Penitenciaría Federal de Sona

Penitenciaría Federal de Sona (English: The Federal Penitentiary of Sona) Is a fictional prison featured in the American TV series Prison Break. The prison is set in Panama and is the main setting for the series' third season.

Although there are many differences between the two, Sona is based on, or at least inspired by, the notorious Carandiru Penitentiary, a prison which was operational from 1956 to 2002 in São Paulo City, Brazil but was most well known for a massacre that occurred in 1992. As explained in the first episode of Season 3, it seems that anyone who gets put into Sona is there for life. Due to a prison riot the year before Season 3 takes place, Sona is no longer run by guards from within. Instead, guards only patrol from outside on the boundaries, leaving the prisoners to fend for themselves inside the walls. As stated by Lechero, it is only rules that will stop the inmates from becoming savages, and as such, Lechero runs Sona on the inside, with his rules in place.

The prison first appeared in the finale of Prison Break's Season 2, Sona. Michael Scofield was sent there after his self-sacrifice and confession to Sara Tancredi's crime of killing William "Bill" Kim. Alexander Mahone was also incarcerated in this episode for possessing illegal drugs, although he was set up by Michael. Brad Bellick was also set up and found himself there, though this was by Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell for first degree murder. Sona becomes the main location in Season 3, with seven of the ten lead cast members of the season finding themselves within Sona's walls at some point. Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell is incarcerated from episode 1 of season 3, while Fernando Sucre ends up there in the Season 3 finale. Norman "Lechero" St. John, McGrady, and James Whistler are the characters that are first introduced inside Sona. The prison is the second that Scofield, Bellick, and Sucre have been incarcerated in, and at least the third one T-Bag has been in.

...
Wikipedia