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ADX Florence

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ADX Florence

United States Penitentiary, Administrative Maximum Facility (abbreviated as USP Florence ADMAX; commonly known as ADX Florence, Florence Supermax, and the Alcatraz of the Rockies) is a United States federal prison in Fremont County, Colorado, operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. The prison houses some of the most dangerous criminals in the United States. ADX Florence, constructed in 1994 and opened the following year, is classed as a supermax or "control unit" prison, that provides a higher, more controlled level of custody than a regular maximum security prison (or "high security", as it is called in the federal prison system). ADX Florence forms part of the Federal Correctional Complex, Florence (FCC Florence), which is situated on 49 acres (20 hectares) of land and houses different facilities with varying degrees of security, including the adjacent United States Penitentiary, Florence High. ADX Florence was commissioned when the Federal Bureau of Prisons needed a unit designed specifically for the secure housing of specific prisoners most capable of extreme violence toward staff or other inmates, as well as inmates deemed too high-profile or too great a security risk for even a maximum security prison. The inmates are confined for most of the day in single cells with facilities made of poured, reinforced concrete to deter self-harm, and are under 24-hour supervision, carried out intensively with high staff–inmate ratios.

Infobox

Location
Fremont County, near Florence, Colorado
Coordinates
mw- 38°21′23″N 105°05′43″W / 38.35639°N 105.09528°W / 38.35639; -105.09528
Status
Operational
Security class
Administrative Maximum; colloquially Supermax
Population
357 inmates (April 2025)
Opened
January 10, 1995
Warden
Mistelle J. Starr
Website
Official website

Tables

· Suicides at the prison
Kevin Lee Wilson
Kevin Lee Wilson
Inmate
Kevin Lee Wilson
Register number
57468-097
Date of death
June 17, 1999
Age
37
Status upon suicide
Was serving a 66-year and 10-month sentence.
Details
From Glendale, California; convicted of multiple counts of armed bank robbery, carrying a firearm during a crime of violence, and felon in possession of a firearm.
Gregory Britt
Gregory Britt
Inmate
Gregory Britt
Register number
12546-083
Date of death
December 9, 1999
Age
43
Status upon suicide
Was serving a life sentence.
Details
Convicted of the murder of a fellow inmate at the Lorton Correctional Complex in Lorton, Virginia, on June 19, 1983.
Lawrence Klaker
Lawrence Klaker
Inmate
Lawrence Klaker
Register number
Unlisted
Date of death
November 18, 2002
Age
45
Status upon suicide
Was serving a life sentence plus five years.
Details
Convicted in 1986 of escaping a jail in New Orleans, then kidnapping a schoolteacher in Alabama; later became an enforcer for the Aryan Brotherhood in federal prison.
Lance Vanderstappen
Lance Vanderstappen
Inmate
Lance Vanderstappen
Register number
11099-081
Date of death
April 17, 2006
Age
26
Status upon suicide
Was serving a 25-year sentence.
Details
Member of the Soldiers of Aryan Culture; committed various violent assaults in prison, including stabbing a fellow inmate in a courthouse holding cell.
John Frierson
John Frierson
Inmate
John Frierson
Register number
99917-555
Date of death
May 27, 2008
Age
35
Status upon suicide
Was serving four consecutive life sentences.
Details
Sentenced in Mississippi Circuit Court after he went on a shooting rampage at the age of 17 that killed his grandparents, brother, and aunt. Frierson was transferred to ADX after killing a fellow inmate at the Mississippi State Penitentiary.
Jose Martin Vega
Jose Martin Vega
Inmate
Jose Martin Vega
Register number
45189-053
Date of death
May 1, 2010
Age
35
Status upon suicide
Was serving four consecutive life sentences plus 190 years.
Details
Gang member from New York City; convicted of multiple counts of racketeering and armed drug trafficking.
Robert Gerald Knott
Robert Gerald Knott
Inmate
Robert Gerald Knott
Register number
17508-086
Date of death
September 7, 2013
Age
48
Status upon suicide
Was serving a life sentence.
Details
Convicted of carrying out a nine-day crime spree across multiple states that included several kidnappings and resulted in the death of a hostage and his accomplice in 1988.
Jamie Jarold McMahan
Jamie Jarold McMahan
Inmate
Jamie Jarold McMahan
Register number
05327-030
Date of death
November 13, 2017
Age
42
Status upon suicide
Was serving a life sentence.
Details
Sentenced to life in prison alongside his stepbrother, Christopher Kauffman, after they committed a methamphetamine-induced rampage that included two homicides and a bank robbery in Oskaloosa, Iowa, before fleeing with two women to Florida.
Inmate
Register number
Date of death
Age
Status upon suicide
Details
Ref.
Kevin Lee Wilson
57468-097
June 17, 1999
37
Was serving a 66-year and 10-month sentence.
From Glendale, California; convicted of multiple counts of armed bank robbery, carrying a firearm during a crime of violence, and felon in possession of a firearm.
Gregory Britt
12546-083
December 9, 1999
43
Was serving a life sentence.
Convicted of the murder of a fellow inmate at the Lorton Correctional Complex in Lorton, Virginia, on June 19, 1983.
Lawrence Klaker
Unlisted
November 18, 2002
45
Was serving a life sentence plus five years.
Convicted in 1986 of escaping a jail in New Orleans, then kidnapping a schoolteacher in Alabama; later became an enforcer for the Aryan Brotherhood in federal prison.
Lance Vanderstappen
11099-081
April 17, 2006
26
Was serving a 25-year sentence.
Member of the Soldiers of Aryan Culture; committed various violent assaults in prison, including stabbing a fellow inmate in a courthouse holding cell.
John Frierson
99917-555
May 27, 2008
35
Was serving four consecutive life sentences.
Sentenced in Mississippi Circuit Court after he went on a shooting rampage at the age of 17 that killed his grandparents, brother, and aunt. Frierson was transferred to ADX after killing a fellow inmate at the Mississippi State Penitentiary.
Jose Martin Vega
45189-053
May 1, 2010
35
Was serving four consecutive life sentences plus 190 years.
Gang member from New York City; convicted of multiple counts of racketeering and armed drug trafficking.
Robert Gerald Knott
17508-086
September 7, 2013
48
Was serving a life sentence.
Convicted of carrying out a nine-day crime spree across multiple states that included several kidnappings and resulted in the death of a hostage and his accomplice in 1988.
Jamie Jarold McMahan
05327-030
November 13, 2017
42
Was serving a life sentence.
Sentenced to life in prison alongside his stepbrother, Christopher Kauffman, after they committed a methamphetamine-induced rampage that included two homicides and a bank robbery in Oskaloosa, Iowa, before fleeing with two women to Florida.

