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COMMON GROUND
While there is a lower class I am in it, while
there is a e~irninal elenumt I am of it; while
there is a soul in fnison I am not free.
Eugene V. Debs
ne of the most memorable days
I spent in prison was the day
Muhammad Ali visited the popu la tio n at t h e Federal Correctional
Institution in Ashlan d, Kentucky. Ali
h as always been one of my heroes. I
love the man's courage; I admire h is
strength of conviction as much as his
wit a nd grace. Even now, suffering as
he is, he has such dignity and poise,
like a noble, battered o ld king. For
me, A li wi ll a lways be "th e
Greatest."
Word had been around the
compound fo r days t h at Ali
would stop by while in the area
making appearances for charity.
Supposedly, a whi te guy doi ng
time on a mai l fraud beef knew
Al i and had arranged th e visit.
Yea h , sure, we th oug h t. He ' ll
n ever show. Just anothe r bullshit jailhouse rumor.
At three o'clock on th e
awaited afternoon, they opened
the compound for the last controlled movement before count
time. Still no Ali. I went out to walk
aro und th e trac k . I figured the
Ch amp h ad been di ss u aded from
co ming to talk to a bunch of lowly
convicts. The guy who set up the visit
claimed the Ch amp wou ld show; h e
said Ali was on his way from nearby
Hu ntington, West Virginia. But at
3:40 p.m. they ca ll ed count a n d
opened the compound for the final
move back to the units.
Th en, with just ten minutes to go,
th ey a nnounced that Ali had arrived
and would be meeting th e population
in the yard. We h urried out to sit in
the bleach ers next to the baske tball
court and listen to the warden babble
some fatuous crap by way of inu·oducing Ali-as though Muhammad need-

0

ed an introduction. We wanted the
warden to sit down, shut up and let
Al i talk before they called count. In
all my years in prison I had n ever seen
them delay the four o'clock count and
I had no reason to believe they wou ld
do it this day.
At last Ali emerged from a cluster
of attendants and local bigwigs. He
waltzed out onto the basketball court
and began taking mock shots at the
warden. "That's enou gh outta you,"
h e said, pus hin g the warden aside
with his formidable p resen ce. Then
h e waved at us in the bleachers.
"Th ese are my people!"

I looked around to see black men,
Hispanics, whites, maybe a dozen different nationali ties, th eir rapt faces
gazing at Ali an d smiling at his style.
He was still the coolest, the smartest
heavyweight any of us had ever known.
He did the Ali shuffie, slowly and with
only a poignant memory of the former
beauty in motion. It was his way of saying you never let go of your pride.
I don't remember exactly what Ali
said that day. It was one of those
moments wh en you get swept up so
completely you forget to pay a ttention. His wit was as sharp as ever. He
told some jokes directed at the administration. He said he' d tried to ge t
there earlier but they kept delaying
him, taki ng him to meet some other

fool he had no interest in knowing.
He said he j ust wanted to get over to
tl1e p rison and meet us, like we were
his whole reason for ge tting up that
day. There was no lecture, no "Hey,
you done bad, now pull you rselves
together and get out of here." H e was
telling us he respected us an d felt solidarity with us because he knew what it
was like to be oppressed. He was talking to the Blacks, and at the same
time talking to all of us, looking at us
the same because ou r common experience made us one: convicts, ou tcasts
segregated from tl1e rest of society. At
4:10 the warden tried to end Al i's visit
and send us back to the units for
cou nt, but Ali told h im to si t
down a n d wait. "These m en
have been waiti ng for years," he
said. It was a good twenty minutes before we trooped back to
the cellblocks.
I remember t h inking after
Ali's visit that if there is anywhere
in the world where rac ism
sh ou ld not exis t, i t is in the
American prison. If tl1ere is anywhere in tl1e world where strong,
toug h men and women should
be able to look at each otl1er and
understand that we are not na tu ral enemies and that on ly if t h ey
keep us fighting among ourselves can
they keep us from taking control of
our own lives, it is in the American
prison. I believe prison should be the
common ground, the no man's la nd
where convicts of all colors and races
and creeds come togetl1er, stripped of
the outer trappings that work to separate us and instead see each other as
we really are : one in th e same, all
h um an flesh a nd blood, weak and
beautiful, different but intrinsically
equal, divided only in terms of who
wie lds the power. When you h ave
nothing, you have notl1ing to lose. So
you can drop the conditioned reflexes,

(continued on page 6)

PRISON LIFE 3

FEATURES
18

3 STRIKES, YOU'RE INFOR LIFE
A look at the nation 's toughest crime bill
ever, and the first victims of the anticri me cont agion sweeping America.

22

Donald "Tony the Greek" Frankos : liar,
st ool pigeon or victim of the Federal
Witness Protection Program? What happens when a prisoner turns himself over
to the Feds.

PRISON RIOTS

68

Attica, Santa Fe and Lucasville: Then and
Now. Has anyth ing changed?

40

PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST
BEHIND BARS
From a cell in Sing Sing to the Whitn ey
Museum, Anthony Papa's paintings
refl ect the anguish of pri son life.

44

THE METAMORPHOSIS OF
MICHAEL LEVINE
Michael Levine, ex-DEA undercover agent
put thousands behind bars . Now he's
attacking the system he once worked for
and blowing the cover on the government's
phony war on drugs.

52

PRISON FICTION
A black guard is accused of raping a white
female prisoner. Lee knows 'what really happened. " Lee's Time," by Susan Rosenberg.

56

CAT J
The misfortunes of a madman living in
Death Row 's "Category J" at San Quent in.

58

3
5
8
10
12
14
64

THE FATE OF A SNITCH

30

DEPARTMENTS
Voice of the Convict
Word
Guest Editorial
by Luis Rodriquez

Blockbeat
Mail Call
Insider Outlook
Iron Pile
Banning barbells behind bars

71
72
75
77
79
80

Family Matters
Kids Need Moms

Pre-Release
Your new virginity

Prison Papers
Ice T , Nathan McCall

In-Cell Cooking
Native American View
Cell mate of the Month
Comic
#94A233449- C rimejacker

83
83
84
85

Tattoo of the Month

89
94

Pen Pals

Poetry from Prison
Ask Bubba
Humor
Are you an inmate or a convict?

Classifieds

LA PENITENCIARIA DE LA MESA
An American 's account of doing time
across t he border.

Prison Life magazine is published bimonthly by PRIU FE, Inc .. 505 8th Avenue, 14th Aoor, New York, NY 10018. Prison Life magazine is printed in the USA und ull rights are reserved. C i994 by Joint
Venture Media, Inc. No pan of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any fonn or by any means without written pennission of the publisher. Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs are the responsi·
bility of senders. All letters sent to Prison Ltfe magazine will be trented as unconditionally assigned for publication or brochure, and are subject to Prison Life magazine s unrestricted right to edit and com·
ment. Single copies in the US $3.95. Subscription rates one year in US, $23.70 for 6 issues; in Canada, $29.95; overseas, $60; all payable in US funds only. Please mail all subscription oiders and changes to
Prison Life magazine. Subscription depanment 505 8th Avenue, 14th Aoor. New York. NY 10018. 2nd Class mailing pemtit pending in New York, NY. For change of address. pfease give both old and new
addresses and include most recent mailing label. POSTMASTER: send address change to Prison Life magazine, 505 8th Avenue. 14th A oor, New York. NY 10018.

4

PRISON LIFE

Word

ou' re damn lucky to be reading this mon th 's mag. I mean,
it's a miracle we we re able to
crank this moth er out with all th e
response we r eceived from the last
issu e. Eve ry two minutes, we were
answering pho n e calls o r o p e ning
mail, reading the tho usands of le tters
received from in and outta prisons.
We thought we were being crafty,
h ell even respo nsible, whe n we sent
every o ne of the 50,000 members of
th e Ame ri can Corr ectio n a l Associatio n a free co py of Jun e's Prison
Life. We wa nte d to let th e n a tion 's
C.O.'s, wardens and other corrections
officials know we exist, to spread the
wo rd and h e lp bridge t h e ga p
betwee n ke e p e r a nd k e p t. Th e
respo nses were of two schools. Eithe r
th ey asked how to subscribe, saying,
"This m ag is wond erfu l. Cool.
Important," or they gave a n o pposite
reply: "I want my name off the mailin g li st now! ", "Thi s magaz in e is
fil th! ", "You wo r shi p Satan!", o r
"Prison Life breeds disconte n t, g ives
the prisoners false ro le models and
e n courages riotous be h avio r-burn
witch burn, blah blah blah blah blah."
OK, cool. We u-ied to reason. We
argued, we la ug hed , we liste n ed to
those wh o re fus e d to h ea r us. My
bigges t bee f wi t h th e n o n-con
response is th at we're be ing misund e rstood. Yeah, we're giving the syste m a fight; we'r e striving to cha nge a
few tJ1ings; we're providing a forum
for prisoners-but we 're NOT seeking to overth row the gove rnm ent,
burn flags, open th e prison gates and
tell all of you to loot, kill a nd rape.
Prison Life is the voice of th e convict,
no t the gun.
Your respo nses were mu ch be tte r r ece ive d. On e dud e a t J o li e t
summ e d it u p: "Your mag is one
m ean 'zine." If you though t the June
issue was bad , wait until you check
out this issue.
As you read through th e line-up,
you're going to see a lot of discontent,
not because we're en couragi ng it but
because it's ou t t11ere. The shit exists.
We're only reporting it. Our job is j ourn alism- to provid e a forum for cons
and ex-cons, to un cover me problems
plaguing the American justice system,
a nd to inform , e n tertain and inspire
th ose be hi nd ba rs. If the re's corruption, injustice and disconte nt, we 're

Y

ONE
MEAN
'ZINE
by

Chris Cozzone
Executive Editor
gonna show it, even if it brings us heat.
And in mis month's issue, there's
en ough heat to turn th e Man's office
into a sauna.
Our cover story is an excl usive
interview with Mic hael Levine . H e's
a n ex-DEA age nt res p o n s ibl e for
putting away th ousa nds o f people.
Wh y d oes his face grace o ur cover?
Because he's now mouthing o ff at me
governme nt that once employed him:
"The Drug War? It's a fraud," he says.
And Levine has me facts to back it up.
Next, Prison Life turn s to th e
mos t h a ted pri so n e r of a ll-th e
snitc h. Having c h ec ked o ut of th e
Federal Witness Protection Program,
Donald Frankos te lls us wh at h a ppe ns when you turn stool pigeon and
g ive yourself over to the feds at the
expe n se of othe rs. "They pro mise
you the moon," he says, "but in the
e nd, mey give you n uthin' ."
Spea kin g of false promises, th e
flurry of crim e bills swe e p in g th e
n ation is examin ed by Prison Life.
"Three Strikes, You're Out" laws (also
p a rt of the federal c rim e b il l) a r e
being p assed by individua l s ta tes.
Based o n public hysteria, the bills are
illogical, costly and short-sig hted. In
South e rn Californ ia, for insta n ce,
stealing avocados is a strike.
Included in the cdme bi ll is m e
insane idea to ban weightJifting programs a nd e quipm e nt in p risons.
"Weightlifting just ma kes supercriminals and causes riots," critics say. This
monm 's Iron Pile ta kes a loo k at the
bill that co uld end up inciting a riot.
If i t's r io ts you want (t h at is,
unless yo ur pr iso n a utho riti es have
ripped tha t part o u t of your mai led
copy), m e n read the gory d etails of
the Attica, San ta Fe a nd Lucasville
riots, co nsid e r ed the blood ies t in
America's hi story. Find o u t what
caused the m and what's being done
today to prevent reoccurences.
And if you tl1ink Ame rica's prisons are shi tty, c h eck o ut "La
Penite ncia ria d e La Mesa," and see

how a Mexican priso n co m pa res .
J ohn Falke nrath, a convicted drug
sm u ggle r wh o got ca u g ht o n th e
wro ng side of the border, gives us a
no-holds-barred account of life inside
la casa grande, accompan ied by exclusive, unc e nsor ed photos by Sa ndy
Huffaker, J r.
"Portra i t of a n Ar tist Be h in d
Ba rs" features Anth ony Papa, a n
a rtist at Sing Sing who's bee n using
paint and brush to express his po litical views an d ea rnin g widespread
recognition for the tale nt he discove r ed in prison . If Papa do es n ' t
inspire th e creative con o u t there to
e nte r our Amedca Be hi nd Bars contest, maybe Michael Wayn e Hunter
will with "Cat J ," a n o nfiction piece
a b o u t the mis placed prison e rs of
Category J , a housing unit in San
Quentin's Death Row; or S u san
Rose nbe rg, with "Lee's Tim e," this
month's prison fiction , whic h won a
prize in me 1993 PEN Priso n Writing
Contest.
We've also got a g u est edi torial
by Luis Rodriguez, author of Always
Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in
L.A , a nd two new d epartmen ts yo u
oug htta ge t a k ick out of:
"#94A2 3 3449 - Cri m ej ac k e r ,"
America's first Convict Superh e ro,
and Tattoo of me Month. Plus we got
o ur regu lars: Ask Bubba, Pen Pals, InCell Cooki ng, e tc.
Keep those le tte rs co min g,
ho miez. We a ppreciate the support
a nd n eed t h e inside d ope. Le t us
know what you want to see in future
issues of Prison Life. Help us sh a pe
t h e magaz in e th a t's shakin g up
Ame rica.

PRISON LIFE 5

PRISONLIFE
OCTOBER 1994
PUBUSHER
Joe Strahl

EDITOR·IN.CHIEF
Richard Stratton

EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Chris Cozzone

EDITOR-AT-LARGE
Kim Wozencraft

MANAGING EDITOR
Jennifer Wynn

ART DIRECTOR
Bobo Wlllkle

STAFF ARTISTS
Rob Sula, Marty Voelker, Steve Lashley

Correspondents
George Charles Grey (Southwest)
Kathl een Vasllakos (Callfomla)

cONTRIBUTORs-behind bars
Hardy Coleman, John Falkenrath, Amir Fatlr,

Michael Wayne Hunter, Paul Mulryan, Robert
Noms, uttle Rock Reed, Susan Rosenberg,
Herby Sperling, Joo Sullivan, Michael Lee Wood

CONTRIBUTORs-free world
David Benson, Tom Cocotos, Isaac Cublllos,
Mike DeFelice, Patrick Finan, Andrew
Heugel, Sandy Huffaker, Manual Machuca,
Wayne Maser, Lui s Rodriguez, Wendy Wal sh

EDITORIAL OFFICES
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PRINTED IN U.S.A.

Voice of the Convict
(continued from jJage 3)
the ha tes and fears, an d see th at it is
not the black man nor the white man
who is the enemy. Rather, the oppressor is a nyon e wh o seeks to exert his
will over o the rs based on fo rce, wealth,
prhilege or power.
Racism comes from fear. When I
e ntered p rison I was fu ll of fear not of any panicula r race, but fea r of
th e power of my government. T hey
had me by the balls, they gave me 25
years fo r trafficking in a plant, a nd I
didn ' t think I was ever going to ge t
out. T he d ay the marshals ca me to
ge t me at the cou n ty jail in Portland,
Main e, wh e re th e o nly Black was a
guard, to take me to the pe ni ten tiary

6 PRISON LIFE

in Te rre H aute, Indiana, o n e of the
deputies leered at me and said some
b ig black dude at Terre H aute was
j ust wai ting to have my ass a nd ma ke
me his bitch.
I lost it. I told him to go fuck himself: first, for assu mi ng I was a punk;
a nd then, for assu ming I was stup id
enough to believe t hat an unknown
b lack man was worthy of my fear when
it was the people the marshals worked
fo r I feared, all those whi te me n in tl1e
White H o use, an d all the black a nd
whi te lackeys who kiss ass an d pe rpetua te th e myths of institutio nal racism
th at keep th e Am erican p eople in
fea r , divided a nd conque red by th e
forces of wealth and status.
I've h eard som e men say p rison
made tl1em more racist man mey were
when they went in. The opposite was
true for me. I never tl1ought of myself
as a racist, yet we all have our fears. My
sister married a black man and I have
two beautiful nephew I love dearly. I
grew up in a lily white suburb of Boston
a nd had ne\'er lived near oth er races
un til I went to prison. Th e first few days
l spent in custody, at the infamous Glass
Ho use, th e L.A. city jail, I was o ne of
two whi tes in a vast fish tan k of a holding cell with 200 Blacks and Mexican s,
all wimdrawing from a variety of substances incl ud ing, worst of all, nicotine.
We take our habits a nd our prejud ices witl1 us, and unless we have the
courage to break mroug h the carefully
structu red fea r that works so well in
prison, we merely rein force old biases.
I was to ld when I got to the pe ni tentiary that I shouldn 't sit in certain parts
of t h e mess ha ll because t h at was
whe re Blacks sat and I would be known
as a "nigger lover." I was told I could
ge t rid of a cellmate based o n race.
But I've never been on e to go along
with tl1e program-mat's how I ended
up in the can in t11e first place. So I sat
wh ere I felt like sitting and h ung out
with men I liked regardless o f colo r.
Whe n I got in to one of tl1e worst fights
I'd had in prison just two weeks before
I was to be released, wi th a black man
over, of al l thin gs, t he TV, the unit
manager came to see me in the hole.
He told me mat never in all his years of
working in prisons had so many d iffe rent men, both black and white, come
to him to urge him to drop tl1e charges
against me and the guy I fo ught witl1.
My expe1ience in p1ison was mat I
met botl1 sleaze a nd q uali ty of eve!)'
race and colo r. Some of tl1e most honorable, respectful and highly motivated
prison ers I met were Black Muslims. I
also met some wonderful j e\vs, Greeks,
Ir ishmen, Ira nian s, Italia ns a nd Puerto

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Ricans. lt doesn't matter what color or
race you are. What matters is what kind
of p e rson you are and wheth e r you
have me courage to stand up for what
you believe in.
Prison Life b elieves in mu lti-culturalism, in particular the mu lti-culturalism of the Ame r ican priso n . The
cou nU)''s potential for greatness can
an d sh o uld be manifest in th e great
melting pot of prison, wh ere a nation
o f bigo ts can be transform ed into a
n a ti o n ri c h wi th t h e s pi ce of th e
world's varied peoples.
I believe t11at much of the racism
in prison is institutional. I kn ew a lot
o f me n, black a nd white, who adm itted to me tl1at they didn 't really hate
a ll Bl acks or a ll H ispanics or a ll
whi tes - it was more an ind ivid u al
mi ng. T ha t is not racism. Racism is
going along with the in stitutio n al
programming coming not only from
th e staff but from the con fo rmist popu lation as we ll. Men wh o become
mo r e racis t in prison are afraid,
th o u g h th ey wo ul d never admi t it.
They feel vulnerable, so th ey cling to
prim itive tribal instincts instead of
r iski ng growth, libe ration a n d pe rh aps kinship with th eir fellow ma n.

TRULABEL

Guest Editorial
ast year, I entered the guarded WRITING OFF OUR YOUTH clarification.
gates of the Fred C. Te ll es
T his is the message in my work:
by
School in Wh ittie r, CA- a facil iThat change is possible, that it is necesty for inca rcera ted young men ages
sary. And most importantly, that every10 to 16. Their crimes ranged fro m
o n e can b e their ow n age n ts of
in co rrig ible cr imina l be hav ior to
change, can transcend even the worse
murde r.
to victory, that t h ere's a stra tegy, expe riences.
I came to address an assembly of the re are tactics, tl1 e re are weapons.
T his society, as personified in its
young me n dressed in th eir "blues,"
In the inte nse years of my youtl1, priso n syste m , is sayin g t h e exac t
many of t h em m e mb e rs of L.A. I fough t with g uns, knives and fists, opposite. If you ' re poor, if you 're of
gangs. The maj o ri ty at Ne lles were subdu ed by spray intox ica nts, p ills co lo r , o r a n immi grant, yo u can
Chica n o a nd Latino; th e res t we re and he roin . Tod ay I figh t with words, n ever ch a n ge. You a r e born ' "ith a
African American. I was introduced ideas a nd poetry. I'm still a warrior, bra nd of mediocrity, of mind enslaveas a form e r gang
P~IIII!~!!!III----~~~;;:;~~~~~~ me nt, of no o ptions.
and
me mb e r
Thi s is re ina uth o r of th e
forced by a s tran book, A lways Rung ling doub le stan ning: L a Vida
dard of justi ce,
L oca, Gang Days
whe re ce rta in laws
in L.A.
and social norms do
On the faces
n o t ap pl y to the
rich o r reso urceful.
o f t h ese wards,
so me o f them
O n th e o n e
marked with ta th and, if a me mbe r
to os, I saw t h e
o f this society's rulp a in , th e e mptiin g c lass d oes
n ess, t h e s h ame
wrong, it is a utomatand the pride that
ic th ey wi ll h ave
options to do better.
I fe lt so m e 20
yea rs ago whe n I
But fo r th ose of us
was part of a ba rwith out th e means,
ri o, eas t o f Los
we are g ive n 'jackAngeles.
ets" to wear for life.
T he re, among
The
"thre e
th e m, stood defi_strik es a n d yo u ' r e
ance and victim- Chicano p_ride isn 'l e:cdusivelj, 1~wle. CI)'Slal, a homegirl in New Mexico, proudl)' displa)'s out" con ce pt is no t
.
a tattoo of her set. Photos by Clms Couone.
tZation. Honor an d
n ew; it on ly instituin humanity. Young men a nd ma tu ring but now with wea p o ns th a t h ave tiona lizes what has been h a ppe ning
proven more effective and powerful to a particu lar segment of th e popuboys.
1 spoke to th e m as ho n estly as I tha n any gun I held in my hand.
la tion for years.
could, as soft a nd hard as th e occaTh e wards too k in wh at I said.
As many of you know, prison o nly
sion required . I'm almost 40 now. An Some were sile nt, whi ch is also a way reinforces the most inhu mane aspects
eld er perha ps. I haven't bee n active of commu nicating. They appeared to of tl1 e su·eets. It is inte rnalized coloin the crazy life fo r decades. But as a be thinking, perhaps feeling again . A ni alism a n d oppressio n. T h e "crimiteenager, li ke many o f tl1 ese wards, I few questions came my way. But much n al" justice system operates on th e
d ee pest and most pervasive level of
sa t in j ail cells, juvenile co urts a nd of the time called for conte mplation.
alternative sc hools.
At the end, a I 6-year-old Chi cano in human ity.
At 18, I bare ly esca p ed a long came up to me a nd shook my hand.
T h is is wh y "respect" is a life-andprison term. I had the help of men- "I've never been as proud of being a death issue in prisons. When it has
tors a nd activists in the most radical Mexican as when I. heard you speak bee n d e ni ed , when people are torn
wing of the Chicano moveme nt, peo- he re today," he said .
d own by th e most degrad ing treatp ie to wh om I owe my life, people
I co uld a lready see h e was o n a men t, tl1ey u-y to hang onto respect as
who steered me in th e d irection of transcendent path, that h e was tap- the one last thing of value.
ping in to the tra nsfo rma tive powe rs
Fo r the last few years, I've facilistruggle, study and poe tic scie nce.
At elles, I didn't preach. I didn't within him. Then I asked the dude tared poetry workshops in prisons,
tell the wards wha t to do. I tr ied to why he was torcido.
h ome less sh elters an d m igran t
summarize what r lived to help tl1e m
"For two murders a nd l I murder camps. I've emphasized th e liberating
assess tl1 eir own lives: wh ere they've a ttempts. "
as p ec ts o f poetic exp r ession. I t
been and whe re they' re going.
As fa r as the criminal justice sys- involves relating to the inu·insic value
I was the re to valida te th eir war- tem is concerned , this yo ung man we h ave as human be ings. Poe try is
rior e n e rgy, to help the m take it to was not going anywh ere. But I sensed a bo ut co nn ecti ng aga in to feelings,
a nothe r level of developmen t so th ey he was already on a new j o urney of to ot h er hum a n b e in gs wi th Ianwould un de rstand that there's a way discovery, e mpowe rme nt a nd social guage, meaning a nd music.

L

8 PRISON LIFE

Luis Rodriguez

This is why raw artistic expression,
often in la nguage, is found among
those who have been most ma rg inalized in society. Whe n one's being has
been devalued, one reach es into the
depths o f c reativity a nd imagination
a nd brings it out again: hot, sea ri ng
and unconquerable.
But the capitalist society, unable
to accommodate m ost of this n ex t
generation, is pre pared to write them
off. The stra tegy is to first criminalize
them, to distance them from "civil "
society (even though this society is
uncivil ized at its core).
Although I h ave avoided a prison
term for 20 years, I am sti ll within th e

'1% have to prepare
(fUr youth to be
sovereign over their
lives, their community,
their country. "
prison parame te rs, being from th e
barrio, a C h icano a nd a po et. My
work be hind the wa lls, the shelte rs
and the boys' hom es is to assist our
collective efforts against all the barrie rs, to re move th e imposed se nte ncing without due process give n to us
because of our station in life.
Capitalism is not an ideology. It's
an econ o mi c syste m. But it h as an
unde rlying philosophical basis: pragmatism, to do wh a t is expedie nt, of
getting over, the only th ing that matters is resul ts (profits). Compe titi o n
drives th e system; dog-eat-dog. O n ly
the stro ng (in reality, the privileged)
survive.
This phi losoph y pe rm ea tes th e
streets a nd j a ils, where th e one who
gets ove r is the o n e who ca res t h e
least. Where did we learn this, if not
from o ur social relations?
Yo u think th ose who rul e this
country, who ar e o f te n th e firs t
ones to propose "three strikes a nd
yo u ' re o ut," "zero to lera n ce" a nd
simila r measures are above m oral
degeneration? Or b lackm a il? Or
th eft or murde r?
Think again.
Look at the recent revelations of
J. Edgar H oover (wh o blackmailed,
lied and perhaps murdered to maintain his power through seven presidents) or the way tha t perpetual victim O live r No rth is running for
Virginia se nator, know ing h e d oes
not have to pay for wh at has done. Or
how Los Angeles police officer Stacey
Koon a nd billio n aire bonds c rook

Mic hael Milke n are tota lly devoid of
rem o rse (and no w e njoy seco n d
ch ances).
There ar e people in thi s society
who not only feel e mpowered - they
feel e ntitled. They know they will u ltim a te ly ru le with o ut conse nt. T h ey
kn ow th ey will o b ta in wea lt h and
power no matter what the immedia te
costs o r conseque nces.
As a Chicano, born into th is world
stripped of dig nity, h istory and culture, bereft of my language an d la nd,
how will I respond? Mi Vida Loca was a
respo nse. Ta ttoos o n our faces, our
anns, our backs-the inside woun ds
on the body were a response. For this
we may be cond e mned , bu t thi s was
our stand. T his is how we negotiated
our identity outside of true power.
Now we have to m a ke o ur own
his tory. We h ave to pre p a r e o ur
youth to be sovereign over the ir lives,
th e ir co mmuni ty, th e ir countl-y. T o

be rule rs, lovers, artists and warriors
( t h e four as p ec ts of a utonomous
being).
This is why I be lieve in that 16yea r-o ld Nell es warrior. There a r e
mi llions like him. They a re see king
tl1e eldership and revolutionary skills
to struggle, to think, to triumph.
We, who h ave al r eady forged
tl1ro ugh tl1is, must gu ide these young
p eo p le thr o ug h th e j o urney t h ey
h onor with the ir prese nce. No more
pri so n s . No more med ioc rity. No
more slavery. It's time for us to rule.
Luis]. Rndt·iguez is an award-winning poet, joumalist and critic. He is also
founder/p7tblisher of Tia Chucha Press,
which publishes cross-cultural, sociallyengaged poetry in Chicago. He is wmking
on a book about Salvadoran youth gangs
in Los Angeles and their imfJact on El
Salvador, with New York photographer
Donna DeCesare.
W

San j ose homeboys kickin' back in one oj Al!Juquerque's bcmios.

