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Clinton Correctional Facility

Coordinates: 44°43′25″N 73°43′15″W / 44.7236°N 73.7208°W / 44.7236; -73.7208
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Clinton Correctional Facility
Map
LocationVillage of Dannemora,
Town of Dannemora,
Clinton County, New York
Coordinates44°43′25″N 73°43′15″W / 44.7236°N 73.7208°W / 44.7236; -73.7208
StatusOperational
Security classMaximum
Capacity2,959
Population2,865 (as of December 2003)
Opened1845 (1845)
Managed byNew York State Department of Correctional Services

Clinton Correctional Facility is a New York State Department of Correctional Services maximum security state prison for men located in the Village of Dannemora, New York.[1][2] The prison itself is sometimes colloquially referred to as Dannemora, although its actual name is derived from its location in Clinton County, New York. The southern perimeter wall of the prison borders New York State Route 374. Church of St. Dismas, the Good Thief, a church built by inmates, is located within the walls. The prison is sometimes referred to as New York's Little Siberia due to the cold climate in Dannemora and the isolation of the area. It is the largest maximum security prison and the third oldest prison in New York.

In the post-Furman v. Georgia period and prior to 2008, it housed the NYS state death row for men.[3][4]

History

Built in 1844, it originally served as a site where prisoners were used to work in local mines in both Dannemora and nearby Lyon Mountain. This enterprise would not be profitable, and by 1877, mining had ended, and the prisoners were put to work on other trades. With this change, the prison experienced growth, and in 1887 it was given new concrete walls 30 feet tall that still stand. In 1892, the first prisoner was executed in the electric chair at the prison, beginning the use of capital punishment at Clinton Correctional. Twenty six men were executed between 1892 and 1913. This period also saw many prisoners cured of tuberculosis due in part to the clean air in the Adirondacks, leading to the importation of prisoners with this disease from other prisons.

In 1899, a mental health facility, the Dannemora State Hospital, was built on the grounds to house prisoners who became insane while serving their sentence. Such prisoners were retained in the facility if they remained insane following the completion of their sentence.[5]

In 1929, Clinton Correctional witnessed a riot which, coupled with riots in other prisons in that year, led to prison reform in New York State. This led to the building of schools in the prison, and the renovation or rebuilding of most of the structures within the prison walls, making the facility more modern. The Church of St. Dismas, the Good Thief was built from 1939 to 1941; it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.[6] In the later half of the 20th century, the prison's mental institutions closed and were converted into an annex to house more prisoners.

On June 6, 2015, inmates Richard Matt and David Sweat, both serving sentences for murder, escaped from the facility. Two prison employees, Joyce Mitchell and Gene Palmer, were charged with aiding the escape. On June 26, 2015, inmate Richard Matt was shot and killed by a Vermont Border Patrol Agent in the town of Malone, New York. Two days later, Sweat was shot by a New York State Trooper and subsequently captured. In the days after the escape some prisoners reported having been beaten by guards in an attempt to obtain information as to the whereabouts and plans of the escaped inmates. [7]

