From a Mara Salvatrucha leader to a Westies kingpin: Bob Menendez's prison buddies

He became one of the most influential congressmen largely due to his Hispanic heritage, which helped him rally the community to support the Democratic Party. However, behind this prominent political figure was a corrupt character, as confirmed by the justice system. After years of investigations, inquiries, testimonies, and statements, Bob Menendez is now behind bars.

 The former New Jersey senator, with a long legislative career spanning local, state, and federal levels, has begun serving his 11-year corruption sentence at the Schuylkill Federal Correctional Institution (FCI Schuylkill) in Minersville, Pennsylvania.

At his new facility, Menendez will share space and interact with 1,209 inmates, some serving life sentences for the most serious crimes, including murder, theft, and leadership of notorious criminal organizations.

Mafia or Mara Salvatrucha leaders, among others

The first person Menendez will encounter at FCI Schuylkill is James Coonan. Known as Jimmy C, he was the leader of the now-defunct Irish-American mafia known as the Westies, which operated out of New York’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. Their criminal activities included murder, extortion, robbery, kidnapping, and drug trafficking.

In 1988, Coonan was sentenced to 75 years in prison for seven murders and other crimes, including extortion, drug trafficking, and illegal gambling. He is scheduled for release on June 1, 2030, and will be off parole on November 17, 2061.

Another inmate Menendez will encounter is José Adán Martínez Castro. In 2018, he was sentenced to 235 months in prison for being one of the top leaders of the Mara Salvatrucha terrorist organization—designated as such by the Trump administration.

He was one of the leaders overseeing the Salvadoran gang’s operations on the East Coast, primarily based in Boston, Massachusetts.

Also among the inmates at Schuylkill FCI is Gurmeet Singh Dhinsa. He was sentenced to life in prison on 29 charges, including racketeering, murder, illegal weapons possession, kidnapping, and witness intimidation.