PRISON LIFE 9

Block Beat
UP IN SMOKE
A business m an s pent a b out
$20,000 to buy up most of recently
executed se ri al kille r J o hn Wayne
Gacy's art. He plans to get a return
on his investment by burning them.
"\Ve want them wiped off the map,"
said J oe Roth , wh o bo ug ht m o re
than two dozen of the 40 Gacy works,
which included poro-aits of Pogo the
Clown and Mickey Mouse.
Roth said h e wa n ts to make a
poin t by burning the pain tings crea ted by the man co nvicted in 1980
of killing 33 boys an d yo ung men
during th e 1970s. H e said h e was
fed up with media coverage of the
execu t ion because it didn't send
su·ong e nough messages to parents.
"We're going to burn all th e pictures a nd u-y to get the atten tion of
pare n ts to watc h their kids so this
n ever h appe ns again, " Roth said.
"Young people have to be watched
so there's never a nother Gacy."
The Associat.ed Press

JUNK MAIL?
El even officials at Waupun
Correctional
I nst itu t io n
in
Wisco n sin h ave bee n reass ig n ed
from jobs in the m ail processing
departme nt after letters and other
cor respond ence were fo und in the
garbage. Membe rs of the prison 's
supe rvisory staff foun d in co ming
mail in th e tras h ca n in the m ail
room of the ma.ximum-security facility, Warden Ga1-y McCaugho-y said.
T h e mail addr essed to staff
members and inmates was in an o utgo in g garbage can, McCaug htry
said . T he re were at least 50 pieces.
"It was a variety of first-, second- a nd
third-class mail," he said. "There was
no ind ica ti o n t h at a n y m a il was
removed."
T h e department's e nti re staff
and o thers who had involvement in
the mail process were given oth er
j obs pending a n investigation by the
U.S. Postal Service and prison officials.
"This is n ot a suspect li st,"
McCaugh u-y said . "We just want to
make su re the re is a clean investigation. " Other correc tional officers
have bee n reassigned in th e ma ilroa m to h andle those responsibilities during the investigation.
The Associated Press

10 PRISON LIFE

A WEIGHTY DECISION
A death-row inmate who weig hs
more than 400 pou nds is too heavy
to be hanged, hi s lawyer said. A
h a n g ing wou ld li kely d eca pitate
Mitchell Rupe, who is sentenced to
di e for the 1981 murde rs of two
bank telle rs during a robbery.
"Beheading was a punishm ent
used in barbari c times," the lawyer
of th e Seattl e prison e r said . "We
don ' t accept bodily muti la tion as a
fo rm o f puni s hm en t n o w. "
Washi ngton is one of fo ur statesalo ng with Mon tan a, Delaware and
New Hampshi re - that a ll ows
d eath-row inmates to be h anged.
State atto rn eys a rg ue that th e
chance of decapitation is slight and,
even if it does occur, won't n ecessarily inflict undue pain. Rupe also
can choose lethal injection, but he
said h e considers it "morally re pugn a nt. " U nd e r state law, a cond e mn ed inmate who declines leth al
injection is hanged.
The prison at Walla Walla u ses
U.S. Army Manual 633-15 fo r executions by hanging. T h e ma nua l
gives a standard drop chart for th e
distance required by the we ight of
the prison er in order for th e big
rope kn o t to sn ap his neck. The
Army chart stops a t "220 p o un ds
and over." For th ose in this class,
the ch a rt assigns a five-foo t dro p.
Bu t Rupe is doubl e th at we ight
limit. If he were to drop five feet on
a rope, while he accelera tes a t 32
feet per second squared, his h ead
wou ld be yanked fro m his body.
New Yo1'h Newsday

HOW ABOUT
MORE BRAIN CELLS?
H a lf of th e cor rec ti on al officer
trainees in Florida were flunking the
state ce rtifi ca tion test, so offi cia ls
found a simple solution-they mad e
th e test easier. Trainees were failing
in high num bers because they had a
fourth- or fifth-grad e lite racy level.
Florida D.O.C. said that if it hadn't
sim p li fied t h e tes t, it wou ld h ave
faced a catasu·ophe: T he 55,000-bed
system is gearing up to add another
35,000 m ore beds in the next five
years.
The Cainsville Sun

WHAT A SLAP IN THE
FACE!
When a
poli ce officer
app roached Lynn Kivi a t a groceJ)'
store in Woodstock, GA, she saw no
reason to lie: sure, she'd slapped
her son . T he boy had been fighti ng
with his sister. Mrs. Kivi was ha ndc u ffe d and h a ul ed o ff to ja il. A
Win n-Dixie employee called police
on Ma y 23 after M rs. Kivi, 35,
slapped her 9-year-o ld so n in a n
aisle of the supermarket. The officer saw red marks on the boy's face
and asked him if he' d been slapped
before.
"I get smacked whe n I'm bad,"
the boy said.
Mrs. Kivi's arrest on charges of
cru e lty w ch ildre n b rin gs up t he
d ebate be tween t rad itional di scip line and ch ild ab u se . The
Woodstock police chief complains
that police can't wi n when it comes
to suspected ch ild abuse.
If convicted, Mrs. Kivi could get
up to 20 years in prison. She's free
on $22,050 bail, borrowed from her
husband's pension plan.
Associated Press

RECIDIVISM WITH A
TWIST: THE SERIAL DINER
Gangaram Mabes has an inte resting r itual: h e slips o n h is best
d o n ate d clo thes, stro lls to a nice
restaurant, sips a fine apertif, savors
a $50 m eal and fi nishes wit h hot
black coffee. Then he tells the waiter h e has no mon ey to pay for his
meal, a nd asks to be arrested. H e is
sent to Rikers Isla nd , wh ere he gets
three squares a day and a clea n
bed. H e serves a 90-day sente nce,
gets released and then heads for a
fan cy restaurant. During the time
he 's shown to his table and the second the check arrives, h e's as good
as anybody. He has the same rights,
th e same respect, the same choices
betwee n Caesar salad a nd Fren ch
oni on soup.
T he serial diner has commited
the sa me crime at least 31 times,
according to h is prison record. He
always pleads gu ilty and never urges
his lawyer to bargain for a reduced
se n tence. "It's tough o n the outside," Mahes says.
The New Y01'k Ti·mes

PRISONERS WREAK
LEGAL HAVOC
Since the 1960s, the number of
prisoner lawsuits protesting prison
co nditions has grown from just a
few hundred 10 more than 33,000
last year, whe11 they made up 15%
of all civil suits filed in the federal
~ourts. "These calies arc just burymg us and consuming a tremendous amoun t of tinw." said ew
York State Attorney Ceneral, G.
Oliver KoppeU. "There has to be a
way for prisoners to complain, but
this is not the way."
Of the 33,000 caS('S filed last
yea r, about 97% were dismissed
long befon: trial. Of those that
continued on, only 13% re~ulted in
any success for the prisoner-the
worst rate of any type of civil suit
filed in federal court.
The Nt7o Ymi1 Times

FLORIDA FREES ITS
FOREIGN FELONS
. An unprecedented agreement
wtth the federal go\'crnment
all.ow~d Florida to deport foreign
cnmtnals to make room in its
crowded prisons. The crimina ls
'\ rece,.ve
. d clcmencr (meaning they
don t have to return to jail in their
~ome lands) in exchange for agreemg to be deponed and never to
return to the U.S.
Gov. Lawton Chiles believes the
pro!?ram will keep violent prisoners
behmd bars longer and save Florida
from having to build two more prisons. The 2,700 criminal ali ens
locked up in Florida cost the state
about $60 million a \'Car. Ch iles
hopes half of the alien!> will be eligible for the program, and that 500
will be shipped back to their
homes, primarily Colombia, the
Dominican Republic and Grenada
within the next year.
'
Other states, such as California,
aren't co nsidering the program.
"The Florida solution for California
would be a get-out-ofjail-free card
said a spokesman for Gov. Pet~
Wilson. "Unlike Florida, California
shares an international border with
Mexico so when felons are deported th ey come right back into the
state."
Associated Press

COVER UP, LADIES
"Why can't we wear sandals?"
'"Why, if your bra is showing, or the
beginnings of a b reast, won't they
let you in?" ···what about wearing
shorts and sleeveless b louses?"

'"''\'hat about dresses that buuon
down the front? " These were some
of the que tions the wives of
·washington. D.C. prisoners asked
tlw recently appointed D.O.C.
director, Margaret Moore, who
promised at a recent gathering to
tmprove the prison visitation program. But when the women asked
about conjugal vis its, Moore
res~unded: "Philosophically, I
d.o~t t ha\"c. a problem with conjugal
~··~u.s. Blll m terms of my priorities,
ll s JUSt not on the list."
D.C. felon's wives say they can't
even hug their husbands, and are
told LO sit three inches apart when
visiting.
Washington Post

