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Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) – Chicago's comprehensive information to help guide you through the federal prison process, specifically on how to remain connected to your inmate while they are incarcerated.
The MCC-Chicago is a federal prison located at 71 W Van Buren St in Chicago, IL. This federal maximum (MCC) security prison is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to hold inmates who have been convicted to and sentenced for a federal crime through the US Department of Justice (DOJ).
Locate all federal inmates here. If you would like to speak with a case manager or counselor, call 312-322-0567.
The Metropolitan Correctional Center, Chicago (MCC Chicago) is a maximum-security federal prison which holds male and female inmates of all custody levels prior to and during court proceedings in the Northern District of Illinois, as well as inmates serving brief sentences. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the US Department of Justice.
Several features make MCC Chicago's design unique from other federal prison facilities. Each cell has a slit window which is 5 inches wide by 7 feet long. The building is a right triangle shape, extrudes 28 stories, and has a rooftop exercise yard. Access to the rooftop exercise yard is limited to every other day for two hours at a time. There is access to the gym once or twice a week. A library houses movies as well as books that prisoners can use twice a week. There is a security housing unit (SHU) for male prisoners, while female prisoners needing to be isolated, as of 2005, have been taken to the Cook County Jail.
Notable inmates that have been held at MCC Chicago are Alfredo Vasquez-Hernandez and Tomas Arevalo-Renteria, were high-ranking members of the Sinaloa Cartel, a multibillion-dollar drug trafficking organization based in Mexico; charged that they supplied Chicago with 2000 kilograms of cocaine per month, valued at over $1 billion. Kevin Trudeau, sentenced to 10 years on March 17, 2014, is an author, radio personality, infomercial host, and salesman. Trudeau was convicted in 2013 of criminal contempt for violating a 2004 federal court order that prohibited him from making deceptive television infomercials that misrepresented the contents of his weight loss cure book. Thomas Zajac, sentenced to 35 years on April 14, 2011. Zajac was convicted in 2010 of using a destructive device and other charges for detonating a homemade pipe bomb at the Salt Lake City Public Library in Utah on September 15, 2006, in retaliation against Salt Lake City police for arresting his son. Piper Kerman, author of Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison served the last months of her prison sentence here. George Cottrell, British politician, arrested at O'Hare International Airport by the IRS Criminal Investigation Division in 2016.
2012 Escape
In the early morning hours of December 18, 2012, two convicted bank robbers, Kenneth Conley and Joseph "Jose" Banks, escaped the secure facility. Conley and Banks were being housed in the MCC while awaiting sentencing on their bank robbery convictions, crimes which were unrelated beyond the pair being cellmates at the MCC. The escape by Banks and Conley was the first from any secure federal correctional facility since April 2006, when convicted murderer Richard Lee McNair escaped from the U.S. Penitentiary, Pollock, LA. The pair made a rope from bedsheets or fabric scraps and exited their 17th-floor cell through a hole created at the bottom of a narrow window slot, rappelling down the side of the MCC to the street below.
Their escape and the gaping hole in the prison wall apparently went unnoticed during routine overnight bed checks and was only discovered when arriving jail workers spotted the rope dangling down the side of the MCC at about 7:00 am. The inmates had obtained and concealed large numbers of bedsheets, fake iron window bars used to mimic the real bars they removed and hid, passable street clothing, and bulky materials used to fool guards into believing they were asleep in bed. It is unclear what tools were used to create the hole in the wall necessary for the escape, and if these had been hidden in the cell for an extended period of time.
The FBI captured them two days later. They were transferred to and are currently incarcerated at Florence ADX, the supermax facility in Colorado which holds the most dangerous inmates in the federal system, as well as inmates who constitute a high escape risk.
Housing: There are cells and dormitories for both male and female inmates.
Health Services: The Health Services Unit includes dental, medical, x-ray, and laboratory testing capabilities. Inmates receive a physical examination if they are at the prison for at least 10 days. The possible exception to this rule concerns inmates who are being transferred to MCC Chicago from another BOP facility. Inmates with chronic medical conditions are enrolled in a clinic to see a Primary Care Practitioner and a supervising physician. Inmates may retain non-metal, non-tinted, prescription glasses in their possession at the time of arrival. Repairs for non-Bureau of Prisons supplied glasses are at the inmate’s expense. The Health Services Administrator approves contact lenses only when an MCC Chicago clinician or one of their provider's documents that standard prescription glasses will not address visual deficits. Preventive health care services, emergency services, dental services, and medications are also provided.
Psychology Services: MCC Chicago provides initial evaluations, along with group therapy. Typical offerings include anger management. Emergency psychological care is also available.
Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP): This facility does not house a Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP). The Drug Education class, the Non-Residential Drug Abuse Program (NR-DAP) and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) are available.
Education Services: MCC Chicago provides literacy, GED, and English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) programs. The facility also offers a parenting program and Adult Continuing Education (ACE) classes. High school diplomas and post-secondary programs are available through paid correspondence programs.
Library Services: The TRULINCS Electronic Law Library, which is located in the Education Department where inmates can access legal materials and prepare legal documents. A leisure library is also available, where inmates can check out fiction and nonfiction books, newspapers, and magazines.
Commissary: The commissary spending limit is $360.00 per month. Inmates can purchase hygiene items, food, drinks, electronics, and other items.
Recreation Services: Recreation equipment is available within each housing unit at MCC Chicago. Though space is limited, there is full opportunity to maintain physical fitness with available equipment and scheduled recreational activities. Various board games are also available in the housing units. Hobby craft classes are held twice a week and supplies are provided for all participants.
Admissions and Orientation (A&O) Handbook – This document provides you with general information about the institution, programs, rules, and regulations that you will encounter during your confinement. Familiarizing yourself with this information and knowing your responsibilities will help you to adjustment to institution life.
Commissary List – In 1930 the Department of Justice authorized and established a Commissary at each Federal institution. The Commissary provides a bank type account for your money & for the procurement of articles not issued regularly as part of the institution administration. Funds deposited by your family, friends, or other sources are stored in your commissary account that we maintain.
Legal Activities
This document outlines the procedures for access to legal reference materials and legal counsel, and the opportunities that you will be afforded to prepare legal documents while incarcerated.
visitation Info
Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) – Chicago – Visiting Hours
- Monday 12:00pm – 3:00pm, 5:00pm – 8:00pm
- Tuesday 12:00pm – 3:00pm, 5:00pm – 8:00pm
- Wednesday 12:00pm – 3:00pm, 5:00pm – 8:00pm
- Thursday 12:00pm – 3:00pm, 5:00pm – 8:00pm
- Friday 12:00pm – 3:00pm, 5:00pm – 8:00pm
- Saturday 8:00am – 11:00am, 12:00pm – 3:00pm
- Sunday 8:00am – 11:00am, 12:00pm – 3:00pm
- Holidays 8:00am – 11:00am, 12:00pm – 3:00pm
