FCI Sandstone (low-security)
FCI Sandstone is a low-security federal correctional institution for men in Sandstone, Minnesota, operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. It held about 1,236 people as of November 2025. The institution's main number is 320-245-2262.
Location
Physical location: SANDSTONE, MN 55072
Mailing address: 2300 COUNTY RD 29, SANDSTONE, MN 55072
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
Located within Pine County, the Federal Correctional Institution, Sandstone (FCI Sandstone) is a low-security United States federal prison for male offenders in Sandstone, Minnesota. Operating under the Federal Bureau of Prisons North Central Region, the facility is situated roughly 100 miles northeast of the Minneapolis and St. Paul metro area and about 70 miles southwest of Duluth. Reported populations vary by source, with published figures ranging from roughly 920 to about 1,340, though they generally place the count near 1,200 men. While the main institution is low-security, the site also handles mail for a satellite camp holding minimum-security inmates. These individuals form a population that is administratively and physically distinct from the low-security FCI.
The facility possesses a long history, beginning with its opening in 1939. An initial group of about fifty inmates transferred from the United States Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas, arriving in early April of that year before the kitchen and bakery were fully finished. Throughout the 1940s, the population of the facility stood at roughly 350. A drop in population led the Bureau of Prisons to close the prison in 1949, after which the site was converted to a medical and mental-health use for about a decade. In 1959, it reopened as a federal correctional institution and has operated as a men's prison since.
Functioning as a low-security institution, FCI Sandstone accommodates inmates in dormitory and cubicle-style units instead of locked cells. This environment allows residents comparatively more freedom of movement inside the compound than they would encounter at higher-security prisons. Unless they are enrolled full time in education or vocational programming, all medically able inmates are expected to work. Typical institutional duties consist of food service, facilities maintenance, landscaping, laundry, and janitorial work, which yield pay in the range of roughly 12 to 40 cents per hour. Furthermore, the prison offers Federal Prison Industries (UNICOR) employment. Along with providing work experience in production settings, these roles pay more, featuring wages in the approximate range of 23 cents to slightly over one dollar per hour.
Available programming features the Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP), the Bureau's voluntary, intensive nine-month, roughly 500-hour residential substance-abuse treatment track. For eligible completers, this program can carry up to a year of sentence reduction. Educational opportunities include parenting courses, adult continuing education, and classes for literacy, the GED, and English-as-a-Second-Language. The facility also provides vocational training, such as apprenticeships and building and auto trades. Recreational amenities range from outdoor softball fields, walking tracks, and basketball courts to indoor cable weight machines and leisure activities. Additionally, the institution has periodically been cited in popular press rankings of comparatively easier federal facilities, including a 2012 CNBC list and a 2017 Insider Monkey list.
Notable inmates
| Name | Sentence | Offense | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Allen | Served about 28 months; released 1981 | Cocaine possession/trafficking (entertainer and actor) | late 1970s to 1981 |
| Fetty Wap (Willie Junior Maxwell II)[1] | 6 years; moved to community confinement January 2026 | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances (rapper) | to January 2026 |
| Mike Danton | Transferred to a Canadian facility in 2009 | Conspiracy to commit murder (NHL/professional hockey player) | to 2009 |
| Marc Dreier | 20 years | Securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering (disbarred attorney who defrauded hedge funds of hundreds of millions) | released circa 2025 |
| Cecil Price | Served about 4.5 years; released 1974 | Federal civil rights violations in the 1964 Mississippi murders of three civil rights workers (former deputy sheriff) | to 1974 |
| James P. Cannon | About 18 months; released 1945 | Smith Act conviction (Socialist Workers Party leader, 1941 Minneapolis sedition trial) | to 1945 |
| Mohamed Osman Mohamud | Long federal term; scheduled release circa 2036 | Attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction (2010 Portland, Oregon car-bomb plot) | current era |
| Joshua Ryne Goldberg | Released April 2024 | Attempted malicious use of an explosive; posed online as an ISIS affiliate to incite attacks | to 2024 |
References
- ↑ "Fetty Wap (Willie Junior Maxwell II)". '. Retrieved 2026-07-07.