DON'T FORGET TO FLOSS
Robert Shepard didn 't need a
baked in a cake to get o ut of
Jatl. Dental floss worked just
fine.While cameras, guards and
computer-contro lled doors were
keeping other prisoners locked in
the South Central Regional Jail in
Sou.th Charleston, VA, Shepard
br_cudcd the floss into a rope as
thtck as a telephone cord and used
it to scale an 18-foot wall. A real-life
Spidcrrnan!
The 5-foot-9, 155-pound con
escaped from the recreation vard
by attaching a weight to his w~xed
and minty-fresh cord and hurling it
up ward to loop i t thr oug h the
chain-link fence. He then used it to
help him climb the cinder block
wall, and hung from the cord whi le
he cut through the fence with a 3inch piece of hacksaw blade.
Jail administrator Lany Parsons
said, "I just find it incredible that
somebody could use something
that thin. He's a lmost taken on
superhuman qualities. "
As Prison Life goes to press,
Shepard remains at large, and sales
of floss have been suspended at
South Central.
Associated Press
~~~

EVANGELIST CON
LEAVES PRISON
Former TV evangelist Jim
Bakker left a Georgia prison in
early July and moved into a halfway
house after serving 4 l/2 years for
bilking followers out of $158 million. He will serve the rest of his
time in th e halfway house until
Dec.!, 1994.
"Once again, I wam to humbly
ask for forgiveness to those I have

o.ffended or hu rt in any way by my
sm and a rrogant lifestyle," said
Bakker, whose original 45-year sen~ence was reduced by an appellate
JUdge who felt that a federal judge
made inappropriate remarks about
the case.
While in prison, Bakker was
di\"orced by his wife of 30 years,
Tamm). She later remarried.
Associated Press

AND THEY WANNA KILL
PELL GRANTS?
ational statistics indicate that
60 to 70 percent of incarcerated
individuals are functionally illiterate, and when they are released
from prison , they are unskilled,
untratned and unable to find
employmen t. Subsequently, 60 to
70 percent of re leased convicts
return to prison.
However, the recidivism rate
for individuals who have gotten an
education is only 30 percent. A person who is out of prison and stays
?ut becomes a productive, tax-paymg memlwr of society; when a p•isoner returns, it costs the state and
society.
The Rejlectm~ Min11esota
Correctional Facility

ANTI..CRIME GROUP
TAKES A SLUG
Florida's Supreme Court rejected a proposed amendment to the
state constitution that prisoners
se rve at least 85% of the ir sentences. T he cow·t ruled 5-2 that the
proposed a me ndment contained
too many loopholes to guarantee
that prisoners would serve that portion of their time.
"The proposed amendment will
not deliver to voters of Florida what
it .say~. it .will," the majority opinion
satd. It mcludes legal loopholes so
large that the governor and Cabinet
can, if they so ch oose, render the
entire amendment illusory."
The majority also noted tha t
passage of the amendment likely
would req uire the leg islature to
raise revenue to build new prisons.
The amendment was sponsored
by SOS Foundation I nc of
Seminole, an anti-crime group.
Reuters

CompUed by Staff

Photo by Manual Machuca

PRISON LIFE 11

Mail Call
readership. But there is an enormous
culture to write about and to reflect
upon for the benefit of those who are
incarcerated and for the rest of the
nation. The June 1994 issue d emonsn-ares you are up to the challenge.
Enclosed is payment fo r a oneyear subscription.
Eric E. Sterling, President
Criminalj ustice Policy Foundation
Washington D. C.
BEWARE THE CULTURAL DISTORTER

NODS OF APPROVAL

reall y enjoyed the re-birth
issue of Prison Life. The interview
with H erby Sperling was well don e
and I also liked "The Iron Pile." But
I was particularly touched by bo th
of Richard Stratton 's pieces.
In Stratton's short story, "The
Great Escape," the Indian's inner
flame, someth ing that has consumed
so much of my own life, made the
story all the more poignant. Likewise
in Vo ice o f th e Convict: "What I
learned is that be ing a co n vict
mea ns yo u can never give in, you
can never let them break you. It's
better to d ie standing up for your
beliefs than to go out on your knees
as a rat, a coward, an informant."
Like H e rby S pe rlin g (whom
I've never me t but we have a similar
spirit and mutual friends), I have
also spe nt 35 of my 55 years in a
cage. But u n li ke certai n c retin s
(rats), weakness is a luxury I can ill
afford, much less contemplate. Selfdig nity is all I have left. It's enough
for me to grin each morning when
I wake up and get a nod of approval
from the face in the mirror.
j oe "SulLy" Sullivan
Shawangunk Correctional Facility

Dear Friends:
It is not often that I pick up a
new magazine and read it cover to
cover at one sitting. I thought th e
wr itin g and subj ect ma tte r were
excellent.
It is obvious that the universe of
prison life is grO\ving in America, and
that you have a tremendous potential

12 PRISON LIFE

I read earlier issues of Prison Life
while I was at Lewisburg and I did not
like it. The Cultural Distorter (a.k.a.
the Great Distorter-the foreign element who has hijacked our gov't) had
control of the mag and it was twisted
into an anti-prison life magazine.
You did a great job \vith the new
Prison Life. But beware: The Cultural
Distorter \viii be upset at this and \viJI
try to creep into your organization to
once again l\vist/ tum \vith his unlimited cash account. Bare your teeth
and keep him ou t. 'There's a killer
on the road . . . his face is squirming
like a toad ... " Qim Monison).
O ne tip: Don't bash the guards or
police. Give the guards a fair shake.
Use constructive criticism, not pot
shots or dead j okes. They got a job to
do and my experience \vith them is
that they do it pretty damn well. The
officer who gave me my mag here at
Marion told me he didn't like the
prison guard jokes. I agree with him.
They were Bush league.
But who am I getting off talking
like I am? J ust who the hell am I to
be talking to you like this and telling
you what to do, and to beware of the
Cultural Distorter with your magazine? Huh? Just who the hell am I?
Well, I'll keep that a secret fo r now.
Enoug h of this ramb ling!
Enough!!! Stop!
j ohn Condon
Mmion Control Unit
THANKS

Dear Prison Life,
Thank you for publishing my
article, ''Welcome to Punk City," in
yo ur J u n e issue . Th e article has
sparked discussion not o nly among
convicts bu t staff as we ll. Copies
were duplicated for the purpose of
group interaction in various selfhelp o rganizations here in Attica.
But on a p e rso nal level, I have

received r esponses from readers
throughout the cou n try com plimenting the nature and inten t o f
the article. I'm on the verge of making some new friends from the outside world- friends I will respec t
and value \vithout manipulation for
self gain.
Again , I thank you for being a
vo ice for us who are ofte n never
heard in a healthy, sound way.
Eric Van Reid
Attica
EYE FOR AN EYE. ..

Today I received the garbage you
call a magazine. I've never heard of
this pile of trash before and I never
want to again. I have no idea where
or how you gained my address but
you \viii take it out of your computer's mailing list. I am horribly offended by the contem of your publication, and the term used o n the subscription card.
I am an adult probation parole
office r for the State of No rth
Carolina and a Christian. I am proud
of both factors.
I was so offended by this rag that I
sent it to the state Atto mey General's
Office \vith a letter of complaint seeking help in stopping any more of your
garbage reaching my door, and I'm
inquiring if I cou ld fil e a lawsuit
against whatever source obtained my
name in a mailing list and against
your magazine for the vu lgar language used on the subscription flyer.
All of you need to get right with
Jesus Christ and destroy the entire
pile of garbage yo u yet intend to
publish.
james E. Summerlin
North Camlina
M1·. Summerlin:
We have seen the error of ou1· ways.
But only because )'OU enlightened us. If
you hadn't enclosed that handy pra)'erbook ...
Come to think of it, it's only fair
that we send something back to you.
Since every·one likes to see his name in
print, you'll be getting a copy of this
month's Prison Life.
Oh yeah, you wanted to know where
we got youT name: We purchased the
American Correctional Association's
mailing list and sent everyone on it a
copy. That's right, homey-the ACA.
Thou hath been betrayed.

DON'T TAKE MY LETTER LIGHTLY

Dear Sir:
Pl ease be advised that I see
yo ur magazine as a propaganda
p latform for specia l interest law
enforcement politics and subgove rnmentalism by way of using prisoners and their prisons as threats
to all other citizens, esp ecially new
immigrants and exopolitical exiles
who might be tempted to become
"lawbreakers" occasionally.
I 'm invo lved in so me serious
research and Artscie nce concerning
t h e full spectrum of the "prison
prism." Don't take my le tter lightly
beca use I don't take yo ur literary
slant lightly. Police are citizens. They
are n't otherworldly beings o f power
or authoritarianism who dictate people's Constitutional tights as rites of
p ied-piper politics of me rit a nd
demerit for certain be h aviorism

I've studied the necessary sociology, political science, psychology, philosophy and technology
to put up a good argument in behalf
of Absolute Citizens without alot of
Relative Conjecture or specu lative
extrapolationism.
I won't claim to know everything, but I know one thi ng, and
that's that the govern ment wants to
know more about h ow to check peop le without b ala n ces o r practi cal
moderation as Constitutional provisions ASSURE. Yet we are not pawns
on the governme nt's c hessboard to
b e p layed with by ANT IMADVERSION1STS of politique? We are biological memories of nature, and we
a re not obligated to compete with
computeresque me mories that a re
generated by robotic data processors
of artificia lism. We are not prog ra mmed by statistical memories!
WE ARE A PROCESS OF OUR
OWN. Besides, compu te r memories

are usel ess without a future to
remember them in ... and it looks like
politicians and lawmakers a re set
upon extrapolating tl1e present and
past of the people witl1 regard only
for m e political bodies future alo ne.
I say m is: You can 't make friends
with Tom Sawyer painting his fe nce
wim pictures of prisonhood to nash
on citizens, like horrorism instead of
terrorism. Peop le will see p ast mat
sycophantic hype. I a m a mirror; I
refl ec t back wh at you project forward. An d I migh t be a cracked mirror, but in tl1ese recyclic days, that's
beside the poin t. T he point is tl1 is:
You are citizens yourselves no matter
how objectively su bjectifying yo u
think your media modula ted syndic
ideals sh ould be. If you o r a nyone
e lse claim higher immunity, th en
the semantics are telling.
j oey Swiecichi
Florida State Prison
Huh ?

WHAT TRASH!

Gen tleman:
Today we received a magazine,
Prison Life, which we did not request
nor d o we want to receive in the
futu re. We do not want that kind of
TRASH in our office, the refore, we
want our address r emoved from
your mailing list immediately.
B.L. Parmer, Chief of Police
Marianna Police DejJartment, Florida
Remove m y n a me fro m you r
maili ng list or I'll kick your ass. Send
yo ur ga rbag e to so m eo n e who
asked for it.
Lorene Forttrell
Bare Hill Correctional Facility

I have reviewed yoUJ· Jun e 1994
issue of Prison Life. I did not subscribe to your publication and I am
asking you to remove me from your
circulation.
While I respect yo ur r ig ht to
publish this mixture of poor taste,
political propaganda a nd vu lgarity,
I hope you respect my right not to
be associated wim it in any way.
Your efforts to make heroes out
of Lhe criminal parasites whom you
glorify and villains out of the responsible citizens whom you ridicule are
totally repugnant to me. T he majority of inmates are seriously attempting to rebuild their Lives in the face
of daunting odds. You do a great d isservice to them when yo u portray
them as sell-outs to "th e system. "
Likewise , most of th e c itize n s
employed in the criminal justice
syste m are working to
--•"'~~
im p rove the

tun it ie s
available for
that majority
of inmates.
You destroy
any credibi li ty for your appare nt
political agenda when you focus o n
the corrupt or abusive few.
Tha nk you for supplying t h e
free sample of your publication. I
regret that its perverted representati on of such co n ce pts as "dign ity
and honor" causes me to request
removal from your circulation.
S. V. Pruett, Warden
James River Correctional Center,
StateFann, VA

Warden:
What magazine did you read? Are
you referring to Herby Sperling, CA$H
and Georgie Martorano (Cellmate of the
Month) as criminal parasites? How
hind ofyou.
We happen to believe that jnisoners
are more than the crimes they've commit-

(continued on page 90)

PRISON LIFE 13

Insider Outlook

LIFE IS CHEAP ON THE PLANTATION
The valley west of Pueblo, CO is an
area America would rather forget, a
place that's convenient.ly hidden by
vast mountain ranges. In this valley
lies the Federal Prison Complex, the
largest prison complex in the world,
and one that's notorious for poor
conditions and an inept, apath etic
staff. I have seen men vomit from the
poor food, faint while forced to rake
dirt in the hot sun and literally fall
into a deadly coma for lack of decent
medical care. Conditions at Florence
Institution are so well known among
prisoners in the federal system
they've nicknamed it "the
Plan tation," in reference to the slave
plantations of the o ld South.
I live each day moment by moment
and try to sun~ve, try to fight the injustices, and hope this story will be told. I
am just one voice of courage, one face
in the crowd. I am number 2479(}.{)08.
At Florence, there are no educational opportunities besides a G.E.D.
program. Furloughs are not permitted. But nowhere are the staff's attitudes and apathy more evident than
in the substandard medical care. The
staff are actually told to watch a prisoner suffer rather than pick up the
phone and call an ambulance. Only
the on-duty physician and his assistant
are allowed to call for medical help.
Many times, the p hysician and his
assistant are at ho me or unavai lable.
Quincy Rucker, an prisoner, complained fo r two weeks before falling
unconscio us from pain. A bullet that
physicians decided to leave in him
years earli er dislodged and caused
his bowels to become blocked. He
began screaming fro m the pain at
about 10 p.m. and was un conscio us
by 3 a.m. During th is time, prisoners

14 PRISON LIFE

pleaded with the on-duty officer to
call an ambulance. The officer
refused and said the prison d octor
was on his way.
At 3 a. m., alarmed prisoners carried what they thouglu was a lifeless
body to the front door of the complex and laid him down before the
o fficer, begging him to call for an
ambulance. The officer called the
lieutenant on duty and was ordered
to take pictures of the dying prisoner.
Rather than call an ambulance, th e
staff are actually instructed to record
the death with pictures. Fortu nately
fo r Mr. Rucker, the prison doctor
arrived at about 5 a. m., seven hours
after the staff was first notified, and
Rucker was immediate!)' rushed to
th e hospital. Surprisingly, he mad e it.
J eiTrey Springer, an prisoner at the
complex, had similar pro blems.
Springer suffers from a kidney ailment that requires him to drink distilled water. Any other water, like tap
water, worsens his condi tion. When
he arrived to serve an 18-month sentence at the Plantation, he informed
officials of his condition and of his
need for distilled water. H e repeated
his request many times over the next
two months until eventually he fell
un conscious and was sent to the hospital. The doctor treated him and
returned him to prison with instructions to provide the prisoner with distilled water and his medication,
wh ich the prison ignored. Ten weeks
later, in unbearable pain,J eff
Springer passed out in the hallway.
When he fell, he struck his forehead
on the block wall and cu t a threeinch gash across the top. After a
seven-hour wait with only the prisoners to help him, he was sent to the
hospital and finally, when he
returned for the second time, o fficials gave him a gallon of distilled
water a d ay.
Thomas Falater
Federal Prison Complex

THE CHAPLAIN FROM HELL
Censorship: It is the policy of this institution to publish The Mi1Tor free of censorship excejJI in those circums tances
where the publication of17Je Min-or, in
whole or in part, would tlu·eaten the secutity or order of the institution, or where the
fmblication would have a det1i mental

effect on the rehabilitative efforts of Ihe
Department of Co1Tections.
-Minnesota Correctional Facility's
poli cyI procedures h a ndbook

Among the few civi l righ ts retained
by p risoners are the First
Amendment rights of freedo m of
religion, freedom of speec h and freedom of the press. I guess th e U.S.
Constitution doesn't apply to L11e
Minnesota Correctional Facility in
Stillwater.
When Warden Robert A. Erickson
retired last year, he was replaced by
Warden Dennis L. Benson, who
transfeiTed fro m Oak Park Heights,
Minnesota's supermaximum facility.
Warden Benson replaced the administrative staff at Stillwater with his
own. Chaplain Richard Knowles, who

had been at Stillwater for over 20
years, was transferred to Oak Park
H eigh ts so Benson could bring his
own man in - Chaplain Steve
Hokanson.
First impressions of Hokanson were
foreboding. At a graduation ceremony, he gave a short address, during
which he squeezed water out of a
sponge and spoke through clenched
teeth about being "wrung out."
Attendees, including outside ministry, were angered and puzzled by
this strange exhibition.
When prisoner Les Mercer and I
met with Chaplain Hokanson as representatives o f the Christian Men's
Fellowship g roup, he warned us that
if we wanted to keep our gro up, we
sho uld stop printing our monthly
newsletter, "Reflections From
Stillwater."
Our newsletter listed Ch ristian ser-

vices a nd Bible slUdies a t Stillwate r,
alo ng with fe llowshi p oppo nunities
li ke playing sports or singing in th e
c ho ir. Cha plain Hokanson objected
to it because it d idn ' t list nonCh risti an se rvices, and he was afraid
so meone might th in k it was being
publish ed or supported by him, even
tho ugh I produced th e n ewsle tte r on
my typewri te r a nd had it copied by
a nothe r prison er's father. In orde r to
kee p the fe llowship g roup, the
newsle tte r was discontin ued.
The next controve rsy arose ove r th e
publication o f a book o f Christian testimonies called "Light Shining Out of
Darkness." The book was supported
by Prison Pals Mi nistry, wh ich contracLCd with th e graph ics de parun e nt
o f the Sti llwater priso n to print it.
The costs we re paid by pr isone r do nalio ns a nd outside support. But in
Octobe r 1993, three days after the
book was printed and d istributed ,
one of the publication 's editors and I
were placed in 24-hour lockup pe nding an investigatio n by o rde r of th e
associa te wa rde n. Afte r be ing
released , 1ve were both suspe nded
from our j obs on the prison newspape r fo r 11 days witho ut pay. The
investigati on lasted a mo nth .
Meanwhile, Priso n Pals Ministry was
barred from conduc ti ng worship services a t Stillwater.
Need less to say, th e investigatio n
cleared everyon e of any wrongdo ing,
and my colleagu e and I we re g ive n
back o ur j obs a t the newsp aper.
Prison Pals Min istry was o nce again
allowed to conduct services, but o ur
struggle wasn ' t over.
vVhe n I re turn ed to work at T he
Prison M in·ar, I was instruc ted by th e
graphics su pervisor tha t the o nly relig ious ma terial allowed in the n ewspape r wo uld be that which Chaplain
Hoka nson wrote himself. Because this
censorsh ip not on ly violated prison
policy and federal law, the edito r,
Da rre ll Wa rd, a nd I (the associate
editor) decid ed to take a stand.
We con tacted the Minnesota Civil
Liberti es Union, wh ich th e n sent a
le tter to the warde n telling him tha t
his censorsh ip violated p risoners'
First Amendm ent rig hts. T he administra tio n backed off, but n o t without
threats o f re taliatio n. Both Da rre ll
a nd I , wh o are inte rstate transfers
serving life sente nces, we re threatened with being shi pp ed back to o u r
se nding sta tes. T he adm inistra ti on
also threate ned to ban The Prison
M inor - the country's o ld est prison
newspaper, published since August
1887.

Need less to say, no ne o f this has
he lped Ch ap lain Ho kan son's re pu tatio n am o ng priso ne rs. In fact, he's
been n ickna med "the c ha plain fi·o m
he ll." Wo rd in th e cell blocks is th at
his badge is heavie r than his cross.
Gordo n Grilz
Minnesota Conectional Facility

Iive murde rs commi tted he re. T he list
goes on a nd o n . All these men ca me
here in the mid to la te '60s a nd '70s
a nd will probably never go ho me.
In I 973, Angola was declared the
bloodi est prison in th e nation.
An gola is on e fo r the books.
La n)' Donn e ll Wi lliams
L ou isiana Stale Prison

TURNING OVER ANEW LEAF

I

NO SMOKES

In Ma rch 1994, Utah State Prison
banned smoking . Yes, Utah has take n
away the cons' smo kes clue to some
Clean Ai r Ac t, even tho ug h we've
been restricted to smo king o utside
for ove r a year . Now we' re forced to
quit! We' re doomed to walk a ro und
for 10 or 15 years, eve n life, withou t
even a pack of cigs in o ur pocke t.
Wha t's n ext? We h ave n othing e lse.
Cigarette smo king has been
part of d o ing time sin ce time began .
It relieves stress a nd ten sion , keeps
violence down , and h e ll- some of us
just like to smo ke. To my knowledge,
we' re the only pen in th e na ti on
wh e re smoking is totally bann ed. So
all I can say is this: Smo ke 'em wh ile
you got 'em. Who knows how lo ng
you'll h ave 'em.
Ge rald Evans
Central Utah C01rectional Facilil)'

MUST BE THE FOOD
I have been confi ned in Angola
since I was 17. Now I'm 39, and I think
I've seen everything there is to see in
priso n . T he fu nny thing abo ut this
prison is people don ' t seem to leave.
My uncl e, Leon "Sh in" La nd ry, was
33 clays sho rt to go ho me whe n h e
killed a guy he kn ew fro m the streets,
for which he rece ived an extra five
years. Gilbe rt Dixon came here with
15 years and n ow has Life. Eddie
"Wing-Ding" Burkhalte r came he re
with th ree years a nd now has two life
se nte n ces for murder. He killed th e
last guy while he was o n Death Row.
Lee Lang came h e re with six years
and now has five li fe se nten ces for

The d eath pe nalty doesn ' t d e te r
murde rers, just like a ttacki ng c hild
moleste rs, rapists or even pe rve rts
cloesn ' t stop sex ual o ffende rs.
I was incarce ra ted in 1987 fo r infanti cide. My son was six weeks o ld. I
don ' t need a ny more punishment; I
created e nough pe rsonal pain
already. Nine to twe nty years is more
Lhan e nough time to acknowledge
thai. I failed as a fath er. I live for today
now, consid er tomorrow, but see no
fu ture in the past. Wh ethe r I a m
acce pted or rej ected , 1 am doing time
- fo r myself - and I will leave prison
as a d ifferent and h umble man .
I be long to no re ligion , excep t
nature, and I be lieve my go al in life is
to develo p inne r who le n ess, a ha nnony with na ture, a nd to learn fro m

hum anity's wisest sages: childre n , animals a nd females. T hese neglected
e ntities are th e most powerful, the
most needed , a nd we must respect
the m o r pe rish.
When th e re is acceptance, the re is
unde rstanding. Certain peop le a re
crazy e nough to fo rgive and love me,
so I can fo rgive a nd love o th e rs.
Prison is a go od place to sta rt.
Phil "Evening Star" Cw-cio
Rockview Prison, Pennsylvania

CAREER CRIMINAL
At age 34 I'm already classified as a
"ca ree r crimin al," and I' m figh ting
the toughest battle of my life: Lhe figh t
to become a pro ductive, respo nsible
me mber o f society. I've been using
(continu ed on page 17)

PRISON LIFE 15

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Insider OUtlook
(continued from page 15)

drugs, committing crimes and living
in institutions since I was 10. I have a
two-year college degr ee a nd nume rous trad e skills, but I canno t function
in society. I always fall back into
d rugs unti l I self-destru ct and e nd up
back at squa re one-prison.
Growing up in foster ho mes paved
the way to becoming a career criminal. I was first arrested at 13, for burgla•y, a nd \vas locked up in juvenile
H all. I re me mber my initia tion:
standing in a bathroom stall, bracing
myself, while o ther boys each took
turns punching me in the chest.
At 16, I was arrested for arm ed robbe ry and a uto theft and se nt to a
boys' ra nch, where I se rved 18
mo nths on a three-year bid.
Freedom lasted abo ut a year. What
started as a neighborhood gang fight
e nded in a high-speed chase a nd a
collision with a police car . I was sent
to the California Youth Authority on
a five-year b id. To me, it was j ust
a nother ste p up the ladder, and a
new set o f rules and frie nds.
I escaped after almost two yea rs,
o nly to p ic k up anothe r fi ve, th is time
in state prison. I spe n t two years
su·aight in the Security H ousing Unit
(SHU) a t San Quentin. I was bird
shot in riots, saw me n stabbed and
killed , but some how made paro le. I
walked ou t at age 24 - lost!
It's been 10 yea rs since then. I've
had countless parole vio lations and
a m a registered n ar cotics offende r in
three counties. I'm curre ntly fighting
a bank robbery charge.
One d ay I was called from my dorm
to see a man named Richard Rios
fro m a p lace called Delan cey Street
-the na tion's largest self-help (residential) organization for hard-core
felons and addicts. Rios j a mmed me
with questions that made me feel
small, a nd I just didn ' t have the
answe rs. I went back to my dorm
knowing tha t my last ch an ce at life
was abo ut to slip away. I went to th e

desk and told the officer tha t I had to
talk to Rios again.
The electronic doo r popped o pe n,
and I walked up to him and told hi m
I wanted to be in his program
because I kn ew I could make it a nd
could do a lot of go od things in life. I
just needed help ntrning it around. A
correcti on s officer stood wa tch ing as
Rios said he'd le t me know.
A week later tha t sa me office r asked
me if I'd heard from Delancey Su·ee t.
"Not ye t," I said . H e to ld me no t to
screw up because h e'd stuck his n eck
ou t for me, and he usu ally doesn ' t d o
tha t. T ha t nigh t I heard fro m
Delancey Su·ee t: I'd been accepted .
Now I must convince a judge that my
search fo r h elp is sincere and to take
a ch ance o n me.
What hope I have for a shot a t a normal life I owe to an officer named
Fraum and a place called Delancey
Street.
-Mike Yba rra
San Quentin

INSIDER OUTLOOK

InThe\rown
Words

You got a story to tell? You
got a beef? A problern? Just
something to get off your
chest? Send you1· short pieces
to I nsider Outlook, your
longer ones to In Their Own
Words here at Prison Life,
505 8th Avenue, 14th Floor,
New York, NY 10018.

$200,000 REWARD
Offered for the Indictment
and Arrest of Persons Involved
in Attempts on the Life of
Bethesda Businessman
On April J, 1993 a nd aga in o n
May 18, 1993, unidentified gunmen
attempted to take the life of a promjnent Bethesda, Maryland businessman, by fi ring guns at motor vehicles
which he was driving. The first of
these inciden ts occurred on Route
270, in M ontgome ry County. The
second occ urred outside the businessman's home, on Selkirk Drive,
in Bethesda, Maryland. Accounts of
these incide nts were reported to the
Montgomer:r County Police together
with othe r tnforma tio n concerning
possible suspects. Some of thjs jnforma ti o n h as bee n broadcast o n
C h a n ne l 9 in Wash ing to n, D .C.
througb the Crime Solver progran1.
In fo rma ti o n has bee n acquired
a b o ut th e p e r pe t ra to rs of th e se
shootings. Thi s reward to obtain
further co rrobo rating ev idence to
e nsure the appre he nsion and successful prosecution of these perpetrators.
The bus iness ma n has offered a
reward of Two Hundred Thousand
Dollars ($200,000.00) to any person
w ho prov ides info rm a ti o n to the
Montgo me ry Co unty Po lice o r
a nothe r law e nforceme nt agency,
leading to the identification, mdictment and arrest of the persons who
were involved in these atte mpts on
his life which occurred on April l
and May 18, 1993.
If you have any inforn1ation which
you believe may be helpfu l in corroborating the information wruch the
Montgomery County Police has concerning these shooti ngs, and which
may ultimately lead to the indictment
and arrest of the persons who were
involved in these incidents on April
I a nd M ay 18, 1993 please call
Crime Solvers at (30 I} 2 17-2255 I
(800) 673-2777.

PRISON LIFE 17

Welcome to California,
America's Premier Penal Colony

THREE
STRIKES,

By Isaac H . Cubillos
It ha rd ly made a ripple in the na tional crime statistics.
Afte r all, be twee n 50 a nd 150 kidn apping-murde rs occur
each year. But th is year it's diffe re nt-it's an election yea r,
a nd the politicians n eed a cause-cele bre to show how to ugh
they are o n crime.
The kidn a pping a nd d eath-by-stra ngu lation of a 12year-old Pe taluma, CA girl by th e recently-released convict,
Richa rd Al lan Davis, is all tha t was needed to galvanize the
cru sadin g po liti cos. Ge tting toug h "is a politicall y irresistible respo nse to crime," said Beth Carte r, natio nal coordinalOr of the Campaign for a n Effective Crime Policy.
Gove rn o r Pe te Wilson , j o ined by political h ope fu ls,
mad e a p ilgri mage to th e stunne d Northe rn Califo rnia
communi ty. The na tion al media trailed alo ng to witness the
breast-beating of th e candidates. The speeches were gen erated by spin-meiste rs, a nd from th e lips of the politicians
came the e motionally charged sound-bite, "Three Stri kes
and You 're O u t! "
Comme nting on the state Se nate's 27 to 9 vote to pass
"three strikes," asse mbl y speaker Willie Brown (D- Sa n
Fra n cisco) said tl1a t po liticia ns had zero courage because
"they like th eir j obs and wa nt to be reelected. " When h e was
asked why he didn 't use his powe rful office to table th e bill,
he said, "I got o ut of the way o f this train because I'm a realist." He added tha t he had no idea how the state was going to
pay for the massive costs the "three sn;kes" policy will bring.
In wh a t will ma ke Califo rnia the numbe r one prison
builder in tl1e country, Gov. Pe te Wilson signed AB 971 into
law, the first of the state's many versions of the "three strikes"
bill. The new law imposes life sentences on repeat felons.
(continued on page 20)

lll usu-ali on by Rob Sula

18 PRISON LIFE

A LOOK AT THE TOUGHEST
CRIME BILLS EVER AND
THE FIRST VICTIMS OF
THE ANTI-CRIME
CONTAGION.

Bracing for After-Shocks
from the Nation's First and
Harshest "Three Strikes"Bill
by Mike De Felice
Whe n Billy was 18 h e walked into
a conve nie n ce sto re , acted like h e
had a gun in his pocke t, and held up
the place fo r $300. H e was caug ht,
pled guilty to ro bbery a nd senten ced
to a few weeks in j ail. Strike one.
Two years la te r h e sta rted a ba r
fight and hit someone in the face. H e
bro ke the victim's nose. The assault
earned him njne mon th s behind bars
and probation. Strike two .
Ove r the next several years, Billy
turned his life around. H e took auto
mecha nics a t a vo-tech sch ool, got a
fu ll-tim e j o b, go t ma rri ed. Thin gs
were going great.
Then, at age 27, Billy was promoted at wo rk. He went out to cele brate.
In the process, he had a bit too much
to drink. While driving home he reare nd e d a n o th e r ca r . No o n e was
killed , but the othe r driver suffered a
broke n a rm. Billy was ch a rged with
vehicular assault. He fought the case
but a jury convicted him. Strike three.
Normally, a g uy li ke Billy, with his
crimin a l history, wo uld h ave bee n
se nte n ced to 1 2 to 14 m o nth s in
priso n. But because b e lives in
Washin gto n a nd this was his thi rd
strike, or "most serious" felony, Billy
was g iven l ife in pri so n with no
cha nce for parole.
Initia ti ve 59 3, b e tte r known as
the "Three Strikes, You ' re Out" law,
is the reaso n for th e severe punishme nt. The measure, approved overwhelmingly by vote rs last November,
calls fo r a nyon e convicted of th ree

I',. s)•zz

"strike" crimes, o n separate . , ,.
trips LO court, LO b e
slapped with a mandatory
.{...... ~
life se nte n ce. 1-593 is
"
conside red to b e the harsh es t
~ f~~,~
sente ncing law in the nation.
W'~'
Th e law add s more th an 40 ctha.ese.sa,verage
crimes to the list of o ffe nses tha t can
J.
lead to a ma ndatory life se nte n ce. mmtmum se n te n ce
"Strike" crimes ra nge fro m bu t a re was 26.3 years, yet the average
not limited to certain drug, sex and sen te n ce imposed was 41.2 years. In
assault cases. 1-593 requires true life first-degree rape cases, the minimum
in pri so n sin ce n o g o o d tim e or sentence was 16.1 years, and t11e averpa ro le is possible . The on ly possible age sente nce imposed was 22.5 years.
