Joseph Ortega, a male federal inmate at the U.S. Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois, was found dead on February 20, 1983. Records and later court testimony state he was singled out by members of a prison gang after offending other inmates, and the killing was carried out inside the maximum-security facility by administering a lethal dose of heroin.

Court findings identify James Allen Red Dog, then a 29-year-old inmate serving time for earlier murders, as the man who obtained the narcotic from a visitor, passed it to gang accomplices, and provided information to investigators afterward. Red Dog cooperated extensively with federal authorities and entered the witness-protection program; because of that cooperation, he was never prosecuted for Ortega’s killing, and no other person was formally charged in connection with the overdose.

If anyone knew Joseph Ortega or has information about his death, please share what is known.