[2] Prisoners have committed offenses ranging from theft to murder.
[5] Sister Antonia Brenner, a Catholic nun, voluntarily lived with the inmates of La Mesa Prison for over thirty years, and was called "La mama" or the "Prison Angel".
[6][7] In 2002, police demolished a luxury condominium for bribe-paying inmates inside the prison.
[8][9] At that time, the most dangerous inmates were transferred to a new facility near Tecate.
[10] In April 1990, a drug raid by Federal Judicial Police officers resulted in the death of one man.