Pineda had been sentenced to a term of more than six years in prison on a racketeering charge and had been held at the prison since February. Riojas was serving a 38-year sentence for carjacking and interfering with interstate commerce. The AP reported in June that security at the complex is so lax that local law enforcement officials privately joke about its seemingly 'open-door policy.' Several inmates have escaped from the prison complex in Beaumont in recent years and union officials have decried what they've described as a serious staffing crisis at the prison. The Justice Department announced earlier this month that the agency's director, Michael Carvajal, was resigning from his position amid increased scrutiny over his leadership and in the wake of Associated Press reporting that uncovered widespread corruption, misconduct and other problems at the agency.

There have been a number of serious security issues within the federal prison system in the last few months, including several inmate deaths and stabbings. Two other prisoners were injured and taken to nearby hospitals for treatment. Two inmates, Andrew Pineda, 34, and Guillermo Riojas, 54, were pronounced dead at a local hospital after the attack. On Monday, the Bureau of Prisons said officers at the Texas prison observed multiple inmates fighting and responded to secure the area. Hundreds of inmates inside the facility had tested positive for COVID-19 and several inmates died. A Federal Bureau of Federal Prisons truck drives past barbed wire fences at the Federal Medical Center prison in Fort Worth, Texas, Saturday, May 16, 2020.

Capitol on January 6, 2021, and shortly before the inauguration of President Joe Biden later that month. The agency implemented the measure in April 2020 as coronavirus cases began skyrocketing in prisons nationwide, again after the insurrection at the U.S. The use of a nationwide lockdown is relatively rare. Because of a spike in coronavirus cases in federal prisons, social visits at nearly every facility have been canceled already.

During a nationwide lockdown, inmates are kept in their cells most of the day and visiting is canceled. The lockdown, instituted at the agency's more than 120 federal prisons across the U.S., was prompted by fears of potential retaliation and concern violence could spread to other facilities.

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