Shawangunk Correctional Facility is a maximum security

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

for males located in the Town of Shawangunk,

Ulster County Ulster County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston. The county is named after the Irish province of Ulster. History F ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in the United States. The facility lies just outside the Ulster County hamlet of Wallkill, whose post office serves it.

History

The prison was constructed in 1983 to expand the maximum security capabilities of the state prison system and was located near the existing Wallkill Correctional Facility, a medium security prison. The co-location was designed so that services by both facilities could be shared, thus reducing the costs of each prison. The new prison opened in 1985 and was fully operational by 1986. The prison is also one of the few in the system with a sex offender program. Occupational training is provided in the category of building maintenance with specific training in carpentry, electricity and plumbing.

Notable inmates

David Berkowitz David Richard Berkowitz (born Richard David Falco, June 1, 1953), also known as the Son of Sam and .44 Caliber Killer, is an American serial killer who pleaded guilty to eight shootings that began in New York City on July 29, 1976. Berkowitz ...

, better known as Son of Sam,

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

who confessed to killing six people and wounding several others in New York City during 1976-1977 *Santino Boderick, member of GS9, sentenced in 2017 to 117.5-130 years after being convicted of gang-related violence, including attempted murder, that took place in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behi ...

between January 2013 and December 2014. * Larry Davis, tried for the attempted murder of a police officer and acquitted by pleading self-defense; later convicted in an unrelated murder of a drug dealer and sentenced to 25 years-to-life; died in prison in a stabbing by a fellow inmate * Robert Chambers, who pled guilty to the manslaughter of

Jennifer Levin Robert Emmet Chambers Jr. (born September 25, 1966) is an American criminal and convicted murderer. He was dubbed the Preppy Killer and the Central Park Strangler by the media after the August 26, 1986, strangulation death of 18-year-old Jennif ...

and served a sentence of 15 years; after release he was convicted of drug crimes, for which he eventually received a new sentence of 19 years * David Gilbert, member of the radical

Weather Underground Organization The Weather Underground was a far-left militant organization first active in 1969, founded on the Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan. Originally known as the Weathermen, the group was organized as a faction of Students for a Democr ...

; sentenced in 1983 to 75 years-to-life (later commuted to 40-to-life) on three counts of felony murder in the 1981 Brinks robbery. Paroled, 2021.

References

External links

New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision
{{coord, 41, 38, 06, N, 74, 09, 50, W, display=title Prisons in New York (state) Buildings and structures in Ulster County, New York Economy of Ulster County, New York Shawangunk, New York Government buildings completed in 1983 1983 establishments in New York (state)