Nick Ut/AP PhotoUPDATE: The California Department of Corrections has confirmed the relocation is a done deal.
"Inmate Garrison was transferred to the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in Corcoran (CSATF). It is the same prison Robert Downey Jr. was housed in," says department spokeswoman Terry Thornton. "I cannot go into the reasons for the transfer, but the transfer is for the benefit of the inmate."
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The trials and tribulations of Lane Garrison continue.
Despite reports of good behavior and a possible early release, E! News has exclusively learned that the former Prison Break actor was transferred from a medium-security facility to tougher digs, his sixth new home and ninth transfer since being locked up for vehicular manslaughter.
Garrison, called a "model inmate" by a prison insider, was recently moved from Golden State Correctional Facility near Bakersfield, Cailf., to the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility in Corcoran, a medium/maximum-security lockup adjacent to Corcoran State Prison, which is currently home to Charles Manson and Bobby Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan.
Neither the actor's attorney nor the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation could immediately be reached for comment.
"Generally speaking, if you are in a medium security facility with 600 inmates, you don't get moved to a place that's high security with 6,000 guys," a source told E! Monday. "Especially Corcoran—those are violent guys, mostly doing time for murder."
SATF does have accommodations ranging from open dormitories to more isolated confines for maximum-security prisoners who need protection from fellow inmates.
But Robert Downey Jr. also did his drugs-related time there, so obviously not all of the prison is meant for the most hardened criminals. Downey was locked up in August 1999 and released a year later after serving a third of his sentence for parole violation.
Garrison, who turns 28 on Friday, had been leading prayer groups and substance-abuse support meetings at Golden State, according to a source close to Garrison, who says he has also responded personally to more than 1,200 letters he has received from the outside.
"They are all hand-written, sincere and encouraging," the source said. "He tells kids to make the right choices and do the right thing."
Garrison pleaded guilty last May to felony vehicular manslaughter stemming from a DUI crash that killed one of his passengers, a 17-year-old Beverly Hills High School student.
He was sentenced in October to 40 months in jail but could be out in 20 once credit for time served and good behavior is factored in.
(Originally published May 19 at 6:17 p.m. PT.)