relief is to pe tition the gove rn or for
Just as the p enalties of 1-593 are
cle me ncy, which is always a long sh ot. excessive, complain critics, so are the
Suppo rters o f the initia tive claim measu re's lo ng-term costs. In Billy's
it targets the most serious offend ers case, the state will pay $25,700 a nn ua nd preven ts th e m fro m repeatedly al ly to house a nd feed him. Inflation
vi ctimizin g so c ie ty. Opp o n e n ts will most certainly make this figure
believe that the initia tive is u nj ustifi- rise. Wha t's mo re, expe nses will skya bl y cos tl y, th a t i t wo n ' t r e du ce rocke t as Billy ages and r equi res
cr ime, a nd is simply overkill. Mo re expe nsive geriatric care.
appropria te alterna tives can be used
Olde r inm a tes h a ve m e d ica l
to ad equa tely punish serious offend- p ro ble ms su c h as cance r a nd h ea rt
ers while giving them the treatme nt d isease. Ro u tine can ce r treatm e n t
and coun seli ng they need to re turn runs $40,000 to $100,000 pe r inmate.
A bone mar row transplant alon e can
to society a nd function resp onsibly.
Exceptional sente nces, ove r a nd cost $200,000. A heart attack victim
a bove standa rd punishme nt ra nges, can require a h ost of procedures costa r e a lread y u sed. In t h e ca se o f ing upwards of $60,000. Suc h highre pea t sex pred a to rs, Washing to n's price p roced ures will drain state budcontroversial Community Protection gets since th ey a r e no t cove red by
Act allows fo r indefinite commitment Medicare o r Medicaid.
of o ffe nd e r s eve n after th ey h ave
The j u di cia l sys te m will n ot
co m p le te d t h e ir priso n se n tence. escape th e fi n anc ial impact of t h e
Lawma ke rs can also revise sen ten ce new law. "It's fair to say 593 lvi ll have
ranges, ma king them high e r for par- a sign ificant impact on the court sysLicular crimes.
te rn," re po rts Sale m. Within weeks of
Voters, by and large, feel that pun- passage, Sale m reali zed his p u blic
ishment needs to be even more severe, d e fe nders wo uld b e h a ndling twice
and they acted out their frusua lion in th e num ber of "three strikes" cases
the voting booth. However, the lvidely- th an previously expected .
T h ese cases, whi ch ca n invo lve
held pe rception tha t courts are soft on
crim e is no t accurate, re p orts Bill a nythi ng fro m a n attempte d p urse
Salem, felony super- sn atchin g to rape, n eed to b e previso r
at
The pared as if they we re aggravated murD efe nd e r Age n cy, ders because the clien t is looking at
Seattle's largest pub- Life without parole, he says.
lie defende r agency.
T he cost for a public defende r to
Prior to I-593, judges handle such cases may run as high as
steadily inc reased $50,000. T h e p rice tag o f a typical
sentences for serious felo ny is about $600.
offe nses, he reports.
Wi t h t h e stakes so hi g h , eve n
A r eview o f individ ua ls facing th eir first o r sec1991 sente n ces fo r ond qualifying strike are mo re apt to
offende rs
wh o d e ma nd ex pe nsive jury tria ls r a th e r
would have qualified th a n plead guilty a nd ge t c red it fo r
for "three strike" life tim e served , no tes Sale m.
se nte n ces sh owed
Besides bein g cos tl y, "thr ee
tha t judges we r e strikes'" \vill probably resu lt in keepimposing significant- in g ma ny prison ers be hin d bars fa r
ly lo nger sentences past the point they pose a threat.
than th e min imum
"After age 40 there is a precipiallowed by law. For tous decrease in the likelihood a pe rexample , in fi rs t- son will continue crimjnal beh avior,"
m u rd e r reports Larry Fehr, executive d irecto r
d egree

fJ

:.«.l

,,.

'Jr

,,J r

PRISON LIFE 19

of Washington Council on Crime and
Delinquency. Three out of four of the
most serious felon ies are committed
by individuals under age 30, and the
largest si ngle age of violent offend ers
is 18, says Fehr, citing law e nforcemen t and governmen t surveys. Only
one percent of se riou s felonies are
committed by those over 60.
Imerestingly, the type of criminal
most like ly to be su bjected to th e
unforgiving law will not be a murderer or a ra pist. Not a single person on
Washington 's d ea th row would h ave
been prevented fro m committing
their crimes h ad "tJ1ree strikes" been
in place at ilie time.
T he state's Sentencing Guidelines
Comm issio n reviewed over 16,000
adult felony offenders sentenced to
prison in 1991. Of those wh o would
have qualified for mandatory Life sentences un der this law, 34.1 percent
were for robbery; 26.4 percent for sex
offenses; 15.5 percent for assault; 10.9
percent for homicide; 6.2 percent for
drugs; 6.2 percent for burglary; and .8
t

I

percent for "other."
That the most likely offender to
be trapped in ilie net cast by ilie new
law is a robber (not a mass murderer)
may su rprise iliose who th ink the law
wo uld rid the streets of t h e most
heinous criminals.
"You have to measure this initiative no t by the cases most wi ll agree
on, such as iliose involving brutal serial rap ists, but by the less egregious
cases swept up by 593," says Assistant
U .S. Attorn ey To m Wales, a vocal
opponent of the ''Lhree strikes" law
(who e mphasizes he is expressing his
personal views, not nccessadly those
of the U.S. Dept. ofjustice).
"The public will be shocked to
learn about so me of those who wi ll
receive life sen tences under 593," says
Wales.
Case in point: Larry Lee Fishe r,
35. (Unlike the fictional Billy, this is
an actual case.) Fisher's first strike
happened in 1986 for shoving d own a
relative an d taking 390 from him.
He served four months in jail for rob-

bery.
Two years later, he robbed a pizza
parlor of $100 whi le pretending his
hidde n finge r was a g un. The second
stdke resulted in 17 mo nilis in prison.
This year, he held up a sandwich
shop. He d idn ' t display a weapon,
and no one was injured. A jury,
unawa re this was Fisher's third std ke,
found him guilty in two hours.
ormally, Fishe r would have
served about two years in prison. But
under the new law he must spend the
rest of his life behind bars. rr he lives
to age 72, Fisher will serve 37 yea rs
for ilie robbery.
"The law is unfair," says Fisher's
attorney, Chad Dold. "It docs not deter
crime. The only purpose is punishment. Banishment, really. It suggests
tha t there is no hope to improve one's
behavior. That's ludicrous."
Fisher was suffering from a substance abuse problem at th e time of
the third st rike incid e nt. H e had
be e n see king treatment bu t was
unable to enter a program because

•

the criminal most likely to be subjected to the unforgiving law will NOT

I

.

CALIFORNIA
(continued from page 18)

Ju st h o urs a fte r Gov. Wilson
signed ilie bill on March 7, 1994, 33year-old j ef:frey Dixon from San Diego
was charged with armed robbe ry.
Because Dixo n had th ree prior viole nt co nvicti o ns, h e a uto matically
ea rn ed th e d ubi ous disti nction of
beco ming th e first "three strikes"
casua lty. Within two wee ks, the law
had been applied to ove r 30 cases in
one county alone.
According to th e Ca li fo rni a
De partme nt of Correctio n s, a t least
8 1,000 more fe lons wi ll e nd u p
behind bars over the next six years as
a result of the new law. An additional
20,000 g u a rd s will be hired.
Ironically, this is the same n umber of
educators the University of California
is laying o ff due to budget cu ts. By
th e yea r 2027, th e r e will be more
ilian 275,000 people warehoused in
California alone, which will cause the
correctional budge t to double to $5.7
billion dollars pe r year.
Senator L ucy Ki llea (1-San
Diego ), who voted aga inst the b ill ,
said, "If we allow ourselves to be driven like le mmings over the cl iff by a
m ed ia fre n zy and publi c o p in io n
20

PRISON LIFE

polls ilia t support a slogan, not a policy... we really ought to no t call o urselves leaders." She added, "Let the
prod ucers o f 'Hard Copy' and ' Inside
Edition ' sit in tJ1e legislature."
Ma rc Klaas, fathe r o f the murdered Petaluma g irl, is lobbying to
derail the n ew law. Th e reasons he
g ives are that it's too ex pe nsive, it
doesn't target vio le nt felons, a nd it
might resul t in ilie elimination of the
de a th p e na lty. The Po ll y Klaas
Fo undation favo red a d iffe re nt bill
ilia t narrowed the definitio n of "violen t crimes."
Prosec utors a nd judges a li ke
opposed t he passage of AB 97 1.
Counti es, they reaso ned , could illafford the greater jail and court costs
for cases th at o the rwise wo uld h ave
been p lea bargained. Many California
j ails, alread y under fed e ra l pop ulation restriction s, will face acute overcrowding. As a result, local a uiliorities wi ll be forced to release pdsoners
who may pose a more sedous danger
to the public.
"Three-s tri kes" ca ndidates will
now force th e h and of th e criminal
justice syste m because t h ey wi ll no
longer go bli thely back to prison. As a
two-time pa ro lee said , "Th e age of

Le t's Make a Deal is over! No one is
going to go down wiiliout a fig ht and
wiiliout making iliem pay." Conside r
Dixon (the first "iliree strikes" casualty), who refused to coo pe ra te with
deputies a nd stood defian tJy silent at
his a rraig nm e nt. T hree-tim e losers
a r e n ow more apt to ta ke o n the
po lice because they have nothing to
lose. "There a re going to be more
g an g-ha nge rs taking o u t co ps an d
ma kin g th e streets run wi th mo re
blood. The n they're going to make
the DA take th em all th e way to trial
to blow the mo ney," the parolee said.
In deed, p rosecu tors testifying
before th e Fina nce Co mm ittee said
th at if they h ad to p lay the ro le of
d efense a ttorneys th e re was n o way
they would roll-over their clien ts and
ba rgain. "The y' re facin g 25-to-li fe
a n d we' re goi ng to trial," said o n e
prosecutor.
By passing the new law, legislators
have c re ated some unu sua l a nd
potentially h orrific injusti ces. The
state Legisla ture, for example, allows
specific counties to determ ine what
consti tutes a felony, or "su·ike." In San
Diego, the avocado growers (a maj or
industry in Southe rn California) were
able to pass a law ma t makes stealing

he was ovenvhelmed by the bureaucratic red tape of getting signed up,
explained Dold.
The punishment for Fisher, considering the facts of his case, brings
up what many feel is another critical
flaw in the mandatory se ntencing
scheme. The law strips a sentencing
judge of discretionary powers.
Individual circumstances of the
offense and defendant play no part in
deciding punishment.
A defendant who gets mad and
waves a knife at his brother and never
causes any injury receives the same
sentence as a cold-blooded murderer.
'The best and most efficient assurance of appropriate sentences is the
sentencing judge, who has heard the
evidence and the histo ry of prior
offenses," reports the King County
Bar Association, which opposed the
initiative.
Judge Donald Haley, president of
the Superior Court Judges Association
of Washington, agrees. 'Judges need to
have discretion. Individual circum-

stances must be taken into consideration. The 'three strikes' law does not
allow that.
"If you want perfect uniformity in
sentences, then plug all the information into a computer and have it spit
out the punishment. T h at's not justice," asserts Haley, who believes nearly every superior court judge in the
state is unhappy with I-593.
It may take years to assess the full
impact of Initiative 593, in terms of
cost to th e public and fairness to
offenders. Meanwhile, California and
New Mexico have passed their own
versions of the "three strikes" law, and
many more states are on the brink of
endorsing the policy. Clin ton and

Congress, eager to please their constitue nts, are poised to pass federal
"three strikes" legislation.
Clearly, such stringe n t laws are
the wave of the future. The long-tenn
question is: How much will America's
knee-jerk reaction to crime cost us as
we lose vital human resources to the
growing prison population, spend
precious tax do llars o n prison construction and clog the courts with
even more costly and time-consuming
legal rigmarole?

Mille De Felice is a public defender in
Seattle, WA.

avocad os a serious felony.
In another case, Umberto Duran,
a home less pe rso n , is being tried
under th e new statute. Dura n has a
rec ord of burgla ri es and a drug
ha bit. In an undercove r ope ration,
Duran was aske d by po lice if he
could sec u re $20 of cocaine. T h e
unsuspecting Duran told the officer
h e could get maybe $10 worth. Later,
after the d eal, Duran was a rrested
with .22 grams of cocaine and wh at
was described as "hand-to-hand-tothe-man." He now faces 25 to life.
Mark Carlos, Duran 's a ttorney,
said that the taxpayers are going to
clothe and fe ed his client for the
next 24 years a t a cost of $600,000.
Carlos said, "This is a guy (D ura n )
who never got any drug rehab, never
got the longest sentences on his previous arrests and, before the law went
into effect, would have served maybe
te n years. Now my clie nt is facing
life? This is not justice, this is idiocy,
and people need to know this."

Isaac H. Cubillos is the managing editor of
The California Prisoner , a publication
of the Sacramento-based Prisoners' Rights
Union.

PRISON LIFE 21

OFA

SNI

H
by Chris Cozzone &Andrew Heugel

COMES CLEAN AND
TELLS OF HIS SAD
FATE IN THE FEDERAL
WITNESS PROTECTION
PROGRAM
urnin g snitc h was n ever a n
o p tion for Do n ald "Tony the
Greek " Frankos. Durin g his
alleged career as a contract ki ller for
the New Yo rk mafia and, late r, wh ile
serving time in prison, h e relig iously
adhered to a strict code of sile n ce.
Turning stool pigeon was unthi nkable.
"Everyth ing h as chan ged n ow,"
says Fra nkos, yea rn ing fo r the d ays
whe n everybody knew h im as "Tony
the Greek." "One o utta every two priso n e rs is a ra t th ese d ays o n so m e
level. And I'm not tell ing you that to
justify wha t I did, I'm j ust telling you. "
Fra nkos lea n s bac k i n hi s c h ai r ,
scratch es h is ch in with hand cuffe d
hands. He glan ces at th e two gu ards
in th e confere n ce room at Clinto n
Correctional Facility in Dannemora,
NY. Th ey look bored and uninte rested in wh a t's about to be reveale d.
Satisfi e d , Frankos con tinu es. "I n
1985, I made th e biggest mistake of
my life ... "

T

22 PRISON LIFE

\

Th a t year was whe n F ran kos
"tipped over." He was doing 25 to life
at Comstock for the murder of Yonkers
drug d ealer Cla re nce Jones when he
was propositioned by Albanian drug
lord Xheved et 'J oe" Lika. Lika wanted
Frankos to help him put a contract out
o n U.S. Attorney Alan Cohe n , DEA
agent J ack Delmore and federal J udge
Eugene Nickerson. Some how, the feds
got wind of this and Frankos was called
in t o see t h e h ead of th e U.S.
Attorney's Offi ce fo r th e South e rn
Distri ct of New Yo rk , at tha t time,
Rudolph Giuliani, curren tly the mayor
of New Yo rk C i ty. T h e r e, b efo r e
Giulia ni a n d investiga tors fro m th e
U.S. Atto rn ey's Office, Jim Nauwen s
and Be n Sa urin o, h e go t th e f ed
makeover.
'T hey already knew the names of
th e plo tte rs," says Frankos, meaning
Lika and Jimmy Coonan , the no torious
lead e r of th e Wes tie s , the H e ll ' s
Kitch en Irish mob in New York. "What
tl1ey needed from me were the nam es
of th e ta rge ted officia ls. At f irs t,
Giuliani wanted me to wear a wire. I
refused. He wanted me to testify before
a Fed eral Grand Ju ry. I refused. And
he asked me, if tl1e plotters were indicted , wo uld I testify before the m in a
court of law? I to ld him no. H e said
tha t th e c rime was the m ost se rious
anyone could commit-a crime against
th e Am e ri can p eo ple, aga inst th e
whole U.S." Frankos says he was moved
b y th e pro-Ame ri ca speech mad e
against the backdrop of an e no rmous
flag in Giuliani's office.
Altho ugh it was sometl1ing he had
never conside red , Frankos d ecided to
h e lp th e fe d s. H e agr eed to g ive
Giuliani and his investigato rs only the
n a m es of th e targe ted officials a nd
wh e n t h e plo t wo uld h a p pe n - in
exchange fo r a senten ce reduction.
"Giulia ni sh oo k m y hand," says
Frankos. "He said I was d oing was the
most American thing possible and that
th e Albania ns were viole n t criminals
who did things even organized crime
figures did n't d o. 'I pro mise you,' his
e xact words were, 'you 'll get a reduction in you r sentence."'
O f course, nobody bothered to tell
Fran kos that tl1e feds have no jurisdictio n ove r state se n tenc es. So wh e n
Giuliani said he'd speak to Governor
Cuom o a nd U .S. Atto rn ey Ge n e ral
Ed win M eese fo r a r ed u c t io n in
Fra n kos' se nte n ce, it was a n e mpty
promise. Frankos received nothi ng.
Giuliani would not reply to questi ons pertaining to Donald Fran ko s.
"He just wan ted to save tl1e targe te d offi cia ls," Frankos admi ts. "Bu t

have
the

e l ectr i c
chair 20 times over
already. Forty killings? No.
The truth is I've only killed one person. One."
Claim: In the '70s, New York State
prisons released convicts on furloughs to commit contract killings.
Truth: It never happened to
Frankos. But he heard abou t it.
Claim: That Frankos killed Hoffa.
Truth: He didn't-he wasn't even
there. "It was John Sullivan and
Salvatore "Sally" Bones who did the
murder," Frankos says. "And Coonan
cut up the body."
Claim: That Hoffa's body is buried
in Giants Stadium.
New Claim: "No, no, no," Frankos
shakes his head. "He's buried not
inside, but outside the stadium."
Saurin o a nd Na u we n s we r e more
in terested in o rganized crime. T hey
wanted me to check into the Witn ess
Pro t ec ti o n Progra m. Th ey to ld m e
tl1ey'd get me to a federal pen, reve rse
my se nte nce, ch ange my iden ti ty and
ge t me away fro m all the crime of my
past. 'We' IJ help yo u ,' they said.
"I was ge ttin g o ld e r ," Fran kos
admits, "and starting to me llow o u t
when they started proposition ing me.
Th ey kep t telling m e, 'We' ll reverse
your life bid, we 'll reverse your li fe
bid' . . . and I kept thin king about it."
With the inform ation provided by
Fra nkos, the plot o n Alan Cohen , J ack
De lm o re a n d Judge Nicke rson was
fo il ed . Besides Lika, who e nded up
with a life bid an d a one-way ticket to

Ma rio n , nobody else got in trouble .
auwens a nd Saurino in creased th e
p•·essure to ge t Fran kos to e n ter th e
Prog ra m and testify against Coo nan,
b u t Fr anko s re fu sed . Co ona n was
never offi cially charged .
Giu lia n i was soon fin ish ed with
Frankos, and Frankos, al ready feeling
like a stool pigeon , was fi n ished witl1
th e feels. But investiga tors Nauwen s
a nd Saurino were j ust begin n ing.
Ne xt, they wa n ted h im to talk to
h is buddy, j oe "Mad Dog " Su lli van .
"T h ey knew we were clo se , having
grown up togetl1er in jail and on the
stree ts. An d they knew Mad Dog was
d o ing h its for Joh n Go tti. Thei r new
proposition to me was this: I was to try
and get Su llivan to turn."

PRISON LIFE 23

Sullivan was rumored to have car- a nd bringing me back around midrie d ou t over a hu n dred contract nigh t. I was give n drinks and food,
killings for several crime o rga niza- taken to restaurants and whorehoustions. He was also the o nly prisoner to es. Th ey were ge ttin g m e laid-we
were all getting laid. "
have ever escaped from Attica.
Nauwe n s and Sauri no 's in tenFr a n kos gave Sulli van a p hone
num b er to co ntact Nauwens and tions were to have Frankos eventually
Saurino. "Don ' t get mad at me," he tes tify against Jo hn Gotti and o th e r
told him. ''This is j ust what they to ld a lleged me mbe rs of the Gambin o
organized crime family in return for
me to do. What are you gonna do?"
Al though Sullivan remembers it Fra n kos' co nviction be ing overd iffere n tly (see sideba r ), Frankos turned, still a hope Frankos was cl ingclaims that he called and tried to work ing to even though his earlier agreeou t a deal: If they provided Sullivan ment had gone sour.
Once th e feds had verified
with $250,000, put his kids through
college and placed him on an Army Frankos' worth, he was offic ia lly
base (he had too many murde rs o n checked into the WPP at the
his rap sheet to reduce his sentence), Me tro polita n Co r rectio nal Cente r
the n Sullivan wou ld testify aga inst (MCC) in ew York.
John Gotti and Fat Tony Salerno.
CLUB FED
The deal n ever went throug h.
"Saurino and Nawens said they could"When yo u check into th e
n ' t get the 250 g's un less Mad Dog
entered the Wi tness Protec tion Program ," Frankos says, "th ey take
Program first," Frankos recalls. you into a roo m for so-called 'process"Sullivan said forget it. Saurino asked ing.' You're g iven this book, this g iant
me, 'How 'bout you?' I told him to let book of rats. If yo u recogn ize an yme think about it. But he said that peo- body, you gotta te ll 'em. I saw picple already knew I was the one who rat- tures of Sa mm y Gravano, J oe
ted on Lika. I know now he \vas lying. If Valachi- all kinds of informe rs. An
they can't get you any other way, they'll officer in a suit comes to see you and
asks what you want. You tell him shavscare you into the Program."
Frankos, now afraid for his life , ing cream, this or that, whatever. "
T his is just th e beginn ing of the
agreed to enter the vVPP. Soon after,
he was transferred to Goshen County red carpet treatment the government
Jail and given lie detector tests du ring will roll out for a king rat. ConO<tt)' to
his WPP orientation. "They wan ted the norm in most prisons, case manme to tell them all about my crimes, agers have easy loads so they can give
from the beginn ing to the present, you all their attention. ''They're always
even stuff do ne in prison - every- asking how yo u li ke the place," says
thing. T h ey said I'd have comple te Frankos, "or if you have any grievances.
If it's food you want, you' ll have
immunity for anything I'd tell them."
total access to the kitche n. The food,
which is go urmet stu ff, is pre pared
WINED AND DINED
and tes te d by th e feds. H ungry
The feds we re offering Frankos between meals? Just pop ope n th e
more than confession as incentive to 'fridge a nd ge t anythi ng you want.
tip . "Durin g th is who le time , they You' ll never go to bed hu ngry."
were wining and d ining me," Frankos
Instead of a cell, you get a "room."
recalls, with a smile. "Although I was According to Frankos, yo u're locked
tec h nically in Gosh e n County Jai l, in at 1:00 a.m. and can come o ut as
th ey were taking me out eve ry day early as six. Other than that, there are

by Joe SUllivan
In Contract Killer, Frankos stole
my identity and had the chutzpah to
make me his partner. This imposter
is still trying to destroy the soul oj
the man h e wishes to lay claim to.
There's noth ing a rat loves more
than to bring others to their level.
Frankos (we called him "Greek")
was a low-life j u nkie of the 42nd
street variety who could never rise
above his station o n his own merit
without human plagiarism. He's a
bum with a gangster complex, who
killed a low-life in Clin ton to up his
reputation. And of course, we can't
forget Clarence Jones, a drug dealer
he killed for a quarter-ounce ofherOO<
in for personal use. His novel reads:
like a comic book. He's a brazen fabricator (ain't even a stool pigeon) .
But he was always a great bullshitter
a nd story teller, and would always
keep the guys on our court laughing.
Greek fi rst approach ed me in
Comstock lock-up in November •ss.
It'd been almost a decade since J'd
last seen him after leaving Clinton in
November '75. T here were about:
eight of us so-called "high profile!"
convicts o n this special security tier. I
was sitti ng a nd talking with Born
Allah (he's still at Comstock) when
the gate cracked and Greek walked
in. Also present was Armando Colon
and j ames "Bashir" York. After Greek)
gave me a big hug, he went to his cell
to settle i n . Bo rn Alla h , wh o had
kn own Greek as long as I did, just
stared at me with that serious charcoal face and whispered, "He ain't the
same, Sully."
T his blew my mind. I mean, the
guy hadn't been on the tier two minutes. I laughed at Born. "What the
hell are you talking about, h e ain't
the same?" Looking back, I guess I
had been too close to him to see the

subtle changes convicts instinctively
sense in each other.
"Just my feeling," Born said.
"What's he doing here? Who is he?
Why put him here?" He had a point:
This tier was for high profiles-escape
risks, convict leaders, big names, etc.
"C'mon Born!" I laughed.
"just be careful with him," he
said and dropped the subject.
We all got along famously with
Greek, although Born would eye me
once in a while, a look that said, "I still
haven't changed my mind about him."
About three weeks later, a cop
went to Greek's cell and told him to
pack up. Nothing about why, or
where he was going. Greek said it was
probably to go down to MCC for the
federal suit he and his partner, Joey
Kersch, had filed against some
guards in Westchester County for a
bad beating. I think it was that beating that broke Greek's spirit.
The first known time Frankos had
ever informed on somebody was at
MCC when he picked up the phone
and called Giuliani's office to unveil a
murder plot by some Albanian drug
dealers against one of the federal prosecutors. A "star" was in the making
then but nobody in the state system
was aware of it, even when he returned
to Comstock around Feb. '86.
My jailhouse friend Greek, the
wolf in sheep's clothing, told me the
story with his usual machiavellian flair.
He was aided in his treachery by the
Justice Departmen t and the State
Corrections Department, right down
to the C.O.'s, aimed now to recruit me
as a government witness. I imagine he
would have reaped some reward had
he succeeded.
Greek was too clever and knew
me too well to approach me in a blatant manner. He spoke of how all we
had to do was pretend to cooperate
on anything we knew concerning
organized crime. Then, they' d take
us to jail in Newburgh where they
had federal holding cells. There, we
could escape; Gre e k claimed to
already have hacksaw blades stashed
there. "It's an easy out," he said.
At this time, the regular porter on
our tier had somehow disappeared and
Greek was given the job. This enabled
him to be on the tier (supposedly to
sweep and mop) while everybody else
was locked in. I knew the deal now, so I
told Born to push the jack of his
(continued on page 69)

no counts. You get a large bed, a window, and if you're not in the mood to
watch the giant TV screen at the Rec
Center and want a little privacy, you
h ave your own color TV, comp le te
with cable and videos. Hell, the walls
are even soundproofed so you won' t
have to listen to the guy next door.
"Whe n I was sh own aroun d my
first day of processing at MCC," says
Frankos, "I cou ld n't believe it. I saw
guys hanging out, shooting pool .. . At
Otisville, where I went next, there was
a bowling alley and gardens where you
could plant tomatoes or some th ing.
There was a basketball court, a jogging
path and college if you wa nt that.
There are females coming in teaching
or counseling, even playing basketball
with you. AH t11e C.O.'s wear ties and
iliey come up to you, say, ' How you
doin',' and play nice."
Of course, it's not all play for the
ra ts. Besid es sni tching, th ey are
re qu ire d to earn th eir ke ep. "At
Otisville," Frankos recalls, "everybody
had to work. It's factory work- mak-

ing p arach utes fo r the a rmy- but
with top prison pay. Everybody's makin g $400-$600 a mo n th pocke t
money." Anothe r ' tough' restriction
is not being able to call other informants by the ir names. "You have to
use their ini tials, even though you
might have known them on ilie outside."
Frankos says he met many famous
stool pigeons in th e Program. "Big
time hit men, whi te collar criminals
and narcotic deale rs. Nicky Barnes
was mere with me, and he told me he
lie d abou t He rby Spe rling. ' It was
either me or him,' he said. Barnes
put away 80 p eople, th ousands of
years in the pen, many with life wiiliout parole. He crucified guys and got
a sweet deal for it. He's supposed to
be out in six years."
Frankos a lso me t Sa mmy "th e
Bull" Gravano. "When they flew me to
San Diego to testify for Frank Sako in
1991 (they were mad as hell I was testifyin g for the d efense, but Sako' s
lawyer had subpoenaed me), iliey put

PRISON LIFE 25

me in MCC and guess who's two cells
away? Gotti a nd Grava no. But this was
befo re Gravano snitc h ed. " Gravano
became the fed 's top informe r, helping to pu t away 14 alleged me mbe rs
of th e unde rworld.
Frankos rolls his eyes and tries to
sepa rate his hands. "When Gravano
ratted , he stretch ed . Th ey ma ke you
stretch it. They all know Gravano lied
against Gotti , but t h ey don ' t ca re.
Gotti n ever killed nobody. I' m not
trying to befriend the g uy, I'm just
telling you the u-uth ."

I DIDN'T GIVE 'EM NUTHIN'
AJthough Frankos was co nsidered
a n official fede ral informant, h e had
yet to agree to testify against anyone.
Fra nkos cla ims n e ve r to h ave ta ke n
th e stand against an organ ized crime
fig ure."! didn ' t g ive th e m nuthin ' ."
Frankos is adamant about just how far
his ratting went. "They had me go to
th e Gran d Jury aga i n s t An ge lo
Ru ggiero (a capo in th e Ga mb in o
crim e fa mi ly) a nd aga in st Go tti o n
some killings. I refused. I neve r testifi ed against nobody in the tim e I was
in the Progra m."
In 1987-Frankos had been in just
under a year-he figured out th at h e
wasn ' t goin g to get a com mu tatio n,

26 PRISON LIFE

much less a sen te nce reduction from
the feds, so he to ld th em he wanted
out of the WPP. Fra nkos requested the
fede ral institution in T exarkan a, TX,
or a ny state prison outside of ew York
wh ere he was known. Instead, they sent
him to the worst possible place: Attica.
Fra nk os was give n a c h o ice
bet·ween Protective Custody or General
Population. Ref·u sing to sign in at PC,
he we nt to Popu la ti o n. "Everyone
knew I was a rat," says Frankos, shaking
his head. '1 was in population five minutes. Te n of them were waiting for me
in A Block."
Frankos was shanked and almost
d ied in A Bloc k. H e was ta ke n out of
Po pu la ti o n a nd put in th e hospital.
Three months late r, the feels broug ht
him to Wisconsin. The re, a wh ole n ew
hook-' e m li ne began. "They called me
to say they we re gonna give me what I
wanted , bu t o n ly if I h elped th e m .
They said th ey h ad d iffe re nt peo ple
wo rking in th e Justi ce De partment
now and that even though I had gotten fucked around before, 1 was finally go ing to ge t m y co mmute. They
started all that questio ning again, but
my ta,vyer said don 't say no thing unti l
we get a solid agreement.
"I knew the game now. I told 'em
to talk to my a tto rney."
Frankos
was
shipp ed
to

Sandstone, MN, whe re he'd been once
before. T his time, he stayed from '87
to '89, ble ndi ng into the general info rmant popula tion.
AJthough Fra nkos says he wasn ' t
supplying the feds with info rm ation,
h e was leaking information to othe r
so urces: Penthouse, Playboy a nd late r,
au th o r Wi llia m Ho ffma n and private
investigator La ke Head ly. Whi le soa king in the sun a nd playing ten n is in a
Phoen ix facili ty, Fran kos was talking to
Penthouse about the murde r of J immy
Ho ffa a nd th e location of h is bo dy.
Whi le h e was at Sandstone, Fra nkos
was feeding information to Playboy.
In the Playboy article, "The Hit o n
Jimmy Ho tTa," au th o r William Helme r
atte mpte d to so lve the H offa case
th ro ug h Frankos' info rm atio n. T h e
Penthouse articl e, "Whe re's Hoffa? T he
Anatomy of a H o ax ," by S h aro n
Churcher, exposed Frankos as a peddler of tall tales. Penthouse was right o n
the money: Frankos had indeed lied
a bo ut h is in volveme nt in th e Hoffa
mu rder (see sidebar) .
Of course, the feds were n't exactly ti ckled th at Frankos was ta lking to
th e media. Fran kos was put in solitary
confin eme n t. But even the re, he was
able to give up eveq•thing he had to
H offman and Headly, wh o co-wrote
th e book Contract Killer. Whe n th e

From a Stand-Up Guy
Herby Sperling doesn't care too
much for rats. It was a rat (Nicky
Barnes) who got him life without
parole. "Rats are like stortyteUers who
want to make themselves famous, " he
says. "They're fuckin' bugs who just
want their 15 minutes of fame. But
they don't know how costly it is."
Sperling, one of the strongest
stand-up guys doing time, believes
there are basically two types of people: those who pay for the meal and
tl10se who don't. "Everyone has to pay
for these guys," he says. "The worst
thing is what happens to the families.
And the government is the same as
their witnesses because tl1ey're layin'
feds found out what was ha ppening,
th ey shipped Frankos off to Maine
State Prison. He stayed there a year,
unti l a friend of John Gotti's, Bobby
Eng land, recognized him. The n he
was m oved to U tah , then to
California, then to Texas. Each move
proved a worse location for Fran kos.
In March of 1992, th ey asked
Frankos if he wanted to go back to
