President Donald Trump became the first U.S. President to be convicted of a felony. He is also the first presumptive nominee of a major party to face a prison sentence just days before he is likely to be win the Republican Party’s nomination for president. If a prison sentence is imposed, there is a possibility Mr. Trump could end up in the same prison as a former head of state held in a federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) institution decades ago.
While Mr. Trump’s case is one in the state of New York. In most situations involving a New York case, the defendant would be sentenced to a term of incarceration under the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. However, in special situations, state corrections departments and the BOP exchange prisoners to allow them to serve out their term. One recent example is that of former, disgraced BOP warden Ray J. Garcia who is currently serving a 70 month sentence for his sexual assault of female inmates at FCI Dublin. Garcia, who was sentenced in federal court, is currently in a state prison in Iowa. Having a former federal warden in a federal prison just would not have worked.
One scenario that could play out with a Trump prison term is that he could be transferred to the BOP, which has a lot of advantages. First there is the coordination of the Secret Service with the agency holding the former president. While there are guns inside of prisons in the case of an emergency, they are locked away for those emergencies or they are held by marksmen in security towers around the prison. The extra precautions of protecting guns is to prevent inmates from getting control of lethal weapons.
If Secret Service were to continue their protection of the former president, there would have to be coordination of how their weapons are carried in a prison setting. President Barack Obama visited FCI El Reno (Oklahoma) in 2015, the first and only sitting president to visit inside a federal prison. That visit required intense discussions and coordination about how the Secret Service, who obviously carry a variety of lethal weapons, would protect the president during the visit. The result of those discussions was that the prison was completely locked down, all cells locked with inmates inside, except for a half dozen inmates who were part of a discussion with Mr. Obama. The Secret Service carried their weapons as well.
One likely BOP location that could house the former president is one that held the former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriegawho was held from 1990 - 2010. Noriega served his prison term at FCI Miami, a Low security prison in south Florida. The history of Noriega at FCI Miami would not be lost on Trump’s political campaign as Noriega was determined to be a prisoner of war by federal court during his stay there. The Miami location is also near Trumps full-time home in Palm Beach, FL. It should be noted that there is a satellite prison camp, minimum-security, located adjacent to FCI Miami. However, inmates with pending cases in either state or federal court receive what the BOP refers to as a Public Safety Factor, prohibiting placement at a minimum security camp.
In Noriega’s case, he lived a mostly solitary life at FCI Miami where the BOP built his own personal living space separate from the inmate population. When he wanted to go outside, the prison yard was closed to all inmates and Noriega walked around a small pond in the center of the FCI Miami compound. He spent time watching his own television in his living quarters, a privilege no other inmate in the facility had, which also contained some exercise equipment. All meals were brought to him from the same kitchen where all inmates gathered to eat. According to retired BOP employee and AFGE Local 506 Union President Joe Rojas, “If Mr. Trump would go to a place like FCI Coleman (Located north of Tampa, FL), the BOP would likely empty an entire unit and place him there. A place like G-Unit [located at FCI Coleman complex of prisons], which is currently closed for maintenance, would be one likely place.”
When speaking to the many people who are heading to prison, I often warn them of the strict rules on conducting business while in prison. Every day there are small business owners and corporate executives who make their way to prison who must leave their responsibilities behind ... no conducting business. It is difficult to cut the cord for work but it must be done.
While inmates are in a BOP facility, they have to obey prison rules of the facility and the agency, with the exception of how long the sentence will last (that is up to the Judge Juan Merchen who will be sentencing Trump under New York State law). One of the BOP’s policies is that inmates cannot conduct business while incarcerated (see BOP Program Statement The statement reads that “Conducting a business; conducting or directing an investment transaction without staff authorization,” is an unauthorized activity and subject to disciplinary action such as taking away privileges. So running the White House from FCI Miami is possible but it will require a special permission by the warden of the prison.
Inmates are allowed to have attorneys visit them while in prison, but it is not like an everyday privilege. While the BOP allows legal visits, the first priority is the security of the entire facility and institutions like FCI Miami are meant as living quarters for inmates for long periods of time. Many institutions have rules on legal visits and when they can occur. In one program statementfrom FCI Sandstone, it states regarding legal visits that, “Inmates will not be permitted to carry any paperwork/item back into the institution at the conclusion of the visit. Only paperwork which pertains to the inmate's immediate case will be permitted into the visit.” It will be difficult to run a country from prison.
Beyond attorneys, visitors to see someone in prison must be on a visitation list, part of a media outlet (with permission of the person they want to meet with of course) or support for the legal team. That list of social visitors is limited to approximately 20 people, all of whom must be approved by the prison.
In short, prison life for anyone of the stature of a former president or head of state, is going to be one with both privileges and solitary living. We are in unprecedented territory and it may fall to the BOP to house a former chief executive of the United States.
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Article originally published on Forbes.com by Walter Pavlo (May 31, 2024)
