Florida State Prison (FSP), otherwise known as Raiford Prison, is an American

correctional institution A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various crim ...

located in unincorporated

Bradford County, Florida Bradford County is a county in the north central region of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,303. Its county seat and largest city is Starke. History New River County, as it was known at the time, w ...

, with a Raiford postal address. It was formerly known as the "Florida State Prison-East Unit" as it was originally part of Florida State Prison near Raiford (now known as

Union Correctional Institution The Union Correctional Institution, formerly referred to as Florida State Prison, and also commonly known as Raiford Prison is a Florida Department of Corrections state prison located in unincorporated Union County, Florida, near Raiford. Si ...

). The facility, a part of the

Florida Department of Corrections The Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) is the government agency responsible for operating state prisons in the U.S. state of Florida. It has its headquarters in the state capital of Tallahassee. The Florida Department of Corrections oper ...

, is located on State Road 16 right across the border from Union County. The institution opened in 1961, even though construction was not completed until 1968. With a maximum population of over 1,400 inmates, FSP is one of the largest prisons in the state. FSP houses Florida's one of two male

death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting executio ...

cell blocks and the State of Florida

execution chamber An execution chamber, or death chamber, is a room or chamber in which capital punishment is carried out. Execution chambers are almost always inside the walls of a prison#Security levels, maximum-security prison, although not always at the same p ...

also houses male death row inmates while Lowell Annex houses female death row inmates. Inmates however are moved to Florida State Prison for "Death Watch" after their death warrant is signed by the governor of the State of Florida to await execution.

Lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium) for the express purpose of causing death. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but t ...

became the standard method of execution in 2000. The

electric chair The electric chair is a specialized device used for capital punishment through electrocution. The condemned is strapped to a custom wooden chair and electrocuted via electrodes attached to the head and leg. Alfred P. Southwick, a Buffalo, New Yo ...

can still be used by request of the inmate. FSP sits in the center of several other prisons. It sits across the river from Union Correctional Institution and is surrounded by New River Correctional Institution, New River O-Unit, FSP West Unit, all of which are now closed. Even though Union Correctional Institution is on the same property, immediately north-west of FSP, the county line (with Union County) runs in between the two, although Raiford is the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

address city for both the Union Correctional Institution and the Florida State Prison. FSP is Florida's only prison that is officially named "prison", with the other institutions being named "Correctional Institutions" (or "Correctional Facility" if it is a privately contracted prison).

Notable inmates

Former prisoners

John Ashley (bandit) John Hopkin Ashley (March 19, 1888 – November 1, 1924) was an American outlaw, bank robber, bootlegger, and occasional pirate active in southern Florida during the 1910s and 1920s. Between 1915 and 1924, the self-styled "King of the ...

– served 17 years for robbery. * Cesar Barone – serial killer; served time for attempting to rape a guard in a previous prison. * William Collinsworth, Ollie Stoutamire, Patrick Scarborough, and David Beagles – The four rapists of Betty Jean Owens. Scarborough died there, while two were released (one after committing a murder). *

James Blake (pianist) James Blake (1922February 20, 1979) was a jazz musician and petty thief who became a literary sensation in the 1950s when he published his letters in the ''Paris Review''. Early life James Blake was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and moved with th ...

– incarcerated for several years. * Honey Bruce – stripper who served a year for several thefts. *

Mark DeFriest Mark DeFriest (born August 18, 1960), known as the Houdini of Florida, is an American man known for his repeated escapes from prison, having successfully done so 7 times. Born in rural Florida, he was arrested for the first time in 1978, serving f ...

– known as the Houdini of Florida. In 1980, 19-year-old DeFriest retrieved work tools his recently deceased father had willed him before the will officially went through probate. This act was considered theft despite the fact DeFriest did not have an understanding of probate laws. DeFriest's stepmother called the police, which led to his arrest. He was sentenced to four years in prison. The original four-year sentence has since developed into 34 years for 13 escape attempts, seven of them successful, and hundreds of disciplinary reports for minor infractions. In 34 years, he's collectively spent 27 of them in solitary confinement. * Bernard Giles – serial killer; escaped and has been transferred several times. * Paul John Knowles – serial killer and rapist who served time prior to his murders. * James Koedatich – serial killer; sentenced for killing his first victim and later murdered a cellmate; released in 1982. *

Forrest Lake (politician) Forrest Lake (July 15, 1868 – January 24, 1939) was a prominent politician, banker, real estate investor, a mayor of Sanford, Florida and a member of the Florida House of Representatives. Lake had an instrumental role in the formation of Semi ...

