While not the most dangerous inmates in the United States prison system, these medium security prisoners are still terrifying. Today we look at 15 convicts locked inside Medium Security Prisons.
15 – Cesar Altieri Sayoc
Sayoc has a criminal history dating back to 1991, with past arrests for grand larceny, petty larceny, fraud, drug possession, and a 2002 charge for threatening to bomb.
According to his cousin, Sayoc’s mother is Italian and his biological father is Filipino. He was born on March 17, 1962, in Brooklyn, New York.
He was an amateur bodybuilder and former male stripper. Before his arrest, Sayoc was living in his van, which was covered in pro-Trump and anti-Democrat imagery, including crosshairs over the faces of some of his victims.
In October 2018, Sayoc mailed 16 improvised explosive devices to prominent Democrats and critics of President Donald Trump.
Sayoc sent the IEDs in padded envelopes to addresses across the country, including New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Delaware, Atlanta, and California.
The targets included former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, actor Robert De Niro and prominent news organization CNN with Sayoc arrested in Florida on October 26, 2018, and the FBI investigated the case as domestic terrorism.
In March 2019, Sayoc pleaded guilty to 65 felony counts, including using weapons of mass destruction.
He was sentenced to 20 years in prison on August 5, 2019, and is eligible for release as early as November 10, 2035.
Sayoc is currently being held at Butner Medium II, one of the sates most notorious medium security prisons, with an earliest possible release date of November 10th, 2035.
14 – Luis Hernando Gómez
This Colombian Drug Lord; known as “Rasguño”, was a member of the notorious leader of the Norte del Valle Cartel which was responsible for smuggling hundreds of metric tons of cocaine to the United States and Europe.
Gómez started his criminal career in 1989 and quickly rose through the ranks of the Norte del Valle Cartel. Between 1990 and 2004, he co-managed the cartel’s operations, overseeing the production and smuggling of approximately 500 metric tons of cocaine with a value exceeding $10 billion.
During this period, he was indicted in the United States three times with the charges including money laundering, drug trafficking, racketeering and multiple firearms violations.
He also admitted to managing the payroll for 800 of the cartel’s 6,000 workers, which included several members of the Colombian Congress and eight town mayors. At the time of his extradition, his seized assets included a Ferrari and two paintings claimed to be original works by Peter Paul Rubens.
In July 2004, Gómez was arrested in Havana, Cuba, while attempting to enter the country with a falsified passport. After remaining in Cuban custody for several years, he was deported to Colombia in 2007. Later that same year, he was extradited to the United States.
In October 2008, Gómez pleaded guilty to racketeering charges in a Washington court. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison in a New York court. He is currently incarcerated at Federal Correctional Institution, Mendota, with a projected release date of 2032.
13 – Darren Mallory Sharper.
Following his retirement from football in 2011, Sharper was accused of drugging multiple women in several states, including California, Arizona, Nevada, and Louisiana.
The allegations surfaced after women in different cities reported similar stories of blacking out after drinking with him and waking up to find they had been sexually assaulted. In 2014, he was charged in connection with these assaults.
In 2016, Sharper pleaded guilty or no contest to drugging and raping women in four states. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in a California court and over 18 years in a Louisiana federal court. The sentences are to be served concurrently at FCI Otisville, his current location.
As part of his plea, Sharper admitted to giving controlled substances like anti-anxiety drugs or sedatives to unsuspecting women with the intent to commit rape. The conviction led to his removal from the College of William & Mary Athletics Hall of Fame.
Sharper is eligible for parole in about eight years, which would be in 2024, due to California law requiring him to serve half his sentence. However, the 18-year sentence from the Louisiana federal court may lead to him serving more time if an appeals court upholds it.
12 – Matthew Muller.
Muller has been convicted of multiple crimes across several counties in Northern California, some of which were cold cases that came to light after the investigation into the Huskins kidnapping.