Sandstone, which meant being put in
solitat)', or go to Attica. 'They wouldn 't let me o ut of solitary because of
what I said about th e Burea u o f
Prisons and their officials; how th e
government was prone to lie and that
the feds had wanted me to fabricate
stories against people they wanted to
indict. The fed s were also pissed o ff
for my lack of testifying and cooperating with investigators. I was sick of solitary, so I checked out of the Program."

in bed with them. Thev all stink.
"'f I give a witness' $50, I'm guilty
of bribery. But if the government
wants to pay a witness with money or a
time cut, it's OK. They get two scumbags to con·oboratc witl1 each otl1er."
Sperling was in MCC with
Frankos in 1976 and has a few choice
words to say about him: "The guy's a
fuckin' bum. A junkie. A screwball.
Guys like Frankos lie so much they
get to believe their own lies. [Sammy
"the Bull "] Gravano's another one
who's full of shit. He murders 19 people, then says Gotti told him to do it.
The only thing Gotti is guilty of is
being a good dresser. He's the perfect image for the government, the
second AI Capone."
From his experience, Sperling
believes the government is the only
real organized crime group. "They're
the biggest pushers in the world," he
says. "They make up these titles like
capo and godfather, feed this shit to
the press and then get a guy with a
big mouth who drops some big
names and the public loves it. They
say whatever the public wants to
hear."
He docs give informants some
cell. "It was part of their ro utine," says
Frankos. 'We know yo u' re catching
he ll h er e ,"' they sa id. "And I was.
T hey were throwing shit in my food,
writing 'Rat' on my ua y, dogging me,
both th e C.O.'s and priso ners. They

"Ifyo"! 're

thinktng
to turn rat:
Don't.
Don't.
Don't."

asked if I wanted to go back in the
program . I said 'yeah.' They said I had
BACK TO THE STATE:
to help tllem, and that tl1ey had gotTHE FEDS TRY AGAIN
ten a call from U.S. Attorney Mary Jo
White about me. (White had been
Frankos was re turn ed to Attica, Frankos' lawyer for a time while he
but this tim e h e was p laced in was at Sandstone.) She th o ug ht I
Adm inistrative Segregation. The con- might want to help. "
ditions proved to be even worse than
The feds were U)'ing to indict El
solitary at Sandstone. When Frankos Sahib Nosair. "They wanted informasunk to hi s lowest, the feds ca me tion on him," says Frankos. 'They told
knocking again.
me, 'We don't care how you get it. But
It was April of 1993 when two U.S. bring back tllat Nosair did the hit on
Marsh a ls appeared be fo re Frankos' J e remiah Co haney and that we also

credit, though: "' gotta give these rats
credit for being perceptive-they see
who the government wants to put in
jai l and th ey make up stories like
Gravano. They know they have to
hand the government some big
names or they'll be treated like shit as
soon as they're squeezed dt)'."
have reason to believe that he's contracted to bl ow up sever al federa l
bui ldings. Find out whic h o n es .' "
They told Ftankos to write an official
letter to Jim auwens that he'd he lp
and tlley'd see to it tllat he'd go back
in tlle Progta m.
Nosair was placed in a cell next to
Frankos. A mo nth and a ha lf late r,
Frankos was brought in to talk to
auwens. "They wanted me to te ll
them that osair admitted to killing
Cohaney," Fran kos laughs, "and that
he was gonn a plan t a bo mb in th e
Fe d e r al Co u rt house, the U.S.
Attorney's Office. They wanted me to
say I was given a blueprint of the facility by Nosair.
"I told him th at he didn ' t g ive me
no blueprint. 'You wanna ge t outta
here? ' Nauwens asked. ' I tllought you
were gonna help us. Yo u want to go
to Wallkill? Any place you want? Did
he confess to you?' They to ld me to
use my imaginatio n."
Fta nkos stuck to his story: "I said
he didn ' t co nfess nothin g. I didn ' t
know wh e n I wrote th a t le tte r to
Nauwens that tlley wanted me to outri g ht fu c kin g lie. T his poo r guy,
Nosair ... he was a nice guy. I don' t
ca re wh at the hell he d o ne , but in
pri so n he was a ge nt le ma n . T h ey
wanted me to bury tllis guy. If I didn 't
tell them what th ey wanted to know-

PRISON LIFE 27

'You ' ll never come out of tha t box,'
they said. 'You're gonna stay the re the
rest of your life. And take us to court:
We don ' t give a fuck.'"
Frankos to ld th e m to go fuck
the mselves. His cell was shaken down
a nd he was put in a strip cell. Three
d ays later, th ey h a nd c uffed him ,
threw him in a van, broke his ha nd in
th e process, an d shipped him off to
Clinton Correction al Facility.

CLINTON
Bru ise d a nd a bu sed, Franko s
arr ived at Clinto n where th ey took
him to Special H ousing. "Ri g ht off
the ba t," he says, "a se rgeant co mes
ove r to me a nd says, 'So you're th e
big fucking rat that ra u c d o n joe
Sul li van? Yo u better n o t ca use n o
fucking problems he re.'
"Wh e n I asked to sec a doctor,
th ey thr e w m e in a ce ll behind
Plcxig lass. The sh eets we re ripped.
' Yo u ai n ' t in t h e feels n o more ,
Frankos,' I h eard an officer laug h."
Fra nko s
was
p lace d
in
Admin istrative Segregation "for the

24 h o urs a d ay. Everyda y, th e re's
banging o n the wall. 'Get up you rat,
you sni tch, you stool pigeon rat .. .'I
filed complai n ts, but they say I got to
substantia te it. H ow? I've had to experie nce a lunatic in the n ext cell who
screa med all d ay a nd nig ht, ea tin g
and throwing feces through the bars;
a ma n on the o th er side with fullblown AIDS a nd TB; I o nly get two
fi ve-minute showers a week; a nd I'm
locked up 24 hours a day." Frankos is
the o nl y o n e in Ad Seg wh o 's not
the re for disciplinary reasons.
Prison Life asked Assistan t Deputy
Burke if we co uld pho tog ra ph or at
least see Fra n kos ' ce ll , in ord er to
either ve ri fy or offse t his allegations.
His answe r was a firm "no. " "Some of
t h e staff a ren ' t even a ll owed up
there."
It seems as if coope ra ting with th e
gove r nme nt has ea rn e d Don a ld
Fra nkos n o thing but r eg re t and a
fi lthy cell in Ad Seg. "I \vas told tha t I
n eve r sh o uld have writte n a book,
never should 've talked bad about the
State or the feels. Because I expressed
myself through the media, I am being

"Everyday, there's banging on
the walls: 'Get up you rat, you
snitch, you stool pigeon ... '"
safety of the institution." Al th ough he
d id wha t he could to change his living
condi ti ons, imp1·ovcme nt at Da nne mora came slowly. He wrote to the
warden and deputy warden for a new
sheet, maybe a pillow, but that took
two months. He also asked fo r somethin g mo re to wear than one pair of
pants a nd a shirt. "'You be tter sto p
complain ing,' they said to me. 'You're
not ge tting a fucking thing."'
Nowad ays, Frankos seeks readmission into the WPP or to be placed in
Administrative P1·o tec ti ve Program
Unit (A PP U), wh ich is designed for
high-profile cases. Thus far, he's been
d en ied. H e con tinues to se rve time
withou t privileges or p ro perty (he 's
o nly allowed sta mps, writing paper
and ciga r ettes, thou g h h e d oesn't
s mo ke.) Accord i ng to Ass istant
Dep uty Sup e rinte nd e nt William
Burke of Clinton , Frankos' status isn't
go ing to c ha nge.
"Every day the inmates arc throwing sh i t in my ce ll ," co mp la in s
Fran kos. "You can't believe it. It smells

28 PRISON LIFE

puni s h ed m o r e th a n a n yo n e can
imagine."
or course, life hasn 't bee n all that
unfair to Frankos. Ea rly this year, he
was allowed to get married. (His wife
is a frie nd of a wo m a n he used to
d ate.) Although conjuga l visits are
out or the question, h is wife can bring
him food n o w a nd th e n . " It 's n ot
e n ough to ma ke me forge t abou t cond itio ns h ere, but it's some thing."
Mea n whi le, Do n a ld Frankos is
d e termined to go ou t fig hting. ''I'm
not as tough as I o nce th ought I was,"
h e admits. "The h a r ass m e nt and
abuse is unb eara bl e. I a m go ing
thro ug h hell. But I ain 't go nn a just
dry up and die he re."
Neve r mind th at Frankos was
ma nipulated by th e fcds. Many peopl e believe h e d ese r ves wh atever
treauncnt he gets. "But I'm also a victim ," he says. "I don 't care that I'm a
1·a t. I ' ve acce pted th at. But don't
make me suffe r need lessly."

AND NOW A
WORD FROM
THE FEDS
You 've got to be, or at least
ap pear to be, a willing s too l
pigeon with clout to get into the
Fe d e ral Witn ess Prote cti on
Program. o t just an y low-level,
chwnp-change snitch can get in.
There a re sp ecific crite ri a to
meet.
"There has to be a ce rtai n
level of testimony to get in to the
prog ram, " says Departme nt o f
Justice spokesman John Russell.
"Along with a willingness to testify against people a nd a need for
security for the informant or his
fami ly."
Could someone like Donald
Frankos, who claims neve r to
h ave testifi ed aga in s t a n yo n e,
have squeezed his way into the
program? According to Russell,
yes. "But it's rare."
It sou nds easy e nough: Once
you 're in th e program, you can
clam up if you want. You don't
eve n n ee d to keep providing
inform a ti on to s tay. "On ce
you ' re in , you 'r e in for good,"
co nfirms Russe ll. "U nl ess yo u
ask to get out, or are kicked out
for vio la tin g the agr ee men t,
su ch as going to an unsafe a rea
to m ee t with unsafe p e rso ns,
goi ng to the press or disclosing
th e location o f peo p le in th e
prog ram ."
Russell says th at a lth o ug h
fe d era l informants ge t better
amenities than state priso ners,
it's only because in general, fede ral priso ns are mu c h c ushi e r
than state fac ilities. "But info rmants are treated no diffe re ntly
than any other federal prisone r.
They get th e same pay, the same
food , the same lodging, the
same privileges. "
Ramsey Clark, a fo rmer U.S.
Attorney Gen e ral, had a diffe re nt pe rspective on th e Federal
Witness Protection Program. He
said he dislikes the WPP because
"most rats just get squeezed d ry,
the n are dropped." He also said
that if a ra t is important enough,
the feels will le t him run wi ld,
and eve n cove r up felonies in
order to get testimony.

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ATTICA

SANTA FE

LUCASVILLE

ATTICA

SANTA FE

PRISON LIFE EXAMINES AMERICA'S MOST NOTORIOUS RIOTS
Since 1970, nearly 400 riots have
raged in U.S. prison s. Some we re as
min o r as a me lee in th e m ess h all
with nothing mo re ser·ious than a few
bruises. Oth e rs we r e ca tastro phi c:
Attica, NY, 1971; San ta Fe, NM, 1980;
and m ost recently, Lucasville, OH,
1993. These insurrections brough t to
America's atte ntio n th e plight of the
imprison ed . They also caused prison
administrators, politicia ns and correc-

tions professionals to question everything th ey kn ow a bo u t prisons a nd
punish ment.
T he n the re's the free world civi lian , kicking back a t h o me, watch ing
th e ri ot on t h e n e ws, see in g th e
smoke rise fro m th e burnin g prison
complex as the bodies are can·ied o u t
on stretch e rs. To the civilia n this is
just a n ot h er exa m p le o f a syste m
tha t's too soft on prisoners.

Wha t th e ave rage ci tizen doesn 't
know is tha t it's the condit.io ns at th e
facili ty that not only e t off the uprising but dete rm ine what will ha ppe n
during the rio t. If th e admin istration
e ncourages a malicious info rmant syste m, the re will be some en raged priso ne rs looki ng to settle scores with tl1e
snitch who added years to their bids,
like what happened at Santa Fe. If th e
living conditio ns are n 't fit for animals,

UCASVILLE

ATTICA

like at Atti ca, the priso ne rs will use
the riot as a way to voice demands to
state officials.
Following a prison riot, there's a
deluge of legal actio n against th e
state. There are the expected wrongful d ea th suits a nd th e co n se nt
de crees (a court order mandating
p r iso n improve m e n ts) that h ave
either been filed before or shortly
afte r the riot. At Santa Fe, the riot
forced the court to put teeth into a
consent decree filed before the riot.
That decree soug ht to e nd the barbaric treatment o f prisoners and th e
de plorable (and illegal) conditions a t
the facility. As a result, Santa Fe is
now recognized as one of the country's be tte r-run institutio ns.
In the case o f Lucasville, it's too
soon to tell. The bodies are still warm.

-George Charles Gray
Illustration by Marty Voelker

SANTA FE
Prison
Da tes

Casu alties

LUCASVILLE

Attica
Sept. 9-13, 1971

Santa Fe
Feb. 2-3 , 1980

ATTICA

Lucasville
April 11-22, 1993

43 dead:

33 dead:

10deod:

3 prisoners killed by

all prisoners were killed

9 prisoners killed by

other prisoners

by other prisoners

29 prisoners killed by
State Police retaking
prison
I prison guard killed by

other pnsoners

1 prison guard killed by
prisoners

prisoners

11 prison employee
hostages killed by State
Police retaking prison

Prisoner
De mands

Damage

-omnesty for criminal acts
during riot
-lronspor1otion to a "nonimperialistic" country

-bring in federal officers
and ovoid reprisals against

-federal government inter-

-benerfood

-single ceiling
-on end to foroed inlegrolion
of religious & ethnic groups
-<>nd overcrowding

vention in managing the

-improve visiting conditions

-no retaliation vs. rioters

prison
-<econstrur:tion of the prison
by prisoners
-negotiafions with specified
outsiders

-ollow media inside

--create programs
-occess to the media
-negotiations with specified
outsiders

$2 miffion: moslly fire and
smoke damage to shoe,
carpentry and metal
shops, oudiloriumchopel,
laundry and oommissory

prisor>ef'
-end overcravvding

-improved recreation &
education
-nome new disciplinary
committee and end overall
harassment

$20 million: including
destruction of kitchen,
classrooms, gym, severe
damage to several eel~
blocks and destruction of
prison records

$1 0 million: primarily for
lhe destruction of L.Siock.

CASVILLE LUCASVILLE LUCASVILLE LUCASVILLE LUCAS

An Insider's Account of the Lucasville Riot
by Paul Mulryan, SOCF
"H ey Paul!," I heard my road dog
calling me from the other side of the
fence d ividing the blocks from the
yard. "I just heard that some rollers
got downed outside L-Co rrid orl
Ke e p yo ur eyes open, rap. Some
stran ge shit's go in' down."
I didn' t give much thought to
what h e said. Fights between convicts
and guards weren't exactly uncommon h ere. Moreover, this type of
thing was becoming more a nd more
prevalen t. But I told him I'd keep my
eyes open.
Then I h eard the two rollers in
charge of my block ye lling for the
porter and the few guys in the d ayroom to lock up. T heir voices were so
full of panic and urgency that I knew
something very big was jumping off.
"Lock up! Lock up now, damn it! "
they yelled.
Someone in the cells called out,
"The guards are locking themselves
in the bath room! What the h e ll 's
happening?"
"Th ey've got con t ro l of the LCorridor! Th ere are guys running
around with masks on! They've got the
keys! They've got the fucking keys! "
The rumble from the corridor
began to grow like a rolling thunderstorm: muffled scream s, the thud of
feet running through the halls, glass
shattering and sh owering the floor,
and ech oes of loud ramming sounds
as though heavy steel bars were battering down the walls. There was an
even louder crash, and th e n orders
were yelled.
"Open these cells! Let's get these
doors open, and get these people out! "
By now, I knew th e block I was in
had been take n over, but I d idn't
know by whom. An icy doom swept
through me. My first thought was
that there must be a racial war.
Keys that the b lock officers had
left behind were thrown to the prisone r now manning the control pane l.
All at o n ce, th e 80 ce lls in the LCorridor opened. I grabbed a metal
n-ay for a weapon a nd headed o ut of
my cell. Down the range I could see
32 PRISON LIFE

several teams of masked convicts converging on the block. Each man was
armed to th e teeth: baseball bats,
chains and shanks of stainless steel,
two-feet-long and honed to a point as
fine as an ice pick. Clearly these men
meant business.
"Everyone out! Get the fuck o ut
of your cell!" they ye ll ed as t h ey

moved from cell to cell. "If anyone is
caught uying to hide in their cell, kill
the motherfucker! Let's go! Let's go!"
I watched each movement closely,
trying to read each man 's intentions
from his eyes and body signals. If they
tried to move in on me I'd go over the
range to the first floor. The jump was
nothing and there were too many of
the m to even think about dealing with
them head-on. My adrenaline shot to
flight mode. Breathing fast and uying
not to show it, I put my foot on th e
edge of the range, ready to go over if
any of them started to move in on me.
Th ey came closer, ch ecking me out,
and clearly not rattled by my meta l
nay. T hen I saw both black and white
skin show·ing through their masks. I
was relieved. Blacks and whites wou ldn 't be working togeth er if this were a
race riot.
"Everything's cool, brother," one
said. "But we still want everyon e ou t

in the hall, so if you need to get some
of your th ings togethe r get the m now
and leave the b lock."
I didn't recognize any of them, nor
did I want to. Still, I inched closer to
the edge of the range.
"Be cool, bro. You' ve go t no
proble m here," another said.
With that, I moved out, headi ng
qu ickly down the range and out of
th e bloc k. My immediate conce rn
was safety. Someth ing this b ig a n d
unbrid led cou ld qui ckly get out of
hand. My best bet was to get ou t to
the rec yard where my road dog was.
I knew what he was about and that
we could look out for each othe r . All

I had to do now was ge t my ass out
ASAP.
I stepped onto L-Corridor and
into a worl d of chaos. Every one of
the 632 cells had been opened, a nd
hundreds of convicts, some masked
and armed, swarmed through t h e
h allways like ang ry hornets. Faces
were intense with fear. Eyes darted
from face to face, face to hand, looking for weapons or any signs of danger. When eye contact was made, it
was brief and concealed. No o n e
wan ted his concern to be misread as
a threat o r challenge.
"You men get something in your
h ands!" o n e guy kep t shouting.
"Let's get busy tearing th is fucking
p lace down!" H e ran fro m window to
window, swi n g ing a stee l bar a n d
smashing glass. I moved closer to th e
gym, h oping to find t h e exit door
open, when I spotted my frie nd Val
from one of th e other blocks.

LLE LUCASVILLE LUCASVILLE LUCASVILLE LUCASVILLE
'Vall" I hollered as I worked my way center and announced: "Lucasville is the prisoner was hit with bats, weight
toward him. "What the hell is this shit?"
ours! This is not racial. I repeat, not bars and shanks. A coroner's report
"I don't know what up, Paul. I racial. It's us against the administra- later revealed that besides his skull
just got out of the shower and the tion! We're tired of these people and numerous other bones being
place was crazy!"
fucking us over. Is everybody with us? broken, he had also been cut from
I told him my plans to head to the Let's hear yal"
neck to belly and gutted. His body
rec yard and he fell in beside me,
Hundreds of fists shot into the air was dragged to the end of the corriagreeing to put distance between us as the prisoners roared their ap- dor and dumped on a pile of wet
and whatever we were in the middle proval. I could feel the relief sweep blankets near another body, both of
of. Down the hall we came upon a through the corridor. At least we which would later be hauled out to
body lying face down in a puddle of were a little clearer about what was the rec yard.
blood. The guy's face and upper torso happening. We didn 't know that we
Meanwhile, guards were being
were completely covered in blood and were locked inside what was soon to grabbed and dragged from wherever
punctures. Someone had pinned a be one of the nation's longest and they could be found. Several managed
guard's badge through his skin, letting bloodiest riots.
to break away and make it to safety,
everyone know that this was a snitch
Teams of men were assigned to but others weren't so fortunate. Some
and that snitches would find no peace barricade and guard each block. Two were thrown onto the floor and hit so
men were stationed in the day rooms hard that they couldn't get back up
in 1-Corridor this day.
"Who is it? Can you tell who it to watch the rec yard; two were sta- on their own. I didn't know if they
is?" I asked my homey
were alive or dead
as they were caras I stepped around ~.::==:..:..:.:.:.:.._ _ _--....-=c-.=-..,...,
the blood.
ried or dragged
"No rap, I can't.
into one of the cell
Too much blood."
blocks. During the
By the time Val
first hour 11 were
and I made it down
seized, blindfolded
th e hallway to the
and dressed in
gym, it was too late.
prison blues. The
The exit door was
convicts beat some
already barricade d ,
of the guards so
wired shut and guardbadly they released
ed by several masked
them for fear they
and armed convicts.
might di e. Of
Since this was the only
those seized, seven
available exit, it meant
would be taken
that Val and I were
hostage for the
trapped, locked in for
duration of the
the long run.
riot; one would be
We knew that the
killed.
riot could ignite into a '-U.-ntil_pns_·-on_er._s-hu_n_g-ba_n_n_e_rs_ou_t-th_e_rm_.-n-do_w_s_,-th_e_pu
_ b_li_c -w-as- un
_ a_w
_a_r;_e-th_a_t-o!J_fji_a_·a_ls__,
The riOters
full-scale bloodbath at were not cooperating.
covered all the
any time and that it was
windows with blanimperative to arm ourselves as quickly tioned in each of the range's top kets, and then searched every cell for
as possible. We grabbed the first suit- cells to watch the roof. L-2 was the food. With over 400 prisoners and 7
able thing we saw: a piece of heavy only block that hadn't been opened. guards to feed, food would be essenpipe. As we made our way back up the I overheard someone say that one of tial. Everything we found was stored
corridor, the heat and closeness of the prisoners had broken a key in the in an empty cell that became the
danger clung like a wet wool blanket.
lock to keep the rioters from taking it kitchen. That first night, cookies,
"We're stuck in this shit for how- over. Several of the Masks found a chips and cakes were given to anyone
ever long it lasts ," I said to Val. pick ax and busted the glass and the who was hungry. I was surprised that
''We've got to get our shit together steel frame from the window casing. although I hadn't eaten all day, I wasand watch each other's back."
Twenty minutes later, L-2 was taken.
n't hungry. I remember thinking I'd
Val looked around, nodding his
"Okay, ge t the bitch who broke get something to eat when it was all
head. "Cool, rap. Let's get our asses the key in the lock! He wants to play over. Little did I know it would last
out of the mainstream. This is too big police? We'll show him what's up! "
another 10 days.
to be safe."
The prisoner had locked himself
On the second day the prison
"Listen up! Everyone listen up! in the stairwell with the block officer, authorities shut off the e lectricity
Everyone shut th e fuck up for a hoping that the brick and steel and the water. Soon, all the food was
minute," yelled one of the Masks as enclosure would keep them safe until gone. The deprivation of food and
he marched through the hallway. help arrived. The Masks attacked the water, coupled with the stress, began
"Everybody move against the wall! We block wall with 45-pound weight bars to take its toll. People lost weight at
gotta keep the middle of the corridor and a heavy pick ax, and within min- an alarming rate. Several men got so
clear. Let's get together on this! "
utes the concrete wall gave way. The thirsty they drank from the fire extinThe crowd flanked the wall as guard and the prisoner were dragged
two other Masks walked down the out. The guard was blindfolded, but
(continued on page 91)

PRISON LIFE 33

UCASVILLE LUCASVILLE LUCASVILLE LUCASVILLE

STILL NO POPULATION
/lJ LUCASVILLE
by Michael Lee Wood, SOCF

T h e Sotnhern O h io Correctional Faci lity is still a deathu·ap,
an institution teem ing with hatred.
It's been that way for a long time,
and th e ri ot last year did liLLie LO alleviate the pressure that boils in th e
bell y of the b eas t. If a nyt h ing, it
made things worse.
The aftersh ocks of the 1993 riot
will be felt for years. ot only d id it
claim L11e lives of n ine prisoners and
one g uard, innume rable prisoners
we re harmed. Guards were beaten
a nd t h rown inlO t h e yard li ke
unwa nted trash . The result is that
post-riot a nim osity runs high at
SOCF. Guards are furious abou t the
d eath of th ei r comrade, and more
a t Ll1e inj uries the living guards susta in ed. SOCF's "Goo n Squad"
patro ls the blocks daily, a nd at the
smallest disturbance t hey jump on
Ll1e c hance to beat someone. Meanwhi le, t h e Wh ite Shirts and th e
Administration sta nd by a nd watch
as th e ir o ffice rs ha ve their "ge tback." Priso n e rs are humiliated ,
slammed a rou nd a nd beate n. Some
stay stro ng; most succumb. This all
goes on while yo u ' re leg-c hained
and cuffed beh ind your back.
In the past year, even more
rul es have been implemented by
our estee med director. The prison
is still o n lockclown exce pt fo r a
handfu l of inmates who work in the
kitc h e n and la undr y facil ity.
There's no suc h thi ng as population at Lucasvill e-at least until
Liley complete th e re novati on o f the
who le prison, wh ic h m ay Lake
a n oth e r year. Men a re ran d o mly
pi c ked up an d p laced in
Admi ni stra ti ve Iso lati on for
"prope n sity for vio le n ce" o r fo r
"gang-•·e latecl material. " Priso ners
can n o lo nger buy can ned goods in
the co mmissary, kee p razo rs in
their cell (we have to shave in Llle
showe r), or get a toothbrush wi thou t the ha ndl e cut orr.
So yo u ask: "Is Lucasville ripe
for another riot?" Fuck, yeah ! vVh e n
me n are physically a nd psychologicall y ab used a nd locke d in the it·
cells like wild a nimals, how much
co mpassio n or understandin g can
th ey have?
I n eed not exaggerate; m y
record speaks fo r itse lf. I've been in
34

PRISON LIFE

Lucasvi lle sin ce J 978. I know the
territory a nd what needs Lo be clone
to surv ive. I've mauled more guard s
than I can count, and sent several
inmates ho me o n early pa ro le- in
body bags. I use Ll1e word ' inmate'
beca use t h e r e's a diffe r e n ce
between "convict" and "inmate": A
convi ct ta kes care o f his own.
Lucasville is a prison of clespai r
psyc h o log ica l
torture.
a nd
Re habilitation at SOCF? On ly a figment of the Ad ministratio n 's imagination. That's even more u·ue since
our infamous riot. We li nd ourselves
subjected to mass indoctrina tions by
a n omnipotent Adm in ist ration
whose sole purpose i to keep its
wards removed from society, who
use astute mindgames to create disse nsion among the priso n e rs, a n d
who e mploy modern psycho logical
techn iques to break clown a man 's
personality un til he's too submissive
and weak to fight back.
Will the situatio n eve r c h ange
at SOCF? ot as long as we have a n
Adm inistratio n that treats me n no
bette r th an ca ttl e. Animals o f t h e
lowes t orde r st rik e o u t whe n
abused. Ca n you expect less from
human beings?
The riot trials a re begi nning.
One man has already been convicted of beating a g uard. Soon more
trials wi ll produce in mate witnesses
for th e state; re n ewed a nger will
simm e r a mong the co n victs over
these traitors. The indicted p risoners will be found guil ty by biased
juries a nd add iti ona l time wi ll be
forthcoming. T he judges wi ll heap
the max sen ten ce upon th eir backs
a nd the convict, no longe r ab le to
see dayl igh t at the end of the tunn el, won' t give a damn abo ut a nything.
So yo u ask you r se lf:
Lucasville ripe for anoth e r riot?

A ccording to attorney iki
1""\.schwartz, who represents
Ll1e Lucasville rioters, the state
is cutTentiY in violation of se\'eral maj01·· points of the contract. Point no. J 3 ma ndates
programs, yet there's no drug,
vocational or education programs available save lor a lackluster G.E.D. course. Poim no.
5 require a S)'Stem be put in
place to hand le prisoner grievance , yet the administra tio n
hasn ' t go nen a ro11nd toiL
Poim no. 14 prohibits re taliation again t the prisoners, but
when 129 Lucasvilk prisoners
were transferred to the
Man sfield facility, they said
they were taunted by guards
and held in administraLive segrega ti on without e\·ide n ce of
individual co mplicit y in th e
tiot. Three reponed that force
was used against th e m.
As far as represe ntatio n
goes, the judges have refused
to ap poin t t h e la wyers
Schwartz re cruited and
trained for th e ca c. Wha t's
more. the hi g hway patrol is
interrogating prisoners without their lawyers present
d e pile prisoners' wr itten
requests that legal cou nsel be
o n hand during questioning.
So far. nearly 20 prison ers
have been indicted for c rimes
committed during the ri o t.
o co rr ectio ns personnel
have been c harged. While no
prisoner \\~tn esl.es have come
forward, so m e say the y've
bee n pressured to testify.
Although Schwartz (and
everyo ne else) hoped the riot
would m o ti va te D .O.C. to
address the problems that led
to the 11-day ri ot, the state's
mo t noticeable respo nse ha
been to c rack down e\·e n
harder. It' beefed up seclllity
b y fortifying wal ls and reinforcing control statio ns. but
th e faci lity remain;, dangero usly overcrowded, operating
at 187% over capacit).
Funny, a ft er su ch a
bloody ri ot you' d think the
state would be doing eve ryth ing it co uld to prevent a
reoccurrence.

ANTA FE SANTA FE SANTA FE SANTA FE SANTA FE

by George Charles Gray
Photos by Wendy Walsh
t's been called t h e most savage
prison riot in America n history.
For two d ays in 1980, prison ers
ruled and devastated the New Mexico
State Peniten tiary at San ta Fe. When
it was over, 62 prisoners wer e hospitalized; 33 were dead.
The brutality the prisoners inflicted on each other is wh at singles out
Santa Fe as the bloodiest riot in history. Even the Attica riot in 1971 claimed
only four prisoner-inflicted d eaths.
The other killings, 29 prisoners and 10
hostages, were committed by New York
State police when th ey stormed t he
facility. At Santa Fe, the police and the
National Guard just waited u ntil the
prisoners were exhausted from murdeiing and mutilating each other.
Surp r ising ly, no gua rds were
killed, but a do zen were held
hostage. After the riot, they were so
trau matized that none would testify.
Why did it happen? There was the
aged facility, so poorly-p lanned it was
o utdated befo r e its doors eve n
o pe ned in 1956. Designed to ho ld a
maximum of 800 prisoners, it housed
over 1,100 convicts at the time of the
riot. The guards, too, figured into the
equation. You had the usual sadistic
hacks who seem to pro li ferate at
badly-run joints, but also the underpaid ($700 a month beginning salary)
kids who were g ive n uniforms, keys
a nd rounds on their first day of work.
San ta Fe also h ad an in novative
"psychi atric" treatment progra m for
pro ble m prisoners. Dr. Marc Orner,
former head of the Psychiatric Services
Unit, would put men in full-body casts

I

with p ortholes for urination and defecation and feed them drugs for a couple weeks. The doctor claimed h e
could cur e any discipline problem
with this technique.
The guards, too, had special metho d s for dishing out punishment.
Michael Colby, who's been at Santa Fe
since 1974, describes a favorite "oldschool" disciplinary technique: "In
Cellblock 3, there used to be stairs that
led to the basement. The C.O.'s favorite
ploy was to give you a "free ride" when
you got to the top of the stairs. While
your hands were cuffed be hind your
back, you'd get a boot in the ass down
to t h e base ment. That was typical. "
Guards were also known to knee prisoners in the groin while handcuffed, or
force them to crawl through a gauntlet
of h acks a rmed wi th baseball bats,
according to attorney Mark Donatelli,
who defended the p1isoners during the
riot trial and who currently represents
prisoners on th e Duran Consent
Decree. On top of all this, the prison
administration regularly and arbimuily
dished out heavy doses of punishment
and encouraged a vengeful informant
system th at pitted priso ne rs against
each anothe r. In fact, it was the animosity the prisoners felt toward each oth e r
that fu e led th e riot. "Most of th e
killings were snitch-killings. You know,
killing tl1e dude who gave you the 50
years you were doing," says a con who
survived the riot.
But the re were two in ciden ts in
partic ul ar that actually incited th e
riot: A couple of prisoners wasted on
Ra isin J ack dec ided to jump two
guards. Shortly after, Danny Macias
picked up a fire ex tinguisher and
bashed thro ugh the wi nd ow of th e
prison con trol room. T he controlle r,

a yo ung, untraine d g u ard, was so
panic-stricken h e d idn ' t follow the
emergency procedures that could 've
prevented the impending an archy.
Most of those murdered were sexoffenders or snitches in the protective
