IamA just released from federal prison in the United States, ask me anything! Spent many years all over, different security levels.

Is prison rape as common or as big of an issue as people are led to believe?

Nah, but there is a lot of homosexual stuff always going on. It isn't like the 80s and 90s with the raped, but there are a lot of "sissys" and "punks" as they call them. You're much more likely to be propositioned for somebody to pay you to suck your dick than the other way around, don't ask me why, it seems like everybody in prison is a bottom, lol. I'm heterosexual for the most part, so I didn't mess with any of that, but it is not what it is portrayed like on tv or movies. There is also a big transgender fad in the prisons now and they let them buy bras and panties and perfume and stuff. X_X

This is a pretty personal question so please tell me if it's something you wouldn't want to answer, but you said you're heterosexual "for the most part." Would you elaborate on that? Did you have the same preferences before being locked up?

I mean, I'm heterosexual, but I'm open to the idea that anybody could potentially be the right person for me, just so happens I've never met any guys or anything that interest me in that way, but I'm very open minded. Just so happens I almost always have a girlfriend, lol. I think everybody is somewhat bisexual, in a sense, I mean, everybody should find themselves attractive, and at the end of the day, isn't that kind of technically homosexual? I dunno, I might just think about it too technically in the syntax.

There's a good bit from Ron White about how everyone is at least a little gay...

Brother-In-Law: Gay people are an abomination! Him: Well, do you watch porn? Brother-In-Law: Hell yea I watch porn Him: Is it always two women? Brother-In-Law: No, I'll watch a man and a woman make love! Him: Well do you like the guy to have a limp, flaccid penis? Brother-In-Law: HELL NO I LIKE BIG HARD THROBBING CO.................... Him: There ya go

rofl I think this is the best comment in this thread wtf lol.

That's a really interesting way to look at it. I respect your open-mindedness. Thanks for taking the time to reply - I read every comment in this thread. Wish you all the best.

Thanks :) It has been a lot of work to keep up with the comments, but i'm trying.

How are the transgender inmates treated? Do they ever go to female prisons like in OITNB or do the govt not recognise them as women?

Maybe if they are post op, but I am not sure on that. They get treated fairly, I'd say, I mean, there was a mean old tranny where I was just at that was a real hoot, he (or she, if you'd prefer) would really kind of bully some of the guys who hated his lifestyle, but in a humorous way.

Have you seen "Animal Factory" (2000)? Willem Dafoe, Mickey Rourke, Edward Furlong. I have huge respect for Rourke for pulling off a tranny role.

Never seen it but watched that clip and yeah there are trannys like that in prison and it is some kind of popular thing now, they are concentrated in certain prisons for the most part, but transgender inmates are getting all kinds of "benefits" in federal prisons now; they give them hormone therapy and essentially a lot of them conduct themselves like females. Unlike the clip, some you'd actually mistake for females on the street if you were to run into them.

Is it possible to survive in prison just being neutral and minding your own business. Or are you forced to be part of a group?

Well, in an FCI, yes, in a USP, no, even as a white if you are not a gang member, you ride "independent" with whatever state you are from. With Spanish people, like Mexicans in particular, they have a non-gang gang as well, Pisa.

And what do you need to do to be part of a gang? And what type of thing should you consider for joining a group?

You don't need anything, most gangs do something called probate or prospect, where potential members are put under strict review and scrutiny, and then usually they have some kind of initiation ceremony. Most of the white gangs, you'll have to beat or stab somebody for them to gain membership. For some gangs though, like the GDs (Gangster Disciples), they don't jump people in, they bless them in with gifts and other things and really, that was one of the better gangs I seen as far as, they protect their members at all costs and try to cut down on bullshit. When they opened a new federal USP down in Yazoo, Mississippi (*spelling?) they took the main GDs from the compound I was at and used them to "open" the prison, just to give you an idea, they are even recognized for their behavior by the prison system. The worst gangs though, by far, are the aryan and white gangs.

Would you mind expanding on why the aryan and white gangs are the worst?

Meh, they cause a lot of violence and usually seemed to be the ones getting all the drugs in. They really take advantage of the guys trying to join their gangs (the ones I seen, anyways). So I mean, when I say they are the worst, I mean as far as fighting, stabbing and stuff like that, if we get locked down everybody would go "God damn white boys at it again", I mean, that is 90% of the time a good guess for why we were getting locked down.

So what group were you in

I usually was just with general white people groups, actually in the USP, I rode with the Tennessee guys, because all the Florida guys there before I got there had just been beat up and kicked off the compound, and it isn't a good idea to ride solo. Most other prisons I hang out with the geeks and nerds. We get some vicious Path Finder / Dungeons and Dragons games going. 3.5 for the win, 4.0 is some shit!

So how would a 5ft 9' 175 lb dude be looked at in prison among physical monsters?

Like I said before, you could do good. There are also a lot of really big guys in prison who get their kicks out of waiting for a small guy to get fucked with and then abusing the tormentors, more than you'd expect. Picking on the weak and vulnerable is generally frowned upon.

Ah so what's the size for weak and vulnerable? Or could anyone anysize qualify for that title

Any size, you got big guys who are total softies, and you got small guys who will rip your head off in heart beat. Size isn't always a good indicator of how tough somebody is.

How common were weapons like shanks?

In the USP, very common. In the FCI, they were there, but more rare. guys in the USP cup up the bunk and the lockers mainly to make the metal ones, then they have acrylic mirrors they melt down or plastic tray lids for "floaters" that get through the detectors.

Holy shit you played DnD in prison? What in the fuck was your character and the characters of your mates? This is so so incredibly important for me to know

Oh, I usually played Pathfinder, and even in DND, I liked to play a tank type character, so I'm usually a fighter. Except for in 4.0, you can totally cheese it with a ranger and twin strike and all that jazz and it makes the DM really mad because you can just sit back and nuke stuff with very little effort. I played some awesome campaigns, we had some massive games with almost a dozen players.

There was a thread on another subreddit (maybe /r/dnd) about playing RPGs in jail and the main thing I took away from that is how you would have to use improvised dice because real dice aren't allowed. What did you use for dice in there?

There are sheets where the dice are printed, flat, and you cut them out, fill them with rice and glue them together like origami. I've seen everything up to D20 made perfect, and wooden D6 and other lower ones.

Are there any prisoners that get special treatment, I'm thinking along the lines of goodfellas where they are eating sausages and drinking wine?

Some of the black hand guys, and the old Italian mob guys, a guy Bobby Manna he tried to blow up john Gotti's car but blew up the wrong car, they are all geriatric, but they get good treatment. Besides that, any ex military guys usually get respect and perks from the guards.

