The prison was opened at the southern end of Terminal Island, adjacent to a Coast Guard base, on June 1, 1938, with 610 male, and 40 female prisoners. It consisted of a central quadrangle surrounded by three cell blocks and cost $2 million to construct. In 1942, the U.S. Navy took control of the prison for use as a receiving station and later as a barracks for court-martialed prisoners. The facility was deactivated by the Navy in 1950 and later turned over to the state of California for use as a medical and psychiatric institution.[2]
The state returned control to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons in 1955 for conversion into a low-to-medium security federal prison. The prison was mixed-sex, with female prisoners housed separately, until 1977, when overcrowding led to the transfer of the women to the federal prison in Dublin, California.[3] The prison was given increased barbed wire and armed guards in the early 1980s in an effort to dispel the facility's "Club Fed" image. A corruption scandal rocked the prison in the early 1980s, resulting in the indictment of six employees on charges of bribes, cover-ups, marijuana sales to inmates, and other corruption. Those indicted included Charles DeSordi, the prison's chief investigator of crimes, the highest-ranking federal prison official ever to be indicted.[2]
Notable inmates (prior to 1982)
† Inmates released prior to 1982 are not listed on the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.
Held at Terminal Island in 1950 (Pre-FCI) on suspicion of Communist sympathies. Name spelled Hsue-Shen Tsien.
Chinese-born rocket scientist. Arrested September 1950 and held for two weeks at Terminal Island, released under government supervision. Left the U.S. in 1955 for China; made important contributions to Chinese nuclear, missile, and space programs.[4]
Held at FCI Terminal Island from 1956 to 1958 for car theft and check fraud. He returned in 1966 and part of 1967 while serving out a sentence for attempting to cash a forged U.S. Treasury check.
Held at FCI Terminal Island from November 1944 to January 1946.
50 African-American sailors convicted of mutiny for refusing to load ammunition onto US Navy ships under unsafe conditions after the Port Chicago disaster, an explosion that killed 320 people, including 202 black sailors.[14]
Famous LSD chemist, counterculture figure and Grateful Dead sound engineer. Sent to Terminal Island after a judge revoked an earlier release because of a second drug bust.[16]
Balwani, former COO of Theranos, was found guilty in July 2022 on all 12 charges he faced, which included ten counts of federal wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison.
Member of the ecoterrorist group Earth Liberation Front; convicted in 2007 of conspiring to destroy a northern California dam, a genetics lab, cell phone towers, and other targets.[18][19]
Serving a 19-year sentence, scheduled for release in 2036
Convicted in New York of attempting to extort Nike and honest services fraud related to his client; also facing two other pending trials relating to tax evasion, filing false tax returns and allegations of defrauding clients including Stormy Daniels.[21]
Released from custody in 2018; served over 1 year.
First active-duty admiral ever to be convicted of a felony. Lied to investigators about relationship with "Fat" Leonard Glenn Francis and pocketed $40,000 in kickbacks.[25]
Former United States Air Force Captain[30] who attended the January 6th, 2021 "Stop the Steal" rally in Washington, D.C. and United States Capitol Protest, protesting the 2020 election results, in which Donald Trump, Lemke and other denied the election legitimacy. Lemke was subsequently sentenced to 36-months, more than double his Federal Sentencing Guidelines, for threatening various members of Congress and members of the media, including Hakeem Jeffries, Brian Stetler and Don Lemon.[31][32]
Facility and services
All inmates are expected to maintain a regular job assignment, unless medically exempted. Many job assignments are controlled through a performance pay system, which provides monetary payment for work. UNICOR has a separate pay scale. Institutional maintenance jobs are usually the first assignment for new inmates. These might include assignments to Food Service, as a unit orderly, or in a maintenance shop. However, a significant number of inmate jobs are available in the Federal Prison Industries. There is a waiting list for factory employment.
UNICOR employs and trains inmates through the operation of, and earnings from, the metal factory that produces high-quality metal products for the Federal government. Inmates must obtain a GED for grade advancement and must participate in the Financial Responsibility Program (if required) to be employed in UNICOR. Federal Prison Industries, a U.S. government employment program, has a shop at FCI Terminal Island that specializes in repairing, refurbishing, and reconditioning furniture, office equipment, tires, and other government property.[33]