custody unit, Cellblock 4 , which
became death row during the riot.
Thomas "Teardrop" T en orio was
one of the first to go. He was a snitch
who had ratted on the wrong guyMoises "Troka" (Spanish for "truck")
Sandoval- fo r sodomy prior to the
riot. When Troka, who was part of an
execution squad hunting for prey in
protective custody, fou nd Teardrop,
he crushed his h ead with a typewriter
roller. Apparently, Teardrop was on
his knees praying when Troka struck
the first blow.
A group of Aryan brothers used a
torch to break into the cell of Pauline
Paul, a mentally retarded black man,
who would ofte n shout things like,
''White man is the devil" when h e mingled with the general population. The
convicts killed Paul with a shank, then
cut off his head and paraded it, like a
trophy, on a broomstick.
Some prison e rs raided the d ispensary and popped pills u n til they
passed out.
In the sally-port of Cellblock 4
th ere are still scorch marks o n th e
cement floor, the final resting place of
J ames Pe rrin, who was con victed of
raping and killing a mother and her

Scorch marks on the floor mark the death of
j ames Penin.

two daughters. He was pinned on tl1e
floor and dismembe red with an acetylene torch.
When it was over, t h e damages
totaled $20 million. Although tl1e main
bui ld ings th at were d es troyed- th e
gym, kitchen a nd several celJblockshave been rebuilt, evidence of the riot
remains. The re's tl1e bumed-out wing
of th e main facili ty, its bars twisted
from the intense heat of the fire set by
th e prisoners. T h e structure stands
condemned but not de molished-an
unsettling monument to tl1e worst riot
in history.

PRISON LIFE 35

LEGACY OF THE SANTA FE RIOT

n ew one."
Li ke most peo ple, King says th e
The most e nduring legacy of the co mply with th e sta nd a rds in th e real tragedy is that it took so mu ch
Santa Fe rio t is the Duran Co nsent near future because the federal judge carnage and destruction before the
Dec ree : a co u rt o rde r m a nd atin g "is giving the state no othe r alterna- state would in sti tu te n ecessary
c h a n ges. T h ose c h a n ges i n clude
sweep in g c h a n ges a nd se tting n ew tives."
Acco rdin g to auorn ey Mark improved visitation righ ts (i.e. conjustandards in th e New Mex ic o
Depa rtm e nt of Co rr ec ti o n s . The Dona te ll i, wh o d efe nded priso n ers gal visits), bette r medi cal ca re and
decree, which was the result of a fed- involved in the rio t a nd who curre ntly m ore highly trai n ed , pro fessional
guards. "If the 1980 riot hadn ' t
eral lawsuit bro ug ht forth by
put th e n a ti onal spotlig ht on
three p ri soners, was ac tually
tha t p e n , the Du ran li tigation
won p rior to the 1980 riot. But
wo u ld n eve r h ave g o n e
because the o rder was basica lly
thro ugh ," said Ki ng.
ignored , and becau se the prisT h e c urr e nt ward e n ,
one rs' expectations were high ,
J oh n T ho mas, claims it is highthe e motio nal groundwo rk for
ly un li ke ly th a t a noth e r riot
the rio t was laid.
could break o ut, citing fewe r
Not once since the decree
prisone rs a nd tig hte r security.
was signed in 1980 has the state
One of th e secu r ity measures
has bee n in full co mpli a n ce
he's ta ke n-but h as come
witl1 it In fact, the la test Duran
under fire for- is cutti ng a host
re p o rt, base d o n o n e of the
o f prison er progra m / suppo rt
m a nda ted , twice-a-year investigro u ps, su c h as Co n ce rned
gations, blasted the administraO ffe nd ers
for
Yo u t h
tion for lack of prisoner activity,
.
n
•
.
one of the 14 areas monito red. (A bove) W e need pmgrams, SO)'S pnson.er lrumgj~n.es,
Awa r e n ess, P r iso n e r s for
"
. .
because we are gomg to be )'Ottr nezghbors one da)'·
T h e re po rt states: T he msutu- (Belcw)Boblry Ortiz (l) worns with ComjJlian.ce Monitor Ben Abused Ch il d r en, Fa thers in
tion does not provide 'a com pre- Berkheimer on the Duran Consent Decrre.
Prison and The Captured Pawns
Chess C l u b. Irvin g .J ones, a
h en sive program ' d esigned fo r
tran sfer p ri so n er fr o m Iowa,
e ac h inma te . T h e fi g ures
!amen ts th e loss of th ese p rodemonstrate with cm shing clarigrams, wh ic h he feels are necesty tha t far too many inmates are
sary for the transition to the free
id le or und e ractive, a nd th e
wo rl d . "T ime d o n 't stand still
institution lacks the resources to
while we 're he re. T here's a very
correct that problem."
The fede ral judge who overrea l fact tha t 80 % o f u s a r e
going to be your neighbors in a
sees t h e Du ra n is sic k o f th e
mi n u te. We n ee d th ose pro state dragging its heels, and h e
grams."
said h e's pre pa red to use th e
However, J o n es d oes po int
power of his court to make the
p e ni te nti a ry co mpl y with th e
o ut tl1at the San ta Fe pe n is better than o th e r faciliti es h e's
d ec ree. l n o th e r words, h e' ll
see n. P r iso n e r Mike Co lb y
fine th e sta te, whi ch will only L-----•
add to th e fin a n cia l b urd e n
agr ees, a n d adds tha t the p lace
New Mexico taxpayers have paid-a re prese nts priso n e rs invo lved with h as imp roved g reatly ove r the years.
whopping $7.4 million- in legal fees Duran: "Sa nta Fe is now dramatically But he says the re a re proble ms that
diffe re nt than th e prison that h ad the must be addressed: "A lot of th e jobs
for court battles ove r the decree.
Bo bby Oniz, a p r iso ner wh o riot in 1980. You don' t have the over- are porte r jobs, whe re guys are no t
serves as a lega l re prese nta t ive on c rowdi ng a n d t h e d a ily a b u se o f really do ing a nything . So you h ave
Duran , a lo n g with o the r priso n e r inma tes tha t was common back the n. so mebod y lea ning o n a broom fo r
legal represe ntatives a nd th.eir a ttor- But tha t isn 't to say there are n o prob- fo ur h o urs an d fo rty-five minu tes,
n eys, pu t pressu re o n prison o fficials le ms. We are in ongoing n egotiation s just because h e has to be there. They
by threa te n in g to file conte mpt-o f- a nd the p e ni te n tiaq • n eeds to come n eed to make in mate ac tivit)' m ore
be neficial."
court cha rges against the state o n the into complia nce with the d ecree."
J oanne King is an ex-con who now
b as is o f th e la tes t Du ra n r e p o r t.
P r isoner Bobby Ortiz calls th e
Prison o fficials a re now n egotia ting works as a paralegal a t the San ta Fe Sa n ta Fe pe n "swee t. " "1 've b ee n
with Ortiz a nd his group, and Ortiz Public Defenders office. In studying through Soled ad, San Quen tin , the
seems pleased. "The re a re still areas the riot, King be lieves that the Santa fede ra l joi n t a nd a ll those priso n
we h ave to co m e into co mplia n ce Fe pe n will never full y comply with tl1e gangs. In here, you got n o proble ms.
with, but I think th e re's good faith decree because "the main facility can If yo u kee p your nose clean , you ' re
o n both sides to meet t h e req uire- n ever m ee t ACA (A m erican not pressu red into tha t bullshit like
me nts of th e d ecree. T he institution Correcti onal Associatio n ) accredita- a t o th er peni tenti aries. Do your own
is in complia nce in some a reas, bu t tion crite ria. The su"Ucture is still the tim e, mind your own bu siness, and
not in o th e r a reas," h e says . Ortiz old o ne of th e ri o t. They just refur- you 'll be alright. "
predi c ts t h a t the pe n i te nti a ry will bished it. T hey would h ave to build a
- George Charles Gray
36

PRISON LIFE

ATTICA ATTICA ATTICA ATTICA ATTICA ATTICA A TT

THEN

grounded, hostages would be killed.
Lest a nyo ne ge t the idea they were
kidding, prisone rs who were acting as
guards over tl1e hostages paraded several of tl1e captives around the prison
yard with pillowcases over tl1eir heads.
Shortly afte r 4 p.m., the he licopters
were grounded.
Nego tiatio ns with th e prisoners
began. New York State Corrections
Co mm iss io n e r Russe l O swald and
H e rman Schwartz, a law professor at
th e State University at Buffalo, we nt
in to ta lk. Oswald h ad said h e was
going to take a hard line in dealing
\vith tl1 e co nvicts, tha t he would first
insist hostages be released and th e
men return to m eir cells before a ny
grievances would be discussed.
After a half-hou r of negotiating,
Oswald and Schwartz returned. T he
prison ers still h eld m e hostages, and
no one h ad re turned to his cell.

tation." "Understanding." More tim e
for recreation, less time in the cells. No
reprisals. "Compete nt" doctors. "Mo re
fresh fruit." "Not so much pork."
For four d ays in September 1971,
Anothe r prison e r addressed th e
Attica Correctional Facility became
group. "The entire inciden t that has
the scen e of the deadliest prison mase rupted here at Attica is a result of
sacre eve r . When th e te a r gas and
the u n mitigated oppression wrought
gun smoke cleared, a total of 43 pe rby the racist adm inistrati on network
sons had died as a resu lt of th e fourof th is prison . We are men. We are
d ay uprising.
not beasts, and we do not intend to
It began like ma ny other priso n
be beaten o r driven as such."
riots. At 8:30 a.m., after breakfast, prisOn Friday morning, the insurreconers we re lin ed up to go on wo rk
tion entered its second day. A decision
deta ils. One gro up refused to fo rm
had been made to accede to the prisranks. Before the guards could get the
oners' dema nds to see the mediators
of their choice. Members of the prisrebe llio us priso n ers back into line,
oners' "security guard" sear ch ed the
o tl1er prisone rs started shouting. Then
violence broke out with such S\\~ftness
mediators, and guaranteed them safe
it seemed to some observers that the
passage. 'Just stay with us and you
uprising was planned and coordinatwon't get hurt," said a spokesman.
ed. Within minutes, about half the
"We guarantee your safety." Another
prison 's population of 2,254 men was
convict instructed the visiting group,
o n a rampage, run"Just show t hese
ning through the cormen tha t you care.
ridors, breaking winS h ow th e m t h a t
yo u came to save
dows and setting fire
to bedding. Others
lives an d reform
smashed office furnip risons."
ture and made bo nInterviews with
ftres.
th e hostages took
The
uprising
place in the "securiqui ck ly spread ·in to
ty area" - a small
the prison yard and
compound formed
outbuildings. In downby se lf-assig n ed
town Attica, sm oke
"guards" who lockcould be seen dJifting
ed arms to form a
circle aro und the
above the prison 's 30foot wa lls as flames
captives and protect
roare d through th e
th e m with sh a nks,
school and chapel.
baseball bats, clubs,
News of th e riot
claw hammers and
tea r-gas caniste rs.
spread almost as fast
Under these condias th e vio le n ce had
flared. More and L,~TI"""w-fi:ort
:-...,.,_essof
-=-A
-:-t-ti:ca-to...,.
da
-y. -=--:--::---:-:--~-=--..:.__ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ ___, tions, th e high es t
mo re p eople a rri ved:
ra n ki n g h ostage ,
A second a tte mpt was m ad e. Capt. Wald carefully explained to negostate troop e rs, th e National Guard
Commissioner Oswald agreed to one tiators that he a nd h is fellow captives
and media.
Outside, pre para tions f01· an all- de mand: future negotiating would be had been at all times treated decently.
out assa ul t o n th e prisoners had covered by the media. Four newsmen In fact, he said, the captives' plight had
alread y bee n made . By th at time, and a came raman following O swald made it easier for them to understand
enough information had been gath- were met by a line of convicts armed the day-to-day lives of tl1e prisoners.
ered to assess the seriousness of the "~th clubs and pipes. At this point, the
Negotiations ra n smoothly until
situati on. A total of 38 guards had riote rs appeared to be full of confi- Sunday, when things took a disturbbee n seized as hostages. The rioters, dence. A con vict, using a makeshift ing turn. As some d e mands were
numbering more tha n 1,000, had full megaphone, read a list of demands: g r an te d or agree d to, th e list of
control of the yard of Cell block D. Work done by convicts should be paid d emands was growing. The I"ingleadFive h u n dred law e nforce ment offi- for at rates provided by the state's mini- ers were n ow asking for "complete
ce rs h a d e nte red th e main gate, mum wage laws. Convicts would b e amnesty," wh ich in effect meant that
sh arpsh oo te rs eq uipped with .270 all owed to b e pol iti cally active. they not be brought to trial for any
caliber r ifl es and sniperscopes were Censorship of convicts' reading materi- crimina l act mat they had comm itted
station ed atop th e h ighest building al should cease. Convicts should have during th e uprising. Along with this,
in t h e priso n compound, an d heli- the right to communicate with anyone they asked for t ra n spor tation to a
at their own expense. They should also "non impe rialistic country."
copters circled overhead.
Lead e rs of the r evolt se nt o u t be given "tn1e" religious freedom. The
word that if the h elicopte rs weren' t demands continued: "Realistic rehabili(continued on page 82)

PRISON LIFE 37

ATTICA ATTICA ATTICA ATTICA ATTICA ATTICA AT

Story & Photos
by Patrick A. Finan
The te rm "max imum securi ty"
do es n ' t b eg in to d escribe Attica
prison. It rises from the hills of western
Ne w York m uc h like a m edi eval
fortress, built to confine ra the r than to
defe nd. Even on a brigh t winter day
the walls cast shad ows, deep and black.
To e nte r Attica is to ste p in to a world
of regim e ntatio n , ro u tine and discipline that would put ma ny armies to
shame. Companies of na meless, faceless me n march down harshly lit corridors o f steel a nd
concre te, passing
through time as
endle ss as a life
sentence.
Volumes have
been
writte n
about the causes
of th e riot th a t
ul timate ly kill ed
civilia ns,
43
guards a nd p r isoners. Overcrowding, und e rm a nning of the guard
force and unfit living co nditi o n s
were broug ht to
light in the rio t's
afterm a th. Accounts of brutality
and unwarranted
punishm e nt a t
Attica we re to ld
T he halls of Attica.
during th e e nsuing
inves tig a tion . Th e lac k of g u a rd s
restric ted priso ne rs to o ne sh owe r a
week. Mail, inco ming a nd ou tgoing,
was routinely ce nsored . Committees
we r e form ed , in ves ti gati o n s we r e
made, conclusions we re fin alized . In
some instan ces th at might have been
th e e nd of it : We ll-inte n tio n ed
refo rms buried in th e burea uc ra ti c
nightmare of a syste m with too ma ny
d e m a nds a nd too few reso urces .
Attica, however, cou ld not be ign o red ,
and fo rtuna tely, muc h h as c han ged
sin ce t h a t Mond ay mo rnin g in
Se pte mbe r 1971 whe n Attica 1·aged
with violence and d eath.
UPSIDE
Attica to day h ouses 2,116 prisone rs in single occupa ncy cells, d own by
nearly 400 prisone rs fro m th e time of

38 PRISON LIFE

th e r io t. The fac ili ty r eceives and
re leases a pproximate ly 60 prison ers
weekly. Facilities have been exp anded since 1971 to include a gymnasium an d a vocatio n al school, wh e re
programs in welding, masonry, printing and several othe r hands-on skills
a re ta ugh t. Basic and advanced acade mic study is offered by 15 teache rs.
Prison e rs ca n also receive two- and
four-year degrees from local colleges.
Priso n e rs co nfin ed in the Secur e
H o using Uni t can ea rn high schoo l
equivale nce certificates. The primary
prison industry, known as Corcraft,
e mploys approximately 300 prison ers
in sheet me tal fabrica tion. Prisoners

ca n ea rn a nywh e re from $1. 55 to
$3.90 p e r day, ge ne rally the highest
wage paid fo r prison work at Attica.
Othe r j o bs pay from 60 ce nts to $1.55
pe r day. If all th e prison programs
a re ope ra ting at capacity, abo ut 1,750
of the 2,116 prisone rs can be actively
e ngaged.
The availability of showe rs, toile t
paper a nd othe r needs for day-to-day
living, wh ich were among the catalysts
of the d o t, have been addressed. Each
co mpan y of 40 me n has two showe r
stalls on th e cell block; pdsoners may
ta ke at least three sh owers a wee k.
Pe rsonal hygie nic items such as soap,
razors and tooth brushes are now regula rly provided , a nd clo thing restrictio ns have been relaxed. P1isoners are
allowed o ptio ns, within certain guidelines, in shirts and shoes, but wearing

state-issued green pan ts is man datory.
In m ates are a lso g ranted g r eate r
access to outside ven d o rs t h rough
mail order services for items such as
vitami ns, clo th ing a nd music. Mail is
still o pe ned a nd searched for con traband, but the issue of mail censorship
appears to have been resolved. Meals
are described by prisone rs as "edible,"
an d provisio ns are made fo r t hose
with religious d ie tary req uirements.
Un less restricted for disciplinary reasons, inmates are allowed televisions,
Al\1 radios a nd tape players. Inmates
can even subscribe to Playbo-y if th ey
wish. Several other im provements in
Attica are o f note. Expanded visiting
privileges and the
Fam ily Re un io n
Program, a ll owing p risoners one
a nn ua l 43-hou r
visit in a d up lex
h o u sing withi n
th e prison, he lps
keep p risoners in
to uch with th e ir
fa mi lies. Oth e r
fam il y-o r ie n ted
ac tivities, l ike
su mmer picn ics,
ta ke
p lace
th r oug h out t he
yea r.
To enhance
co mmuni cati o n
between inm ates
and the staff (yet
a n othe r d rivi n g
force behind t he
anarchy of 1971),
the Inmate Liaison
Committee was established. The committee, elected by the general prison
popula tio n, represents priso n in te rests in meetings wi th correctio n officials. The Inma te Grievance Program
is a way for prisone rs to air frus tratio n
with prison policies in an ope n a n d
direct fo ru m with prison staff.
Prisoner g ro ups a nd eve n a crea tive a rts prog ra m se rve abou t 500
prisoners. Progra ms such as ALFA (A
Loo k for Al te r natives) a n d CA P
(Com mu nity Awa reness Program )
allow prisoners to interact with young
people at risk of fi nding themselves in
Attica.
DOWNSIDE
Atti ca h as been an d proba bl y
always will be a cold, heartless a n d
o ften viole n t p lace. The average sen-

tence is anywhere from 12 years to life. oth er d eadly communicable diseases
Vio lence, both p hysical and psycholog- are putting new strains on the prison's
ical, is a fact of life. Today, violence is health care program. Governor Matio
primarily inmate on in mate. Gangs Cuomo said that h is 1994-'95 $8.4 milsuc h as the Latin Kings and lion budget for ptisoner health care at
Matchateros swell as young offenders Attica is in response to "a sig nifica nt
with vio lent criminal histories fi nd demand for health care because of the
the mselves doing long bids. With little prevalence of o pportunistic diseases
chance of sm\'ival on their own, many related to AIDS, T.B., hepati tis B and
find themselves seeking out gangs for other infectious diseases." A budget
protection. The racia l balance in d ivision spokesman said of tl1e situaAttica is typical of prisons nationwide: tion: 'The prison syste m was never deapproximately 50 % black, 35% signed to accommodate a population
Hispanic, 15% white and other nation- of sick inmates such as we have today."
alities. One guard said of the situation, He also said that the N.Y. Correctional
"White gangs are a very small minority Services De partme nt has o ne of th e
here. A whi te racist would probably be largest AIDS medical practices in the
in the psychiatric unit because
·
8,000 HIVworld, with
disp laying those
sentime nts would
be evidence that
yo u ' re in sane.
They wou ld simply be found dead
in he re."
Indeed, some
prison ers retreat
into Protective
C ustod y status,
known a mon g
Attica inmates as
' Pu n k City. ' So
in tim idated by
real or pe rceived
viole nce, inmates
have bee n drive n
to sla sh t h e ir
wrists in o rder to
secure a transfer.
In the words of
.
.
.
Attica pri soner
Eric Reid , the 1-esi- Dem·()y Vzgo, a pnsoner at Attica
dents of ' Pun k City' are "being con- positive individuals.
fined by the confined," forced to live
in isolation cells just to survive. In a
INSIDE
Attica can a nd often d oes bring
recen tly publish ed arti cle in Prison
Life, Reid de tails the existe nce of those out the worst in people, but not always.
who can not adapt to th e reali ty of Some find a way to rise above their cirAttica and seek refuge from the syste m cumstances a nd eve n grow in wh at
within tl1e system. Many are d1iven to most would consider a living hell, like
gangs o r driven to act out th eir fear Steven Fraley, wh o's bee n at Atti ca
a nd frustration in the hope of being since 1983 for murder and is doing 20
doubly confined and protected. Of the years to life . Whi le ma ny wou ld have
priso n syste m in general, Re id ob- been so harden ed by th is experien ce as
served: "Prison re presen ts someon e's to be unreacha ble, Fraley has found
bread and butter. Many compa ni es the self-determin a ti o n to go beyond
base their entire existe nce on keeping s imp ly b e in g num be r 82A-3166.
these cells f·u ll."
Earning a bach elor's degree in 1989
Wh ile health care has been drasti- and actively participating in the prison
cally improved since the riot (several outreach program, Cephas, Fraley has
n otable additions include more staff, a made significant prog ress towa rd a n
full-time doctor a nd psychia u·ist a nd uncertain but hopeful future. He says
much improved facili ties), AIDS and of life and problems in Attica: 'To me,

Attica means a b ig portion of my life.
I'm doing 20 years-to-life right he re.
You adjust. Some of my peers would
call that knuckling under, but I just see
it as doing my time. You hear about
inciden ts and occasionally see things
tl1at might be questionable, but I try to
distance myself from it. I focus on the
posirive rather than the negative."
One of the programs Fraley found
most ben eficial is Ceph as, which was
born from the ashes of the Attica riots.
Founded by a former Eastman Kodak
em ployee, Harold Steele, Cephas is
more than just simply a "lifer's group."
C urre n tly se rving about 100 cons,
Cephas groups are conducted weekly
by professional counselors wh o mainta in constant co ntact with those confined. Continuity of
th er apy is ensu red
by peer counselors,
like Fraley, who
comple ted the prog ram a nd now volunteer to assist prisoners in need. And
Cephas doesn 't stop
wh e n inmates are
freed. Post-release
prog rams include
weekly group counse ling, parole-towork transition prog ra m s, a construction company th at
provides j ob training a nd real-world
ex perie n ce as we ll
as tempo rary housing a n d p e rsonal
assistan ce.
Programs like Cephas are critical,
g ive n that Attica ho uses many of the
most viole nt criminals in tl1e U.S., a
g rowing n umbe r of whom a re young
offe nders. Comme nting on tl1e you th
who find their way to Attica, Reid says:
"It j ust makes you say, ' Damn, I can ' t
be lieve that shit' wh en you see how
young these kids are and you consider
ilie crimes iliey've comm itted. You've
got tllese kids who think murde r is the
right thing."
As lo ng as we h ave peo ple who
thin k murder is the right thing, Attica
will always have room for on e mo re.

PRISON LIFE 39

by Jennifer Wynn

f

lif e throws you lemon s, make lemonade. Anthony Papa jailhouse lawyer and, having exhausted all h is state re mewou ld probably cringe a t su ch a sickeningly ch eer- dies, is now working on his federal habeas corpus. He's
ful clich e, but it's h a rd not to recall it wh e n you even thi nking about trying his luck in the cle men cy lottery. Why not? Al l it takes is a dollar and a dream. In this
meet him.
Think you've bee n thrown a few lemons? Try a 15- case you don 't eve n need a dollar, and Tony Papa isn't
year-to-life senten ce (though you've had no prior convic- short on dreams.
In fact, it's his dreams, lite rally, that inspire him to
tion s) for passing an e nvelope con taining fo ur-and-a-half
ounces of coke, losing 10 grand to a scum bag lawyer who paint. "I've been readingjung, ge tting into psych oanalysis
gave you th e shittiest advi ce mon ey could buy, be ing and learning how to paint from the unconscious mind. I
then try to make it conscious in
divorced by your wife and watchorder to create an intuitive coning the deale r wh o set you up ge t
nection with the viewe r."
off Scot-free while you were sent
Wh e n Pa pa first tried his
up the river.
hand with the brush in an a rt
As for ma k i n g le m o n ade ,
class in 1986, he painted what he
co nside r this: Since Papa sta rted
calls "diabetic art," all sugar a nd
d o ing tim e a t S ing Sing
Co rrection al Facili ty, he's earned
sp i ce but short on emotion a l
a p a r al ega l d eg r ee, a B. A. in
depth. "I began painting scenes,"
h e says, "mostly impressionisti c
Be h avioral Science, a nd he was
r ecently acce pted into th e masp ieces. But the n I started reading
about a rt and studying painte rs
ter's d eg r ee prog r a m a t N ew
li ke Picasso. I saw how h e used
York T heological Seminal]'· Even
his famous painti ng, ' Guernica,'
mo re impo rta nt to P a p a, h e's
wo n numero us awards fo r his artto express the atrocities of war. I
wor k and had a pain ting exhibitsaw that a rt co uld b e used to
make a political state me nt."
e d at Ma nha ttan 's pres tig io us
Wh itney Museum of Ame rican
Soon after, Papa was painting
An .
p ieces like "Godly Arbiu·a tion ,"
To ny Pa pa wasn ' t an acco mwh ich packs a hell of a political
plished artist b efo re prison. H e
punch. Illustrating h is opposition
wasn ' t even an ama teur. He was a
to the death pe nalty, the painting
regular J oe from th e Bron x with
shows former preside nt George
a family and a business instal ling
Bush speaking a t a platform while
his g h o st h ove r s b e hind him .
car ala rms a nd rad ios. H e even
belonged to a bowling league.
One
ha nd rests on a n image of
PafJa s "15 Years to Life: Self Portmit "e).·/zibited at the
"One day I was late for bowl- Whitney Museum of American Art. "1t1 illustrates the
Go d ; the o th er on t h e Whiteing," re calls Papa, "because my deeply 1"00led pain ofknowingy ou're living out the
h ouse, hom e of preside ntial
most productwe yem-s of yow· Cife in a cage, "says Papa.
ca r was bro ke n a nd I h a d n o
power. "I'm trying to show tha t
money to fi x it. A teammate asked if I wanted to ma ke Bush had th e power to take life as God does and that he
some fast cash. All I h ad to d o was deliver an enve lope, sees h imself as God's equal," explains Papa.
Behind Bush stands Dukakis, waving the Ame rican flag
and he'd pay me $500."
It seemed easy e nough to d o . But whe n Papa d eliv- and holding a sig n that reads: "Fry chicken, not people."
ered th e goods, 20 cops came out of nowh e re. "It was just
Papa's like a parolee in a brothel whe n he's pointing
li ke in the movies," he recalls. "I turned to my left and a out de tai ls in his p aintings. T here are many: "In the botcop slipped a .38 into my virgin ear. Wh e n I turned to tom corner you see president Reagan, all juiced up, hailmy ri gh t, th e re was a n o the r gu n. I was thrown to the ing the coffin of j ustice. In it's a victim, who died in jail.
ground and handcuffed."
And there's Uncle Sammy, who's carrying the coffin on
The nig htmare was only beginning. When the prose- his back. The coffin re presents the weight of the legislacu tor offe red Papa three-to-life, his lawye r, George David ture. Then the re's a prisoner and his tombstone, which
Rose nba um , r ead th e d es pera ti o n in Pa pa's eyes as re presents my tombstone. See the ' thumb 's down ' sign
money in the bank. He advised Papa to go to trial.
o n it? And the quote I used from Plato?" The quote, in
"He got the cash and I got th e time," says Papa, who tiny le tters, says: 'Justice is the advan tage of the stronger. "
has by n ow served 10 years of his bid. H e became his own
Papa submitted this p iece a nd seve ral others, some

I

40

PRISON LIFE

PRISON LIFE 41

political, others not, to the Albany Correction on Canvas Art la bel \vith you for the rest of your life."
A painting like "Corporate Asset" takes Papa six months
Show in 1993. He captured first prize in the watercolor category for his painting "Pink Bathroom Sink" (literally, a pink to a year to complete. "I paint day and night," he says. "I put
bathroom sink, wh ich Pa pa describes as "aesthe tically mean- my heart and soul in this." Given tJ1e difficulties of painting
ingless"). None of his political work, by far the most original in prison (see sidebar), he needs all the gut-driven motivaand insightful of his collection, has
tion h e can summ o n up. ot to
m e ntion resourcefuln ess-Papa
earned him recognition in the state
and D.O.C.-sponsored shows.
washes his paint brushes in his toilet bowl a nd uses toile t pape r to
Fortunately, his piece "15 Years to
create the layered effect that's norLife: Self Portrait" \vas seen by several thousand viewers a t th e
mally ac hieved throug h ge nero us
portions of expensive paint. He has
Whitney Museum in Manhattan.
"By some stroke of luck I was
to settle for painting on canvasses
no larger than 24 by 36 inches in a
c h ose n b y th e co ntrovers ial
grunge artist Mike Kelley to show
cell not a whole lot bigger.
my self- portrait in his exhibit, "Pay
H e suffers other system indign ifor Your Pleasure." Pa pa explains
ties, too, like the time he won his
that the Whitney is going in a new
first blue ribbon in 1988 but \vasn 't
direction unde r its prese nt direcallowed to keep it because it violattor, David Ross. "H e's a ctually
ed the n o-blue-i n-thejoint rule.
(Guards' uniforms are blue.) "I
o pening the doo r to those artists
who a ren 't mainstrea m, such as
tried to engage ilie guard in a philome- an incarcera ted individual. "
sophical discussio n to get my ribNew York T imes art criti c
bon, but the best I could get was a
Roberta Smith praised Papa 's
picture of me holding the ribbon."
painting as "an o d e to art as a
Unfortun ate ly, Papa's pe rsuamystical, transgressive act that is
sive me thods haven't worked half
both frighte ning an d libe rating,
as well in his quest to get the state
r e leasing un co n tro ll ab le emoof New York to reinstate its fundtions of all kinds. "
ing of priso n art progra ms. (In
Describing "Self Portrait," Papa
1991, the state slashed its $2 mi lwaxes poetic. "It illustra tes the
li on art budget to $ 150,000.)
deeply rooted pain and h opelessDe spite e loquent letters to
ness that one feels thinking about
Governor Mario Cuo mo a nd nine
Above: "Political Reality." "Painting is a
the reality of living out the most proSenato rs, th e most m ean ingful
release, "says Papa. "/ use it to expr_ess np•
ductive years of his life in a cage.
r es p o n se Pa p a got was from
an/!(!r at the .ryslem and lo make Polilica
sta7ements. " Below: "Corporate Asset. "
Senator J oseph Caliber saying tJ1a t
"Fifteen years is a long stretch
in a man's life. Time lost is unfulart programs cost too much.
filled, time unenriched by experiPapa d ecided to take matte rs
e nce and erUoyment. Through art I
into his own hands. He convinced
h ave captured som e of this lost
Sing Sing administrators to le t
him teach an a rt class.
time. Art has been my guiding light
in an e nvironment of darkness."
"Art is a therapeutic tool," he
Art was also th e spa rk th a t
says. "If you' re going to put someone in prison, let him do his time
turned Papa on to education. As his
art developed he got more involved
but also let him maintain his selfin schoo l. "Art was a ca talyst," he
esteem.
says. "By learning art, I was able to
"I beli eve in restorative, not
maintain my humanity. From that
punitive, justice. Now society's in
point on I wanted more o ut of life.
t h e punitive mode. In stead of
Instead of stagnating in a defeating
fund ing re habilitative progra ms,
system \vith the bare essentials, I'm
taxpayers just want to lock you in
progressing."
a cage. I want to show socie ty that
Papa also uses art as a release.
it pays to le t prisoners utilize these
"When I lose it, I paint. It's how I
programs. A prisoner will eventuexpress my anger at the system."
ally go home and interact with
He points to a n e la borate paintsociety. If you' re gon na give someing, "Corporate Asse t," which po rone 15 years and n o thin g e lse,
trays the pri son sys te m as a big
he's gonna come out an animal."
bu sin ess. C uttin g t h rou g h t h e
From his tiny cell, Papa gazes
heart of the painting is a serpent,
onto the expanse of the Hudson
whose head is a g ua rd tower. A
Rive r. An early summer breeze
priso n e r sits ove r the revolving
cuts through th e dank air. Tony
d oor of justice, leading to the road
holds on to his dre a ms of freeof recidivism. "What I'm sayi ng here is tha t when you're dom . "When l get out, I want to paint in epic proportions.
thrown into the system, and you do your time to get out, I see myself in Soho, in a studio, with huge canvasses .. ."
that door mean s you're still a prison er, you gotta carry that

w

42 PRISON LIFE

