Tiny cell, toilet and a bench: what Trump might face if jailed for violating gag order

• The judge in Trump's New York hush money trial could detain him in a cell near the courtroom or -- much less likely -- on Rikers Island, according to experts.
• Trump said defending himself in the case and fighting the gag order under the First Amendment are worth the possible 'sacrifice' of being jailed.

On Monday, former President Donald Trump was threatened with jail time if he continues violating a gag order in his New York hush money trial, and on Tuesday Judge Juan Merchan chastised him again for witness intimidation − this time for muttering curses as porn star Stormy Daniels testified.

But if warnings and $1,000 fines for each infraction − Trump has racked up 10 of those so far − continue to prove too weak a deterrent for the billionaire, where would Trump actually be jailed?

The answer could make a big difference in how unpleasant the experience is. Experts say the world's highest-profile detainee could be held briefly in a cell near the courtroom or potentially for days in a jail on notorious Rikers Island.

Ronald Kuby, a veteran New York defense lawyer who has visited clients in city jails and also spent time in them for various acts of protest, said Trump is unlikely to enjoy any detention. Holding cells are small, with loud, sliding doors.

But Rikers Island, with a reputation for violence and unsanitary conditions, would be worse.

“It’s a bad experience” Kuby told USA TODAY. “Trust me. I've been there.”

Trump is unlikely to go to Rikers, but even the more probable scenario of a brief stay in a courthouse cell would be unique and unprecedented. Trump is the first former president to face criminal charges and could become the first jailed if found in contempt again. Like all ex-presidents, he is protected by the Secret Service, creating a host of logistical challenges.

“It is terra incognita: unknown land, off the existing maps,” said James Oleson, associate professor of criminology at the University of Auckland’s school of social sciences, who previously served as a staffer on the U.S. Judicial Conference’s committee on criminal law.

Trump could potentially be jailed for contempt, for violating gag order

Judge Merchan warned Trump on Monday if his order not to talk about the participation of potential witnesses or about jurors in the case doesn't work, the next violation could lead to jail.

“Mr. Trump, it’s important to understand that the last thing I want to do is to put you in jail,” Merchan said. “Your continued violations of this court’s lawful order threaten to interfere with the administration of justice in constant attacks, which constitute a direct attack on the rule of law.”

Trump told reporters Monday he might be willing to be jailed to keep offering comments like calling his former lawyer Michael Cohen a "disgraced attorney and felon."

“Frankly, you know what, our Constitution is much more important than jail,” Trump said, arguing his right to free speech is being violated. “It’s not even close. I’d do that sacrifice any day.”

Authorities prepare for 'any possible contingency' if judge jails Trump

Authorities were mum about the details of how Trump would be detained, if it came to that.

“Since the very beginning of these proceedings, the court system’s Public Safety officials have worked with their law enforcement partners in order to be prepared for any possible contingency,” Al Baker, a spokesperson for the state Office of Court Administration, said in a statement.

“The Department would find appropriate housing for him if he winds up in our custody,” Patrick Rocchio, a spokesperson for the Department of Correction, said in a statement.

Whatever happens, the Secret Service also would play a key role in any incarceration of Trump − however long or temporary − because of his status as a protected former president, said Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the agency.

Already, Guglielmi said, the Secret Service's New York Field Office, in conjunction with Trump's protective team, has "worked very closely" with the New York Police Department and court officers to plan all aspects of his appearances for the trial. And it has contingencies plans in place for whatever type of contempt scenario could occur, he said.

"For all settings around the world, we study locations and develop comprehensive and layered protective models that incorporate state of the art technology, protective intelligence and advanced security tactics to safeguard our protectees," Guglielmi said. "Beyond that, we do not comment on specific protective operations."

More goes into contingency planning for a possible Trump contempt order and incarceration than just where he would stay, Guglielmi said.

Secret Service agents, for instance, would need to look at everybody – and everything – that would potentially come in contact with Trump, including the staff at any facility and even the food that would be presented to him.

“All of those steps are very carefully choreographed and meticulously planned,” Guglielmi said. “We examine the universe of options that could be available to us and try to have options for almost anything that could arise.”

Options range from a courthouse cell to Rikers Island

The Secret Service has worked with the court system and local police to coordinate Trump’s security during the trial. The maximum sentence for each contempt violation is a $1,000 fine and 30 days in jail.

In increasing measures of severity, Trump could be detained for an hour or two in a cell behind Merchan's courtroom on the 15th floor of the courthouse in lower Manhattan or for days in a cell at a federal lockup or on Rikers Island.

Oleson, the criminology professor, said putting Trump in a cell for an hour might not be more effective than fines, whereas the “theater of being sanctioned and sentenced” to jail on Rikers Island might serve as a greater deterrent because of the reputation and stigma attached to it, he said.

