solitary confinement and having toilets shut off. According to a report in The Intercept : On all three of those housing units where men collectively refused food, jail staff shut off
525-533: The Federal Bureau of Prisons. Ronell Wilson Ronell Earl Wilson (born May 4, 1982) is an American murderer who was convicted of the 2003 capital murder of two undercover New York City police officers in Staten Island , New York . His trial before Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York began on November 27, 2006. On December 20, 2006, he
560-416: The Federal Bureau of Prisons. It also does not include facilities operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Most United States penitentiaries (USPs) are high-security facilities, which have highly secured perimeters with walls or reinforced fences, multiple and single-occupant cell housing, the highest staff-to-inmate ratio, and close control of inmate movement. The most restrictive facility in
595-597: The United States, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison; (2) using and carrying machine guns and destructive devices during, and possessing machine guns and destructive devices in furtherance of, the cocaine importation conspiracy, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison; and (3) conspiring to use and carry machine guns and destructive devices during, and to possess machine guns and destructive devices in furtherance of,
630-716: The brutality of the murders and the rarity of a capital prosecution in New York. Wilson was the first federal defendant sentenced to death in New York City since 1954. Wilson was originally charged in New York state court, but the federal government took over the prosecution after the New York Court of Appeals held, in People v. LaValle , that the state's death penalty statute violated the New York State Constitution . Wilson
665-686: The cocaine importation conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Serving a life sentence. Sam Bankman-Fried Guo Wengui 49134-510 [REDACTED] Adley Abdulwahab 77373-279 Anthony “Harv” Ellison 86282-054 40°39′37″N 74°00′16″W / 40.66028°N 74.00444°W / 40.66028; -74.00444 List of United States federal prisons#Administrative facilities The Federal Bureau of Prisons classifies prisons into seven categories: This list does not include military prisons , halfway houses , or prisons, jails, and other facilities operated by state or local governments that contract with
700-600: The containment of extremely dangerous, violent, or escape-prone inmates. Administrative facilities include metropolitan correctional centers (MCCs), metropolitan detention centers (MDCs), federal detention centers (FDCs), federal medical centers (FMCs), the Federal Transfer Center (FTC), and the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners (MCFP), all of which are capable of holding inmates in all security categories. This list enumerates facilities that were formerly owned by
735-515: The facility, with its staff, inmates, visitors, and supply deliveries, would overburden neighborhood traffic and water and sewer systems. To make room for MDC Brooklyn, one of the original Bush Terminal loft buildings—Federal Building No. 1, formerly occupied by the United States Coast Guard —was demolished in a controlled explosion in August 1993. MDC Brooklyn opened in the early 1990s. It
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#1732869920270770-488: The fact that "the path for that witness stand has never been blocked for Mr. Wilson." As to the first argument, although a guilty plea may properly be considered to support a sentence mitigation for acceptance of responsibility, the Sixth Amendment is violated when failure to plead guilty is treated as an aggravating circumstance. As to the second, it is a fair argument for the prosecution to say that an allocution of remorse
805-434: The federal prison system is USP Florence ADMAX , the federal supermax prison, which holds inmates who are considered the most dangerous and in need of the tightest controls. USP Leavenworth, USP Lewisburg, USP Lompoc, and USP Marion were originally operated as high-security facilities but have since been downgraded to medium-security facilities (former USP Lompoc has again been downgraded, to low-security). USP Atlanta, also
840-788: The grounds that private prisons provide less safe and less effective services with no substantial cost savings. However, under the Trump administration in 2017, the Justice Department rescinded this phaseout, stating that it would re-implement its usage of private correctional facilities. Most of these institutions are operated by the GEO Group, Inc. , exceptions being Giles W. Dalby Correctional Institution , operated by Management and Training Corporation , and McRae Correctional Institution , operated by CoreCivic . Federal prison camps (FPCs) are minimum-security facilities, which have dormitory housing,
