July 23, 2025 • 56 mins
In 2006 in Cleveland, Ohio, 16-year-old Victor Mercado allegedly shot and killed a man named Anderson. Mercado was identified as a suspect based on eyewitness descriptions. Mercado was convicted and was facing life in prison but was sentenced to 18 years.
https://linktr.ee/Unforbiddentruth
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unforbidden-truth--4724561/support.
https://linktr.ee/Unforbiddentruth
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unforbidden-truth--4724561/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Hey, how you doing. I'm good. How about yourself?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
I'm good? How you doing? Damn?
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Oh? Pretty good? Pretty good.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
My name is my real name is Victor Mercado and
I was sixteen years old when I got convicted of
an aggravated un aliven of facts, but I ended up
getting eighteen years in prison.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Are you able to talk about like the case. I
don't want you to like go into graphic detail or anything,
but basically how you got caught up, like what led
up to it and everything like that.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Coca Cola when I was twelve and a half years old,
and you know the person that taught me the mote,
everything about the streets, you.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Know who put me in the game in a in
a rug game. I ended up.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Getting robbed by him, and after he got out of prison,
and it led up to and me retaliated three days
later and I pew cuwed him five times.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Okay, are you able to see how much you got robbed? For?
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Fifteen hundred Let me hold on. I think my wife
is about to work on the hold up.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
So was that the first time ever being robbed? Or
was that like a was that like more than one time?
Like you were just tired of it and finally like
just decided to to do something about it.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
No, that wasn't my first time being robbed in my
life now, But when you in the streets, you know,
it's like it's like the principal at that at what
you talk. You know, somebody does something wrong to you,
got to retaliate. Also, when you're young like that, you
know you be having it all being your pride, you know,
(02:02):
so you.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Know your feelings be heard, you be you're reacting anger,
you know.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Right, right, So you said it wasn't the first time.
When when was the first time that you had got robbed?
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Probably I would say like a year before that, I
got robbed by some some addicts And how did you
handle head? I basically never seen them people ever again.
So you know, it was not like it was a
(02:42):
it was a it was a no.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Two. It was a little frightening, you know, to be robbed.
I was about fifteen.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Years old at the time, robbed that pew pew point,
you know, And and it had went off when the
dude tried like we went and got into like a
little toughs over it, and it went off, and then
they took off running and cops showed up and all that.
So that was a little bit traumatized, almost having results
(03:12):
in being unalive like that.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Okay, So so you feel like you feel like, given
the circumstances, if it would have been the right I
don't know, I don't know if the word would be outcome,
but you might have gone to prison earlier than you
did given the circumstances.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
I wouldn't have got out of prison earlier. I was
initially facing lifelout of the role o you said, would
I have went to sorry?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Sorry? Sorry?
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Yeah? I mean I meant, do you think you would
have went to prison earlier? Had that, had the cops
not shown up and everything, and had you not got
into a tussle, and you would have been able to
get your pep, you know, and you wouldn't you wouldn't
have had able to you know, like struggle with it,
you know.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Not really like you know, it was just like I
wasn't in the wrong in the first place. I was
just out there, you know, walking to the store, and
somebody try to rob me.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
You know.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
It was it was some adults trying to rob a juvenile.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
But you know, but I knew it was gonna come
one day like you never think prince is really real
when you're that young, like you're just out there.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
You know, you don't think.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
You think if you get caught, there's no consequences, like
as a slap on the wrist and all that.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Right, right, Uh, So what was your upbringing? Like, like,
were you affiliated at all?
Speaker 3 (04:40):
I wasn't affiliated. But in Cleveland, we hood bang, you know,
we don't. We don't g A and g bang. But
I had a good came from a good home. Mom
and dad. They work jobs. To my mom worked two jobs.
And you know, when you're that young, you just want
what you want when you want, and you know, from
(05:03):
school to things like that, like being in school, kids
making jokes.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
And you know that just that's basically my upbringing. It was.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
It was good, you know, I'm but it's just like
I got it involved in that street life, you know, persuaded,
manipulated by the older guys in my neighborhood, you know,
by good my environment basically.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
So would you say it was more like you were
like a good kid wanting to do bad things, trying
to fit in or something like that. It was something different.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Yeah, it was basically trying to fit in and was
it was?
Speaker 1 (05:36):
It was it all older people. Was it like adults
that you were trying to fit in with or were
they all like run your same age group.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
No, I was the youngest person that was from my
area in that type of life, like everybody was. I
was sixteen. Everybody had to be at least eighteen and over.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Okay, okay, So so they were basically so were they
like testing you, trying to get you to do dirt
for them type of thing?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yeah, that's how it started.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
You know. I would be a lookout, you know, watching
out in the neighborhood for for cops for them while
they took care of their business.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
And then you know, I just wasn't even conscious.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
I would see them conduct business and I be there
goes a lick, which means a customer, and I bet
there goes a lick, and they're like, you know, all
the licks and you don't even be hearing them. I
just see that every day while I was at the
basketball court playing basketball, and you know, they're like, you know,
(06:33):
go get that little lounge you got else being fuinn
at Like I was like, no, I'm cool, and they
were like, we'll let you get the first.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Get the first serve and I ended up doing that
and the one thing that's another I got in the game.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
How so you said you were sixteen when you caught
your case the end a Liven.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Yeah, I was sixteen years years old. I was eighteen.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
I did two years in the county, so I turned
eighteen in the county. So I did from sixteen to
eighteen in the county, and then I went to I
end up pleading guilty to my case and then went
to prison.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
So what was it like being like fresh, you know,
like eighteen years old going to an adult prison with
like other unalivers and other you know, like people that
essayed people and did things to children. Like what was
that like for you? Being so young?
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Man?
Speaker 3 (07:29):
When you're young, it's like you you still had a
lot to learn in the world, and then it becomes
a whole new world that you got to learn quick
and adapt to because if you don't, your life could
be in jeopardy. And it's it's a scary situation no
matter what anyone likes to admit. You know, you see underlivings,
you see grapings, you see your salt saft type of
(07:51):
things going on in prison and from the guards to
the inmates. You know, no one is safe or above
you know, and took out basically.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
So do you remember what your first day was like?
As soon as you got the prison.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
My first day was like.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
It It's like I'll never forget it. You know, you
come in, you get off that bus and you're with
that bus load that got sent to prison and you're
getting you just you just feel like, you know, you
don't belong and no matter what you did, you just
feel like you don't belong. And you know, they take
(08:38):
your you know, they take the clothes you come in
there with and they strip you out and you know,
the guards basically humiliate you. You know, you're in a room,
a small room in the prison. I was in small
room like ten twelve guys. They strip you, guys out,
you got a squad and cough, you know, open your
mouth and they make sure you ain't got no contraband
(08:59):
like that, and they basically give you your stuff like
they're like and then they throw you in the sale.
You go to their firmary real quick and lead us
to know. It's like they throw you in the cell,
like the type of time I had. They throw you
in the cell for that first week by yourself, and
(09:21):
you're just in there with nothing but your thoughts.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
You're wondering, like, man, this is about to be.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
My life for eighteen years, but which feels like for
the rest of your life and lead us to say,
is like you know, I'm talking about intake. You have nothing,
no TV, no radio, no no clothes, no different codes
besides them three sets of state blues that they give you,
(09:46):
the three pairs of underwear, boxes and draws, and you're
just in there and all this stuff is but pants
and stuff like that are used. Shirts are used. And
I remember it's my first day. It was a blizzard
and I looked out that window. It was probably about
like eight o'clock, but it was dark already, and I
(10:08):
was like, I couldn't even see the Bible wire on
the fence, and I like, my life's over, Like it's over,
Like I couldn't even see the daylight.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
So, so, after that first week when you were able
to be out of your cell, you know, and mingling
with other inmates and stuff like that, right, did anybody
try to like test you or check you? And if so, like,
how did you handle that? Being that eighteen year old
kit basically.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
I learned real quick man.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Me and my me and one of my neighbors almost
got into it with somebody talking about because we got
into a what's it called a debate about religion, And
you learn that you can get into it or get
took out about anything in prison, from something from religion
(10:57):
to just talking about a game of basketball.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Who's better?
Speaker 3 (11:01):
You know people, I feel like they everyone thinks they're right, and.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
No one likes to lose or be wrong in prison.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
So you know, that's the only time that I right
way had an issue that was about to go somewhere,
and I learned real quickly. But I risked My real
issues came when I got to prison, because in Ohio
you get sent to intake prison like Lorraine Correction is
your intake and you sit there for a couple of
months and then they ship you off to your parent institution.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
So what what was the first prison like you were
actually at for a minute. Was it like maximum or medium?
I imagine it wasn't minimum at first.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
It was a maximum security prison Mansfield Correction.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
So what was what was the vibe like there you
were there for good for a minute, like, was it
was it scary? Do you feel like you were to
what was the overall feeling that you were feel kids
or whenever you were there permanently.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Man, when I first got there, you know, it was
Mansfield always had a black cloud over it, and it.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
It felt like hell.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
Like you seem like a thousand crows just sitting on
a bob wire fence and it was wintertime.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
It was snow on the ground, and it was like
this shit don't even feel real.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
And that's when you really like, just going there felt
completely different than the intake intake prison and that ship.
You just to drive through that fence on that prison bus,
you just like, man, that's just like give you a
weird feeling in your stomach. And but that's when you
(12:37):
start seeing guys issues.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
On day one, did you get did you get wrapped
up on any politics? Like were you like segregated with
other races in the yard or was it was it
not like that? Like I know here in Washington, it's
really not like that from what I hear.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Yeah, when I first got to prison, I stuck with
the guys that I came in off the bus with.
You know, we were the new releases, and I wasn't
segregated then you know, it was prison was segregated. But
at that time, you know, when I was on the streets,
I kicked it with all African Americans, if you want
(13:12):
to say it. But when I got to prison, you know,
I kicked it with with a couple of them.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Guys got off the bus, you know.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
And you know, I didn't start hanging out with my
own people's probably till like eight months like Hispanics, still
like eight months later. I really was a loaner for real,
you know, I really, I really didn't trust people.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
You know.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
My first second month in prison, I got jumped. You know,
well I got jumped by like my first week. I
think because they know when you get there. But I
really got jumped bad my second time by the person's
brother that I are alive, had put a thousand dollars
price tag on my head.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
And how are you dealing with that?
Speaker 3 (14:00):
You know. I fought a couple of times and thought
a couple of times, and then like you know, I
got hurt real bad. And then the next day they heard,
the Hispanics heard about me fighting off five dudes, and
then they came in a unit.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
They were like, what's good, what's good?
Speaker 3 (14:17):
I was like that was black had a split on
my eyebrow, and I was like, man, if that's all
I got for the crime I committed, I said never again.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
From that day forward, I'll never be be your victim
ever again, you know.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
So I did what I had to do in prison
to earn my respect and make sure people, you know,
knew better or even fear me.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Right, So what would you say? What would you say
was the scariest thing at first, obviously other than getting
jumped in prison, Like, was there anything that you were
genuinely afraid of throughout your prison sentence starting at eighteen, you.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Know, when you know, when you're young, and people telling
the stories I was scared to get great. They're like, man,
somebody's gonna come to your room and pull out a
shank and tell you do this. I'm gonna do this,
I'm gonna I'm gonna say swing on them. And you
just think, like, man, does this stuff really happen or
is it really like that you hear everyone talking about it,
(15:12):
like back then that stuff.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Was really going on.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
So that was my biggest fear of that would happen,
and it never happened, you know. And then in the
prison I was at, it happened mostly to Caucasians.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Why do you think that is.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Even on the videos I.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Post on TikTok, Like like when I first got locked up,
all the old school black dudes would prey on the
younger white dudes that came to Jay because there wasn't
too many white dudes back then coming to prison.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
You know, they threw a few in there.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
It's not like West Coast politics, but you know, and
this was way before it was accepted like out here,
you know, like nowadays people just basically give it up
in prison, and like then, them guys, they's like a thrill.
