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Third inmate with COVID-19 dies at Lompoc federal prison

Legislators send letter to BOP calling for action
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Posted at 3:36 PM, May 29, 2020
and last updated 2020-05-29 18:44:41-04

A third inmate at the federal prison in Lompoc has reportedly died after contracting COVID-19.

Prison officials say Mohamed Yusuf, 37, was found unresponsive Monday afternoon and attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.

Yusuf tested positive for COVID-19 on May 7 and had been placed in isolation.

Prison officials say Yusuf was sentenced in New York and was serving a 132-month sentence for conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. He had been in custody at the Lompoc prison for about two years.

According to the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department, 971 inmates at the prison have tested positive for the coronavirus. That's about 60 percent of the county's total case count.

On Friday, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) was reporting 29 active cases in the inmate population at the Lompoc prison.

Also on Friday, Rep. Salud Carbajal, Senator Kamala Harris, and Senator Dianne Feinstein sent a letter to the BOP calling for more open lines of communication and for the BOP to work to contain further spread of the virus.

It's the third letter the legislators have sent to the BOP's director regarding the outbreak at the Lompoc prison since April 15.