Budget cutbacks could force closure of Nellis federal prison

Jace Radke

Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2005 | 11:18 a.m.

The Bureau of Prisons is looking to shut down the Nellis Federal Prison camp and three other minimum security prisons across the country to cut costs.

"We want to close down the older stand-alone camps and use the satellite camps that are part of newer institutions," Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Traci Billingsley said of the initiative that would have to be approved by Congress before it could take effect. "Many of our institutions now include a higher security facility and an adjacent satellite camp."

Along with the 633-prisoner camp located within Nellis Air Force Base, facilities in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Florida would also be closed down. There is no timetable for the closures as the government waits for a decision from Congress on the plan, Billingsley said.

Chief U.S. District Judge Philip Pro said he would be disappointed if the Nellis camp, that serves only male prisoners, were to close.

"There is a natural desire to be close to your family when serving a sentence, and I think it's important and helps in rehabilitation," Pro said.

Pro said that roughly half of the defendants he sentences have some sort of local connection and request to serve their sentences at Nellis if they are convicted of nonviolent crimes and qualify for the camp.

Under the new plan the white collar criminals and low-level drug offenders that populate Nellis would be moved to satellite camps near higher level prison facilities. The closest minimum-security satellite facilities are located in Lompoc, Calif., for men and Victorville, Calif., for women, according to the Bureau of Prisons Web site.

By having low-level camps near larger prison facilities the inmates from the camps can provide services for the other prisons, such as maintenance and landscaping, Billingsley said.

The Bureau of Prisons estimates that $38 million a year could be saved once the four stand-alone prison camps are closed. The savings would come from being able to more effectively staff and duplicate services at the multi-level prison facilities.

"The needed repairs alone at the four camps would cost an estimated $36 million," Billingsley said.

The Nellis camp buildings date back about 40 years, and the Bureau of Prisons began using the facility as a prison in December 1989, Billingsley said.

The camp can house about 650 inmates, has a staff of 89 and is located in the northeast corner of the base in an site known as Area II.

Among the high-profile prisoners that have served time at the prison are internet sports gambler Jay Cohen. Martha Stewart's former stockbroker Peter Bacanovic is currently serving his sentence at Nellis.

Cohen served a 21-month sentence at Nellis after being convicted in 2001 of violating the U.S. Wire Act for taking sports wagers from U.S. gamblers through World Sports Exchange, an Antigua-based business of which he is founder and former president.

Bacanovic, a former Merrill Lynch & Co. stockbroker, began serving a five month sentence at Nellis in January. Bacanovic was convicted in March of lying to federal investigators about the sale of Stewart's stock in ImClone Systems Inc.

The prison camp has a reputation as "country-club" prison, and offers amenties such as two screenings of PG-rated films a night and a commissary where inmates can purchase candy, packaged food and portable radios, according to former inmates.

Activities include softball, leather craft and painting classes, a running track and weight-lifting areas.