Federal Correctional Institution, Victorville

Federal Correctional Institution, Victorville
Map
LocationVictorville, California
StatusOperational
Security classMedium-security (with low-security female prison camp)
Population1,300 (300 in prison camp)
Opened2004
Managed byFederal Bureau of Prisons
WardenFrancisco J. Quintana

The Federal Correctional Institution, Victorville (FCI Victorville Medium I & II) are two medium-security United States federal prisons for male inmates in Victorville, California. Part of the Victorville Federal Prison Complex, it is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.

Description

FCI Victorville Medium are two medium-security United States federal prisons for male inmates in Victorville, California. Part of the Victorville Federal Prison Complex, it is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. There is an adjacent satellite prison camp for low-security female inmates. The complex is located on land that was formerly part of George Air Force Base.[1]

It was built on a Superfund site, which has contaminated the region's water supply with industrial solvents like trichlorethylene, and pesticides like dieldrin and aldrin, and chemicals from jet fuel.[2]

Notable incidents

Aerial view of FCI II prison

In 2010, Scott A. Holencik, 45, the warden of FCI Victorville, was named in a six-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury. The indictment accused Holencik of lying to special agents of the United States Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, when he was interviewed in November 2009 in connection with an investigation into Internet postings that disclosed confidential government information. The indictment charged Holencik with two felony counts of making false statements when he denied making posts to www.prisonofficer.org. Holencik allegedly made multiple posts to the website that contained sensitive information concerning criminal investigations at the prison. Specifically, it is alleged that he disclosed confidential government information concerning a Bureau of Prisons employee who was suspected of being involved with an inmate gambling scheme, as well as facts related to a homicide that occurred at the prison in August 2009.[3]

A federal judge, Virginia Phillips, subsequently ruled that the information posted on prisonofficer.org was not confidential, thereby dismissing those charges. On February 20, 2014, federal Judge Virginia Phillips ruled dismissing the remaining counts of the indictment against Holencik with prejudice.[4] Holencik retired as warden.

On May 31, 2016, inmate Fazliddin Kurbanov snuck behind then-warden Calvin Johnson and attempted to slit his throat with a 4-inch shank he concealed, injuring him in the process. Kurbanov, an Uzbek refugee, was serving a 25-year sentence for material support and plotting a bombing attack while working as truck-driving instructor in Salt Lake City, Utah. Kurbanov was charged with attempted murder of a federal officer and sentenced to an additional 20 years in prison in 2018. He is now serving his sentence at ADX Florence.[5][6]

Aerial view of FCI I prison

In the first episode of the HBO television series Luck, the main character Chester "Ace" Bernstein, played by Dustin Hoffman, is released from federal custody after serving 3 years at FCI Victorville.[7]

Diablo, played by Geno Silva in A Man Apart (2003), was incarcerated at Victorville Penitentiary.

Notable inmates

Current

Inmate Name Register Number Sentence Details
Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez 33230-068 Serving a 25-year sentence; scheduled for release in 2033. Pleaded guilty to terrorism and weapons offenses for using a semi-automatic rifle to fire at least eight rounds at the White House on November 11, 2011 in an attempt to kill President Barack Obama, who he believed was the Antichrist.
John Lenzie Creech 05924-028 Scheduled for release in 2029. Sentenced for Federal drug offenses; convicted in California state court of manslaughter in the 2012 killing of Gavin Smith.
Jerry Whitworth 78095-011 Serving a 365 year sentence; not expected to be released. Sentenced to 365 years for his part in the Walker family spy ring.

Former

Inmate name Register number Status Details
Mohamed Osman Mohamud 73079-065 Archived 2013-10-17 at the Wayback Machine Serving a 30-year sentence; scheduled for release in 2036. Currently at FCI Sandstone. US citizen from Somalia; convicted in 2013 of attempting to use of a weapon of mass destruction for trying to detonate what he thought was a car bomb supplied by undercover FBI agents posing as members of Al-Qaeda at a Christmas tree lighting in Portland, Oregon in 2010.[8][9]
Abby Lee Miller 35991-068 Served a 366-day sentence,[10] released May 2018. Choreographer, dance instructor, and former star of the reality television series Dance Moms and several spin-offs; pleaded guilty to bankruptcy fraud and sentenced to 366 days in prison.[11][12][13][14][15]
Miguel Caro-Quintero 02921-748 Archived 2013-09-29 at the Wayback Machine Served a 17-year sentence; deported to Mexico upon release in 2019.[16] Former leader of the now-defunct Sonora Cartel, a drug trafficking organization responsible for exporting multi-ton quantities of marijuana to the US during the 1980s and 1990s; extradited to the US from Mexico in 2009.[17][18][19]
Lenny Dykstra 57780-112 Released from custody in 2013; served 15 months.[20] Former Major League Baseball player; pleaded guilty in 2012 to bankruptcy fraud and money laundering for hiding and selling sports memorabilia intended to be auctioned off for his bankruptcy filing.[21]
Max Butler 09954-011 Served a 13-year sentence; released April 2021. Pleaded guilty in 2007 to two counts of wire fraud, stealing nearly 2 million credit card numbers, which were used for $86 million in fraudulent purchases.
George Trofimoff 39090-018 Died in 2014 while serving a life sentence.[22] Retired US Army Reserve colonel and former civilian intelligence chief for the US Army; convicted in 2001 of providing classified military documents to the KGB during the Cold War; Trofimoff is highest-ranking Army official to be convicted of espionage.[23]

