The road is one way for hundreds of people, a route to their last pit stop on Earth.
In a desolate expanse in Colorado lies the “Alcatraz of the Rockies,” deemed the most secure prison in the world. America’s most notorious criminals call this home, a place that will soon greet its newest inhabitant: ISIS “Beatle” El Shafee Elsheikh, convicted of kidnapping and killing four Americans.
A collection of spies, terrorists, gang kingpins and mass murderers are among the 343 inmates.
“This is it — the end,” a federal law enforcement official told the Washington Examiner. “Once you get to supermax, there’s no way out, except in very rare occasions.”
The prison, whose real name is ADX Florence, is for the worst of the worst, making California’s notorious Pelican Bay prison seem like a pleasant option.
“It’s Pelican Bay on steroids,” the federal official said.
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The facility is escape-proof. Built against a snowy mountain with a 37-acre perimeter, the building is filled with motion and pressure sensors, has thick concrete walls, and features cells with steel doors and 4-inch-wide windows that provide only a sliver of light. Inmates are allowed out an hour per day to shower or exercise alone, the federal source said.
The guest list reads like a who’s who of the criminal underworld.
Mafia boss Vincent Basciano, 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, 1993 World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef, FBI agent-turned-Soviet spy Robert Hanssen, Mexican drug kingpin El Chapo, and Boston bomber Dzhokar Tsarnaev are among the incarcerated.
Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was there before his execution, as was “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski, who has since been moved to the medical unit of another prison. They were housed near Moussaoui in a block dubbed “Bombers Row,” reports said.
Then, there is the Mexican Mafia and the Aryan Brotherhood, two murderous prison gangs that were part of a massive federal indictment in the 2000s with more than 100 defendants.
Most accepted plea deals, but dozens faced trial before U.S. District Judge David Carter in Southern California. He has sentenced arguably more supermax defendants than any other judge in America.
This included four of the Aryan Brotherhood’s leaders who ordered 32 murders and attempted murders while they were housed in California’s San Quentin prison. They had created a system similar to the Italian Mafia, with the killings carried out by foot soldiers in prisons nationwide.
The number of convicted members was so large that the prison had to construct a new wing for them, “Cloverleaf Hall,” so called because many of the founders were Irish, the federal official said.
When the Aryan Brotherhood got off the transport bus, they were greeted by two dozen federal police officers dressed in black combat gear complete with face shields, helmets, and body armor.
“The guards looked like Darth Vader,” the federal official said.
But among the high-profile inmates, one stands alone.
Hung Mai, an Asian Mafia leader, is the only state prisoner housed at the prison because of security concerns.
Mai was convicted of murdering a California police officer in 2000 and sentenced to death. While in federal jail on an unrelated gun running charge, he solicited the murder of a witness and a prosecutor by passing notes under his door and through the plumbing system.
Carter ordered no contact for Mai while he was in jail, placed him on 24/7 electronic surveillance, and asked that his door be painted red as a warning.
Then-U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno granted a state request to house Mai at the prison over the murder case. Once Mai showed up to ADX Florence, Carter wanted to make sure there wouldn’t be any additional problems.
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Over the next decade, the judge called the prison a few times per year to make sure Mai wasn’t causing any trouble.
All has been quiet.
