Federal Correctional Complex, Petersburg

The Federal Correctional Complex, Petersburg (FCC Petersburg) is a United States federal prison complex for male inmates in Petersburg, Virginia.[1] It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.

Federal Correctional Complex, Petersburg
LocationPrince George County,
near Hopewell, Virginia
StatusOperational
Security classLow and medium-security (with minimum-security prison camp)
Population3,400 (1,111 at Low; 1,595 at Medium; and 293 at minimum-security camp)
Managed byFederal Bureau of Prisons

The complex consists of two facilities:

  • Federal Correctional Institution, Petersburg Low: a low-security facility with an adjacent satellite prison camp for minimum-security inmates.
  • Federal Correctional Institution, Petersburg Medium: a medium-security facility.

FCC Petersburg is located 25 miles southeast of Richmond, Virginia, the state capital.[2] It lies in the northwesternmost part of Prince George County, just west of Hopewell, Virginia.

FCC Petersburg is located in Prince George County, 25 miles southeast of Richmond, Virginia, the state capital.[3] It lies just west of the independent city of Hopewell, Virginia.

Facility and programs

FCI Petersburg offers numerous educational opportunities, including a GED Program, English as-a-Second Language, Occupational Education, Post-Secondary Education, Adult Continuing Education, as well as Parenting Classes and Release Preparation. The facility also has a Law Library which compliant inmates may use periodically.

FCI Petersburg is one of several federal prison facilities which offer sex offender treatment programs. The Sex Offender Management Program (SOMP) at FCI Petersburg was established to assist in effectively managing the Bureau of Prisons' population of offenders with sex offense histories. The program consists of assessment/evaluation, treatment, and monitoring/managing components. The assessment/evaluation component of SOMP is non-voluntary because it assists correctional staff in determining whether the inmate is likely to engage in risk relevant behavior while incarcerated. The remaining elements of the program are voluntary.[4]

FCC Petersburg facilities
  • FCI Petersburg Low
  • FCI Petersburg Medium

Notable incidents

In 2008, a joint investigation conducted by the FBI and the Bureau of Prisons found that an inmate at FCI Petersburg, John Leighnor, was coordinating an ongoing identity-theft scheme from the facility. Leighnor was already serving a 7-year-sentence dating from a conviction in 2003 for another identity-theft scheme. Armed with the names of his victims, Leighnor drafted correspondence to be sent by mail to various governmental agencies and other organizations to obtain official documentation for his targets. In connection with each mailing, Leighnor either claimed that he was the person he was victimizing or that he was a lawyer, advocate, or other designated representative for a targeted victim. He requested the victim's personal documentation, such as birth certificates, family information, undergraduate transcripts, enrollment applications, and death certificates. Leighnor directed that all return correspondence be sent to his attention at various addresses, including: "Dept. 14375-077, P.O. Box 1000, Petersburg, Virginia 23804." He concealed the fact that the correspondence would be delivered to him at FCI Petersburg and that "14375-077" was his federal prisoner identification number.

Upon receiving the victim's identifying information, Leighnor planned to obtain passports, birth certificates, driver's licenses, and other identification documents for himself in the victims' names, to be used in traveling and obtaining funds from financial institutions and individuals. Leighnor also possessed documents and made statements to other inmates at FCI Petersburg about his plans to file claims with the Claims Resolution Tribunal (the entity charged with handling claims on Swiss bank accounts believed to have been abandoned by victims of Nazi persecution during World War II), in order to gain control of abandoned funds in the Swiss bank accounts connected to Holocaust victims.

In 2009, Leighnor was sentenced to an additional 8 years in prison for mail fraud and identity theft related to the FCI Petersburg scheme. He was held at the Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Dix, a low-security facility in New Jersey. He was released in 2016 after completing his sentence.[5][6]

A joint investigation conducted by the FBI and the Department of Justice Inspector General found that a correction officer at FCC Petersburg, Keif Jackson, conspired with inmate Walter Brooks to smuggle heroin inside the facility. In 2008, Brooks recruited Jackson to smuggle heroin to him in the prison. At Brooks' request, Officer Jackson contacted acquaintances of Brooks. He met with them on several occasions to obtain heroin, and smuggled the drugs into the prison. After Brooks was released from FCC Petersburg in 2010, Brooks began supplying heroin to Jackson to smuggle into the prison. Approximately one year later, on Oct. 10, 2011, Jackson was stopped by the police on his way to work. Upon searching his vehicle, officers recovered a package containing heroin.[7]

Jackson entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute heroin in March 2012 and was sentenced to 12 months in prison.