I thought the black hands guys are required to be in solitary confinement?

Nah, they get out onto the rougher USP compounds, there is no gang or anything in particular where they can just say "We're sending you to ADX (Colorado supermax) because you are in this (particular gang)", but I do know California state prison and Texas state prison are a bit more strict with them.

What is black hand? Googling gives me a Serbian military group, that can't be it?

It is a Mexican Mafia type of thing, they tattoo a black hand on their chest. Look up "Boxer" Enriquez, I think I spelled it right, he wrote a book and was a notorious black hand.

How hard was it to get drugs? And what were the typical rates?

The main drugs in prison, illegal ones, are heroin, suboxone, "toonchie" (they spray synthetic canabinoids on paper and cards), spice, and then weed of course.

The rates vary depending on the prison, but a small little quarter inch by quarter inch square of toonchie is about $8 and you can get high twice.

Suboxone strips go from $40-$300, depending on where and how much you buy at once. Generally a 1/16 or a 1/8 goes for $8 and guys snort it with water into their nose.

Weed is like $4-$8 for a very small pinner joint.

I never really knew the prices on the other stuff like heroin or meth and stuff when that would come around. When I was in Jesup, GA, there was a ton of cell phones and they had spice there almost as cheap as on the streets.

Very interesting. I never really thought about the purchasing of such small amounts of drugs. Thanks for the reply.

In prison, anything works. Weed you'd brush off your table on the streets, when you haven't smoked in weeks/months/years, it has a major effect. Just have to worry about the drug tests. But yeah, stuff like suboxone, guys could make a strip of suboxone last a month if they had to.

How do they decide to drug test an inmate? Randomized or routine for all? What happens if you fail a drug test--and do the consequences vary depending on the drug (ie failing for heroin vs weed)?

Thanks, and good luck/best wishes with your life going forwards.

They have two versions, "suspect", which is usually somebody told on them, or random. If you fail a drug test, you go on a hot list and get a random test once a month. If you fail a test for one thing it is just as bad as another and the same as a refusal. The disciplinary system is called a "shot", the most severe shot, 100 is killing another inmate. 203 is fighting. 300 series are for like, you were not were you were supposed to be and such. 100 series is very serious, and drug test failure/refusal, it doesn't matter if it is for heroin or weed or anything, even a medication not prescribed to you, it is a 110 I believe or a 113, one is a possession the other is failure of drug test. That gets you a lot of security points and stays with you for up to 10 years in the federal prison system. If you are in a camp, you'll go to a low, low to an FCI and from an FCI, most likely to a USP, those are the security levels.

So, to answer you question, like I said, the drug doesn't matter. If somebody says you are abusing a seizure medication like say, tegretol, which people get high on, they test your urine and if they find it, you get in the same trouble as if you had heroin in your system (unless it is a medication you are prescribed, then it is just a misuse of medication charge, with is a 300-series incident report, which has very minor consequences).

100 series incident report you can also lose good times, you're going to lose on average 48 days or more that you'll have to spend in prison and you'll also likely lose some privileges for 6 months, like your commissary or your phone or your email, or visitations.

Also, if you fail for multiple drugs, it is still the same thing, dirty urinalysis result, so that is why, a lot of guys doing drugs in prison, they are taking whatever and whenever, because the consequence is the same if you fail for weed, or fail for weed, heroin and cocaine (which you can't really find in prison, but just for example) at the same time.

Why is cocaine unavailable when all those other drugs are?

I think because the amount you have to do is larger and it is harder to get in through visitation and other methods. Heroin, people are addicts so they find a way to get it in and marijuana and stuff I often think comes from corrections officers.

God I feel so old (mid 30's) because I don't even know what some of these drugs are....

Don't feel old, just some people are out there looking for that stuff, and it has been popular for about the last ten years, the synthetics, so if you were not really into that type stuff, the drugs don't just seek people out lol. I know many people older than you who know what they are and many more younger that don't.

Did you happen to know my dad i never met? Mark Claborn. He was a DWB and went by the name "cravker". Tall white guy with a shaved head and a reddish blonde goatee and mustache. .. Just curious..

For some reason that does sound kind of familiar, where was he from?

Hes in texakarna now. From palm bay in florida. Look at his profile on facebook if that may help! This is the closest i got so far lol

I can try to look him up on Facebook, but I dunno if I'll be able to locate him. But yeah, if he is in Taxarkana, I dunno, the name just sounds kind of familiar.

Why were you moved so much?

I got in trouble for fighting in NY, then threatening staff in NJ, then my security went down in the USP after my points dropped, the only place I never got in trouble technically, then I got in trouble with all the guys in my unit when there was a bunch of spice in GA, I wasn't selling it or anything but they thought I was high on it (I wasn't) and when I passed two blood tests and three urine tests they looked bad and just shipped me to SC, my final destination before I was immediate release.

Did you fly on Con Air?

Yes

Can you tell us about the times you got in trouble? Like the fighting and the threatening staff?

I went over it a bit in other places, but the threatening staff was over an email I sent to a chaplain, and it is a long story, but he was trying to force several different religious denominations to hold their services at the same time and I was really just an angry bystander, I didn't use any profanity or anything, but it pissed the guy off and he said I had threatened him, and I beat it on appeal because it was all in black and white. The fight was just something stupid between a celly of mine and I, and wasn't really too big of a deal, but they treat all fights pretty serious in federal prison.

Is prison anything like on TV/movies where you gotta show your "worth" as soon as you arrive so the other inmates wont treat you like garbage?

And would you say the American prison system helps at all at reeducating criminals or it's just a place where you send people to be punished and they usually come out worse than they entered?

Last question, how were the guards like? Professional, self righteous assholes or friendly?

Sorry for too many questions, always had these doubts.

First: in USP you have to show your paperwork, to prove you aren't a child molester or a snitch or a check in or a gang drop out. So, in a way, yeah, but people take you on your word in prison. Word is bond and that is all you got, so if you go around sputtering nonsense and not living up to what you say, then you wont last long.

The american prison system is garbage and it does not help you at all, most people leave much worse. There are not really any good programs for people trying to better themselves and they do try to make guys get a GED and stuff, but even guys fuck that off and there are loopholes around it.

The guards were much better than you'd imagine, you got a few bad apples, the higher security places, they leave you alone and treat you with a lot of respect. For the most part, all the prison staff know the places are fucked up and just do their best to try and make sure everybody survives from one day to the next.

Thanks for answering, very interesting. Some things I got right but didn't expect people in prison to behave under an honesty rule or guards to be friendly.

