United States Penitentiary, Beaumont

United States Penitentiary, Beaumont
Location Jefferson County, near Beaumont, Texas
Status Operational
Security class high-security
Population 1,460
Opened 1998
Managed by Federal Bureau of Prisons
Warden Charles Daniels

The United States Penitentiary, Beaumont (USP Beaumont) is a high-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Texas. It is part of the Federal Correctional Complex, Beaumont (FCC Beaumont) and is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.

FCC Beaumont is located approximately 100 miles (160 km) east of Houston.[1]

Notable incidents

2007 inmate murder

On November 28, 2007, correction officers were escorting inmates Mark Snarr and Edgar Garcia to their cells at the USP Beaumont. When they arrived, Snarr and Garcia slipped from their restraints, repeatedly stabbed both correction officers with homemade prison knives known as shanks, and took the officers' cell keys.

Snarr and Garcia then unlocked the cell of inmate Gabriel Rhone and stabbed Rhone over 50 times. Additional officers arrived and used chemical agents to stop the attack, which lasted several minutes and was captured on surveillance camera. The wounded corrections officers and Rhone were transported to a local hospital, where Rhone was pronounced dead. The officers were treated and survived.

Attorneys for Snarr and Garcia claimed that Rhone had repeatedly threatened to kill their clients and that prison officials had failed to respond to those threats. However, Snarr and Garcia were subsequently convicted of murder and both were sentenced to death on May 24, 2010.[2][3] They are currently being held at the United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute, a high-security facility in Indiana which houses federal death row.[4][5]

2008 inmate murder

On February 12, 2008, USP Beaumont staff discovered the body of a 29-year-old inmate, Ronald Joseph, in his cell. An autopsy showed that Joseph died from asphyxia due to ligature strangulation or compression of the neck. Further investigation identified James Sweeney and Harry Lee Napper, both inmates at USP Beaumont, as suspects in the murder. Sweeney and Napper were indicted and charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and second-degree murder on May 4, 2011.[6] In 2012, Sweeney pleaded guilty to racketeering and murder charges for leading the prison gang Dead Man Incorporated in exchange for the murder charge being dismissed and was sentenced to life in prison.[7][8] Napper received a decades-long sentence.[9]

Notable inmates

Inmate Name Register Number Status Details
Adley Abdulwahab 77373-279 Serving a 60-year sentence; scheduled for release in 2071. Hedge fund manager and part owner of A&O Resources Management; convicted in 2011 of stealing $100 million from 800 victims by misrepresenting details about the company and concealing his prior criminal history; several co-conspirators were also sentenced to prison; the story was featured on the CNBC television program American Greed.[10][11][12]
Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez 33230-068 Serving a 25-year sentence; scheduled for release in 2033. Pleaded guilty to terrorism and weapons offenses for using a semi-automatic assault rifle to fire at least eight rounds at the White House on November 11, 2011 in an attempt to kill President Barack Obama, whom he believed was the antichrist.
Oscar Wyatt 39314-179 Released from custody in 2008; served 1 year at the minimum-security prison camp.[13] Founder of the now-defunct Coastal Corporation in Texas; pleaded guilty in 2007 to wire fraud for paying kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime in order to win lucrative oil contracts from Iraq; part of the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program debacle.[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "USP Beaumont". Bop.gov. 2015-04-10. Retrieved 2015-10-12.
  2. ↑ Ken Fountain (2010-03-29). "2 denied self-defense in inmate killing". Beaumont Enterprise. Retrieved 2015-10-12.
  3. ↑ Archived January 15, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ "Inmate Locator". Bop.gov. Retrieved 2015-10-12.
  5. ↑ "Inmate Locator". Bop.gov. Retrieved 2015-10-12.
  6. ↑ "FBI — Federal Inmates Charged with Murdering Beaumont Prisoner". Fbi.gov. Retrieved 2015-10-12.
  7. ↑ Justin Fenton (2012-09-26). "Prison gang leader pleads guilty, promises to continue to defy government - tribunedigital-baltimoresun". Articles.baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2015-10-12.
  8. ↑ Archived July 21, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ "Inmate Locator". Bop.gov. Retrieved 2015-10-12.
  10. ↑ "Hedge Fund Manager of A&O Entities Convicted in $100 Million Fraud Scheme". US Department of Justice. June 10, 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  11. ↑ Associated Press (October 23, 2012). "Former Costa Rican businessman convicted in $485M fraud scheme sentenced in Va. to 60 years". Fox News. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  12. ↑ O'Dell, Larry (September 30, 2011). "Texas Man Sentenced to 60 Years for $100M Insurance Fraud". Insurance Journal.
  13. ↑ Fowler, Tom (January 2, 2008). "Oscar Wyatt reports to prison in Beaumont". chron.com. Hearst Newspapers, LLC. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  14. ↑ Kearney, Christine (2007-11-27). "Texas oilman Wyatt sentenced to year in prison". Reuters. Retrieved 2015-10-12.

Coordinates: 29°57′52″N 94°04′46″W / 29.96444°N 94.07944°W / 29.96444; -94.07944

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