September 4, 2025 • 36 mins
Welcome to the premiere of season 2 of more than an inmate's girlfriend!!
This is part 2 of the interview with Andrea from Prison Brides. If you haven't seen part 1, please check out the season 1 finale, episode 26 titled ""Prison Brides" Andrea's Story on Her Unabating Love and Devotion to Cage (Part One)"
Part two of our interview dives into what actually happened in Cage's case and why he was sentenced to 50 years in prison at the young age of 16! We also learn more about juvenile justice in Texas and the realities of what happens to some kids that end up on the wrong path...
Follow Andrea on TikTok or Instagram @andreea.cage
Follow Jae's husband Nicholas Ely on Facebook "More Than An Inmate" or the Facebook group "End Felony Murder Rule in Nebraska"
Follow the show on TikTok @morethananinmatesgf or Instagram @podcast_prisongf
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Well, no, this is not what happened, Page got to fear All
of them are outside of prison beside one.
Welcome to More Than an Inmate'sGirlfriend Season 2.
Yay. Made it.
(00:21):
AJ is joining me today. How was your summer, AJ?
It was good. It was really.
Busy. I feel like but it was good.
I'm so excited about this season.
I think it's just like we're expanding a little bit and
growing and talking to new people, different people.
(00:42):
Do you want to kind of elaborateon that a bit?
I. Don't want to give anybody.
Away, But we are definitely expanding.
I know that we've done a lot of interviews with solely Prism
wise, which has been great and it's been a great experience,
but it's nice to get other perspectives from people that
are affected by the prison system.
(01:04):
So we have a lot of really, I don't want to say intense, how
would you say it? Very on the edge.
Definitely intriguing and yeah, I feel like we're trying to
answer questions that we've always wondered.
I agree. So things about people or their
families that are affected by incarceration and their
(01:26):
perspectives from different types of people involved at
different levels, so. I will say.
Just a snippet of one, but I won't say who or what that we
will have a female come on whosehusband was put to death.
And I think that that will really open a unique
(01:47):
conversation because a lot of women whose partners are on
death row face significant stigmatization, even more so
than just us prison girlfriends and prison wives.
So I'm looking forward to that interview.
For sure. Yeah, for sure.
We're also going to have someonewho we're really going to get in
(02:08):
depth about rehabilitation and what it is and how does society
forgive someone who does something, you know, for lack of
better word, heinous and what itmeans because we ourselves are
curious about that and what is asecond chance and how do how
does someone deserve a second chance?
So I think it's going. To be great, we are going to
(02:28):
continue. With Weekly.
Just want to say that also you guys, we're going to be doing
more gift giveaways, not like all the time now like how to
break, but this one that we did.Was so.
Fun. The best food was.
So cool. The notebook I low key I feel
(02:51):
like I shed a tear and the winner is just like so amazing.
So I think that is something also to look forward to seeing.
Yes, cool. And then we're probably going to
elaborate on different things. We're going to try out different
things. We'll probably ask for your
feedback on some stuff, just like sharing art and different
(03:13):
people's businesses and just trying to kind of grow that
community and promote positivitywithin the prison system and how
we can do our part in whatever way we can.
Before we get to Part 2 of Andrea, I'm so excited.
This part, I think is the part where we learn more about Cage
and his crime and. Excited.
(03:35):
Andrea's significant other is Cage, and I was dying to know
more about it because I feel like the show did not elaborate.
And it killed me not knowing because I was like, why is this
man incarcerated for 50 years? And I don't know exactly why.
So for those of you that want toknow why, we're about to find
out where we get into that. Please continue to follow us on
(03:57):
social media. Like.
The show, it is so important to expand into algorithms and
yadda, yadda, yadda, you guys know the drill.
Please just like follow the show, share it with your friends
and family, share it with your loved ones.
And the last thing I want to mention before we go is there
(04:17):
are two people that were recently released from Nick's
prison that are two very, very, very good friends of his.
And it has been crazy. They both did more than a decade
in prison for various crimes andthey are now re entering into
society and we are just so happyfor them.
(04:41):
They have done the work to rehabilitate and watching them
navigate this new world has beenreally fun and the fact that
they are including Nick along the way has been a true
blessing. It really shows the brotherhood
that exists between these guys and it's been really cool
watching it and listening. And I just want to give a shout
out to them because they are basically family to us and who
(05:04):
knows, maybe one of them will get on to interview.
Hopefully it could be cool. Too cool.
Yeah, We're sending all the goodvibes for sure.
Definitely. Anything else you want to add
before we go? I don't think so, I'm just
looking. Forward to the second part.
So can we play it please? Right.
And with that, we're off. Enjoy Part 2 of Andrea.
Thanks guys. Certain things that they didn't
(05:33):
add, I spoke and and I get a lotof backlash for saying, hey,
like you didn't think about the juvenile laws and I'm getting
attacked on all this group. Well, I used to when the show
came out and I was promoting it,but I was genuinely excited to
promote it. I have not seen the cast and I
was just sharing articles on this prison wide groups on
Facebook. Fix this one.
(05:54):
And they were like, oh, no, we don't want you in our group.
Like you said, you're going to be promoting this and that.
And I'm like, OK, like before, when the show came out and I was
just sharing the articles, they were already not so happy with
me. OK, I get it.
And then when the show came out,they were saying you didn't
speak about this. You didn't speak about that.
You're going to get your men in trouble because you're trying to
(06:16):
be famous. And I'm like, I'm doing this for
my man. He's not a dummy.
He's not going to speak on things that could potentially
put him in prison. We are aware that he's in
prison. We are aware he still has to
live in prison. So trust me, like I would have
loved to sell those places. Ladies.
Like, lady, calm down. He's the one doing time.
It's not you. So like, don't tell me.
(06:37):
I'm putting my mind like I wouldn't do nothing without his
approval. Like, I'm not crazy.
Like, hey, let's just go, you know, on a show.
And just no, it was not like that.
Obviously Cage is not going to speak about I'm going to speak
about it. I try to speak about what's
happening in prison. I try to speak about racism and
how unfairly Hispanics and blackpeople get treated in comparison
(06:59):
to white people that are doing the same crimes, getting like
half of the sentences that the others get.
But they didn't care to put any of that on TV, right?
So that is totally not my fault.I did my part and I was so proud
of myself for picking my first time being filmed and I actually
felt comfortable and I was beingmyself.
I wasn't trying to be someone that I'm not and it was not on
(07:23):
TV. So, you know, now they wanted to
make it seem like a big drama with my parents.
My parents, obviously they're myparents.
They're always going to be worried about me.
They worry about my future. They hate the thought of me
going in the future, moving to America and being by myself.
And they worry about starting the family.
They are saying, hey, like you're approaching your 30s.
(07:45):
So these are conversations that either if I was not with Cage,
for example, they would still beworried about me.
Now this is a different situation because they love Cage
and they want to help. My parents have been looking for
lawyers. They have been looking and bless
them. Yeah, they don't know the laws
like they always trying to help.They want to go see him.
(08:05):
Soon. Oh, they haven't gone.
They want to go and see him thisyear, possibly, maybe the next.
And it'll be the first time. Yeah, it will be the first time
they saw each other by. Video.
And all that, but like they're very supportive, as supportive
as they can be. And they know that he may makes
me happy. Now, there were times where,
yeah, we've had arguments, but it was never to the point where,
(08:28):
hey, like, what are you doing? Like they know I'm happy.
My parents just want him to be home and they just worry about
me, which is a normal thing to do.
But they were never against us. They were never against this
relationship. Mind you, they even accepted to
be on the show which not a lot of other.