Notable inmates

  • Michael Alig: 10 to 20-year sentence for the murder of his drug dealer in March 1996; paroled May 2014.
  • Richard Bilello: Lucchese crime family associate and convicted murderer.
  • Robert Chambers: the "preppy murderer", who served much of his sentence at Clinton Correctional Facility for the manslaughter conviction of Jennifer Levin, as well as a later sentence for drug possession after heroin was found in his cell and new criminal charges were brought.
  • Gregory Corso: Italian-American poet, one of the inner circle of "The Beat Generation" along with Kerouac, Ginsberg and Burroughs. Sentenced at 17, Corso served about three years for stealing a suit.
  • Jesse Friedman: One of the subjects of the 2003 documentary film, Capturing the Friedmans; pled guilty to sodomy and sexual abuse charges related to child molestation in the 1980s.
  • Robert F. Garrow: Serial rapist/murderer; served twice at Clinton Correctional: 1961-1963 for rape (transferred to Auburn Correctional Facility), and 1974-1977 for second-degree murder (transferred to Auburn Correctional Facility, followed by transfer to Fishkill Correctional Facility in 1978).[8]
  • Paul Geidel: Murderer; Longest serving prisoner in American history whose sentence ended with release.
  • David Gilbert: Serving life in prison. Arrested with members of the Black Liberation Army and other radicals following a botched Brinks armored car robbery in 1981.
  • Julio Gonzalez: perpetrator of the 1990 Happy Land Fire in the Bronx which killed 87 people.
  • Hell Rell (real name Durell Mohammad): served nearly 28 months on a criminal sale of a controlled substance conviction from 2002 to 2004.
  • John Jamelske: Mass-kidnapper and serial rapist serving 18 years to life.[9]
  • Vincent Johnson, serial killer known as "Brooklyn Strangler": Serving a life sentence for the murders of five women in 1999 and 2000.
  • John Katehis: Found guilty of 2nd degree murder for the brutal murder of ABC Radio personality, George Weber. Katehis is serving 25 years to life.
  • Marlon Legere: Serving life without parole in connection with the shooting deaths of NYPD detectives Robert Parker and Patrick Rafferty in Brooklyn.
  • Charles "Lucky" Luciano: One of the driving forces behind the development of Italian organized crime in the United States served 10 years of a 30- to 50-year sentence for running a prostitution ring before being deported to Italy after World War II.
  • Maino: Rapper from Brooklyn, New York City, charged for numerous street and gunpoint crimes.
  • Richard Matt: Murderer - Escaped with David Sweat. Shot dead by police in June 2015 while he was still at large.
  • Winston Moseley: Murderer of Catherine Genovese on March 13, 1964, hostage taker in 1968 during that year's escape spree.
  • Ol' Dirty Bastard (real name Russell Tyrone Jones): Served nearly 17 months on a criminal possession of a controlled substance conviction in 2001 and 2002.
  • Carl Paivio: Finnish American labor activist and anarchist, 4 to 8 years in 1919 for "criminal anarchy".
  • Carl Panzram: Serial killer, 1923–1928.
  • Daniel Pelosi: Convicted of murdering Ted Ammon and jury tampering[10]
  • Ralph "Bucky" Phillips: Sentenced to life without parole for the shooting of three New York State troopers in 2006 after escaping from jail.
  • Christopher Porco: Serving 50 years to life for the November 15, 2004 ax murder of his father and attempted murder of his mother in their Delmar, New York home.
  • John Resko: Author of bestseller Reprieve: The testament of John Resko (1958), the basis for the Ben Gazzara/Sammy Davis, Jr. movie Convicts 4.
  • Joel Rifkin: referred to as "Joel the Ripper" by tabloids after a five-year killing spree. Murdered 17 women, and is serving 203 years to life.
  • Altemio Sanchez (also known as The Bike Path Rapist): American serial killer who murdered at least three women and raped at least 14 others in and around Buffalo, New York, over a span of 25 years (1981–2006).
  • 2Pac (real name Tupac Shakur): Served 9 months on a false sexual abuse conviction from February to October 1995 before being released on appeal.
  • Shyne (real name Moses Michael Leviy): Beginning in 2001, served a sentence of 8 to 10 years on convictions of assault, criminal weapons possession, and reckless endangerment. Released and deported back to his native Belize
  • Eric Smith: Convicted of killing and sexually assaulting a four-year-old boy at age 13.
  • Joel Steinberg: Attorney convicted for the abuse of his common law wife, Hedda Nussbaum, and the abuse murder of his four-year-old stepdaughter.
  • Martin Tankleff: Former Belle Terre, New York resident freed after his conviction for killing his wealthy parents Arlene and Seymour Tankleff was overturned citing evidence that others committed the murders.
  • John Taylor: Sentenced to death for shooting seven employees of a Wendy's restaurant in Queens, New York City, killing five and seriously injuring two. Taylor was re-sentenced to life without parole.
  • Maksim Gelman: Sentenced to 200 years for murdering four people and injuring another 5.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Dannemora village, New York." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on September 2, 2010.
  2. ^ "Dannemora town, Clinton County, New York." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on September 2, 2010.
  3. ^ "Inmate 99-B-0067" (Archive). New York State Department of Correctional Services. Saturday January 16, 1999. Retrieved on September 2, 2010."Monroe County Sheriff's Department officers transported Mateo at 4:45 a.m. today to the maximum-security Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora in Clinton County, location of the Unit for Condemned Prisoners (UCP) who are male[...]The UCP at Clinton has been physically operable for use since August 31, 1995, the day before the death penalty law took effect, as has a similar three-cell UCP for females at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Westchester County plus the single-cell death house at Green Haven Correctional Facility in Stormville in Dutchess County. Neither of the two latter units will be staffed until there are inmates on them."
  4. ^ "Repeal of Death Sentence Regulations (Section 103.45 of 7 NYCRR)" (Archive). New York State Department of Correctional Services. Retrieved on September 2, 2010. "Repeal regulations requiring death sentence warrants to be provided to the Commissioner and persons sentenced to death to be delivered to Clinton and Bedford Hills Correctional Facilities (death row)[...]"
  5. ^ "Facility Profile: Clinton". DOCS/TODAY. NYCHS. January 1999. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
  6. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  7. ^ Template:Cite http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/12/nyregion/after-2-killers-fled-new-york-prisoners-say-beatings-were-next.html? r=0
  8. ^ Gooley, Lawrence P. (2009). Terror in the Adirondacks: The True Story of Serial Killer Robert F. Garrow. Peru, NY: Bloated Toe Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9795741-3-9.
  9. ^ Gado, Mark. "Slavemaster". Crime Library. p. 12. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
  10. ^ "March 7, 2006 Press Release" (Press release). Suffolk County, New York. March 7, 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
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