Federal Correctional Institution, Oakdale
The complex consists of two facilities:
- Federal Correctional Institution, Oakdale (FCI Oakdale I): a low-security facility.
- Federal Correctional Institution, Oakdale (FCI Oakdale II): a low-security facility.
FCI Oakdale is located in central Louisiana, thirty-five miles south of Alexandria and fifty-eight miles north of Lake Charles.
Notable incidents
June 22, 2009, 29-year-old inmate Alberto Gallegos-Velazquez violently assaulted another inmate in the recreational yard at FCI Oakdale. The victim inmate, who the Bureau of Prisons did not identify, suffered a fractured skull and an intracranial hemorrhage which resulted in long-term disabilities including seizures, loss of speech, and an inability to move his right extremities. Gallegos-Velazquez subsequently pleaded guilty to assault resulting in serious bodily injury and was sentenced an additional fifty-one months in prison and ordered to pay more than $158,000 in restitution.
On April 6, 2020, the ACLU sued the Bureau of Prisons and FCI-Oakdale Warden Rodney Myers on behalf of incarcerated people. According to the ACLU, "The legal team seeks the release of people who are incarcerated and at high risk for serious injury or death in the event of COVID-19 infection due to age and/or underlying medical conditions." Days later, incarcerated people refused orders when staff attempted to move people who had been potentially exposed to the virus into housing units with no known cases. Authorities used "paintball guns to fire paintballs full of pepper spray at prisoners, as well as teargas, according to Vice News." As of February 23, 2021 at least eight incarcerated people at FCI-Oakdale have died from COVID-19.
Notable inmates
| Inmate Name | Register Number | Status | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joaquin Valencia-Trujillo | 02440-748 | Scheduled for release April 12, 2036. | Former leader of the Cali Cartel in Colombia; extradited to the US in 2004; convicted in 2006 of drug trafficking conspiracy for directing the shipment of more than 100 tons of cocaine a year into the US over a ten-year period. |
| Kai Lundstroem Pedersen | 76335-053 | Scheduled for release March 27, 2036. | Danish man sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2012 for producing child pornography and extorting a minor. |
| Kwame Kilpatrick | 44678-039 | Serving a 28-year sentence. Scheduled to be released on January 18, 2037. On January 20, 2021, President Donald Trump granted a full pardon. | Former Mayor of Detroit.On March 11, 2013, he was convicted on 24 federal felony counts, including mail fraud, wire fraud, and racketeering. On October 10, 2013, Kilpatrick was sentenced to 28 years in federal prison. |
| Max Butler | 09954-011 | Was serving a 13-year sentence; released from custody on April 14, 2021. | Computer hacker; pleaded guilty in 2009 to wire fraud for stealing credit card information from 2 million customers, which was used in $86 million fraudulent charges; received the longest sentence for computer hacking in US history. |
| Yevgeniy Nikulin | 24827-111 | Serving an 88-month sentence; released on February 24, 2023. | Computer Hacker arrested in Prague in 2016 for the 2012 LinkedIn hack. |
| Bernard Ebbers | 56022-054 | Deceased; began a 25-year sentence here in 2006, later transferred to FMC Fort Worth, where he was released early on compassionate grounds after serving 13 years, and died about a month later. | Former CEO of Worldcom; convicted in 2005 of orchestrating an $11 billion accounting fraud that brought down the telecommunications company in 2002. |
| Edwin Edwards | 03128-095 | Released from custody in 2011; served 10 years. | Four-term Governor of Louisiana; convicted in 2000 of racketeering, conspiracy and extortion for demanding hundreds of thousands of dollars from businessmen applying for riverboat casino licenses from 1991 through 1997. |
| Andrew Fastow | 14343-179 | Released from custody in 2011; served 5 years. | Former Chief Financial Officer of Enron; pleaded guilty to wire fraud and securities fraud in 2004 for his role in the company's 2001 collapse. |
| William J. Jefferson | 72121-083 | Originally received a 13-year sentence; resentenced to credit for time served in 2017. | Louisiana Congressman from 1991 to 2009; convicted in 2009 of bribery, racketeering and money laundering for using his influence to promote the interests of international companies in exchange for $400,000 in bribes. |
| Shannon Kepler | 14007-509 | Serving a 25-year sentence; scheduled for release in 2039. | Killed his daughter's boyfriend, Jeremey Lake, in 2014. The murder drew attention over allegations it was racially motivation. |
| Paul Schlesselman | 22539-076 | Released in 2017. | White supremacist; pleaded guilty in 2010 to plotting the assassination of then-Presidential nominee Barack Obama in 2008; co-conspirator Daniel Cowart was sentenced to 14 years. |
| Don Siegelman | 24775-001 | Served a 6-year sentence; released in 2017. | Governor of Alabama from 1999 to 2003; convicted in 2006 of conspiracy, bribery, and obstruction of justice for naming HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy to a state health planning board in return for a $500,000 campaign contribution. |
| Justin Solondz | 98291-011 | Released in 2017; served 7 years. | Member of the group Earth Liberation Front; pleaded guilty to conspiracy and arson for planning and executing the University of Washington firebombing incident. |
