Tates is the name of a correctional facility located in Upstate New York.
Donny Carlson, the son of Frank Goren, was being held there and witness many cruel acts against other prisoners by guards, including one death.
To investigate and expose these activities, Frank enlisted the aid of his brother Robert, who adopted an undercover identity and got himself put in the same prison. His plan worked all too well, as he was personally subjected to the conditions there. They were so bad that he even confessed to being a police officer, but the claim was dismissed as a delusion. (CI: "Untethered")