United States Penitentiary, Hazelton
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| Location |
Preston County, near Bruceton Mills, West Virginia |
|---|---|
| Status | Operational |
| Population | 1,500 (150 in minimum-security prison camp; 700 in Secure Female Facility) |
| Opened | 2004 (Secure Female Facility opened in 2006) |
| Managed by | Federal Bureau of Prisons |
| Warden | Joe Coakley |
The United States Penitentiary, Hazelton (USP Hazelton) is a high-security United States federal prison for male inmates in West Virginia. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. The facility has a satellite prison camp for minimum-security male offenders.
The facility is located in Preston County, West Virginia, several miles east of Bruceton Mills.
USP Hazelton was built due to an increasing need for modern facilities to house the growing number of federal inmates. The high security facility and the satellite minimum security prison camp cost $129 million to build and takes up 996 acres, and were designed by KZF Architectural Firm.
The 650,000-square-foot high-security facility, completed in 2004, contains six two-story buildings with 768 general housing cells and 120 "special housing cells" where especially dangerous prisoners are housed. In addition, there are several one- and two-story buildings which house various prison programs, as well as a factory where prisoners work. It is surrounded by a triple security fence with a taut wire system, and six guard towers around the perimeter.
The 27,000-square-foot minimum security Federal Prison Camp, also completed in 2004, is located outside the high security perimeter of the high-security facility. It consists of living units and prison program facilities and has a capacity of 128 inmates.
The 250,000-square-foot Secure Female Facility was completed in 2006 at a cost of $69 million. It contains two housing buildings which have a capacity of 512 inmates, as well as several program buildings which surround a courtyard area.
On October 7, 2007, inmate Jesse Harris was murdered at USP Hazelton. A long and complex investigation led to an October 2, 2012 indictment charging inmates Patrick Andrews and Kevin Bellinger with second-degree murder. Since both inmates were already serving life sentences, Andrews for two separate homicides in 1997 and 2000 and Bellinger for an attempted murder in 2007, they were also charged with murder by a federal prisoner serving a life sentence. William J. Ihlenfeld, II, the US Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia, announced that the Department of Justice will seek the death penalty against Andrews if he is convicted.
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