Mule Creek State Prison (MCSP)
4001 Highway 104, Ione, CA 95640, (209) 274-4911
Mule Creek is a prison for Sensitive Needs Yards prisoners, which are those prisoners that, for their own safety, must be segregated from the general prison population. These include informants, former law enforcement, gang dropouts and sex offenders. Suge Knight, Geronimo Pratt, Lyle Menendez, Charles Manson and Charles “Tex” Watson have all served time at Mule Creek.
Ione, the city nearest Mule Creek, is about 100 miles east of Sacramento. As of January 1, 2013, the prison’s population was about 3,100 inmates, or 180% of its design capacity of 1,700. In April, 2014, two inmates escaped, which made national news because of the notorious nature of the prison population.
The prison offers vocational programs in coffee roasting, textiles, meat processing and laundry, as well as self-help programs such as alcoholic anonymous, narcotics anonymous, criminal and gang members anonymous, gavel club, self-exploration through writing, parenting skills, anger management and various religious programs.