ADX Florence

The United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) in Florence is a supermax prison in Florence, Colorado. It is unofficially known as ADX Florence, Florence ADMAX, Supermax, or the Alcatraz of the Rockies. It is operated by the federal government and is part of the Florence Federal Correctional Complex (FCC). ADX houses the prisoners who are deemed the most dangerous and in need of the tightest control.



There is only one supermax prison in the United States federal system. However, many states now have created supermax prisons; either as stand alone facilities, or as secure units within lower security prisons. The federal supermax prison is currently ADX Florence in Florence, Colorado. State supermax prisons include Pelican Bay in California and Tamms in Illinois. The USP in Marion, Illinois, was recently downgraded to a medium security facility.

ADX Florence is a federal prison, comprising a 37-acre, 490-bed complex at 5880 Highway 67, Florence, Colorado. It is one of 3 correctional facilities of the Florence Federal Correctional Complex (FFCC), each with a different overall security level.

ADX Florence generally houses around 430 male prisoners, each assigned to one of six security levels. ADX Florence was designed jointly by DLR Group Justice (a part of the architecture, engineering, planning and interiors firm specializing in incarceration-related facilities in the U.S.A.) and LKA Partners of Colorado Springs.


About 22% of inmates have killed fellow prisoners in other correctional facilities; 35% have attempted to attack other prisoners or officers. As a result, most individuals are kept for at least 23 hours each day in solitary confinement. They are housed in a 7-by-12 ft (3.5-by-2 m) room, built behind a steel door and grate. The remaining free hour is spent exercising alone in a separate concrete chamber. Prisoners rarely see each other, and the inmates� only direct human interaction is with correctional officers. Visiting from outside the prison is conducted through glass, with each prisoner in a separate chamber. Religious services are broadcast from a small chapel.

Part of the prison is a �stepdown� program, designed to encourage less antisocial behavior and eventually transfer prisoners out of the ADX and back to the Maximum Security population. The program is three years in length, each year allowing more freedom and social contact with other inmates. Any violation during the program means participants revert to year one.

A cell at ADX

Most cells� furniture is made almost entirely out of poured concrete, including a desk, stool, and bed covered by a thin mattress. Each chamber contains a toilet that shuts off if plugged, and a sink missing a potentially dangerous tap. Rooms may also be fitted with polished steel mirrors bolted to the wall, an electric light, a radio, a 13-inch black and white television set that shows recreational, educational and religious programming, and a cigarette lighter. These privileges can be taken away as punishment. The 4-in by 4-ft windows confuse the prisoner as to his specific location within the complex because one can see only the sky and roof. Telecommunication with the outside world is forbidden, and food is hand delivered by correctional officers. The prison as a whole contains a multitude of motion detectors and cameras, 1,400 remote-controlled steel doors, and 12 ft (3.7 m) high razor wire fences. Laser beams, pressure pads, and attack dogs guard the area between the prison walls and razor wire.

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List of prisoners at ADX Florence, the United States supermax federal prison in Florence, Colorado.
This list includes both former and current prisoners:

