When it came to jail time, Hansen wanted out of Alaska. The women he’d killed were, he insisted, linked to criminal gangs. If imprisoned within the state, Hansen was certain he’d be killed. He got his wish and ended up in a prison far from home.
Lewisberg Federal Prison is a high-security facility in central Pennsylvania. Robert Hansen was Prisoner #80462-011. Not his lucky number, perhaps, but at least he had some famous company. Among them, Edwin Cortes and Ricardo Jimenez, Puerto Rican nationalists convicted in 1981 of seditious conspiracy for their roles in numerous bombings aimed at achieving Puerto Rican independence. And Melvin Williams, former organized crime figure in Baltimore, Maryland; convicted of heroin trafficking in 1985, he served as an inspiration for the character Avon Barksdale in the HBO series The Wire.
Lewisberg’s other notorious alumnae include Whitey Bulger, John Gotti, Jimmy Hoffa and Alger Hiss, to name just a few.
Located in mid-state, Lewisberg is a natural landing place for East Coast crime figures including, over the years, a goodly share of made men and racketeers. Somehow, Robert Hansen seemed out of place with this crew. At least he could see corn fields. If he tried really hard, he could imagine he was in Iowa.
4/10/84: Lieutenant ROBERT JENT and Sergeant GLENN FLOTHE transport ROBERT HANSEN to the federal intake prison at El Reno, Oklahoma for eventual transfer to Louisberg (sic), Pennsylvania.
El Reno Federal intake prison, El Reno, Oklahoma
Lewisberg Federal Prison, Lewisberg, Pennsylvania
Purchase Butcher, Baker