At age 16, Muller kidnapped and assaulted a female camper at Folsom Lake State Recreation Area. He pleaded guilty to these charges in June 2025 and was sentenced to 11 years to life in prison.
In two separate incidents in Mountain View and Palo Alto, Muller broke into homes, tied up women, and forced them to drink sedatives. He pleaded guilty to these crimes in January 2025 and was sentenced to two consecutive life terms.
Muller broke into the home of Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn, kidnapped Huskins, and sexually assaulted her before releasing her two days later. He pleaded guilty to kidnapping and no contest, receiving a 40-year federal prison sentence and a 31-year state sentence, to be served concurrently.
Just two weeks after the Vallejo kidnapping, Muller held a family for ransom in San Ramon. The victims did not report the crime at the time out of fear. Muller pleaded no contest in July 2025 and was sentenced to life.
Muller has been sentenced to multiple life sentences, in addition to a 40-year federal prison term and a 31-year state sentence. His sentences are to be served concurrently with his current prison terms. He is currently incarcerated at Federal Correctional Institution, Tucson.
11 – Gene Gotti.
Born in 1946, Gene Gotti’s criminal career began with his involvement with the Gambino family, becoming an associate around 1966.
He was convicted of theft from an interstate shipment in 1969 and illegal possession of a firearm in 1973, serving short prison sentences for both. He was officially initiated as a “made man” in the Gambino family in 1976.
Gotti, along with his brother John and others, was involved in various criminal activities including truck hijackings and drug trafficking. His involvement in drug dealing, specifically heroin, eventually led to a major legal battle.
The then-boss of the Gambino family, Paul Castellano, had a strict ban on “made men” dealing drugs, a rule that Gotti and others had violated.
After several trials and a mistrial due to accusations of jury tampering, Gotti was ultimately convicted in 1989 on charges of racketeering and drug trafficking. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison and fined $75,000.
During his incarceration, the Gambino family demoted him from his rank of capo (captain) to a simple soldier. He served 29 years of his sentence and was released from FCI Pollock in 2018 at the age of 71.
10 – Daniel Patrick Boyd
In 1991, Boyd and his brother were convicted of bank robbery in Pakistan. They were sentenced to fines, prison terms, and amputation of their right hands and left feet, but the conviction was later overturned.
In 2009, Boyd was arrested along with seven other men and charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and conspiring to murder, kidnap, maim, and injure people abroad.
The indictment alleged that the group, sometimes referred to as the “Triangle Terror Group,” stockpiled weapons, trained with them, and raised money to support their efforts.
Boyd pleaded guilty in 2011 to two counts: conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim, and injure persons in a foreign country.
He was sentenced to 18 years in prison and a fine which was served at FCI Marianna, one of the sates most notorious medium security prisons.
9 – James Kopp
On October 23, 1998, Kopp fired a single shot from a rifle into the home of Dr. Barnett Slepian, striking and killing the doctor as he stood in his kitchen. Kopp confessed to police that he fired the shot but claimed he only intended to wound the doctor to prevent him from performing abortions.
After the murder, Kopp fled the country, traveling to Mexico, Ireland, and eventually France. He was placed on the FBI’s list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives in 1999 and was captured in France in 2001.
Kopp was convicted of second-degree murder in New York state court in 2003 and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
He was also convicted of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act and using a firearm in a violent crime. For these federal charges, he was sentenced to an additional life term plus 10 years and ordered to pay $2.6 million in restitution to Slepian’s family.
Kopp is also a suspect in the non-fatal shootings of four other abortion providers in the United States and Canada in the mid-1990s while being affiliated with a militant anti-abortion group known as The Lambs of Christ.
He claimed his actions were motivated by his “pro-life” beliefs. Before the murder of Dr. Slepian, he had been arrested more than 100 times for protesting abortion. He is currently imprisoned at FCI Mendota, one of the sates most notorious medium security prisons.
