Federal inspectors say sports gambling materials were sitting out in the open across several housing units at USP Canaan, according to a newly released watchdog report examining conditions inside the federal penitentiary in Pennsylvania.

Investigators from the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General arrived for an unannounced inspection in June 2025 and said they repeatedly encountered betting-related flyers and other gambling materials in inmate common areas.

“We observed gambling flyers under televisions, on tables, and on top of a correctional officer control panel,” the report said. One flyer was “partially covering a Prison Rape Elimination Act reporting poster.”

Inspectors said the activity appeared widespread rather than isolated to one section of the prison. “We observed sports gambling flyers posted throughout the common areas in all five housing units we visited,” the report stated. Investigators also found “a gambling table mat with playing cards,” including “markings for a dealer and for bet placements.”

Concerns over visible gambling contraband activity in USP Canaan

The report described the materials as openly displayed and easy to spot during the walkthrough. “At least one of the flyers was laminated,” inspectors wrote, while others “appeared to be typewritten and photocopied from the same electronic file.” The watchdog added that the flyers “were widespread and unconcealed,” raising concerns about “potential employee awareness and acceptance of inmate gambling.”

Federal Bureau of Prisons rules ban gambling and gambling-related materials inside institutions. The report pointed to agency policies listing “preparing or conducting a gambling pool” and “possession of gambling paraphernalia” as moderate-severity violations that can bring disciplinary penalties, including segregation or loss of good-conduct credits.

Inspectors connected the gambling findings to larger concerns about prison security and contraband enforcement at USP Canaan. According to the report, prison staff recovered 166 weapons between December 2024 and June 2025. During the inspection itself, investigators also found what appeared to be homemade tattoo needles.

Prison leaders acknowledged the dangers tied to organized inmate gambling during interviews with inspectors. According to the report, institution leadership “agreed that inmate gambling can create dangerous conditions in the institution.”

After the inspection, officials said they introduced a housing-unit incentive initiative designed to improve cleanliness and remove unauthorized materials from shared areas. Prison staff later told inspectors they planned weekly inspections and would reward inmates assigned to the cleanest housing unit with commissary incentives.

The prison also issued a notice warning inmates that “sports statistics, gambling information, solicitations, and other advertisements” were prohibited in housing-unit common areas unless approved.

Still, inspectors said documents provided by the prison only showed sanitation rankings for September and October 2025 and “did not demonstrate continuation of the program after October 2025.”

The inspector general ultimately issued nine recommendations, including instructions for the Bureau of Prisons to keep strengthening “contraband detection and removal efforts” at USP Canaan.

Featured image: OIG, June 2025 (Monitor Screen and Brand Logo Obscured)

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