The Federal Correctional Complex, Butner (FCC Butner) is a United States federal prison complex for men near Butner, North Carolina. It is operated by the

Federal Bureau of Prisons The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Justice that is responsible for all List of United States federal prisons, federal prisons ...

, a division of the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

. FCC Butner is about northwest of

Raleigh Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

, the

state capital Below is an index of pages containing lists of capital city, capital cities. National capitals *List of national capitals *List of national capitals by latitude *List of national capitals by population *List of national capitals by area *List of ...

. It includes the Bureau's largest medical complex, which operates a drug treatment program and specializes in

oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's Etymology, etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγ ...

and

behavioral science Behavioural science is the branch of science concerned with Human behavior, human behaviour.Hallsworth, M. (2023). A manifesto for applying behavioural science. ''Nature Human Behaviour'', ''7''(3), 310-322. While the term can technically be ap ...

. Among its inmates was

Bernie Madoff Bernard Lawrence Madoff ( ; April 29, 1938April 14, 2021) was an American financial criminal and financier who was the admitted mastermind of the largest known Ponzi scheme in history, worth an estimated $65 billion. He was at one time ...

, who was convicted of perpetrating the largest

Ponzi scheme A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays Profit (accounting), profits to earlier investors with Funding, funds from more recent investors. Named after Italians, Italian confidence artist Charles Ponzi, this type of s ...

in history. He died at the prison in April 2021. The complex consists of four facilities: * Federal Correctional Institution, Butner Low (FCI Butner Low): a low-security facility, opened in 1995. * Federal Correctional Institution, Butner Medium I (FCI Butner Medium I): a medium-security facility, opened in 1976 *Federal Correctional Institution, Butner Medium II (FCI Butner Medium II): a medium-security facility, opened in 2006 * Federal Medical Center, Butner (FMC Butner): a facility which houses inmates of all security levels with health issues, opened in 1995. The complex lies in an

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

on the county line between Durham County to the west and Granville County to the east. On the Durham County side, the portion of the prison is in Mangum Township, while on the Granville County side, it is in Dutchville Township.

Incidents

Alleged Madoff assault

On March 18, 2010, ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' reported that Bernie Madoff, the New York financier serving a 150-year sentence at FCI Butner for running a Ponzi scheme that cost investors billions of dollars, was assaulted by another inmate in December 2009. Citing three sources, a current inmate, a former inmate, and a prison employee, the newspaper reported that the assailant was an inmate serving time for a drug conviction who believed that Madoff owed him money. The inmate reported that Madoff suffered a broken nose, fractured ribs, and cuts to his head and face. In response to the report, Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Denise Simmons said, "We have no knowledge or information to confirm he was assaulted."

Murder plot

On November 16, 2011, James Lukinoff, an inmate at FCI Butner, was

indicted An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offense is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use that concept often use that of an indi ...

for planning to assault and kill an

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

agent who had been involved in investigating the crime for which Lukinoff was sent to prison. The indictment alleged that, from February 2009 to April 2011, Lukinoff developed and pursued a plan to purchase a

suppressor A silencer, also known as a sound suppressor, suppressor, or sound moderator, is a gun barrel#Muzzle, muzzle device that suppresses the muzzle blast, blast created when a gun (firearm or airgun) is discharged, thereby reducing the sound inten ...

and had a friend or family member store it until his release from prison. Once released, Lukinoff planned to retrieve the suppressor and his firearm, and kill the agent. Lukinoff pleaded guilty to retaliating against a federal official by threat on June 20, 2012. He was held at the Federal Medical Center, Butner and was scheduled for release in 2024.

Inmates

High-profile crimes

Organized crime

Financial crimes

Espionage

Other

In popular culture

* In the final episode of the television series ''

Better Call Saul ''Better Call Saul'' is an American legal crime drama television series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould for AMC. Part of the ''Breaking Bad'' franchise, it is a spin-off of Gilligan's previous series, ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–201 ...

'', the series' main character

Saul Goodman James Morgan Jimmy McGill, better known by his business name Saul Goodman, is a fictional character created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould and portrayed by Bob Odenkirk in the television franchise ''Breaking Bad''. He appears as a major c ...

refers to Butner as his ideal prison, and manages to get approval to serve his sentence there.

References

External links

Official profile
from the

FCI Butner Medium II (design)
" John J. Kirlin, LLC.
Butner Federal Correctional Institution
" Moseley Architects. {{Federal Bureau of Prisons Buildings and structures in Durham County, North Carolina Butner Buildings and structures in Granville County, North Carolina Prisons in North Carolina