They got a thrill of the better the fight. They like,
(16:06):
like the like the resistance and all that was predatory behavior.
And it was sad that people, you know, got got
hurt real bad if they did that to somebody out
here in the streets. But they were doing this stuff
in prison to one another, you know.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Right, So so so are you saying there was no
like a b where you at we're at, since the
young white guys were just basically getting like found on
and punked out every day.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
There was some abs there. Back then.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
There was a lot a lot of a b's in there,
but they're not like the they were there shown. But
the AB's also like if if I think they looked
at it, like if you didn't look the part, if
you didn't look the part, or also if you didn't
join them, they left you to the wolves. They either
they either picked on their own own come or or
(17:00):
left you to the woods. You know, that's what it was.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Yeah, that makes sense. I guess the survival of the
fittest right.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
For sure, everyone I knew almost was affiliated in prison.
So that's why these guys try to get you before
you become affiliated. Like if you were affiliated nine times
of ten that it happened to you, So they try
to get you that that first week, you know what
I mean, first week or two.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Right, Yeah, from what I hear, Ohio is pretty bad
even still today. Like I've talked to a few guys
that were at Lucasville when the riots were happening, and
I talked to it and that troumble right now, and
he's like, man, even at Trumble, it's bad. I'm like,
I've never even heard of Trumble And he's like, he's like,
you heard of it now, because it's pretty bad here
and he's a you know, gag or reformed, I should say.
(17:45):
He claims he's reformed, and he has four unolivens under
his belt, and he's always telling me stories about what's
happening in that day or what's happened in the past.
He's been locked up for like twenty something years, caught
his first two unolivens at the age of fifteen. You know,
so it's I know, it's a scary place in Ohio
for sure. It doesn't really get talked about that much.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Yeah, these guys would even, they would love. They use
different techniques.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
You know, these guys would love if you had street beef.
You had street beef for somebody or you know, and
you get beat up or jumped or rob for your commissary,
they would come in there with the tactic of acting
like they got your back, like when you're good, you know,
listen to dude. You know, if you saw any type
of vulnerability, like yeah, I'm straight. You know, if you
(18:31):
acting like you're scared, they could smell it on you
and then they were like, you know, they like if
you need any help, and then they'll might try to
go to breakfast with you. Trying to act like they're
your friend. Once you're sitting there with somebody for like
a week, people are like, man, that must be his
punk or that must be his boy, you know, right,
(18:53):
and that's a label. Nobody's messing with you at trure
or if it's true or not. Now, everybody's not gonna
want to help you, like they thinking that action already happened,
you know, and the guys like I did what I
did the damage Now he's basically setting up the stage
for making them is proper.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
And so so if that happens, right, and say somebody
that gets paroled or moved to another prison, right like
that basically is like slim pickens for anybody else, right,
like whoever comes first and moves in on you like
you're you're their property.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Right, Yeah, And you know, sometimes it happened where they
fought over punks, you know, but they fought over boys
or whatever.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
That's what they call him, Like that's dude the boy
they fight fight over.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
But the reason was because you got to think a
lot of black dudes. But yeah, a lot of guys
come from broken homes that are African American.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
They don't have the family support and all that.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
So if a white dude comes in prison, they still
probably have their family member, you know, looking out for them.
So they look at it like if they commit this
indeed on this person and they make them theirs, everything
that comes with that person also belongs to the money,
the commissary, you know, the clothing that their family members send.
(20:12):
So it's basically like a hustle to them, Like that
was a way of survival.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
If these guys.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
Weren't going home or they're doing twenty years and they're like,
they don't care about what people think about them. It
was like and it was respected back then, like nobody's like, oh,
that dude's this way, you know. They was respected like
a high five, Like they hung out in groups. Manfield
had his own politics like something I've never even heard of.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
So, without going into any graphic details, what's the craziest
thing or craziest things you've ever seen since being incarcerated
for your eighteen years?
Speaker 3 (20:46):
The craziest thing I've seen, I always tell people, And
this happened what three years before I went home, somebody
that was doing time and a lot of guys get
tired of this, the guards just putting any old body
in there. Sales you know, some guys be having addiction problems,
and you don't want to just be sitting there while
that guy's just messing with that that paper stuff that
(21:09):
they be having in prison, and guys just don't want.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
To deal with that. And but I don't put that
dude to my cell.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
And this guy, William Taylor, was doing twenty years, and
they tried to put a short timer in the cell,
like six sixty days, and he's like, don't put that
dude to my cell, and the guards told him shut
up and put the dude in the sale. And the
dude that had sixty days was about six six foot three.
William Taylor was about five foot three. So he waits
(21:38):
for his bunkie, who's six foot three, to be sitting
down at this little desk and he wraps his arm
around him, puts him in the choco, and he puts
him to sleep, and while he's sleep, he plucks an eye.
Goug this dude's eyeballs out. He bangs on the cell
door and he says, hey, seo, coeo, and he holds
his dude's eyeballs up and he says, you want on
(22:00):
these He licks dude eyeballs and flushes them down the toilet.
That's the craziest thing I've ever seen.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Wow, that's crazy. I'm taking it. The dude didn't survive,
then he didn't make it out of that.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Yeah, he survived, he survived. You can look it up
and do that that currently. Just look up William Tatler
Mansfield Correction and you'll see that article prop up.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
So did he get life for that?
Speaker 3 (22:23):
Then he judge because you know he didn't unlive them.
So you know, if you get if you're unlive somebody,
you can get life. But it basically if you do that,
and that's basically an assault charge. So he I think
the judge ended up giving them like twenty five more years.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Oh wow, that's crazy. But that I guess that's an
appropriate sentence for I guess taking somebody's eyes.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
Yeah, you know, you know one thing about the law.
It ain't about the nature of his crime. If this person,
if this person pun to you and and and splits you,
and you and you survive, right, And if this person
(23:10):
hits you with a cup and he splits you, whatever,
it is real bad. And this say, the one with
the cup is a little bit more worse. It's still
a felony one. And what a felony one carries is
you know what that say, it's eleven years no matter what,
it don't go by the nature of the crime. It
just goes by the felony degree. You understand.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Okay, yeah, that makes sense. What do you know about
gladiator fights? Are those? Is that a myth in state
prisons or is that only a thing in the FEDS.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Where like when there's a lot of people fighting.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Well no, like for instance, like when when guards set
it up, right, like I've heard in the FEDS, like
they set fights up and then they bet them.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
And in the in the prisons I've been to, guards
never set up fights, but they did put as on people.
Guards did pay inmates to beat people up, whether it
was giving them some form.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Of So would that be like this this inmate disrespected me,
like go and take care of this or was it
just like this guy is a child whatever.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
You know, like sometimes they did it with the child
abuser or or or disrespect. A lot of times it
came from disrespect like that. This COO can be saved
by the book meanness. Hell, don't mess with inmates. But
sometimes when that person disrespect them, they wouldn't have been
the law, break the law to get their revenge.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
And how often do they get caught doing that?
Speaker 2 (24:41):
If ever, I've never seen anyone get in trouble for it.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
I've never seen anyone get in trouble for them, because
if you look at it, where's the proof?
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Where's the proof that I paid you to do this?
You know?
Speaker 3 (24:59):
Now they got body cans, but even though body cans
really don't work, But where's the proof that I, you know,
they make a snitch on me all the one like, yeah,
he paid me to do this, Tom, where's the proof?
It's always the CEO's word against the inmates, always.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Right, right, Yeah, definitely. The saying is you can't believe
a convict over a guard no matter what.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
So what did you do in prison to like keep busy,
keep out of trouble and basically like focus?
Speaker 3 (25:37):
I basically did a state focused and stay busy. I
started off playing cards. You know, everyone starts off playing cards.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
They play a.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
Game of spades and you start off, as you know,
I was pretty good at spades, man, because I played
it in in juvie with with the guards and the
guards to pick somebody that knows how to play spades
before I got bouted over and the sent of the county,
and you learn it like they only want to play
with the cool guys, and they give you some food
(26:05):
just for sitting there. And that's how juvenile was. And
the adults we play spades. You know, you sit there
for years on end, just playing cards. Like every day
you wake up an go to breakfast, come back, let's
play spades, y'all same four people. Sometimes somebody might say
they got low man. Low man means whoever got the
(26:25):
lowest points gets up or teams or whatever, and it's
just we play spades and it's like years just wasted,
like we just be Like what happened to these last
two years?
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Oh? I played cards every single day for two years?
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Was there ever anything that crazy happened over over your cards?
Like somebody cheating and somebody got split open or anything
like that?
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Man?
Speaker 3 (26:46):
Anything three games of anything happens over cards, cards, dominoes, anything,
guys get man, guys.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
You wouldn't believe the things people do over you know
what I mean?
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Like I've seen complete guys, best friends over a game
of cards, get mad and getting straight up fights, and
then the fights in prison you got to understand these
guys are in your best shape that you can be
being and so so the.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
Fights are can turn you know serious. I can't even
say the word.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
But they don't taken for you to get hit re
bad and stumble hit your head on this toilet. Uh.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Somebody just asked what would be your number one tip
for surviving in prison?
Speaker 3 (27:31):
My number one tip for surviving in prison is never
let your guard down. I don't care if you're in
a camp, cupcake, never let your guard down.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
You know, it's never a dull moment.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Everyone's locked up there and you're never on the estimate anybody.
So you always stay on your guard and on your
on your p's and q's.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Uh, what would you say, is like the number one
or are some of the most misconceptions.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Of prison misconceptions?
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Misconceptions Everyone looks at everyone has locked up like their animals,
you know, like, oh, you know.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
You see something on the news.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
You see this guy hit the old lady and you're like,
I'll look at this animal, and you know, so he
gein't set to prison. So they think everyone in prison
is like that. Animals would commit a crime like that,
and guys some guys are in there for a hustle
and never robbed or hurt nobody in there, or they
just hustled. Some guys are in there for child support.
(28:37):
Some guys are in there for you know, white collar crimes. Uh.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Somebody in the comments just asked, what's your biggest regret?
Speaker 2 (28:46):
My biggest regret was committed my offense.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
You know, when I was young and I was just
so I was just so brainwashed about the streets.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
You know, guys put that in my head, like you
got to be the most.
Speaker 3 (28:59):
Gangsters, toughest about that life, that street life, and and
committing my crime, you know, because of that, because of
that persona of just want to be the hardest person
in the group. And when you win, it's off boys
now too, when you end up behind bars, all that
(29:20):
stuff was for nothing, because people change their lives. People
who find out people really wanting about that life, people
just turn their backs on you.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
So, being that you were at juvenile when you caught
your case, right and when you got to president when
you were eighteen, did you like mentor or gravitate towards
juvenile offenders or were you just like I'm just gonna
stay in my lane and do my own thing.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
Yeah, I really didn't. I was a juvenile offender. I
didn't hang out with the regular juveniles like I was.
