At one point, the prison warden himself recommended McGowan's transfer out of the CMU citing his good behavior, but the warden was overruled by the Bureau of Prison's Counterterrorism Unit, working with the Joint Terrorism Task Force of the FBI.
Jednom je i sam zatvorski upravitelj preporučio McGowana za premještaj iz JUK-a radi dobrog ponašanja, ali je upravitelja nadglasao Ured zatvorske protuterorističke jedinice, u suradnji s Ujedinjenom radnom skupinom FBI-ja protiv terorizma.