Trip report/ask me about time in maximum (and minimum) security prison

[MyTurn2Raise]

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wow, great thread, you must really feel like your got totally bad beat by the whole situation.
I mean, seriously, if 1000 people carried the same amount of drugs you had, probaly no more than 10 of them would get caught, and maybe 1-2 would get sentenced as bad as you.
It sounds like you just got totally [censored] unlucky.

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hmmm....well, it was probably on the lower end of possible outcomes, but not that crazy.
For one, I am grateful the theif didn't really screw himself up. The way the laws are written, I could've been gone a long time if he had somehow killed himself.

Also, that one instance looks like an amazingly bad outcome for me, but it reminds me of an analogy I heard regarding Long-Term Capital Management Co.
Getting struck by lightning is a bad break. However, if one rushes out to an open field with a lightning rod every time it storms, is it really that unexpected to be struck by lightning?

Like I said, I was using lots of different drugs. I was in lots of different weird situations. There were a handful of times when I just evaded the long arm of the law and/or personal injury. So, sure, this one outcome looks bad. But, if one puts themselves in 20+ situations to have the real bad outcome, how unlikely is it?

[MyTurn2Raise]

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MT2R,

awesome trip report, thanks for writing all this down.

Is it possible to get protection in the max if you pay the right guy(s)? Or does begging for help immediately mark you as a weak spot?

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well...it turns out I was sort of protected by being around Cali all the time, though I didn't fully realize it at the time. No one wanted to cross him and I was considered his in a way.

[MyTurn2Raise]

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I know you are making good money playing poker now, but I feel for your situation as far as the job search goes. I know someone who has a prior and is having an incredibly difficult time finding a job for a college grad. The only advice I can offer is concentrate on small companies who might not think to perform a background check.
I can't believe your girlfriend stuck by you through prison, but then broke it off during house arrest. I guess it must have been too difficult seeing you every day, but not being able to enjoy the relationship as it had been.

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well, the issue with the girlfriend was that even when I was out and on house arrest, I wasn't back to myself. I'm well adjusted to all of it now, but the whole thing did a real brain [censored] on me at the time. It probably was at least 4 months before I felt somewhat normal again and a year until I was fully normalized. My brain was crushed and I didn't think straight. She was 20 and shouldn't have to put up with [censored] like that. She eventually got tired of middle of the night calls and my weakness. I think she made a poor choice, but I understand it. It took me a long time to become the 'old me.'

[MyTurn2Raise]

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Don't think I saw this asked, so were there any prisoners who received special treatment while in jail? I am again thinking of movies/tv like Goodfellas and 'The Wire' where bigshot criminals are able to enjoy a good quality of life while in the can and get special treatment from guards. If such a dynamic exists in real life, how does it play out?

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there used to be alot of prisoners treated special, but that got cleaned up in Illinois in the mid/late 90s. In May of 1996, there was a huge news story that exposed the state of Illinois prisons after Bill Curtis, of A&E fame, brought to light videos of the prison system and specifically Richard Speck. The prison system was run by the inmates and the guards just let whatever happen as long as they were safe. After this video and a flurry of filed lawsuits, the IDOC cleaned up its act. They put in many more fences and gates, established better controls to monitor the prison pop, it kept too many prisoners from congregating, and it ended special treatment. The minimum security prison, Vienna, was infamous for having gang leader Larry Hoover, chief of the gangster disciples, run the prison. By the time of my incarceration, this type of thing had been slowed down a ton as the guards took the prison system over. The interstate trading of gang chiefs helped end the system of a few guys dominating the system.



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Did you feel your lawyer worked his hardest for you/got you the best deal possible?

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Yes. He did everything possible. I did consult other lawyers when things got bad and they all came to the same agreement. My lawyer has always felt bad about my case and thinks it is one the biggest 'raw' deals he has seen. Oh well..

[MyTurn2Raise]

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If given the choice as an alternate to 10 years in min security prison, what is the most ammount of time you would spend in Joliet?

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1 year....it's that different

[MyTurn2Raise]

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just wanted to say this is a really interesting thread and I have a lot of respect for how you handled all this.

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thank you. I'm pretty sure most reasonable people would have handled it the same way.

[MyTurn2Raise]

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Question for you:

I am white, 5'8 150 (pretty fit but not like im gonna scare anyone)
Now normally i would be approached the arryans however, i am also jewish.
Now i dont have a big nose or anything sterotypical jewish.
But i do have brown hair/eyes.
If the arryans would find out would i be dead shortly thereafter? and if i really needed protection could i join the arryans or would they find out?

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don't let them find out.
honestly, it's more of let's band together as white guys. It seemed that only a few of the 'leaders' took the anti-Jewish race stuff as a big deal. Most of it was about banding together as white guys, so we don't get our azzes kicked as a minority in the system.
I never heard of them going after Jewish prisoners. They might look down at you, but they are more concerned about protecting themselves from other inmate groups.

HOnestly, it was my opinion to just stay away from the stuff altogether as that crowd doesn't help.

[kurosh]

I actually met some guys a few nights ago who know you in Champaign. I don't think I got their names, but one of them had a twin and was a little chubby with black hair. He could've been Italian.

How would a Persian like me be treated in prison?? My skin tone is lighter than most white people. Technically, I am Caucasian.

[NhlNut]

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just wanted to say this is a really interesting thread and I have a lot of respect for how you handled all this.

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thank you. I'm pretty sure most reasonable people would have handled it the same way.

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I don't think so. I don't think I would have done as well as you did.

[escobar]

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Don't think I saw this asked, so were there any prisoners who received special treatment while in jail? I am again thinking of movies/tv like Goodfellas and 'The Wire' where bigshot criminals are able to enjoy a good quality of life while in the can and get special treatment from guards. If such a dynamic exists in real life, how does it play out?

[/ QUOTE ]
there used to be alot of prisoners treated special, but that got cleaned up in Illinois in the mid/late 90s. In May of 1996, there was a huge news story that exposed the state of Illinois prisons after Bill Curtis, of A&E fame, brought to light videos of the prison system and specifically Richard Speck. The prison system was run by the inmates and the guards just let whatever happen as long as they were safe. After this video and a flurry of filed lawsuits, the IDOC cleaned up its act. They put in many more fences and gates, established better controls to monitor the prison pop, it kept too many prisoners from congregating, and it ended special treatment. The minimum security prison, Vienna, was infamous for having gang leader Larry Hoover, chief of the gangster disciples, run the prison. By the time of my incarceration, this type of thing had been slowed down a ton as the guards took the prison system over. The interstate trading of gang chiefs helped end the system of a few guys dominating the system.



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Did you feel your lawyer worked his hardest for you/got you the best deal possible?

[/ QUOTE ]
Yes. He did everything possible. I did consult other lawyers when things got bad and they all came to the same agreement. My lawyer has always felt bad about my case and thinks it is one the biggest 'raw' deals he has seen. Oh well..

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If you went to prison for simple possession of GHB, dont get caught playing poker for a living, you might get the death penalty