Like my mentality was, like I feel like.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
I was just different, like you know.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
What I mean, Like like these guys were in there
for certain certain things, Like I can't even explain it,
like it just but yeah, I just I just hung out.
I always hung out, just like in the imprison I
always just like I was on the streets. I hung
out with people that was like minded like me, older
(30:24):
people and and just people that was trying to better
themselves one shape form the fashion, whether it's hustling, working out,
educating themselves.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
What is one thing that you still do that you
did in prison? Somebody else?
Speaker 3 (30:41):
One thing that I still do? Sometimes I eat Raymon
nuts out the bag still. I just did that the
other day. I was out the bag with a little
bit of season, like their chips, why they're drying no
water or nothing.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
Oh oh. A friend of mine asked if you knew
Ernest Otto Smith. You just passed away in February. He
was a serial on aaliverry and we were we were
closing cases, but unfortunately he passed away. Before we could
close them all.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Damn No, I don't know no Idaw Smith, not by name.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
You know, people have nicknames or I probably recognize people
by face.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
But he was this. He was a He was like
a big white dude with long black handy. I think
he was half white, half Native American. He was probably
one of the craziest inmates you would ever come across.
He sent me a video one time on JP of
him like acting like a monkey in a cage and
beating on it and beating his chest and he was
he was real, real out there to say the least. Uh,
(31:44):
did you ever like witness I'm sure you did witness
like people being raped or like assaulted or whatever. Like
if it was somebody of your own race or one
of your own people, would you step in or would
you just be like, that's not my fight, I'm just
gonna look the other way if there.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Was somebody in my own own race.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
A lot of times we we step in other people
that ain't gotten none to do with our races or none.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
No, we don't step in.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
What about what about when it came to people that
were like developmentally disabled or like severely mentally ill, Like
would you would you just look the other way or
would you just be like, hey, man, that's not cool,
Like I'm gonna stick up for this dude.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
I always we always just look the other way. You know.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
Sometimes we might throw a little something like man, what
that dude ain't even do nothing? Sometimes, but most times
everyone minds their business in prison, you know, that's just.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
How it is.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
What was your last year, Like, did anybody ever try
to test you to make you lose good time or
try to get you more charges being that they were
like jealous you were getting out or anything like that.
Speaker 3 (32:45):
A lot of people don't like to talk about any time. Me,
I was so excited. I talked about my time. I
was at the level two, the medium security. But yeah, guys,
guys know you're trying to chill and it ain't even
just about the time. It's about trying to mess your
bid up of going back to a maximum security prison.
And and it's just like why do I gotta do
(33:08):
this to you? You know, Like and a lot of
guys are like that these days. Man, They're they're tough
as hell, and then once you do what you gotta
do to them, they're an R and B, which is
the rule of fraction board and they now they're.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
A victim, Like I don't know why he did me
like that. You know, it's just you see it all
the time.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
So how did you deal with that? Like people trying
to test you and trying to get you to lose
your good time? Like what would you do mentally, emotionally
and physically to stop yourself from from reacting.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Just beinging with the money gun? Thank you?
Speaker 3 (33:41):
Just basically basically, you know, you just try to avoid
the situation as much as possible. You know, when guys
do this or guys do that. And I even have guys,
you know, when you're been down so long, you got
younger guys.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
It's some funder you and they let me handle that.
Speaker 3 (34:00):
I'm like, no, I just shild man lead that situation alone,
you know, and it just it's like, you know, you know,
you got to remember, like not many people.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Can keep their composure. A lot of people can't keep
their composure.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
And you know you gotta remember, like these guys be
thinking like you're never going to see not even seventy
five percent of these dudes again, and like when it's
people going to learn like.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Their all their opinions, like Oh you're soft man.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
You let that Like, when is you gonna like realize
like you're about to be backing out here in the
real world and you can't react on these emotions and
don't solve the answer on the streets.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
It only gets you another case in prison.
Speaker 3 (34:41):
Yes, bodence solves the answer, but out here is the
road back to prison.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
So I imagine this question is when you were in
prison but somebody asked, if you could spend one day
on the outside, what would you do or who would
you spend it with?
Speaker 3 (34:56):
I can spend one day on the outside with would
I do? Like if I was in prison?
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Yeah? Yeah, Like if you had like a good day
or something like that where you got up for a day.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
It would have either been been my mom or would
have been my girl. You know, like like.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
Of course everybody gonna want to be with their girl,
you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
But my mom she held it down from day one,
you know, and she would have deserved.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
It, right, That makes sense. I mean, the mom's bring
us into this world. So I guess that's that's the
right answer above above none. You know, do you remember
what your last week was like, let alone your last
day in prison.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Yeah, my last week it came. It came fast.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
Man.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
It was like, damn that she don't even feel real
like this is my last week. You know.
Speaker 3 (35:48):
You you also said to stay out the way, stay out,
stay out of trouble, because there's so much you know,
you hang out with dudes still, like you know, just
because you changed life on me, you know, you still
hang out with guys that still gotta be there, and
they still some of them.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
Gang bang or affiliated or or hustle.
Speaker 3 (36:10):
Different different people do different things, you know, and you
know when you're in there, Like my last week, it
was just it went fast. But I just basically trying
to meditate, just closed my eyes and just think about,
you know, what I wanted to do, and basically just
trying to take it easy, not to overreact because that
(36:32):
anxiety be so bad. For my last day imprisonment, I
woke up, I woke up early, took a shower, was
ready like an hour and a half before they even
called me. My last night, a lot of people party.
I went to bed. Man, I went to bed. I
went to bed, and just like a lot of people
can't sleep, but I went to bed.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
I'm surprised. I was able to sleep. But yeah, my
last day was just it was just settle Man. We
kicked it. We just kicked it subtle, but it wasn't.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
It wasn't like I thought I was gonna be like
how I kicked it because one of my friends went
to the hole and he was running to another prison,
but he another one went to the hole, So it
was like the people I wanted to hang out.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
With for real wasn't around.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
Huh, somebody else. Did you have a job while you
were in prison?
Speaker 2 (37:26):
Yeah? I had different type of jobs.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
One of my favorite jobs was working in the kitchen
because when you work in the kitchen, you get to
meet female staff members that in the kitchen, these a
lot of people get in relationships, so like, well it's
just about the relationship just around being around female companionship,
(37:50):
like just being around instead of being around dudes all time.
Speaker 2 (37:53):
So that was a cool job.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
What was the worst job you could have in there?
Speaker 3 (37:58):
Worst job when I first got like through, the worst
job was working in the kitchen to they went privatizing
the child hall. Nobody wanted because the child they're not
state workers no more, they're privately owned. But the child
was the first job. Worst job I had when I
first guy. They worked like a slave, and they're like,
we had to do some things like sweating and working.
Speaker 2 (38:20):
You're behind off, and if you didn't go to the hole,
you had to work. I mean you had to work
there for nine days. And if you didn't work your job,
you went to the whole.
Speaker 1 (38:30):
What was the most amount of money you made per
hour or per day in prison?
Speaker 2 (38:35):
I wouldn't know per hour.
Speaker 3 (38:36):
I just knew I got eighteen dollars a month like
everyone else.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
And that's that's for like every single job. No job
pays less, No job pays a single job.
Speaker 3 (38:47):
Now they trying to try to give certain jobs they
got they call it incentives. Your original pay is eighteen
dollars a month, but they got in census like they
might give you twenty five dollars bonus now. But it's
just that certain job like the kitchen and requires more effort.
But they just started that.
Speaker 1 (39:06):
So what was the day like when you got out?
And what day did you get out? I think it
says November.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
Is it November September twenty eighth?
Speaker 1 (39:14):
September twenty eighth, Okay, yeah, what was it like the
day you got out?
Speaker 2 (39:17):
The day I got out, was a nice day.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
I went to the it rained, it rained a couple
times on and off, but I went to the mall
straight from the mall, but I called it I had.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
I got nausees in the car, I from not driving.
Speaker 3 (39:35):
In eighteen being in the car in eighteen years, so
I got nauses in the car, and I'm like, damn,
am I getting sick on my day out? And then
but anyway, when we get to the mall, I got
out the car and I felt better. I'm oh, it
must have been the car that messed me up. But
you know, I went shopping for a couple of little
things like weights and thing clothing items, and then I
(39:57):
went home that little cookout in my backyard with a
couple of old friends that I had that were cool,
and I ate a t bone steak of some ship
on my first night.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
Then I just chilled with my girl for the rest
of the night.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
So somebody just asked me, even though you're out of prison,
why are you still wearing the orange.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
Oh, I always wear this orange to show people like
you never judge a book by its cover, like it's
his ex prisoner. But one of my dudes just got
out two years ago and he was doing forty six
years and the stat part he was innocent. He got
out after fifteen years. Two police officers came forward and
testified that their friend that were not their friend but
(40:41):
their partner, had lied on him and his coat offendly
and they got out. You know, he's always telling me
he's gonna get out, and I'm like, yeah, you know,
my head, I'm like, like everyone says that, but he
got out after fifteen years. So you know, everyone thinks
just because you wear his color, you're guilty. You know,
the cops do get it sometimes. Also, I told the
(41:03):
guards in there that I was gonna make them pay
by spreading the light of all the corruption that they
do towards inmates.
Speaker 2 (41:08):
Like you know, it may do things, but don't nobody
just grow up one day.
Speaker 3 (41:12):
But I don't want to go to prison and there's
rob people for honey bombs or Snickers bars.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
It's because the food being masked.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
I'm not justifying the food be disgusting and it's like
it's it used to be editor but then now it's
just like a business. They want you to go to
commissary and buy everything, but wardeness because prisons a state
of mind and now they see me on here and
you know it's basically the raise awareness.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
That makes sense. Yeah, that's that's a good uh good
point of view for sure. So are you? Are you
on parole or where you just straight up?
Speaker 2 (41:52):
Or least I got up to five years parole.
Speaker 1 (41:56):
Okay, okay. So somebody asked, if you had the money
to start a program to help others, what kind of
program would you start?
Speaker 2 (42:06):
I had a program to help others, it would have
to be a program that basically gives people the motivation
to not go back to prison, because you know, they
give you a trade in prison, but when you get
out here, when you get out here, it's like you,
(42:26):
I want to work for this landscape escaping company, and
they taught you how to landscape in prison. Like we
don't hire feelings, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (42:34):
So guys get discouraged, Like I put all my eggs
into this best effort. This program was a whole year
program or a two year program, and then you can't
even get a job with it, and then so guys
get discouraged. But you know, guys complain about prison all
the time. You know about the guards, the food, the
living situations. Then they get out here and it's like
(42:56):
they forget about it. So it's something that would educate
them or motivate them to open your eyes and help
them then, you know, and I feel like, you know,
guys need somebody that they can relate.
Speaker 2 (43:07):
You know.
Speaker 3 (43:08):
People talk about the dangerous people that thugs, this and that,
but he's the people that are gonna be the most
effective because they've been through but they shut try to
close the doors on these people when they get out,
and let give them, give them a chance to pay
it forward and talk to people.
Speaker 2 (43:26):
Are there kids? People in prison?