Parents. Did or would do you know,
(08:51):
because they love me and they did this again, like I have
mentioned, hoping that this could help.
And obviously you have to understand it's overwhelming.
English is not their first language.
It's they get all these questions about, oh, what if
case is never coming home and all these things that are, you
know, they're making them feel in some type of way.
(09:13):
And yeah, it's it's just even ifthey say it's Doctor series, it
didn't feel like it when it all came out.
You got to see the edits before,or did you watch the show for
the first time and that's when you saw what was going to be on
it? OK, so the first episode ever
that had us in, which was episode 2, they did call me and
(09:36):
they shared it OK, and it was all right.
It was fine. I was excited about it.
But after that, I didn't see anything anymore.
And it's been kind of upsetting because it was the only one that
got to have an in person interview.
They to interview him in prison and everybody was telling me
what an amazing interview he did.
(09:58):
And they didn't put much of thaton TV.
So yeah, that was kind of disappointing because he was
talking about cages. Extremely intelligent.
Like extremely. He's so smart.
And it's sad because I would have loved to see that too.
I never got to see that either. Always do what you feel.
If I were to give an advice, if you feel like you should do it,
(10:19):
do it. But remember to be be prepared.
Right. Yeah.
And was it hard for you to get permission to get him filmed?
Oh. No, I don't really remember.
I think it was kind of hard. I don't know about other states.
Texas cannot deny media. OK, so they're forced like they
(10:40):
were rushing it. They gave them an hour, but it
mind you, in this hour they had to do the interview.
Plus the crew has to set up all the cameras and all that, right?
So, you know, they give you, butthey're like, OK, whatever.
This is the time we give you, like that's it, you're done.
They're helping. They're trying to be
accommodating, but not really. But we were super grateful that
they did give us because, you know, they can always say no.
(11:02):
If we're being honest right now,by law, they can't.
But there's always things that can happen.
Yeah. So we're very grateful that they
gave us the opportunity for that.
From what I understood, the other girls, the other
facilities from other states didn't give the permission for
them to fill. OK.
Yeah. OK, the moment I've been waiting
(11:24):
for, for a very long time. Yeah.
Tell me about his case. I'm dying to know about Cage's
case. OK, so he was 16 at the time,
and Cage grew up with his parents, divorced.
He has wonderful parents. I met them both.
I'm in touch with them. I speak to his mom daily, to his
dad every other day. And he's wise.
(11:47):
I got to meet them in person. They're wonderful people.
But he was the youngest and he didn't grow up with both of them
in the same household. And, you know, things were rocky
between the parents. And so he ended up living with
his mom. But you know, boys are boys and
they got moved into an area where it wasn't great.
(12:08):
His mom was a single mother withthree boys at the time.
And, you know, her whole life changed.
She lost her mom that was her anchor and was the one helping
her out with the kids. So her whole life turned upside
down and so she moved into an area where it wasn't like a
great area for the kids. The kids got we're into a school
(12:29):
where it wasn't the best, like, influence for them.
And yeah, Cage ended up getting in some school fights and he was
expelled from his school. And that's when everything
started. Like, he loved board, OK, And he
really wanted to pursue that that field, but he never got the
(12:49):
possibility to do so because he was expelled.
So, yeah, the things how they work in America, I don't know.
For me, it's very like, from such a young age, like, at least
give him a chance. So he got in some trouble.
How old was he when he got expelled?
I think he was younger. I think he was like 15 maybe.
OK. And so then for this specific
(13:10):
problem that he has, this robbery, he has aggravated
robbery. His brother was actually going
out and he didn't want to let him go out by himself.
He didn't know like all the other people besides one of
them, OK, there were like 5 Co defend, 4 Co defendants and
three of them he didn't know. The other one was his brother
(13:31):
and the other one he knew. So they ended up, I don't know
specifically because we're also working on his case.
So I don't know what I can say and what I cannot say.
And so anyways, it ended up all of them were adults.
That's one thing I'm going to say nobody was got hurt.
Now I know people say, hey, he did a robbery, they did a
robbery. Maybe they didn't get physically
(13:53):
hurt, but they emotionally and Iagree with that.
Yes, I agree. What I do not agree with is the
fact that all the rest of them got half of the sentence that he
got. And he was the youngest.
So I agree with him going to prison.
OK, Yes, he has to learn and he has to pay for his mistakes and
(14:16):
all that. But at least I don't see it in
being fair. So this is what happened.
They were all adult, right? Yeah.
And they all blamed it on him thinking, oh, you know what?
We're just going to blame it on him.
He's the youngest. His brother is autistic.
So he's very easily influenced. Like he can be very easily
(14:37):
influenced. The other people said, OK, he
was the one because they thought, you know, he's not
going to get much time. It's like we're trying to get
away from this. Yeah, well, no, this is not what
happened. Cage got 50 years.
All of them are outside of prison beside one, but still in
prison and got some extra time. But they're all living their
lives. They were all adults.
(14:58):
They all got like 20 years sentences and they got out.
They made parole or whatever he has been in prison for this
year, is going to be thirteen years in October, and he's
eligible for parole in 2037 whenit's basically completing half
of his sentence. Yeah.
And that's where it's so unfair to me.
(15:20):
I believe he wasn't judged barely.
He wasn't sentenced fairly. And not to mention he had a bad
attorney. He had an attorney that had no
experience in trials at all, at all.
Obviously the attorney had to tell Cage, hey, like he had to
choose to be sentenced by the jurors or by the judge.
(15:40):
And the attorney recommended forhim to be a sentence by the
judge. He said, oh, just choose the
judge. Trust me, he has seen plenty of
criminals. He has seen people that have
done horrendous crime, right. He's not going to be so tough on
you. Yes.
He was. He was given 50 years with the
possibility of parole after completing half of his sentence.
(16:02):
And he wrote down on a paper, this is what you are.
And he showed it to him. You're a monster.
Wow. Right.
Yeah, Like how is that rehabilitating?
Is it his first offense? So he was in trouble for what I
told you, getting expelled. It was like the fight.
Yeah. And he went to Juvie's for that,
I believe something like that, something minor.
(16:24):
And I don't know. They just sentenced him as an
adult at the age of 16. So he went into adult prison?
Yeah. Well, he he was, No, he was
going to trial. So as soon as he turned 18, he
was transferred to prison. Yeah.
So we were talking about this last time I went to see him the
(16:44):
last day, it was an emotional rollercoaster.
It just hit me so hard because it always gets harder.
It never gets easier. That's one thing I'm going to
say. It always gets harder and
harder, that's for sure, At least for me.
I don't know about others, OK. But this last time that I went
to see him, because he only getsvisits on the weekends,
(17:05):
Saturdays and Sundays. And on the Sunday I went in
there, we were having a wonderful time.
And then I saw a table. I couldn't help but look, there
was this super young guy becausehe just came in and he sat down.
So he was next to us. And then his family came, like
his grandma was in a wheelchair and the dad and the other
(17:26):
siblings and he looked like a kid.
And I started getting really emotional and caged, like, baby,
like, what's wrong? And I'm like, he's a baby.
I said to him, he's a baby. And he's like, he's probably
gonna be out of prison in two years.
And I said, I don't know. But, well, Cage, I didn't tell
him right away. I ended up telling him
afterwards. All I could think.
(17:48):
It just hit me. It's like seeing him.
Yeah, that's exactly where my mind took me.
I'm like, first I see this superyoung kid in prison with this.
There's a lot of horrible peoplein prison.
Yeah. Prison is not a good place.
