Inmates testing positive for the coronavirus skyrocket at Fort Worth federal prison
The number of inmates who tested positive for the coronavirus at Fort Worth Federal Medical Center increased by nearly 275% since Tuesday, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.
Fort Worth FMC houses more than 1,500 male inmates, many with special medical and mental health needs. On Tuesday, federal officials reported that 35 inmates and one staff member had tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19, and on Wednesday it was reported that one of those inmates had died.
By Thursday, the number of inmates who had tested positive had grown to 131, up from the 56 inmates who had the disease on Wednesday, according to the federal website.
Fort Worth FMC has the largest number of inmates to test positive in the United States federal prison system, according to government figures. One inmate at Fort Worth FMC has died due to the coronavirus, and one staff member has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the federal website.
Arnoldo Almeida, 61, who went into respiratory distress at FMC Fort Worth on April 16, died Wednesday, according to federal officials.
Almeida, who had long-term, pre-existing medical conditions, was evaluated by medical staff and taken to a local hospital for further treatment and evaluation, a news release from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons said.
Almeida had tested positive for COVID-19 on April 13, and was immediately placed in isolation, the release said. Almeida’s condition worsened and he was placed on a ventilator on Saturday.
Almeida was sentenced in the Western District of Texas to nearly 16 years in federal prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine, according to federal officials. He had been in custody since Sept. 18, 2018.
This is the same federal prison holding Joe Maldonado-Passage, more commonly known as Joe Exotic.
Maldonado-Passage is the focus of the Netflix documentary series “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness,” which has exploded in popularity since its March 20 release. The 57-year-old former zoo owner is being held at the Fort Worth Federal Medical Center, according to inmate records.
Three days before the series was released, Maldonado-Passage filed a suit in Oklahoma City federal court on claims of false imprisonment, false arrest, discrimination, perjury and entrapment. He is asking for $93,840,000 in relief.
Maldonado-Passage’s husband, Dillon Passage, said he is in COVID-19 quarantine at the Fort Worth prison because the previous prison he was at reported coronavirus cases, according to an interview Passage did with Variety Live.
Maldonado-Passage is serving a 22-year sentence on two counts of murder-for-hire, eight counts of violating the Lacey Act for falsifying wildlife records and nine counts of violating the Endangered Species Act.