~~~METAMORPHOSISofMICHAEL

LEVINE

A Prison Life interview
by Richard Stratton
I read former undercover DEA agent
Michael Levine's first booll, Deep Cover
(Delacorte, New Yorh, 1990) while in
prison serving a 251ear SL>ntence for smuggling marijuana and hash. In those days
I felt about DEA agents about the same
way I imagine they felt about me: a mixture of loathing and fascination that is the
nexus of the outlaw/lawman symbiosis
and has more to do, I suspect, with how
alihe cops and criminals are than with
lww different they might be.
A few )'ears later, I was standing in a
booh store in Los Angeles when my wife,
Kim, wlw is also a fomzer undercouer narcotics agent and w1ilel; handed me Levine's
lalf!st book, The Big White Lie (Thunder's
Mouth, New York, 1993). I bought the book
and added it to the stach on my desh required reading on America's holy war on
d1ugs. Like most ex--POWs, I am obsessed
with trying to understand the events that
resulted in my being lodted in prison.
Some months passecl and I still hadn't got around to reading the book We
were in the process of buying a home in
upstate New Yorh, and the 1·eal estate
agent, after learning we were w·riters,
asked if we had eve1· heanl of Michael

44 PRISON LIFE

Levine. He said his sister had sold Levine
and his wife a home not fm"jrom where we
were thin/ling of buying.
This inspired me to pull T h e Big
White Lie out of my "must read" slack
and dig into it. Two days later I closed
the booh and knew I had to meet this guy.
The next day Kim and I drove to town to
drop off some padwges at Federal ExfJ1·ess.
As we were pulling away from the drivethmugh, I happened to look over at the
driver in the opposite lane.
"That's Mike Levine, " I said to Kim.
I thought I recognized him from his fJicture
on the book jachet; something just told me
to look up and there was Levine.
Kim, who had been on "Lany King
Live" with Levine when her book, Rush,
was first published, tlwught I was hallucinating. "You just want to meet the guy so
badly you '1·e seeing him eve~ywlzere. "
"No, that's him. " I was sure of it.
Kim got out of the car and, showing both
hands so Levine could see she wasn't
anned, walked toward his car.
"Mihe?" she ashed warily. Levine
looked back at he~·. "Kim Wozencrafl. We
were on-"
"Oh, yeah. Hey, Kim. How ya'

doin '?" It was Levine, all right. The
force was with me that day, and the force
wanted me to meet Mike Levine.
Why did I want to meet this agent, this
man who a decade or so ago was my sworn
enemy and would have done everything
within his large powers to lod' my ass in a
"cage, " as Levine is fond of calling prison?
This former comrade-in-arms of the men
who in fact did put my ass in stir for the
better part of the '80s? Because Mike
Levine, with considerable help from his wife
Laum Kavanau-L evine, wrote a book
called The Big Wh ite Lie, a book that is
essential reading for eve1y joe citizen dumb
enough to believe the politicians and swallow whole govemnzent propaganda on this
insane, bullshit war on drugs that is
destroying our nation.
Wizen fonner dmg smugglers, who may
know what they are talking about, come out
and say that the biggest inlel>national dojJe
dealers are either CIA assets m· enjoy CIA
protection, the stale~nent is seen as self-serving. It helps the cause of tmth considerably
when scholars lihe Alfred McCoy write and
publish well-7-esearched, docu11zented studies
01t the Telationship between CIA and some
of the world's major dope producers. (The

dTed pounds. He's darl1; they used to call
him "El j udio T1iqueiio, "the Dark jew. He
Books, New York, 1991.) But when a man is strong and moves lille an athlete poised
with Levine's hard-earned credentials, a on the balls of his feet. He's a martial arts
man who believed in the drug war and expert, a tough, lilwble man with a mughfought bravely and honestly for his guvern- house lxryish quality who, I have 1w doubt,
ment to the highest and most pe1ilous levels, could snap and instanll)' became deadly at
only to discover the shocking tmth that he the drop of a dime bag.
had been sold out lty the ve1y people he was
But why put the guy on the cover of
working f01~ when such an insider comes P.-ison Life magazine? This guy put peoforward and rVIites a book telling the tmth, ple in prison, over thTee thousand lty his
it is of monumental importance. Levine's own count. He was a fucltin' cop! We
writing The Big White Lie is the equiva- decided to jJut Michael Levine on the cover
lent of General Norman Schwmzlw/Jf lVIit- because we believe what he has to say is vital
ing a boolijJroving the Anny is full of shit to the Ame1ican p1ison pojJulation. Most of
and debunlting the Gulf War as a bad jolte the people 1·eading this magazine m·e in
all about big money.
p1ison on dmg charges or far drug-related
So !met Mille Levine. It was ee1ie sit- Climes. Many of tlze 1.5 million Americans
ting across the table from him, brealling behind bars wouldn't be there if more people
bread with him, tallting about the drug would listen to what Mil~e Levine has to say
war. Levine was a special brand of DEA abouttlze dntg war and withdraw their sufr
agent. Levine worlted undercover; he j1o1t for politicians who jmnnote this sham.
spent most of his 25·•year career pretending The war on dntgs is a major jJart of what
to be a dn.tg dealer. I spent a good part of we ltnow as the bloated and comtpt aiminal
my career pretending I was not a drug justice system that costs taxpayers billions
dealer. 1 wondered if I would have known and is in fact a scam j1e1petrated on middlethe guy was an agent had someone intm- class taxfJayers and a fonn of genocide
duced us back in the old days. I'm sure
inflicted on the poo1:
Levine would have made me.
I got to know Mike Levine over
Levine is big: over six
tlze course of a long winter and had
f eet, over two
a number of in-depth discussions
with him about the dn1g wm·. I
hunmay not agree with his ideas on
how to solve the dntg problem, but
I t1ust Levine's irifonnation just
as I have come to t1ust him as a
man. Knowing Mike Levine
has brought me to the hard realization that all cops are not
necessarily bad people; some
are just misguided.
From my own expe1ience
in the international drug
trade I know what Levine
has to say is tme. When I
was smuggling hash out of
the Middle East during
llze long and bloody civil
war in Lebanon, (a weir
that had mo1·e to do
with fighting for control of the multi-billion
dollm· drug tmde
than it did with religion) I mel and
worhed with intelligence operatives
and major climinals who apenly
traded in anns
and drugs
with CIA
connivance
and protection. In
fact, you
couldn't
Politics of H eroin: CIA Complicity in
the Global Drug Trade, Lawrence Hill

Undercover
shots:
(right)
Levine with
Billy Yellow
Hair, a member of a
Chinese street
gang who sold
him heroin;
(bottom left)
Levine working
undercover in
Spanish Harlem,
trying to "make
arrest statistics."

operate for
long in the Middle East, or an)'Wizere else
for that matter, without CIA connections.
Ostensibly, our govemnzent aids dmg traf
ficking for jJolitical reasons, lihe supposedly
fighting communism. But peofJle in the
business hnow that this rationale, if tn.te at
all, is clearly secondm)' to the profit motive.
Levine and I got together to record a distillation of ow· ongoing dialogt~e, a hind of
precis of Levine's career, and the subject of
his books. But it is to tlwse boohs, and particularly to The Big White Lie, that I
invite tlze reader. Read tlzem if you care at
all about why ')'OU are in p1ison.
grew up on Tre mont Ave nue and
Somhern Boulevard in the Bronx,
48th precinct. I was a bad kid, really
bad, arrested twice before I was 16. I was
lucky enough to join the military before I
got into serious trouble. I was a violent
kid and looking back on it I was really
afraid, scared to death. The neighborhood was changing from Italian, J ewish
and Irish to Puerto Rican and Black. On
the su·eets I used to lie and say that I MlS
half Puerto Rican. You might say 1 was
already undercover. I have a talent for
picking up languages. My firs t girlfriend
was Pue rto Rican and I picked up street
Spanish very quickly \\ith a good accent.
Later on, as an unde rcove r narcotic
agent in Bangkok, Thailand, within two
months I had picked up enough Tha i
from bar girls to get around pretty good.
But what really started me toward
m y career in undercover was fate. I
believe in fate, in destiny. In 1959 I
was a military po liceman assig ned to
Plattsburg h Air Force Base . I h a d
joined the boxing team, I was 19 years
old, over 6 feet an d 227 pounds, an d
like a ll 19-yea r-olds, I cou ld n 't co n-

I

PRISON LIFE 45

ceive of my own death. That's why 19year-o lds m a ke such wo nd erful soldie rs. I got into a fig ht with a g uy
n a med Heywood over a three-dollar
h at. We were both military police men.
H e pulled his gun, stuck it in my stomach and pulled the trigger. It misfired.
There were a bunch of witnesses and
h e was arrested. Later, whe n they testfired the gun, it fi red every time.
What tha t inciden t taught me was
the truth of an old Arab saying: "Any
d ay is a good day to die." The saying
becam e my mantra. From
that mom e nt on I had only
one fear in life, that I wou ld
reach my final moment on
earth and say the words: "I
wish I had ... " I was in a rush
to live o ut e ve ry fantasy I
co uld im ag in e; visit eve ry
country I was ever curio us
about; taste it, feel it, eat it,
try everything my imaginat ion could conjure before
t h at fina l m o m ent ca m e.
And what be tter way to live
out a fantasy than to become
an international undercover
agent for the gove rnme nt?
And that's exactly what I did,
and I got qu ite good at it.
The bette r I got the easier it
was fo r me to create any fa ntasy I wanted and the governmen t wou ld fund it, as long
as the bo ttom lin e was that
someon e went to jail.
I played eve!)' role you
could imagin e to bust dope
dealers. I played a priest, an
Arab sheik, a Cuban ter rorist. I was a n und e r cove r
m e mb e r of b o th the
America n azi p a rty a nd
the Marxist Leninist branch
of the Communist party a t
the sa m e tim e. I eve n
passed myself off as a Mafia
don t o two corrupt DEA
age n ts who so ld m e t h e n a mes of
informers out of the DEA computer.
Around the time tl1e kicks started
wearing off, I found out that my brother was a heroin addicL I started listening to all the rhetoric of the po liticians
abo ut this h o ly wa r o n drugs, a nd
abou t th is evil, dark e ne my tha t was
destroying my baby brother . I developed a foaming-a t-th e-mou th hatred
for drug dealers. I blamed th em for
destro ying kid s like my broth er,
destroying o ur country and all that
shit, and I was on a fucking missio n
fro m God to destroy them, a nd I didn 't care if I died d oing it. We' re all
gonn a die. If you co uld choose the

46 PRISON LIFE

way you go, what would it be? We ll, I It was the first time in my life that I was
chose undercover. That's how spaced stopped by my own governme nt.
out I was, until reali ty set in.
I didn ' t know what was going on
My first g lim pse of reality was in back t h en. I was a good soldier, I
1971 when I went deep cove r in wo u ldn 't have believed it if a n yon e
Bangkok, Thailand. I spent about a told me the truth. I was simply told
mo nth hangi ng with Chinese he roin that our government has other p rioridealers. We're talking about a time in ties and that the case had to end with
history when the biggest heroin seizure th e guys I was dea ling with. They
was still tl1 e Fren ch Connection , less wound up de livering one kilo of herothan 70 pounds. These guys were pro- in to me and were busted in front of
ducing hundreds of pounds of h eroin the Siam Inte rcontinental H otel along
a week. They thought I was a represen- with so me guy m a king false botto m
. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . suitcases. These guys
were ex pendable , but
the factory owne rs h ad
C IA sa n c ti on to produce tons of do pe, a nd
all of it was going into
the veins of Ame rican s,
including my brother.
The case ended up
getting a lot of publicity.
It was the first time one
u ndercover agent arrested t h e smugg le r an d
fi n anc ie r of a h e ro indealing organ izati on in
America, and then went
overseas to bust th e ir
so urce. I was g ive n a
sp ec ia l T reasu ry Act
award , a nd I let myse lf
get carried away with my
own press cli p pings.
They made me feel like I
h ad a lready won t h e
drug war single-handedly. I shoved the reality of
wh at I h ad just lived
thro ugh along with my
brotJ1er's slow death into
a corne r of m y mi nd
where it couldn't h u n
me. Later I would learn
tl1a t this heroin expo rting orga ni zatio n u sed
the d ead bodies o f our
Cis killed in Vietnam to
smuggle their junk. The
tative of th e Ma fi a a nd wa nte d to stuff was hidde n in body cavities a nd
impress me; they were trying to talk me body bags.
into buying heavy weight. So tl1ey invitI re turned to t11e U.S. an d to myjob
ed me to visit what tJ1ey called "the fac- as a Special Agent in the Hard arcot.ics
tory" up in Chiang Mai, tl1e cen ter of Smuggling Croup of Customs. T here
their h e roin prod uctio n. But in the was a bmtal turf war going on between
middle of the nig ht I was brought into Customs and the then Bureau of
the embassy and told tha t I would not
arcotics and Dangerous Drugs. One
be allowed to go to tl1e heroin factory. of 1ixon's last acts as President was to
The factO!)' was part of tJ1e an ti-com- create the Drug Enfor cemen t Admunist support syste m and was protect- ministration to e nd tJ1 e jurisdictional
ed by the C IA. As lo ng as th ey did war. On the morning ofjuly 1, 1973, I
CIA's bidding, me guys who owned me woke up as a DEA agent.
factory had a license to support themFo r a lo ng whi le I did nothi ng
selves by selling Ame rican kids drugs, but u nd ercover work: hundreds of
a nd not only kids o n tl1e streets of me cases, back to back, cocaine a nd he roU.S., but Gl's on the battlefield as well. in, seve n days a week, n ever go ing

home. I h ad blocked out the who le
Ba n g ko k exp e rie n ce a nd was back
fighting my ho ly war with drug dealers. Black, white, yellow, J ew, Italian,
it made n o difference to me. If you
sold do pe you we re my e ne my, and I
wou ld do a nything to destroy you.
My wake-up call seemed to begin
with my broth er 's death in February,
1977 . I was teac hin g a c lass o n
Narco tics Undercover Tactics to the
Brooklyn district a tto rney's investigators wh en I was told tha t my brothe r
h ad co mmitted sui cide. H e left a
n o te tha t read: "To my fa mi ly an d
frie nds, I can ' t stand the d rugs anymore." And , again, if you believe in
fa te as I d o, a lm os t imme dia te ly I
received word th a t I was to b e transfe rred to Buenos Aires, Argentina as
th e DEA attache.
During th ose yea rs th e d e mand
fo r coca in e, a nd la te r c r ac k, h ad
b egun to ex p lo d e. Th e So uth
Am e ri can pro duce rs couldn 't even
come close to meeti ng it. T he biggest
dn•g deale r alive was a man unknown
to an yo n e in Ame ri ca , a Bo l ivia n
named Ro be rto Suarez. I was recently sh own a transcrip t of secret testimony before a closed Senate committee chaired by Se n ato r John Ke rry. A
man name d Ra m o n M ilia n Rod riguez, wh o was the main money launderer for the Medellin cartel, told th e
Sen a to rs that Roberto Suarez is the
biggest drug d eale r who eve r lived.
Su ar ez was th e Me d e lli n Carte l' s
main supp lie r of cocaine base, an d ,
according to Ro drig uez, most of the
coke that ente red the U.S. tha t wasn 't
supplied directly by the Colo mbians
came from the Suar ez organization.
People think tha t cocaine is synonymous with Columbia but that's not
true. In the '70s a nd '80s especially,
Bolivia was producing 90 to 95 percen t of the cocaine base in the world.
You shut d own Bo livia in th e la te
1970s a nd you shu t down the world's
cocaine sup ply. You win the drug war.
The who le thing was under the contro l of o n e ma n , Ro b e rto S u a r ez.
Whe n I got down to South Ame rica in
1978, Su a r ez's o rga ni zatio n , th e n
called La Mafia Cruzeiia, The San ta
Cru z Mafia, wh ic h la te r beca me La
Corp omcion, o r t h e Co rp oratio n ,
couldn ' t fi ll 10 % o f the Ame ri ca n
de ma nd. They needed to take contro l of th e Bolivia n gove rnm e nt,
whi c h was th e n a nti-d rugs, so th a t
cocaine productio n wou ldn ' t be bothe red by law e nforcement. They needed to elimina te all the smalle r dealers
a nd improve prod u cti o n meth ods.
To ca tc h up with th e $100 bi llio n

Am erican de ma nd, tl1ey had to create
wha t became th e Ge ne ral Moto rs of
cocaine. T hat's what tl1 ey started to
do . T hey brough t in neo-Nazis from
Eu ro pe, all working fo r a n esca ped
Naz i war c rimina l, a man na m ed
Klaus Barbie, known as "The Butcher
of Leon ," .to h a ndl e the ir secu r ity.
They bega n kill ing off th e competition, improving production and b uying off key government officials. My
j o b was to penetrate this o rgan izatio n.
To do d1is, I created a fictitious
Mafia family. We had a team of some
30 undercover agen ts posing as pilots,
chauffeurs, chemists, bodyguards a nd
collectors. A beautifu l Pue rto Rican
agent was flown in from Los Angeles to
pose as my wife. We had to rely on the
Bolivia n government to work witl1 us
secre tly; tl1ey were the last vestiges of
anti-drug feeling in Soum America, and
th ey n ever betrayed us. T h ey recogn ized the burgeoning powe r of d rug
oafficking and realized mey could lose
th eir coun try to drug d eale rs un less
some ming was d one.

of th e
biggest d rug d eale rs who eve r lived,
J ose Gasse r and Alfre d o "Cu tuchi "
Gutien·ez. They were an ested leaving
a Mia mi bank wi th the mo ney. T his
was a first not o nly for DEA but for all
law e n fo rce m e nt. H a d we been
allowed to le t me buy go th rough, we
could've been part of tl1e Corporation.
We cou ld 've just gobbled d1e m up, the
who le war o n cocaine wou ld 've been
over befo re it began. Instead , wha t
happe ned was the government cut the
whole operation sho rt, made us do a
buy-bust instead of a buy. I still felt we
had done well. The re was en ough evid ence to indict half me Suarez organiza ti on and h alf the Bolivia n governme nt th a t h e' d bo ug h t o ff. Th e
whole drug world was wa tching this
case. DEA had given tl1e U.S. war o n
Whe n it bega n to look as if o ur d r ugs a respectability it wou ld never
sting operation was going to be wild ly again achieve. The arrest made worldsu ccessful , o ur wh o le gove rnm e n t wide news. It was called the greatest
turn ed o n us. Our fake Mafia fa mily sting opera tio n in law e nfo rce me n t
was given a low-rent, d1ree room bun- h istory. T h ey based a lo t o f the AI
galow to use as a Mafia mansion ; we Pacino movie Scarface o n this case.
we r e g ive n one b ea t-up o ld g r ee n O n ce again, I got swept away with my
Lincoln that had been seized and d id- own press clipp ings. While the undern ' t have p ro p e r registra ti o n as o ur cover team was basking in th e limewh o le Mafi a fl eet; o u r und e r cover lig ht, th e case was qui etly b ei n g
pi lo ts we r e g ive n a p la n e so ina d- d eso·oyed by our own governme nt.
j ose Gasser, one of the wealmiest
equate that Sua rez's people we re taking b e ts it wo u ld n ever get off the men in Bolivia, whose family ran th e
g round with a load of drugs. I could governme nt from be h ind th e scen es
go o n for an ho ur with all d1e shit d1at for d ecad es, was allowed to go free by
was pulled to screw us up. It's all in Assistan t U nite d States At to rn ey
my book, and d1e governme nt h as not Michael Sullivan , me man who, ironiden ied a thing. They can't. They j ust cally, would late r prosecute tl1a t other
pretend I never wrote it.
CIA asset, Manuel Noriega. Sullivan is
So, a lo n g with thi s gro up of still the chief of the criminal division
undercover agents, I decided to make of the Miami U.S. Attorney's office.
this case in spi te of the DEA suits. In All cha rges aga in st Gasse r we r e
fact, th at becam e o u r rallying c ry: d ropped. I couldn 't believe it. The
"Let's make this case in spi te of DEA." g uy is busted walking o ut o f a bank
And we d id . Wh ile my unde rcove r wi th nin e mi lli o n d o llars in dru g
p ilots picked up d1e th en biggest load mo n ey a nd th e c hief assista nt U .S.
of drugs in hist01y, about 900 pounds Attorney dro ps all ch a rges! H is coof cocaine, directly from Suarez in the de fe n da n t wh e n h e was a r res te d ,

PRISON LIFE 4 7

Gutierrez, said he was wi lling to make
a full state ment and testify aga inst
Gasser, and the United States Attorney
didn't even put the case before a
grand jUI)'- Mysteriously, no one ever
took the state ment from Gutier rez.
None of this was reported by the press.
Three months later, Judge Alcee
Hastings lowered Gutierrez's bail to $1
million. Gutierrez put the money up
in cash and walked out of jail. I was
making frant ic phon e call s from
Buenos Aires and I couldn 't even get
DEA in Miami to follow him. Within
hours, Gutierrez got on a private p lane
and left the cou ntry. It was the biggest
cocaine seizure in U.S. h istory and no
one was left in jail and no one in the
media covered the sto•y Actually, the
only member of the media who wrote
that some thing strange was going o n
was High Times magazine. In any case,
the fi rst thing Gasser did when h e got
back to Bolivia was publish a full-page
re plica of h is unconditional release
from U.S. custody. DEA and the U.S.
war o n d r ugs became th e laugh ing
stock of the South American dru g
world. It h as never recovered.
I started to complain wi th cables
and phon e ca lls to DEA, to th e
Departmen t of Justice, to State. I was
outraged. At the same time, I learned
t hat th e very people I had arrested
we r e p la nning to overthrow t h e
Bolivian governmen t, wh ich had been
helpfu l to DEA. I was informed by
Argentinean secret police, who were
noth ing but mass murde rers on the
payroll of both DEA a nd CIA, th at
they had p eople in Bolivia aiding the
drug dea lers and their neo-Nazi security force in fomenting the revolution,
and that they were all working for the
CIA. The CIA was helping the biggest
drug d eale rs in the wor ld take over
Bolivia. How could th is be? I investigated the Gasser fam ily and learned
that they were tied to the World AntiCom~un is t League since the early
'60s a nd we re we ll es tab lished CIA
assets. I thought I was losing my
mind. To keep myself from going
c r azy I began keep in g notes and
reco rding co nversations th at would
eventually become the book, The Big
White Lie. T h e evidence was indisputable. Yet back then, living through
it, I couldn 't believe what was happening. It was li ke I was living out "Seven
Days of the Condor" or some thing.
Then the revolution acn1ally happened. I warned DEA about it, but no
one gave a shit. Once th e revolution
took place, t he very peo p le i n the
Bolivian governm e nt who helped us
were tortured, killed and exiled from
48

PRISON LIFE

their own coun try. It was the bloodiest
revolution in Bolivia's history. To this
day th ey call it "The Cocaine Coup."
It was the first tim e in history that a
governme nt was taken over by drug
u-affickers, only what the press wasn 't
telling the world was that the trafficke rs had been released from a U.S. j ail
by th e CIA. It was the beginni ng of
what became the Co•-poration. Within
months Bol ivia wo u ld be exceeding
th e world's demand for cocaine. It
was th e begin ning of the cocaine and
later the crack e pide mi c. It was th e
e nd of the U.S. war on drugs.
I continued complaining to a nyo n e wh o would liste n , only n o o n e
wanted to h ear wh at I had to say. I
toyed with th e idea of beco ming a
whistl e blower, but I'd already had
some experience with what phon ies a
lot of our political leaders a re. Whe n
they use the word loyalty, they a rc not
talking a bout loyalty to the American
people. They mean loyalty to a political party. The American people, in
the can o r out, are the last thing in th e
world these guys care about.

"The CIA
is America's
prima_ry
suppl~er

o~~
L cocatne. ''
Around this tim e, Newsweek published an a rticl e about the Cocain e
Coup and the cocaine-dealing governme nt of Bolivia, which had b y n ow
broke n down into se pa rate branches
of government. The whole Bo livia n
gove rnm ent was now in the cocaine
business, thanks to the CIA. In the
article they named as the heads of the
Bolivian drug-dea ling factions J ose
Gasser a nd Alfredo G uti errez, th e
same guys I paid nine million bucks to,
and a woman, who became an important part of my book, Sonia Ata la,
kn own as th e Quee n of Cocaine. I
didn 't know it then, but I would end
up living with Sonia in a deep cover
assig nm e nt called Operation Hun.
Sonia, by the way, was Pablo Escobar's
first sou rce of cocain e base. If you
read The Big White Lie you realize that
Sonia and o ther key members of the
drug-dealing Bo livian govern m e nt
were C IA asse ts, whi c h makes the
prime source of Escobar's cocaine the

CIA. The CIA is therefore America's
primary supplie r of cocaine. You can
imagine that for me, as an undercover
DEA agent putting my life on the line
to figh t the drug \var, this real ization
came as a terrible blow.

