[3] The institution covers approximately 332 acres (1.34 km2) and consists of 59 buildings with a total gross floor area of 504,200 square feet (46,840 m2).

FCI Milan held female inmates from 1933 to 1939, housed offenders sentenced under the Federal Youth Corrections Act of 1950, and was once a medium-security institution.

Helen Gillis and Evelyn Frechette, the wives of notorious bank robbers Baby Face Nelson and John Dillinger, served one-year sentences at FCI Milan in the mid-1930s after being convicted of aiding their husbands as they evaded authorities.

The program is designed to reduce recidivism and bring reconciliation to the victim, community and inmate through personal transformation using the participant's faith commitment.

Maire, who was serving a 40-year sentence for his role in a child pornography production ring,[7] was attacked by inmates Adam Taylor Wright, Jason Dale Kechego, and Alex Albert Castro.