The Federal Correctional Institution, Lewisburg (FCI Lewisburg) is a medium-security United States federal prison in Kelly Township, Pennsylvania, for male inmates. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. An adjacent satellite prison camp houses minimum-security male offenders."USP Lewisburg Contact Information ." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved on February 11, 2013. "USP LEWISBURG U.S. PENITENTIARY 2400 ROBERT F. MILLER DRIVE LEWISBURG, PA 17837""BAS12M34211939136_000.pdf ." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on February 11, 2013."BAS12M34211939136_002.pdf ." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on February 11, 2013.
History 20th century Initially named North Eastern Penitentiary, USP Lewisburg was one of four federal prisons to open in 1932."New Prisons" Popular Science, August 1932, pages 16 & 17 for drawings It was designed by Alfred Hopkins.
In 1976, the prison was criticized by Judge Clarence Newcomer, who had released inmate Francis Marziani early, upon the disclosure that Marziani had been one of many victims of gang rape during an unusual wave of rape, torture, and murder by inmates in the prison.
USP Lewisburg was the focus of the 1991 Academy Award-nominated documentary Doing Time: Life Inside the Big House by filmmakers Alan and Susan Raymond. The one-hour film discussed conditions inside the prison, the removal of parole within the federal penitentiary system, and many of the fears held by many prisoners about re-integrating into society upon their release.Doing Time: Life Inside The Big House (1991).
On November 1, 1995, USP Lewisburg had a prison riot. It was started by ten prisoners, although more than twenty required medical care, including one with broken bones and missing teeth. Many were sentenced to solitary confinement and more than 400 prisoners were transferred. This incident thrust USP Lewisburg into the national spotlight, where it gained much of its current notoriety.
A local non-profit group, the Lewisburg Prison Project, helps prisoners at Lewisburg USP and the surrounding area with issues of conditions of confinement.Lewisburg Prison Project .
21st century
In July 2008, correction officers at USP Lewisburg expressed concerns about underfunding. Over the past four years, union leaders and other officials had been lobbying in an attempt to quell staff reductions and cutting costs. The Federal Bureau of Prisons had proposed $143 million in possible spending cuts, including not replacing vehicles and equipment, eliminating overtime, reducing corrections officer training, and a possible cut in officer staff positions. Under such conditions, many of the Correctional Officers expressed concerns about their own safety.
As of 2009, USP Lewisburg was designated as a Special Management Unit intended to house the most violent and disruptive inmates in the Bureau of Prisons. Although most USP Lewisburg inmates are housed in the SMU, there remains a work cadre of about 200 inmates in the USP's general population.
As of February 2021, USP Lewisburg was changed from a high-security institution to medium security, becoming the third location within the BOP for Communications management units (CMU), alongside USP Marion and FCI Terre Haute. Offenders in the CMU will mostly be terrorists and inmates the BOP classifies as security threats who will be held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day. The Special Management Unit (SMU) that was operated at Lewisburg is now at USP Thomson, which opened in 2019.
Notable inmates (current and former) †Inmates released before 1982 are not listed on the Federal Bureau of Prisons website. ††Inmates in the Federal Witness Protection Program are not listed on the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.