– served 16 months for embezzlement. * Charles Nelson – step-brother of Trapper Nelson, convicted of murder. * Jim Nolan (biker) – sentenced on narcotics charges. * Clyde "Bo" Pickler – father of

Kellie Pickler Kellie Dawn Pickler (born June 28, 1986) is an American country music singer, actress and television personality. Pickler gained fame as a contestant on the fifth season of ''American Idol'' and finished in sixth place. In 2006, she signed to ...

; served 45 months for aggravated assault and battery stemming from a 2003 stabbing incident. He was released on May 6, 2006, a week after her elimination from Idol. *

Charles Ponzi Charles Ponzi (; ; born Carlo Pietro Giovanni Guglielmo Tebaldo Ponzi; March 3, 1882 – January 18, 1949) was an Italians, Italian charlatan and Scam, con artist who operated in the United States and Canada. His Pseudonym, aliases included ''C ...

– con artist and swindler who served a year for securities fraud and released on $1,500 bond. * Edward Surratt – murderer and possible serial killer; transferred. * Richard Wershe Jr. – drug trafficker who served time for car theft ring charges. *

Purvis Young Purvis Young (February 4, 1943 – April 20, 2010) was an American artist of Bahamian descent. Young's work is celebrated at the museum and institutional level while also finding a home in many private collections as well, with a following that ...

– artist who served three years for breaking and entering.

Current prisoners

* Trayvon Newsome – sentenced to life without parole for the

murder of XXXTentacion On June 18, 2018, 20-year-old American rapper and singer-songwriter Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy, known professionally as XXXTentacion, was murdered in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Onfroy was fatally shot and killed by 22-year-old Michael Boatwrigh ...

Executed prisoners

Mark Asay Mark James Asay (March 12, 1964 – August 24, 2017) was an American spree killer who was executed by the state of Florida for the 1987 racially motivated murders of two men in Jacksonville, Florida. He was convicted, sentenced to death, and su ...

– lethal injection on August 24, 2017 (aged 53), for 2 Jacksonville murders. * James Barnes – lethal injection on August 3, 2023 (aged 61). * Bernard Bolender – mass murderer; lethal injection on July 18, 1995 (aged 42). * Oscar Ray Bolin – lethal injection on January 7, 2016 (aged 53), for 3 Tampa Bay murders. * Gary Ray Bowles – lethal injection on August 22, 2019 (aged 57), convicted of 3 murders. *

Judy Buenoano Judias Anna Lou "Judy" Buenoano (born Judias Welty, also known as Judias Goodyear and Judias Morris; April 4, 1943 – March 30, 1998) was an American serial killer who was executed in Florida for the 1971 murder of her first husband James Goodye ...

– electric chair on March 30, 1998 (aged 54). *

Ted Bundy Theodore Robert Bundy (; November 24, 1946 – January 24, 1989), known colloquially as Ted Bundy, was an American serial killer who kidnapping, abducted, raped and murdered dozens of young women and girls between 1974 and 1978. His ''modus ...

– electric chair on January 24, 1989 (aged 42), after confessing to over 30 killings dating from 1970s. *

Edward Castro Edward Castro (January 26, 1950 – December 7, 2000) was an American serial killer. An unemployed drifter from California, Castro fatally stabbed three men in central Florida between 1986 and 1987. Tried for two of the murders, he was given a lif ...

– lethal injection on December 7, 2000 (aged 50), for 3 murders. *

Oba Chandler Oba Chandler (October 11, 1946 – November 15, 2011) was an American serial killer and mass murderer who was convicted and executed for the June 1989 murders of Joan Rogers and her two daughters, whose bodies were found floating in Tampa Bay, ...

– lethal injection on November 15, 2011 (aged 65). *

Juan Carlos Chavez ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philippi ...

