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Barbara Byrd-Bennett Headed To 'America's Cushiest Prison'

By Heather Cherone | April 28, 2017 3:19pm | Updated on May 1, 2017 8:37am
 Alderson, West Virginia Federal Prison
Alderson, West Virginia Federal Prison
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Flickr/Aaron Bauer

THE LOOP — Former Chicago Public Schools boss Barbara Byrd-Bennett, sentenced Friday to 4 ½ years for trying to rip off the children of Chicago in a fraud scheme, is to serve her sentence at a women's prison camp known as "Camp Cupcake."

At the end of the summer, Byrd-Bennett must report to the minimum-security federal prison camp in Alderson, West Virginia. It's the same prison where Martha Stewart did time for obstruction of justice in a stock scheme. At the time, writers dubbed it "Camp Cupcake," although Stewart later said it wasn't that soft.

The 159-acre campus is nestled in scenic hills — and the inmates are allowed to wander the grounds, learn trades and even take yoga classes, a program Stewart reportedly started.

Business Insider once dubbed it "America's Cushiest Prison."

A former inmate there told Forbes that inmates have access to games, TVs and classes.

“They had a music room where you could take guitar lessons, a card-making class with paper and glitter, ceramics and leatherworking,” Vicki Webb, who spent 18 months at Alderson, told Forbes. “I taught crochet for a while. ... If you’re smart, you’ll realize how lucky you are to be at Alderson."

According to Business Insider, inmates can use e-mail for five cents a minute. The women start out living in buildings with 125 inmates, but get moved to "cottages" with half as many if they behave.

In addition to Martha Stewart in 2004, Alderson once housed Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, the Manson family member who was convicted of trying to kill President Gerald Ford in 1975. She escaped from Alderson, but was caught two days later.

Singer Billie Holliday served time there for drug possession in the 1940s.