Speaker 3 (43:28):
They'd be like, man, you know, people see me like them,
He's doing good out there.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
Even the guards guards that I've been in prisons, they
be like that, dude is doing it. And people used
to doubt me and everything.
Speaker 1 (43:44):
A friend of mine who's in here right now, he
was wrongly convicted for un alive in a man in
a bar fight. It was self defense actually, but he
was convicted. He said he wants to link up with
you and do something on social media with you eventually.
Speaker 2 (43:57):
Oh, he wants to do something on social media with me.
Speaker 1 (44:01):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. His name is Jacob Gentry. He
was he was wrongfully convicted and he was exonerated, and
I think you did what eight or nine years, right, Jacob.
Somebody had asked, do you live near where you did
in prison before? And if oh, he did seven years
in prison, and if so, does it make it hard
for you to stay on the right path.
Speaker 2 (44:18):
I don't live near the prison I was at.
Speaker 3 (44:21):
The prison I was at is like an hour and
a half away from Cleveland. But yeah, and doesn't make
it Oh does it make it hard to stay on
the right path?
Speaker 2 (44:33):
No, I don't make it hard to stay on the
right path. Man.
Speaker 3 (44:36):
I you know, I remember every day I remind myself
where I've been. You know, people say move on, but
you can't know where you're going if you don't know
where you've been.
Speaker 2 (44:43):
So that's why I talk about it.
Speaker 3 (44:46):
I I you know, express myself to it, because as
long as I remind myself every single day that, no,
I don't like living in the four by four cell
with a complete stranger, or you know, eating slop or
beating my cell at five o'clock PM when it's ninety
degrees outside and you're feeling like you're baking in the
(45:09):
oven in that cell. All them type of things, you know,
so you know, you just got to use that that
hurt to push you on.
Speaker 1 (45:19):
So how do you deal with like everyday stressors and
triggers Like said, you go to the grocery store and
someone like bumps into you or whatever, like because in prison,
you know, obviously you can check somebody, but in real
life outside in the free world, like you can get
charges for even like threatening somebody or whatever.
Speaker 2 (45:35):
You know, Yeah, I had, That's that's one of my
pet peeves.
Speaker 3 (45:40):
I gotta think when since I've been out when someone
bumps me like that happened to me like three times.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
You know.
Speaker 3 (45:48):
I was at a Nike Runk and a Nike Runk
club and even the guy was just like They're like, oh,
we're having drinks here at this little place restaurant, you know,
and it was like you didn't have to get drinks.
You could just because that's where we went after our run.
It was like where we met up and it's what
a Nike one club was. And this guy was just
(46:09):
like you could just tell him just bump me, and
it's like it's so demeter and it's just like but
that's not the first time that happened out here. But
it's like that irks me. But you know, these guys
just don't know no better, and it's.
Speaker 1 (46:20):
Just right right. So what would your advice be to
somebody that just got out of prison that has like
no family, no job, steals, anything like that to make
sure they don't reoffend and end up back in prison.
Speaker 3 (46:34):
You don't got no family or no no support or nothing.
Remember that struggle you complained about, Remember that struggle. Them
hard times where you can be a bum under a
bridge and bumba burger off of somebody, but in prison
you're forced to eat that prison slot. You know what
I mean? These are good problems to have, trying to
(46:55):
wonder even though it's hard, even though knife ain't easy,
you know you gotta get on the grind. The same
mentality these guys put into these hustles dot here in
the streets, evolve it. You know it's gonna be them
slow days out through them streets when you're hustling, But
when you get a job, it's gonna be them slow days.
Speaker 2 (47:16):
You push through it.
Speaker 1 (47:20):
So, in your opinion, from being incarcerated, where do you
think rehability rehabilitation struck do you think it's with the youth.
Do you think it's when they go to prison at
a young age? Like, where do you think rehabilitation starts
if that, if that even exists.
Speaker 3 (47:36):
Rehabilitation starts with with with the adults. You know, it
ain't the kids. It ain't no fourteen year old kids.
Fifteen year old kids making rap songs talking about how
cool it is to go to prison.
Speaker 2 (47:50):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (47:51):
It ain't the fourteen year old kids come up, Hey,
come out here in these streets and get this money.
Speaker 2 (47:56):
You know it ain't. You know, it's the older guys.
Speaker 1 (48:00):
So what are you doing today to make sure that
you don't reoffend in any way, shape or for them,
even if it's just something petty.
Speaker 3 (48:06):
You know, I don't hang around with old friends that
I used to. And if you known't gotten nothing positive
in your life going on, I don't want to be
around it, like whether they're always negative energy anything like,
I make sure I'd rather be at home.
Speaker 2 (48:22):
Ain't nothing wrong with I don't even use the words board, so.
Speaker 3 (48:25):
I'm gonna say, because there's always something productive you could
be doing out here. I didn't even like seeing that
word in prison no more, because you know, I could
be working out, bringing an intellectual book something out here.
With all the technology, games, everything that got on, how
can someone say they're bored?
Speaker 2 (48:41):
So you could just say, you know, I don't have
a problem living.
Speaker 1 (48:44):
A simple life, right, So what's one thing that you
would like people to know about yourself or your situation
that you don't necessarily talk about in your lives or
or publicly anything like that.
Speaker 3 (49:02):
It's a good question something I would want people to
know about me. You know, I don't really talk about
how like I'm an change man, and you know we
all when no one's perfect. I still get angry at times.
(49:22):
I still get you know, emotional, but it's learning the
channel all that and learning to deal with yourself and
not reacting on those emotions. So you know, you know,
I'm not you know how you know, I just want
the world to see like who I am. I'm I'm still.
Speaker 2 (49:41):
You know, I'm still Victor, but you know I'm just more.
I'm just a human being.
Speaker 1 (49:47):
Man.
Speaker 2 (49:48):
I'm just an ex kind.
Speaker 3 (49:49):
Of out here, you know, trying to live his life
and start his life out in the world after eighteen years.
Speaker 1 (49:56):
Uh, somebody just asked, what was what was the food
you missed most when you were locked up.
Speaker 2 (50:03):
It won't be no prison food.
Speaker 3 (50:05):
But uh oh, you said when I was locked up,
but it would be chicken wings.
Speaker 2 (50:13):
I love buffalo style chicken wings.
Speaker 3 (50:15):
And they stopped giving chicken wings in prison because people
were using the bones for shanks.
Speaker 1 (50:20):
Mmm, that's crazy. So they would file down the wings
to where they were they were sharp and use them
as a shank.
Speaker 4 (50:28):
That's that's pretty creative. Actually, yeah, no, no drumsticks and
none of that. Damn you said chicken in prison years ago,
like twenty eleven.
Speaker 1 (50:42):
So what was your mental health like eighteen years ago
as opposed to now, Like, do you think it's improved?
Do you think it's got worse?
Speaker 3 (50:50):
My mental health? It it improved, It improved, But towards
the end of my bed's it was it was getting.
It just been, you know, it gets it went up
and down, up and down, be going to sell solitary,
being in the hole. It just that messages you up
to it, and you just get tired of seeing people
(51:10):
pray like you said, people prayed upon and you don't
even say nothing. You just get to thinking like evil thoughts,
like man, if they better not bring that over here?
With me this and that. So you know, even whether
it's a sell robbery or somebody just jumping people just
because they can do it, You never know what somebody's
thinking in prison.
Speaker 1 (51:27):
Is that a fear that you had that you know,
like I might be next. I need to stay on
my toes.
Speaker 3 (51:31):
No, the biggest fear I ever had was catching more
time in prison. You know, I knew that I was
in prison. You know, you got to you gotta survive,
and you know, somebody try to bring in there, Like
I didn't want to unalive somebody.
Speaker 2 (51:47):
In prison end up doing life in prison, you know
what I mean?
Speaker 3 (51:49):
Like we get through and like if I get to
fight and one of his people's slammed the door and
it's just me and that dude in there, it's me
or him, you know, So you.
Speaker 2 (51:58):
Fight like your life depends on it.
Speaker 3 (52:00):
Ain't only Oh yeah, you need like these kiddie fights
you see out here in the world, you know them
fights can get serious.
Speaker 1 (52:08):
Right right? Yeah, you don't want to get more time,
but at the same time, you don't want to become
a victim yourself.
Speaker 2 (52:15):
That was my biggest fear of me what I would
do to somebody again.
Speaker 1 (52:20):
Right, and it's not like you can prove that they
were the aggressor when there's no cameras or anything like that.
So it's your word against the person that is no
longer hear. So we've been on here a little over
an hour now, is there anything that you want to
talk about that you never really do talk about or
(52:41):
that you you just have on your mind that you
want to get off of it?
Speaker 2 (52:49):
Not really?
Speaker 1 (52:54):
Okay, Well, I appreciate you. I appreciate you doing with
this this with me today. I'm hoping in the future
we can do more. You're really very well spoken, and
I feel like you're you're very knowledgeable about the system,
and you actually seem like you do have genuinely genuine
like you know, remorse, and you you you you're not
going to go back to the ways you were, and
(53:14):
I appreciate that about you, and I appreciate that you're
using your platform for good rather than appreciate in prison.
Speaker 3 (53:20):
You know, I appreciate it when you just said that,
you sounded like my parole officer. He said that, he
said that yesterday for real. So you seem like you
really changed.
Speaker 1 (53:29):
Yeah, that's awesome. That's because you know, obviously the recidivism
rate is probably not that good these days, you know,
and there's probably a lot of people going back because,
like you said, if there's no friends or family, whatever,
you just got to hold on to what you did.
Speaker 2 (53:44):
There's an eighty three rate.
Speaker 1 (53:47):
Yeah, that's crazy that that definitely needs to change. And
rehabilitation is not a thing in prison, as you were
saying the other day. In your life, people said prison
should be meant for punishment, not rehabilitation. But I think
that's totally wrong.
Speaker 3 (53:59):
That's why in other countries them things like they they
they look like sales, but they got real, like real
small beds.
Speaker 2 (54:07):
Windows, ain't no bars on the windows, you know what
I mean.
Speaker 3 (54:10):
And it's like when you get senters to due a crime,
is that's that's your time and the punishment. So you've
been in there, you can't even talk to a guard
for five minutes well after their higher up, like why
are you talking to that inmate?
Speaker 2 (54:22):
I understand corruption goes on, but at.
Speaker 3 (54:23):
The same time, if I went to a guard like
which you think would be a good career to preside them,
why are you talking to that inmate?
Speaker 2 (54:29):
You know? So that's not rehabilitation.
Speaker 3 (54:31):
We are they treat us like we're not going to
be released back into society, when if that's god, I
might see that guard on the streets and like, man,
thank you for that advice. Man, I end up pursuing
that job that you told me about and it helped
me change my life and stay out of prison.
Speaker 1 (54:47):
Right, that's good. Yeah, I know that the misconception about
talking to guards like oh, he's a snitch or he's
trying to get favors or whatever, you know. Like, but
there's people that are genuinely good people that want advice,
that don't want to reoffend when they get out, you know,
and they don't want to end up, you know, dying
in prison one day for sure. All Right, Well, you know,
(55:10):
like I said, I appreciate your time. I'll definitely stay
in touch with you, you know, and I appreciate you coming
on today, and I wish you the best. I hope,
I hope you know your your life goes in the
direction you wanted to go. And yeah, I just I
hope you know good things come your way.