And he's just like, I don't know, even with Cage, I'm just
like, you did your time. You need to be out.
You don't belong in here. And it's just, it was so sad.
(18:10):
It hit me out of nowhere seeing that kid and I couldn't help
like I was so emotional. I feel like I'm getting
emotional, you talking about it like I can't imagine.
It's awful so. Yeah, I'm like, wow.
I said, baby, you don't get it. Because I ended up telling you
I'm like, baby, you don't get it.
Like when I see I had tears in my eyes, I said, I see you.
(18:31):
I'm thinking of you. You were a kid.
As long as, as tough as you might be or you have to be or
you have to force yourself to become a man, you were a child.
Yeah. And another thing, I'm getting
emotional because I never thought of freezing like that,
you know? And then I was thinking, because
every time I joke with him and I'm like, baby, can you please
(18:53):
stick me with you? Or I tell them, no, the guards,
I'm like, can I please go back? Yeah.
And I was just thinking, like, Iwonder because he comes through
this door and I can see, but yousee, like some white walls.
And I'm like, I imagine how it would be to walk down with cage.
Yeah. And all I could feel for like a
second. I feel like.
I think I would be terrified. Yeah, I think I would be.
(19:15):
Fair. I think like it's such an eerie
feeling. I couldn't help but think how
they feel, how he must feel whenI leave him and I go, I get to
walk outside of prison. I get to walk for a little
while. I have to chill.
And then I can just go about my day because I'm on holiday,
right? And have a nice dinner, a nice
(19:35):
steak at Texas Roadhouse or whatever.
But he has to go back in there, which he's super strong and he
calls me right away. He calls me right back.
We drive. We were reminiscing about the
visit and but it's just like whoI'm going.
It's like it's so. Sad.
It is so sad. I cry every time.
And I. Don't want and I don't cry.
(19:57):
I don't cry when I leave becausehe's so happy and he just
embraces the moments that we have together after.
You leave the. Freezer.
It's always after I leave, when I'm driving back to the airport.
I'm crying every time and I feelso bad.
Yeah. And I remember the first time I
saw him, it hit me in the airplane.
So I'm like in the airplane. And I brought my friend with me
so she was next to me. And I'm just crying and I can't
(20:20):
stop. So I'm like trying and I've just
got tears just flowing down my face because I'm like, I'm
leaving this person and he's back there.
It's killer, but it means so much to him at the same time.
And I'm like, I feel so bad because I'm like crying to him
about how I can't help him and how I don't think it's fair that
he's there. It's hard.
(20:41):
It's I find it really difficult.I know I, it reminds me of so I
don't cry. I don't cry every time.
And another thing that happens to me every time I go there or
most of the time, the weather isso gloomy, right?
It's like there's clouds. As soon as I leave the visit,
the sun comes out and I just look up in the sun and I say
thank you, God for allowing me to come and see him and for
(21:04):
being able to spend time with him.
And I remember when we got married and I visited him that
weekend. And I don't know, that was one
of the hardest time ever since we've been together because that
trip was so magical. It was so beautiful.
Yeah. And it just felt like I want to
get him, like I want him to comehome with me.
(21:24):
And that day it hit me really hard as well.
But I was at visit already. I started to get like, irritated
and kind of like I wanted to argue with him about something,
but I have no reason to argue. I'm like.
And I ended up crying and I had,oh, my makeup ruin.
Mind you, I have to leave for the airport as soon as I was
done with visit and I had full glam makeup, eyeliner,
(21:47):
everything on. And Oh my God, I started bowling
my eyes out. I couldn't help it.
I always do it. If I do it, I do it after I
leave because I don't like people staring at me or
whatever. Do you know horror movies When
you see those ladies with the tear down with their mascara
coming down? There was a kid that was the CEO
that day. He was scared to come and tell
(22:08):
me that the time was. God.
He didn't even want to and I left and it's like, damn the
walk of shame. Like, I don't want these people
looking at I hate to cry in front of someone or somebody.
And you're alone after, you know.
Yeah, I'm like, oh, there's nobody tag, please.
Yeah, I don't. I don't even like to cry in
(22:29):
front of people. I don't mind crying in front of
case but other people like I'm not like I'm always like this
bad bitch you. Know this?
And that like the appearance. I'm a lady.
I don't do that in public. But now it's just like I
couldn't help it, yeah. So juvenile justice in Texas.
(22:50):
So what's it like right now? How is it moving?
What are people doing? It sounds insane to me.
The 16 year old got a 50 years for that.
Yep, and it's more common than you think.
So there is this verb of this wonderful lady called Diana
Sturgeon, and she's in charge ofthe Epicenter family.
(23:11):
They have been trying for years to pass this stall for
juveniles. OK, the second look.
Yeah, the second look, Bill, we have the same one.
And they're amazing. They go to the Capitol and you
know, it gets so close every year.
Last year it got super close. But hopefully this year good
things are going to happen and it's going to get passed.
(23:33):
I believe it's going to get passed eventually.
And I'm always like you said, times change.
Texas, for example, the laws aresuper old and I believe a lot of
them should be changed. And it's more common than people
think. There's a lot of juvenile
inmate, it's crazy. And it's crazy because they get
sentenced very excessive, very excessive.
(23:56):
And it's really sad. It's really sad because also
then there comes the parole board that is known in Texas or
not being super nice to them. And I don't know, it's crazy
because there's people that commit horrendous crimes and
they make parole and I fully, truly believe that they give.
(24:16):
I know personally people that have their husbands and have
been in prison for like 20-30 years and they have been denied
parole four times. Mind you, they had no cases in
this during this time. They did not get in trouble.
They completed all the courses. Like it's more common.
You know, you do everything they're telling you to do and a
(24:37):
lot of the sometimes they say, oh, the reason why we're denying
parole is nature of the crime. You cannot change the nature of
the crime. That's something you can never
change. That's why they went to prison.
But I'm talking about, you know,they have the possibility of
parole and they have tried. Sometimes they get set up for a
few years and it's crazy becauseother people that sadly have
(25:01):
done things against children or women or other stuff, they do
make parole and those people do end up back in prison.
Sometimes I only think like thisis all a business also because
they make money off of them. And not only that, it's like
nearly as saying, hey, they knowthat these people are going to
(25:23):
come back to prison like the ones that do horrible things
that they give them parole, right?
And they know they don't have toworry because they'll reoffend
and come back to prison. But those like are in, for
example, your men, yes, yeah, right.
Like cages situation or other people that I know, they said,
Oh no, they have changed. They're not going to come back.
(25:45):
So we're going to keep them a little longer.
Exactly the recidivism rate of young offenders and juveniles
that are given long sentences and they managed to make it out.
The recidivism rate is next to nil because you scared them
straight is what happened. Yeah.
They're so terrified to ever step foot.
(26:05):
Like if Nick touches grass again, he will never do anything
we laugh about. I tell him, like when I'm
driving and I see someone driving really slow, I'm like,
that's going to be you. He's like, yeah, man, cruise
control at 5 miles under. Like he's like, I'm not getting
pulled over for nothing, you know, and it's sad.
And The thing is, we're talking about, and what you've said is,
(26:26):
and when I've teach people and people learn about Nick's case
and they're like, Oh my gosh, that can't be possible.
There must be more to the story or they can't really do that.
Like how do they do that? I'm like, no, actually.
And I tell Nick to you're not the exception.
You're the norm. This is normal.
This is everywhere. It's not a special case.
It's a case that everybody is getting.
(26:48):
You know, there's thousands of kids or young offenders that are
getting these excessively long sentences across the country and
nobody knows because we just assume as law abiding citizens
that whoever goes to prison deserves to go to prison.
