[BuddyBear]

I am not talking a night in jail because you were busted for solicitation, I am talking a long stretch of months or years.

Been watching these features on MSNBC (which by the way are very well produced) and life in the slammer is much different than I thought. In fact, life does not look too bad in there. You see a lot of the guys in there working out, playing cards, reading, eating together, hanging out, watching television, etc...

Anyone been?

[MJFtheGenius]

locked up is the show you are reffering too I think

interesting show late at night

never been in jail though

[Richkas]

I'm not proud of it but yes. 3 years Joliet Illinois.

[BuddyBear]

I'm not proud of it but yes. 3 years Joliet Illinois.

What's it like man?

[pat venditto]

[Richkas]

What's it like man?

It sucks. You have no rights. You are nothing but a number.


The lifers run the place. Thats all they have. Mind your own buisness and keep your mouth shut is the advice I would give to anybody going in.

[SBR Lou]

Anthony, anybody ever try?

If not, did you get some?

[madmaxx]

16 months in san quentin where i spent my 20th birthday, got out on very good behavior. all of the "things to do" you mentioned are what they show because there is nothing else to do in there. in high school i got cliff notes for a book because i was too lazy to read it. i read over 300 books during my time in that shithole because there is really nothing else to do. TV is pretty limited, its much like a casino where the house has the remote and if they wanna show bowling while you have a total of 220 with the o/u being 225 with a minute to go, good luck.

from what ive seen (through a lot of emails) they allow internet a lot more there, when i was there we didnt have a computer allowed for residents.

honestly the 3 key points if you are forced to serve time:
a) find ways to stay busy
b) never approach someone outside of your race (thats one thing tv/the movies get right)
c) dont try to kill yourself otherwise you will be really screwed (for a lot of the population its home and they would, as crazy as it sounds, rather be inside than outside...however the suicide attempt rate is insane, for obvious reasons...and theres not a "suicide watch" like you hear/see in the news...theres simply too many attempted suicides on each block daily.) I dont want to expose any prison guards that may lurk here so PM me if you want any more on that...or PM if you want any more info in general.

Bottom line, Richkas says the lifers run it which is very true. Usually you arent in contact with them if you are in for a short sentence but just obey the law. Sorry ive had a few (well more than a few) cocktails and am now rambling but if the thought of CW.com people knocking at your door with bats even makes you shudder for half a second, dont dare do anything that will put you in prison.

[luciano]

spent 6 months in county for a drug charge when I was 19. I sold a pound of bud to a female undercover cop in a bar parking lot, I didnt get busted until over a year later. Im lucky I had no record really when that happened.

I did 5 months on work-release. What was cool is I had an uncle who owned a roofing business and I really never worked during the whole stint. I sat at home.

[DukeJohn]

In another lifetime it seems, I did 13 months in Federal Prison. Well, actually the camp not behind the walls as we say. During that time, the hardest part was getting to the actually Federal part. I wasn't allowed to self surrender so I was taken into custody and placed in a county jail awaiting extradition to a Federal facility. During the month and a half, I was transferred to three different county jails. At one of these transfers, they had to check everyone for tuberculosis, so they did that arm test, quarantined us and stuck 30 of us in a small room for a couple of days. We each received two blankets and had to sleep on the concrete floor nearly touching each other. People started to go a little crazy yelling and screaming banging on the steel door. With every kick or pound of the fist on the door it echoed and I personally was able to release my frustrations through this and thus I endured. Once we were cleared and moved into an actual cell, well, a big open area where I was allow to sleep on a mat, I tried sleeping during the day and stayed awake at night. It was extremely over-crowded and I wanted to stay away from the awake population. There was nothing really to do and I knew, being the only white guy, it was a matter of time before something happened. I did work out each night, but not in the weight room. Eventually there was an issue. It happened during one of the times I was awake during the day. It was over the T.V. The Olympics were on and some guy walked up and changed the channel to some Spanish soap opera thing, however I notice several others were not happy about this, so I said, "Hey man, people were watching the Olympics."
He turned to me, "I've had enough of your ****ing shit!" Which I thought was odd, since I had never spoken to this guy. He quickly start taking off his earphones and was mumbling something. I waited for him to get ready and then he charged at me. As he was throwing his punch, I quickly rushed inside, grabbed him by the throat, lifted him off the ground and started running with him to the far wall. I slammed him into the wall and started punching him in the stomach. I was very aware of my situation and I didn't want to damage him too much and I sure didn't want him to hit me. I remember thinking, would someone please get me off this guy. Eventually, I was pulled off as I was screaming how I was going to kill him. We were held back, but they weren't holding the other guy too well and he broke free and got a shot in on the top of my head before they pulled him back. The guards came in, but it was over and no said anything, so they left. I was a little worried about retaliation, but eventually a guy told me, "hey he doesn't want anymore trouble with you okay. Just let it go." Naturally I agreed.

