United States Penitentiary, Victorville

United States Penitentiary, Victorville

Location	13777 Air Expressway Blvd. Victorville, California 92394
Coordinates	34°34′10.2″N 117°21′45.0″W
Status	Operational
Security class	Maximum, care level: 2
Capacity	960
Population	1,534 male inmates (as of October 13, 2011)
Opened	2004
Managed by	Federal Bureau of Prisons
Warden	Francisco J. Quintana

The United States Penitentiary, Victorville (USP Victorville) is a high-security federal prison for men in the United States. Part of the Federal Correctional Complex, Victorville, USP Victorville is located in Victorville, California, on the grounds of the former George Air Force Base.

Construction

Site at the former George Air Force Base ten years before the prison was opened.

USP Victorville is a 630,000 square foot (58,500 m²) high-security prison constructed by Hensel Phelps Construction Co. and Crosby Group of Redwood City, California for US$101.4 million (security system constructed by Buford Goff and Associates, Inc.) and operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (B.O.P).

It opened on October 21, 2004 and is designed to house 960 male inmates in 6 housing units. USP Victorville is constructed very similar to the new federal penitentiaries at Atwater, California; Inez, Kentucky; Canaan, Pennsylvania; Coleman, Florida; Hazelton, West Virginia; Pennington Gap, Virginia; McCreary, Kentucky; Terre Haute, Indiana and Tucson, Arizona.

Six V-shaped buildings (units 1-3 on east side, units 4-6 on west side) facing each other and a larger maintenance building surround a central yard with a tower in the middle. Six additional towers are lined along the rectangular shaped facility. The facility is surrounded by a lethal electrical double fence, a 2 m (8 ft) brickstone wall on its northern side and a view protection fence on its western side. Cells are approximately 4 × 2 m (13 × 7 feet) in size equipped with a bunkbed, a stainless steel sink-toilet combination and a small table with a non-removable stool. Cells are usually occupied by two inmates and are air conditioned. The administrative and disciplinary unit (SHU) can hold 238 inmates. Cells in the disciplinary unit have showers and are occupied by three inmates when overcrowding occurs (one inmate is forced to sleep on the floor in such cases).

Administrative information

• Inmate address: Inmate Name and Register Number, USP Victorville, P.O. Box 5300, Adelanto CA 93201-5300
• Staff address: P.O. Box 5400, Adelanto, CA 92301
• Phone: 760-530-5000
• Fax: 760-530-5103
• Email: VIP/EXECASSISTANT@BOP.GOV
• Visiting Hours: Sat-Mon 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
• Judicial District: Central California

List of wardens

• J. L. Norwood
• J.E. Gunja
• P.M. Schultz
• J.E. Slade
• W.J. Jusino
• Francisco J. Quintana
• R.P. Guttierrez

Prisoners

Prisoners have access to the text-based e-mail program known as TRULINCS (Trust Fund Limited Inmate Communication System). Prisoners are only allowed 13,000 characters per e-mail, and attachments cannot be sent, received, or viewed. Inmates are not allowed to retain more than two newspapers, 10 magazines and 25 letters in their cells. Inmates are allowed to place phone calls to up to 30 approved numbers. Phone calls are restricted to 15 minutes per call and five hours per month. Inmates pay for their phone calls through their trust accounts. Inmates can buy additional food, hygiene articles and clothes from commissary for a maximum of $290 a month.

Daily routine

Inmates get counted 5-6 times a day at 12:01 a.m., 3:00 a.m., 5:00 a.m., 4:00 p.m. (stand up count), 10:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m. (on weekends and holidays). Initial work movements start at 4:30 a.m. and inmates must be up at 7:30 a.m. All inmates must be back to their cells at 10:00 p.m.

Notable inmates

• Gerardo Hernandez, one of the Cuban Five, was incarcerated there and after inmates went on a work strike shortly after activation of the facility in 2004.
• John Walker Lindh, the so-called "American Taliban" fighter was incarcerated here until he was sentenced to 20 years in prison and transferred to another facility.
• Richard Dale Morrison, charged with setting fire to a black church in 1996, later attacked fellow inmate John Walker Lindh (above)
• William Leonard Pickard, a Harvard graduate, was the mastermind behind the missile-silo LSD lab that was discovered by the DEA in November 2000 in Wamego, Kansas.
• James Ratliff - Rapper known as Husalah from the rap group the Mob Figaz.
• Ingmar Guandique, who later became a suspect in the murder of Chandra Levy
• Robert M. Levine (Reg. No. #96074-012) - Charges of Conspiracy and interstate commerce to further the execution-style. Ordered the murder of his brother Donald Levine.

Inmates deaths

1. Peter Steven Scopazzi (Reg. No. 71855-004) died on 16 April 2005 from injuries he received during a fight on 11 April 2005
2. Tony Richard Padilla (Reg. No. 60031-097) died on 12 August 2006 from injuries he received during a fight on 8 August 2006
3. Unknown inmate murdered on 30 December 2006
4. Gregory Francis Ritter (Reg. No. 94543-022) died on 13 May 2009 from injuries he received during a fight that day
5. Unknown inmate died on 17 August 2009 from injuries he received during a fight on 16 August 2009
6. Cedric Vasquez (Reg. No. 532089-231) died on 20 June 2010 from suicide.

See also

• List of U.S. federal prisons

External links

• USP Victorville at the Federal Bureau of Prisons (Official site)