The Federal Correctional Institution, Milan (FCI Milan) is a U.S. federal prison in Michigan, with most of the prison in York Township, and a portion in Milan. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. This prison is a low-security facility for male inmates. Its adjacent Federal Detention Center houses pretrial and holdover inmates. The institution covers approximately 332 acre and consists of 59 buildings with a total gross floor area of 504200 sqft. The facility is 45 mi southwest of Detroit, 15 mi south of Ann Arbor, and 30 mi north of Toledo.

History

FCI Milan was activated on April 6, 1933, as a "Federal Detention Farm" and has undergone mission changes throughout its history. FCI Milan held female inmates from 1933 to 1939, housed offenders sentenced under the Federal Youth Corrections Act of 1950, and was once a medium-security institution. The only federal execution in Michigan occurred on July 8, 1938, when Anthony Chebatoris was hanged for the murder of Henry Porter, a truck driver from Bay City, whom Chebatoris mistook for a police officer during a bank robbery. Helen Gillis and Evelyn Frechette, the wives of notorious bank robbers Baby Face Nelson and John Dillinger, served one-year sentences at FCI Milan in the mid-1930s after being convicted of aiding their husbands as they evaded authorities.

Facility and inmate programs

FCI Milan covers 300 acre and offers a Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP), which offers inmates completing its 500-hour residential program up to a 12-month sentence reduction and up to six months in a halfway house. There are very strict guidelines for admission due to the program's popularity. The Life Connections Program (LCP) is an 18-month residential voluntary multi-faith restorative justice program which is offered in only four other federal prisons. The program is designed to reduce recidivism and bring reconciliation to the victim, community and inmate through personal transformation using the participant's faith commitment. FCI Milan offers a unique program in federal prisons in conjunction with Milan High School where inmates can earn a high school diploma. Milan is the only federal prison which has a high school diploma program.

Notable incidents

2019 inmate murder

On January 2, 2019, inmate Christian Maire was found beaten and stabbed to death. Maire, who was serving a 40-year sentence for his role in a child pornography production ring, was attacked by inmates Adam Taylor Wright, Jason Dale Kechego, and Alex Albert Castro. Wright and Castro began stabbing Maire before Kechego stomped on Maire's head multiple times before tossing him down a flight of stairs. Wright and Kechego began attacking other inmates and correctional officers responding to the scene. All three men were charged with second-degree murder. Wright and Castro were sentenced to 24 years in prison, while Kechego was sentenced to 28 years. All sentences are running consecutive to previous convictions. Wright, Castro, and Kechego are all currently housed at ADX Florence.

Notable inmates