In September 2012, a federal jury convicted Brooks, 57, of conspiracy to provide contraband to inmates, conspiracy to distribute heroin, five counts of providing contraband to inmates, and three counts of use of a communication facility to commit a felony.[8]

Notable inmates (current and former)

Medium Security
Inmate Name Register Number Status Details
Eric Justin Toth 32508-016 Now at FCI Englewood Former Washington, D.C. elementary school teacher and FBI Ten Most Wanted fugitive; apprehended in Nicaragua in 2013 after five years on the run; pleaded guilty in 2013 to production of child pornography.[9][10]
Roger Loughry Sr. 43691-037 Now at FCI Fort Dix Administrator of "The Cache," an online bulletin board where hundreds of child pornographers from around the world shared images and videos of children being molested; convicted in 2013 of advertising and distributing child pornography.[11][12]
Richard Chandler 44076-074 Serving a 35-year sentence, scheduled for release in 2032 Former Tennessee police officer; arrested in the largest child pornography prosecution in US history; pleaded guilty in 2012 to contributing to "Dreamboard," a website whose members produced and traded images and videos of adults molesting children.[13][14]
David A. Kaye 71353-083 Released from custody in 2016 after serving 6 years. Jewish rabbi; convicted in 2006 of coercion and traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct for trying to solicit sex from a 13-year-old boy over the Internet in 2005; featured on the Dateline NBC series To Catch a Predator.[15]

Minimum Security
Inmate Name Register Number Status Details
Sharpe James 28791-050 Released from custody in 2010 after serving 18 months.[16] Mayor of Newark, New Jersey from 1986 to 2006; convicted of fraud in 2008 for selling city properties to his girlfriend, Tamika Riley, for a fraction of their actual cost.[17][18]
Sabri Benkahla 46867-083 Serving a 10-year sentence; scheduled for release in 2016. Member of the Virginia jihad network; convicted in 2007 of perjury and obstruction of justice for lying to FBI agents and a grand jury investigating a training camp run by Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani terrorist organization with ties to al-Qaeda.[19]
Mark Siljander 20611-045 Released on January 13, 2013 after serving a 1-year sentence. Michigan Congressman from 1981 to 1987; pleaded guilty in 2010 to obstruction of justice and acting as an unregistered foreign agent related to his work for the Islamic American Relief Agency, a charity with ties to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.[20][21]
Tarik Shah 53145-054 Released on June 22, 2018 after serving a 15-year sentence. Jazz musician and karate master; pleaded guilty in 2007 to conspiracy to provide material support to al-Qaeda for agreeing to provide martial arts and hand-to-hand combat training to al-Qaeda members.[22]
Deric Lostutter 21103-032 Spent a brief time in Medium Security, before being transferred to minimum. Released on September 11, 2018 from Residential Reentry Management housing in Cincinnati. Anonymous activist who arranged the hacking of the Big Red website in connection with the Steubenville High School rape case.
Noah McHugh 21049-032 Released on November 7, 2017 from federal Residential Reentry Management housing in Baltimore. Hacker who carried out the aforementioned hack on behalf of Deric Lostutter.

See also

References
  1. Zoukis, Christopher (25 June 2013). "Prison Profile: Federal Correctional Institution Petersburg Low - Prisoner Resource". Prisoner Resource. Middle Street Publishing. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  2. "FCC Petersburg". Federal Bureau of Prisons. Archived from the original on June 21, 2012. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
  3. "FCI Petersburg Low". Federal Bureau of Prisons.
  4. "Inmate Orientation Handbook: FCC Petersburg" (PDF). Federal Bureau of Prisons. US Department of Justice. October 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  5. "Petersburg Inmate Sentenced to 102 Months for Fraud". Federal Bureau of Investigation. March 4, 2009. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  6. "Inmate Locator - John Kenneth Leighnor, Jr". Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  7. Green, Frank (April 13, 2012). "Former federal prison inmate guilty in heroin smuggling scheme". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  8. "Former Inmate, Correctional Officer Sentenced For Smuggling Heroin into FCC Petersburg" (PDF). US Department of Justice. September 13, 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  9. Nelson, Steven (April 23, 2013). "Eric Justin Toth, Alleged Child Pornographer and FBI 'Most Wanted' Fugitive, Caught in Nicaragua". US News & World Report. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  10. "Former Teacher Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Production of Child Pornography and Other Charges". Federal Bureau of Investigation. March 11, 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  11. Associated Press (February 1, 2013). "Maryland man sentenced to 30 years in Ind. on charges he helped run child porn sharing website". Fox News. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  12. Wilson, Charles (February 1, 2013). "Maryland Man Sentenced for Role in Child Porn Ring". ABC News. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  13. Breeding, Kacie (January 5, 2012). "Ex-Kingsport officer pleads guilty to child porn charge". Kingsport News-Times (TN). Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  14. Taylor, Tarah (April 20, 2012). "Former Kingsport Police Officer Sentenced To 35 Years In Prison". WCYB Kingsport (TN). Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  15. Markon, Jerry (December 2, 2006). "Rabbi Sentenced In Internet Sex Sting". Washington Post. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  16. Giambusso, David (April 6, 2010). "Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James is released from Virginia prison". nj.com. New Jersey On-Line LLC. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  17. Alan Feuer; Nate Schweber (July 30, 2008). "Former Newark Mayor Is Sentenced to 27 Months". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  18. Henry, Samantha (April 7, 2010). "Sharpe James Leaves Prison: Ex-Newark Mayor Released, Welcomed Home By Hundreds". Huffington Post. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  19. Barakat, Matthew (2007-07-24). "Paintballer Sentenced in Terror Case". Washington Post. Retrieved 2013-05-21.
  20. "Former Congressman Pleads Guilty to Obstructing Justice, Acting as Unregistered Foreign Agent". Federal Bureau of Investigation. July 7, 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  21. Associated Press (January 11, 2012). "Ex-congressman sentenced in terror funding case". Fox News. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  22. Feuer, Alan (April 5, 2007). "Bronx Man Pleads Guilty In Terror Case". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 September 2014.

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