During the Great Depression, the people of Springfield, Missouri, offered 620 acres (250 ha) of land to the federal government to build the prison. Congress authorized the building of the prison in 1930. The prison opened in 1933 as the "United States Hospital for Defective Delinquents", under superintendent Marion R. King.[3] The land surrounding the prison was used by the prisoners for farming until 1966. In 1977, the federal government returned some of the original 620 acres to the city.[3]Prison riots occurred in 1941, 1944 and 1959.[3]
Several political prisoners and spies arrested during World War II were held at MCFP Springfield for medical treatment. Anastasy Vonsyatsky served 3 years of a 5-year sentence there for conspiring to aid Hitler's Germany in violation of the Espionage Act before being released in 1946.[4]Robert Henry Best and Herbert John Burgman, who were sentenced to life in prison for treason in 1948 and 1949 for making propaganda broadcasts for the Nazis, served their sentences at this prison. Best died at MCFP Springfield in 1952, Burgman in 1953.[5][6][7]
On January 26, 2010, inmate Victor Castro-Rodriguez, 51, was found dead on the floor of his cell. Castro-Rodriguez originally was convicted of assault and resisting arrest in the U.S. District Court of Southern Florida and was being held at the MCFP because of a mental illness. MCFP inmates Wesley Paul Coonce Jr., 34, and Charles Michael Hall, 43, were charged in connection with his death and on May 7, 2014, were convicted of one count of first-degree murder. Coonce was also found guilty of one count of murder by an inmate serving a life sentence. Both were sentenced to death on June 2, 2014.[11]
Notable inmates
The following inmates are currently held at MCFP Springfield or served the majority of their sentence there.
† Inmates who were released from custody prior to 1982 are not listed on the Bureau of Prisons website.
Serving a life sentence; currently at USP Allenwood.
White supremacist, pleaded guilty in 2019 of 29 federal hate crime charges using his car to harm counter-protestors during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing 32 year-old Heather Heyer and injuring up to 19 more. Previously held at USP Hazelton and USP Allenwood.
Serving a life sentence, commuted from the death penalty. Originally sentenced to death on March 16, 2002.
Convicted in 2002 of the 1997 kidnapping and murder of 19-year-old Rachel Timmerman, who had accused Gabrion of rape; Tried federally as victim's body was found on federal land. Gabrion was the first person to receive a federal death sentence in a non-death penalty state since the federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988. Commuted from the death penalty by President Joe Biden on December 23, 2024.
Released from custody in 1986 after serving 14 months at MCFP Springfield.
Boss of the Bonanno crime family in New York City from 1931 to the mid-1960s; imprisoned for refusing to testify in a federal racketeering trial of the leaders of the five New York Mafia families.[15][16]
Convicted in 1941 of leading the Duquesne Spy Ring, a group of spies for the Nazis which operated in the US from 1939 to 1941 and aimed to obtain information regarding military and industrial sabotage targets; all ring members were convicted in what was the largest espionage case in US history.[19]
Released from custody in 1984; served 6 months at FMC Butner and MCFP Springfield.
Publisher of the pornographic magazine Hustler and the center of several high-profile First Amendment cases; imprisoned for contempt of court for disrespecting a federal judge.[20]
Russian-born American fascist leader; convicted under the Espionage Act of 1917 for his associations with Nazi sympathisers during World War II; released early.[21]
John "The Teflon Don" Gotti was head of New York's Gambino crime family. One of the most powerful and dangerous crime bosses in the world, Gotti was charged with five counts of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, loansharking, illegal gambling, obstruction of justice, bribery and tax evasion. Convicted on all counts, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole and a $250,000 fine.
British businessman; convicted in 2005 of providing material support for terrorism and other charges for attempting to sell shoulder-fired missiles to what he thought was a terrorist group intent on shooting down US airliners.[26][27]
Was the Acting Boss Of the Colombo Crime Family During the '80s most notable for being a defendant in the Windows Trial in 1987 and being convicted and sentenced to 40+ years.
Died of cancer on August 5, 2001, while serving a life sentence.
Serial killer who murdered his first wife and two children in 1978 in Littleton, Colorado and his third wife at the Grand Canyon in Arizona in 1993. Pleaded guilty in October 2000 to murder on federal land of third wife. Sentenced to life imprisonment.
Known for his role in the kidnapping, robbery and murder of the famed atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair, her son Jon Garth and granddaughter Robyn in 1995.
Murdered a man in Oklahoma, and later participated in the Battle of Alcatraz. Carnes was the only participating inmate to neither be killed nor executed afterwards.
Ercole "Eckley" DiMeo of the fictional Soprano crime family in the hit HBO television series The Sopranos is only seen in the many Saints of Newark and is the boss of the Soprano crime family and it is mentioned in season one that he is incarcerated here.
The American crime drama limited series Black Bird follows the true story of James Keene during his time at MCFP Springfield. The series is based on the 2010 autobiographical novel In with the Devil: a Fallen Hero, a Serial Killer, and a Dangerous Bargain for Redemption by James Keene and Hillel Levin.
Gallery
Photos of the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield
The entrance to the medical center in August 2006.
Aerial view of the medical center in October 2003.
^Garrett Trapnell, 55; Charismatic Criminal, September 11, 1993, Garrett Brock Trapnell Hijacker, Con Man And Lothario – Has Died Of Emphysema at A Hospital For Federal Prisoners. He Was 55.[full citation needed]