875-403: The largest detention center in the United States. In June 2015, a lawsuit filed in 2002 against high-ranking officials of George W. Bush's presidential administration, including former Attorney General John Ashcroft and former F.B.I. Director Robert S. Mueller III, brought by eight, mostly Muslim immigrant detainees, was allowed to go forward by a three-judge federal panel. It alleged that
910-522: The officer was forced to take a medical retirement as a result of his injuries. Atkinson was subsequently sentenced to 7 years in federal prison for the bank robberies. On July 19, 2013, he was sentenced to an additional 12 years in prison in connection with the assault. Atkinson is scheduled for release in 2032. Atkinson is currently housed at USP Coleman I in Sumter County, Florida. On February 5, 2013, New York media outlets reported that Nancy Gonzalez,
945-434: The plaintiffs were subject to chronic arbitrary abuses including beatings, strip searches and solitary confinement. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision included one dissent. In September 2024, it was announced that federal defendants entering the prison system after sentencing will no longer be sent to MDC Brooklyn. This decision is possibly related to a previous ruling by a Federal Court judge who threatened to vacate
980-505: The previous death sentence that was thrown out in 2010. During his direct appeal, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals remanded the case to the district court with direction to reconsider, in light of an intervening Supreme Court case, the district court's earlier ruling that Wilson is not intellectually disabled. On March 15, 2016, Judge Garaufis concluded that Wilson is mentally handicapped, making him ineligible for execution under
1015-490: The staff bathroom on July 15, 2012. On March 22, 2013, Gonzalez gave birth to a son they named Justus. The prosecutor in the original case, Jack Smith , served as chief of the Public Integrity Section of the Department of Justice and was appointed as the special counsel investigating Donald Trump in 2022. On July 24, 2013, a Brooklyn federal jury sentenced Wilson to death for the 2003 murders, reinstating
1050-587: The trial court for re-sentencing. The government's petition for rehearing en banc was denied on October 19, 2010. After the court of appeals vacated Wilson's death sentence, Wilson moved from the United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute , to the Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn . While in the MDC, he fathered a child with Federal Officer Nancy Gonzalez during an illicit rendezvous in
1085-443: The valves to the toilets in all of the cells, according to accounts relayed to lawyers. Confined to their cells on lockdown, deprived of light, the men on these units now found themselves shivering on their bunks with their heads inches from toilet bowls nearly overflowing with festering feces. Juan Orlando Hernández Alvarado 91441-054 [REDACTED] Hernández is charged with three counts: (1) conspiring to import cocaine into
Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn - Misplaced Pages Continue
1120-503: Was built to hold 1,000 inmates awaiting arraignment or trial at the federal court in the Eastern District of New York . By 2019, according to The New York Times , it held 1600 inmates. In 1999, a second facility was opened adjacent to the original complex to house inmates who have already been sentenced and are awaiting transfer to a permanent facility. This brought the total number of inmates to close to 3,000 and made MDC Brooklyn
1155-456: Was found guilty of the capital murders as well as other related charges. On January 30, 2007, Wilson was sentenced to death, the first such sentence by a federal jury in New York since the federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988. Prosecutors alleged Wilson was the leader of a violent drug gang called the Stapleton Crew (witnesses at the trial denied using that label) that originated in
1190-589: Was held at the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana . In 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed Wilson's sentence. In the sentencing phase, the prosecutor "argued: [i] that Wilson put the government to its proof of guilt rather than plead guilty; and [ii] that Wilson's allocution of remorse should be discredited because he failed to testify notwithstanding
1225-418: Was sentenced to death again on September 10, 2013. During the hearing, US District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis called for a formal investigation by the Justice Department's inspector general into the management of MDC Brooklyn, where, he said, Mr. Wilson was "permitted to treat the MDC as his own private fiefdom." In January and February 2019, over 1,600 inmates were kept with little to no heat and power for
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