Speaker 3 (55:28):
I appreciate it. Man, you have a blessed day. So
I appreciate you having me up on here telling my truth.
You keep doing your thing too, all.
Speaker 1 (55:37):
Right, appreciate it, take care, and we'll connect soon, okay,
all right, stay blissed, all right later
Hey, how you doing. I'm good. How about yourself?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
I'm good? How you doing? Damn?
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Oh? Pretty good? Pretty good.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
My name is my real name is Victor Mercado and
I was sixteen years old when I got convicted of
an aggravated un aliven of facts, but I ended up
getting eighteen years in prison.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Are you able to talk about like the case. I
don't want you to like go into graphic detail or anything,
but basically how you got caught up, like what led
up to it and everything like that.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Coca Cola when I was twelve and a half years old,
and you know the person that taught me the mote,
everything about the streets, you.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Know who put me in the game in a in
a rug game. I ended up.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Getting robbed by him, and after he got out of prison,
and it led up to and me retaliated three days
later and I pew cuwed him five times.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Okay, are you able to see how much you got robbed? For?
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Fifteen hundred Let me hold on. I think my wife
is about to work on the hold up.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
So was that the first time ever being robbed? Or
was that like a was that like more than one time?
Like you were just tired of it and finally like
just decided to to do something about it.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
No, that wasn't my first time being robbed in my
life now, But when you in the streets, you know,
it's like it's like the principal at that at what
you talk. You know, somebody does something wrong to you,
got to retaliate. Also, when you're young like that, you
know you be having it all being your pride, you know,
(02:02):
so you.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Know your feelings be heard, you be you're reacting anger,
you know.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Right, right, So you said it wasn't the first time.
When when was the first time that you had got robbed?
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Probably I would say like a year before that, I
got robbed by some some addicts And how did you
handle head? I basically never seen them people ever again.
So you know, it was not like it was a
(02:42):
it was a it was a no.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Two. It was a little frightening, you know, to be robbed.
I was about fifteen.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Years old at the time, robbed that pew pew point,
you know, And and it had went off when the
dude tried like we went and got into like a
little toughs over it, and it went off, and then
they took off running and cops showed up and all that.
So that was a little bit traumatized, almost having results
(03:12):
in being unalive like that.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Okay, So so you feel like you feel like, given
the circumstances, if it would have been the right I
don't know, I don't know if the word would be outcome,
but you might have gone to prison earlier than you
did given the circumstances.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
I wouldn't have got out of prison earlier. I was
initially facing lifelout of the role o you said, would
I have went to sorry?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Sorry? Sorry?
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Yeah? I mean I meant, do you think you would
have went to prison earlier? Had that, had the cops
not shown up and everything, and had you not got
into a tussle, and you would have been able to
get your pep, you know, and you wouldn't you wouldn't
have had able to you know, like struggle with it,
you know.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Not really like you know, it was just like I
wasn't in the wrong in the first place. I was
just out there, you know, walking to the store, and
somebody try to rob me.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
You know.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
It was it was some adults trying to rob a juvenile.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
But you know, but I knew it was gonna come
one day like you never think prince is really real
when you're that young, like you're just out there.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
You know, you don't think.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
You think if you get caught, there's no consequences, like
as a slap on the wrist and all that.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Right, right, Uh, So what was your upbringing? Like, like,
were you affiliated at all?
Speaker 3 (04:40):
I wasn't affiliated. But in Cleveland, we hood bang, you know,
we don't. We don't g A and g bang. But
I had a good came from a good home. Mom
and dad. They work jobs. To my mom worked two jobs.
And you know, when you're that young, you just want
what you want when you want, and you know, from
(05:03):
school to things like that, like being in school, kids
making jokes.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
And you know that just that's basically my upbringing. It was.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
It was good, you know, I'm but it's just like
I got it involved in that street life, you know, persuaded,
manipulated by the older guys in my neighborhood, you know,
by good my environment basically.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
So would you say it was more like you were
like a good kid wanting to do bad things, trying
to fit in or something like that. It was something different.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Yeah, it was basically trying to fit in and was
it was?
Speaker 1 (05:36):
It was it all older people. Was it like adults
that you were trying to fit in with or were
they all like run your same age group.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
No, I was the youngest person that was from my
area in that type of life, like everybody was. I
was sixteen. Everybody had to be at least eighteen and over.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Okay, okay, So so they were basically so were they
like testing you, trying to get you to do dirt
for them type of thing?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yeah, that's how it started.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
You know. I would be a lookout, you know, watching
out in the neighborhood for for cops for them while
they took care of their business.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
And then you know, I just wasn't even conscious.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
I would see them conduct business and I be there
goes a lick, which means a customer, and I bet
there goes a lick, and they're like, you know, all
the licks and you don't even be hearing them. I
just see that every day while I was at the
basketball court playing basketball, and you know, they're like, you know,
(06:33):
go get that little lounge you got else being fuinn
at Like I was like, no, I'm cool, and they
were like, we'll let you get the first.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Get the first serve and I ended up doing that
and the one thing that's another I got in the game.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
How so you said you were sixteen when you caught
your case the end a Liven.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Yeah, I was sixteen years years old. I was eighteen.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
I did two years in the county, so I turned
eighteen in the county. So I did from sixteen to
eighteen in the county, and then I went to I
end up pleading guilty to my case and then went
to prison.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
So what was it like being like fresh, you know,
like eighteen years old going to an adult prison with
like other unalivers and other you know, like people that
essayed people and did things to children. Like what was
that like for you? Being so young?
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Man?
Speaker 3 (07:29):
When you're young, it's like you you still had a
lot to learn in the world, and then it becomes
a whole new world that you got to learn quick
and adapt to because if you don't, your life could
be in jeopardy. And it's it's a scary situation no
matter what anyone likes to admit. You know, you see underlivings,
you see grapings, you see your salt saft type of
(07:51):
things going on in prison and from the guards to
the inmates. You know, no one is safe or above
you know, and took out basically.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
So do you remember what your first day was like?
As soon as you got the prison.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
My first day was like.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
It It's like I'll never forget it. You know, you
come in, you get off that bus and you're with
that bus load that got sent to prison and you're
getting you just you just feel like, you know, you
don't belong and no matter what you did, you just
feel like you don't belong. And you know, they take
(08:38):
your you know, they take the clothes you come in
there with and they strip you out and you know,
the guards basically humiliate you. You know, you're in a room,
a small room in the prison. I was in small
room like ten twelve guys. They strip you, guys out,
you got a squad and cough, you know, open your
mouth and they make sure you ain't got no contraband
(08:59):
like that, and they basically give you your stuff like
they're like and then they throw you in the sale.
You go to their firmary real quick and lead us
to know. It's like they throw you in the cell,
like the type of time I had. They throw you
in the cell for that first week by yourself, and
(09:21):
you're just in there with nothing but your thoughts.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
You're wondering, like, man, this is about to be.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
My life for eighteen years, but which feels like for
the rest of your life and lead us to say,
is like you know, I'm talking about intake. You have nothing,
no TV, no radio, no no clothes, no different codes
besides them three sets of state blues that they give you,
(09:46):
the three pairs of underwear, boxes and draws, and you're
just in there and all this stuff is but pants
and stuff like that are used. Shirts are used. And
I remember it's my first day. It was a blizzard
and I looked out that window. It was probably about
like eight o'clock, but it was dark already, and I
(10:08):
was like, I couldn't even see the Bible wire on
the fence, and I like, my life's over, Like it's over,
Like I couldn't even see the daylight.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
So, so, after that first week when you were able
to be out of your cell, you know, and mingling
with other inmates and stuff like that, right, did anybody
try to like test you or check you? And if so, like,
how did you handle that? Being that eighteen year old
kit basically.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
I learned real quick man.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Me and my me and one of my neighbors almost
got into it with somebody talking about because we got
into a what's it called a debate about religion, And
you learn that you can get into it or get
took out about anything in prison, from something from religion
(10:57):
to just talking about a game of basketball.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Who's better?
Speaker 3 (11:01):
You know people, I feel like they everyone thinks they're right, and.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
No one likes to lose or be wrong in prison.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
So you know, that's the only time that I right
way had an issue that was about to go somewhere,
and I learned real quickly. But I risked My real
issues came when I got to prison, because in Ohio
you get sent to intake prison like Lorraine Correction is
your intake and you sit there for a couple of
months and then they ship you off to your parent institution.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
So what what was the first prison like you were
actually at for a minute. Was it like maximum or medium?
I imagine it wasn't minimum at first.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
It was a maximum security prison Mansfield Correction.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
So what was what was the vibe like there you
were there for good for a minute, like, was it
was it scary? Do you feel like you were to
what was the overall feeling that you were feel kids
or whenever you were there permanently.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Man, when I first got there, you know, it was
Mansfield always had a black cloud over it, and it.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
It felt like hell.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
Like you seem like a thousand crows just sitting on
a bob wire fence and it was wintertime.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
It was snow on the ground, and it was like
this shit don't even feel real.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
And that's when you really like, just going there felt
completely different than the intake intake prison and that ship.
You just to drive through that fence on that prison bus,
you just like, man, that's just like give you a
weird feeling in your stomach. And but that's when you
(12:37):
start seeing guys issues.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
On day one, did you get did you get wrapped
up on any politics? Like were you like segregated with
other races in the yard or was it was it
not like that? Like I know here in Washington, it's
really not like that from what I hear.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Yeah, when I first got to prison, I stuck with
the guys that I came in off the bus with.
You know, we were the new releases, and I wasn't
segregated then you know, it was prison was segregated. But
at that time, you know, when I was on the streets,
I kicked it with all African Americans, if you want
(13:12):
to say it. But when I got to prison, you know,
I kicked it with with a couple of them.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Guys got off the bus, you know.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
And you know, I didn't start hanging out with my
own people's probably till like eight months like Hispanics, still
like eight months later. I really was a loaner for real,
you know, I really, I really didn't trust people.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
You know.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
My first second month in prison, I got jumped. You know,
well I got jumped by like my first week. I
think because they know when you get there. But I
really got jumped bad my second time by the person's
brother that I are alive, had put a thousand dollars
price tag on my head.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
And how are you dealing with that?
Speaker 3 (14:00):
You know. I fought a couple of times and thought
a couple of times, and then like you know, I
got hurt real bad. And then the next day they heard,
the Hispanics heard about me fighting off five dudes, and
then they came in a unit.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
They were like, what's good, what's good?
Speaker 3 (14:17):
I was like that was black had a split on
my eyebrow, and I was like, man, if that's all
I got for the crime I committed, I said never again.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
From that day forward, I'll never be be your victim
ever again, you know.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
So I did what I had to do in prison
to earn my respect and make sure people, you know,
knew better or even fear me.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Right, So what would you say? What would you say
was the scariest thing at first, obviously other than getting
jumped in prison, Like, was there anything that you were
genuinely afraid of throughout your prison sentence starting at eighteen, you.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Know, when you know, when you're young, and people telling
the stories I was scared to get great. They're like, man,
somebody's gonna come to your room and pull out a
shank and tell you do this. I'm gonna do this,
I'm gonna I'm gonna say swing on them. And you
just think, like, man, does this stuff really happen or
is it really like that you hear everyone talking about it,
(15:12):
like back then that stuff.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Was really going on.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
So that was my biggest fear of that would happen,
and it never happened, you know. And then in the
prison I was at, it happened mostly to Caucasians.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Why do you think that is.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Even on the videos I.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Post on TikTok, Like like when I first got locked up,
all the old school black dudes would prey on the
younger white dudes that came to Jay because there wasn't
too many white dudes back then coming to prison.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
You know, they threw a few in there.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
It's not like West Coast politics, but you know, and
this was way before it was accepted like out here,
you know, like nowadays people just basically give it up
in prison, and like then, them guys, they's like a thrill.
