The next few months for Peter Navarro will look very different than the life he’s used to.
The former Trump advisor is going from traversing the halls of the White House to a minimum-security federal Bureau of Prisons satellite camp in Miami.
Navarro, who was sentenced to four months after being found guilty of ignoring congressional subpoenas during its January 6 Capitol riot investigation, reported to the prison on Tuesday. Navarro’s team tried to keep him out of prison while he appealed the guilty verdict, but Chief Justice John Roberts denied the request.
“I am pissed — that’s what I am feeling right now,” Navarro said at a gas station press conference before leaving for prison, CNN reported.
Stanley Bland, an attorney for Navarro, told Business Insider that in his appeal, Navarro will argue that prosecutors were “violating the constitutional separation of powers in the application of a congressional contempt statute.”
Sam Mangel, who CNN reported is working with Navarro as his prison consultant, helping to navigate the pre-and post-incarceration legal systems, told BI that Navarro is “settled in” to his camp and has “handled it great.”
Mangel runs a consultancy business offering advice to people convicted of white-collar crimes based on his experience in prison for his role in an insurance fraud scheme. He told BI he charges between $5,000 and $50,000 for his services, depending on his client’s needs.
Navarro’s attorney, Bland, did not confirm Mangel’s connection to Navarro. When asked by BI if his client had retained prison consulting services, he said, “That’s outside my legal role.”
The camp has mixed reviews
The Federal Correctional Institution, Miami, is nearly half a century old. Opened on March 26, 1976, the facility has a main prison and a satellite camp where low-level offenders — like Navarro — are held. Prisoners at these camps have access to jobs and educational programs, a prison handbook says.
The campus is located right next to Zoo Miami, with inmates able to overhear the sounds of the animals, Mangel said. Inside, Navarro will need to get a job — Mangel recommends the library or something in education — and could be required to take classes like many inmates are.
Per statistics from the Bureau of Prisons, 166 inmates are currently serving out their time in the Miami camp. Some inmates have called it “paradise” — others have warned to “stay the hell away,” according to another prison consultancy and legal defense firm, the Zoukis Consulting Group.
Staying in an aging prison means dealing with issues that newer prisons don’t have, former attorney and prison consultant Eric Singleton told Business Insider. Singleton previously spent eight months in federal prison and now advises white-collar criminals as they navigate the legal system.
“I understand there are issues with air conditioning going out, power outages, plumbing issues,” Singleton told BI.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
In 2018, OSHA cited the prison for mold and leaking ceilings and warned that inmates with a history of violence were being transferred there, The Miami New Times reported. The same prison also had issues with air conditioning failing in their solitary confinement unit during a heat wave in 2019, the outlet reported.
Justin Paperny, the cofounder of White Collar Advice, who has also spent time in federal prison, told BI that most federal prison camps contain a large dorm with bunks, a recreational area, a visitation area, a place to send mail, and communal bathrooms.
A commissary list of items for inmates to purchase includes everything from an 80-cent handkerchief to an $88 MP3 player.
The Miami facility looks like “an old rundown junior college,” Paperny said, noting that there is not much privacy at the facility.
Singleton said it may take Navarro a while to adjust.
Navarro’s popularity could help him
Experts who spoke to BI said the prison population at the 74-year-old’s camp skews younger — though Navarro has requested to stay in a section of the camp designated for older inmates.
Many inmates are there for low-level drug offenses, not white-collar crimes, Singleton said. Singleton advised that the former Trump advisor start “opening himself up to making all kinds of friends.”
Mangel told BI he had several clients serving sentences within the facility that he said would help Navarro adjust, though he declined to state who the clients were.
As he enters his first day of prison, Singleton said, Navarro is probably trying to figure out the lay of the land — who you listen to, where your bed is, and how you stay out of trouble. He also most likely went through a strip search.
Singleton said Navarro might spend the day being shown around by other prisoners rather than guards. He noted that guards sometimes pass the responsibility off to the inmates — occasionally out of respect, but sometimes out of laziness.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Paperny advises his clients not to act foolishly. Instead, they should refrain from complaining, study their environment, and “lay low.”
Navarro’s notoriety could also prove advantageous: Trump loyalists in the prison might favor him and provide food, treats, clothes, or offers to do his job, Paperny said.
“You could argue half the prison is going to be sympathetic to him,” Paperny said. “There will be prisoners and staff who don’t think he should be there who might support his cause and support former President Trump.”
