Opened: 1932

Supervised by: Richard Ives

Total inmates: 1,239

Security: Low

Physical Prison Address:

3600 Guard Road
Lompoc, CA 93436

Phone Number: 805-736-4154

Fax Number: 805-736-1292

Email Address: LOX/[email protected]

Prison System: Federal Bureau of Prisons; Western Region

Status: Active

Employees: 556 for the entire Lompoc Correctional Complex, which also includes USP Lompoc

Offender Gender: Male

Security Level: Low  

Lompoc FCI is one of two federal prison facilities located in Lompoc, California.  USP Lompoc may be more widely recognized, but Lompoc FCI actually has a worse reputation as a place to be imprisoned. 

Most of the inmates at Lompoc FCI are serving sentences ranging from 1 to 15 years for non-violent crimes; the majority are drug offenders. 

Inmates at Lompoc FCI live in four housing units.  They may live in dormitory or cell settings, depending on individual inmate classification, with special housing units for inmates with disciplinary problems or histories.  

While the official living conditions at Lompoc FCI match the descriptions of similar facilities around the country, unofficial descriptions of the living conditions tell a very different story.  Healthcare professionals from the Lompoc area describe treating Lompoc FCI inmates for a wide variety of traumas that they believe were created through prison violence.  Former inmates describe an environment with corrupt prison guards and extremely lax security procedures, which resulted in many of the inmates having cell-phones and other contraband.  Access to cell phones is particularly troubling because it gives inmates access to unsupervised communications with the outside world, which can make it easier for inmates to plan assaults and other crimes, despite being incarcerated. 

Like other Bureau of Prisons institutions, Lompoc FCI places an emphasis on minimum education requirements.  Inmates who are non-English speakers are required to participate in ESL programming until they achieve 8th grade proficiency; failure to do so can impact their ability to participate in other prison programming.  Inmates who do not have a high school diploma or GED certificate are required to participate in GED programming; failure to do so can result in inability to move up pay grades for inmate labor and inability to earn credit for Good Time.  Even if inmates have a high school diploma, they can be tested for literacy to ensure that they have the actual skills necessary to participate in the job market upon release.  Inmates who are deemed to fall below the threshold are eligible for remedial education.  Inmates can earn occupational education certificates and degrees as well as participate in apprenticeship programs and adult continuing education programs.  Inmates may also participate in college correspondence courses.  Inmates can participate in parenting courses.  Leisure programs at the prison include: games, sports, music programs, movies, hobby crafts, social and cultural organizations, art programs, and wellness programs. 

The Federal Bureau of Prisons does not maintain a prison industries program.  Inmates at Lompoc FCI are eligible for prison work units, which are described in the prison handbook.   

Lompoc FCI does not have a notable history. 

Lompoc FCI primarily houses non-violent offenders, but some of the inmates at the facility are well-known for causing significant destruction.  Henry Jones, a former record company executive, is serving a 20-year sentence at FCI Lompoc for his role in running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded over 500 investors of a total of $32 million.  Former IRS agent Steven Martinez is at FCI Lompoc for charges related to fraudulent tax preparation scheme, including murder-for-hire charges when he sought to have former clients killed so that they would be unable to testify against him.  Reed Slatkin, founder of Earthlink served time there for money laundering and fraud due to his involvement in a Ponzi scheme.  Charles Martin masterminded a Ponzi scheme with over 1,000 victims and a combined $17 million in losses.  Spies Christopher Boyce and Andrew Lee served time at Lompoc FCI after selling classified information about U.S. ciphers and spy satellites to the Soviet Union.