New Home Is 'Alcatraz of the Rockies'

In addition to Yousef and Kaczynski, there is Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry L. Nichols; failed shoe bomber Richard C. Reid; Atlanta Olympics bomber Eric Rudolph; and Wadih el-Hage, convicted of conspiracy in connection with the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in East Africa. The facility also includes lesser-known terrorists, violent gang leaders and spies, from Japanese Red Army member Yu Kikumura to Robert P. Hanssen, the former FBI agent and Soviet mole.

"Our most dangerous, disruptive and escape-prone inmates are housed there, as well as others with security concerns," said Traci Billingsley, a U.S. Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman. "We have to take whatever precautions are necessary to ensure the safety of corrections officers and the general public."

Billingsley said that Moussaoui, who was sentenced to life in prison yesterday morning, had not been formally assigned to a prison. But numerous officials said Moussaoui is certain to be sent to Florence because of its designation as the facility for convicted terrorists and because it is the only "supermaximum" facility in the federal system.

Moussaoui is likely to be transferred within a few weeks, Billingsley said, but for security reasons the move will not be disclosed until after it occurs.

Moussaoui, who was prone to courtroom outbursts, has been living under extremely tight security since shortly after he was charged in December 2001 with conspiring in the Sept. 11 attacks. Held in solitary confinement at the Alexandria jail, Moussaoui was closely monitored and restricted in his contacts and the materials allowed in his cell.

Alexandria Sheriff Dana Lawhorne declined to discuss the specifics of Moussaoui's confinement in that city's jail but said that "it was a very restrictive, monitored environment."

"Am I glad to see him go? I think that it's time," Lawhorne said. "It's been a tremendous responsibility that we've taken on . . . I think we'll all be a little relieved to see the day when he's no longer here, it's safe to say."

Researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.