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United States Penitentiary, Hazelton

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United States Penitentiary, Hazelton

The United States Penitentiary, Hazelton (USP Hazelton) is a high-security United States federal prison for men in West Virginia. The high-security facility has earned the nickname "Misery Mountain" by the inmates who are incarcerated there. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. The facility has a satellite prison camp for minimum-security male offenders. The facility is located in an unincorporated area of Preston County, West Virginia, several miles east of Bruceton Mills, less than two miles (3.2 km) west of the Maryland border. The Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) Hazelton has three prisons, physically adjacent but distinct: USP Hazelton and the medium-security Federal Correctional Institution, Hazelton constructed in 2015. In addition, there is the Secure Female Facility for women. All are operated by the FBOP.

Infobox

Location
Preston County, West Virginia, U.S.
Coordinates
mw- 39°40′21″N 79°29′54″W / 39.67250°N 79.49833°W / 39.67250; -79.49833
Status
Operational
Population
1,675 [1,583 at the USP, 92 in prison camp] (September 2023)
Opened
2004
Managed by
Federal Bureau of Prisons
Warden
Bryan M. Antonelli

Tables

· Notable inmates (current and former) › Minimum-Security Camp
Richie Farmer
Richie Farmer
Inmate Name
Richie Farmer
Register Number
16226-032
Status
Released from custody in 2015; served a 27-month sentence.
Details
Former Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner from 2004 to 2012 and standout basketball player for the University of Kentucky; pleaded guilty in 2013 to corruption charges for using state funds for personal expenses.
Inmate Name
Register Number
Photo
Status
Details
Richie Farmer
16226-032
Released from custody in 2015; served a 27-month sentence.
Former Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner from 2004 to 2012 and standout basketball player for the University of Kentucky; pleaded guilty in 2013 to corruption charges for using state funds for personal expenses.
· Notable inmates (current and former) › High-Security Facility
Whitey Bulger
Whitey Bulger
Inmate Name
Whitey Bulger
Register Number
02182-748
Status
Murdered in custody on October 30, 2018.
Details
Notorious long-time fugitive, crime figure and leader of Boston's Winter Hill Gang; Murdered by other prisoners within hours of his arrival.
Vernon Lance Thomas
Vernon Lance Thomas
Inmate Name
Vernon Lance Thomas
Register Number
09890-424
Status
Sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in 1993. Currently incarcerated.
Details
Accomplice of a series of murders in Richmond, Virginia in 1992. One of Thomas's accomplices, Corey Johnson, was executed in 2021 while another two sentenced to death for the murders had their sentences commuted to life without parole.
Frank "Cadillac Frank" Salemme
Frank "Cadillac Frank" Salemme
Inmate Name
Frank "Cadillac Frank" Salemme
Register Number
24914-013
Status
Died on December 13, 2022, while serving a life sentence.
Details
Boston mobster who became a hitman and eventually the boss of the Patriarca crime family from 1991 - 1996.
Fotios "Freddy" Geas
Fotios "Freddy" Geas
Inmate Name
Fotios "Freddy" Geas
Register Number
05244-748
Status
Serving a life sentence. Now at USP Florence ADMAX.
Details
Massachusetts mobster and hitman. Suspect in Bulger death.
Paul DeCologero
Paul DeCologero
Inmate Name
Paul DeCologero
Register Number
23952-038
Status
Serving a 25-year sentence; scheduled release December 14, 2026. Now at USP McCreary.
Details
Patriarca crime family associate, allegedly involved in the beating and murder of James “Whitey” Bulger.
James Alex Fields Jr.
James Alex Fields Jr.
Inmate Name
James Alex Fields Jr.
Register Number
22239-084
Status
Serving a life sentence. Now at USP Allenwood.
Details
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.
Aljermiah Mack
Aljermiah Mack
Inmate Name
Aljermiah Mack
Register Number
86943-054
Status
Serving a 17-year sentence, scheduled for release in 2033. Now at USP Coleman I.
Details
Leader of the Nine Trey Gangsters and affiliate of rapper 6ix9ine, convicted of racketeering due to involvement in the gang's activities during the Trial of the Nine Trey Gangsters.
Nidal Ayyad
Nidal Ayyad
Inmate Name
Nidal Ayyad
Register Number
16917-050
Status
Serving a 240-year sentence, which has since been reduced several times; scheduled for release in 2067. Now at USP Coleman.
Details
Convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the 1993 World Trade center bombing.
James Timothy "Tim" Norman
James Timothy "Tim" Norman
Inmate Name
James Timothy "Tim" Norman
Register Number
22122-043
Status
Serving a life sentence.
Details
Star of reality TV show Welcome to Sweetie Pies. He arranged the murder of his nephew Andre Montgomery in contract killing plot in order to obtain $450,000 from life insurance policy.