And we don't think about it, Yeah, until we're exposed to
this. And then it's like, wait a
minute, something doesn't make sense here, but nobody knows.
(27:10):
It's crazy. I know.
And to me, you see, it's very crazy how the justice systems
work in the US, right. Or like Canada, even Canada with
the United States are very different.
Canada, from my understanding, has conjugal visits, where the
US only has four states that have conjugal visits.
Yeah, not only that, but what I'm trying to say is each state
(27:32):
has its own rules. Laws.
Yeah, and its own laws. And it's like, wow, yeah.
For us Europeans, he wouldn't have step a foot inside prison
for adults. Never, ever.
Ever. Yeah, never.
And I watch all this true crime and I see all and can't help it
but get mad. I'm like, wow, like this guy
(27:54):
that was on the the show, I am akiller.
He killed both his grandparents,both of them, and he got 30
years. Are you kidding me?
Yeah. And I'm not saying that.
I just believe that it's very unjust.
Like maybe somehow if the crime was different have been
justified for me. Like, I don't know, it's just,
(28:16):
it's crazy. It's just you have taken his
whole life away and how is he gonna?
I don't know prove himself even insane.
You know he has no opportunity and like you said, Nick talks
about it often. If he was in a different state,
he would have been sentenced differently.
Like he automatically got life without parole.
(28:36):
There was no talk about it. It's just that's the law.
This is where you were decided that you fell in under.
And because of that, you are getting a life without parole
sentence. But let's say he was in
Washington or California. He would be out.
He wouldn't even be there. Yeah.
You know. And it's just so happens that
the state that they're in, they have to follow those laws.
So like you said, it's just it'sso variable everywhere.
(28:58):
And you're either lucky to be ina state that's a little bit more
progressive or you're not. You're still in the archaic
laws. Yeah.
States that you know are so far behind.
For example, came across this page on TikTok where it's
showing inmates from Arizona andthe charges that they have for,
you know, smoking or selling thegreen stuff.
(29:20):
And it's just like crazy becausethere's other states that got
legal. Yeah, exactly.
And it's just, it's insane. Yeah, it's just insane.
And the other thing that I thinkis really important to know when
it comes to juvenile justice is like, I'm sorry, but if you came
from a house that was white picka fence and parents were married
and everything was good, they wouldn't be ending up in this
(29:41):
situation. Like these kids were brought up
in circumstances that made them where they are and nobody helped
them. And then instead of you
realizing that they're on this wrong path and their brains are
still developing so they have the ability to grow and be
different. If they're just helped and shown
that there's another side, there's another way.
These are just hurt children. That's all they are.
(30:03):
It's children that are hurt and want to feel connected and end
up with the wrong crew because they want to feel loved in some
way or another, or they don't understand what they're doing
and the impact of what they're doing.
And then they're thrown into prison.
And just like, just basically, it's like they grow up their
whole lives and they end up downthese paths thinking that nobody
loves them. And then this thing happens
(30:23):
because they think no one loves them.
And then we just prove that no one loves them because then we
send them to jail for 50 years. You know, it's just wild to me.
Yeah, that's not real, but OK. Yeah, like I said, like both me
and Paige, you know, agree. There's people that deserve to
go to prison. Absolutely.
Like absolutely, but there's also cases in which, for
(30:44):
example, he's OK, how is he benefiting the society by being
locked up? Like giving him this long
sentence, Like, OK, you know, I would understand if it was only
him. But when it comes like he has Co
defendants and it's just like there's things that don't make
sense to me. And maybe I'm not maybe for
sure. I'm not well educated in that
(31:05):
area, but it's still making zerosense to me.
Yeah, agreed. I'm still learning a lot about
it too. I feel like there's so many
things that we can learn from these.
Situations. Yes, I'm still learning.
I'm not even going to say that Ieven know like 10% of what it's
all together. Like I'm learning something each
day and I am amazed more and more, not in a good way.
(31:27):
You know, unfortunately it's. Just it's sad.
It's sad and I'm not. You see people, they have the
misconception of thinking about us like, oh, like they they want
city this, they want that like because they're dating something
like no, at the same time, yes, I go through, we go through our
moments. We have days and days where, you
know, like we said earlier, likewe end up breaking down on the
(31:50):
way out and we just cry ourselves out.
But I wasn't aware that I'm going to fall in love, right?
Fell in love. Exactly.
We both got into this relationship and we both agreed
to make this work, but I'm not expecting pity from people or
that I know what I got myself into, but I'm normal to be
expecting people to fill in sometype of way or being judgmental.
(32:13):
It's totally normal. Now, there's ways how you can do
that. You cannot say it at all, or you
can say it in a nice way or you can keep it to yourself.
But you know, I don't like how alot of people are trying to say
that. We're trying to victimize
ourselves and just like we are blind because we are in love
with them and they're all super bad people.
(32:34):
Like no. No, it's not like that.
There's people that are free outthere in the world, in the free
world, and they're worse, yeah, than a lot of inmates, yeah.
You know, and it's just that awareness.
I think that that's what and that's the goal of this.
But like giving that awareness that, yes, you're right, we
don't expect you to pity us, butwe want you to see the reality
of what's going on. Yeah, you know.
(32:54):
Because it could happen to. Anyone like want anyone?
It could happen. There's still somebody's kids.
There's, you know, that's one thing about Wendy, which is our
wedding officiant and she has become one of my her and her
twin. They're two twins from Texas and
they're two of my favorite ladies ever.
And, you know, they get judged alot also for performing
(33:17):
ceremonies for people in prison and for loving an addict, for
example. They're dealing with that.
It's their families and something they always say
they're somebody's child, you know, and it's true.
People don't realize people say,oh, they put themselves in that,
like don't do the crime and you won't do the time or something
like that. It's like it can happen to
anyone. I worry because in the future, I
(33:40):
want to be a mother. I want to start a family.
And we'll have to live in Texas because obviously, you know,
when Cage has home, he'll still have to grow and we'll be forced
to live in Texas. And it's scary.
It's scary to think that, you know, one day I'll have a son
where God forbid, we'll get in trouble and we'll end up in
(34:00):
prison for, you know, And I'm not saying because a lot of the
time, yes, they come from familywith problems, but there's also
kids that, you know, have good parents or like, it's all, you
know, the wrong time and the wrong place.
And it's just like, it's scary. It's a scary thought.
You kind of answered my question, but before we go I
wanted to ask you what is the future?
(34:22):
What are you guys working on right now?
What are your hopes? Yes.
Like I said, we're both studyingcages, also has started his HVAC
studies for air conditioning andall that.
Yeah, we have some business plans, business ideas that we
would like to put in practice. When I move over there.
I want eventually to move over there to be able to be closer to
(34:42):
him and visit him more often because we are spending a lot of
money. Yeah, on flight and just being
able to see him each weekend, like I'm the happiest when I'm
with him, to be honest. And it's priceless.
And yeah, he's still working on his book, but he's been very
busy and we have some exciting things coming up.
(35:03):
Like I said, we're working on his case and, you know, working
on bringing him home sooner. That's that's the plan.
Yeah, well, thank you so much. I hope, I pray for him.
I hope that something positive comes out of it.
Like I tell Nick, it just takes 1 judge or it takes 1 senator,
you know, to push. So we just have to wait.
(35:23):
And all the negatives that come in between, we just take them
and we absorb them and they're alearning lesson and you move on
until something good happens. Exactly.
That's the only way. I feel the same and I believe
in. Miracles.
