Mark W. Michael Unit

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Men's prison in Texas, United States

title: "Mark W. Michael Unit" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["prisons-in-anderson-county,-texas", "1987-establishments-in-texas"] description: "Men's prison in Texas, United States" topic_path: "general/prisons-in-anderson-county-texas" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_W._Michael_Unit" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Men's prison in Texas, United States ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox prison"]

Field	Value
prison_name	Mark W. Michael Unit
<!-- Commented out:	image
location	2664 FM 2054
Tennessee Colony, Texas 75886
coordinates
status	Operational
classification	G1-G5, Administrative Segregation, Outside Trusty, Safekeeping
capacity	Unit: 2,984 Trusty Camp: 321
opened	September 1987
managed_by	TDCJ Correctional Institutions Division
warden	Martin
county	Anderson County
country	United States
website
::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/CoffieldUnitTopographical.PNG" caption="1977 [[United States Geological Survey]] map of the land which now houses the Michael Unit"] ::

The Mark W. Michael Unit (MI) is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice men's prison located in unincorporated Anderson County, Texas. The unit is along Farm to Market Road 2054, 4 mi south of Tennessee Colony. The unit, on 20518 acre of land, is co-located with the Beto, Coffield, and Powledge prison units and the Gurney Transfer Unit. The unit is in proximity to Palestine and the Rusk ironworks, and it is in about a one-hour driving distance from Dallas.

The Michael Unit opened in September 1987. Texas officials referred to the facility as "model for the future." Robert Perkinson, author of Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire, described Michael as "one of the meanest lockups" in Texas.

Operations

Michael was one of the first prisons to no longer use the "telephone-pole" layout, which has central pickets with dead-end cell blocks extending from them. The telephone-pole layout, while inexpensive to build, is difficult to police without building tenders, convicts paid to police other convicts. Instead Michael uses a modular pod design, which allows for riot control and visual surveillance. Most pods have double-bunk, reinforced concrete cells with security features such as slit windows and bolted-down metal toilets. Some pods have dormitories. Michael was one of several new prisons to have the ability to have many prisoners in extended lockdowns. State officials said that Michael's features allowing for extended lockdowns of prisoners were modeled on the United States Penitentiary, Marion.

Notable prisoners

Current: ::data[format=table]

Inmate Name	Register Number	Status	Details
Shannon Miles	07462349 / 02150490	Serving a life sentence without parole.	Perpetrator of the 2015 Murder of Darren Goforth, in which Miles killed him at a gas station.
Matt Baker	01634552	Serving a 65-year sentence.	Former pastor who murdered his wife Kari Baker.
Christian Cavazos aka “Guero10k” & “Houston’s top crash out”	02525215	Serving a life sentence.	Former “rapper” who was found guilty of murdering 5 people, 2 being an elderly couple he mistook as the grandparents of his “oops”.
::

Former:

Richard Acosta Jr. - One of the perpetrators of the 2021 Garland Shooting serving life without parole. Currently incarcerated at Telford Unit
Michael Morton - Exonerated of the crime which he was convicted of. He was transferred to Michael after obtaining his master's degree.
Steven Jay Russell - The prisoner is a character in the film I Love You Phillip Morris
Elmer Wayne Henley

References

"2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Anderson County, TX". [[U.S. Census Bureau]].
"[http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/unitdirectory/mi.htm Michael Unit] {{webarchive. link. (2010-07-25 ." [[Texas Department of Criminal Justice]]. Retrieved on July 23, 2010.)
978-0-8050-8069-8.
Rhor, Monica. "[http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Jun08/0,4670,UnidentifiedMurderer,00.html Serial killer wrestles with his crimes]." ''[[Fox News]]''. Sunday June 8, 2008. Retrieved on December 12, 2010. "Henley, who turned 52 in May, sits behind a glass divider in the visiting room at the Michael Unit, a Texas prison set amid cow pastures and sprawling ranches about an hour south of Dallas."
978-0-8050-8069-8.
978-0-8050-8069-8.
978-0-8050-8069-8.
978-0-8050-8069-8.
(2015-08-30). "Texas Deputy Slaying: Suspect Shannon Miles Charged in Killing of Darren Goforth".
(2017-09-13). "Man Pleads Guilty To Killing Texas Deputy At Gas Station - CBS Texas".
(2017-09-13). "Shannon Miles gets life in prison for murder of Deputy Goforth".
"Waco's beloved minister, after nearly 20 years, still claims he isn't guilty of murdering his wife - ABC News".
"Inmate Information Details - BAKER, MATT DEE".
"Documented gang member Christian Cavazos sentenced to life for Houston murder spree that claimed 5 lives, charging docs say - ABC13 Houston".
"Inmate Information Details - CAVAZOS, CHRISTIAN IVAN".
Colloff, Pamela. (December 2012). "The Innocent Man, Part Two".
Day, Elizabeth. "[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/sep/06/steven-russell-elizabeth-day-jim-carrey I love you Phillip Morris: a conman's story]." ''[[The Observer]]''. Sunday September 6, 2009. Retrieved on December 10, 2010.
"[http://offender.tdcj.texas.gov/OffenderSearch/offenderDetail.action?sid=01924387 Henley, Elmer Wayne Jr]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20151227195603/http://offender.tdcj.texas.gov/OffenderSearch/offenderDetail.action?sid=01924387 Archive]). [[Texas Department of Criminal Justice]]. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.

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