* Abdul Hakim Murad, of al-Qaeda's Operation Bojinka
* Ahmed Ajaj, of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing
* Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, Al Qaeda conspirator in several plots, including one to assassinate U.S. President George W. Bush
* Ahmed Ressam, of the 2000 millennium attack plots
* Andrew Fastow, former CFO of Enron
* Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, 16802-050, former Underboss turned informant for the Lucchese crime family
* Barry Byron Mills, founding member of the Aryan Brotherhood.
* Charles Harrelson, 02582-016, Texan hitman, convicted of murdering federal judge, father of actor Woody Harrelson, died in prison of a heart attack March 15, 2007.
* Clement Rodney Hampton-El, a.k.a. Dr. Rashid, of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing
* Dandeny Mu�oz Mosquera, chief assassin for Pablo Escobar, responsible for the bombing of Avianca Flight 203
* David Lane, 12873-057, white supremacist and racketeer. Died in his sleep 28 May 2007.
* Dwight York, 17911-054, founder of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors serving 135 years for child molestation and racketeering
* El Sayyid Nosair, of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
* Eric Robert Rudolph, 18282-058, terrorist, committed the Centennial Olympic Park bombing and other bombings
* Eyad Ismail, 37802-054, of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing
* Francisco Javier Arellano Felix, Mexican drug lord
* H. Rap Brown, 99974-555, former civil rights activist convicted of murdering a Georgia sheriff's deputy (NOTE: Brown is a Georgia state inmate held here because Georgia does not have a suitable facility.)
* Iyman Faris, also of the NYC landmark plot, sentenced to 20 years in 2003
* James Sabatino, 30906-004, organized crime figure suspected of the 1994 shooting of Tupac Shakur.
* James Ujaama, who tried to develop an al-Qaeda camp in Oregon
* Jeff Fort, he is currently imprisoned on drug trafficking charges. He is also the only American citizen ever convicted of terrorism for hire.
* John Walker Lindh, dubbed "The American Taliban"
* John Greschner, ex-Aryan Brotherhood member turned informant.
* Jose Padilla, 20796-424, convicted of aiding terrorists
* Juan Matta-Ballesteros, 37671-133, drug trafficker in the Enrique Camarena case, serving 480 years
* Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, participant in the 1998 United States embassy bombings
* Kevin Roach, twice-convicted killer, ex-Aryan Brotherhood member turned informant.
* Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, 26301-053, an American drug trafficker and organized crime figure.
* Larry Hoover, 86063-024, leader of the Gangster Disciples gang in Chicago
* Luis Felipe, leader of the Latin Kings gang
* Mahmud Abouhalima, of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing
* Manuel Torrez, who in 2005 at age 64 became the first inmate to be murdered in a Supermax prison
* Matthew F. Hale, 15177-424, white supremacist for soliciting the murder of federal judge Joan Lefkow
* Michael Swango, physician and serial murderer
* Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-Owhali, of the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings
* Mohammed A. Salameh, of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing
* Mohammed Ali Hassan Al-Moayad, would-be financier of al-Qaeda and Hamas, serving 75 years
* Mohammed Odeh is one of the four former al-Qaeda members sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001 for their parts in the 1998 United States embassy bombings.
* Mohammed Mansour Jabarah, a Canadian convicted of terrorism-related offences
* Mutulu Shakur, 83205-012, serving 60 years for a bank robbery in which a policeman and two guards were killed. Stepfather of late rapper Tupac Shakur, brother of Assata Shakur
* Nicodemo Scarfo, was serving life imprisonment at Supermax, primarily on the testimony of a number of informants, including his nephew. He managed to overturn his life sentence and get transferred to an FCI in Atlanta, Georgia.
* Nidal Ayyad, of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing
* Oscar Rivera, leader of the Armed Forces of National Liberation, a Puerto Rican militant group, for bombing 28 targets in the Chicago area. Received an additional 15-year sentence for an escape attempt (from another prison).
* O.G. Mack, founder of the United Blood Nation gang.
* Ramzi Yousef, 03911-000, of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and Operation Bojinka, senior al-Qaeda member
* Richard Reid, 24079-038, al-Qaeda's would-be "Shoe Bomber"
* Richard Lee McNair, 13829-045, escape artist, serving 3 life sentences for murder.
* Robert Hanssen, 48551-083, former senior FBI agent serving life for espionage
* Robert Jones
* Ronald Griesacker, fraudster, passed $2 million in worthless checks. Released in 2002.
* Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, former Underboss turned government witness of the Gambino crime family
* Simon Trinidad, a former member of the FARC secretariat
* Terry Nichols, 08157-031, Oklahoma City bombing conspirator
* Theodore Kaczynski, 04475-046, the "Unabomber"
* Thomas Silverstein, bank robber and murderer; killed guard Merle Clutts at United States Penitentiary, Marion
* Timothy McVeigh, executed 2001 for Oklahoma City bombing
* Tom Manning, political serial bomber, has been transferred to USP Hazelton
* Tyler Davis Bingham, conspired to order multiple killings and assaults from Florence ADX
* Wadih el-Hage, 42393-054, of the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Africa
* Wali Khan Amin Shah, Operation Bojinka
* Yu Kikumura, of the Japanese Red Army, released April 18, 2007, served 221 months, deported
* Zacarias Moussaoui, 51427-054, of the September 11, 2001 attacks