Me too, like I do believe me too.
I believe in them so things can change.
Exactly like you said, it only takes one person.
(35:45):
Exactly. Well, thank you so much again.
And thank you for sharing his case.
I'm so glad that I got the opportunity to learn more about
it and talk to you about it and share what's what actually
happened and and about his case and the injustice is in it.
So thank you so much. And your relationship as an
international wife. Thank you.
Yeah. All right.
Thank you. Take care, bye.
Well, no, this is not what happened, Page got to fear All
of them are outside of prison beside one.
Welcome to More Than an Inmate'sGirlfriend Season 2.
Yay. Made it.
(00:21):
AJ is joining me today. How was your summer, AJ?
It was good. It was really.
Busy. I feel like but it was good.
I'm so excited about this season.
I think it's just like we're expanding a little bit and
growing and talking to new people, different people.
(00:42):
Do you want to kind of elaborateon that a bit?
I. Don't want to give anybody.
Away, But we are definitely expanding.
I know that we've done a lot of interviews with solely Prism
wise, which has been great and it's been a great experience,
but it's nice to get other perspectives from people that
are affected by the prison system.
(01:04):
So we have a lot of really, I don't want to say intense, how
would you say it? Very on the edge.
Definitely intriguing and yeah, I feel like we're trying to
answer questions that we've always wondered.
I agree. So things about people or their
families that are affected by incarceration and their
(01:26):
perspectives from different types of people involved at
different levels, so. I will say.
Just a snippet of one, but I won't say who or what that we
will have a female come on whosehusband was put to death.
And I think that that will really open a unique
(01:47):
conversation because a lot of women whose partners are on
death row face significant stigmatization, even more so
than just us prison girlfriends and prison wives.
So I'm looking forward to that interview.
For sure. Yeah, for sure.
We're also going to have someonewho we're really going to get in
(02:08):
depth about rehabilitation and what it is and how does society
forgive someone who does something, you know, for lack of
better word, heinous and what itmeans because we ourselves are
curious about that and what is asecond chance and how do how
does someone deserve a second chance?
So I think it's going. To be great, we are going to
(02:28):
continue. With Weekly.
Just want to say that also you guys, we're going to be doing
more gift giveaways, not like all the time now like how to
break, but this one that we did.Was so.
Fun. The best food was.
So cool. The notebook I low key I feel
(02:51):
like I shed a tear and the winner is just like so amazing.
So I think that is something also to look forward to seeing.
Yes, cool. And then we're probably going to
elaborate on different things. We're going to try out different
things. We'll probably ask for your
feedback on some stuff, just like sharing art and different
(03:13):
people's businesses and just trying to kind of grow that
community and promote positivitywithin the prison system and how
we can do our part in whatever way we can.
Before we get to Part 2 of Andrea, I'm so excited.
This part, I think is the part where we learn more about Cage
and his crime and. Excited.
(03:35):
Andrea's significant other is Cage, and I was dying to know
more about it because I feel like the show did not elaborate.
And it killed me not knowing because I was like, why is this
man incarcerated for 50 years? And I don't know exactly why.
So for those of you that want toknow why, we're about to find
out where we get into that. Please continue to follow us on
(03:57):
social media. Like.
The show, it is so important to expand into algorithms and
yadda, yadda, yadda, you guys know the drill.
Please just like follow the show, share it with your friends
and family, share it with your loved ones.
And the last thing I want to mention before we go is there
(04:17):
are two people that were recently released from Nick's
prison that are two very, very, very good friends of his.
And it has been crazy. They both did more than a decade
in prison for various crimes andthey are now re entering into
society and we are just so happyfor them.
(04:41):
They have done the work to rehabilitate and watching them
navigate this new world has beenreally fun and the fact that
they are including Nick along the way has been a true
blessing. It really shows the brotherhood
that exists between these guys and it's been really cool
watching it and listening. And I just want to give a shout
out to them because they are basically family to us and who
(05:04):
knows, maybe one of them will get on to interview.
Hopefully it could be cool. Too cool.
Yeah, We're sending all the goodvibes for sure.
Definitely. Anything else you want to add
before we go? I don't think so, I'm just
looking. Forward to the second part.
So can we play it please? Right.
And with that, we're off. Enjoy Part 2 of Andrea.
Thanks guys. Certain things that they didn't
(05:33):
add, I spoke and and I get a lotof backlash for saying, hey,
like you didn't think about the juvenile laws and I'm getting
attacked on all this group. Well, I used to when the show
came out and I was promoting it,but I was genuinely excited to
promote it. I have not seen the cast and I
was just sharing articles on this prison wide groups on
Facebook. Fix this one.
(05:54):
And they were like, oh, no, we don't want you in our group.
Like you said, you're going to be promoting this and that.
And I'm like, OK, like before, when the show came out and I was
just sharing the articles, they were already not so happy with
me. OK, I get it.
And then when the show came out,they were saying you didn't
speak about this. You didn't speak about that.
You're going to get your men in trouble because you're trying to
(06:16):
be famous. And I'm like, I'm doing this for
my man. He's not a dummy.
He's not going to speak on things that could potentially
put him in prison. We are aware that he's in
prison. We are aware he still has to
live in prison. So trust me, like I would have
loved to sell those places. Ladies.
Like, lady, calm down. He's the one doing time.
It's not you. So like, don't tell me.
(06:37):
I'm putting my mind like I wouldn't do nothing without his
approval. Like, I'm not crazy.
Like, hey, let's just go, you know, on a show.
And just no, it was not like that.
Obviously Cage is not going to speak about I'm going to speak
about it. I try to speak about what's
happening in prison. I try to speak about racism and
how unfairly Hispanics and blackpeople get treated in comparison
(06:59):
to white people that are doing the same crimes, getting like
half of the sentences that the others get.
But they didn't care to put any of that on TV, right?
So that is totally not my fault.I did my part and I was so proud
of myself for picking my first time being filmed and I actually
felt comfortable and I was beingmyself.
I wasn't trying to be someone that I'm not and it was not on
(07:23):
TV. So, you know, now they wanted to
make it seem like a big drama with my parents.
My parents, obviously they're myparents.
They're always going to be worried about me.
They worry about my future. They hate the thought of me
going in the future, moving to America and being by myself.
And they worry about starting the family.
They are saying, hey, like you're approaching your 30s.
(07:45):
So these are conversations that either if I was not with Cage,
for example, they would still beworried about me.
Now this is a different situation because they love Cage
and they want to help. My parents have been looking for
lawyers. They have been looking and bless
them. Yeah, they don't know the laws
like they always trying to help.They want to go see him.
(08:05):
Soon. Oh, they haven't gone.
They want to go and see him thisyear, possibly, maybe the next.
And it'll be the first time. Yeah, it will be the first time
they saw each other by. Video.
And all that, but like they're very supportive, as supportive
as they can be. And they know that he may makes
me happy. Now, there were times where,
yeah, we've had arguments, but it was never to the point where,
(08:28):
hey, like, what are you doing? Like they know I'm happy.
My parents just want him to be home and they just worry about
me, which is a normal thing to do.
But they were never against us. They were never against this
relationship. Mind you, they even accepted to
be on the show which not a lot of other.
Parents. Did or would do you know,
(08:51):
because they love me and they did this again, like I have
mentioned, hoping that this could help.
And obviously you have to understand it's overwhelming.
English is not their first language.
It's they get all these questions about, oh, what if
case is never coming home and all these things that are, you
know, they're making them feel in some type of way.
(09:13):
And yeah, it's it's just even ifthey say it's Doctor series, it
didn't feel like it when it all came out.
