Federal Correctional Institution, Terre Haute
The Federal Correctional Institution, Terre Haute is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Indiana. It is part of the Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute and is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. The facility also has an adjacent satellite prison camp for minimum-security male offenders.
FCC Terre Haute is located south of the City of Terre Haute and west of Indianapolis.
Communication Management Unit
FCI Terre Haute has a high-security wing known as the Communication Management Unit. According to the Bureau of Prisons, "The purpose of CMUs is to provide an inmate housing unit environment that enables staff to more effectively monitor communication between CMU inmates and persons in the community."According to the Washington Post, the CMU population has included men convicted in high-profile post-September 11 cases, as well as defendants from the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the 1999 "millennium" plot to bomb the Los Angeles airport, and airline hijacking cases from 1976, 1985 and 1996. Other CMUs are men who have threatened officials from behind bars, ordered murders using contraband cellphones, or engaged in other communications that officials deem threatening.
Minimum-security prison camp
The minimum-security prison camp at FCI Terre Haute was built in 1960 for the purpose of housing non-violent felons to perform farm and maintenance duties. The camp has two, eight, and twelve-person rooms. Programs provided for inmates in this facility include GED, ESL, and drug education classes. Sports, cards, golf, and crafts are all different recreational activities in which the inmates may take part within the camp. A selected group of inmates at the camp take part in a community talk tour called, "Choices," where these inmates visit schools and speak to children that are already involved in meth. The Federal Bureau of Prisons National Bus Center is operated through this camp.Notable inmates (current and former)
Domestic terrorists
- American citizens who committed or attempted to commit terrorist attacks against United States citizens and interests.
| Inmate Name | Register Number | Photo | Status | Details |
| Brandon Russell | Released August 2021. | Terrorist organization Atomwaffen Division founder; Convicted in January 2018 in federal court of possessing an unregistered destructive device and illegally storing explosives. | ||
| Dennis Mahon | Serving a 40-year sentence; scheduled for release in 2043. | White supremacist; convicted of conspiracy to damage buildings and property by means of explosive in 2012 for sending a mail bomb to the Office of Diversity and Dialogue in Scottsdale, Arizona in 2004, which injured two people. | ||
| John Cameron Denton | Was serving 41 months; released from custody on December 20, 2022. | Denton called in a large amount of death and bomb threats against journalists, politicians, predominantly African-American churches and even a member of the cabinet. According to the court documents the calls by Denton impacted 134 different law enforcement agencies. | ||
| Ahmed Omar Abu Ali | 70250-083 | Serving a life sentence. | Convicted in 2009 of plotting to assassinate then-President George W. Bush. | |
| John Walker Lindh | Served a 20-year sentence; Released May 23, 2019. | Enemy combatant captured in Afghanistan; convicted of supplying services to the Taliban and carrying an explosive during the commission of a felony. | ||
| David Lane | 12873-057 | Died on May 28, 2007, while serving a 190-year sentence. | Member of the Neo-Nazi group The Order who was convicted of racketeering and conspiracy charges. |
Foreign terrorists
- Foreign citizens who committed or attempted to commit terrorist attacks against United States citizens and interests.
| Inmate Name | Register Number | Photo | Status | Details |
| Mohammed A. Salameh | Serving a 86-year and 11-month sentence. Currently at USP Marion. | Palestinian terrorist, convicted perpetrator of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. | ||
| Khalid Aldawsari | Serving a life sentence. Now at USP Pollock | Saudi Arabian citizen and former Texas resident; convicted in 2012 of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction for collecting bomb-making materials and researching possible targets, including the Dallas home of former president George W. Bush. | ||
| Adis Medunjanin | Serving a 95-year sentence with an official release date of January 15, 2091. | Al-Qaeda operative; convicted in 2012 of plotting to conduct coordinated suicide bombings in the New York City subway system in September 2009; co-conspirators Najibullah Zazi and Zarein Ahmedzay pleaded guilty. Transferred to the Communications Management Unit from ADX Florence in 2021. | ||
| Oussama Kassir | 05151-748 | Serving a life sentence. | Originally convicted in Sweden for drug-related charges before being tried in America due to attempting to create a training camp in Oregon for al-Qaeda members to use. | |
| Wali Khan Amin Shah | Released from custody in September 2021. | Participant in the foiled Bojinka plot. | ||
| Hysen Sherifi | Serving a life sentence; now at USP Coleman I | Member of the Raleigh jihad group; convicted in 2011 of terrorism conspiracy; convicted in 2013 plotting to kill six witnesses who had testified against him at his 2011 trial. | ||
| Hosam Smadi | Scheduled release in 2031; now at USP Allenwood. | Pleaded guilty in 2010 to the attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction for plotting to destroy the 60-story Fountain Place office building in Dallas, Texas with a truck bomb in 2009. | ||
| Dritan Duka | Serving life plus 30 years. | One of the six men that conspired to attack an Army Base in Fort Dix, New Jersey. His brothers Eljvir Duka and Shain Duka are being held USP Hazelton and ADX Florence, respectively. |
In popular culture
FCI Terre Haute was referenced in the film The Blues Brothers by Matt "Guitar" Murphy, who said that the prison served cabbage rolls for dinner.The song "1st Day Out the Feds" by rapper Gucci Mane is a reference to Terre Haute Federal Correctional Institution, where he served out most of a 3-year 3-month sentence for firearm possession. His radically altered appearance, mannerisms, and demeanor upon exiting the prison in May 2016 led many to speculate that he was subjected to an experimental government program at Terre Haute and possibly even cloned by the Central Intelligence Agency. A spokesperson for the CIA dismissed these theories as mere internet rumors and refused to comment on them.