Vinny Gorgeous Sprung -- from Supermax Housing
Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano won his freedom... from Colorado's Supermax prison, that is.
He's not moving far. His new digs are located within a high-security facility on the same compound as the Administrative Maximum Security or ADX, according to an exclusive New York Post report.
"Better than the hellhole Supermax prison in Colorado... where ex-Bonanno crime boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano had been rotting since 2011 after he was convicted of racketeering and murder. Basciano, 55, was recently sprung from the most infamous jail in the nation to a high-security facility located on the same 31-acre compound in Florence, Colo., the Daily News has learned. The exact date of the transfer is unclear," the Post noted.
"Vinny B" was convicted in 2011 of ordering a mob murder and was also suspected of drawing up a hit list while awaiting a separate racketeering and murder trial. Brooklyn Federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis, a federal prosecutor and cooperating witnesses were included on the list, which Basciano insisted wasn't a hit list. Basciano was convicted in the second trial, but he was not formally charged for writing the list of names.
Basciano is serving two life sentences.
"Now, the special administration measures ordered by the attorney general that kept Basciano in almost total isolation in the prison’s notorious “H Block” are history. So is the 23-hour-a-day confinement to a cell," noted the Post.
Sources told the Post's John Marzulli that Basciano apparently had successfully "graduated" from a Supermax “step-down program,” which rewards good behavior with a transfer to a less-restrictive jail.
“Inmates who continue to demonstrate positive institutional adjustment for 12 months are referred for transfer to another facility,” according to documents on the bureau website.
Basciano will be able to mingle with other inmates, room with a bunkmate and play sports. And if Basciano stays out of trouble, it's possible he'd eventually be moved to a penitentiary closer to his family in the Bronx.
Supermax, the concept...
The federal Bureau of Prison’s highest security lock-up is the Colorado Supermax where is housed prisoners incarcerated as part of the US's war on terror. Mobsters also are known to occasionally be housed on Supermax prisons, unfairly in our opinion. John Gotti and Vinny B are two names.
Ramzi Yousef, also implicated in the 1993 plot, is also behind bars at the institution known for its harsh conditions.
Abdel-Rahman, also known as the blind sheik, has been transferred to a minimum security facility in Butner, North Carolina due to failing health. He is in the same institution as Bernie Madoff.
The U.S. government uses the abbreviation ADX for the Florence supermax. ADX stands for Administrative Maximum Security.
Built in 1994 at a cost of about $60m, ADX Florence is said to be equipped with 1,400 remote-controlled steel doors, motion detectors, pressure pads and gun towers with perfect sightlines across the complex.
Tightly controlled and technologically advanced, such facilities are designed for the most dangerous and disruptive prisoners – and have been a source of controversy for many years.
Solitary confinement is an almost permanent way of life, with ADX Florence’s 400-or-so prisoners locked in spartan cells for at least 23 hours each day.
An hour each day can be spent in a concrete-walled recreation yard.
A typical “Supermax” cell’s furniture – bed, desk, stool – is made from poured concrete.
The cells are equipped with showers that run on a timer, and a toilet that shuts off if plugged. Meals are delivered to inmates in their cells to restrict interaction. Each cell also is equipped for 24-hour video and audio surveillance.
Typical supermax cell.
1. Typical cell sized 7ft x 12ft (3.5x2m) with small slit window
2. Shower works on timer
3. Small black and white TV showing educational programmes (some prisoners only)
4. Heavy duty steel door or grate
5. Writing desk
6. Toilet which shuts off if blocked
7. Sink
8. Steel mirror, rather than smashable glass
From Markosun's Blog
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