You got to see the edits before,or did you watch the show for
the first time and that's when you saw what was going to be on
it? OK, so the first episode ever
that had us in, which was episode 2, they did call me and
(09:36):
they shared it OK, and it was all right.
It was fine. I was excited about it.
But after that, I didn't see anything anymore.
And it's been kind of upsetting because it was the only one that
got to have an in person interview.
They to interview him in prison and everybody was telling me
what an amazing interview he did.
(09:58):
And they didn't put much of thaton TV.
So yeah, that was kind of disappointing because he was
talking about cages. Extremely intelligent.
Like extremely. He's so smart.
And it's sad because I would have loved to see that too.
I never got to see that either. Always do what you feel.
If I were to give an advice, if you feel like you should do it,
(10:19):
do it. But remember to be be prepared.
Right. Yeah.
And was it hard for you to get permission to get him filmed?
Oh. No, I don't really remember.
I think it was kind of hard. I don't know about other states.
Texas cannot deny media. OK, so they're forced like they
(10:40):
were rushing it. They gave them an hour, but it
mind you, in this hour they had to do the interview.
Plus the crew has to set up all the cameras and all that, right?
So, you know, they give you, butthey're like, OK, whatever.
This is the time we give you, like that's it, you're done.
They're helping. They're trying to be
accommodating, but not really. But we were super grateful that
they did give us because, you know, they can always say no.
(11:02):
If we're being honest right now,by law, they can't.
But there's always things that can happen.
Yeah. So we're very grateful that they
gave us the opportunity for that.
From what I understood, the other girls, the other
facilities from other states didn't give the permission for
them to fill. OK.
Yeah. OK, the moment I've been waiting
(11:24):
for, for a very long time. Yeah.
Tell me about his case. I'm dying to know about Cage's
case. OK, so he was 16 at the time,
and Cage grew up with his parents, divorced.
He has wonderful parents. I met them both.
I'm in touch with them. I speak to his mom daily, to his
dad every other day. And he's wise.
(11:47):
I got to meet them in person. They're wonderful people.
But he was the youngest and he didn't grow up with both of them
in the same household. And, you know, things were rocky
between the parents. And so he ended up living with
his mom. But you know, boys are boys and
they got moved into an area where it wasn't great.
(12:08):
His mom was a single mother withthree boys at the time.
And, you know, her whole life changed.
She lost her mom that was her anchor and was the one helping
her out with the kids. So her whole life turned upside
down and so she moved into an area where it wasn't like a
great area for the kids. The kids got we're into a school
(12:29):
where it wasn't the best, like, influence for them.
And yeah, Cage ended up getting in some school fights and he was
expelled from his school. And that's when everything
started. Like, he loved board, OK, And he
really wanted to pursue that that field, but he never got the
(12:49):
possibility to do so because he was expelled.
So, yeah, the things how they work in America, I don't know.
For me, it's very like, from such a young age, like, at least
give him a chance. So he got in some trouble.
How old was he when he got expelled?
I think he was younger. I think he was like 15 maybe.
OK. And so then for this specific
(13:10):
problem that he has, this robbery, he has aggravated
robbery. His brother was actually going
out and he didn't want to let him go out by himself.
He didn't know like all the other people besides one of
them, OK, there were like 5 Co defend, 4 Co defendants and
three of them he didn't know. The other one was his brother
(13:31):
and the other one he knew. So they ended up, I don't know
specifically because we're also working on his case.
So I don't know what I can say and what I cannot say.
And so anyways, it ended up all of them were adults.
That's one thing I'm going to say nobody was got hurt.
Now I know people say, hey, he did a robbery, they did a
robbery. Maybe they didn't get physically
(13:53):
hurt, but they emotionally and Iagree with that.
Yes, I agree. What I do not agree with is the
fact that all the rest of them got half of the sentence that he
got. And he was the youngest.
So I agree with him going to prison.
OK, Yes, he has to learn and he has to pay for his mistakes and
(14:16):
all that. But at least I don't see it in
being fair. So this is what happened.
They were all adult, right? Yeah.
And they all blamed it on him thinking, oh, you know what?
We're just going to blame it on him.
He's the youngest. His brother is autistic.
So he's very easily influenced. Like he can be very easily
(14:37):
influenced. The other people said, OK, he
was the one because they thought, you know, he's not
going to get much time. It's like we're trying to get
away from this. Yeah, well, no, this is not what
happened. Cage got 50 years.
All of them are outside of prison beside one, but still in
prison and got some extra time. But they're all living their
lives. They were all adults.
(14:58):
They all got like 20 years sentences and they got out.
They made parole or whatever he has been in prison for this
year, is going to be thirteen years in October, and he's
eligible for parole in 2037 whenit's basically completing half
of his sentence. Yeah.
And that's where it's so unfair to me.
(15:20):
I believe he wasn't judged barely.
He wasn't sentenced fairly. And not to mention he had a bad
attorney. He had an attorney that had no
experience in trials at all, at all.
Obviously the attorney had to tell Cage, hey, like he had to
choose to be sentenced by the jurors or by the judge.
(15:40):
And the attorney recommended forhim to be a sentence by the
judge. He said, oh, just choose the
judge. Trust me, he has seen plenty of
criminals. He has seen people that have
done horrendous crime, right. He's not going to be so tough on
you. Yes.
He was. He was given 50 years with the
possibility of parole after completing half of his sentence.
(16:02):
And he wrote down on a paper, this is what you are.
And he showed it to him. You're a monster.
Wow. Right.
Yeah, Like how is that rehabilitating?
Is it his first offense? So he was in trouble for what I
told you, getting expelled. It was like the fight.
Yeah. And he went to Juvie's for that,
I believe something like that, something minor.
(16:24):
And I don't know. They just sentenced him as an
adult at the age of 16. So he went into adult prison?
Yeah. Well, he he was, No, he was
going to trial. So as soon as he turned 18, he
was transferred to prison. Yeah.
So we were talking about this last time I went to see him the
(16:44):
last day, it was an emotional rollercoaster.
It just hit me so hard because it always gets harder.
It never gets easier. That's one thing I'm going to
say. It always gets harder and
harder, that's for sure, At least for me.
I don't know about others, OK. But this last time that I went
to see him, because he only getsvisits on the weekends,
(17:05):
Saturdays and Sundays. And on the Sunday I went in
there, we were having a wonderful time.
And then I saw a table. I couldn't help but look, there
was this super young guy becausehe just came in and he sat down.
So he was next to us. And then his family came, like
his grandma was in a wheelchair and the dad and the other
(17:26):
siblings and he looked like a kid.
And I started getting really emotional and caged, like, baby,
like, what's wrong? And I'm like, he's a baby.
I said to him, he's a baby. And he's like, he's probably
gonna be out of prison in two years.
And I said, I don't know. But, well, Cage, I didn't tell
him right away. I ended up telling him
afterwards. All I could think.
(17:48):
It just hit me. It's like seeing him.
Yeah, that's exactly where my mind took me.
I'm like, first I see this superyoung kid in prison with this.
There's a lot of horrible peoplein prison.
Yeah. Prison is not a good place.
And he's just like, I don't know, even with Cage, I'm just
like, you did your time. You need to be out.
You don't belong in here. And it's just, it was so sad.
(18:10):
It hit me out of nowhere seeing that kid and I couldn't help
like I was so emotional. I feel like I'm getting
emotional, you talking about it like I can't imagine.
It's awful so. Yeah, I'm like, wow.
I said, baby, you don't get it. Because I ended up telling you
I'm like, baby, you don't get it.
