Penitenciaría Federal de Sona (Spanish for The Federal Penitentiary of Sona) is a fictional prison in the TV series Prison Break. The prison is set in Panama. It is the main setting for the third season.Although there are many differences between the two, Sona is based on, or at least inspired by, the notorious Carandiru Penitentiary, a prison which was operational from 1956 to 2002 in the district of Santana, São Paulo State, Brazil but was most well known from the massacre that occurred in 1992. As explained in the first episode of Season 3, it seems that anyone who gets put into Sona is there for life.