– lethal injection on February 12, 2014 (aged 46), for the murder of Jimmy Ryce. * Loran Kenstley Cole – lethal injection on August 29, 2024 (aged 57), for the 1994 murder of John Edwards. *

Willie Darden Willie Jasper Darden Jr. (June 1, 1933 – March 15, 1988) was an American man who was executed in Florida for murder during the course of a robbery. Darden's case was notable because of the 14 years that he spent on death row between his death ...

– electric chair on March 15, 1988 (aged 54), for murder. *

Allen Lee Davis Allen Lee Davis (July 20, 1944 – July 8, 1999) was an American murderer who was executed for the 1982 murder of Nancy Weiler, who was three months pregnant, in Jacksonville, Florida. According to reports, Nancy Weiler was "beaten almost beyond ...

– electric chair on July 8, 1999 (aged 54), for 3 counts of first-degree murder. *

Ángel Nieves Díaz Ángel Nieves Díaz (August 31, 1951 – December 13, 2006) was a Puerto Rican murderer who was executed by lethal injection by Florida.

– botched lethal injection on December 13, 2006 (aged 55), for a murder committed after escaping prison for another. * James Dennis Ford – lethal injection on February 13, 2025 (aged 64), for a double murder at a fish farm. * Donald Dillbeck – lethal injection on February 23, 2023 (aged 59). *

John Errol Ferguson The Carol City murders were a series of murders that took place predominantly in Carol City, Florida and in and around Miami-Dade County between October 1974 and January 1978. The murders were committed by American mass murderer and serial killer ...

– lethal injection on August 5, 2013 (aged 65), for 8 murders. *

Marvin Francois The Carol City murders were a series of murders that took place predominantly in Carol City, Florida and in and around Miami-Dade County between October 1974 and January 1978. The murders were committed by American mass murderer and serial killer ...

– electric chair on May 29, 1985 (aged 39), for 6 murders. * David Funchess – electric chair on April 22, 1986 (aged 39), for triple murder. * Louis Gaskin – lethal injection on April 12, 2023 (aged 56), for 2 murders. * Arthur Frederick Goode III – electric chair on April 5, 1984 (aged 30), for killing two children. *

David Alan Gore David Alan Gore (August 21, 1953 – April 12, 2012) was an American serial killer who committed six murders in Vero Beach and Indian River County, Florida, from 1981 to 1983. He was accompanied in several of the murders by his cousin, Fred ...

– lethal injection on April 12, 2012 (aged 68), for the murder of 6 women. *

Marshall Lee Gore Marshall Lee Gore (August 17, 1963 – October 1, 2013) was an American convicted murderer and rapist who was executed by the state of Florida for the 1988 murders of two women. He also raped and attempted to murder a third woman before kidnappi ...

– lethal injection on October 1, 2013 (aged 50), for the murder of 2 women. * Martin Grossman – lethal injection on February 16, 2010 (aged 45). *

Robert Dale Henderson Robert Dale Henderson (March 14, 1945 – April 21, 1993) was an American spree killer. He murdered at least twelve victims. Early life Henderson was born in Missouri, the son of Mary and Robert Henderson. At the age of fifteen, he lived in Pa ...

– electric chair on April 21, 1993 (aged 48), for a killing spree. *

James Dupree Henry James Dupree Henry (January 17, 1950 – September 20, 1984) was an American criminal who was executed in Florida for the murder of civil rights leader Zellie Riley. Henry slashed Riley's throat during a robbery in Orlando on March 23, 1974. He al ...

– electric chair on September 20, 1984 (aged 34), for murder. * John Ruthell Henry – lethal injection on June 18, 2014 (aged 63), for his wives and stepson. * Richard Henyard – lethal injection on September 23, 2008 (aged 34). *

Clarence Hill (murderer) Clarence Edward Hill (December 2, 1957 – September 20, 2006) was an American convicted murderer executed by the state of Florida. A native of Mobile, Alabama, Hill was convicted of the October 19, 1982, murder of Pensacola, Florida, poli ...

– lethal injection on September 20, 2006 (aged 48). *

Paul Jennings Hill Paul Jennings Hill (February 6, 1954 – September 3, 2003) was an American minister, religious extremist, and anti-abortion terrorist who murdered physician John Britton and Britton's bodyguard, retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Barr ...