Like when I see I had tears in my eyes, I said, I see you.
(18:31):
I'm thinking of you. You were a kid.
As long as, as tough as you might be or you have to be or
you have to force yourself to become a man, you were a child.
Yeah. And another thing, I'm getting
emotional because I never thought of freezing like that,
you know? And then I was thinking, because
every time I joke with him and I'm like, baby, can you please
(18:53):
stick me with you? Or I tell them, no, the guards,
I'm like, can I please go back? Yeah.
And I was just thinking, like, Iwonder because he comes through
this door and I can see, but yousee, like some white walls.
And I'm like, I imagine how it would be to walk down with cage.
Yeah. And all I could feel for like a
second. I feel like.
I think I would be terrified. Yeah, I think I would be.
(19:15):
Fair. I think like it's such an eerie
feeling. I couldn't help but think how
they feel, how he must feel whenI leave him and I go, I get to
walk outside of prison. I get to walk for a little
while. I have to chill.
And then I can just go about my day because I'm on holiday,
right? And have a nice dinner, a nice
(19:35):
steak at Texas Roadhouse or whatever.
But he has to go back in there, which he's super strong and he
calls me right away. He calls me right back.
We drive. We were reminiscing about the
visit and but it's just like whoI'm going.
It's like it's so. Sad.
It is so sad. I cry every time.
And I. Don't want and I don't cry.
(19:57):
I don't cry when I leave becausehe's so happy and he just
embraces the moments that we have together after.
You leave the. Freezer.
It's always after I leave, when I'm driving back to the airport.
I'm crying every time and I feelso bad.
Yeah. And I remember the first time I
saw him, it hit me in the airplane.
So I'm like in the airplane. And I brought my friend with me
so she was next to me. And I'm just crying and I can't
(20:20):
stop. So I'm like trying and I've just
got tears just flowing down my face because I'm like, I'm
leaving this person and he's back there.
It's killer, but it means so much to him at the same time.
And I'm like, I feel so bad because I'm like crying to him
about how I can't help him and how I don't think it's fair that
he's there. It's hard.
(20:41):
It's I find it really difficult.I know I, it reminds me of so I
don't cry. I don't cry every time.
And another thing that happens to me every time I go there or
most of the time, the weather isso gloomy, right?
It's like there's clouds. As soon as I leave the visit,
the sun comes out and I just look up in the sun and I say
thank you, God for allowing me to come and see him and for
(21:04):
being able to spend time with him.
And I remember when we got married and I visited him that
weekend. And I don't know, that was one
of the hardest time ever since we've been together because that
trip was so magical. It was so beautiful.
Yeah. And it just felt like I want to
get him, like I want him to comehome with me.
(21:24):
And that day it hit me really hard as well.
But I was at visit already. I started to get like, irritated
and kind of like I wanted to argue with him about something,
but I have no reason to argue. I'm like.
And I ended up crying and I had,oh, my makeup ruin.
Mind you, I have to leave for the airport as soon as I was
done with visit and I had full glam makeup, eyeliner,
(21:47):
everything on. And Oh my God, I started bowling
my eyes out. I couldn't help it.
I always do it. If I do it, I do it after I
leave because I don't like people staring at me or
whatever. Do you know horror movies When
you see those ladies with the tear down with their mascara
coming down? There was a kid that was the CEO
that day. He was scared to come and tell
(22:08):
me that the time was. God.
He didn't even want to and I left and it's like, damn the
walk of shame. Like, I don't want these people
looking at I hate to cry in front of someone or somebody.
And you're alone after, you know.
Yeah, I'm like, oh, there's nobody tag, please.
Yeah, I don't. I don't even like to cry in
(22:29):
front of people. I don't mind crying in front of
case but other people like I'm not like I'm always like this
bad bitch you. Know this?
And that like the appearance. I'm a lady.
I don't do that in public. But now it's just like I
couldn't help it, yeah. So juvenile justice in Texas.
(22:50):
So what's it like right now? How is it moving?
What are people doing? It sounds insane to me.
The 16 year old got a 50 years for that.
Yep, and it's more common than you think.
So there is this verb of this wonderful lady called Diana
Sturgeon, and she's in charge ofthe Epicenter family.
(23:11):
They have been trying for years to pass this stall for
juveniles. OK, the second look.
Yeah, the second look, Bill, we have the same one.
And they're amazing. They go to the Capitol and you
know, it gets so close every year.
Last year it got super close. But hopefully this year good
things are going to happen and it's going to get passed.
(23:33):
I believe it's going to get passed eventually.
And I'm always like you said, times change.
Texas, for example, the laws aresuper old and I believe a lot of
them should be changed. And it's more common than people
think. There's a lot of juvenile
inmate, it's crazy. And it's crazy because they get
sentenced very excessive, very excessive.
(23:56):
And it's really sad. It's really sad because also
then there comes the parole board that is known in Texas or
not being super nice to them. And I don't know, it's crazy
because there's people that commit horrendous crimes and
they make parole and I fully, truly believe that they give.
(24:16):
I know personally people that have their husbands and have
been in prison for like 20-30 years and they have been denied
parole four times. Mind you, they had no cases in
this during this time. They did not get in trouble.
They completed all the courses. Like it's more common.
You know, you do everything they're telling you to do and a
(24:37):
lot of the sometimes they say, oh, the reason why we're denying
parole is nature of the crime. You cannot change the nature of
the crime. That's something you can never
change. That's why they went to prison.
But I'm talking about, you know,they have the possibility of
parole and they have tried. Sometimes they get set up for a
few years and it's crazy becauseother people that sadly have
(25:01):
done things against children or women or other stuff, they do
make parole and those people do end up back in prison.
Sometimes I only think like thisis all a business also because
they make money off of them. And not only that, it's like
nearly as saying, hey, they knowthat these people are going to
(25:23):
come back to prison like the ones that do horrible things
that they give them parole, right?
And they know they don't have toworry because they'll reoffend
and come back to prison. But those like are in, for
example, your men, yes, yeah, right.
Like cages situation or other people that I know, they said,
Oh no, they have changed. They're not going to come back.
(25:45):
So we're going to keep them a little longer.
Exactly the recidivism rate of young offenders and juveniles
that are given long sentences and they managed to make it out.
The recidivism rate is next to nil because you scared them
straight is what happened. Yeah.
They're so terrified to ever step foot.
(26:05):
Like if Nick touches grass again, he will never do anything
we laugh about. I tell him, like when I'm
driving and I see someone driving really slow, I'm like,
that's going to be you. He's like, yeah, man, cruise
control at 5 miles under. Like he's like, I'm not getting
pulled over for nothing, you know, and it's sad.
And The thing is, we're talking about, and what you've said is,
(26:26):
and when I've teach people and people learn about Nick's case
and they're like, Oh my gosh, that can't be possible.
There must be more to the story or they can't really do that.
Like how do they do that? I'm like, no, actually.
And I tell Nick to you're not the exception.
You're the norm. This is normal.
This is everywhere. It's not a special case.
It's a case that everybody is getting.
(26:48):
You know, there's thousands of kids or young offenders that are
getting these excessively long sentences across the country and
nobody knows because we just assume as law abiding citizens
that whoever goes to prison deserves to go to prison.
And we don't think about it, Yeah, until we're exposed to
this. And then it's like, wait a
minute, something doesn't make sense here, but nobody knows.
(27:10):
It's crazy. I know.
And to me, you see, it's very crazy how the justice systems
work in the US, right. Or like Canada, even Canada with
the United States are very different.
Canada, from my understanding, has conjugal visits, where the
US only has four states that have conjugal visits.