Guess it's better that way, without honesty everybody there would be at each others throats 100% of the time and asshole guards would be collectively hated, making everyone miserable.

Sucks to know about how much prisons suck, it's the same way in my country and then you get petty thieves coming out as blown out criminals. I don't see it changing anytime soon, between the people's mentality of "That guy broke the law and now he's gotta suffer!" instead of trying to make them better and the close to zero attention the government gives to the system (also the thing about private prisons) seems like it's gonna be this way for a long time.

But hey, here's hoping.

Yeah they have two rules in USP, one is called "Hands Off Policy", that means, for the most part, only your own people can jump on you. So if you are a Florida guy and you run up a debt, they go to your people. Your people might pay it once, but then they jump you and "check you in", off the compound. Stuff like that, so you don't have to worry about rival gangs or anything too much.

They also have "hands laid, debts paid", which is where, if somebody owes you money and you fight them, the debt is considered null and void.

There is animosity between the guards and the inmates in the USP, but it is usually kept to a minimum. Even with the inmates, there is kind of unspoken rules and most of the time, if you give respect, you get it.

Are there any tiny rules or more things that are socially different in there? Such as not backing down, not making eye contact, not talking about other guys, rules for the prison market, managing how you were seen when interacting with other inmates, guards, social workers or just anything similar to those things?

There are a few, but they are kind of arbitrary and vary from one person to the next and one yard to the next. In general, backing down can be seen as a smart thing or a cowardly thing, depending on who is judging you and what your reasons may have been.

They also have "hands laid, debts paid", which is where, if somebody owes you money and you fight them, the debt is considered null and void.

That has got to be the single most destructive unwritten law I've ever heard in any scenario.

Well, prevents a lot of fights, you'd be surprised. It makes it so nobody is just getting beat up for being in debt. If a guy owes you $100, what do you want, to punch him in the face, OR, wait and hope you get your money back? Most people just wait.

And do most people stick to this? What happens if they fight and the loaner is still pissed about the money and keeps trying to get it back from the debtor?

The person might 'check in', but if they are part of a car or a gang or something, that is very unlikely because of the "hands off" policy.

What's (who's) a 'check in'?

Somebody who goes to the SHU (Secure Housing Unit / Special Housing Unit) that is essentially the hole, either because they don't want to pay a debt or are scared of somebody, or something like that. It is a bad reputation to have to do that, because federal prisoners do have email and communicate between prisoners, so whatever you do one place, always catches up with you eventually. Sorry for not clarifying.

Ah ok, got it. Thanks.

You could email directly between prisoners? Or did you have to go through a third person on the outside?

You can go through third person, but you might get in trouble. You can get approval for email between prisoners directly, but I don't know many people that have done it, it is a tricky process. Usually there is just a relay on the streets bouncing messages back and forth, a few companies do it too, for inmates, and run their facebook pages and stuff like that.

No good programs for people to better themselves then you immediately mention the GED program.

If you think GED is bettering these guys, you have to realize they do everything they can to avoid it or cheat and the program is compulsory at first. A GED for an ex con doesn't do much good when they have no skills. These guys, like less than a year ago, I heard one inmate tell another "they got out there, a phone, it gots a camera, in the phone" and the other guy goes "Oh yeah??!!", like people have been locked up since the 1990s, they get out with a GED and go work... where?

I really don't give a fuck. Everyone knows the consequences of going to prison and not breaking the law is extremely easy. I'm simply pointing out the fact that this guy said there are no programs to help people and then immediately mentioned a program that helps people.

Do you think everybody in prison is guilty? Surely there must be some innocent people in there. That said, if you go to prison with a GED, like I did, then how does a GED program help you?

What were some of the moments in prison that stuck out as a great display of humanity between people all stuck in a shitty situation? Were there any? Any other positive experiences you'd like to share from your time incarcerated?

Oh yeah, there were tons, I mean, you really see people come together and look out for each other. A common practice at many prisons is, like, if you are from New York say, and you get somewhere, you get a care package, and it usually doesn't have to be paid back. Your other people from New York will make sure you have soap and a bowl and some food and all the other essential things you need.

I rarely seen people going hungry or anything or at a want for something, because there are always store men and stuff that will lend you out a line of credit to pay back in a week or a month or however long it would take. So when it comes to hospitality and things like that, prisoners are surprisingly more positive than you'd imagine towards one another.

There are a few instances that stick out in my mind, but the last place I was at, Estill FCI in SC, there was a lot of sex offenders and stuff there and those guys, some of them have a charge like they were 19 with a 17 year old girlfriend who sent them nude photos, so now they are in prison and most prisoners are not trying to look past what the charge was (possession of child pornography), but there was a real good group of guys where I was at who essentially took all the misfits and the geeks and the people who were weaker in the prison system into their fold and made sure to get time for them on the rec yard and in the library and other stuff and I ended up becoming good friends with some of the people who started their group, they even had commandeered a few tvs (precious commodities) and specific tables in the chow hall. A lot of people in that group didn't actually have messed up charges or anything, but they were people that would be overlooked or outcast as social pariahs by the other primary groups, but they had a home with those guys and it was one of the best things I seen, the friendships they had and the way they watched one another's backs and made sure to stick up for each other and make sure everybody always got gifts on their birthdays, etc.; which, in prison that can be a big thing.

What sort of presents would you get on your birthday?

Food stuffs mostly, cakes and stuff people would make, candy, maybe a book or magazine or two, people make you cards and stuff also.

What, if you had one, was your scariest moment in McCreary?

Hmm, just about every day, you never know when people might jump on you, I would say I seen two gangs riot against each other in the main chow hall around December of last year though, two aryan gangs, ARM and AC, and it was literally a massive melee and the police couldn't even control it, they were screaming they needed more people and everything and started pepper spraying the entire chow hall and we were all trapped in there. Seen some people beat really bad. Besides that, another time I walked by a tv room type area and heard somebody getting killed in there and the sounds gave me chills for a long time, I didn't actually see it first hand because I minded my business and kept going, but it was one of those things, hearing someone choking to death isn't pleasant.

So how many times did people jump on you?

Never, thank God. I kept a pretty good debt going at all times though and always paid my bills and conducted myself respectfully and really was just known as the guy you could go to for unprofessional legal advice and to get stuff typed up. :)

What do you mean by kept a good debt going and paid your bills on time?

