Posted on 09/17/2002 12:12:03 PM PDT by wallcrawlr
NEW YORK - As disgraced former Tyco Chief Executive L. Dennis Kozlowski faces new charges of fraud and theft on top of multiple tax-evasion indictments, prison time seems nearly certain.
Where does a man who has everything go to do hard time? While convicts don't get to choose their poison, er, prison, they can make requests. With that in mind, we reviewed the federal penitentiary system and picked the five very best places to go to prison.
Wherever Kozlowski ends up, he'll likely be in good company, since Adelphia founder John Rigas has been cuffed and the Feds are circling WorldCom's Bernie Ebbers. And still on the Department of Justice's to-do list are Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia's namesake, Global Crossing's Gary Winnick, Qwest Communications' execs and, of course, the Enron alumni who ushered in the era.
Eglin is the original "Club Fed," nicknamed as such back in the 1980s when prisoners were allowed to wear their own clothes and even go home to have dinner with their families. Those fast and loose days are long gone, but the nickname has stuck. Inmates maintain the golf course at nearby Eglin Air Force Base, but make no mistake--they never get the chance to hit a few themselves. Disgraced shoe designer Steve Madden is scheduled to do his 41-month sentence here.
Location: Fort Walton Beach, Fla. Opened: 1962 Capacity: 800 Population: 792 Amenities: Open dormitories hold 50 men who sleep in two-man cubicles. Softball, basketball, soccer, flag football, universal weight machine, free weights. Vocational training offered in diesel and small-engine mechanics; dental assistant apprenticeships. Prisoner perks: Eglin has an active music department that sponsors a number of inmate bands and also has a stash of instruments that prisoners can check out. Also of note is the camp's strong religious studies program that even goes so far as to offer Native American practitioners a small hide tent that can be used as a sweat lodge.
Nellis is one camp that is often requested by white-collar criminals because it's the only minimum-security facility on the West Coast that's freestanding--or, in other words, that isn't located alongside a higher-security prison. Camps that co-exist with hard-core cellblocks feel more like "real" prisons since camp inmates often have to work inside of them, surrounded by the razor wire and watchtowers.
Location: North Las Vegas Opened: 1990 Capacity: 415 Population: 588 Amenities: Men sleep four to a cubicle in open dorms that hold up to 40. Softball, basketball, soccer, flag football, universal weight machine, free weights, stationary bikes and stair stepper machines, as well as pool and pingpong tables. Classes offered in leatherworking and general art. Prisoner perks: The dormitories at Nellis are air conditioned, which is unusual for a system that's generally bereft of any creature comforts. And Nellis' gym is better equipped than those at other camps. Most prisons just let inmates pump iron, but Nellis actually has cardio equipment (albeit very old), including stationary bikes and stair climbers.
Perched amid the rolling Blue Ridge Mountains of West Virginia, Morgantown is one of the most picturesque camps in the system. Inmates say it is not unusual for them to awake in the morning to the sight of deer grazing on the compound.
Location: Morgantown, W.Va. Opened: 1969 Capacity: 935 Population: 1,009 Amenities: Dorms house up to 300 men, sleeping in two-man cubes. Weights, pool and pingpong tables. Classes in leatherworking, art and wood carving. No organized team sports. Vocational training offered in data entry and welding, plus apprenticeship programs in baking, commercial photography, computer technology, air-conditioning systems, landscaping, printing presses, painting and plumbing. Prisoner perks: Morgantown is the only prison camp that isn't located on a military base. This means that instead of taking three or four hours getting cleared to enter the base and then the camp, Morgantown visitors can practically breeze right in and out.
Otisville was designed primarily with the Orthodox Jewish community in mind, although it is not officially designated as a Jewish facility. It was built in response to the fact that Orthodox Jews often tried to get out of doing time by making the legal argument that the Bureau of Prisons violated their First Amendment rights because it could not accommodate their religious lifestyle.
Location: Otisville, N.Y. Opened: 1980 Capacity: 100 Population: 119 Amenities: One dorm with two-man cubicles. Playing cards, board games and walking. No athletics. No vocational training. Prisoner perks: Kosher kitchen, weekly Shabbat observances. Every year during Passover, Jewish convicts are flown into Otisville temporarily to participate in a seder.
Allenwood is mentioned often by the media, probably because so many convicts from the New York City area are sent there. And like Eglin, inmates used to be permitted privileges like having food from the outside sent in. But after the public became outraged by these cushy conditions, the camp was overhauled and is now considerably more austere.
Location: Montgomery, Pa. Opened: 1993 Capacity: 567 Population: 584 Amenities: Dorms house up to 80 men in two-man cubicles. Softball, basketball, soccer, flag football, universal weight machine, free weights, pool and pingpong tables. Vocational training offered in horticulture. One program is 150 hours, another is 500 hours. Graduates of both receive certificates of completion. Prisoner perks: Its musical program not only provides instruments but also offers inmate-led instruction. Allenwood is also known for having a particularly diverse inmate population--which, according to experts, makes it a little easier for white-collar convicts to fit in.
Eminently. And we have more in common than you may know.
Sorry if I misinterpreted your previous comments.
Whoever spends the most wins. It's just that simple.
Not true. He has the most persistence wins. I know that as a personal fact, it is quite indisputable beyond any doubt in my own experience.
He who has the persistence, the facts, and the truth wins.
I'm sorry things didn't work as you expected.
As we grow older we accept with equanimity that "The wheels of justice grind slowly, BUT they grind exceedingly fine."
You will get a fair hearing, but it may take very long time.
...Prisoner perks: Kosher kitchen, weekly Shabbat observances. Every year during Passover, Jewish convicts are flown into Otisville temporarily to participate in a seder.
What a Country!
I would have pursued one particular case until my death day. It was against a law firm for $138.00 USD.
I don't know what your case was about.
Mine was about the truth.
I won.
I've been living and working at Eglin for over 20 years, and the prison camp is not as cushie as this article implies. The inmates here do all the installation upkeep--mowing lawns, raking leaves, picking up cigarette butts, etc.--that otherwise the already overworked airmen would get stuck doing. There are few discipline problems with these guys cause they know they're headed to the big house if they screw-up and the good thing is they will do at least 85 percent of their sentence before they get a shot at parole. While I think whitecollar criminals should do hard time just like the doper that robs a convienence store, the federal prison system arrangement at places like Eglin and Tyndall do have some good points.
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