‘El Menchito’ Has a New Home; He’s Held in Prison Next to El Chapo’s in Colorado

Ruben Oseguera Gonzalez, alias “El Menchito” — son of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho,” leader of the so-called Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) — was transferred to the USP Florence High Security Prison in Florence, Colorado, United States (USP Florence-High).

According to U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP) records, where “El Menchito” appears as number 35708-016, Oseguera González was transferred from the Federal Detention Center of Philadelphia (FDC Philadelphia), where he was held for at least a month, after Judge Beryl Alaine Howell, of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, in Washington, D.C., sentenced him, on March 7, 2025, to life in prison for trafficking cocaine and methamphetamine and using or carrying a firearm in connection with narcotics crimes.

USP Florence-High is a high-security U.S. penitentiary, located on Highway 67 S, in Fremont County, Florence, Colorado, with a total population of 828 male inmates.

The High Security Prison is within the facilities of the Florence Federal Correctional Complex (FCC Florence), where the maximum security prison USP Florence ADMAX is also located, known as the “Alcatraz of the Rockies”, Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, alias “El Chapo”, former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, has been held since July 18, 2019, when Judge Brian M. Cogan, of the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York, sentenced him to life imprisonment.

Although it is a high-security facility, its conditions are less strict than those at USP Florence ADMAX, where “El Chapo” is confined. The facility has a perimeter fence, seven guard towers, as well as medical services, laundry, exercise areas, educational programs and even a chapel, which inmates can access, depending on their classification and behavior.

However, the restrictions at USP Florence-High – built in 1993 and operating under the administration of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons – are also severe, as inmates typically spend up to 22 hours a day inside their cells and visits are limited to weekends, only between 08:00 and 15:00 hours on Saturdays and Sundays, with reinforced security protocols.

Both prisons are located 1,500 meters above sea level in an arid, sandy expanse of land in the Rocky Mountains of southern Colorado. However, the prison where “El Chapo” will spend the rest of his days is a place that has been described by those who have been there as “hell on earth”.

The maximum security prison, 100 miles south of Denver near a former mining and railroad town, is home to the most dangerous criminals in the U.S. federal prison system.

The United States Maximum Administrative Correctional Facility, known unofficially as “ADX Florence” or “Supermax,” is the most secure prison in the United States.

Only those convicted of the most violent (and often high-profile) crimes are sent here, where they will live out their days in solitary confinement, under the tightest security conditions imaginable.

The complex consists of short, windowless brick buildings, protected by imposing barbed wire fences and guard towers manned by armed marksmen. The surrounding desert terrain is dry, treeless, rocky and unforgiving.

The interior of the prison is no less aggressive, full of crowded cells with little or no natural light and concrete slab beds. The prison’s extreme security situation is why it has been nicknamed the “Rocky Mountain Alcatraz” by the U.S. media.

Built in 1994 and operated by the BOP, USP Florence ADMAX houses 410 of the most violent criminal offenders in the United States, including those convicted of committing crimes such as terrorism and multiple murders.

Norman Carlson, former director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons once said, USP Florence ADMAX was built for “a very small group of the inmate population that shows no concern for human life.”

The inmate roster includes several high-profile Islamic terrorists who have been sentenced to the most extreme levels of solitary confinement. Current prisoners include Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who planted a bomb at the Boston Marathon; or “bomber” Richard Reid, and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

Other foreign terrorists convicted in Supermax include 9/11 plotter Zacarias Moussaoui; as well as 1993 World Trade Center bombing mastermind Ramzi Yousef; and 2010 Times Square bombing perpetrator Faisal Shahzad.

There are other high-profile terrorists that have also been sent to ADX, including Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph; or “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski; as well as Oklahoma City bombing accomplice Terry Nichols, who set a Guinness World Record with his sentence of 161 consecutive life sentences.

In addition, Supermax holds a long list of spies, cartel and violent gang leaders, including Chicago mobster James Marcello, leaders of the Latin Kings gang, as well as the founders of the Aryan Brotherhood gang.

ADX Florence is part of the Florence Federal Correctional Complex and shares land with three other lower security federal prisons. The property covers 15 acres and is protected by a 10-foot-high razor wire fence.

Laser beams and pressure pads were installed near the peripheral fences to alert guards in case of an escape attempt. Gunmen armed with specially trained attack dogs patrol the grounds, and snipers watch the property from above in a dozen nearby guard towers.

A few windows and 1,400 remote-controlled steel doors are the only means in or out of the prison. In the event of an escape attempt, guards have the ability to instantly lock all doors inside the complex. Motion detectors and cameras cover the entire property, and inmates are constantly monitored by guards at the prison control center.

USP Florence ADMAX was designed to disorient anyone entering and prevent them from knowing which direction they are facing or how to find a specific area of the prison. Everything from the floors to the walls to the furniture is made of solid concrete. Inside, not a single trace of the outside world is visible.

Supermax houses 490 prisoner beds, of which approximately 410 are currently occupied. The rooms are small, surrounded by thick concrete walls and double metal sliding doors. A single window is the source of natural light.

By design, the sky is only visible through the window, to ensure that prisoners can never gauge the location of their cells within the complex to plan a possible escape.

Each cell is equipped with a small concrete stool that cannot be moved, a combination sink and toilet, and an automated shower. Inmates sleep on a concrete slab, covered with a thin foam mattress.

Assuming good behavior, inmates are allowed a 10-inch black-and-white television, with access to basic educational and recreational programming, but no news channels.

The rooms are soundproofed to prevent inmates from communicating with each other through the walls, and the doors are solidly covered to block any view of the corridors.

ADX Florence inmates remain in solitary confinement inside their cells for 23 hours a day. They are allowed one hour of solitary recreation time per day in a concrete pit with a lift bar, which former inmates have described as an empty swimming pool.

Sometimes during their recreation time takes place instead in a “recreation cage,” where prisoners can see the sky and feel the fresh air outside. This space is large enough for prisoners to walk 10 paces in a straight line, or 31 paces in a circle.

ADX prisoners are allowed 3 showers per week, which are on an automatic timer. Meals are received through a small slit in the steel door, and food is carefully selected to ensure that inmates cannot use it to injure themselves or others, or create unsanitary conditions within their cell.

Inmates have almost zero contact with anyone other than prison guards. Attorney visits are conducted through Plexiglas walls, and well-behaved inmates are allowed one 15-minute phone call per month to a pre-approved family member.

On occasion, inmates may send and receive letters, but all of their mail is limited, opened, read and analyzed. Each time an inmate leaves his cell, he is escorted by at least three armed guards and is required to wear handcuffs, shackles and belly chains.

Source: Zeta Tijuana