FCI Loretto (low-security)

MALE

Gender

LOW

Security Level

783

Population (Nov. 2025)

No RDAP

Notes from Alumni

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

• The Journey of David Grosky: A Story of Loss, Growth, and Purpose (Nightmare Success podcast)
• The Man Who Survived Bridgegate: Bill Baroni’s Journey from Politics to Prison and Beyond (Nightmare Success podcast)

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

Location

Physical location: LORETTO, PA 15940

Mailing address: 772 SAINT JOSEPH ST., LORETTO, PA 15940

Visitation

There are many specific rules and procedures to be aware of when you're considering visiting the institution. Read more on our Visitation Guide.

For full, current visiting rules and scheduling, always check the institution's official page on the Bureau of Prisons website: Official BOP Page.

Daily life and programs

FCI Loretto is a low-security U.S. federal prison for men located in Allegheny Township, Cambria County. Situated in the Allegheny highlands of west-central Pennsylvania, the facility lies between Altoona and Johnstown, roughly 70 miles east of Pittsburgh. The grounds were occupied by St. Francis Seminary from the late 1950s until 1979, before the Bureau of Prisons opened the correctional institution on the former seminary campus in the mid-1980s. While Wikipedia lists 1985 as the opening year, several inmate guides cite 1984. Fifteen inmates from the Allenwood federal prison camp reportedly assisted in this conversion. The institution operates under the BOP Northeast Region and is paired with an adjacent satellite camp that holds a small minimum-security male population. Reported counts vary by source and year, but the population generally falls in the range of roughly 750 to 890 men in the main low-security FCI, plus a few dozen individuals at the camp.

At the low-security FCI, housing is largely open dormitory and cubicle style rather than individual cells. The main institution is organized into three general housing units alongside a Special Housing Unit of 24 cells reserved for segregation; notably, one named unit that appears in reporting is the Central One Unit. An attached minimum-security camp utilizes dormitory housing and remains administratively and physically distinct from the main institution. This separation constitutes an important distinction because placement determines the security level a person actually experiences. The facility is designated Medical Care Level 2, meaning it is equipped for generally stable inmates whose chronic conditions need periodic clinician evaluation. Daily life follows the standard federal rhythm of scheduled counts, work and program call-outs, meals, and structured recreation periods. Visitation for the main institution is typically held on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and federal holidays, while the camp observes a similar weekend and holiday schedule.

Programming at Loretto is comparatively limited for a low-security site. The facility's education department has offered Adult Basic Education, GED preparation, English as a Second Language, adult continuing education, and a parenting program. For context, one 2016 figure cited about 125 inmates enrolled in ESL and/or GED coursework. Drug treatment at Loretto has centered on drug-abuse education, a non-residential drug abuse program, and peer-support meetings, rather than the intensive residential RDAP found at some institutions. Therefore, generic guides that assert RDAP at Loretto should be treated with caution. A UNICOR / Federal Prison Industries work operation once ran at the institution but was subsequently terminated. Because BOP program availability shifts over time, current offerings should be reverified directly against the Bureau of Prisons before relying on any single figure.

The majority of individuals incarcerated at Loretto are serving sentences related to drug offenses. As reported in 2016, the average sentence length is approximately 12 years, although certain inmates are serving life terms. The facility garnered national attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. By December 2020, nearly 75 percent of the roughly 856 inmates had been diagnosed with the virus, prompting family members to initiate litigation regarding the conditions during the outbreak. Historically, Loretto has accommodated a notable mix of white-collar defendants, political-corruption figures, organized-crime members, and entertainment figures, a fact reflected in its unusually well-documented roster of former inmates.

First-hand accounts

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

• 'Like a war zone': COVID ravaged the prison that freed Paul Manafort early — NBC News. National investigative journalism reporting that nearly 75% of FCI Loretto's population tested positive for COVID in a single month, around Paul Manafort's early release.
• Any of you fellas been locked up with someone notable? — Reddit (r/ExCons). First-person account of being housed in the same unit as CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou at FCI Loretto.
• How to support a loved one in prison, FCI Loretto — Reddit (r/ExCons). A partner asks how to support a loved one incarcerated at FCI Loretto.
• Union members react to closure of FCI Loretto satellite camp — WJAC-TV (local). Local TV report on union reaction to the FCI Loretto satellite camp's 2024 closure.

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

Notable inmates

Name	Sentence	Offense	Dates
Paul Manafort	About 7.5 years	Bank and tax fraud and lobbying violations (former Trump 2016 campaign chairman)	Held at Loretto in 2019; released to home confinement May 2020 amid COVID-19; pardoned by President Trump December 2020
John Kiriakou	30 months	Violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act by disclosing a covert CIA officer's identity (former CIA officer)	Released February 2015
Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela	30 years	Cocaine trafficking as a co-founder of the Cali Cartel	Listed as a current inmate; scheduled release circa 2028
Cameron Douglas	Roughly 5 years, later extended to about 9.5 years after in-prison offenses	Drug trafficking and possession (actor; son of Michael Douglas)	Held in Loretto's Central One Unit before transfer to FCI Cumberland
John Forte	14 years, later commuted	Cocaine trafficking (musician associated with the Fugees)	Sentence commuted by President George W. Bush in November 2008; released 2008 after about 8 years
John Rowland	About 10 months	Honest-services fraud / public corruption (former Governor of Connecticut)	Released 2006
Vincent Asaro	8 years	Arson (Bonanno crime family caporegime)	Released April 2020
Raffaello Follieri	About 4 years	Fraud and money laundering (falsely claiming to represent the Vatican)	Released 2012

FCI Loretto. Public domain photograph, via Wikimedia Commons.