They got a thrill of the better the fight. They like,
(16:06):
like the like the resistance and all that was predatory behavior.
And it was sad that people, you know, got got
hurt real bad if they did that to somebody out
here in the streets. But they were doing this stuff
in prison to one another, you know.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Right, So so so are you saying there was no
like a b where you at we're at, since the
young white guys were just basically getting like found on
and punked out every day.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
There was some abs there. Back then.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
There was a lot a lot of a b's in there,
but they're not like the they were there shown. But
the AB's also like if if I think they looked
at it, like if you didn't look the part, if
you didn't look the part, or also if you didn't
join them, they left you to the wolves. They either
they either picked on their own own come or or
(17:00):
left you to the woods. You know, that's what it was.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Yeah, that makes sense. I guess the survival of the
fittest right.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
For sure, everyone I knew almost was affiliated in prison.
So that's why these guys try to get you before
you become affiliated. Like if you were affiliated nine times
of ten that it happened to you, So they try
to get you that that first week, you know what
I mean, first week or two.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Right, Yeah, from what I hear, Ohio is pretty bad
even still today. Like I've talked to a few guys
that were at Lucasville when the riots were happening, and
I talked to it and that troumble right now, and
he's like, man, even at Trumble, it's bad. I'm like,
I've never even heard of Trumble And he's like, he's like,
you heard of it now, because it's pretty bad here
and he's a you know, gag or reformed, I should say.
(17:45):
He claims he's reformed, and he has four unolivens under
his belt, and he's always telling me stories about what's
happening in that day or what's happened in the past.
He's been locked up for like twenty something years, caught
his first two unolivens at the age of fifteen. You know,
so it's I know, it's a scary place in Ohio
for sure. It doesn't really get talked about that much.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Yeah, these guys would even, they would love. They use
different techniques.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
You know, these guys would love if you had street beef.
You had street beef for somebody or you know, and
you get beat up or jumped or rob for your commissary,
they would come in there with the tactic of acting
like they got your back, like when you're good, you know,
listen to dude. You know, if you saw any type
of vulnerability, like yeah, I'm straight. You know, if you
(18:31):
acting like you're scared, they could smell it on you
and then they were like, you know, they like if
you need any help, and then they'll might try to
go to breakfast with you. Trying to act like they're
your friend. Once you're sitting there with somebody for like
a week, people are like, man, that must be his
punk or that must be his boy, you know, right,
(18:53):
and that's a label. Nobody's messing with you at trure
or if it's true or not. Now, everybody's not gonna
want to help you, like they thinking that action already happened,
you know, and the guys like I did what I
did the damage Now he's basically setting up the stage
for making them is proper.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
And so so if that happens, right, and say somebody
that gets paroled or moved to another prison, right like
that basically is like slim pickens for anybody else, right,
like whoever comes first and moves in on you like
you're you're their property.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Right, Yeah, And you know, sometimes it happened where they
fought over punks, you know, but they fought over boys
or whatever.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
That's what they call him, Like that's dude the boy
they fight fight over.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
But the reason was because you got to think a
lot of black dudes. But yeah, a lot of guys
come from broken homes that are African American.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
They don't have the family support and all that.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
So if a white dude comes in prison, they still
probably have their family member, you know, looking out for them.
So they look at it like if they commit this
indeed on this person and they make them theirs, everything
that comes with that person also belongs to the money,
the commissary, you know, the clothing that their family members send.
(20:12):
So it's basically like a hustle to them, Like that
was a way of survival.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
If these guys.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
Weren't going home or they're doing twenty years and they're like,
they don't care about what people think about them. It
was like and it was respected back then, like nobody's like, oh,
that dude's this way, you know. They was respected like
a high five, Like they hung out in groups. Manfield
had his own politics like something I've never even heard of.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
So, without going into any graphic details, what's the craziest
thing or craziest things you've ever seen since being incarcerated
for your eighteen years?
Speaker 3 (20:46):
The craziest thing I've seen, I always tell people, And
this happened what three years before I went home, somebody
that was doing time and a lot of guys get
tired of this, the guards just putting any old body
in there. Sales you know, some guys be having addiction problems,
and you don't want to just be sitting there while
that guy's just messing with that that paper stuff that
(21:09):
they be having in prison, and guys just don't want.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
To deal with that. And but I don't put that
dude to my cell.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
And this guy, William Taylor, was doing twenty years, and
they tried to put a short timer in the cell,
like six sixty days, and he's like, don't put that
dude to my cell, and the guards told him shut
up and put the dude in the sale. And the
dude that had sixty days was about six six foot three.
William Taylor was about five foot three. So he waits
(21:38):
for his bunkie, who's six foot three, to be sitting
down at this little desk and he wraps his arm
around him, puts him in the choco, and he puts
him to sleep, and while he's sleep, he plucks an eye.
Goug this dude's eyeballs out. He bangs on the cell
door and he says, hey, seo, coeo, and he holds
his dude's eyeballs up and he says, you want on
(22:00):
these He licks dude eyeballs and flushes them down the toilet.
That's the craziest thing I've ever seen.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Wow, that's crazy. I'm taking it. The dude didn't survive,
then he didn't make it out of that.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Yeah, he survived, he survived. You can look it up
and do that that currently. Just look up William Tatler
Mansfield Correction and you'll see that article prop up.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
So did he get life for that?
Speaker 3 (22:23):
Then he judge because you know he didn't unlive them.
So you know, if you get if you're unlive somebody,
you can get life. But it basically if you do that,
and that's basically an assault charge. So he I think
the judge ended up giving them like twenty five more years.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Oh wow, that's crazy. But that I guess that's an
appropriate sentence for I guess taking somebody's eyes.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
Yeah, you know, you know one thing about the law.
It ain't about the nature of his crime. If this person,
if this person pun to you and and and splits you,
and you and you survive, right, And if this person
(23:10):
hits you with a cup and he splits you, whatever,
it is real bad. And this say, the one with
the cup is a little bit more worse. It's still
a felony one. And what a felony one carries is
you know what that say, it's eleven years no matter what,
it don't go by the nature of the crime. It
just goes by the felony degree. You understand.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Okay, yeah, that makes sense. What do you know about
gladiator fights? Are those? Is that a myth in state
prisons or is that only a thing in the FEDS.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Where like when there's a lot of people fighting.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Well no, like for instance, like when when guards set
it up, right, like I've heard in the FEDS, like
they set fights up and then they bet them.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
And in the in the prisons I've been to, guards
never set up fights, but they did put as on people.
Guards did pay inmates to beat people up, whether it
was giving them some form.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Of So would that be like this this inmate disrespected me,
like go and take care of this or was it
just like this guy is a child whatever.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
You know, like sometimes they did it with the child
abuser or or or disrespect. A lot of times it
came from disrespect like that. This COO can be saved
by the book meanness. Hell, don't mess with inmates. But
sometimes when that person disrespect them, they wouldn't have been
the law, break the law to get their revenge.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
And how often do they get caught doing that?
Speaker 2 (24:41):
If ever, I've never seen anyone get in trouble for it.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
I've never seen anyone get in trouble for them, because
if you look at it, where's the proof?
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Where's the proof that I paid you to do this?
You know?
Speaker 3 (24:59):
Now they got body cans, but even though body cans
really don't work, But where's the proof that I, you know,
they make a snitch on me all the one like, yeah,
he paid me to do this, Tom, where's the proof?
It's always the CEO's word against the inmates, always.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Right, right, Yeah, definitely. The saying is you can't believe
a convict over a guard no matter what.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
So what did you do in prison to like keep busy,
keep out of trouble and basically like focus?
Speaker 3 (25:37):
I basically did a state focused and stay busy. I
started off playing cards. You know, everyone starts off playing cards.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
They play a.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
Game of spades and you start off, as you know,
I was pretty good at spades, man, because I played
it in in juvie with with the guards and the
guards to pick somebody that knows how to play spades
before I got bouted over and the sent of the county,
and you learn it like they only want to play
with the cool guys, and they give you some food
(26:05):
just for sitting there. And that's how juvenile was. And
the adults we play spades. You know, you sit there
for years on end, just playing cards. Like every day
you wake up an go to breakfast, come back, let's
play spades, y'all same four people. Sometimes somebody might say
they got low man. Low man means whoever got the
(26:25):
lowest points gets up or teams or whatever, and it's
just we play spades and it's like years just wasted,
like we just be Like what happened to these last
two years?
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Oh? I played cards every single day for two years?
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Was there ever anything that crazy happened over over your cards?
Like somebody cheating and somebody got split open or anything
like that?
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Man?
Speaker 3 (26:46):
Anything three games of anything happens over cards, cards, dominoes, anything,
guys get man, guys.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
You wouldn't believe the things people do over you know
what I mean?
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Like I've seen complete guys, best friends over a game
of cards, get mad and getting straight up fights, and
then the fights in prison you got to understand these
guys are in your best shape that you can be
being and so so the.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
Fights are can turn you know serious. I can't even
say the word.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
But they don't taken for you to get hit re
bad and stumble hit your head on this toilet. Uh.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Somebody just asked what would be your number one tip
for surviving in prison?
Speaker 3 (27:31):
My number one tip for surviving in prison is never
let your guard down. I don't care if you're in
a camp, cupcake, never let your guard down.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
You know, it's never a dull moment.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Everyone's locked up there and you're never on the estimate anybody.
So you always stay on your guard and on your
on your p's and q's.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Uh, what would you say, is like the number one
or are some of the most misconceptions.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Of prison misconceptions?
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Misconceptions Everyone looks at everyone has locked up like their animals,
you know, like, oh, you know.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
You see something on the news.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
You see this guy hit the old lady and you're like,
I'll look at this animal, and you know, so he
gein't set to prison. So they think everyone in prison
is like that. Animals would commit a crime like that,
and guys some guys are in there for a hustle
and never robbed or hurt nobody in there, or they
just hustled. Some guys are in there for child support.
(28:37):
Some guys are in there for you know, white collar crimes. Uh.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Somebody in the comments just asked, what's your biggest regret?
Speaker 2 (28:46):
My biggest regret was committed my offense.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
You know, when I was young and I was just
so I was just so brainwashed about the streets.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
You know, guys put that in my head, like you
got to be the most.
Speaker 3 (28:59):
Gangsters, toughest about that life, that street life, and and
committing my crime, you know, because of that, because of
that persona of just want to be the hardest person
in the group. And when you win, it's off boys
now too, when you end up behind bars, all that
(29:20):
stuff was for nothing, because people change their lives. People
who find out people really wanting about that life, people
just turn their backs on you.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
So, being that you were at juvenile when you caught
your case, right and when you got to president when
you were eighteen, did you like mentor or gravitate towards
juvenile offenders or were you just like I'm just gonna
stay in my lane and do my own thing.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
Yeah, I really didn't. I was a juvenile offender. I
didn't hang out with the regular juveniles like I was.
