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Federal Prison

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Federal prison comparison
Christopher Gault
CJA/234
December 19, 2011
Rollin Cook

Federal prison comparison
In this paper describe the prisons that certain individuals were sent to. I will make sure I compare and contrast the similarities and differences between these individuals. The individuals I will be discussing are Martha Stewart, Ivan Boesky, Michael Milken, Manuel Noriega, Timothy McVeigh, and Terry Nichols. All of these individuals were convicted of Federal crimes and sent to a Federal prison to serve their time.
Martha Stewart was assigned to the minimum security women's prison in Alderson, W. Va., known as "Camp Cupcake." It is called that because it is a very low security prison and your time spent there should be easy. The West Virginia federal correctional facility is located in the hills of the Allegheny Mountains; this prison is more than 400 miles south of Stewart's Westport home. Martha Stewart wanted to go to a prison closer to her home so she could be close to her elderly mother.
The low security facility was opened in 1927 as the first federal prison for women, Martha wasn’t the first big name to spend time at the facility. The prison once housed Billie Holiday, as well as Lynette Fromme and Sara Jane Moore. Both of these women tried to assassinate President Gerald Ford. The prison has no perimeter fence, and inmates can spend their free time playing volleyball and tennis or even doing aerobics. So that explains why they call it “Camp Cupcake”. Regardless of Martha Stewart's great talents as a lifestyle entrepreneur and trendsetter, prison guards watched Martha Stewart like a hawk to make sure she didn’t receive special attention or conduct any business while she was behind bars.
Michael Milken is a convicted junk bond financier that was sentenced to ten years in a minimum security prison in the San Francisco Bay area in 1991. Milken was part of one of the most intense white collar prosecutions in history. Like Martha Stewart, Michael Milken was indicted on 98 counts of racketeering and security fraud as a result of insider trading investigation. The medium security federal prison would not be considered as “camp cupcake” because they don’t have the same freedom as the low security federal prisons. There is no volley ball games and open environment because of the inmates that are housed there.
Ivan Boesky served three years in a federal prison, he was once among the financial

world’s most powerful speculators and now a symbol of Wall Street's excesses, was sentenced

three years in prison for conspiring to file false stock trading records. One thing I have learned is

that our federal government does not play when it comes to money. It doesn’t matter how

powerful you make think you are. If you violate the federal government you will pay dearly.

These types of crimes are considered white collar crimes.

Manuel Noriega was deposed after a 1989 U.S. invasion and went on to serve 20 years in

a Florida prison for drug trafficking. He was extradited to France in April to stand trial on

accusations related to his assets here. Once again no matter whom you are if you play around

with money the wrong way our government will catch up with you. The prosecution argued that

millions of dollars that passed through Noriega's French accounts during the late 1980s were

kickbacks from the powerful Medellin cocaine cartel. His lawyers had pushed for an acquittal,

saying the trial was part of a political plot against him and arguing that Noriega's age and poor

health means he would certainly die behind bars if convicted. Noriega had blood pressure

problems and is paralyzed on the left side following a stroke, well that’s what his lawyers said.

There has long been confusion about his true date of birth. There is always an issue with the age

of immigrants because most of them have no birth certificates.

Noriega served out his U.S. sentence in 2007, but he stayed behind bars for 32 months

during a protracted battle to fight extradition to France. Noriega is being held at the La Sante prison in southern Paris. His lawyers say the prison is squalid and unfit for a man of his age and

rank. France has refused to grant him prisoner of war status, which he had in the U.S.Behind bars

in Miami, Noriega had perks including the right to wear his military uniform and insignia. In

France, he is not allowed to wear his trademark uniform and has showed up in court in an

ordinary suit.

Timothy McVeigh served his time on death row at Terre Haute Federal prison in Indiana.

Terre Haute is a medium security federal prison that is currently the home of the only federal

death penalty inmates in the United States where they receive lethal injection. It’s kind of odd to

me that a prison with death row inmates is a medium level federal facility. I thought if there were

death row inmates the prison should be a high level security prison. Timothy McVeigh is known

as the one of the world’s most notorious criminals for his Oklahoma City bombing that killed so

many and left the United States with our hearts heavy for the families of the victims involved.

Terry Nichols is the Oklahoma City bomber conspirator who helped Timothy McVeigh

kill 168 people the Alfred P. Murrah federal building on April 19, 1995. Terry Nichols serves his

time at a maximum security federal prison near Florence, Colorado. Terry Nichols was sentenced

to serve out the rest of his natural life in near solitary confinement. Unlike the other individuals I

have discussed Terry is in a maximum security federal prison. In a maximum security prison

inmates are in their cell 23 and 1. That means Terry Nichols only gets to leave his cell for one

hour a day if that’s.

In conclusion all the individuals I have discussed have some things in common. Everyone

except Timothy and Terry were involved with white collar crimes that were due to money

laundering and receiving tips on stocks. I have learned through my research that our government

is very strict when it comes to how a person receives and transfers their funds through banks. We

have so many white collar criminals that try to take advantage of banks in different countries by

trying to hide money. Also all of the criminals involved with white collar crimes were sent to

low level federal prisons because they have nonviolent charges. I can’t believe they sent Martha

Stewart to jail, but that’s a perfect example of how serious our government is when it comes to

making a profit.

References http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/27/opinion/courtwatch/main620039.shtml http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17324-2004Oct8.html http://tech.mit.edu/V112/N9/milken.09w.html http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/jan2009/manuel-noriega.html
http://www.findadeath.com/Deceased/m/mcveigh/timothy_mcveigh.htm

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