How a Colorado town traded its economic crisis for a high-security federal prison

Cultures · Published 10 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: When Florence, Colorado, faced 17% unemployment in the early 1990s, the community took a drastic gamble. Residents raised $160,000 to secure land for a new federal correctional complex, hoping for a job boom. Today, the facility houses hundreds of inmates, but the reality inside has proven far more volatile.

Built in 1993, the United States Penitentiary, Florence High (USP Florence High) was designed by the DLR Group to address the rising demand for high-security federal housing. The project was overwhelmingly supported by the local population, who anticipated the creation of roughly 1,000 temporary and 900 permanent jobs. The facility, which spans approximately 390,020 square feet, operates as part of the larger Federal Correctional Complex, Florence, located 90 miles south of Denver. It serves as a high-security environment for male inmates, though it also functions as a step-down unit for those transitioning from the adjacent supermax facility, ADX Florence.

Despite its architectural design—which includes seven guard towers, a perimeter fence, and a patrol road—the prison has been marked by significant internal violence and systemic corruption. In 2000, seven correctional officers known as The Cowboys were charged with misconduct occurring between 1995 and 1997, including the abuse of handcuffed inmates and the contamination of food. Three of these officers were later convicted of civil rights violations. The facility has also seen multiple inmate-on-inmate homicides, including the 1999 killing of Joey Jesus Estrella and the 2008 stabbing of Mark Baker, a member of the Nazi Lowriders gang, by Gary Douglas Watland.

The environment remains precarious, as evidenced by a 2008 riot involving roughly 200 prisoners, which resulted in the deaths of two inmates at the hands of guards. More recently, the December 2021 killing of Jamarr Thompson contributed to broader national scrutiny regarding the Federal Bureau of Prisons. This incident prompted Senator Dick Durbin to call for the removal of Bureau director Michael Carvajal, citing a failure to manage escalating violence and staff corruption. While inmates at Florence High are encouraged to interact in a less restrictive setting than the supermax, the facility remains a flashpoint for the ongoing debate over safety and oversight within the American federal prison system.

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