8 – Quazi Nafis
A Bangladeshi national, Quazi Nafis was a criminal convicted for a terrorism plot. In January 2012, at the age of 21, he traveled to the United States on a student visa with the intention of carrying out a terrorist attack.
He sought to recruit individuals to form a terrorist cell and actively looked for al-Qaeda contacts within the U.S.
His plan involved a bombing operation against a major financial institution. He considered several targets, including a high-ranking U.S. official and the New York Stock Exchange, before deciding on the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
He wrote a statement claiming responsibility for the attack on behalf of al-Qaeda, where he stated his goal was to “destroy America” by targeting its economy.
Nafis came into contact with an FBI undercover agent who was posing as an al-Qaeda facilitator. The agent provided him with inert explosives, and on October 17, 2012, Nafis assembled what he believed to be a 1,000-pound bomb in a van.
He drove the van to the Federal Reserve Bank and repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, attempted to detonate the device. He was arrested immediately after.
In 2013, he pleaded guilty to attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and was sentenced to 30 years in prison where he is currently held inside FCI Edgefield, one of the sates most notorious medium security prisons.
7 – Amine El Khalifi
Born in Morocco around 1983, El Khalifi was arrested in 2012 for plotting a suicide bombing on the U.S. Capitol.
The plot was part of what he believed to be a terrorist operation. He came to the attention of law enforcement through a confidential informant.
Throughout December 2011 and January 2012, he proposed various targets, including a Washington D.C. restaurant, a synagogue, and a building with U.S. military offices. He eventually settled on a suicide attack at the U.S. Capitol.
He believed he was working with al-Qaeda operatives, but was actually in contact with undercover FBI agents. All the weapons and support he received were provided by the FBI, and authorities stated the public was never in danger.
On the day of his planned attack, he was given an inoperable suicide vest and a disarmed firearm and was arrested before he could exit a parking garage near the Capitol.
On June 22, 2012, El Khalifi pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison on September 14, 2012, currently serving at FCI Williamsburg, one of the sates most notorious medium security prisons.
6 – Aurelio Cano Flores
Known by the aliases “Yankee” and “Yeyo,” is a Mexican drug trafficker and former high-ranking leader of the Gulf Cartel. He was also a former member of the Federal Judicial Police in Tamaulipas, Mexico.
Cano Flores joined the Gulf Cartel in 2001 while still a police officer. He used his position to recruit other police officers, collect drug money, and escort drug shipments to the U.S. border.
He rose to become a regional boss for the cartel in Los Guerra and Camargo, coordinating shipments of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana to the United States.
He was arrested by Mexican federal police in June 2009 and was extradited to the U.S. in August 2011 to face drug trafficking charges.
In 2013, following a trial he was convicted of conspiracy to distribute large quantities of cocaine and marijuana. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $15 billion.
At the time of his conviction, he was the highest-ranking Gulf Cartel member to be convicted by a U.S. jury in 15 years. Aurelio Flores is currently serving his sentence at FCI Beaumont, one of the sates most notorious medium security prisons.
5 – Mohammed Modin Hasan
In April 2010, Hasan and four other men, all from Somalia, attacked a U.S. Navy frigate, the USS Nicholas, on the high seas between Somalia and the Seychelles.
They had been in search of a merchant ship to pirate, using a larger supply vessel and two smaller attack boats. During the attack on the USS Nicholas, which they had mistaken for a merchant ship, Hasan was armed with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.
Hasan and his co-defendants were swiftly apprehended after the attack and transported to the Eastern District of Virginia. They were charged with multiple counts, including piracy, attack to plunder a vessel, and assault with a dangerous weapon.
In November 2010, a federal jury in Virginia convicted Hasan and the other men of piracy and related offenses. In March 2011, they were sentenced to life in prison plus a consecutive 80 years. This was believed to be the first piracy trial conviction in the United States since 1820.
The convictions and sentences were unanimously affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in 2012. More recently, in October 2023, the Fourth Circuit affirmed a district court’s decision to deny Hasan’s motion for compassionate release.