– lethal injection on September 3, 2003 (aged 49). * Jeffrey Hutchinson – lethal injection on May 1, 2025 (aged 62). * Edward Dean Kennedy – electric chair on July 21, 1992 (aged 47), for killing two state troopers after escaping another prison for a prior murder. * Thomas Knight – lethal injection on January 7, 2014 (aged 62). *

Bobby Joe Long Bobby Joe Long (October 14, 1953 – May 23, 2019) was an American serial killer and rapist. During an eight-month period in 1984 Long abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered at least ten women in the Tampa Bay area in Florida. At trial Lon ...

– lethal injection on May 23, 2019 (aged 65), convicted of 10 murders. * John Marek (murderer) – lethal injection on August 19, 2009 (aged 47). * Franklin McCall – electric chair on February 24, 1939 (aged 22), for the murder of James Bailey Cash Jr. *

Pedro Medina (murderer) Pedro Luis Medina (October 5, 1957 – March 25, 1997) was a Cuban refugee who was executed in Florida for the murder of a 52-year-old woman in Orlando. The circumstances of his execution elevated objections to the use of electrocution as a me ...

– botched execution by electric chair on March 25, 1997 (aged 39). * Duane Owen – lethal injection on June 15, 2023 (aged 63), for two murders. * Manuel Pardo (serial killer) – lethal injection on December 11, 2012 (aged 56). * Thomas Harrison Provenzano – lethal injection on June 21, 2000 (aged 51), for a courthouse triple murder. * Johnny Leartice Robinson – lethal injection on February 4, 2004 (aged 51). *

Glen Edward Rogers Glen Edward Rogers (July 15, 1962 – May 15, 2025) was an American convicted serial killer. He was also convicted of related crimes in Florida and California, such as armed robbery, grand theft auto, and arson. Also known as "The Cross Country ...

- lethal injection on May 15, 2025 (aged 62). *

Danny Rolling Danny Harold Rolling (May 26, 1954 – October 25, 2006), known as the Gainesville Ripper, was an American serial killer who murdered five college students in Gainesville, Florida over four days in August 1990. He later confessed to raping sev ...

– lethal injection on October 25, 2006 (aged 52). *

Mark Dean Schwab Mark Dean Schwab (December 16, 1968 – July 1, 2008) was an American murderer and child rapist. He was convicted of the April 18, 1991, rape and murder of 11-year-old Junny Rios-Martinez Jr. and imprisoned at Raiford Prison in Florida. Schwab ...

– lethal injection on July 1, 2008 (aged 39), for raping and killing a boy. *

Terry Melvin Sims Terry Melvin Sims (February 5, 1942 – February 23, 2000) was an American convicted murderer who was executed by the state of Florida for fatally shooting a sheriff's deputy in Longwood, Florida. He was the first Florida inmate executed with the ...

– lethal injection on February 23, 2000 (aged 58), for murder. *

John Spenkelink John Arthur Spenkelink (March 29, 1949 – May 25, 1979) was an American convicted murderer. He was executed in 1979, the first convicted criminal to be executed in Florida after capital punishment was reinstated in 1976, and the second (after ...

– electric chair on May 25, 1979 (aged 30). *

Gerald Stano Gerald Eugene Stano (born Paul Zeininger; September 12, 1951 – March 23, 1998) was an American convicted serial killer. Stano murdered at least 23 young women and girls, confessed to 41 murders, and the police say the number of his victims may ...

– electric chair on March 23, 1998 (aged 46). *

Robert Austin Sullivan Robert Austin Sullivan (July 20, 1947 – November 30, 1983) was an American man who was executed by the state of Florida in the electric chair for the 1973 murder of a Howard Johnson's restaurant manager. He was the second person to be executed i ...

– electric chair on November 30, 1983 (aged 36). * David Joseph Watson – electric chair on September 15, 1948 (aged 23), for murdering a fellow seaman. *

Beauford White The Carol City murders were a series of murders that took place predominantly in Carol City, Florida and in and around Miami-Dade County between October 1974 and January 1978. The murders were committed by American mass murderer and serial killer ...

– electric chair on August 28, 1987 (aged 41), for 6 murders. * Jerry White (criminal) – electric chair on December 4, 1995 (aged 47). *

Aileen Wuornos Aileen Carol Wuornos (; born Pittman; February 29, 1956 – October 9, 2002) was an American serial killer. Between 1989 and 1990, while engaging in street prostitution along highways in Florida, Wuornos shot dead and robbed seven of her male c ...