Eljvir Duka
Eljvir Duka
Inmate Name
Eljvir Duka
Register Number
61282-066
Status
Serving a life sentence.
Details
One of the men who conspired to attack and kill military personnel at a base located in Fort Dix, New Jersey. He was sentenced to life imprisonment alongside his brothers, Shain and Dritan and two other individuals in 2008.
James Rosemond
James Rosemond
Inmate Name
James Rosemond
Register Number
17903-054
Status
Serving a life sentence plus 30 years. Transferred to USP Pollock.
Details
Former music representative, charged in 2012 with Drug trafficking, obstruction of justice and possessing and using firearms, conspiracy to commit murder. He was at first sentenced to life plus 20 years in 2015 but had his conviction overturned the following year. In 2017 he stood trial for a third time and was sentenced to life plus 30 years.
Zachary Adam Chesser
Zachary Adam Chesser
Inmate Name
Zachary Adam Chesser
Register Number
76715-083
Status
Serving a 25-year sentence; scheduled for release on January 1, 2032. Now at FCI McDowell.
Details
Convicted in 2010 for attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization by aiding Al-Shabaab, a militant group with ties to Al-Qaeda. He was also convicted for sending threats (via Revolution Muslim website) to Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of South Park, after they aired an episode of the show with depictions of Muhammad.
Alfredo Beltrán Leyva
Alfredo Beltrán Leyva
Inmate Name
Alfredo Beltrán Leyva
Register Number
58525-007
Status
Serving a life sentence plus 50 years. Now at ADX Florence.
Details
Former leader of the Beltran-Leyva Cartel that operated out of Sinaloa, Mexico. Between the 1990s and 2000s, Beltran Leyva was responsible for the wholesale shipment of cocaine and methamphetamine between the United States, Mexico, and South America. On November 15, 2014, Beltran Leyva was extradited to the United States to face trial for shipping at least 27.9 tons of narcotics into the US. On February 23, 2016, Beltran Leyva pled guilty to charges of international narcotics trafficking and in 2017 was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 50 years.
Patrick Andrews
Patrick Andrews
Inmate Name
Patrick Andrews
Register Number
12550-007
Status
Serving a life sentence at USP Beaumont.
Details
Criminal who murdered two people (in 1997 and 2000) and later killed a fellow inmate at Hazelton in 2007. Received another sentence of life imprisonment in 2015 and was transferred to USP Florence High.
James T. Murphy
James T. Murphy
Inmate Name
James T. Murphy
Register Number
99478-555
Status
Serving a life sentence. He is now at USP Terre Haute.
Details
A former Army Sergeant, was stationed in Germany. On August 20, 1987 before leaving Germany, appellant went to his wife's (Petra Murphy, a German national) apartment. There, according to his confession, he killed her by smashing in her head with a hammer. He also admitted that he killed Tim and James, Jr., the two children. He was convicted and sentenced to death for three specifications of premeditated murder, and single specifications of larceny, bigamy, and false swearing. Transferred to USP Florence High after sentence commuted from death row.
Juan Orlando Hernandez
Juan Orlando Hernandez
Inmate Name
Juan Orlando Hernandez
Register Number
91441-054
Status
Serving a 45-year sentence.
Details
Juan Orlando Hernández, former president of Honduras, was involved in a large-scale drug trafficking and money laundering scheme. U.S. prosecutors linked him to a conspiracy leveraging drug trafficking to maintain political power, with allegations that $1.5 million in drug proceeds helped fund his 2013 election. His brother, Tony Hernández, was sentenced to life in prison for drug-related crimes. Hernández accepted bribes from traffickers, including the Sinaloa Cartel, and provided them with protection using law enforcement and military intelligence. He was extradited to the U.S. in 2022, found guilty of drug trafficking and weapons conspiracy in 2024, and sentenced to 45 years in prison.
Inmate Name
Register Number
Photo
Status
Details
Whitey Bulger
02182-748
Murdered in custody on October 30, 2018.
Notorious long-time fugitive, crime figure and leader of Boston's Winter Hill Gang; Murdered by other prisoners within hours of his arrival.
Vernon Lance Thomas
09890-424
Sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in 1993. Currently incarcerated.
Accomplice of a series of murders in Richmond, Virginia in 1992. One of Thomas's accomplices, Corey Johnson, was executed in 2021 while another two sentenced to death for the murders had their sentences commuted to life without parole.
Frank "Cadillac Frank" Salemme
24914-013
Died on December 13, 2022, while serving a life sentence.
Boston mobster who became a hitman and eventually the boss of the Patriarca crime family from 1991 - 1996.
Fotios "Freddy" Geas
