FCI Allenwood (low-security)

Male

Gender

Low

Security Level

1,012 (BOP population report, July 9, 2026)

Population

Route 15, White Deer, PA 17887
RDAP: Yes

Federal Correctional Institution, Allenwood Low (FCI Allenwood Low) is a low-security federal prison for men in White Deer, Pennsylvania. The facility sits in Union County, in the Susquehanna River valley of central Pennsylvania, roughly 75 miles north of Harrisburg. It opened in 1992. The Federal Bureau of Prisons runs it as part of the Allenwood Federal Correctional Complex.

The complex also holds FCI Allenwood Medium and USP Allenwood. The Low sits at the bottom of that ladder. It carries the most relaxed conditions of the three.

Overview

FCI Allenwood Low houses adult male offenders. As of 2025 the population is around 1,000 men. Housing is dormitory style. Inmates live in two and three-person cubicles rather than locked cells. A double fence runs the perimeter. There are no gun towers in the way a penitentiary has them.

The Low takes inmates with a low security-point score. Many are serving time for drug, fraud, or other non-violent offenses. Some arrive near the end of longer sentences after stepping down from higher-security institutions.

The Bureau lists the standard slate of programming at the site. That includes work assignments, education, and the Residential Drug Abuse Program, the BOP's intensive substance-abuse track that can shorten a sentence by up to a year for eligible inmates who complete it.

The Allenwood Complex

The land has held federal inmates since the 1950s. The original Allenwood site was a low-security prison camp. For years it drew attention as the destination for several figures tied to the Watergate scandal.

The modern complex came later. The Bureau built three separate institutions on the property and opened them in the early 1990s. The Low opened in 1992. The Medium and the Penitentiary opened around the same period. Each operates as its own institution with its own warden and staff, even though they share the address and the surrounding acreage.

The three facilities cover the full range of male security classifications. A man can move between them as his points change, though that is not automatic and depends on conduct, sentence length, and Bureau policy.

Notable Inmates

Several people known from federal cases have served time at FCI Allenwood Low.

Martin Shkreli was held at the Low during his securities-fraud sentence. A jury convicted him in 2017 on two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy, and a judge sentenced him to seven years. He was moved out of the facility to community confinement on May 18, 2022, after serving a little over four years and earning credit for good conduct and program completion.

Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for baseball player Shohei Ohtani, reported to FCI Allenwood Low in June 2025. A court sentenced him to 57 months for bank fraud and a tax offense after he took roughly $17 million from Ohtani's account to cover gambling debts. He was ordered to pay about $18 million in restitution.

Bob Menendez, the former United States senator from New Jersey, was designated to the Low in 2025. He is serving an 11-year sentence following his conviction on federal bribery and corruption charges.

The facility has also held Ng Lap Seng, a Macau businessman convicted in a 2017 United Nations bribery case, and Eric C. Conn, a Kentucky lawyer convicted in a large Social Security disability-fraud scheme.

The names above reflect public reporting and prison records. The Bureau does not publicize current housing assignments, and an inmate's facility can change without notice.

Name	Sentence	Offense	Dates
Alex van der Zwaan	30 days	Making false statements to investigators in the Special Counsel (Mueller) investigation	Released June 2018, then deported (#35255-016)
Virgil Griffith	63 months	Conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (aiding North Korean sanctions evasion)	Released April 2025 (#79038-112)
Nicholas Corozzo	About 13.5 years	Gambino crime family capo; racketeering conspiracy linked to 1996 murders	Released November 2019 (#19241-053)

Notes from Alumni

The following people have spoken about their time at FCI Allenwood (low-security) on the Nightmare Success podcast, hosted by Brent Cassity (himself formerly incarcerated in the federal system):

• 213 year prison sentence- never gave up hope - Adam Clausen (Nightmare Success podcast)

Please remember that experiences are unique and may not reflect today's experience.

