What to know about the Butner, NC, federal prison, where the Unabomber died Saturday

Ted Kazcynski, widely known as the Unabomber, died Saturday at the Federal Medical Center, Butner, about 25 miles north of Raleigh.

The federal complex houses male inmates in low- and medium-security prisons, and is home to the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ largest medical center.

What other facilities are at Butner?

In addition to the medical center, Butner has three correctional facilities, one low-security and two medium-security.

Together, the three prison buildings house about 3,200 prisoners, according to the Bureau of Prisons website.

Who else has been imprisoned at Butner?

R. Kelly, the disgraced R&B singer, is perhaps the highest-profile inmate at the facility now. The singer, whose legal name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, is being held at Federal Correctional Institution Butner Medium I, the News & Observer previously reported.

R. Kelly was found guilty of sexual exploitation of children, among other crimes.

Bernie Madoff, the mastermind of a nearly $65 billion Ponzi scheme, died at the Butner Federal Medical Center in 2021. A judge denied compassionate release for Madoff during the COVID-19 pandemic despite his lawyers’ claims that the one-time financier was suffering from chronic kidney failure.

Another notorious criminal who died at the prison’s medical facility was Gilberto Rodriguez-Orejuela. The Miami Herald once called Rodriguez-Orejuela “one of the world’s most infamous drug lords,” and his Colombian cartel is believed to have trafficked at least 200 million tons of cocaine into the United States. He died at Butner’s medical center in 2022 at 83 years old, Colombian newspaper El Tiempo reported.

Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as “Joe Exotic” on the popular Netflix series “Tiger King,” spent some time at the Butner medical center while receiving cancer treatment in 2021. Maldonado-Passage has since been transferred to a federal prison near Fort Worth, The News & Observer previously reported.

How big is the medical center at Butner?

There are 833 inmates at the medical center as of June 10, according to a Bureau of Prisons release.

The facility is one of six medical centers spread across the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

What is Butner’s reputation?

Several consultants to people heading to prison have written complimentary things about the atmosphere at Butner’s various prison facilities.

In 2012, Alan Ellis, a criminal defense attorney who advises white collar clients who have been sentenced to prison, told CNBC the Butner facility is “the crown jewel of the Bureau of Prisons.”

Another prison consultant, the Zoukis Consulting Group, calls Federal Correctional Institution Butner Low its top low-security prison. It offers health services, as well as psychological services.

“Many appreciate the college campus atmosphere,” the Zoukis Consulting Group wrote.

This reputation even made its way into popular culture, with “Better Call Saul’s” Saul Goodman seeking to serve his sentence at the North Carolina prison’s low-security facility in the Breaking Bad spinoff’s final episode.

The Butner Federal Medical Center, where Kazcynski was most recently held, also has a good reputation.

Zoukis says the facility can treat “significant health conditions” while also offering services such as chronic care, dental care and periodic health screenings.

Butner offers advanced oncology services at the medical center. According to a brochure produced by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Butner is the primary oncology facility for federal prisons, “resulting in inmates from across the country being sent to FMC Butner for medical treatment.”