United States Penitentiary, Allenwood

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United States Penitentiary, Allenwood
USP Allenwood.jpg
United States Penitentiary, Allenwood
Location Gregg Township, Union County, near Allenwood, Pennsylvania
StatusOperational
Security classMaximum security
Population306 (as of September 2023)
Opened1993
Managed byFederal Bureau of Prisons
Warden Herman Quay
Street addressRT 15, 2 MI N of Allenwood
CityAllenwood
CountyUnion County
State/provincePennsylvania
ZIP Code17810
CountryUnited States of America
Website https://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/alp/

The United States Penitentiary, Allenwood (USP Allenwood) is a maximum security United States federal prison in Pennsylvania. It is part of the Allenwood Federal Correctional Complex (FCC Allenwood) and is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.

Contents

FCC Allenwood is located on US Route 15 in Gregg Township, Union County, [1] near White Deer. It is approximately halfway between the cities of Williamsport and Lewisburg and approximately 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the state capital. [2]

Facility and programs

USP Allenwood has four two-level housing units each of which consists of four 16-cell ranges around a central dayroom where inmates can congregate during the times they are allowed outside their cells. Most cells house two inmates each. Recreational and counseling facilities are located adjacent to the housing units. The outer perimeter is secured by a double line of fencing with rolled barbed wire on the ground in between the fences. The inner fence is equipped with a perimeter intrusion detection system and a road for patrol vehicles runs along the outer fence. Correction officers man six guard towers at each corner of the security fence and a seventh within the fence. [3] [4]

Educational programs include GED, ESL, adult continuing education, vocational training, correspondence classes, and evening college classes. Inmates work in a UNICOR upholstery factory and institutional maintenance jobs such as food service and building repair. Medical, psychological and drug treatment services are also available. [5]

Incidents

1996 murder

In April 1996, USP Allenwood inmate David Paul Hammer allegedly strangled fellow inmate Andrew Hunt Marti to death with a piece of homemade cord. Hammer and Marti were cellmates in the Special Housing Unit, where especially violent inmates are held. Writing on a website dedicated to his case in 2001, Hammer could not ‘attribute any motive’ to his actions. Hammer, a career criminal who was serving a 1,200-year sentence for crimes including larceny, shooting with intent to kill, kidnapping and making bomb threats, subsequently pleaded guilty to Marti's murder and was sentenced to death by the electric chair. [6]

The death sentence was vacated in 2006 after a federal judge found that prosecutors withheld evidence during the penalty phase that would have bolstered Hammer's claim that he and Marti were having consensual sex. In July 2014, another federal judge concurred, ruling that a life sentence was appropriate based upon multiple circumstances, including Hammer's acceptance of responsibility and remorsefulness, his extended family history of dysfunction, abuse and mental illness, his mental and emotional impairments and his self-improvement, specifically citing Hammer's writing to at-risk children and counseling them against engaging in criminal conduct. [7]

2005 murder

On September 28, 2005, USP Allenwood inmates Ritz Williams (47085-008) and Shawn Cooya (48896-008) stabbed a fellow inmate, 50-year-old Alvin Allery, ten times with a homemade knife and repeatedly kicked him in the head and torso, causing Allery's death. Williams and Cooya were already serving lengthy sentences, Williams for murder and Cooya for weapons violations. A subsequent investigation revealed that Williams and Cooya planned the attack in advance. In 2013, Williams and Cooya pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. [8] [9] As of March 2022, Williams is currently incarcerated at USP Victorville and Cooya is at ADX Florence.

2020 attack

On December 7, 2020, two correctional officers were injured after one was stabbed in the neck and eye by Abdulrahman el Bahnasawy (75868-054), a Canadian convicted of terrorism-related offenses in 2016. Both officers were taken via ambulance to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville and survived, with one losing an eye. [10] [11] [12] [13] In April 2021, El Bahnasawy was transferred to ADX Florence.

