FCI PEKIN | Illinois

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2600 S. SECOND ST.
PEKIN, IL 61554
Email: PEK/ExecAssistant@bop.gov
Phone: 309-346-8588
Fax: 309-477-4670
Inmate Gender: Male and Female Offenders
Population:
1,190 Total Inmates
944 Inmates at the FCI
246 Inmates at the CAMP F
Judicial District: Central Illinois
County: TAZEWELL
BOP Region: North Central Region

Notable incidents

Death of Adam Montoya

On the morning of November 13, 2009, 36-year-old inmate Adam Montoya was found dead in his cell at FCI Pekin. Montoya had arrived at FCI Pekin 18 days before to begin serving a 27-month sentence for check fraud. An autopsy concluded that Montoya had been suffering from cancer of the spleen, hepatitis and HIV. The immediate cause of death was internal bleeding due to a ruptured spleen, caused by the cancer.

Tazewell County Coroner Dennis Conover and other experts concluded that Montoya likely exhibited blatant symptoms of hepatitis and cancer, most notably dramatic weight loss, a swollen abdomen and yellow eyes. They said that those symptoms, as well as the severe pain Montoya complained of, should have prompted staff to transport the prisoner immediately to the hospital. The Associated Press quoted Conover as stating, “He shouldn’t have died in agony like that…he had been out there long enough that he should have at least died in the hospital.”

During Montoya’s final days, he “consistently made requests to the prison for medical attention, and they wouldn’t give it to him,” said his father, Juan Montoya, who described how his son repeatedly punched the panic button seeking help. Three inmates corroborated that account in interviews with the Associated Press. Montoya’s family filed a wrongful death and personal injury claim, which was denied by the Justice Department. A lawsuit is pending.