Like my mentality was, like I feel like.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
I was just different, like you know.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
What I mean, Like like these guys were in there
for certain certain things, Like I can't even explain it,
like it just but yeah, I just I just hung out.
I always hung out, just like in the imprison I
always just like I was on the streets. I hung
out with people that was like minded like me, older
(30:24):
people and and just people that was trying to better
themselves one shape form the fashion, whether it's hustling, working out,
educating themselves.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
What is one thing that you still do that you
did in prison? Somebody else?
Speaker 3 (30:41):
One thing that I still do? Sometimes I eat Raymon
nuts out the bag still. I just did that the
other day. I was out the bag with a little
bit of season, like their chips, why they're drying no
water or nothing.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
Oh oh. A friend of mine asked if you knew
Ernest Otto Smith. You just passed away in February. He
was a serial on aaliverry and we were we were
closing cases, but unfortunately he passed away. Before we could
close them all.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Damn No, I don't know no Idaw Smith, not by name.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
You know, people have nicknames or I probably recognize people
by face.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
But he was this. He was a He was like
a big white dude with long black handy. I think
he was half white, half Native American. He was probably
one of the craziest inmates you would ever come across.
He sent me a video one time on JP of
him like acting like a monkey in a cage and
beating on it and beating his chest and he was
he was real, real out there to say the least. Uh,
(31:44):
did you ever like witness I'm sure you did witness
like people being raped or like assaulted or whatever. Like
if it was somebody of your own race or one
of your own people, would you step in or would
you just be like, that's not my fight, I'm just
gonna look the other way if there.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Was somebody in my own own race.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
A lot of times we we step in other people
that ain't gotten none to do with our races or none.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
No, we don't step in.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
What about what about when it came to people that
were like developmentally disabled or like severely mentally ill, Like
would you would you just look the other way or
would you just be like, hey, man, that's not cool,
Like I'm gonna stick up for this dude.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
I always we always just look the other way. You know.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
Sometimes we might throw a little something like man, what
that dude ain't even do nothing? Sometimes, but most times
everyone minds their business in prison, you know, that's just.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
How it is.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
What was your last year, Like, did anybody ever try
to test you to make you lose good time or
try to get you more charges being that they were
like jealous you were getting out or anything like that.
Speaker 3 (32:45):
A lot of people don't like to talk about any time. Me,
I was so excited. I talked about my time. I
was at the level two, the medium security. But yeah, guys,
guys know you're trying to chill and it ain't even
just about the time. It's about trying to mess your
bid up of going back to a maximum security prison.
And and it's just like why do I gotta do
(33:08):
this to you? You know, Like and a lot of
guys are like that these days. Man, They're they're tough
as hell, and then once you do what you gotta
do to them, they're an R and B, which is
the rule of fraction board and they now they're.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
A victim, Like I don't know why he did me
like that. You know, it's just you see it all
the time.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
So how did you deal with that? Like people trying
to test you and trying to get you to lose
your good time? Like what would you do mentally, emotionally
and physically to stop yourself from from reacting.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Just beinging with the money gun? Thank you?
Speaker 3 (33:41):
Just basically basically, you know, you just try to avoid
the situation as much as possible. You know, when guys
do this or guys do that. And I even have guys,
you know, when you're been down so long, you got
younger guys.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
It's some funder you and they let me handle that.
Speaker 3 (34:00):
I'm like, no, I just shild man lead that situation alone,
you know, and it just it's like, you know, you know,
you got to remember, like not many people.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Can keep their composure. A lot of people can't keep
their composure.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
And you know you gotta remember, like these guys be
thinking like you're never going to see not even seventy
five percent of these dudes again, and like when it's
people going to learn like.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Their all their opinions, like Oh you're soft man.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
You let that Like, when is you gonna like realize
like you're about to be backing out here in the
real world and you can't react on these emotions and
don't solve the answer on the streets.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
It only gets you another case in prison.
Speaker 3 (34:41):
Yes, bodence solves the answer, but out here is the
road back to prison.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
So I imagine this question is when you were in
prison but somebody asked, if you could spend one day
on the outside, what would you do or who would
you spend it with?
Speaker 3 (34:56):
I can spend one day on the outside with would
I do? Like if I was in prison?
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Yeah? Yeah, Like if you had like a good day
or something like that where you got up for a day.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
It would have either been been my mom or would
have been my girl. You know, like like.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
Of course everybody gonna want to be with their girl,
you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
But my mom she held it down from day one,
you know, and she would have deserved.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
It, right, That makes sense. I mean, the mom's bring
us into this world. So I guess that's that's the
right answer above above none. You know, do you remember
what your last week was like, let alone your last
day in prison.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Yeah, my last week it came. It came fast.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
Man.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
It was like, damn that she don't even feel real
like this is my last week. You know.
Speaker 3 (35:48):
You you also said to stay out the way, stay out,
stay out of trouble, because there's so much you know,
you hang out with dudes still, like you know, just
because you changed life on me, you know, you still
hang out with guys that still gotta be there, and
they still some of them.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
Gang bang or affiliated or or hustle.
Speaker 3 (36:10):
Different different people do different things, you know, and you
know when you're in there, Like my last week, it
was just it went fast. But I just basically trying
to meditate, just closed my eyes and just think about,
you know, what I wanted to do, and basically just
trying to take it easy, not to overreact because that
(36:32):
anxiety be so bad. For my last day imprisonment, I
woke up, I woke up early, took a shower, was
ready like an hour and a half before they even
called me. My last night, a lot of people party.
I went to bed. Man, I went to bed. I
went to bed, and just like a lot of people
can't sleep, but I went to bed.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
I'm surprised. I was able to sleep. But yeah, my
last day was just it was just settle Man. We
kicked it. We just kicked it subtle, but it wasn't.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
It wasn't like I thought I was gonna be like
how I kicked it because one of my friends went
to the hole and he was running to another prison,
but he another one went to the hole, So it
was like the people I wanted to hang out.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
With for real wasn't around.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
Huh, somebody else. Did you have a job while you
were in prison?
Speaker 2 (37:26):
Yeah? I had different type of jobs.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
One of my favorite jobs was working in the kitchen
because when you work in the kitchen, you get to
meet female staff members that in the kitchen, these a
lot of people get in relationships, so like, well it's
just about the relationship just around being around female companionship,
(37:50):
like just being around instead of being around dudes all time.
Speaker 2 (37:53):
So that was a cool job.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
What was the worst job you could have in there?
Speaker 3 (37:58):
Worst job when I first got like through, the worst
job was working in the kitchen to they went privatizing
the child hall. Nobody wanted because the child they're not
state workers no more, they're privately owned. But the child
was the first job. Worst job I had when I
first guy. They worked like a slave, and they're like,
we had to do some things like sweating and working.
Speaker 2 (38:20):
You're behind off, and if you didn't go to the hole,
you had to work. I mean you had to work
there for nine days. And if you didn't work your job,
you went to the whole.
Speaker 1 (38:30):
What was the most amount of money you made per
hour or per day in prison?
Speaker 2 (38:35):
I wouldn't know per hour.
Speaker 3 (38:36):
I just knew I got eighteen dollars a month like
everyone else.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
And that's that's for like every single job. No job
pays less, No job pays a single job.
Speaker 3 (38:47):
Now they trying to try to give certain jobs they
got they call it incentives. Your original pay is eighteen
dollars a month, but they got in census like they
might give you twenty five dollars bonus now. But it's
just that certain job like the kitchen and requires more effort.
But they just started that.
Speaker 1 (39:06):
So what was the day like when you got out?
And what day did you get out? I think it
says November.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
Is it November September twenty eighth?
Speaker 1 (39:14):
September twenty eighth, Okay, yeah, what was it like the
day you got out?
Speaker 2 (39:17):
The day I got out, was a nice day.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
I went to the it rained, it rained a couple
times on and off, but I went to the mall
straight from the mall, but I called it I had.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
I got nausees in the car, I from not driving.
Speaker 3 (39:35):
In eighteen being in the car in eighteen years, so
I got nauses in the car, and I'm like, damn,
am I getting sick on my day out? And then
but anyway, when we get to the mall, I got
out the car and I felt better. I'm oh, it
must have been the car that messed me up. But
you know, I went shopping for a couple of little
things like weights and thing clothing items, and then I
(39:57):
went home that little cookout in my backyard with a
couple of old friends that I had that were cool,
and I ate a t bone steak of some ship
on my first night.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
Then I just chilled with my girl for the rest
of the night.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
So somebody just asked me, even though you're out of prison,
why are you still wearing the orange.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
Oh, I always wear this orange to show people like
you never judge a book by its cover, like it's
his ex prisoner. But one of my dudes just got
out two years ago and he was doing forty six
years and the stat part he was innocent. He got
out after fifteen years. Two police officers came forward and
testified that their friend that were not their friend but
(40:41):
their partner, had lied on him and his coat offendly
and they got out. You know, he's always telling me
he's gonna get out, and I'm like, yeah, you know,
my head, I'm like, like everyone says that, but he
got out after fifteen years. So you know, everyone thinks
just because you wear his color, you're guilty. You know,
the cops do get it sometimes. Also, I told the
(41:03):
guards in there that I was gonna make them pay
by spreading the light of all the corruption that they
do towards inmates.
Speaker 2 (41:08):
Like you know, it may do things, but don't nobody
just grow up one day.
Speaker 3 (41:12):
But I don't want to go to prison and there's
rob people for honey bombs or Snickers bars.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
It's because the food being masked.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
I'm not justifying the food be disgusting and it's like
it's it used to be editor but then now it's
just like a business. They want you to go to
commissary and buy everything, but wardeness because prisons a state
of mind and now they see me on here and
you know it's basically the raise awareness.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
That makes sense. Yeah, that's that's a good uh good
point of view for sure. So are you? Are you
on parole or where you just straight up?
Speaker 2 (41:52):
Or least I got up to five years parole.
Speaker 1 (41:56):
Okay, okay. So somebody asked, if you had the money
to start a program to help others, what kind of
program would you start?
Speaker 2 (42:06):
I had a program to help others, it would have
to be a program that basically gives people the motivation
to not go back to prison, because you know, they
give you a trade in prison, but when you get
out here, when you get out here, it's like you,
(42:26):
I want to work for this landscape escaping company, and
they taught you how to landscape in prison. Like we
don't hire feelings, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (42:34):
So guys get discouraged, Like I put all my eggs
into this best effort. This program was a whole year
program or a two year program, and then you can't
even get a job with it, and then so guys
get discouraged. But you know, guys complain about prison all
the time. You know about the guards, the food, the
living situations. Then they get out here and it's like
(42:56):
they forget about it. So it's something that would educate
them or motivate them to open your eyes and help
them then, you know, and I feel like, you know,
guys need somebody that they can relate.
Speaker 2 (43:07):
You know.
Speaker 3 (43:08):
People talk about the dangerous people that thugs, this and that,
but he's the people that are gonna be the most
effective because they've been through but they shut try to
close the doors on these people when they get out,
and let give them, give them a chance to pay
it forward and talk to people.
Speaker 2 (43:26):
Are there kids? People in prison?
Speaker 3 (43:28):
They'd be like, man, you know, people see me like them,
He's doing good out there.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
Even the guards guards that I've been in prisons, they
be like that, dude is doing it. And people used
to doubt me and everything.
