# Federal Correctional Institution, Hazelton

The Federal Correctional Institution, Hazelton (FCI Hazelton) is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates, as well as a secure facility for female inmates, located in unincorporated Preston County, West Virginia. It is the newest facility in the federal prison system and is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. The New York Times notes that its nickname is "Misery Mountain".
The Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) Hazelton has two prisons, physically adjacent but distinct: FCI Hazelton and the high-security United States Penitentiary, Hazelton constructed in 2004. Both are operated by the FBOP.

## Facility details

FCI Hazelton has a Special Housing Unit where inmates are generally allowed out of their cells only for an hour recreation each weekday as well as for medical appointments. Inmates may be sent to the SHU pending investigations, as punishment for rule violations, for protection from other inmates, or for other administrative reasons.
The facility has a Vocational Training Program, which includes building trades such as Carpentry, Dry Wall, Electrical, HVAC, Masonry, Plumbing, and Welding, Culinary Arts, Graphic Arts, and Microsoft Office.

## Notable inmates

| Inmate Name | Register Number | Status | Details |
| Michael Nunn | 11772-030 | Released from custody on August 22, 2019. | Former world middleweight boxing champion; pleaded guilty in 2003 to conspiracy to distribute cocaine for buying $24,000 worth of cocaine from an undercover FBI Agent in 2002. |
| Joaquin Valencia-Trujillo | 02440-748 | Scheduled for release in 2036; currently at FCI Oakdale. | Former leader of the Cali Cartel in Colombia; extradited to the US in 2004; convicted in 2006 of drug trafficking conspiracy for directing the shipment of more than 100 tons of cocaine a year into the US over a ten-year period. |
| James Alex Fields Jr. | 22239-084 | Serving a life sentence. Transferred to USP Allenwood. | White supremacist, pleaded guilty in 2019 of 29 federal hate crime charges using his car to harm counter-protestors during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing 32 year-old Heather Heyer and injuring up to 19 more. |
| Heather Mack | 72776-509 | Serving a 26-year sentence; scheduled for release in 2044. | Convicted of being involved with the murder of her mother Sheila von Wiese, during a vacation in Indonesia. |
| Stella Nickell | 17371-086 | Serving a 90-year sentence; transferred from FCI Dublin. | Convicted of product tampering after she poisoned Excedrin capsules with lethal cyanide. |
| Stewart Parnell | 96284-020 | Serving a 28-year sentence; scheduled for release in 2038. | Former chief executive officer of the Peanut Corporation of America. Convicted of his role in a salmonella outbreak which killed at least 9 people and sickened at least 714 more. |
| Nancy Salzman | 25533-052 | Released in March 2024. | Co-founder and "Prefect" of NXIVM, an Albany, New York-based multi-level marketing firm and cult that also engaged in sex trafficking; has been described as enabling fellow co-founder Keith Raniere, who was sentenced to 120 years after his conviction at trial. Pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy in September 2021. |
| Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem | 44126-408 | Serving a 30-year sentence; scheduled for release in 2041. | Conspirator in the Curtis Culwell Center attack. Knowingly provided the shooters with firearms and ammunition. |
| Rachel Powell | 28873-509 | Serving a 57-month sentence; scheduled for release in January 2028 | Rioter who participated in the January 6 United States Capitol attack. |
| Christian Lee Dedmon | 71503-510 | Serving a 40 year sentence; scheduled for release in 2057 | Rankin County Mississippi Sheriffs Deputy involved in the Rankin County Goon Squad. Held in FCI Hazelton for two months before relocating to FCI Fairton. |