The hostages walked out of the cellblock unharmed, and the prisoners surrendered.
Additionally, Spain was the only inmate who ran from the cellblock with Jackson.
To leave the cellblock for a medical appointment or a disciplinary hearing, an inmate must be escorted in cuffs or chains by at least two officers.
Montesinos' court-appointed lawyer, Patricia Hurtado, protested his transfer, saying the cellblock was for prisoners sentenced in military court for terrorism, whereas Montesinos is charged with "common crimes". He faces charges including influence peddling, drug trafficking, arms dealing and directing death squads.
He has implemented random inspections of the cellblocks, to insure that "standard operating procedures" are being followed, and he has banished regular "cavity searches" for detainees.
It is the first prison in the California state prison to ban fruit from the cellblocks.
The Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Center at Abu Ghraib was established in September under the command of Lt. Col. Steve Jordan, and quickly established effective control over the cellblock set aside for the "security prisoners".
Completed in 1825, it could hold more than 1,200 inmates in cells three and a half feet wide, only slightly wider than a side-by-side refrigerator-freezer. Now the cellblock is poised for a new life, 58 years after it stopped housing inmates and 26 years after it was gutted by fire.
Some of those prisoners were held for interrogation at Abu Ghraib in the cellblock that became the site of the worst abuses at the prison.
The threat of prison is no big fear for members of the Barrio Azteca street gang, because they consider the cellblock to be home.
