The Federal Correctional Institution, Pekin (FCI Pekin) is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Illinois. It is operated by the

Federal Bureau of Prisons The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice that is responsible for the care, custody, and control of incarcerated individuals who have committed federal crimes; that i ...

, a division of the United States

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

. The facility also has an adjacent satellite prison camp which houses minimum-security female offenders. FCI Pekin is located approximately 10 miles south of Peoria, Illinois, 180 miles southwest of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and 180 miles northeast of

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. It is located within the city limits of

Pekin, Illinois Pekin () is a city in and the county seat of Tazewell County, Illinois, Tazewell County in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located on the Illinois River, Pekin is the largest city of Tazewell County and the second most populous municipality of the Pe ...

Kathy Kelly Kathy Kelly (born 1952) is an American peace activist, pacifist and author, one of the founding members of ''Voices in the Wilderness'', and, until the campaign closed in 2020, a co-coordinator of ''Voices for Creative Nonviolence''. As part of p ...

, who had been incarcerated in the Pekin complex, wrote the book ''Other Lands Have Dreams: From Baghdad to Pekin Prison''.

Shon Hopwood Shon Robert Hopwood (born June 11, 1975) is an American appellate lawyer and professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center. Hopwood became well-known as a jailhouse lawyer who served time in prison for bank robbery. While in prison, he st ...

, while serving time in FCI Pekin, became an accomplished

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

practitioner by the time he was released in 2008.

History

In 1988 the mayor and four city council members voted on whether to welcome a federal prison that was scheduled to open in the area. 13,665 people had voted in a previous advisory referendum which had seen fewer than 1% of votes in favor of the prison. Therefore, the mayor and two council members who voted for the prison faced political backlash: the mayor and one member were defeated at re-election and another member did not run again. In 1994 the prison opened in land in far southern Pekin that had been newly annexed.Smothers, Michael.
Once divisive, Pekin prison quietly celebrates 20 years in operation

Archive
. GateHouse Media Illinois at the '' Pekin Journal Star''. October 13, 2014. Retrieved on February 16, 2016. The minimum security camp opened in 1994 and previously housed females.Fleisher, Mark S. and Jennifer A. Harrington. "Freelisting: Management at a Women's Federal Prison Camp" (Chapter 4). In: De Munck, Victor C and Elisa J. Sobo (editors). ''Using Methods in the Field: A Practical Introduction and Casebook''. Rowman Altamira, 1998. , 9780761989134. Start: p
69
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69
In May 2011 the female population was replaced by a male population so the federal authorities could have more space for in-house drug treatment programs for men.Harris, Sharon Woods.
Prison community service to expand

Archive
. ''

Pekin Daily Times The ''Pekin Daily Times'' is an American daily newspaper published in Pekin, Illinois. It is owned by Gannett. The ''Daily Times'' was founded as a daily in January 1881. A related weekly newspaper A weekly newspaper is a general-news or ...

''. March 17, 2011. Retrieved on February 16, 2016. On the 20th anniversary of the prison's opening, Michael Smothers of GateHouse Media Illinois wrote that no significant opposition to the prison remained, and so did Mayor of Pekin Laurie Barra and the Pekin Chief of Police Greg Nelson. Smothers added that there were no protests occurring.

Facilities and operations

As of 2011 the medium security area housed about 1,200 prisoners while the minimum security facility housed about 300 prisoners. As of 1994 the FPC Pekin minimum security complex was composed of two dormitories and a central compound with classrooms, office buildings, and recreation buildings surrounded by grass. The prison did not have razor wire fences nor guard towers. Mark S. Fleisher and Jennifer A. Harrington, authors of "Freelisting: Management at a Women's Federal Prison Camp", wrote that the minimum security camp "resembles a small college campus" and "does not fit the stereotype of a prison." The prison camp population often did volunteer work around the community. When FPC Pekin housed women, there were issues as women were not permitted to do certain jobs requested by area

non-profit organizations A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

. The minimun security camp houses females since at least 2018

Notable incidents

Death of Adam Montoya

On the morning of November 13, 2009, 36-year-old inmate Adam Montoya was found dead in his cell at FCI Pekin. Montoya had arrived at FCI Pekin 18 days before to begin serving a 27-month sentence for

check fraud Cheque fraud (Commonwealth English), or check fraud (American English), refers to a category of criminal acts that involve making the unlawful use of cheques in order to illegally acquire or borrow funds that do not exist within the account balanc ...

. An autopsy concluded that Montoya had been suffering from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

of the spleen,

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes ( jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal ...

and

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

. The immediate cause of death was internal bleeding due to a ruptured

spleen The spleen is an organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter. The word spleen comes .

, caused by the cancer. Tazewell County Coroner Dennis Conover and other experts concluded that Montoya likely exhibited blatant symptoms of hepatitis and cancer, most notably dramatic weight loss, a swollen

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the to ...

and yellow eyes. They said that those symptoms, as well as the severe pain Montoya complained of, should have prompted staff to transport the prisoner immediately to the hospital. The

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

quoted Conover as stating, "He shouldn't have died in agony like that...he had been out there long enough that he should have at least died in the hospital." During Montoya's final days, he "consistently made requests to the prison for medical attention, and they wouldn't give it to him," said his father, Juan Montoya, who described how his son repeatedly punched the panic button seeking help. Three inmates corroborated that account in interviews with the Associated Press. Montoya's family filed a

wrongful death Wrongful death claim is a claim against a person who can be held liable for a death. The claim is brought in a civil action, usually by close relatives, as enumerated by statute. In wrongful death cases, survivors are compensated for the harm, ...

and

personal injury Personal injury is a legal term for an injury to the body, mind or emotions, as opposed to an injury to property. In common law jurisdictions the term is most commonly used to refer to a type of tort lawsuit in which the person bringing the suit (t ...

claim, which was denied by the Justice Department. A lawsuit is pending.

Notable inmates (current and former)

References

External links

FCI Pekin
{{Federal Bureau of Prisons Buildings and structures in Tazewell County, Illinois

Pekin, Illinois Pekin, Federal Correctional Institution 1994 establishments in Illinois