The United States Penitentiary, Atwater (USP Atwater) is a high-security United States

federal prison A federal prison is operated under the jurisdiction of a federal government as opposed to a state or provincial body. Federal prisons are used for people who violated federal law (U.S., Mexico), people considered dangerous (Brazil), or those sen ...

for male inmates in unincorporated

Merced County, California Merced County ( ) is a County (United States), county located in the northern San Joaquin Valley section of the Central Valley (California), Central Valley, in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the ...

. The institution also includes a minimum-security satellite camp. 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 ...

. USP Atwater is located on land formerly part of Castle Air Force Base. It is near the city of Atwater, 130 miles from

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Facility and programs

USP Atwater offers various educational programs, including mandatory GED classes for inmates without high school diplomas, occupational and vocational training with apprenticeships, adult continuing education, parenting classes and leisure programs.

Notable incidents

Murder of Correction Officer Jose Rivera

On June 20, 2008, as Federal Correction Officer Jose Rivera (22-year old Navy veteran) was conducting his daily count on the second floor, inmate Joseph Cabrera Sablan attacked Officer Rivera with an eight-inch self-made knife or shank. Outnumbered, Officer Rivera attempted to seek assistance, but was knocked backwards by Sablan and tackled by inmate James Ninete Leon Guerrero. Both inmates had been previously convicted of murder and were serving life sentences. As Officer Rivera was seeking assistance from the first floor, he tripped on the stairs and was held down by Guerrero as Sablan stabbed him in excess of 20 times. Despite his injuries, Officer Rivera was able to restrain both inmates until additional officers arrived. Officer Rivera was transported to a local hospital, but died shortly afterward. The

Federal Bureau of Investigation 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 ...

investigated the incident, and Sablan and Guerrero were indicted for the murder of Officer Rivera on August 14, 2008. On May 30, 2014, Guerrero was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release. Guerrero was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Phillip Pro of the District of Nevada. On September 29, 2015, Sablan was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release.

Inmate murder

On August 2, 2006, Juwan Ferguson and the victim, Domosanies Slaughter, were cellmates in the Special Housing Unit at USP Atwater. Ferguson, a repeat felon with a lengthy criminal history, told several correctional officers at different times during that day that he wanted Slaughter removed from his cell. After he repeated this request to another officer, Slaughter hit Ferguson in the face. Ferguson responded by beating Slaughter into unconsciousness and then continuing to beat him even after he was unconscious. Correctional officers observed Ferguson drag Slaughter out from underneath one of the beds in the cell. Ignoring orders to stop, Ferguson continued to strike Slaughter's head against the concrete floor and kick the back of his head until he was restrained. Slaughter was transported to an area hospital, where he died on August 8, 2006. In July 2009, Ferguson was convicted of

voluntary manslaughter Voluntary manslaughter is the killing of a human in which the offender acted in the heat of passion, a state that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed to the point that they cannot reasonably control thei ...

and was subsequently sentenced to life in prison. Ferguson's sentence was overturned on appeal and he was resentenced to 96 months in prison in 2011. Ferguson served his sentence at Florence ADX, the federal

supermax prison A super-maximum security (supermax) or administrative maximum (ADX) prison is a "control-unit" prison, or a unit within prisons, which represents the most secure level of custody in the prison systems of certain countries. The objective is to ...

in Colorado, and was released in 2018. John Balazs, the attorney who defended Ferguson, argued that the Federal Bureau of Prisons was partially at fault for Slaughter's death, mainly because Slaughter had been diagnosed with

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

and USP Atwater was not properly equipped to address Slaughter's condition. In addition, Ferguson had asked corrections officials to move Slaughter out of his cell and Ferguson did not start the fight.

Notable inmates (current and former)

†The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 eliminated

parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...

for federal inmates. However, inmates sentenced for offenses committed prior to 1987 are eligible for parole consideration.

References

External links

USP Atwater
{{Federal Bureau of Prisons Atwater Buildings and structures in Merced County, California Atwater 2001 establishments in California Prisons completed in the 2000s