Deuel Vocational Institution (DVI) was a

state prison This is a list of U.S. state prisons (2010) (not including federal prisons or county jails in the United States or prisons in U.S. territories): * Alabama * Alaska * Arizona * Arkansas * California * Colorado * Connecticut * Delaware ...

located in

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

San Joaquin County,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, near Tracy. The prison closed on September 30, 2021.

Facilities

San Joaquin County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Tracy Highlighted

DVI opened in 1953 and named for California state senator Charles H. Deuel, who sponsored legislation establishing the institution. The facility has been expanded and reorganized several times, in 1959, 1981 and 1993. Its current head warden is J. Price. As of April 30, 2020, DVI was incarcerating people at 121.8% of its design capacity, with 2,047 occupants. In 1956 the

Mexican Mafia The Mexican Mafia (Spanish: ''Mafia Mexicana''), also known as ''La eMe'' (Spanish for "the M"), is a Mexican American criminal organization in the United States. Despite its name, the Mexican Mafia did not originate in Mexico, and is entirely a ...

was established at Deuel. One purpose of DVI was to serve as a reception center for newly committed prisoners to the

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is the penal law enforcement agency of the government of California responsible for the operation of the California state prison and parole systems. Its headquarters are in Sacram ...

from northern California county jails. The facility also housed "mainline" inmates classified by CDCR as levels II and III. There was also a minimum security "ranch" that supports a dairy. As of January 2006, the total count of prisoners at DVI was 3,748, with 3,162 of that number assigned to the reception center. As a result of DVI's primary function as a reception center, in which a large number of felons of different propensities for violence, disciplinary and security issues pass through before being classified and transferred to other facilities, DVI has a long-standing reputation for being violent and dangerous. The facility used to be referred to as "gladiator school" by inmates and staff, because the DVI was widely known for the fights and homicides that took place within the prison walls. As recently as June 2010, an inmate murder in the facility has been recorded. DVI also had a 110-inmate farm and operate a 1200-cow dairy. They grew cattle grain and supply milk to other state prisons and tax-supported public agencies.

Notable inmates

* Rodolfo Cadena (1943-1972), mob boss; later stabbed to death in another prison *

Diego Corrales Diego "Chico" Corrales Jr. (August 25, 1977 – May 7, 2007) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2007. He was a multiple-time world champion in two weight divisions, having held the IBF super featherweight title from 199 ...

(1977-2007), boxer; served 14 months for assault *Fleeta Drumgo (1945-1979), member of the San Quentin Six; served time for attempted murder * Rene "Boxer" Enriquez (born 1962), gang member; later sent to

Pelican Bay State Prison Pelican Bay State Prison (PBSP) is a supermax prison facility in Crescent City, California. The prison takes its name from a shallow bay on the Pacific coast, about to the west. Facilities The prison is located in a detached section of Cre ...

in 1993 * Joe Fong (born 1954/5), former gang member; released in 1979 *

Glen Stewart Godwin Glen Stewart Godwin (born June 26, 1958) is an American fugitive and convicted murderer who was added to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list on December 7, 1996, nine years after he escaped from Folsom State ...

(born 1958), murderer; later transferred to Folsom State Prison * Clem Grogan (born 1951), Manson family member * Gary Steven Krist, most notable for the Barbara Mackle kidnapping in 1968, briefly escaped from DVI in 1966 *

Chol Soo Lee Chol Soo Lee (August 15, 1952 - December 2, 2014) was a Korean American immigrant who was wrongfully convicted for the 1973 murder of Yip Yee Tak, a San Francisco Chinatown gang leader, and sentenced to life in prison. While in prison, he was sen ...

(1952-2014), immigrant wrongfully convicted of murder; later transferred to

San Quentin State Penitentiary San Quentin State Prison (SQ) is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County. Opened in July 1852, San Quentin is th ...

for killing an inmate; acquitted in 1983 *Robert Maxfield (born c.1978), convicted for the murder of Yetunde Price; served 12 years before being released on parole * George U. Powell (1933-2012), murderer; died at

California Medical Facility California Medical Facility (CMF) is a male-only state prison medical facility located in the city of Vacaville, Solano County, California. It is older than California State Prison, Solano, the other state prison in Vacaville. Facilities CMF ...

* Craig V. Smith (1945-2012), musician; sentenced for trying to kill his mother; served time in several prisons, including DVI; paroled in 1976 *

Raymond Washington Raymond Lee Washington (August 14, 1953 – August 9, 1979) was an American gangster, known as the founder of the Crips gang in Los Angeles. Washington formed the Crips as a minor street gang in the late 1960s in South Los Angeles, becoming a pr ...

(1953-1979), gangster and Crips gang founder; served 5 years for robbery *Melvin Yu, one of the perpetrators of the

Golden Dragon massacre The Golden Dragon massacre was a gang-related shooting attack that took place on September 4, 1977, inside the Golden Dragon Restaurant at 822 Washington Street in Chinatown, San Francisco, California. The five perpetrators, members of the Joe ...

; released from Solano State Prison in 2015

References

External links

DVI official websiteCalifornia Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Official website
{{Authority control 1953 establishments in California Buildings and structures in San Joaquin County, California Prisons in California Tracy, California

Facilities

Notable inmates

See also

References

External links