USP Canaan (high-security)

MALE

Gender

HIGH

Security Level

1363

Population (Nov. 2025)

No RDAP

Notes from Alumni

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Location

Physical location: WAYMART, PA 18472

Mailing address: 3057 ERIC J. WILLIAMS, WAYMART, PA 18472

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

Operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, USP Canaan is a high-security United States Penitentiary for men located in Canaan Township, Wayne County, in northeastern Pennsylvania. The facility sits roughly 20 miles east of Scranton and about 134 miles north of Philadelphia. It opened in 2005 and was built at a cost of about 141 million dollars. Spanning six housing units, the main institution holds 1,200 to 1,400 high-security male inmates, while an adjacent minimum-security satellite camp houses fewer than 100 men who supply labor for the wider complex. The high-security penitentiary and the camp function as strictly separate facilities characterized by very different populations, custody rules, and inmate profiles. Consequently, famous names attached to the complex generally belong to the main penitentiary rather than the camp.

Known for a documented history of serious violence, the institution has been described by Pennsylvania lawmakers as one of the most dangerous penitentiaries in the country. At least four inmates have been killed since the facility opened. In April 2010, an inmate named Allen Hurley stabbed Joseph O'Kane, a Gambino crime family associate, 92 times inside a cell. During that August, a Hartford drug-ring leader named Jose Antonio Perez was fatally stabbed in the neck in a killing that remained unsolved. The facility's most notorious event took place on February 25, 2013, when inmate Jessie Con-ui attacked and murdered Correctional Officer Eric Williams, a 34-year-old officer from Nanticoke, Pennsylvania. Subsequently, Williams's death became a rallying point for the federal correctional officers' union and drove national debate over staffing and officer safety equipment across the BOP.

Programming at Canaan features a variety of rehabilitative and educational initiatives. The facility offers the Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP), a roughly nine-month, 500-hour intensive treatment track whose successful completion can earn eligible inmates up to a year off their sentence. This intensive track is complemented by non-residential drug education, the Challenge Program, and Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous groups. Education services span literacy, GED, and English-as-a-Second-Language classes, as well as Adult Continuing Education and parenting courses. Inmates may also pursue correspondence options for high-school and college credit. Furthermore, vocational and apprenticeship tracks have included culinary arts, horticulture, electrical, HVAC, and plumbing. Additionally, a UNICOR (Federal Prison Industries) bindery operation ran at the institution, but it was reported closed around 2014.

In June 2011, contaminated chicken served in the dining hall at USP Canaan caused one of the largest institutional salmonella outbreaks on record, sickening roughly 300 inmates and several staff members. Alongside the recurring violence and periodic extended lockdowns reported by families of prisoners, this outbreak reinforced Canaan's reputation as a difficult high-security posting. Because the complex pairs a violent high-security penitentiary with a small minimum-security camp, care must be taken in reference work to place each incident and each inmate at the correct security level rather than attributing camp or low-security figures to the penitentiary.

First-hand accounts

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

• USP Canaan (r/PrisonWives) - Reddit. First-hand family account: a prisoner's wife reports USP Canaan had been on lockdown for weeks as her husband was about to be transferred there, and asks the community what is happening at the facility. Firsthand condition report from a family member, not a former inmate memoir.
• USP Canaan (r/Prison discussion thread) - Reddit. Community discussion thread opened by a user asking what people know about USP Canaan and how dangerous it is. On-topic thread that may surface firsthand impressions in replies; the archived comment bodies could not be independently retrieved for verification.

Notable inmates

Name	Sentence	Offense	Dates
Jessie Con-ui	Was serving an 11-year federal drug-trafficking term (with a separate Arizona life sentence pending) at the time of the officer's murder	Murder of Correctional Officer Eric Williams at USP Canaan (Feb 25, 2013); previously a gang-related murder in Arizona and federal drug trafficking	At USP Canaan through 2013
Juan Matta-Ballesteros	Life imprisonment	Drug kingpin tied to the Medellin Cartel; orchestrated the 1985 kidnapping and murder of DEA Agent Enrique Camarena	Held at USP Canaan; later transferred to MCFP Springfield
Abdul Kadir	Life imprisonment	Al-Qaeda supporter convicted of terrorism conspiracy in the foiled 2007 plot to bomb John F. Kennedy International Airport	Died at USP Canaan on June 28, 2018
Charles Carneglia	Life imprisonment	Gambino crime family soldier convicted of racketeering, armed robbery, kidnapping, extortion, and four murders	Held at USP Canaan
Steven Crea	Life imprisonment	Lucchese crime family underboss convicted in 2019 of murder and racketeering	Held at USP Canaan
Mohammad Shibin	Life imprisonment	Somali pirate leader convicted of piracy, kidnapping, and hostage-taking (ransom negotiator in the 2010 hijacking of the yacht Quest); the highest-ranking pirate ever prosecuted in the US	Held at USP Canaan; later transferred to FMC Butner
Luke Sommer	24 years plus 20 years	Former US Army Ranger; masterminded a 2006 takeover bank robbery in Tacoma, Washington, and later pleaded guilty to soliciting the murder of an Assistant US Attorney	Held at USP Canaan; later transferred to USP Coleman
Chhun Yasith	Life imprisonment	President of the Cambodian Freedom Fighters; convicted in 2008 of leading deadly 2000 attacks aimed at overthrowing the Cambodian government	Held at USP Canaan