Notable inmates

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Gregg township, PA" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau . Retrieved 2022-08-14. Allenwood Federal Correctional Complx
  2. ↑ "USP Allenwood". Federal Bureau of Prisons.
  3. ↑ Bosworth, Mary (2002). The US Federal Prison System. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. pp.  375. ISBN   9780761923046.
  4. ↑ Spens, Iona (1994). The Architecture of Incarceration. London: Academy Editions. p. 128. ISBN   9781854903587.
  5. ↑ Bosworth, Mary (2002). The US Federal Prison System. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. pp.  375. ISBN   9780761923046.
  6. ↑ "DAVID PAUL HAMMER, PETITIONER V. JOHN D. ASHCROFT, ET AL" (PDF). US Department of Justice.
  7. ↑ Beauge, John (July 17, 2014). "Admitted murderer of Allenwood cell mate no longer facing execution". Penn Live. PA Media Group. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  8. ↑ Walker, R.A. (February 15, 2008). "Two indicted for 2005 killing at Allenwood prison complex". Williamsport Sun-Gazette (PA). Archived from the original on March 3, 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  9. ↑ "Pennsylvania Inmate Sentenced To Life In Prison For Violent Murder Of Fellow Inmate". US Department of Justice. May 15, 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  10. ↑ "Injured Allenwood prison guard to observe a belated Christmas with his family". 2021-01-14.
  11. ↑ Farenish, Melissa (8 December 2020). "Corrections officer at Allenwood federal prison in critical condition after inmate stabbed him in eye". NorthcentralPA.com. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  12. ↑ "Inmate accused of attacking prison staff in Union County". wnep.com. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  13. ↑ "It's 'like an attack on all us,' union official says about stabbing of veteran prison guard, HS coach". 11 December 2020.
  14. ↑ Nasaw, Daniel (October 3, 2011). "Somali pirates face hard time in US prison". BBC News. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Two More Somalis Plead Guilty To Charges Relating To Piracy Of Quest". US Department of Justice. 25 May 2011. Archived from the original on 15 January 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  16. ↑ "LAX Shooter Sentenced To Life In Prison For Murder Of TSA Officer - CBS Los Angeles". www.cbsnews.com. November 7, 2016. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  17. ↑ https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/lax-shooter-shooting-tsa-paul-ciancia/2086242/#:~:text=The%20gunman%20who%20killed%20a,in%20prison%2C%20plus%2060%20years.
  18. ↑ Preston, Julia (July 1, 2004). "Metro Briefing | New York: Manhattan: Mob Chief Sentenced". The New York Times.
  19. ↑ "James Alex Fields, driver in deadly car attack at Charlottesville rally, sentenced to life in prison". NBC News. June 28, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  20. ↑ https://www.npr.org/2019/07/15/741756615/virginia-court-sentences-neo-nazi-james-fields-jr-to-life-in-prison
  21. ↑ "James Holmes Gets Life Without Parole in Aurora Massacre Case, Avoids Death Penalty". ABC News. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  22. ↑ "A Fugitive's on the Loose". New York Daily News . Archived from the original on August 15, 2011. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  23. ↑ "Jeburk's cohort admits 5 robberies". The Augusta Chronicle. Archived from the original on September 5, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  24. ↑ Lebowitz, Larry (December 23, 1997). "9 Years for Man Who Fled Court". South Florida Sun Sentinel.
  25. ↑ BarM-s Diaz, Madeline (January 23, 2003). "Reputed Drug Kingpin Gets Life". South Florida Sun Sentinel.
  26. ↑ "#FreeSalMagluta: Cocaine Cowboy Seeks Compassionate Release from Federal Prison".
  27. ↑ "Inside The Cartels Of The Real "Miami Vice"". America's Most Wanted. Archived from the original on December 13, 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
  28. ↑ Fried, Joseph P. (January 9, 1994). "Drug Dealer Is Sentenced to Life For Ordering Killing of Officer". The New York Times.
  29. ↑ "Jordanian Man Faces Sentencing in Plot to Blow Up Dallas Skyscraper". Fox News. Associated Press. October 18, 2010. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
  30. ↑ "Jordanian man sentenced to 24 years in undercover bomb plot". CNN. October 19, 2010. Retrieved March 18, 2013.

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