I always looked at having a debt as like an insurance policy, lol and as long as people know I pay it somebody might hear somebody would do something to me, in theory and be like "ah you can't do that, that nigga owe me $100" lol

I'm sorry to hear that McCreary is so bad as have a former client there now. He's relatively young and I've been sending him some books here and there to keep him sane and give him a link to the outside world. Do you have any particular advice I can relay to him or any books or anything like that I can send him to help him get through it?

Just try and get him to get moved to the Yellow side. I was on the Blue side and it is a hell hole. The Yellow side has a medical unit, an old man unit, a recycling unit and a Challenge program, which is a load of trash but it can help him get out of that prison to a better location. Tell him to avoid fights, it adds too many points to your custody rating, you get 5 alone for the fight and another 2-3 for the incident report and other things that happen after to your living skills and programming.

Oh wow, and did you have anyone to talk to while you were there, inside or outside of the prison? I can't imagine having an experience like that and having to keep my thoughts to myself

Yeah we have an email system called trulincs to keep in contact with family and I used phone a lot and made a lot of prison friends.

Tell me about Trulincs. When I was inside (2004-6) also mdma, they only had phone and visits. No internet or email. How did trulincs work?

You gotta add somebody's email, then they make an account on corrlinks website, and you can email back and forth but it takes over an hour each way and is very limited and slow. You also have mp3 now :)=

Holy Shit. My dad worked at USP McCreary for years. Just retired about 4 months ago. Small small world.

Wow I might know him, did he used to be a compound lieutenant? I wont say his name, but kind of bigger older guy, really relaxed attitude, bit of a bear, but not really? I know there was a lieutenant there when I was there that was getting ready to retire.

His name was Lieutenant Long. Fatter bald guy. Real bad attitude kind of guy. White guy that kind of looked like a weird version of. Stone cold Steve Austin.

Ah, nah, not the one I'm thinking of and I did not know and Lieutenant Long there, but I kept out of trouble there. I know there was another lieutenant there, a compound one, that had a bit of hair though and he was about to retire when I was there around this time last year.

What did you miss the most while you were in prison? Also, did you gain any new hobbies to pass time?

Yeah I learned to bead lol but mostly I just typed for other inmates, legal work, grievances, and books that they'd write down. The typewriters are very shitty though, you can get paid about $1 per page to type.

I missed the internet the most, of course.

Imagine not being able to look up the answers to most barguments so easily as we do now. Must have been a prison full of Cliff Clavins.

Oh man you have no idea. People argue the dumbest shit, like how long it takes to drive somewhere or some years MVP or just anything you can imagine and without Google it turns into whoever can yell the loudest.

Yes, how do you address rumors that Magneto was secretly kept in a giant vault beneath your prison for killing JFK?

Did robot Clinton tell you this, or shape shifting interdimensional reptile Trump? Where are you getting this data?!

1.Did you feel genuinely bad for anyone while you were in there? Did you believe any sob stories of "oh I didn't do it".

2.How would you improve incarceration? (left open ended on purpose)

3.How much money were you making before?

4.Say you did go back to selling drugs, would being a felon make it harder or not? Any street cred?

5.Spend any time in solitary? If so what did you do to pass the time?

6.What did you do to pass the time normally?

7.Make any friends?

8.Were you allowed to work? If so what did you do, what did you like, what did you hate? Any jobs they wouldn't let you do?

9.What was the worst story you heard in prison?

10.What story you heard made you the happiest?

1.) Yeah, there were a few people like that where I'd read their case work and be like omg this person really is innocent, lol.

2.) there are a ton of ways, but I think sentencing reform would go a long way. Inside, I'd say more programs would help.

3.) A lot. I'd buy a kilogram for $2000 and sell grams for $40-$120. Or the whole thing for $10-$20,000

4.) Yeah it would be easy because of the street cred, but dumb and stupid because of the risk.

5.) I did time in solitary when I got in trouble and all you can do is read books and listen to the radio. Ground Zero and Coast to Coast for the win!

6.) I typed a lot and listened to my mp3

7.) Yeah, a ton, all over.

8.) You can work, but like kitchen job, pick up trash, landscaping, I did all that type stuff, clean the unit, etc.; You can even be electician and plumber in there but they don't pay much, $50-$80 is considered a big amount.

9.) Hmm, I dunno, some of the things people did to get there. One guy had a picture on his wall of the skeleton they found in his murder case.

10.) Shit, the one where they told me I was getting immediate release lol :)

One guy had a picture on his wall of the skeleton they found in his murder case.

Why was that allowed? My uncle molested his kids and he was not allowed to have pictures of them in his prison cell.

Well, the picture was from his case and part of his discovery, you are entitled to your discovery for legal purposes if you are filing appeal or anything. Child molesters are generally not allowed to have a lot of items other inmates can have. If they were victims in his case, I can see them not allowing it. Guys with child porn though, say, their discovery does not include the images or videos they had, even though you can get DVD of all that stuff usually. So I dunno, you know also, it sounds like they may have been targeting your uncle specifically for that, because I did know some guys with sex offenses who still had pictures of their kids. (not saying they molested their kids, but it isn't generally a policy to not allow sex offenders to have any pictures of children)

Did you ever get into any fights or anyone ever try to attack you?

Yeah, well in the county jail you can fight all the time it is no big deal and I had to be there going to prison. Then in NY I fought my celly almost immediately because he dropped a kite/note on me and then tried to get me out of the cell and when they wouldn't move me, tried to put his shoes on (which indicates somebody wants to fight), so I fought him. The only other fight I really had was in the USP with one of my best friends, lol. for the most part, people left me alone, I'm like 6'3" and 220, at one point in prison I was like 250lbs and I'm very energetic guy and grew up a rough life and used to fight a lot. I only do it as a last resort. There really is no "winning" a fight in federal prison, you can get in a lot of trouble and it jacks your points for your security level way up.

Dropped? Kite/note?

that is like, sent to staff or correctional officers a type of letter, usually detailing some kind of unsavory or questionably legal activity; in this case, the guy accused me of abusing my self carry medication and, I shit you not, drinking too much coffee and sleeping all day. Which, you can't exactly do both. So staff confiscated my self carry medication (Vitamin D3 and a thyroid pill, levothyroxine), which are not even two things you can abuse in any capacity.

Lol are you me in 10 years im a 6'4 220lb computer programmer on levothyroxine

Hahahaha. Beast mode! Being a big guy is great though, girls love it.

Your best friend?

Well, my best prison friend, lol. When you live around somebody essentially 24/7, I'm sure you can see how that leads to heated arguments and fights over dumb shit, it is the same on the streets if you hang around a best friend too much.

What was the food like?

