The United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners (MCFP Springfield) is a United States federal prison in Springfield, Missouri, for male offenders. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.

History During the Great Depression, the city of Springfield, Missouri, offered of land to the federal government to build the prison, under the direction of business leaser and Chamber of Commerce president John T. Woodruff. Congress authorized the building of the prison in 1930. The prison opened in 1933 as the "United States Hospital for Defective Delinquents", under superintendent Marion R. King. The land surrounding the prison was used by the prisoners for farming until 1966. In 1977, the federal government returned some of the original 620 acres to the city. Prison riots occurred in 1941, 1944 and 1959.

Several political prisoners and spies arrested during World War II were held at MCFP Springfield for medical treatment. Anastasy Vonsyatsky served 3 years of a 5-year sentence there for conspiring to aid Hitler's Germany in violation of the Espionage Act before being released in 1946. Robert Henry Best and Herbert John Burgman, who were sentenced to life in prison for treason in 1948 and 1949 for making propaganda broadcasts for the Nazis, served their sentences at this prison. Best died at MCFP Springfield in 1952, Burgman in 1953.

Several high-profile Mafia bosses received medical treatment at MCFP Springfield, including Joseph Bonanno of the Bonanno crime family, Vito Genovese and Vincent Gigante of the Genovese crime family and John Gotti of the Gambino crime family. Genovese died at MCFP Springfield in 1969, Gotti in 2002, and Gigante in 2005. Other notable inmates held at MCFP Springfield for treatment include Robert Stroud, known as the "Birdman of Alcatraz" who died there in 1963, racecar driver Randy Lanier, drug trafficker Michael Riconosciuto, and "The Toxic Pharmacist" Robert Courtney. Terrorists Omar Abdel Rahman and José Padilla were also held there for brief periods.

Notable incidents On January 26, 2010, inmate Victor Castro-Rodriguez, 51, was found dead on the floor of his cell. Castro-Rodriguez originally was convicted of assault and resisting arrest in the U.S. District Court of Southern Florida and was being held at the MCFP because of a mental illness. MCFP inmates Wesley Paul Coonce Jr., 34, and Charles Michael Hall, 43, were charged in connection with his death and on May 7, 2014, were convicted of one count of first-degree murder. Coonce was also found guilty of one count of murder by an inmate serving a life sentence. Both were sentenced to death on June 2, 2014.

Notable inmates The following inmates are currently held at MCFP Springfield or served the majority of their sentence there. † Inmates who were released from custody prior to 1982 are not listed on the Bureau of Prisons website.

Living Inmate NameRegister NumberPhotoStatusDetails James Alex Fields Jr. 22239-084Serving a life sentence; currently at USP Allenwood.White supremacist, pleaded guilty in 2019 of 29 federal hate crime charges using his car to harm counter-protestors during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing 32 year-old Heather Heyer and injuring up to 19 more. Previously held at USP Hazelton and USP Allenwood. Marvin Charles Gabrion 09184-055 Serving a life sentence, commuted from the death penalty. Originally sentenced to death on March 16, 2002.Convicted in 2002 of the 1997 kidnapping and murder of 19-year-old Rachel Timmerman, who had accused Gabrion of rape; Tried federally as victim's body was found on federal land. Gabrion was the first person to receive a federal death sentence in a non-death penalty state since the federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988. Commuted from the death penalty by President Joe Biden on December 23, 2024. Michael Sarno 01042-424Serving a 25-year sentence, scheduled for release in 2031.Italian-American mobster, who is a powerful captain in the Chicago Outfit who leads the Cicero crew.Noshir Gowadia95518-022Transferred from ADX Florence. Serving a 32-year sentence; scheduled for release on October 28, 2028.Former engineer for the U.S. Department of Defense and one of the principal designers of the B-2 stealth bomber; convicted in 2011 of using classified information to assist the People's Republic of China with producing cruise missiles with stealth technology.20796-424 Transferred from ADX Florence. Serving a 21-year sentence; scheduled for release on November 12, 2026.Al-Qaeda operative and one of the first U.S. citizens to be designated as an enemy combatant after the September 11 attacks; convicted in 2007 of terrorism conspiracy for traveling overseas to attend an al-Qaeda training camp and for providing material support to terrorists.Ronell Wilson71460-053 Serving a life sentence.Gang leader in Staten Island, New York; murdered NYPD Detectives James Nemorin and Rodney Andrews, who were conducting a sting operation to buy an illegal gun in 2003. Wilson was initially on death row before having his sentence reduced to life without parole on the grounds of that he was mentally disabled.

Released Inmate NameRegister NumberPhotoStatusDetailsAndrija Artukovic N/A† Released in July of 1985 and extradited to Yugoslavia. Minister of the Interior and State Secratery for the Independent State of Croatia and leading figure in the Ustashe. He was a key figure in the mass murder of Serbs, Jews, and Roma and oversaw the operation of multiple concentration camps.Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno 07255-008 Released from custody in 1986 after serving 14 months at MCFP Springfield. Boss of the Bonanno crime family in New York City from 1931 to the mid-1960s; imprisoned for refusing to testify in a federal racketeering trial of the leaders of the five New York Mafia families. Fritz Duquesne N/A† Released from custody on compassionate grounds in 1954; served 14 years. Convicted in 1941 of leading the Duquesne Spy Ring, a group of spies for the Nazis which operated in the US from 1939 to 1941 and aimed to obtain information regarding military and industrial sabotage targets; all ring members were convicted in what was the largest espionage case in US history. John Demjanjuk N/A† Extradited to Israel in 1986. Former Trawniki and concentration camp guard at Treblinka, Sobibor, Majdanek, and Flossenbürg. 78407-012 Released from custody in 1984; served 6 months at FMC Butner and MCFP Springfield. Publisher of the pornographic magazine Hustler and the center of several high-profile First Amendment cases; imprisoned for contempt of court for disrespecting a federal judge.Daniel Larson12626-511 Released in January 2026 and transferred to FCI Engelwood. Outsider artist and YouTuber incarcerated for multiple terroristic threats against the Federal Government. N/A† Held at MCFP Springfield from 1942 to 1946 Russian-born American fascist leader; convicted under the Espionage Act of 1917 for his associations with Nazi sympathisers during World War II; released early. N/A† Held at MCFP Springfield from 1948 to 1957. Bank robber and murderer; attempted to escape from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in 1939; Young was the subject of the 1995 film Murder in the First. Rosario "Russell" Bufalino 04891-054 Held at MCFP Springfield from 1987 to 1989. An Italian-born American mobster who became the Boss of the Northeastern Pennsylvania crime family known as the Bufalino crime family from 1959 - 1994. He was a cousin of attorney William "Bill" Bufalino, the longtime counsel for Jimmy Hoffa.

Died at MCFP Springfield