05244-748
Serving a life sentence. Now at USP Florence ADMAX.
Massachusetts mobster and hitman. Suspect in Bulger death.
Paul DeCologero
23952-038
Serving a 25-year sentence; scheduled release December 14, 2026. Now at USP McCreary.
Patriarca crime family associate, allegedly involved in the beating and murder of James “Whitey” Bulger.
James Alex Fields Jr.
22239-084
Serving a life sentence. Now 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.
Juan García Ábrego
09935-000
Serving 11 life sentences.
Mexican former drug lord who is reported to be the former head of a criminal dynasty along the Mexico–United States border now called the Gulf Cartel.
Aljermiah Mack
86943-054
Serving a 17-year sentence, scheduled for release in 2033. Now at USP Coleman I.
Leader of the Nine Trey Gangsters and affiliate of rapper 6ix9ine, convicted of racketeering due to involvement in the gang's activities during the Trial of the Nine Trey Gangsters.
Nidal Ayyad
16917-050
Serving a 240-year sentence, which has since been reduced several times; scheduled for release in 2067. Now at USP Coleman.
Convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the 1993 World Trade center bombing.
James Timothy "Tim" Norman
22122-043
Serving a life sentence.
Star of reality TV show Welcome to Sweetie Pies. He arranged the murder of his nephew Andre Montgomery in contract killing plot in order to obtain $450,000 from life insurance policy.
Eljvir Duka
61282-066
Serving a life sentence.
One of the men who conspired to attack and kill military personnel at a base located in Fort Dix, New Jersey. He was sentenced to life imprisonment alongside his brothers, Shain and Dritan and two other individuals in 2008.
James Rosemond
17903-054
Serving a life sentence plus 30 years. Transferred to USP Pollock.
Former music representative, charged in 2012 with Drug trafficking, obstruction of justice and possessing and using firearms, conspiracy to commit murder. He was at first sentenced to life plus 20 years in 2015 but had his conviction overturned the following year. In 2017 he stood trial for a third time and was sentenced to life plus 30 years.
Zachary Adam Chesser
76715-083
Serving a 25-year sentence; scheduled for release on January 1, 2032. Now at FCI McDowell.
Convicted in 2010 for attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization by aiding Al-Shabaab, a militant group with ties to Al-Qaeda. He was also convicted for sending threats (via Revolution Muslim website) to Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of South Park, after they aired an episode of the show with depictions of Muhammad.
Alfredo Beltrán Leyva
58525-007
Serving a life sentence plus 50 years. Now at ADX Florence.
Former leader of the Beltran-Leyva Cartel that operated out of Sinaloa, Mexico. Between the 1990s and 2000s, Beltran Leyva was responsible for the wholesale shipment of cocaine and methamphetamine between the United States, Mexico, and South America. On November 15, 2014, Beltran Leyva was extradited to the United States to face trial for shipping at least 27.9 tons of narcotics into the US. On February 23, 2016, Beltran Leyva pled guilty to charges of international narcotics trafficking and in 2017 was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 50 years.
Patrick Andrews
12550-007
Serving a life sentence at USP Beaumont.
Criminal who murdered two people (in 1997 and 2000) and later killed a fellow inmate at Hazelton in 2007. Received another sentence of life imprisonment in 2015 and was transferred to USP Florence High.
James T. Murphy
99478-555
Serving a life sentence. He is now at USP Terre Haute.
A former Army Sergeant, was stationed in Germany. On August 20, 1987 before leaving Germany, appellant went to his wife's (Petra Murphy, a German national) apartment. There, according to his confession, he killed her by smashing in her head with a hammer. He also admitted that he killed Tim and James, Jr., the two children. He was convicted and sentenced to death for three specifications of premeditated murder, and single specifications of larceny, bigamy, and false swearing. Transferred to USP Florence High after sentence commuted from death row.
Juan Orlando Hernandez
91441-054
Serving a 45-year sentence.
Juan Orlando Hernández, former president of Honduras, was involved in a large-scale drug trafficking and money laundering scheme. U.S. prosecutors linked him to a conspiracy leveraging drug trafficking to maintain political power, with allegations that $1.5 million in drug proceeds helped fund his 2013 election. His brother, Tony Hernández, was sentenced to life in prison for drug-related crimes. Hernández accepted bribes from traffickers, including the Sinaloa Cartel, and provided them with protection using law enforcement and military intelligence. He was extradited to the U.S. in 2022, found guilty of drug trafficking and weapons conspiracy in 2024, and sentenced to 45 years in prison.