The feds feed you good except in a usp, you don't get a dinner meal they bring a styrofoam tray to the unit, baloney sandwich every other day. Most the FCI are good though, you got a hot bar and a cold bar most the time and can eat as much as you want. They call it FED for a reason. You also get canteen and can buy all kinds of crazy stuff and got microwaves in most the units where you live.

I don't quite understand the crime committed here. Were you importing a chemical you did not know was illegal? Or knew the implications of such an order considering you had a website for it.

It was not Schedule I until ten days after I was indicted, and the CSAEA for analogues used to be read in the conjunctive for the three prongs, like sold for human consumption AND has effect of Schedule I AND has structure of Schedule I (or II). Then they changed it and started reading it in the disjunctive, so they used OR instead of AND. A guy went to the Supreme Court over it last year, McFadden, and argued the mens rea of such a statute, but he really didn't even get relief because they just remanded for a lower court and slammed him on his other counts on his indictment. The thing is, the feds can indict a ham sandwich for conspiracy to have cheese and they'll win in court every time, there is no fighting them or beating them. So yeah I got fucked over, because I was under the assumption it was legal as long as it wasn't for human consumption and I had a pretty hefty disclaimer customers had to agree to that included indemnification, but it didn't help me out in court at all.

It doesn't help that the grand jury process is a complete joke here in the US. I did 11 weeks of it in NJ and between fatigue over the same 3 types of heroin cases and sitting in shitty chairs in a cold room for 8 hours, the juror's do not put a lot of thought into it. The DA could say fruit loops are illegal. Then the cop working the case (mind you doing it from memory, for an incident that happened 8 months ago) says Mr. Smith totally had a box. Then the jurors blindly motion for a true vote and boom, Mr. Smith is charged by a room full of people not trained in law, who don't want to be there, based on the testimony of a cop going off memory for an incident nearly a year ago. Let's not even begin to talk about complicated cases where questions are asked!

I probably did 400 cases in my 11 weeks. Not a single case didn't end up going through as charged. I was actually the only person who even voted against the true motion in a handful of cases.

yeah, that is generally how it works, it is a very kind of mechanical system that whatever the prosecutor says, that is what they go from and the evidence often times is laughable at best. Then you get a guy going to court who, they say, you know if you keep fighting this, will give you more superseding indictments and indict all your family and friends and you'll do 20 years, or you can try to negotiate for 5-7 years, and guys jump on it because the alternative is essentially spending the rest of your valuable natural life (your 30s, 40s, etc.) in prison.

Ignorance of the law is not a defense. The courts assume you know all the laws of the country. However, if the change of the reading of law from conjunctive to disjunctive happened after you were busted, it may be ex post facto and therefore punishment is forbidden by our constitution.

Yeah, the different circuits still are split on how to read it to this very day./

How does it feel to be out?

Amazing!

How did you learn the culture in prison and how it worked in there socially? Did you already know some stuff before entering, or you had to learn completely from scratch?

Eh, I learned as I went for the most part. Socially it is a very different atmosphere, but just imagine the high school you went to, the locker room with all the jocks, except for they are all drug addicts and/or murders and there are no teachers around, and that is like the social situation for the most part. A lot of pranks and stuff and I talked to some military guys and you'd be surprised the parallels between the military and prison, socially.

Assuming most people don't go their entire sentence without a wank, how and when did you do that?

You get cell time to your self, you're usually in a two man cell. Some people do it in the shower, they call it the abortion clinic, which btw, the showers are not like on tv, you get in there by your self and it is a one person shower, they got a ton of them and a gate closes in front of it and then you got privacy in there. Some guys "gun" or "snipe" and jerk off while talking to female officers and staff, which can get you into a lot of trouble and I'm not an animal like that, lol. There is some old porn magazines and stuff in there too and people trade pictures of girls, like pg13 stuff, they call it "fiend" or "flicks" and a picture of a hot chick a photo can go for like $1

Some guys "gun" or "snipe" and jerk off while talking to female officers and staff, which can get you into a lot of trouble

Hold on. How the fuck does that work. Like concealed beating off inside their pants, or just like whipping it out. Or in their cells like "hello, you've just walked in on me beating off, please have a chat?"

All three.

How do you feel about all of the improved mobile phone tech?

Well, before I was locked up I had an early Android phone, a Kyocera Echo, and then I had a Toshiba thrive tablet, so I mean, I don't know how much they have improved, I've seen some and I've noticed they are more ubiquitous than before I went to prison, back when I bought that Toshiba Thrive, I was like the only one anywhere with a tablet, now everybody seems to have some kind of tablet or smart phone that is similarly capable. I've stayed up to date a lot of technology, and I plan to go try and get a Galaxy or something when I can afford it. Right now I'm just stuff with my laptop, which is only a year or two old I got from somebody and Google voice, lol.

What do you think is the biggest thing that needs to be changed about the prison system?

Hmm, that is a tough question. I think the prison system, as it stands, for shorter duration, would not be so catastrophic. I hope criminal justice reform really takes off after the election and that sentencing changes. That is really the corrupt and messed up part. There is just a million ways they can look at your case or your history and lock you up for 10, 20+ years and there isn't much you can do about it besides do the time. Federal prison is 85% with no parole. They are talking about adding more programs and helping people earn more good time credits and stuff to get out earlier, and that is really what they need to do. They have the capability and the scaffolding for proper classes and training and ACE (Adult Continuing Education), but from what I've seen, they don't utilize it properly and the prison budgets just seem to go to random things. The prisoners actually pay for more than you'd suspect, because all their money goes into a type of Trust Fund, so when they over pay for things (everything), that money is supposed to go back into their facilities, and it rarely seems to make it there.

So, yeah, the prison system, as messed up as it is, would be better if guys were not sitting in there so long. The prosecution and the way conspiracy laws work are atrocious. Essentially, if two people (even criminals looking for a time cut) say that you did something, you're guilty. In my case, it was just one other person who said I was doing something, and that was all the evidence they needed for a grand jury to indict me. That is what really needs to be changed.

Was there Internet access in any of the locations?

You can use email via their proprietary system but it is very slow. No internet access.

When you were importing the chemicals, did you think about getting caught, or did you think you were pretty safe?

Also. How did you end up getting caught?

