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| Lindh Begins Sentence at Prison in Victorville |
| By Los Angeles Times |
| Published: 03/03/2003 |
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John Walker Lindh -- the spiritual seeker who became one of the new century's most vilified Americans for fighting alongside the Taliban -- has a new identity: inmate number 45426083. Lindh was secretly flown to this high-desert community of 64,000 late last month to begin serving a 20-year sentence in federal prison after pleading guilty to aiding the enemy and to an explosives charge. Though visits by the media have been banned, several of Lindh's attorneys have visited him at the three-year-old prison in recent days. They also refused to answer questions about how their client is getting along. One likely reason for the determined secrecy is fear for Lindh's safety. When he was captured in Afghanistan, emotions were still running feverishly high in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Bush administration officials talked about seeking the death penalty, saying Lindh's behavior had been treasonous. The government accepted the lesser sentence only after Lindh agreed to tell everything he knew about the Taliban and the terrorist operations of Osama bin Laden. The Bureau of Prisons refused to say what security arrangements have been made to make sure Lindh is not attacked. At Victorville, said Dan Dunne of the Bureau of Prisons, inmates are housed in three groups: general population, administrative detention or disciplinary segregation. Disciplinary segregation is for inmates being punished for breaking the rules. Administrative detention is for people determined by authorities to have special security needs. Dunne said those in 'special housing' might spend much of their time in their cells. But he refused to say to which group Lindh belongs. As a medium security prison, Victorville grants more freedom of movement to its population than do lockups for hard-core prisoners. One factor that might lead administrators to assign a high- profile inmate to Victorville is the ease of transportation. The 960-acre prison is on the grounds of what used to be the George Air Force Base, so an inmate can be flown in and taken to the prison without ever leaving the grounds. The base was closed in 1992, leaving behind an eerie military ghost town. |
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