A couple of days later I got the call, I was finally heading to Federal Prison Camp. They loaded me on "Con Air" and away I went to the hub in Oklahoma. From here they ship out inmates to other facilities in the Nation. I was placed in a camp outside the "walls". It was located next to a highway and the only fence was about a 3' one outlining the area. It had a nice work out area, track, a full library, there were movies at night and best of all these were mostly white collar criminals. So people were respectful of others and everything was pretty good. Then I found out I had to actually work. Of course they would pay me. I believe the pay was 13 cents an hour. I was placed in the Landscaping detail. After one day of that I knew I had to figure something out to get out of this. I noticed the small engine repair guy always got to stay in the shop repairing the equipment. The next day, I told him I used to work on small engines all the time. 'That was a lie' I said, "I never met an engine I couldn't fix, which one are you having the most trouble with?" He showed me, so I started taking it apart. I had no idea what I was doing, but I looked like I did. So, I was told to stay back and see if I could get it running. I tried for days and eventually I got it running. I was giving another engine and shortly after the main mechanic was transferred out and I was given his job. Life was good. Each day I would start my job like I had a lot of work to do and then everyone would leave the shop. I would go into the back tool room and take a nap. When people came back I would get back out there and "work". After work, I would lift weights and read. It was a rather peaceful time...

Then I got a transfer notice. Damn! I remember thinking. I had it all set up and now I was going to have to start over. A couple of days later after ten of us were dropped off at the local greyhound bus station and told to report to El Paso, TX. We were given a little cash and voucher for the bus. As soon as the guards left, one guy walked off and said, "See you guys in El Paso." A couple of guys looked at each other and headed straight for the phone. Eventually, both met up with some women and took off. Once we arrived in El Paso, there was no one there to tell us where to go. Some wanted to wait at the bus stop, some wanted to get a hotel room and have a party. Two of the guys showed up that had left earlier. One was missing. Eventually, someone called the prison and we were told to take a cab. We did, but as we were leaving a white car came screeching into the parking lot. It was the missing guy.

When we got to the "Camp", an old army base, the guards said, "We weren't expecting you till tomorrow." We were processed and placed in the population. This place was different. There were a lot more big drug convicts here. So, once again I was an minority being white. The library was smaller, the work-out area was smaller and outdoors. Just overall it was a step down and damn was it hot! I was immediately place in Landscaping and there was no way to become the mechanic here. I had to do something and quick. There was a Firewatch detail. They stayed up all night and slept all day. If the building caught on fire, it was their job to wake everyone. It just so happen two of my three cell mates worked in that detail and one guy was due to be released. So, I put in my request and I got the job. It was great! I stayed awake all night, slept most of the day. Worked-out while everyone else was at work. I had a lot of time at night, so I started studying the bible. This went on for about six months, until they decided to discontinue the "Firewatch."