I thought it was not illegal if it was not for human consumption. One of my best friends came over my house to give me money personally for a kilgoram of MDMC, which I usually only take payments in other ways and not in cash, so it was odd, but he had a cell phone and I thought he was sending text messages, but I was on video. I didn't discuss the transaction, all I did was accept the money and not even count it. Usually I'd have a purchaser send the money via Western Union to either Nanjing or Shanghai in China, and then provide them a tracking number to their specific address. In this case, the guy was working with the DEA and the address he gave me was actually for the DEA, which at the time, the packages were still getting through customs because they were not illegal, so I ended up counting the money the next day and it was not all of the money so I only sent 850 grams to that location and then another 150 grams to another location from what I paid in the difference. They still tried to claim 1000 grams arrived at the location in Tampa, FL; and what they did (video tape me in my own office/house) is actually illegal under Florida law, but acceptable under Federal law is the person is working as a confidential informant for the government.

Then they said I was in "conspiracy" to import during that time frame and the person provided a statement that he was purchasing several kilograms from me every month, so they tried to estimate, after raiding my residence (*and not finding any drugs or anything else there, just some empty packages that used to contain synthetic marijuana, all labeled not for human consumption) that I had imported twenty kilograms. Eventually my lawyer and I fought down to four kilograms, as the person who set me up, they caught him with a kilogram and then said I sent them another kilogram, all of which they used against me, which btw, they got him by illegally towing his vehicle that was parked only for a few minutes in a private parking lot and then breaking into the locked trunk and then into a locked safe inside of that trunk (the case got a successful motion to suppress in the 11th Circuit, but then the court of appeals overturned it in the government's favor, saying the search and seizure was not illegal because the person mistakenly believed the police were pursuing him.).

Anyway, long story short, they did a bunch of dirty stuff and at the end of the day, even the person who set me up was not willing to testify against me, and I had him on video agreeing to my website's legal disclaimer, so they tried to arrest my girlfriend and two other females, my codefendant's ex girlfriend and his secretary, and then tried to charge me with a superseding indictment that said that the person I dealt with may have been armed when he did a transaction with me, so they were trying to charge me with that firearm, which is also illegal, and I signed a plea deal to get all of the females, their charges dropped, and to duck the superseding indictment, and to take only 4 kilograms, which was the same sentencing bracket as the 20 kilograms they originally wanted anyway.

At the end of the day, I ended up getting relief, but it took many years of sitting in federal prison.

Wow. Sounds like they really had it out to get you Jack. Glad you're out now, relatively unharmed I hope? Thanks for sharing your story.

Yeah ;D Still in pretty good shape physically and mentally.

Best friend set you up? That's fucked up. Bet they are watching their back now you are out.

Nah, lol they got like 20 years in prison they set me up for free on the house and then tried to run from the feds and didn't even get a time cut for it. So, karma is a bitch.

What is the process for getting out? Do they assist you with housing, job, etc? If you don't have money/friends/family..what do you do the first day you are out?

shit, they gave me my money on a chase card and paid for me to take a Grey hound back to my city and i'm on my own from there, they try and help you locate a career and stuff through the probation officer, but that is about it. You get housing and stuff if you molest children, which I personally think is fucked up. The first day I was out I rode a grey hound bus that broke down on the side of the road so they ordered us all pizza, lol

Did you meet any people inside who legitimately shouldn't have been in there? Like say someone who beat up someone who molested their kid or killed someone in self defense? Basically someone you said "What are you doing in here?!".

Yeah lol a ton, that is a big part of the population, and guys who were innocent and guys conspire to get them indicted to get time cuts, there are tons of those.

How do drinking and drug use happen, like what do you do when you're drunk or high? Also, what's are some unwritten rules that most people outside of prison don't know?

Uh, I mentioned above the "hands off" policy and "hands laid, debts paid", besides that, you get drunk or high just like anywhere else, people smoke a lot of those synthetic canabinoids on paper, out of cans and pipes and stuff. Guys use a battery and strip off part near the negative terminal, then cut a small strip of foil from a candy bar wrapper usually or Goya seasoning, then connect it to itself on the negative and it flames up, which you use to light up a small piece of rolled toilet paper (a wick), then you can make a candle with vaseline and a cut up soda can... There is a way to "pop a socket" too, with two pieces of pencil lead stuck in each side and another piece of led dangled on a piece of toilet paper between them causes an arc to shoot sparks you can light an additional piece of toilet paper with.

I know you didn't ask how. The what people do is usually just listen to their mp3, watch tv, or sit in their cells and hang out. Some like to get high and go to the rec yard, etc. especially when they are drunk, but you run the risk of being breathalyzed by officers.

For the most part, people tend to stick with drugs that either don't show up on tests or are hard to test for, like suboxone and the synthetic canabinoids.

What are your current job prospects like? Are there programs to help reintegrate convicts into society, and if so how effective are they?

Well, you know they just refer you to the state programs and stuff, job core and work force and stuff. I'm trying to get back into programming and have contacted a few companies I used to work for. I know one of them still uses software I wrote as a teenager... so, pretty good I think lol

How was it coming back to Reddit after so long? What's the same and what's different?

Also, I'm glad you're out now. Good luck, and I wish you the best man.

Reddit is still the same. Digg changed a lot. I'm more comfortable back on reddit because it still looks and feels the same and the community here has always been superb.

What are your thoughts about how society and the media seem to trivialize rape in prison and even suggest it is an appropriate form of vigilante justice? What were the perceptions like on the inside and how prevalent are sexual assaults?

Well, there is something called PREA, the Prison Rape Elimination Act, so they try and do away with it. People think rape is more common in prison now, because it was before in the 80s and 90s, but there is a big push and a lot of programs to try and prevent and stop it, especially of staff on inmates. The perception on the inside is generally that you know, you do what you do to get by and some people, I honestly and I know this is going to cause me a lot of trouble, but one of my friends was like a rape magnet, he'd been raped before and was constantly getting sexually assaulted by people, and I think it had a lot to do with how he carried himself.

Can you elaborate on "I think it had a lot to do with how he carried himself?"

Yeah I knew this was going to be difficult, lol. Well, he came off as very kind of bisexual and flirty with people although he claimed he wasn't, and he had a type of demeanor where he did not pay attention to his surroundings or read situations very well.

Do you / have you written any published material based on your life experiences?

Not yet, but I've thought about it. I know it would take a lot of work and editing and I'm glad now there is such an easy way to publish stuff with createspace and all that, so I know if I ever do it it would be easy to get it out there.

Thanks for the response. You seem like a very interesting individual.

No problem :) Trying to get back adjusted to life on the outside, not much has changed, surprisingly. The internets and Reddit is still here, so I'm good.

1) Did you always have privacy for using a toilet or were they just open in a shared cell like sometimes seen in movies?

2) I get that it's not like the 80s or 90s and that the rape situation in prison has improved a lot and rape is rare, but does being ugly by female standards or being above a certain age seem to protect guys from getting raped?

