Federal Correctional Institution, Otisville
The Federal Correctional Institution, Otisville, nicknamed "the yeshiva upstate", is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates located near Otisville, New York. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. It also includes a satellite prison camp for minimum-security male offenders.
Location
FCI Otisville is located in southeastern New York State, near the Pennsylvania and New Jersey borders, and northwest of New York City. It is from the Otisville Correctional Facility, a medium-security state prison. It is from Monticello, New York, from Kiryas Joel, and from Monsey.Notable incidents
On August 11, 2009, former correction officer Hope Spinato was sentenced to eight months in prison after pleading guilty to aiding and assisting an inmate serving a 17-year drug trafficking sentence, in briefly escaping the facility. An investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation found that Spinato became involved in a relationship with the inmate and drove the inmate between the facility and her home, on several occasions.In popular culture
George Jung, the basis for the 2001 film Blow, served time at FCI Otisville, but was later transferred to the Federal Correctional Institution in Fort Dix, New Jersey, before being released in 2017.In the Spike Lee film 25th Hour, the protagonist Montgomery "Monty" Brogan spends his final day commiserating with friends and family before reporting to Otisville for a seven-year sentence.
In the opening of the 2010, film Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, the sequel to the 1987 film Wall Street, Gordon Gekko, played by Michael Douglas, is released after serving an eight-year sentence for insider trading and securities fraud for his actions as a corporate raider in the first movie. Although the scene was actually shot at Sing Sing state prison, Gekko mentions in the film that he served his sentence at FCI Otisville.
In The Mindy Project, nurse Morgan refers to his time in Otisville for the theft of cars with his cousin.
In 2019, Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, who is famous from the MTV show Jersey Shore, was sentenced to eight months for tax fraud.
In the 7th season’s second episode of Billions, the prison is featured as the place where former New York Attorney General and United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Chuck Rhoades visits former US Attorney General Jock Jeffcoat, who is incarcerated there.
In Season 3 Episode 4 of Succession, Tom Wambsgans mentions Otisville as "the Jewish jail" while looking through a list of prisons where he will potentially be incarcerated.