References

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  21. USP ADX Florence – Bureau of Prisons
    http://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/flm/index.jsp
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    https://gangsterreport.com/mexican-mafia-murder-trial-to-tip-off-next-week/
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    https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/government-seeks-death-penalty-federal-inmate-charged-first-degree-murder
  33. The Denver Post
    https://www.denverpost.com/2015/10/30/supermax-inmate-who-attacked-librarians-asks-judge-for-maximum-penalty/
  34. The Clarion-Ledger
    https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2020/09/22/mississippi-prison-crisis-2-prisoners-die-separate-facilities/3497088001/
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  36. Find a Case
    https://web.archive.org/web/20150402120930/http://co.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.20121126_0007243.DCO.htm/qx
  37. The Atlantic
    https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/06/an-american-gulag-descending-into-madness-at-supermax/258323/
  38. The New York Times
    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/05/opinion/sunday/solitary-confinement-prison-juveniles.html
  39. The New York Times
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  40. "'Terrible Tommy' spends 27 years in solitary confinement"
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  41. The New York Times Magazine
    https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/29/magazine/inside-americas-toughest-federal-prison.html
  42. The Independent
    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/julian-assange-wikileaks-extradition-prison-b1879987.html
  43. The Washington Post
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1984/02/18/five-lorton-inmates-get-life-in-stabbing/35f4d711-69d7-4891-b865-4f5c921ddfc4/
  44. AP News
    https://apnews.com/article/7ea006d8a3b2c8c3a12d5b917a36665c
  45. Deseret News
    https://www.deseret.com/2005/9/28/19914466/supremacist-gets-20-years-for-assault-in-holding-cell
  46. Picayune Item
    https://www.picayuneitem.com/2008/10/john-boy-frierson-reportedly-hangs-himself/
  47. The Colorado Independent
    https://www.coloradoindependent.com/2013/09/18/suicide-at-adx-the-quietest-death/
  48. The Atlantic
    https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/06/death-yes-but-torture-at-supermax/258002/
  49. Westword
    https://www.westword.com/news/robert-knott-feds-pay-175k-in-supermax-suicide-of-man-portrayed-by-john-stamos-7675241
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    https://www.coloradoindependent.com/2013/09/18/suicide-at-adx-the-quietest-death/
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  52. Keotaeagle.com
    http://www.keotaeagle.com/content/inmate-dies-20-years-after-rampage
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