Organized crime figures Inmate nameRegister numberPhotoStatusDetails Whitey Bulger 02182-748 Held at USP Lewisburg from 1963 to 1965. Organized crime boss in Boston, Massachusetts in the 1970s and 1980s; FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive until his capture in 2011; known as "Whitey". Osiel Cárdenas Guillén 62604-079 Transferred to USP Terre Haute. Served a 25-year sentence, released on August 30, 2024. Now in custody of ICE. Succeeded Juan García Ábrego as leader of the Gulf Cartel; extradited to the U.S. from Mexico in 2007 and pleaded guilty to threatening to murder U.S. law enforcement agents, drug trafficking and money laundering. Thomas DeSimone Unlisted† Sentenced to ten years for hijacking Associate of the Lucchese crime family in New York City; portrayed by Joe Pesci in the 1990 film Goodfellas. John Gotti 18261-053 Held at USP Lewisburg from 1969 to 1972. Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City from 1985 to 1992; convicted of murder, murder conspiracy, loansharking, illegal gambling, obstruction of justice, bribery, and tax evasion in 1992. Henry Hill Unlisted† Held at USP Lewisburg from 1972 to 1978. Former associate of the Lucchese crime family in New York City; portrayed by Ray Liotta in the 1990 film Goodfellas. Jimmy Hoffa Unlisted† Held at USP Lewisburg from 1967 to 1971. American labor union leader who disappeared in 1975. Sentence was commuted in 1971. Enoch L. Johnson Unlisted† Held at USP Lewisburg from 1941 to 1945. New Jersey political boss and racketeer; served as an inspiration for the character Enoch Thompson, who is portrayed by Steve Buscemi in the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire. Gerard Ouimette 02519-070 Died while serving a life sentence in 2015Former mafioso from Providence, Rhode Island; associate of the Patriarca crime family Anthony Provenzano 00625-050 Held at USP Lewisburg from 1966 to 1970. Also known as Tony Pro. Was a caporegime of the Genovese crime family New Jersey faction. An associate of Jimmy Hoffa. President of Teamsters Local 560 in Union City, New Jersey. David Thai 38263-053Currently incarcerated at FMC Devens Founder and crime boss of the Vietnamese Born to Kill gang during the late 1980s and early 1990s, and was one of the largest purveyors of counterfeit watches in the New York counterfeiting industry. Was convicted of murder, extortion, racketeering alongside a multitude of charges in 1992 by a federal judge in Brooklyn. Ronnie Trucchio 00705-748 Currently incarcerated at FCI Schuylkill, serving a life sentence.New York mobster with the Gambino crime family who ran The Ozone Park Boys crew during the 1990s. Paul Vario 16522-053 Held at USP Lewisburg from 1973 to 1975. Former Caporegime and Underboss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City; portrayed by Paul Sorvino in the 1990 film Goodfellas. Melvin Williams 47842-066 Spent a portion of his sentence at USP Lewisburg; released in 1996. Former organized crime figure in Baltimore, Maryland; convicted of heroin trafficking in 1985; served as an inspiration for the character Avon Barksdale in the HBO series The Wire. Chuck Zito 12032-054 Held at USP Lewisburg in 1986 as a "holdover" pending his transfer to FCI Petersburg President of the New York Nomads chapter of the Hells Angels; pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in 1986.
Terrorists Inmate NameRegister NumberStatusDetails Edwin Cortes 92153-024Held at USP Lewisburg from 1981 until 1999; their sentences were commuted by President Bill Clinton.Puerto Rican nationalists; convicted in 1981 of seditious conspiracy and other charges for their roles in numerous bombings aimed at achieving independence for Puerto Rico. Ricardo Jimenez 88967-024 Abdel Nur 64655-053Served a 15-year sentence, released and deported to Guyana in 2020.Convicted in 2012 for conspiracy to commit a terrorist attack at JFK Airport. Joe Doherty 07792-054 Held at USP Lewisburg from 1991 until his deportation to Northern Ireland in 1992. Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) escapee who fought an ultimately unsuccessful nine-year legal battle against extradition and deportation.
Political prisoners Inmate NameRegister NumberPhotoStatusDetails George Sylvester Viereck Unlisted† Held at USP Lewisburg from 1943 to 1947. Convicted in 1943 for not registering as a Nazi agent, according to Foreign Agents Registration Act. Herbert John Burgman Unlisted† Held at USP Lewisburg from 1949 to 1952. Convicted of treason in 1949 for making numerous propaganda broadcasts for the Nazis. Douglas Chandler Unlisted† Held at USP Lewisburg from 1948 to 1963.Convicted of treason in 1948 for making numerous propaganda broadcasts for the Nazis. Alger Hiss Unlisted† Held at USP Lewisburg from 1950 to 1954. American lawyer, government official, author, and lecturer; accused of being a Soviet spy and subsequently convicted of perjury in 1950. Carl Marzani Unlisted† Held at USP Lewisburg from 1950 to 1951. Italian-born American political activist, publisher, OSS and State Department official who concealed his CPUSA while in government. John Williamson Unlisted† Held at USP Lewisburg from 1950 to 1955. Member of the CPUSA Central Committee. Bayard Rustin Unlisted† Held at USP Lewisburg from 1944 to 1946. Civil rights activist and socialist.
Others