Speaker 1 (43:44):
A friend of mine who's in here right now, he
was wrongly convicted for un alive in a man in
a bar fight. It was self defense actually, but he
was convicted. He said he wants to link up with
you and do something on social media with you eventually.
Speaker 2 (43:57):
Oh, he wants to do something on social media with me.
Speaker 1 (44:01):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. His name is Jacob Gentry. He
was he was wrongfully convicted and he was exonerated, and
I think you did what eight or nine years, right, Jacob.
Somebody had asked, do you live near where you did
in prison before? And if oh, he did seven years
in prison, and if so, does it make it hard
for you to stay on the right path.
Speaker 2 (44:18):
I don't live near the prison I was at.
Speaker 3 (44:21):
The prison I was at is like an hour and
a half away from Cleveland. But yeah, and doesn't make
it Oh does it make it hard to stay on
the right path?
Speaker 2 (44:33):
No, I don't make it hard to stay on the
right path. Man.
Speaker 3 (44:36):
I you know, I remember every day I remind myself
where I've been. You know, people say move on, but
you can't know where you're going if you don't know
where you've been.
Speaker 2 (44:43):
So that's why I talk about it.
Speaker 3 (44:46):
I I you know, express myself to it, because as
long as I remind myself every single day that, no,
I don't like living in the four by four cell
with a complete stranger, or you know, eating slop or
beating my cell at five o'clock PM when it's ninety
degrees outside and you're feeling like you're baking in the
(45:09):
oven in that cell. All them type of things, you know,
so you know, you just got to use that that
hurt to push you on.
Speaker 1 (45:19):
So how do you deal with like everyday stressors and
triggers Like said, you go to the grocery store and
someone like bumps into you or whatever, like because in prison,
you know, obviously you can check somebody, but in real
life outside in the free world, like you can get
charges for even like threatening somebody or whatever.
Speaker 2 (45:35):
You know, Yeah, I had, That's that's one of my
pet peeves.
Speaker 3 (45:40):
I gotta think when since I've been out when someone
bumps me like that happened to me like three times.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
You know.
Speaker 3 (45:48):
I was at a Nike Runk and a Nike Runk
club and even the guy was just like They're like, oh,
we're having drinks here at this little place restaurant, you know,
and it was like you didn't have to get drinks.
You could just because that's where we went after our run.
It was like where we met up and it's what
a Nike one club was. And this guy was just
(46:09):
like you could just tell him just bump me, and
it's like it's so demeter and it's just like but
that's not the first time that happened out here. But
it's like that irks me. But you know, these guys
just don't know no better, and it's.
Speaker 1 (46:20):
Just right right. So what would your advice be to
somebody that just got out of prison that has like
no family, no job, steals, anything like that to make
sure they don't reoffend and end up back in prison.
Speaker 3 (46:34):
You don't got no family or no no support or nothing.
Remember that struggle you complained about, Remember that struggle. Them
hard times where you can be a bum under a
bridge and bumba burger off of somebody, but in prison
you're forced to eat that prison slot. You know what
I mean? These are good problems to have, trying to
(46:55):
wonder even though it's hard, even though knife ain't easy,
you know you gotta get on the grind. The same
mentality these guys put into these hustles dot here in
the streets, evolve it. You know it's gonna be them
slow days out through them streets when you're hustling, But
when you get a job, it's gonna be them slow days.
Speaker 2 (47:16):
You push through it.
Speaker 1 (47:20):
So, in your opinion, from being incarcerated, where do you
think rehability rehabilitation struck do you think it's with the youth.
Do you think it's when they go to prison at
a young age? Like, where do you think rehabilitation starts
if that, if that even exists.
Speaker 3 (47:36):
Rehabilitation starts with with with the adults. You know, it
ain't the kids. It ain't no fourteen year old kids.
Fifteen year old kids making rap songs talking about how
cool it is to go to prison.
Speaker 2 (47:50):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (47:51):
It ain't the fourteen year old kids come up, Hey,
come out here in these streets and get this money.
Speaker 2 (47:56):
You know it ain't. You know, it's the older guys.
Speaker 1 (48:00):
So what are you doing today to make sure that
you don't reoffend in any way, shape or for them,
even if it's just something petty.
Speaker 3 (48:06):
You know, I don't hang around with old friends that
I used to. And if you known't gotten nothing positive
in your life going on, I don't want to be
around it, like whether they're always negative energy anything like,
I make sure I'd rather be at home.
Speaker 2 (48:22):
Ain't nothing wrong with I don't even use the words board, so.
Speaker 3 (48:25):
I'm gonna say, because there's always something productive you could
be doing out here. I didn't even like seeing that
word in prison no more, because you know, I could
be working out, bringing an intellectual book something out here.
With all the technology, games, everything that got on, how
can someone say they're bored?
Speaker 2 (48:41):
So you could just say, you know, I don't have
a problem living.
Speaker 1 (48:44):
A simple life, right, So what's one thing that you
would like people to know about yourself or your situation
that you don't necessarily talk about in your lives or
or publicly anything like that.
Speaker 3 (49:02):
It's a good question something I would want people to
know about me. You know, I don't really talk about
how like I'm an change man, and you know we
all when no one's perfect. I still get angry at times.
(49:22):
I still get you know, emotional, but it's learning the
channel all that and learning to deal with yourself and
not reacting on those emotions. So you know, you know,
I'm not you know how you know, I just want
the world to see like who I am. I'm I'm still.
Speaker 2 (49:41):
You know, I'm still Victor, but you know I'm just more.
I'm just a human being.
Speaker 1 (49:47):
Man.
Speaker 2 (49:48):
I'm just an ex kind.
Speaker 3 (49:49):
Of out here, you know, trying to live his life
and start his life out in the world after eighteen years.
Speaker 1 (49:56):
Uh, somebody just asked, what was what was the food
you missed most when you were locked up.
Speaker 2 (50:03):
It won't be no prison food.
Speaker 3 (50:05):
But uh oh, you said when I was locked up,
but it would be chicken wings.
Speaker 2 (50:13):
I love buffalo style chicken wings.
Speaker 3 (50:15):
And they stopped giving chicken wings in prison because people
were using the bones for shanks.
Speaker 1 (50:20):
Mmm, that's crazy. So they would file down the wings
to where they were they were sharp and use them
as a shank.
Speaker 4 (50:28):
That's that's pretty creative. Actually, yeah, no, no drumsticks and
none of that. Damn you said chicken in prison years ago,
like twenty eleven.
Speaker 1 (50:42):
So what was your mental health like eighteen years ago
as opposed to now, Like, do you think it's improved?
Do you think it's got worse?
Speaker 3 (50:50):
My mental health? It it improved, It improved, But towards
the end of my bed's it was it was getting.
It just been, you know, it gets it went up
and down, up and down, be going to sell solitary,
being in the hole. It just that messages you up
to it, and you just get tired of seeing people
(51:10):
pray like you said, people prayed upon and you don't
even say nothing. You just get to thinking like evil thoughts,
like man, if they better not bring that over here?
With me this and that. So you know, even whether
it's a sell robbery or somebody just jumping people just
because they can do it, You never know what somebody's
thinking in prison.
Speaker 1 (51:27):
Is that a fear that you had that you know,
like I might be next. I need to stay on
my toes.
Speaker 3 (51:31):
No, the biggest fear I ever had was catching more
time in prison. You know, I knew that I was
in prison. You know, you got to you gotta survive,
and you know, somebody try to bring in there, Like
I didn't want to unalive somebody.
Speaker 2 (51:47):
In prison end up doing life in prison, you know
what I mean?
Speaker 3 (51:49):
Like we get through and like if I get to
fight and one of his people's slammed the door and
it's just me and that dude in there, it's me
or him, you know, So you.
Speaker 2 (51:58):
Fight like your life depends on it.
Speaker 3 (52:00):
Ain't only Oh yeah, you need like these kiddie fights
you see out here in the world, you know them
fights can get serious.
Speaker 1 (52:08):
Right right? Yeah, you don't want to get more time,
but at the same time, you don't want to become
a victim yourself.
Speaker 2 (52:15):
That was my biggest fear of me what I would
do to somebody again.
Speaker 1 (52:20):
Right, and it's not like you can prove that they
were the aggressor when there's no cameras or anything like that.
So it's your word against the person that is no
longer hear. So we've been on here a little over
an hour now, is there anything that you want to
talk about that you never really do talk about or
(52:41):
that you you just have on your mind that you
want to get off of it?
Speaker 2 (52:49):
Not really?
Speaker 1 (52:54):
Okay, Well, I appreciate you. I appreciate you doing with
this this with me today. I'm hoping in the future
we can do more. You're really very well spoken, and
I feel like you're you're very knowledgeable about the system,
and you actually seem like you do have genuinely genuine
like you know, remorse, and you you you you're not
going to go back to the ways you were, and
(53:14):
I appreciate that about you, and I appreciate that you're
using your platform for good rather than appreciate in prison.
Speaker 3 (53:20):
You know, I appreciate it when you just said that,
you sounded like my parole officer. He said that, he
said that yesterday for real. So you seem like you
really changed.
Speaker 1 (53:29):
Yeah, that's awesome. That's because you know, obviously the recidivism
rate is probably not that good these days, you know,
and there's probably a lot of people going back because,
like you said, if there's no friends or family, whatever,
you just got to hold on to what you did.
Speaker 2 (53:44):
There's an eighty three rate.
Speaker 1 (53:47):
Yeah, that's crazy that that definitely needs to change. And
rehabilitation is not a thing in prison, as you were
saying the other day. In your life, people said prison
should be meant for punishment, not rehabilitation. But I think
that's totally wrong.
Speaker 3 (53:59):
That's why in other countries them things like they they
they look like sales, but they got real, like real
small beds.
Speaker 2 (54:07):
Windows, ain't no bars on the windows, you know what
I mean.
Speaker 3 (54:10):
And it's like when you get senters to due a crime,
is that's that's your time and the punishment. So you've
been in there, you can't even talk to a guard
for five minutes well after their higher up, like why
are you talking to that inmate?
Speaker 2 (54:22):
I understand corruption goes on, but at.
Speaker 3 (54:23):
The same time, if I went to a guard like
which you think would be a good career to preside them,
why are you talking to that inmate?
Speaker 2 (54:29):
You know? So that's not rehabilitation.
Speaker 3 (54:31):
We are they treat us like we're not going to
be released back into society, when if that's god, I
might see that guard on the streets and like, man,
thank you for that advice. Man, I end up pursuing
that job that you told me about and it helped
me change my life and stay out of prison.
Speaker 1 (54:47):
Right, that's good. Yeah, I know that the misconception about
talking to guards like oh, he's a snitch or he's
trying to get favors or whatever, you know. Like, but
there's people that are genuinely good people that want advice,
that don't want to reoffend when they get out, you know,
and they don't want to end up, you know, dying
in prison one day for sure. All Right, Well, you know,
(55:10):
like I said, I appreciate your time. I'll definitely stay
in touch with you, you know, and I appreciate you coming
on today, and I wish you the best. I hope,
I hope you know your your life goes in the
direction you wanted to go. And yeah, I just I
hope you know good things come your way.
Speaker 3 (55:28):
I appreciate it. Man, you have a blessed day. So
I appreciate you having me up on here telling my truth.
You keep doing your thing too, all.
Speaker 1 (55:37):
Right, appreciate it, take care, and we'll connect soon, okay,
all right, stay blissed, all right later
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.