3)Is it possible to kill yourself in prison and if so how do most guys do it? Is there some equivalent of suicide-by-cop where you say the wrong thing to the wrong guy and get stabbed 20 times? Are improvised weapons available or easily created in prison?

4) How were Jews treated in prison? Did you meet any? I guess the blacks and Mexicans would have no problem with it, but prison movies make it seem like all the white guys are white supremacists. Seems like being a small, shy, Jewish geek is about the worst thing you could be in prison (in terms of a type).

5) How were shy people treated in prison? In hyper-masculine cultures shyness is sometimes treated as a kind of femininity. Were shy guys victimized?

6) Do you think staying in your cell and not socializing much and just in general trying to stay as invisible and low profile as possible is a safer or more dangerous strategy for avoiding problems with other inmates like getting beaten, killed, or raped? I'm thinking that the fewer people you talk to and deal with the fewer people there are who might get angry with you for some reason.

7) Was it usually two men to a cell? Any prisons you were at that had 1 man cells and were those cells regarded as a good thing to have or a bad thing? Did any cells have open steel bars or were they all like steel doors with a small window or something like that.

8) Did they lock your cell at night after a certain time? If so did you feel claustrophobic about not being able to get out? The one time I spent in a jail cell I completely freaked from being in a cage where I couldn't leave no matter what and just paced back and forth for like 12 hours until I made bail. Did you ever have an experience like that?

Yes, you get privacy, you can put a shit sign up over your cell door. Yes .

3.) Yes, hanging by sheets mostly, and drug overdoses. Yes a lot of people make weapons.

4.) Good, they go to services and get matzoh and grape juice every friday, sometimes Challah and can make special orders for passover. Happy Rosh Hashana btw.

5.) Shy people are seen the way you described, some get victimized, but not always.

6.) Yeah, that is a good strategy, as discussed elsewhere

7.) Yes, two man cells were the best. No one man cells, you might get a cell to your self sometimes though out of luck or manipulation. All steel doors with a small food slot in case of lockdowns.

8.) Yes, you get locked down around 9:30-ish for a 10PM count and do not come back out until 6:30AM. I would get claustrophobic sometimes, but you learn to deal with it :)

So, how much time did you actually serve? Why no camp status? Under 10 years and no violence usually means a camp. Why were you moved around so much? That is usually reserved as a punishment. Did you not qualify for the drug program reduction? How did they catch you, like their methods, or the usual "The ex girlfriend ratted or ex-friend got caught holding and ratted". Sorry if these questions are repeats.

Yeah how they caught me is kind of long and I answered it elsewhere, but I had a few criminal history points for probation violation in the state and misdemeanor marijuana possession and then some other stuff, which caused my custody score to go up. When I got to an FCI I also had a detainer from a state saying I had open/unresolved charges, so that added 7 to my points until I got it taken care of. Yeah, 2 of my moves were disciplinary transfer, one was custody level decrease and then the last was a type of adjustment transfer after I was under investigation and they couldn't find anything to give me an incident report for.

Considering that you are tech savvy and had a prior knack for black market profits.. how do you feel about the evolution and emerging dark net markets?

They sound great but I'd be weary of them. If you can't do it in the open, there is probably a reason.; I will say one of the first things I got was Peer Block, though, I never used Tor, which was out and installed before I went to prison.

Were you in a gang?

No. Not something that ever interested me.

Did you ever spend time in solitary? If so, what was it like?

Answered before, but yeah, it is boring, all you have is the radio and books. I read a LOT of books. Oh man, Game of Thrones. I want to start watching it now, I never seen it and I know it goes further than the books. The books were so awesome! I generally read non-fiction, though.

You imported MDMA and got sent to high security facilities? Were you a flight risk? It sounds like you're a skilled developer with a thing for partying.

Also, have you been able to continue developing? Did they let you have a SQL VM?

No you don't get anything like that, no kind of computer access. I was lucky to even be allowed near the dumb terminals they use for email, to be honest.

Yeah, the security thing, is I also got into fights and stuff and they accused me of threatening staff, which I beat on appeal, but yeah.

Have you played prison architect?

No, I have not, is that a game? What is it for?

Are there asian gangs? How are Asians treated in prison?

Thanks for doing this bro

Not a lot of asians in the prisons I were at but the asians always rode with pretty much everybody and got along famously, there is always some old rich asian guy in every prison who runs a ticket and a store and cooks a bunch of food, lol. I kept a particular eye out for asians because my crime involved Chinese contacts I have.

Can you give an example of an average day's schedule? How much did this vary between FCI and USP?

USP is less free movement. FCI is 10 minute moves every hour, 5 minutes one way, 5 minutes another. breakfast is at about 6:30-7 depending on where your unit eats which is determined by cleaning scores during inspection. Then lunch is around 10:30, dinner at 5:00. You lock down for 4:00 from 3:30-4:30 roughly and get locked back in around 9:00 for count again at 10:00. on weekends, during the morning, you also do a 10AM count, holidays are the same. The rest, you can move about and go where you like, unless you have work. So you can go to the rec, the gym, the library, there are not many options, lol, laundry, you gotta go turn in a bag and go pick it back up, MON for WED, WED for FRI and FRI for MON. Pill lines are usually in the morning and at night if you get medication, and also diabetics go eat the 5PM meal faster than everybody else to get their insulin.

As an apparently none violent offender, why were you in a medium and a high security facility as opposed to a prison camp or other low security facility?

I outlined this a bit already, I had some criminal history points and I originally had an open charge / detainer that increased my security points by 7 until I got it taken care of.

I'm a skinny white guy who has never been in a fight in his life. If i were to somehow end up going to prison, what advice would you have for me?

Hmm, I'd recommend stay to your self, stay in a book and stay occupied. Trouble doesn't always go looking for people, usually people go looking for it. I seen plenty of small white guys with no criminal backgrounds and no types of ability to fight live perfectly happy lives in prison.

Were you able to watch movies in prison? What was that like? What movies were available? Did you ever get to choose movies to watch?

they usually played institution movies at most prisons, so they go get DVDs through a company every week and we see 3 or 4 "new" movies, sometimes they are old and there are some inmates who can influence the decision.

What was your worst experience while in prison? What was the worst thing you witnessed?

(See post above you)

I've always wondered about old people in prison. Does an old man have some sort of natural protection that makes him off limits out of respect or anything?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. It is generally frowned upon to mess with them and some compounds have "old man" and "medical" units where you gotta be 45 or older to live in there, the nursing home type units. You got some guys in prison who are truly ancient.

We're there any Canadians inmates anywhere. And do inmates support trump?

