Gangster Snubs 'Those Bombers'

Inmate Luis Felipe no longer may be kept from chatting with three fellow prisoners, a federal judge has ruled.

But, as CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart, it may not matter any more. The lawyer for Felipe said he's received late word that his client has changed his mind. Having won his court battle, the gang leader now says he'll stay in his cell and wants nothing to do with the three men he refers to as "those bombers."

Who are they? Convicted Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, World Trade Center terrorist Ramzi Yousef, and Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. All are housed in the same super-secure federal prison in Florence, Colo.

After all, that is where all the baddest of the bad are kept. But, to the surprise of the prison guards, Kaczynski, Yousef, and McVeigh have begun having small chats in the exercise yard. Essentially, the federal judge gave permission to Felipe, leader of New York's Latin Kings gang, to join in the conversation.

Felipe was in solitary confinement because somehow, even behind bars, he ordered the deaths of others. Felipe is serving life plus 45 years for racketeering.

He said he should be allowed to join in the chatting, but the government had rejected the idea. The judge disagreed. "If Felipe wants to chat with McVeigh, or even the reclusive Unabomber, then go ahead," he said.

Ramzi Yousef, on the other hand, was ruled off limits, since he still has terrorist connections.

So legally, for one hour a day, two days a week, the other men can leave their 7-by-12-foot cells and chat all they want. But now it seems Felipe may not want to at all.

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