“It puts us in Bizarro World,” Oleson said of the possibility of locking up a former president.

Holding cells adjacent to courtrooms can hold two or three people and are claustrophobic, with one tiny window at most and a large metal door “that slams shut with a mighty clang,” Kuby said.

“They are meant for short habitation,” Kuby said. “They have a toilet. They've got a bench. And that's about it.”

If ordered held overnight at the courthouse, Trump could be housed in “the veritable rabbit warren of cells that feed into the specific holding cells for the various courtrooms,” including some larger holding areas, Kuby said.

For longer stays, Manhattan’s longtime central booking complex known as The Tombs is no longer an option because it closed. But Trump could be ordered held in the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, where Jeffrey Epstein died, or a federal lockup in Brooklyn.

The least likely scenario, according to Kuby, would be Rikers, on the East River in the Bronx. The city’s largest jail has room for a VIP detainee with a Secret Service entourage, but could be terrifying for a germaphobe like Trump, Kuby said.

“It's such a giant, sprawling, falling-down massive complex of horror, there’s always a place to stick somebody,” Kuby said.

Trump would also likely avoid the food at Rikers, “which by all accounts is excruciatingly bad, and uneven in its preparation and delivery," Kuby added.

Any detention is likely to compare unfavorably with the White House or Mar-a-Lago.

“Trump is not going to be in with other prisoners. He’s undoubtedly not going to get the regular meal service. But he will be behind bars and cannot leave,” Kuby said. “Whether the toilet paper is up to par or not, whether the food is good or bad, is all kind of irrelevant to the fact that you're now confined in a small space with a door with bars separating you from everything you know, and love.”

Rikers Island 'dangerous and unsafe': federal court monitor

Rikers Island, which has 10 detention facilities, is scheduled to close in 2027, although slow construction of replacement facilities may delay that goal. In the meantime, it has been the subject of numerous critical reports for unsanitary and dangerous conditions.

At least 31 people have died in custody since January 2022 with people detained in crowded and dangerous conditions or not receiving medical care, according to advocacy groups monitoring the violence.

“It’s a stain on our city,” said Darren Mack, co-director of Freedom Agenda, a group of formerly incarcerated people urging the closure of Rikers Island. “The average person’s experience is one of pretrial punishment and suffering and basically Russian roulette.”

Mack, 49, spent 19 months in the adolescent facility on Rikers Island called the Robert N. Davoren Center in the early 1990s after being arrested as an accomplice to a robbery.

During his stay, a boy in the next cell attempted to hang himself and Mack said the guards beat the inmate after cutting him down. Another cell surrounded by plexiglass was smeared with feces by an inmate suffering mental health issues who spent the night kicking the walls, Mack said. The crumbling walls allowed inmates to craft weapons out of the metal or fiberglass from the windows, he said.

“I think Rikers Island has been plagued with violence for decades,” Mack said.

Mack said it was a shock to return a few years ago, as an advocate before the pandemic, to see signs warning visitors against drinking the water.

“Rikers Island should have been closed yesterday,” Mack said. “Until it’s closed, more people are going to suffer and die, unfortunately.”

A federal monitor reported in October 2023 found 91 detainees were stabbed or slashed during that August and September, and 31 staffers were suspended for misconduct for use of force during that July and August.

“It’s just a very dangerous place in terms of the violence and the kinds of care that folks are getting from the Department of Correction personnel,” said Jullian Harris-Calvin, a program director Vera Institute for Justice, an advocacy working to end mass incarceration. “People wouldn’t house their pets in these kinds of conditions let alone other humans.”

The physical conditions are also atrocious, according to federal monitor and advocates. Aged buildings are falling apart. Pictures of crowded facilities show people sleeping on the floor next to toilets that 10 men share.

During another federal monitor inspection, visitors found unsanitary conditions including live roaches, ants, water bugs, fruit flies, gnats, and mouse droppings. Detainees find vermin such as cockroaches or body parts of rats in the food.

“They are incredibly unsanitary conditions,” Harris-Calvin said. “It’s pretty gross.”

Trump could join former staffer Allen Weisselberg on Rikers Island

Experts said Trump could be housed in the West Facility, which has individual cells for detainees. The West Facility, which opened in 1991, is designated for prisoners with communicable diseases, but also houses detainees separate from those who are sick.

Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer at the Trump Organization, is jailed on Rikers Island in the West Facility on a five-month perjury sentence for lying during Trump’s civil fraud trial. Weisselberg’s release date is July 19. He previously served 100 days on Rikers Island after pleading guilty to tax fraud charges related to undeclared benefits from his job at Trump Organization.