The first inmate to be locked up in the federal prison in Fort Dix, where more than half of the inmate contracted COVID-19, has died from the virus, the Bureau of Prisons announced.
Myron Crosby, 58, tested positive for coronavirus in federal prison on Dec. 28 before being transported to a local hospital on Jan. 7 due to “breathing problems,” according to the Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
The agency said his health “continued to decline after being admitted to hospital.”
He died on January 22, the BOP said.
Crosby, of Springfield, Massachusetts, has been locked up in Fort Dix since September 2019, where he has served a 14-year sentence for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin.
According to court documents, Crosby had earlier warned the BOP and a federal judge that he was susceptible to the deadly consequences of COVID-19 due to his health and underlying conditions.
“Mr Crosby has four significant underlying health conditions that put him at COVID-19 with an increased risk of serious illness,” Jeffrey Silverstein, his attorney, released in a motion of condolence last summer.
According to the motion, Crosby had a serious heart condition and suffered a heart attack in federal custody in 2015, had a history of kidney problems, was “severely obese” and had type 2 diabetes.
“It seems undisputed that the accused, although still under 65, has a number of high-risk conditions that make him particularly more susceptible to a serious COVID disease than others in his age group,” Silverstein wrote.
The motion to be released was denied by a federal judge in October.
“Despite his health conditions, the nature and severity of Mr. Crosby’s offense, his criminal history and danger to the community council against his release,” U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock Jr. said.
Silverstein did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the death of his client.
Crosby tested positive for the virus amid the second significant outbreak in Fort Dix during the pandemic. The prison has the most positive cases of any prison in the federal system, with more than 1,400 inmates testing positive – more than half of the inmates in the low-security prison, according to the BOP.
“Your honor, this is a cry for help,” one inmate wrote to a federal judge on Jan. 2. ‘I’m in the middle of the biggest COVID-19 outbreak in the federal prison system and I’m sick. I do not want to die here. Please send me home where I can get the medical help I need. ”
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