There was ONE black inmate at my last prison that supported Trump and everybody said he was the 1% and he couldn't vote because he was a prisoner. I ran into a few Canadian guys, but they can request a treaty transfer and go to another prison in Canada.

Were you in max and rape culture?

I don't think the rape culture exists like it used to, at least not in federal prisons, although I hear some states are still pretty bad when it comes to that stuff. The Prison Rape Elimination Act, they take that shit serious, even a report like, if somebody sexually propositions another inmate, they'll both be held under investigation for months and likely shipped or given disciplinary reports.

You were convicted for importation of a Schedule I substance, Methylone, although it wasn't classified as such until after your arraignment?

Why were you importing it? What legitimate use case were you supplying with it?

I was importing it not for human consumption, technically as a car wash foam, as that is what it was sent as from China, so I just made people agree it was not going to be used for human consumption. Which, btw it was Schedule I on October 21, 2011 and I was indicted October 11, 2011.

How did you find out about Reddit / decide to do an AMA? Did someone point you to the website and suggest doing this, or did you find it on your own?

I've always loved reddit and my mom does too and she suggested I post something on here about what I been through and then today I decided to do an AMA, as I figured it'd be the best way to communicate about it and answer any questions people might have.

Sorry if this has already been asked, but regarding your arrest and conviction...

How did they succeed in convicting you for importing a chemical that: A) wasn't a controlled substance at the time of your arrest, and B) wasn't even the chemical you were charged with possessing?

This sounds like someone being arrested and convicted for distribution of marijuana when they were actually selling spice before it was made illegal.

I don't understand how they were able to do this to you and steal years of your life when on the surface it seems like you technically hadn't even broken any laws.

I'm the same age as you, and in 2011 I was also a heavy user of spice and other non-scheduled chemicals purely because of the fact that they weren't technically against any laws, and I wasn't willing to risk legal trouble just for a high. Seeing your post has me wondering how easily I could have ended up in prison even though I wasn't actually breaking the law.

Yeah they used the controlled substances analogues enforcement act against me, in an improper way away from the original wording of the statute, a guy went to the supreme court over it but got little relief. A lot of other people are in prison for similar stuff. The argument that won against it was a mens rea argument (guilty mind), which we obviously did not have.

I did time on a regular level 3 yard in CA, i heard federal prison is a piece of cake, from what you say i agree it is. You were in Disneyland. Do you know how lucky you were to do federal prison instead of a regular prison?

Yeah lol, the state prisons out in CA are some of the worst in the world.

Were you in protected custody or in the main yard? I was told from my relative who spent time in pelican bay that, if you hit the main yard, you need to click up with your kind because if anything goes down, they will help you, of course you will be required to help them as well. If you dont click up, then you will get picked on from everyone because you have no one, unless of course you're an old man. Is that how it works in federal?

I was always on the main yards, but yeah, what he told you is very accurate. Federal prisons guys clique up by race and by location. Some defy that, you have white guys who are Crips and Bloods and stuff, but it is rare.

What is your favorite dinosaur?

Also, have you ever had your shit pushed in esse?

I dunno how to respond to this, lol, but T-Rex, and no.

is prison actually like how they portrayed it in movies? you know..gangs, fights, scary dudes.

The USP, yeah, the FCI, not really.

I have a few questions! What did you do to keep yourself busy while in there? Pen pals, reading, writing, jobs? What are your future aspirations now that you're out? Also, biggest change since you've gotten out? Hope the fresh air on the outside is treating you well!

I liked to read and write, listen to my mp3 player, uhh, I tried the pen pal thing but the girls who write guys in prison are all bat shit crazy for the most part and a lot of them are 40+ and obese, and I'm 29, now, so yeah. Not my thing. Now that I'm out I want to do everything, I'm trying to get back into programming, getting back into doing music, maybe write a book. The biggest change I think is how much people have smart phones and stuff now compared to before. The fresh air is great :)

Sounds awesome, and yeah! People live on their phones lately. I think many of those older women who are prison pen pals are looking for a very long term relationship in which the man can always be faithful, lol! Some people are very crazy, and most of the time, they aren't the ones doing the time. I recommend getting into video games, another great alternative to having no life. :) I would know. Best of luck in your programming ventures and book-writing. Would probably be a wonderful read! :D

YOU ARE SPOT ON! They love guys with life sentences. I love video games lol but I get addicted to them too easily, I almost ruined my life when Halo 2 came out and I kind of quit them for the most part then. I try to live life like a video game.

Is there actually rape? Also if people are fucking do they split them up or can you fuck your cell mate

Sex is not allowed, guys sneak around and have sex though, of course, and rape isn't unheard of, just rare.

How did you justify importing analogues, knowing what they were for and the effects they have on people? Did you feel responsible for their eventual health problems, or the increases in crime typically associated with the production, sale, and consumption of narcotics?

Meh, it wasn't a precursor, mdmc is a substance all in itself, it is called an analogue. I never justify what I do, I tend to just do it. I did it for the profit, to be honest.

As a follow up (and good catch on the analogue vs precursor), did you see prison as time to reflect on those consequences or just time you "owed" for breaking the law?

Meh, I seen it as a minor setback for a major comeback, as they say. A good time to reflect on my life. Pretty much all my friends and family abandoned me in there, I lost my car, my house, all my electronics, my girl, all that stuff; so I think, meh, let them go and it is like dying with your eyes open and you see at the end of the day who your real friends are.

That's a fair way to see it I suppose. I would caution against grouping "real friends" with those that supported your previous activities. Regardless, I hope you get that big comeback and it includes your family.

Yeah, I got a whole new roster now. I definitely am not associating with anybody still in that lifestyle or anything.

Did you brew hooch in the toilet? Alcohol etc?

Guys do, they make it in big garbage bag, they also have a stinger to heat it up and make white lightning.

How do you sleep at night knowing you are a scourge on society and literally contribute nothing to the world?

Fairly easily. I'm also a programmer, I help launch a really popular private torrent tracker and developed a lot of proprietary software for various companies. I also produce a lot of music and release it all for free online so people can download or stream it.

I would love to hear some of that music

https://soundcloud.com/djjackboy/dj-jack-boy-vampiric-evolution

There is an example, I make all different types, but that is the type I like to make the most. Really old and I had a lot of stuff on last.fm and can't access it now and it makes me mad cuz I filled my Soundcloud up with a bunch of remixes I did thinking my other stuff was safe on last.fm ;_;

What does it feel like to be a criminal and desperate to get attention?

Meh, don't really need attention, I got the DEA and the FBI monitoring me constantly. ;)