Inside The Prison Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Will Call Home Until His Execution
On Friday, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was sentenced to death for the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings that killed three and injured 260. While he awaits his death by lethal injection, it is likely he will spend his days on death row at a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.
According to CNN, Tsarnaev must be formally sentenced by a judge before it is determined where he will be held until his death sentence is carried out, but FCI Terre Haute is expected to be his destination. The super-max prison has a Special Confinement Unit for male federal inmates who have been sentenced to death.
If Dzhokhar, 21, is sent to Terre Haute, he will be the youngest inmate on death row. He will join 55 other men who are currently awaiting execution, including a serial child molester, a New York gang leader, and a high-ranking member of the international street gang MS-13.
It may be years before Tsarnaev is executed due to what is expected to be a lengthy appeals process, and the wait could be even longer due to the current federal government moratorium on all executions. The last death row execution at FCI Terre Haute took place on March 18, 2003, when convicted murderer Louis Jones, Jr. was executed by lethal injection.
Other than recreation time three times a week in a cage, the Tribune Star reports that Tsarnaev will spend much of his time in a small cell with his meals served through a slot in the door. The cell is not made for comfort, with just a bed, toilet, shower, desk, and chair inside. All inmates have a small television in their cell, and if they have money in their prison account, they can order food or clothing from the commissary.
According to the Business Insider, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will not have much contact with other inmates, or people outside the prison. He will be allowed two, two-hour visits per month, and physical contact is not allowed.
One 15-minute call per week is allowed, and any mail that comes into the prison must be written in English and will be thoroughly screened. Tsarnaev will be able to speak to other inmates through the small opening in the door, but will have very limited time to e-mail or access to the prison library.
The Boston Globe reports that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will remain in a Massachusetts prison until he is formally sentenced in the next few weeks. At that time, he will be transferred to federal prison, and unless his appeals are successful, he will become the fourth man executed by the federal government since 1963.
[Images: Federal Bureau of Prisons, Clark Construction, Getty Images, Kizaz]
