Every U.S. prison inmate affiliated with the El Salvadoran gang, La Mara Salvatrucha, more commonly known as MS-13, has been moved to FCI Lewisburg—an understaffed, unsecured and decrepit facility in Pennsylvania, according to a new report from the DOJ-Inspector General’s Office.
“In March 2022, it received all La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang inmates who had been housed at other [Bureau of Prisons] institutions. The BOP made the decision to transfer all MS-13 inmates to one institution to prevent system-wide gang violence after MS-13 members murdered two rival gang members at USP Beaumont in January 2022,” states a Thursday report from the DOJ-OIG.
While there has been reporting over the last two years about “some” MS-13 members being moved to FCI Lewisburg, Thursday’s DOJ-OIG report appears to be the first official acknowledgment that every federal MS-13 inmate is being housed there.
Thursday’s report also detailed the numerous problems plaguing FCI Lewisburg, from inadequate staffing to decrepit facilities and failing security cameras—along with a seemingly abusive atmosphere for the employees.
According to the DOJ-OIG, FCI had only 191 of its 245 authorized positions in its Correctional Services Department filled as of January—meaning that the facility is short roughly 50 correctional officers. That understaffing has led to guards overly relying on solitary confinement—which, in turn, skyrockets the suicide risk for inmates, the report shows.
Of the facility’s 575 inmates, 71 were in “restrictive housing”—13 of those in solitary confinement. Some were kept there for their safety, the DOJ-OIG noted. […]
— Read More: headlineusa.com