Yeah, not only that, but what I'm trying to say is each state
(27:32):
has its own rules. Laws.
Yeah, and its own laws. And it's like, wow, yeah.
For us Europeans, he wouldn't have step a foot inside prison
for adults. Never, ever.
Ever. Yeah, never.
And I watch all this true crime and I see all and can't help it
but get mad. I'm like, wow, like this guy
(27:54):
that was on the the show, I am akiller.
He killed both his grandparents,both of them, and he got 30
years. Are you kidding me?
Yeah. And I'm not saying that.
I just believe that it's very unjust.
Like maybe somehow if the crime was different have been
justified for me. Like, I don't know, it's just,
(28:16):
it's crazy. It's just you have taken his
whole life away and how is he gonna?
I don't know prove himself even insane.
You know he has no opportunity and like you said, Nick talks
about it often. If he was in a different state,
he would have been sentenced differently.
Like he automatically got life without parole.
(28:36):
There was no talk about it. It's just that's the law.
This is where you were decided that you fell in under.
And because of that, you are getting a life without parole
sentence. But let's say he was in
Washington or California. He would be out.
He wouldn't even be there. Yeah.
You know. And it's just so happens that
the state that they're in, they have to follow those laws.
So like you said, it's just it'sso variable everywhere.
(28:58):
And you're either lucky to be ina state that's a little bit more
progressive or you're not. You're still in the archaic
laws. Yeah.
States that you know are so far behind.
For example, came across this page on TikTok where it's
showing inmates from Arizona andthe charges that they have for,
you know, smoking or selling thegreen stuff.
(29:20):
And it's just like crazy becausethere's other states that got
legal. Yeah, exactly.
And it's just, it's insane. Yeah, it's just insane.
And the other thing that I thinkis really important to know when
it comes to juvenile justice is like, I'm sorry, but if you came
from a house that was white picka fence and parents were married
and everything was good, they wouldn't be ending up in this
(29:41):
situation. Like these kids were brought up
in circumstances that made them where they are and nobody helped
them. And then instead of you
realizing that they're on this wrong path and their brains are
still developing so they have the ability to grow and be
different. If they're just helped and shown
that there's another side, there's another way.
These are just hurt children. That's all they are.
(30:03):
It's children that are hurt and want to feel connected and end
up with the wrong crew because they want to feel loved in some
way or another, or they don't understand what they're doing
and the impact of what they're doing.
And then they're thrown into prison.
And just like, just basically, it's like they grow up their
whole lives and they end up downthese paths thinking that nobody
loves them. And then this thing happens
(30:23):
because they think no one loves them.
And then we just prove that no one loves them because then we
send them to jail for 50 years. You know, it's just wild to me.
Yeah, that's not real, but OK. Yeah, like I said, like both me
and Paige, you know, agree. There's people that deserve to
go to prison. Absolutely.
Like absolutely, but there's also cases in which, for
(30:44):
example, he's OK, how is he benefiting the society by being
locked up? Like giving him this long
sentence, Like, OK, you know, I would understand if it was only
him. But when it comes like he has Co
defendants and it's just like there's things that don't make
sense to me. And maybe I'm not maybe for
sure. I'm not well educated in that
(31:05):
area, but it's still making zerosense to me.
Yeah, agreed. I'm still learning a lot about
it too. I feel like there's so many
things that we can learn from these.
Situations. Yes, I'm still learning.
I'm not even going to say that Ieven know like 10% of what it's
all together. Like I'm learning something each
day and I am amazed more and more, not in a good way.
(31:27):
You know, unfortunately it's. Just it's sad.
It's sad and I'm not. You see people, they have the
misconception of thinking about us like, oh, like they they want
city this, they want that like because they're dating something
like no, at the same time, yes, I go through, we go through our
moments. We have days and days where, you
know, like we said earlier, likewe end up breaking down on the
(31:50):
way out and we just cry ourselves out.
But I wasn't aware that I'm going to fall in love, right?
Fell in love. Exactly.
We both got into this relationship and we both agreed
to make this work, but I'm not expecting pity from people or
that I know what I got myself into, but I'm normal to be
expecting people to fill in sometype of way or being judgmental.
(32:13):
It's totally normal. Now, there's ways how you can do
that. You cannot say it at all, or you
can say it in a nice way or you can keep it to yourself.
But you know, I don't like how alot of people are trying to say
that. We're trying to victimize
ourselves and just like we are blind because we are in love
with them and they're all super bad people.
(32:34):
Like no. No, it's not like that.
There's people that are free outthere in the world, in the free
world, and they're worse, yeah, than a lot of inmates, yeah.
You know, and it's just that awareness.
I think that that's what and that's the goal of this.
But like giving that awareness that, yes, you're right, we
don't expect you to pity us, butwe want you to see the reality
of what's going on. Yeah, you know.
(32:54):
Because it could happen to. Anyone like want anyone?
It could happen. There's still somebody's kids.
There's, you know, that's one thing about Wendy, which is our
wedding officiant and she has become one of my her and her
twin. They're two twins from Texas and
they're two of my favorite ladies ever.
And, you know, they get judged alot also for performing
(33:17):
ceremonies for people in prison and for loving an addict, for
example. They're dealing with that.
It's their families and something they always say
they're somebody's child, you know, and it's true.
People don't realize people say,oh, they put themselves in that,
like don't do the crime and you won't do the time or something
like that. It's like it can happen to
anyone. I worry because in the future, I
(33:40):
want to be a mother. I want to start a family.
And we'll have to live in Texas because obviously, you know,
when Cage has home, he'll still have to grow and we'll be forced
to live in Texas. And it's scary.
It's scary to think that, you know, one day I'll have a son
where God forbid, we'll get in trouble and we'll end up in
(34:00):
prison for, you know, And I'm not saying because a lot of the
time, yes, they come from familywith problems, but there's also
kids that, you know, have good parents or like, it's all, you
know, the wrong time and the wrong place.
And it's just like, it's scary. It's a scary thought.
You kind of answered my question, but before we go I
wanted to ask you what is the future?
(34:22):
What are you guys working on right now?
What are your hopes? Yes.
Like I said, we're both studyingcages, also has started his HVAC
studies for air conditioning andall that.
Yeah, we have some business plans, business ideas that we
would like to put in practice. When I move over there.
I want eventually to move over there to be able to be closer to
(34:42):
him and visit him more often because we are spending a lot of
money. Yeah, on flight and just being
able to see him each weekend, like I'm the happiest when I'm
with him, to be honest. And it's priceless.
And yeah, he's still working on his book, but he's been very
busy and we have some exciting things coming up.
(35:03):
Like I said, we're working on his case and, you know, working
on bringing him home sooner. That's that's the plan.
Yeah, well, thank you so much. I hope, I pray for him.
I hope that something positive comes out of it.
Like I tell Nick, it just takes 1 judge or it takes 1 senator,
you know, to push. So we just have to wait.
(35:23):
And all the negatives that come in between, we just take them
and we absorb them and they're alearning lesson and you move on
until something good happens. Exactly.
That's the only way. I feel the same and I believe
in. Miracles.
Me too, like I do believe me too.
I believe in them so things can change.
Exactly like you said, it only takes one person.
(35:45):
Exactly. Well, thank you so much again.
And thank you for sharing his case.
I'm so glad that I got the opportunity to learn more about
it and talk to you about it and share what's what actually
happened and and about his case and the injustice is in it.
So thank you so much. And your relationship as an
international wife. Thank you.
Yeah. All right.
Thank you. Take care, bye.
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