See also

References

  1. ^ "FCC Victorville". Federal Bureau of Prisons. Archived from the original on 2012-08-15. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  2. ^ Waters, Michael. "How prisons are poisoning their inmates". The Outline. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  3. ^ "WARDEN OF VICTORVILLE FEDERAL PRISON INDICTED FOR MAKING FALSE STATEMENTS TO CRIMINAL INVESTIGATORS" (PDF). US Department of Justice. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  4. ^ Pavlo, Walter. "Retaliation In The Work Place? Allegations Within The Bureau of Prisons". Forbes. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  5. ^ "Convicted terrorist admits he tried to slit Victorville prison warden's throat". San Bernardino Sun. 2018-03-13. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  6. ^ "Idaho Man in Custody on Terrorism Charges Sentenced to an Additional 20 Years for Attacking Federal Prison Warden". www.justice.gov. 2018-08-13. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  7. ^ Vonder Haar, Pete (January 30, 2012). "Luck: "You Don't Know Your Own Depth"". Houston Press. Houston Press, LP. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  8. ^ Associated Press (January 31, 2013). "Jury finds suspect in Christmas tree bomb plot guilty of terrorism, rejecting entrapment claim". Fox News. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  9. ^ "Oregon Resident Convicted in Plot to Bomb Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in Portland". US Department of Justice. January 31, 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  10. ^ "Abby Lee Miller Reports to Prison Where She Will Serve a 366-Day Sentence for Bankruptcy Fraud". PEOPLE.com. 2017-07-12. Retrieved 2017-07-13.
  11. ^ Patten, Dominic (May 9, 2017). "Ex-'Dance Moms' Host Abby Lee Miller Sentenced To Prison In Fraud Case". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  12. ^ Maslow, Nick (May 9, 2017). "Dance Moms star Abby Lee Miller sentenced to prison". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on May 12, 2017. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  13. ^ Schnurr, Samantha (May 9, 2017). "Dance Moms' Abby Lee Miller Sentenced to 1 Year in Prison". E! News. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  14. ^ Mandak, Joe (May 9, 2017). "Ex-'Dance Moms' star Abby Lee Miller gets 1 year in prison". ABC News. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  15. ^ Dugan, Christina (May 9, 2017). "Dance Moms' Abby Lee Miller's Sentenced to 1 Year, 1 Day in Prison for Bankruptcy Fraud Case". People. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  16. ^ "Deportan a Miguel Caro Quintero". Zeta (in Spanish). 20 July 2019.
  17. ^ "Former Cartel Leader Extradited from Mexico". US Department of Justice. February 26, 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  18. ^ "Miguel Angel Caro-Quintero Sentenced to Federal Prison for Trafficking Massive Amounts of Marijuana from Mexico to the United States". Drug Enforcement Administration. February 26, 2009. Archived from the original on June 26, 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  19. ^ "Deportan a Miguel Caro Quintero". Zeta (in Spanish). 20 July 2019.
  20. ^ Sandomir, Richard (August 2, 2014). "Lenny Dykstra: Out of Prison, and Still Headstrong". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  21. ^ "Ex-MLB Star Pleads Pleads Guilty". Huffington Post. 14 July 2012.
  22. ^ McCarty, James F. (April 1, 2014). "Jimmy Dimora moved to federal prison near Death Valley, California; feds won't explain why". Cleveland.com. Northeast Ohio Media Group LLC. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  23. ^ "Life Sentence For Spy". Cbsnews.com. Retrieved 22 June 2019.

34°34′03″N 117°21′52″W / 34.56750°N 117.36444°W / 34.56750; -117.36444