Location and Visitation

FCI Allenwood Low is located on Route 15 in White Deer, Pennsylvania, in Union County. The mailing address for inmates is Route 15, White Deer, PA 17887. The site is about 75 miles north of Harrisburg.

Visiting rules at a low-security institution cover approved visitor lists, dress codes, scheduling, and what visitors may bring. The Bureau sets these rules and can change them. Before traveling, check the institution's official page on the Bureau of Prisons website for current visiting days, hours, and any restrictions: Official BOP Page.

For general guidance on what to expect, see the Prisonpedia Visitation Guide.

See also

• Index of Federal Prison Facilities
• FCI Allenwood (medium-security)
• USP Allenwood (high-security)
• Bureau of Prisons Classification Methods
• Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP)

Daily life and programs

FCI Allenwood Low is a low-security U.S. federal prison for adult men. It operates as one of the institutions that make up the Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) Allenwood, which is situated just west of U.S. Route 15 in Gregg Township, Union County, Pennsylvania, near the community of White Deer and roughly 75 miles north of Harrisburg. The low-security institution opened in 1992 as part of a modern complex that also includes the medium-security FCI Allenwood Medium and the high-security USP Allenwood; together, the complex holds well over 2,000 male inmates. The Allenwood name predates the current buildings. A minimum-security federal prison camp operated on the site for decades and became nationally known in the 1970s for holding Watergate figures, but that earlier camp is a distinct facility from the low-security FCI described here.

Life at this low-security facility emphasizes work, programming, and relatively open internal movement compared with medium and high-security prisons. Population counts, as reported by the Bureau of Prisons and prison-consulting guides, fluctuate between roughly 1,000 and 1,450 men. Inmates reside in dormitory or cubicle style housing rather than locked cells, although the institution operates a Special Housing Unit (SHU) for disciplinary segregation and protective custody. A structured daily schedule covers work assignments, meals, education, and designated recreation. The recreation yard itself includes basketball and handball courts, weight equipment, table tennis, and intramural sports. Regarding personal allowances, commissary spending is capped near $360 per month. Furthermore, telephone access runs about 300 minutes per month with a 15-minute per-call limit, and inmates communicate by postal mail and TRULINCS electronic messaging.

Inmates at FCI Allenwood Low can participate in the Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP). This roughly nine-month, 500-hour cognitive-behavioral treatment program is conducted in a dedicated housing unit, where eligible graduates can earn up to twelve months off their sentence. The institution also operates a UNICOR (Federal Prison Industries) factory that has produced office furniture. Employment in this factory provides higher pay than standard institutional jobs, which pay about $0.12 to $0.40 per hour. Additionally, the facility's programming includes GED preparation, vocational and adult-continuing-education classes, and First Step Act evidence-based courses. Specific examples of these courses include Thinking for a Change, Moral Reconation Therapy, drug education, anger management, parenting, financial literacy, and employment-readiness classes.

A low-security designation generally requires a limited history of violence and a shorter remaining sentence. Consequently, FCI Allenwood Low has housed a diverse mix of white-collar, financial-crime, and nonviolent offenders, alongside some organized-crime figures who are serving out the tail ends of longer terms. Among the high-profile men incarcerated at the low-security institution are former U.S. Senator Bob Menendez and Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani. Readers and researchers must take care not to confuse the low-security FCI with the complex's medium-security and penitentiary facilities, because those separate locations hold entirely different inmates within different, higher-security populations.

First-hand accounts

First-person accounts and reporting about life at this facility. Experiences are individual and may not reflect current conditions.

• People who have been in prison, what is it like? — Reddit (AskReddit). Detailed first-person account of 3.5 years at FCI Allenwood Low on a wire-fraud count, describing day-to-day routine and keeping to oneself.
• FCI Allenwood Low — Reddit community thread. Current thread from someone seeking anyone with direct experience of FCI Allenwood Low.

Please remember that experiences are unique and may not reflect today's experience.

References

FCI Allenwood. Public domain photograph, via Wikimedia Commons.