Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Dix

Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Dix

Location	New Hanover Township, New Jersey
Coordinates	39°59′54″N 74°36′49″W / 39.9984°N 74.6137°WCoordinates: 39°59′54″N 74°36′49″W / 39.9984°N 74.6137°W
Status	Operational
Security class	Low-security (with minimum-security prison camp)
Population	4,250 (420 in prison camp)
Managed by	Federal Bureau of Prisons

The Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Dix (FCI Fort Dix) is a low-security United States federal prison for male offenders in New Jersey. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. A satellite prison camp houses minimum-security male inmates.

FCI Fort Dix is located in Burlington County on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. It is approximately 40 miles from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.^[1] Fort Dix is the largest single federal prison in the United States by number of inmates.^[2]

Notable incidents

Identity theft ring

In early 2010, a joint FBI and Federal Bureau of Prisons investigation found that Dimorio McDowell, an inmate at FCI Fort Dix, was operating a major identity theft ring from the prison. Eight co-conspirators, with whom McDowell communicated by telephone, were also arrested. The ring targeted credit cards issued by major chain stores such as Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue, Staples, Home Depot, Lowes and others. McDowell and his co-conspirators obtained the personal information of credit card holders through customer service departments and added themselves as authorized users. When McDowell's co-conspirators went to make purchases, they showed false identification or provided the last four digits of the cardholder's Social Security number and charged high-end items such as a John Deere tractor, big-screen televisions, snow blowers and stoves. The companies that issued the cards, including Citigroup Financial, HSBC and GE Capital, lost between $500,000 to $1 million.^[3]

McDowell subsequently pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud and was sentenced to 14 additional years in prison on January 18, 2011.^[4] McDowell is currently incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution, Terre Haute in Indiana, which has a Communication Management Unit, where inmate contact with the outside world is severely restricted and tightly monitored. He is scheduled for release in 2028.^[5]

Notable inmates (current and former)

High-profile inmates

Inmate name	Register number	Status	Details
George Jung	19225-004	Released from custody in 2014; served 19 years.[6]	Drug trafficker and former partner of drug kingpin Carlos Lehder; directed the shipment of thousands of tons of narcotics into the US in the 1970s and 1980s; pleaded guilty to drug trafficking in 1995; portrayed by Johnny Depp in the 2001 film Blow.[7][8]
Richard Goldberg	14321-052	Serving a 20-year sentence; scheduled for release in 2024.	Serial child molester and FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive until his capture in 2007; pleaded guilty in 2007 to producing child pornography, including images of himself engaging in sexual acts with underage girls.[9][10]

Politicians

Inmate name	Register number	Status	Details
Buddy Cianci	05000-070	Released from custody in 2007; served 4 years.[11]	Mayor of Providence, Rhode Island from 1975 to 1984 and 1991 to 2002; convicted in 2002 of racketeering for accepting bribes in exchange for city jobs from 1991 to 1999.[12][13]

Fraudsters

Inmate name	Register number	Status	Details
Martin Frankel	14142-014	Serving a 17-year sentence; scheduled for release in May 2016.	Pleaded guilty in 2002 to racketeering and fraud for siphoning over $200 million from insurance premiums paid to companies he controlled in the 1990s; Frankel's story was featured on the CNBC television program American Greed.[14][15][16]

Others

Inmate name	Register number	Status	Details
Casey Fury	07480-036	Serving a 17-year sentence; scheduled for release in 2027.	Former worker at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine; pleaded guilty to arson for setting fire to the nuclear submarine USS Miami in 2012, injuring five firefighters and two sailors and causing $400 million in damage.[17]
David Headley (a.k.a. Daood Sayed Gilani)	?	In another prison for a different crime	After serving a drug sentence at Dix he conspired in the 2008 Mumbai attacks[18]

See also

• List of U.S. federal prisons
• Incarceration in the United States

References

1. "BOP: FCI Fort Dix". Bop.gov. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
2. Hanley, Robert (1992-08-30). "Fort Dix May Become Federal Prison". The New York Times.
3. Cruz, Alicia (April 3, 2010). "Dimorio McDowell accused of running major credit card scam from New Jersey prison cell". newjerseynewsroom.com. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
4. "Inmate Who Ran a Quarter-Million-Dollar Identity Theft Ring from Inside Federal Prison Receives an Additional 14.5 Years in Prison". Federal Bureau of Investigation. January 18, 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
5. "Inmate Locator: Dimorio McDowell". Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
6. Associated Press (June 5, 2014). "Drug informant George Jung, portrayed in 'Blow,' released from prison". Fox News. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
7. "Drug Enforcement Administration: 1975-1980" (PDF). Drug Enforcement Administration. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
8. Woodford, Ryan. "George Jung". Free Info Society. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
9. "Tip snares alleged child molester on FBI top 10 list". CNN. Cable News Network, LLC. May 13, 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
10. Glover, Scott (December 11, 2007). "Ex-fugitive gets 20 years in molestation". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
11. "Ex-mayor Buddy Cianci leaves prison". USA Today. May 30, 2007. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
12. Pam Belluck (2002-09-07). "A Sentence for Corruption Ends an Era in Providence - New York Times". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-11-01.
13. Zezima, Katherine (2002-11-28). "National Briefing | New England: Rhode Island: Providence Mayor's Plea Rejected - New York Times". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-11-01.
14. PAUL ZIELBAUER. Published: May 16, 2002 (2002-05-16). "After Years of High Life, Swindler Pleads Guilty - New York Times". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
15. Alison Leigh Cowan (2004-12-11). "Onetime Fugitive Gets 17 Years for Looting Insurers". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-11-01.
16. "American Greed - The Martin Frankel Case". CNBC. 2008-01-16. Retrieved 2012-11-01.
17. Boyette, Chris (March 16, 2013). "Shipyard worker sentenced to 17 years for $400 million submarine fire". CNN. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
18. Gerald Posner (December 8, 2009). "The Making of a Terrorist". The Daily Beast.