Wende Correctional Facility is a maximum security

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

located in town of

Alden Alden may refer to: Places United States * Alden, California, a former settlement * Alden, Colorado * Alden, Illinois *Alden, Iowa * Alden, Kansas * Alden, Michigan *Alden, Minnesota * Alden, Oklahoma *Alden, Pennsylvania *Alden, New York ** Alde ...

Erie County, New York Erie County is a county along the shore of Lake Erie in western New York State. As of the 2020 census, the population was 954,236. The county seat is Buffalo, which makes up about 28% of the county's population. Both the county and Lake Erie w ...

, east of Buffalo. The prison is named for this region of Alden. The prison was formerly the site of an Erie County jail, and was sold to the state to further the need for a maximum security state prison. The Erie County Correctional Facility was built adjacent to Wende.

History

The state of New York announced its $48 million purchase of the prison on March 24, 1983. At the time of the sale, the facility housed 592 prisoners.

COVID-19

Like other prisons, Wende was a vector in the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. As of November 6, 2020, 31 prisoners had tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

; one of the first confirmed infections was that of recently sentenced movie executive

Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein (; born March 19, 1952) is an American former film producer and convicted sex offender. He and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent films inclu ...

. According to a March 31, 2020, statement by the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, 135 correctional officers at Wende were in quarantine, and 6 had tested positive for the virus.

Controversies

David McClary, convicted of murdering police officer Edward Byrne, spent three years in

solitary confinement Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use additi ...

while at Wende. In 1999, a federal jury granted him $660,000 in damages. In 2003, Wende officers ordered that Muslim prisoner Darryl Holland produce a urine sample in a three-hour window for a drug test. Holland, who was fasting for

Ramadan , type = islam , longtype = Religious , image = Ramadan montage.jpg , caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...

, refused to drink water for the sample and was placed in solitary confinement for 77 days. While Judge

Michael Anthony Telesca Michael Anthony Telesca (November 25, 1929 – March 5, 2020) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of New York from 1982 to 2020 and its Chief Judge from 1989 to 1995. Education and care ...

of the

U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York The United States District Court for the Western District of New York (in case citations, W.D.N.Y.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the western parts of Upstate New York. Appeals are taken to the Second Circuit (excep ...

granted the prison

summary judgement may refer to: * Abstract (summary), shortening a passage or a write-up without changing its meaning but by using different words and sentences * Epitome, a summary or miniature form * Abridgement, the act of reducing a written work into a sho ...

in 2013, a panel of judges from the

Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The court has appellate juris ...

ruled that Holland could still sue on

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

grounds.

Notable inmates

* Jack Abbott - criminal and author. He died by suicide at Wende in 2002. * Jimmy Burke - mastermind of the

Lufthansa Heist The Lufthansa heist was a robbery at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport on December 11, 1978. An estimated $5.875 million (equivalent to $ million in ) was stolen, with $5 million in cash and $875,000 in jewelry, ma ...

. Burke was imprisoned in Wende until his death in 1996. * Robert Chambers - the "Preppie Killer." He was imprisoned in Wende in 2008 and later transferred to

Sullivan Correctional Facility Sullivan Correctional Facility is a New York State maximum security prison correctional facility for male prisoners located in Fallsburg, New York. It is operated by the New York State Department of Correctional Services. Sullivan is located ...

. *

Mark David Chapman Mark David Chapman (born May 10, 1955) is an American man who murdered former Beatles member John Lennon in New York City on December 8, 1980. As Lennon walked into the archway of his apartment building at The Dakota, Chapman shot Lennon from a ...

- the man who murdered John Lennon in 1980. Chapman was transferred from

Attica Correctional Facility Attica Correctional Facility is a maximum security campus New York State prison in the Attica (town), New York, Town of Attica, New York (state), New York, operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. It w ...

to Wende in 2012. In March 2022, Chapman was transferred to

Green Haven Correctional Facility Green Haven Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison in New York. The prison is located in the Town of Beekman in Dutchess County. The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision lists the address as Route 216 ...

. * David Gilbert - participant in the 1981 Brink's robbery and murders. He was released on November 4, 2021. *

Kendall Francois Kendall Francois (July 26, 1971 – September 11, 2014) was a serial killer from Poughkeepsie (city), New York, Poughkeepsie, New York, convicted of killing eight women, from 1996 to 1998. After his conviction and sentencing, Francois was housed ...

- serial killer *

David Sweat David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

- a man who killed a Broome County sheriff's officer and then led an

escape Escape or Escaping may refer to: Computing * Escape character, in computing and telecommunication, a character which signifies that what follows takes an alternative interpretation ** Escape sequence, a series of characters used to trigger some so ...

from

Clinton Correctional Facility Clinton Correctional Facility is a New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision maximum security state prison for men located in the Village of Dannemora, New York. The prison is sometimes colloquially referred to as Dannem ...

in 2015. He was transferred to Wende in April 2018. In January 2019, Sweat was transferred to

Auburn Correctional Facility Auburn Correctional Facility is a state prison on State Street in Auburn, New York, United States. It was built on land that was once a Cayuga village. It is classified as a maximum security facility. History Constructed in 1816 as Auburn Pri ...

. *

Maksim Gelman The Maksim Gelman stabbing spree was a 28-hour killing spree lasting from February 11 to 12, 2011, in New York City, New York, United States, which involved the killing of four people and the wounding of five others. Maksim Gelman was arrested and ...

- perpetrator of a 28-hour stabbing spree lasting from February 11 to 12, 2011, in New York City, which involved the killing of four people and the wounding of five others. *

- former film producer and convicted sex offender serving a 23-year sentence. He was transferred to

Twin Towers Correctional Facility The Twin Towers Correctional Facility, also referred to in the media as Twin Towers Jail, is a complex in Los Angeles, California. The facility is located at 450 Bauchet Street, in Los Angeles, California and is operated by the Los Angeles Cou ...

in Los Angeles where he faces additional sexual assault charges.

References

External links

Development of Wende
1923 establishments in New York (state) Buildings and structures in Erie County, New York Prisons in New York (state) {{US-prison-stub