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What’s life like in the Brooklyn jail where Mangione awaits trial? Really bad, experts say.
By
Charles Lane
Published Dec 27, 2024
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ED JONES/AFP via Getty Images
By
Charles Lane
Published Dec 27, 2024
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The man who gained notoriety for allegedly killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson now finds himself awaiting trial in one of New York's most notorious jails.
Luigi Mangione, 26, arrived at the Metropolitan Detention Center on Dec. 19 after being charged with federal murder, weapons and stalking charges. He was previously indicted on a host of state charges to which he pleaded not guilty. If convicted of the most serious federal murder charge, Mangione could face the death penalty.
He joins a long list of notorious people held at what one attorney has called a “nightmare” facility. They include Sean “Diddy” Combs, former cryptocurrency executive Sam Bankman-Fried, R. Kelly, former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine, Rev. Al Sharpton, President-elect Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen and Ghislaine Maxwell, the socialite and convicted child sex trafficker. Some judges have refused to send defendants to the facility, citing dangerous conditions there.
“There was this idea that federal prisons and jails were in better shape than places like Rikers and the state prison system because they're run by the federal government,” said Betsy Ginsberg, a law professor at Cardozo Law School who has represented hundreds at the jail. “But for a long time, that hasn't been true. I don't know if it was ever true.”
So what makes the Metropolitan Detention Center so awful? Here’s what you need to know.
Contraband
The Metropolitan Detention Center, also known as MDC, is a federally run facility in Brooklyn's Sunset Park that currently hold 1,100 detainees. Despite an intensive search for illicit items by federal law enforcement that lasted five days in October, those familiar with the jail say weapons, drugs and other contraband still make their way inside.
Mike Antone, a paralegal in regular contact with several detainees inside MDC, said October’s search consisted of strip searches and shutting off water to parts of the facility so contraband couldn’t be flushed down toilets. He said dozens of officers stormed detention units, targeting known smugglers first.
“They came in from all the emergency exits of the unit and not just the main doors,” Antone said.
The federal Bureau of Prisons and representatives with the correction officers union, the American Federation of Government Employees' Council of Prison Locals, did not immediately respond to questions about contraband inside the facility. In November, the bureau issued a statement saying investigators had seized a number of electronic devices, drugs and homemade weapons.
The most impactful thing the federal government can do here is place fewer people in those kinds of correctional settings.
Betsy Ginsberg, professor at Cardozo Law School
Antone said all his contacts inside the jail stopped communicating with him during the lockdown. Two days after it finished, he said, he received a call from a detainee.
“That was a brand new phone that was just smuggled into the facility,” he said. “It just started coming in right away.”
Ginsberg and Antone say jail staff are the most likely smugglers of contraband into the facility.
“They could do more significant screenings as staff is entering the facilities,” Ginsberg said.
“Extreme” violence
Contraband weapons inside the jail were allegedly used in numerous incidents of what prosecutors have called “extreme violence” and “an unacceptable risk of danger.”
Antone said he recently received a photo from someone inside the jail depicting a 2-foot sword made of metal slats pulled from the jail’s beds.
The state of affairs is unacceptable.
Judge Jesse Furman, New York Southern District
Earlier this year, nine people detained at MDC were charged with a string of violence, including five murders or attempted murders. In one incident, two men allegedly beat a rival and then went to a weapon stash inside the jail, returning to stab the man repeatedly, according to the indictment against them. The entire fight lasted over 15 minutes and was uninterrupted by staff, prosecutors said.
“Awaiting potential criminal charges is not a warranted justification to subject a detained individual to unnecessary attacks,” FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Dennehy said when the indictments were unsealed.
“Inhumane" conditions
The Bureau of Prisons settled a $10 million class-action lawsuit over ”inhumane” freezing conditions during a 2019 blackout. In January, New York Southern District Judge Jesse Furman issued a scathing, 19-page ruling that cited the jail’s “dreadful” conditions, including delayed medical care, multiple suicides, a three-week 22-hour-a-day lockdown, and poor medical treatment.
“ MDC really can't handle even basic medical needs of individuals,” said Ginsberg, who sued over inadequate medical care.
According to Furman’s ruling, MDC repeatedly defied court orders to transfer a defendant with a staph infection to a medical facility. In another recent incident, the MDC ignored an order to get a defendant to a scheduled surgery for his jaw, which had been broken by another inmate at a previous facility. The man must now have his jaw rebroken before the surgery, Furman wrote.
In September, the Bureau of Prisons said it had established an “urgent action team” to address concerns.
“It has already increased permanent staffing at the institution (including COs and medical staff), addressed over 800 backlogged maintenance requests, and applied a continued focus on the issues raised in two recent judicial decisions,” spokesperson Donald Murphy wrote in an emailed statement on Thursday.
Place of last resort, except for VIPs
Furman’s ruling came after 70-year-old Gustavo Chavez contested his detention at MDC on the grounds of poor medical care. Furman wrote that New York federal court judges now routinely give defendants reduced sentences based on the conditions the defendants have had to endure at the jail.
“Prosecutors no longer even put up a fight, let alone dispute that the state of affairs is unacceptable,” he wrote.
Another judge made a similar decision in August, also citing dangerous conditions. In response, the jail has come under intense scrutiny by city and state officials who have called for federal authorities to make improvements.
Yet, MDC continues to house celebrities and very wealthy detainees.
According to Mike Antone, people who attract a lot of media attention, like Mangione, are never placed in general population and are instead kept in a 21-person special unit called Four-N.
“ The potential is there that somebody would want to make a name for themselves and could do something to him,” Antone said.
Ginsberg said that fundamental changes are needed and that Mangione’s presence could help draw attention to conditions inside the jail.
“The most impactful thing the federal government can do here is place fewer people in those kinds of correctional settings,” she said.
Tagged
new york city
incarceration
public safety
brooklyn
Charles Lane
Charles is a Day-of reporter focused on breaking news and enterprise. He’s very friendly and can be reached at [email protected], or more securely on whatsapp/signal 631-295-6715
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