A second inmate has died of COVID-19 at the federal prison in Coleman, where 419 cases of the deadly virus have now been identified.
The breakdown includes 331 inmates and 88 staff members. The overall number marks an increase of 47 cases in a little more than a week, when 297 inmates and 75 staff members were identified with the virus.
The majority of the Coronavirus cases – 203 – have been reported in the low-security wing of the massive complex. Of those, 182 are inmates and 21 are staff members. Four inmates and two staff members also are listed as recovered on a Federal Bureau of Prisons report.
Another 151 cases have been reported in the medium-security wing. Those include 121 inmates and 30 staff members. Of those, 27 inmates have recovered from the virus.
Sixty-five cases also have been reported in the high-security wings among 28 inmates and 37 staff members. As of Friday, two inmates and four staff members had recovered from the illness.
Overall, the Federal Bureau of Prisons houses 142,206 inmates in facilities across the United States and has a staff of about 36,000. As of Friday, 2,017 prisoners and 542 staff members had confirmed positive test results for COVID-19.
All told, 8,663 federal inmates and 720 staff members have recovered from the Coronavirus. But 108 inmates and one staff member have died as a result of the illness.
The Coleman prison complex sits on about 1,600 acres and as of 2010 was the largest correctional facility operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The inmates at the facility, on average, serve sentences of about 10 years.
Over the years, the prison has housed a variety of high-profile inmates. Convicted pedophile Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University team doctor, was moved there in August 2018 after allegedly being attacked in an Arizona prison. Somalia pirate Gabul Abdullah Ali and al-Qaeda sympathizer Amine El Khalifi also were believed to have served time there. And the late James “Whitey” Bulger, the famed Boston crime boss, was moved there in late 2014.
This past April, former U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown was released from the facility after completing less than half of her 60-month sentence for corruption and fraud charges. The 73-year Brown is serving the remainder of her sentence under home confinement. She suffers from high blood pressure, sleep apnea, low estrogen and acid reflux and was released because of concerns surrounding the Coronavirus.