Hasan is currently incarcerated at FCC Yazoo City, one of the sates most notorious medium security prisons.
4 – Anderson Lee Aldrich
Known as Nicholas Franklin Brink, this criminal committed a mass shooting at Club Q, an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on November 19, 2022.
In 2021, Aldrich was arrested after threatening to bomb their mother’s house, which led to a standoff with SWAT and a neighborhood evacuation. However, the charges from this incident were later dropped.
Armed with an AR-15-style rifle and a handgun, Aldrich entered the club and began shooting indiscriminately, killing five people and injuring 19 others. Aldrich was ultimately subdued by patrons before police arrived.
In 2023, Aldrich pleaded guilty to state-level charges, including five counts of first-degree murder and 46 counts of attempted first-degree murder. Aldrich was sentenced to five consecutive life terms plus an additional consecutive 2,211 years without the possibility of parole.
In 2024, Aldrich pleaded guilty to 74 federal hate crime and weapons charges. Aldrich admitted that the attack was motivated by hatred toward the victims’ actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity.
Aldrich was sentenced to 55 concurrent life sentences without parole, plus a consecutive 190 years which he is currently serving at FCI Coleman Medium in Sumter County, Florida, one of the sates most notorious medium security prisons.
3 – Farooque Ahmed
Convicted for plotting a terrorist attack on the Washington Metro system, Ahmed attempted to assist people he believed were members of al-Qaeda in planning multiple bombings.
He conducted surveillance and recorded videos of several Metro stations in Arlington, Virginia, and provided this information to an undercover FBI agent.
He also suggested placing explosives in rolling suitcases during the evening rush hour to cause the most casualties. At no point was the public in actual danger, as the FBI was aware of his activities and closely monitored him.
He was charged with attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and collecting information to assist in planning a terrorist attack on a transit facility.
In 2011, Ahmed pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 23 years in prison, currently at Allenwood Medium, one of the sates most notorious medium security prisons, and 50 years of supervised release.
2 – Fabio Ochoa Vásquez.
A former leading member of the Medellín Cartel, Ochoa Vásquez surrendered to Colombian authorities under a plea deal that offered reduced sentences and a promise of no extradition to the U.S. at the time. After serving a short prison term, he was released in 1996.
He was arrested again in 1999 and subsequently extradited to the United States in 2001. He was the only one of more than 40 indicted individuals to go to trial, where he was convicted of conspiracy to import and distribute large amounts of cocaine.
In 2003, he was sentenced to 30 years in U.S. federal prison. In December 2024, after serving 25 years of his sentence, he was released and deported back to Colombia.
1 – Larry Hall.
Believed to have abducted and murdered dozens of girls and women in the Midwest from 1982 to 1993, Larry Hall was arrested for breaking windows as early as his teenage years.
He is also suspected of committing arson, burglary, and other petty crimes during his adolescence. He also stole valuables from coffins while working as a gravedigger with his father.
Hall was convicted in 1995 of kidnapping 15-year-old Jessica Roach, whose remains were found in Indiana. He had confessed to the crime, giving details only the perpetrator would know, but later recanted.
He was sentenced to a life term in prison. While he has not been convicted of murder, he has confessed to dozens of murders, and authorities believe he may be responsible for the deaths and disappearances of between 40 and 50 young women.
Hall has been connected to several other cases. For example, in 2010 he confessed to the murder of Laurie Depies, who vanished in 1992, but he has not been formally charged. He is also a suspect in the disappearance of Tricia Reitler, who vanished in 1993.
He is suspected of the murders of between 35-50 people across 14 different states, later confessing to fellow inmate James Keene, who was serving a ten-year prison sentence on a drug conspiracy charge and agreed to befriend Hall in return for his sentence being wiped.
Hall is serving life without the possibility of parole at FCC Butner in North Carolina, one of the sates most notorious medium security prisons.
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