References

  1. "2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP (INDEX): Preston County, WV"
    https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/DC20BLK/st54_wv/county/c54077_preston/DC20BLK_C54077.pdf
  2. "USP Hazelton"
    http://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/haz/index.jsp
  3. Charleston Gazette-Mail
    https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/workers-raise-prison-safety-awareness/article_803bea2b-af17-5926-a6ad-206d04e30c1c.html
  4. "Expression of Interest: Architect/Engineering Services Regional Jail & Correctional Authority, West Virginia"
    http://www.state.wv.us/admin/purchase/bids/FY2009/B_RJCMNT001_7.pdf
  5. "Federal Prisoners Charged for Murder of Cellmate"
    https://www.fbi.gov/pittsburgh/press-releases/2012/federal-prisoners-charged-for-murder-of-cellmate
  6. WDTV
    http://www.wdtv.com/wdtv.cfm?func=view&section=5-News&item=Federal-Prisoners-Charged-for-Murder-of-Cell-Mate5804
  7. The Exponent-Telegram
    http://www.exponent-telegram.com/article_8e8dc492-b296-11e2-b949-0019bb2963f4.html
  8. Bangor Daily News
    http://bangordailynews.com/2010/01/06/news/lockdown-continues-after-maine-man-dies-in-prison-fight/
  9. WHSV-TV
    http://www.whsv.com/home/headlines/78777312.html#.UZFvW6KG18E
  10. "Federal Inmate Enters Plea and is Sentenced in Federal Court"
    https://www.fbi.gov/pittsburgh/press-releases/2012/federal-inmate-enters-plea-and-is-sentenced-in-federal-court-2
  11. NBC News
    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/notorious-mob-boss-whitey-bulger-found-dead-prison-n926266
  12. NBC News
    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/notorious-mob-boss-whitey-bulger-found-dead-prison-n926266
  13. [1], The Daily Beast. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
    https://www.thedailybeast.com/mob-boss-james-whitey-bulger-beaten-to-death-with-lock-in-a-sock
  14. New York Post
    https://nypost.com/2018/10/31/meet-the-mob-hitman-suspected-of-killing-whitey-bulger/
  15. Prison drops visits after Whitey Bulger slaying, Boston Herald, Laurel J. Sweet, November 2, 2018. Retrieved November 6,
    http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2018/11/prison_drops_visits_after_whitey_bulger_slaying
  16. CBS News
    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/whitey-bulger-mob-boss-eyes-reportedly-almost-gouged-out/
  17. WTAE
    https://www.wtae.com/article/notorious-crime-boss-whitey-bulger-has-been-reportedly-killed-in-prison/24439089
  18. Boston Herald
    http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2018/11/springfield_hitman_eyed_in_whitey_bulgers_slaying
  19. South China Morning Post
    https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2171134/mafia-hitman-fotios-freddy-geas-hated-rats-he
  20. "'Whitey' Bulger killed with a 'lock-in-the-sock,' mafia hitman eyed, officials say"
    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/officials-whitey-bulger-killed-lock-sock-mafia-hitman-eyed-n929581
  21. ESPN
    https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/9668766/ex-kentucky-wildcats-hoops-star-richie-farmer-pleads-guilty-corruption-case
  22. The Daily Independent
    http://dailyindependent.com/local/x250207934/Plea-deal-could-land-Farmer-in-prison-for-2-years
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    https://richmond.com/news/local/crime-courts/newtowne-gang-richard-tipton-james-roane-biden-commutation-ct-woody/article_86b63dbc-c148-11ef-9274-c3ee6841ed60.html
  28. New York Post
    https://nypost.com/2018/11/01/this-man-may-have-waited-38-years-for-his-revenge-on-whitey-bulger/
  29. Los Angeles Times
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  30. CNN
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  32. "Federal Prisoners Charged for Murder of Cellmate"
    https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/pittsburgh/press-releases/2012/federal-prisoners-charged-for-murder-of-cellmate
  33. "Federal Inmate Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder of Fellow Prisoner"
    https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/federal-inmate-sentenced-life-prison-murder-fellow-prisoner
  34. Yahoo! News
    https://www.yahoo.com/news/former-honduran-president-juan-orlando-191441793.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9lbi53aWtpcGVkaWEub3JnLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAKcP6yOFLcw48JPweAFD23EHB-r2HaZDjrFwtjoye0ujXr17-iaHuTSEk3CKPzh2O4PtOuZ4eVbHg5cg8n_n9PbwvEsEmlU4uFwzgPJuxMC6zxVLiFR-VwEC5WCVAuuWlZQjyUb_HeZhpyNcGN5OwXPpC3J4stUN6GpnksjDku4O
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