COVID-19: Two more Fed Med inmates die amid prison outbreak

Late Friday, the Federal Bureau of Prisons said that two more inmates at Springfield's Medical Center for Federal Prisoners died Wednesday after they were infected with COVID-19. In total, four prisoners have died since Oct. 31, according to Bureau of Prisons news releases and earlier News-Leader reporting.

Inmate Samuel Prieto, 58, tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Oct. 26. Two days later, inmate Waylon Young Bird, 52, also tested positive. Both had underlying conditions and received "daily symptom checks" before being transferred to a "local hospital," officials said. Hospital staff pronounced them dead Wednesday.

Prieto and Young Bird

Both Prieto and Young Bird had been MCFP Springfield inmates since September 2019, the Bureau of Prisons said. Each was serving a sentence for drug-trafficking convictions: Prieto was convicted of importing cocaine and sentenced by a Texas federal court to 10 years; Young Bird was convicted of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. He was sentenced by a federal court in South Dakota to 11 years and 4 months.

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More than 200 infected

A Bureau of Prisons online tracker indicated late Friday that 176 inmates and 34 staff at the medical center, often dubbed the "Fed Med" or MCFP Springfield, are infected with the novel coronavirus. The facility houses 843 male prisoners, BOP said Friday.

Infections and deaths among MCFP Springfield inmates aren't counted with Greene County COVID-19 statistics, the Springfield-Greene County Health Department said Friday. The Bureau of Prisons facility "does not consider prisoners residents of Greene County," said Kathryn Wall, health department spokesperson.

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But any MCFP Springfield staff who live in Greene County are counted, and the local health department has performed contact tracing for community contacts when any resident staff member tests positive, Wall said.

Gregory Holman is the investigative reporter for the News-Leader. Email news tips to gholman@gannett.com and consider supporting vital local journalism by subscribing.