– lethal injection on October 9, 2002 (aged 46). * Michael Duane Zack III – lethal injection on October 3, 2023 (aged 54). Convicted of murdering two women and sentenced to death for killing one of the victims while getting life in prison for the other homicide. *

Giuseppe Zangara Giuseppe Zangara (September 7, 1900 – March 20, 1933) was an Italian immigrant and naturalized United States citizen who attempted to assassinate the President-elect of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, on February 15, 1933, 17 da ...

– electric chair on March 20, 1933 (aged 32), convicted of murder in the assassination of Chicago mayor

Anton Cermak Anton Joseph Cermak (May 9, 1873 – March 6, 1933) was an American politician who served as the 44th Mayor of Chicago from April 7, 1931, until his death in 1933. He was killed by Giuseppe Zangara, whose likely target was President-elec ...

and who may have been sent to assassinate President-elect

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

at Bayfront Park in Miami on February 15, 1933.

Died

* Rocky Beamon – serial killer; killed himself. *

John Couey John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

– natural causes in prison on September 30, 2009 (aged 51), died in prison before execution could be carried out. * Jeffrey Feltner – serial killer; died of AIDS. * Edwin Kaprat – serial killer; murdered. *

Christopher Lunz Christopher David Lunz (September 26, 1967 – September 22, 2009) was an American serial killer. Convicted and sentenced to life for murdering his father in Palm Harbor, Florida, in 2003, he is best known for being a self-admitted serial killer ...

– serial killer; murder-suicide. * Gerard Schaefer – murdered by another prisoner on December 3, 1995 (aged 49). * Stanley Rice – serial killer; died in prison on November 3, 2007 (aged 65). *

Ottis Toole Ottis Elwood Toole (March 5, 1947 – September 15, 1996) was an American serial killer who was convicted of six counts of murder. Like his companion Henry Lee Lucas, Toole made confessions which resulted in murder convictions, and which he ...

– cirrhosis in prison on September 15, 1996 (aged 49). * Frank Valdes – stun gunned and beaten with correctional officer boots in prison on July 17, 1999 (aged 36).Brown, Julie K.
Prison death is one of several raising questions in Florida

. ''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by McClatchy, The McClatchy Company and headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Founded in 1903, it is the fifth-largest newspaper in Florida, serving Miami-Dade, Broward County, Fl ...

''. June 14, 2014. Retrieved on June 28, 2014.

In popular culture

*'' The Mind of Mark DeFriest'' is a documentary film about Florida State Prison inmate Mark DeFriest. *

Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd (, ) is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964. The group originally formed as My Backyard and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (vocals), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom ...

's song "Four Walls of Raiford" tells the story of a convict who escapes from the Florida State Prison; the convict is a

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces. A topic o ...

returning from the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

and pleads his case that he was wrongly convicted for

armed robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...

and asks to be buried with full honors if he gets caught. *In ''

Spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawning, the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** ''Spawn: Armageddon' ...

: The Undead'' Issue #9, the story takes place in Florida State Penitentiary where a death row inmate encounters Spawn. *It was referred to in the show ''

Blue Bloods ''Blue Bloods'' is an American police procedural drama (film and television), drama television series that aired on CBS from September 24, 2010, to December 13, 2024, across 14 seasons and 293 episodes. Its main characters were members of the fi ...

'' in Season 2 Episode 15 "The Life We Choose". * In the 1997

Arthur Hailey Arthur Frederick Hailey, AE (5 April 1920 – 24 November 2004) was a British/Canadian novelist whose plot-driven storylines were set against the backdrops of various industries. His books, which include such best sellers as ''Hotel'' (1965), ...

novel ''

Detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

'' a police detective in Miami is driven in a marked cruiser for over four hours to hear the confession of a man on death row at Raiford. The book also mentions that Florida State Prison is technically ''not'' in Raiford but across the road in the town of Starke. * In 2021, Americana/blues artist Shane Kelley released the song "Bradford County Blues" which is the story of a man locked up in Raiford.

References

External links

Florida State Prison
—

{{Authority control 1961 establishments in Florida Buildings and structures in Bradford County, Florida Capital punishment in Florida Execution sites in the United States Government agencies established in 1961 Prisons in Florida