I was given a job at a recycling center off the base with everyone else in the old Firewatch detail, which by that time was all of my cell mates. A couple of the guys were wealthy, so we would have food delivered to us. One guy actually had an office where he would go to each day. I thought this was going to be the end of my great time, but it turned out to be a blessing. I was able to go to a strip bar twice a week and one of the guys gave us all money, he said it was to make sure we kept quiet about it.

Everything was going great. I was working-out, able to go to a strip bar twice a week eating a lot of fried chicken and pizza, then with less than a month away before my release the new Star Trek series came out, "Voyager." My fold up chair was up in my cell so I quickly took a seat at an empty one. Something you should not do. Anyway, I thought I would just watch it and when a commercial came on I would go get mine. Well, damn, if the biggest Hispanic built mother ****er slaps the back of my head and said, "Get the **** out of my chair."
I jumped up and had to look up. I remember thinking, damn this is going to hurt. I knew I did wrong, but I could not back down. I shoved him and said, "**** You!" He barely moved
He shoved me back hard. I flew back and stumbled, falling back into the wall. I actually saw stars from a shove. Holy shit was this going to hurt. I did the only thing I could think of. I charged him. Picked him up on my shoulder and slammed him down on a table that collapsed under the weight. I only got one punch in before I was quickly pulled off. The big guy got up. "Asshole you shouldn't been in my ****ing chair."
I nodded, "Your right, I apologize" and walked out. A few minutes later another guy came into our cell and wanted to know if I was going to say anything to the guards.
"Of course not." I said.
"Good, good, because Paco," or whatever his name was, "is due to be released next week."
I said, "No problem, tell him not to worry about it."

So, that was a basic overview of my experience at "Club Fed" as we like to call it.

[flyingillini]

I did exactly 1 year well actuall 364 days in La County. Terrible place i will never do anything wrong to go back.

[pico]

I did exactly 1 year well actuall 364 days in La County. Terrible place i will never do anything wrong to go back.

i guess the system works

[Deuce]

I spent 9 months in county on drug charges.

[OLGC_Slayer]

3 different nights in the drunk tank as a teenager and one night along time ago after a barfight in Hull, Quebec.

[pimike]

Got out on the 23rd. Became a SBR member same day.

Was in for hurting a stiff real bad!!

[chano]

I call bullshit on most of you guys. I spent 9 months of an 18 months sentence in jail and was released to a half way house for the remainder. What i did is not important. I can clearly tell that most you guys have never gone to jail. And thats a good thing..

[pimike]

I call bullshit on most of you guys. I spent 9 months of an 18 months sentence in jail and was released to a half way house for the remainder. What i did is not important. I can clearly tell that most you guys have never gone to jail. And thats a good thing..

wasn't jokiing

[potsie]

Yeah, I have worked in a prison for 10 years. It doesn't seem like it'd be that bad...if you're gay.

[BrUno0]

I've never been in trouble with the law, there was a few close calls, but i'm either smart or very lucky.

But my father was away in rikers island (the soft part, which is in new york) i believe theres like 2 facilities, one for the really bad dudes, and the other for the petty theft and pot dealers etc. He did 6 months for promoting gambling (aka bookie) He did go away with a friend who also was on the same charge with him, since they both worked for the same boss/illegal gambling business, i remember when my dad actually went away, he said he was going away for business and was on Island, i was only like 9 years old at the time, who woulda guessed that he was actually telling the TRUTH? haha

He told me it was easy, most people were cool, and he met a really cool black guy who was a religious guy, a muslim to be specific, and that guy had helped and told him who was in gangs, and who not to mess with etc, so i would assume just talk to the right people, mind you own business, keep to yourself, and just get it done with. A lot of PO's sold cigs, since smoking wasn't allowed, and some people smoked weed in there too, which i guess the PO's or guards w/e u call them brought in, cigs sold for crazy amounts in prison, since the demand was obviously so crazy, and the risk for the PO's bringing them in was very high. Bout all i know, without any experience.