Why do they do it? Why does CIA aid
and abet certain international drug kingpins while men like yon are sent out at considerable fJersonal risk and huge expense to
U.S. ta:~tpayers to fight a war that in fact
our government does not want lo win?
If they were forced to answer that
qu es tion t hey wo u ld probably say
somethin g
like,
"To
defea t
Comm uni sm. " But the truth is
they've never even been fo rced, publicly, to admit what they are doing. In
my opinion, and the opinion of a lot
of o ther people in law e n forcement, a
good many of these guys are just cashing in, like the one guy they recently
caught, Al dri ch Aimes, th e g uy wh o
was spying for tl1e Russians. They docum en ted on ly a half million bucks
paid to Aimes from the Russians, yet
tl1ey found that he had spen t around
two-and-a-half million. Where do you
think t h e rest o f th e m o n ey came
from? The man was also the head of a
CIA narcotics uniL Believe me, the
government does not want to talk
a bout that because it would be li ke
lifting up a rock and exposing a whole
slew of worms like Aldrich. The point
is, our in te lligence age nci es don ' t
answer to a nyone, a nd when they're
caught th ey h ide behind National
Security, or they just fla t out lie. They
lie to Congress, they lie in court, they
even lie on "Larry King Live."
When The Big While Lie was publ ish ed in O ctobe r of '93, I was o n
"Good Morning America," a nd I leveled all my charges. "Good Morning
America" was the on ly national television show that would put me on the air
with The Big White Lie. A day later,
Adm iral Stansfield Tu rne r , who was
h ead of CIA during t h e Bolivian
cocaine revol u tion, appeared on
"Good Morning America," wh ich \vas
very un like the CIA. He said he was
the re to "put th e lie to th e boo k. "
Almost every conversation in that book
was tape-recorded, so there is no way
h e could contradict a word of what I
wrote. He in fact admitted tl1at he had
n eve r read m y book. H e said th at
wh e n h e was th e head of Ce ntra l
In tellige n ce, he co u ldn't even get
them inte rested in working drug investigations, which is a perfect example of
how incredibly inept and n aive botl1 he
and President Carter were in their han-

dling and unde rstanding of CIA. Of U.S., but th e re may h ave been much
course he couldn' t get them interested more than that one ton smuggled into
in working drug cases-they'd have to our country by the CIA.
investigate themselves. They were supporting the biggest drug dealers on the
The transcripts you mentioned; which
face of the earth, from the Mujihedeen Tecord the secret testimony of Ramon Milian
in Afghanistan and the Co ntras and Rod1iguez before a closed session of SenatoT
the drug-dealing Bolivian government j ohn Keny 's Senaie Subcommittee on
to the drug-dealing tribes of Southeast Te1Torism and NaTcotics, make it clear that a
Asia. None of these CIA people will sit good many public officials !mow the truth of
face to face with me on these open talk the drug waT yet they continue to lie to the
shows, no one will attack my books on American public, both fo1· political1·easons
a factual basis. They'll never say Levine and because of the huge amounts of money
said this and it's no t true. They'll just involved in the inwnational naTcotics tmde.
give this blanket statement tha t it never
Of course they know. How else do
h appened a nd th e media accepts it
without question. Every show I've ever yo u ex pla in h ow a U nited Sta tes
appeared on has offered the
government an o pportunity
to appear with me- l encourag ed it-but th ey r efu se
because they have too much
to hide, and I'm on e of those
who knows where all the bodies are buried.
Three
wee ks afte r
Stansfield Turne r made his
sta te m e n t, th e CIA was
ca ug ht smuggling a to n of
cocaine into the U.S . from
Caracas, Ve n ezu el a. Th e
story was on "60 Minutes" and
on the front page of The New
York Times, and if you blinked
you missed it beca use th e
media dropped it like a h ot
p o tato. I was doing a radio
show in Ca liforni a a t th e
time, the "Mic h ae l J ackso n
Show," a nd I said , "What do
;·ou say now, Admiral Turner?
L .. t.'s ta lk a bout this."
Mici. '\elJackson, to his credit,
tried t<. 15et Turner on the air
but he of course refused.
The next thing that happened, J a mes Woolsey, th e
n ew h ead of Ce ntral
Intellige n ce, wh o is nothing
more than a defen se attorney
for the CIA, went on damage
control media a ppeara n ces
a round the country. O f
course, every na tional sh ow gave him Sen ator, J ohn Kerry, could say th ings
an op en mike with no h ard questions, like, "Our covert agen cies have convertth e kind of questions a disillusio n ed ed themselves to cha nnels for d rugs,"
DEA agen t could ask, an d the re are and 'They have perverted our system of
many of us. H e a ppeared on "Larry j ustice," which is wh at Kerry said after
King Live," looked into th e cam era heruing witnesses like Milian Rodriguez
and lied to several million Americans. lay out the evidence of CIA complicity
H e said tha t th e cocaine- and there in the illegal drug business. Yet none
was over a ton-never hit the su·eet. of these CIA-san ction ed drug d ealers
H e said that it was a n in te llige n ce- go to j ail. Isn't what Kerry describing
gathering operation gone awry. Total, treason? How can he make a statement
absolute lies. I checked with my own like that and not indict anyone?"
sources, and found tha t not only did
"You mean, lihe Oliver NoTth ?"
CIA h elp run a to n of coke into the

Look, in the Iran-contra report of
an investigatio n , p aid for by te ns of
millions of dollars of taxpayer money,
o ur co ng ress wro te: "All those who
sough t lenie n cy for Ge n e ral BuesoRosa, a drug-smuggling murde rer, and
all those who looked the o ther way a t
Man u a l Noriega's drug d ealing are
responsible for what is happening o n
the streets of America today." If you
read the repor t you know that they are
referrin g to n o n e o ther t han O llie
North, Presidents Bush a nd Reagan
a nd th e CIA, yet they wouldn ' t nam e
them, nor would they move to indict a
single governmen t official for conspiracy to put drugs on our streets.
Co n spiracy is a n easy
charge to prove. I've d o ne it
hund reds of times. And I'll
be t th ere are a lot of p eople
reading this magaz ine wh o
kn ow from first-h and experien ce j ust h ow easy it is to get
co nvicted of drug conspiracy. All you've got to prove is
kn owle d ge, a n agr eem e nt
a nd
an
ove rt
act.
Unfo rtun a tely, our elected
offi cia ls don ' t h ave th e
courage to protect us. This
cu rren t cr op of leade rs will
go d own in histo r y as th e
e pi to me of crim in ali ty a nd
cowardice in governmen t.
It's been p roven: North
h ad a n inte r es t in a Swiss
bank accoun t that was worth
several million d o llars. H e
bo ught a car with $ 15,000
cash th at h e told Congress
was part of a slush fund h e
h ad hi d d e n in his cl ose t,
accumulated from th rowing
ch a nge in ther e, alon g with
a n o ld accide nt se ttle me nt.
Since when are accident se ttleme n ts paid in cash ? Ask
a ny of your read e rs be h ind
bars wh at wou ld h ave happe n e d if t h ey tried to te ll
DEA t h a t b ullshit. But
Nor th go t away with it. H e
h ad 543 pages in h is personal d iaries
with notation s in his own handwriting
about dru gs, includ ing state m e nts
like, "Aircraft need ed to pick up 1500
kilos." O n one page h e had the n otation: "$14 million to fin a n ce came
from drugs." And tha t was afte r h e
h ad b lacked ou t most of th e stateme nts he th o ught we re incriminating. He refused to tell Congress what
was o n the pages h e h ad blacked out;
he took the Fifth. North was bann ed
fro m Costa Rica by Oscar Arias, the
(continued on page 87)

PRISON LIFE 49

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Prison Fiction
Wilson and Jane went a t
was almost asleep when
it for a few more nights and
I h ea rd th e keys turn
the n stopped. I don't know
th e bo lt n ext do or.
why, maybe they got spookHi g hl y u nu su a l: Unless
ed, tired or their thing just
someone is dying a nd they
by
fizzled. There weren' t any
can get th e guard 's a tte nrum o rs on th e unit. I
tio n, th e cells a re locked
hoped it was all over. But a
an d s ta y locked for t h e
wee k later on my way to
night, period.
work in Mechanical
Wilson was on d u ty. I
hea rd his vo ice, smoo th
Services, I saw Jane at the
office rs' station lea ning
and e nti cing. "Okay baby,
across th e desk laughing
there 's n o way o ut,
with Wilson. He put his
nowhere to go. I'm gonna
h a nd on top of h ers in
fuck you rig ht now. "
one sexy move. Kei sh a
"Wha t if I don't want
(my best friend h ere)
yo u to? " J a ne , my nex t
wa lked by and saw it. As
d oor neig hbor, said.
"You know you want
soon as Wilson saw Keisha,
it , I know yo u wa nt i t.
h e pulled his h and away,
You' ve b ee n wavin' that
and J ane straightened up
ass in m y face for too
and walked out the door.
lo n g. I h ea rd yo u li ke it
On the line at lunch,
Kei sh a a nd Maria were
black. I'm ready. "
"You have to come and
talking. I picked up a tray
get it the n." Even through
a nd in ched up behind
th e m. "For sure, I hate
th e wall I could hear he r
voice getting husky.
that shit," Keish a was say"No prob le m. " His
ing. ''Wilson is fine and he
tone thicken ed with desire.
don 't need to be with no
white broad."
J a n e was a stran ge
one. She threw herself at
"Fuck her, she's crazy.
Th at's wh y sh e screams
a ny man wh o walked in
the door, but night after
every night," Maria said.
night woke up screaming
We got our beige-colfrom so me inte rn al te ro re d slop and moved to
ror. Ain 't this a bitch , I
the tables. Maria looked at
thoug ht. I did n ot want to
me. "Lee, I know you can
hear her fucking Wilson.
hear them every night, too.
I did n ot wa nt to b e
I get hot just listening."
th e re . Som e b o dy would
''What are you talking
peep it a nd the fall-out would be h eavy.
a bout?" I h op ed I sounded casual.
I closed my mind and drifted. After you do time fo r a
"Yeah right," Keisha shot me a look. "I remember how
while, you learn how to build your own wall. You learn to you can ' t h ear. When Sally Barnes lived next to you and
show nothing and hear nothing . After eight year s locked had that seizure, you ba nged a nd yelled 'cause you h eard,
up I can shu t almost anyth ing out.
eve n thoug h Maria sle pt through it. Re me mber, what's
Whe n Wilso n came back at 6:00 a. m. to unlock the he r name, Miss, uh, Havers? She came a half hour later
doors, it was business as usual. As eve ryone went to work, and Sally was blue 'cause she'd swallowed he r tongue, and
Jane passed me on th e tier a nd nodded he r n o rmal hello. you we re screaming at her: 'Where's the med team?' "
We were n 't frie nds, but once in a while we' d ru n th e track
Yeah, I remembered. Have rs had freaked out and le t
toge the r. She looked cool, mo re dressed tha n usual, with me o ut of my cell- very irregular-because sh e kn ew I
more make-up, a nd she'd rolled he r hair. I had a bad feel- could get Sally breathing. Then she'd turned around and
ing about th is.
locked me in the hole for being out of my cell after lockT h e nig ht came again a nd we locked down. ).lot one d own just to cover h er simple-assed self. The woman had
h o ur la te r I heard it h appe ning again: Wi lson opening n o gu ts whatsoever.
J a ne's door. I heard them la ug hing, then moaning. If I
Thankfully, we couldn' t find an e mpty table, so we
could h ear, so could Maria o n th e othe r side. I though t couldn ' t fini sh the conversation. We had the "we hate
about bang ing o n the wall to le t the m knO\v they were prison food talk" instead.
bei ng heard. I wanted to yell a t them: "Don't put me in
your shit!" But I didn't.
Every time I put on my kha kis I think about my o ld
life , my free life wh en I'd put o n my whites, my nurse's

I

LEE'S TIME
Susan Rosenberg

52 PRISON LIFE

uniform. It's always a passing thought, a second of lo nging. Then I do my c run c h es to get my blood flowing
before I leave th e cell.
I walked out a nd ran into the unit manager, Mr.
Jaso n. H e's o ne sick guy. No decision is made with out his
personal approval. He's king h e re and we're his "girls."
Behi nd our backs, he calls us his "bitches." Wh enever a
guard cops a feel on me doing a pat search I think, "Mr.
J aso n , one day t h ere wi ll be d ivine justice." Calling us
bitc hes g ives the guards a green light to treat us li ke dogs.
J effrey J ason , Bureau of Prisons, hack supreme: Mr. white
suit, brown shirt, Brut-smelling, "family va lues man." I
hate him and usually I stay out of his way.
But this morning he stopped right in front of my cell.
"Lee McMann , this your room ?"
"I live in this cell, yes."
"Get to work."
I did, but I looked back and saw thatjason was in my
cell. At lunch I went back to see what was missing or if he'd
found my petty contraband (cinnamon and oregano from
the kitch e n, a li ttle Come t for my si~k) but everytl1ing was
exactly as I'd left it. The man had looked bt.it not touched.
Something had been viola ted, but I didn 't know wha t.
I started back to work but bumped into Maria on the
tier. "Los puercos were in my cell
this morning," she said. 'T he vent
betwee n mine and J ane's was
moved. That's the only tl1ing they
touch ed. Big Daddy J ason was in
yours too. "
"Yeah , I hate that man." I wasn't go ing to talk to Maria about
this. She talked a good line against
the cops, but she was a government witness in h er own case. As
far as I was concern ed, tha t meant
she was a snitch .
Maria pushed it. "Do yo u
think it's about Wilson ? H ow
could they know so fast?"
I shrugged. Maybe 'cause you 'd told them, I tl10ught.
It was closing in on me, and I started to get mad. Fuck all
this. Fuck Jane a nd h e r lying ass. Fuck the lie u tenants.
Fuck Wilson.
Well, maybe not Wilson. He'd always been alright with
me, and everyon e e lse too. Once, when my co-worke r
Cakes' mom had a bad h eart attack, he'd called the hospital a nd let her talk with he r brotller. Anotl1er time he'd
fo und two women in bed so h e just counted them right
there and never said a word. H e was a human being firstand tllat can be dangerous for a cop.
When I got to Mechanical Services, my boss was at
lunch, as usual. All the work orders were filled, the tools
locked up and there was nothing · to do. Keisha, Lou ise
and Cakes were sitting around having a loud argument.
"I don't care," Louise was ye lling-very unusual for
her. "All these me n walking around, patting us down, walking in tile cells whe n we're on th e toilet, pawing through
our clothes. I hate it. I hate a ll of them. Talking to us a ny
way tl1ey want, calling us b itches a nd whores. I be lieve he r. "
"You're one stupid, blind white girl. You just saying
that 'cause he's black a nd she's whi te." Cakes h eaved herself up from tile ch air and glowered . The swea t on her
dark skin g listened and h er temper was about to blow.
"Lee can te ll us. Righ t Lee?" Keisha looked me straigh t
in the eyes a nd sm iled. "We a ll know you're a space casebut only when you wannabe, right? Cakes heard that jane

said Wilson raped he r. How a bout it? Yes? No? Is tl1 e white
girls' club gonna put on their robes, or what?"
I shot back: "I don't know what the KKK's gonna do.
The white girl club can tar and featl1er themselves to death."
Cakes was frow ning, co n centrating h a rd on a spot
over Louise's head, trying not to let her fury run wild.
Ke isha wasn't smiling, but the smirk was still in her eyes.
Louise was almost crying. She had pulled her knees up to
he r chin and slid down in her chair, looking even thinne r
than usual. I looked at her and said, "Stop cryi ng. He didn ' t rape you, d id he? H e d idn't fuck you, rig h t?"
"No. But these men around here make me think of
J erry. He beat me up every time it rained. He said I was his
and th ere was nothing I could do about it. When I got
arrested, th e first thing I thought was 'J erry can ' t do me
no more,' and I was happy."
"Ain't that so me sh it," Cakes said. "You gotta go to
prison to get away from your o ld man. I wouldn't take that
from any man. Al l you whi te gi rls are the same. Eitl1er you
take it from your me n , or you take ours."
J ackson walked in and everyone sh u t up.
'Wha t's going on g irls?"
" othing," everyone said almost at once.
"Th ere's a special count. Everyone go back to your
quarters. Come back a t 2 p.m."
I was re lieved. I wanted to ta lk to
Keisha. If there's anyone I can talk to, it's
Keisha. She reminds me of Tina, a woman
I went to nursing sch ool with who was
always te lling me to touch my pa tients.
T ina said I'd never be a real n urse if I was
afraid to touch, roll up my sleeves and
d ive in to their illnesses. One day in the
emergency room a black woman who had
overdosed was brought in. She had open
wounds all over her arms and was lying in
her own vomi t. We had to clear tl1e vom it
from he r throat, then pack her in ice and
clean her so res. I h esitated and T ina
caught it. The shame burned as I turned
red. It wasn't the vomit or tl1e sores that made me hesitate.
It was because she was black. I'd never touched a nyo ne
black. T ina never said anything about it, but she knew. After
that I thought a lot about how fucked up I was, how I was a
racist and didn 't even know it.
Whe n I met Ke isha, she asked me why I wasn't in the
white girls' club. At first I would only say I didn 't want to be
in any club, that I was a loner. But later I told her this story.
She said at least I'd realized it. Most people would have let
someon e else u·eat tile woman. I li ked Keisha for saying
that. But after that she told me about her life, and how
white peop le didn 't know how racist they were, or they
knew it and enjoyed it. She told me about her father trying
to organize tl1e Uni ted Auto Workers union in Detroit, and
h ow the whi tes firebombed h e r h o use. Kei sha is reall y
pro ud sh e's black. She is BLACK, almost blue-black.
She call ed us "the odd team," and we hung out
because we worked togeth er. We d idn' t need to talk all
the time. We were comfortable with each other on some
level I can ' t explain . It's just one of those friend ships tl1at
happen in prison an d wouldn 't happen a nywhe re else. ·
We walked across the compound, past the rec field. Even
though it was windy and the leaves were blowing, we walked
slowly, because once we got inside it would be harder to talk.
"You know yo u ' re go ing to be ca lled by t h e lieutenan t," Keisha said. "Security is going to d eal with this
one. Jan e said he raped her and she's gonna go for it. The

"If you say it

wasn't rap_e,
you'll be called
a cop lover
and a snitch. "

PRISON LIFE 53

"Since when do you talk to Bonnie so much, Louise?"
white girls' club has already started talking. They're talking to all the white girls who will liste n. They' re saying it's Keisha asked.
Louise stutte red, surprised by Keisha's ch allenge. "I,
cop violen ce."
uh, that's not it. It's just that I believe J an e, and besides,
"Why me, damn it? I neve r talk to the po lice."
"Lee, don ' t be a j erk. You live next door to her. You he's a cop and it's he r wo rd against his. And we never win
unl ess we stick together."
and Maria are part of their investigation for sure."
"Well, I don ' t th ink h e ra ped her," Keisha said. "I
"I ha te this shi t. All I want to do is my time and get on ."
think th ey were lovers. She was into him. I want to know
"What will you te ll the m?"
why she's doing this. First sh e fucks him, then yells rape.
"It's none of your business what I tell the m. "
"Yes it is. If you te ll them you don ' t know anything, Just 'cause she says it, don 't ma ke it so."
I wanted to know why she was doing it too. I also wantt.hey' ll put you in the hole until it's over, and I'll h ave to
send you stuff. If you tell the m he raped her, then you 'll be ed to jump out of my skin and run.
Cakes walked in. 'They just took Maria in h andcuffs to
the white girl of the month. If you say it wasn ' t rape, then
you'll be called a cop lover and a snitch. Any way you do it th e Captain's office," she a nnoun ced. "Four of them.
I'll have to decide where I stand with you. It is my business." ' Come with us,' they said. They didn't eve n wait 'til sh e
"But it's not. my b usiness. I don't care a bout Jane or was outside to put the 'cuffs on he r."
When I got back to the unit, jane was gone and Ma1ia was
Wi lson. They don ' t care about me. They didn ' t give a shit
sitting on her bunk, staJing at the wall. I knocked and went in.
a bout me when they did it in h e r cell."
"It may not be your fault, but now you're in it. So now She didn't look good. She'd been crying and her wrists were
swollen from the 'cuffs. I asked her if she was okay.
you have a proble m. "
A long line of Spanish curses cam e out: pendejo this,
The door to the unit was open and people we re filing
in. Half the unit was standing on th e tiers or in the lobby. jJendejo tha t. "That was worse than all my talks with the
The count h adn't bee n called yet. On the top tier there U .S. Attorney, that cabron. They were screaming a t me and
were two lieuten ants a nd two other me n in sports clothes threatening me. They said I could get a new case for pe rstanding at th e rail, taking pic tures of cells -Jane's, jut)', and no matter what, I'd go to a gra nd jut)'. I don't
Maria's, mine. Everyone was wa tching. I cursed Jane over even know where the grand jUt)' is. Chingada. They made
and ove r.
At 5:00 the next morning I h eard officers
outside o f th e door opening j a ne 's cell ,
telling he r to get dressed . They took her out
of the unit. The investigation had begun.
I wa nted time to think, but I had to go to
work. On my way, I saw Louise talking to
Bonnie, this stone-cold racist. Sh e a nd he r
husband had bee n part of some racist gang
in Ida h o that went o n a terror rampage
against Vietna mese immigra nts. Now she 's
"born again " a nd leads a n a ll-white se lfestee m group. Seeing he r with Louise gave
me the chills; I realized that Bo nnie was IJ)'ing to find out what I was going to do about
Jane a nd Wilson. I was going to have to start
watching my back if this was gonna be a ga ng
thing . It cou ld ge t physical and so meone lllustrntion by Tom Cocotos
could get cut up.
me take a lie de tector test. I kept asking to call my lawyer
I got to Mec hanical Services - out of the air, into the and they said, "Fuck your lawyer!" They said I'd go to segdun geon . Work was in an over-heated, dark basem e nt regation and do the rest of my time the re. Six of 'em ke pt
office whe re I spent my days jockeying for a seat on the saying, 'He raped her. ' They said it over a nd over."
best of the torn-up, u·ashed chairs we collected from the
"Who was there?" I asked.
garbage to furnish ou r office. One of our jobs is to pick
"I don ' t know- some lie utenants, that pendejo Jason,
up broke n furniture and equipment, but since there's no the Captain, and two other guys who said they were from
place to store it, and it takes months to get anything fixed, Washington, some agency I never heard of. They we re the
most of it sits in the basement ha ll rotting.
ones with the lie de tector. Shit man, I didn't do anyth ing."
Ke isha was going tho ugh work orders and pulling out She was breathing hard.
the parts we'd need for each o ne. Louise came in right
"H ow long were you in the re?"
after m e a nd wa lked to the d esk in th e midd le o f th e
'Three ho urs."
roo m , looking more strung out th a n u su al. I always
My h eart dropped. Before I could stop myself I said,
thought a ll tha t whacking a round a nd beating had made "You we re in th e re all that time? What did you say to
he r dull . She was so skinny and she looked like she was the m? I mean, that's a long time."
scared to put food in her mouth.
Maria cut her eyes at me and froze . Just that fast, I had
Louise's j aw popped. "Everyone 's saying that Wilson stopped being someone to comfort h e r, someon e she
did it. J ane is really afraid the guards are gonna se t her could confide in . Now I was a n immediate threat. I 'd
up. Unless we suppo rl h er, she may have to go into pro- b lown it before I could find out anything she'd said.
tective custo dy. This woman in a state prison had th e same
Spe nding three hours with the police meant she'd to ld
thing happen to her. She got pushed off a tie r and broke the m lots of th ings. I n·ied to save the conversation by askhe r back. Now she's paralyzed. I mean, a guard raped her ing if my na me had come up, but o the r than tell me that
a nd tried to kill he r."
they'd called her because she lived next door, Maria had

54 PRISON LIFE

had nothing else to say. She stood up, wanting me to leave.
I went to my cell. Since my cell will never be my home
or "house," as the police like to call it, I don't keep a lot of
things. But I do have a big, knitted blanket wh ich I
crawled under, trying to get warm and calm down so I
could think. I was waiting for the police to call me in for
interrogation. I wasn't going to say one word, but I knew
they'd physically keep me there and threaten me with new
charges and more time.
From what Maria had said, I knew there was an outside investigation. It wasn't just the prison. Unlike all the
other investigations I'd seen or heard about, this tim e
they were going after th e officer, not the prisoner. A few
years ago, t hi s other offi cer h ad b ee n fucking eve ry
woman he could. Everyone knew it. He and a woman prisoner got busted in the shower by the night orde rly. When
the admin istration fo u nd out about it, the officer got
transferred. A few months late r we heard he'd gotten a
promotion. Al l the women involved went to the hole for
months. The difference: He was wh ite.
An hour later, they called dinner. "Chow line. Last
call." There was a rap on my door an d Keisha barged in.
She stood over me, her arms crossed and her braid all
messy. She wasn't her usual collected self. " o rest for the
weary. GET UP!" sh e said. "I waited at d inn e r but I
should've known you wou ldn't show. We have work to do.

You can 't lie he re like a vegetable. The who le compound
is freaking o u t. Maria's wrists are black a nd blue an d she's
in the cafeteria crying. There are four extra cops on d uty
and the li eute n a nts a r e running around li ke th e re' s
go nn a be a riot, a nd you ' re takin ' a goddamned na p."
Ke isha was barely controlli ng her voice.
"T ough sh it," I said. ''I'm thinking. "
"You're not th inki ng," Keisha said, he r voice getting
loud. ''You're cataton ic. You can' t zon e out now."
"I'm tryi ng to figure it out, okay? So leave it." I could
get lo ud too, if I wanted.
" 1 o, I won't," she said.
"It's none of yo ur damn business. You're th e o n e
alway telling me to stay away from the crap."
"Liste n here, and liste n good. This isn't the same.
One, thi is a bout to become a lyn ching of o n e more
black man and two, you 've been my friend and you're in
it. So, it's a di fferent case. Get it?" Keisha went on. "I kn ow
we always say you gotta do what you gotta do, bu t sometimes that just d on' t work. This is about race. A lynching.
They' re go nna take th e word of that cracker J a n e and
screw Wi lson to th e 1vall. Don't you know that any time a
wh ite girl says "rape by a black man ," the mob runs for the

rope?"
"But he's a cop, Keisha." My voice was catching.
''Yeah, he's a cop with a dick for brains. But he didn't
rape her, did he?"
No h e didn't, I thought. It got real silent.
Then I said: "Look, I n ever told you about my case,
and I don't really want to now, 'cause I don't like to think
about it. But I murdered this old guy. I pulled the plug on
his life support because he begged me to. I did it because
h e was suffering and he couldn 't stand it and I couldn't
stand it either. He probably would've died in a couple of
weeks, I don't know. But I'm the one who ended his life.
As soon as the monitors went flat and I plugged th em back
in, I knew I was in deep shit. The heart machine alarm
started buzzing, and I thought I'd go to prison for th is. But
I didn't. I lost my job and my licen.se instead. The hospital
didn't want a scandal. And then I started selling drugs,
which got me busted. But I'm still glad the old guy didn't
have to keep suffering. So, I just get by in he re. I just want
to live through it and see the free light of day again. That's
it. I' m afraid of more time, of a new case, of having to get
into some shit that isn't mine. I'm in my own shit and I've
fucked up my life and can barely man ge that. You know I
leave everyon e alone, don't bother a nyone, don't talk to
the cops. I just do my time."
Keish a sat down on the bed and put he r arms around
me because sometime during that stream
of words I'd started to cry.
"It's cool Lee, it's o kay. You' re okay.
What I'm trying to say is that I can't le t it go
down again. Every second of every day th e
sh it I have to eat because I'm black ...
sometimes I just feel like choking someone.
To me th is who le thing is a b lack/ white
thing. And 'cause I know you see it, even if
you do n't feel it, I thought you'd u n derstand." He r braid had come undone and
she h ad tears in the corners of her eyes. We
sat there a while. Then she got up and said,
"I'll see you later, okay?" She walked o ut
before I could say anything.
I cried until I couldn't breathe and my
chest hurt. Then something cracked. I felt
light. I could catch my breath. A really deep
breath. I h adn' t breathed that deep in years. I laid there
feeling calm, looking at the early evening ligh t coming in to
my cell. Keisha was right; I couldn't ride this one out. I wasn't going to be part of a lynch mob. I was gonna tell the
truth in this whole thing, and it wasn't gonna win me any
brownie points with anyone. When they called me for the
investigation I was gonna tell th em it wasn't rape. I was
gonna go for Wilson. Most of the time, it's al l so twisted and
sick but sometimes there's right a nd wrong, even in here.
Lucky for me they came before I lost my nerve. Four
guards hustled me out of the cell, cuffed my hands behind
my back and almost carried me out of the unit. But I was
ready. I was even sort of looking forward to it.
Segregation. The hole. There was very little light and
the air was dank. The walls oozed. It had become cold outside, and the water pipes upstairs froze, then exploded, and
whe n I put my hand to the wall it came away wet. I was u-ying to read the time away, holding my book open towards
the light that came through the food slot in the door. After
they'd brought in the fifth Harlequin Romance, I'd thrown
(continued on jJage 78)

PRISON LIFE 55

56

PRISON LIFE

Art by Rob Sula

by

Michael Wayne Bunter

. "Chrysler!"
The strange word
rocked me awake at 2
a.m., my reeling, sleepdrunk mind mistaking
"Chrysler" for "Christ." I
cursed at what I imagined was another Jesus
freak hiding behind the
Bible to excuse every
wicked whim that led
him again and again to
San Quentin Prison.
"Chrysler Newport '611" the Catj bellowed again at
108 plus decibels, his voice booming about the condemned housing unit, hammering into my head, rocking
through my ear canals before crashing to a fishtailing stop
deep inside my skull.
"That's a damn car," I chuckled. I was amused by this
strange change from the usual Cat j nuttiness that
abounds in the dungeon I call home.
My housing unit at San Quentin holds about 500 men,
the majority of them on Death Row. An exception is the
Cat (Category) J prisoner who is housed on the first couple of tiers. Catj's are the unbathed, unshaven aggressive
panhandlers who ramble about the world, talking and
babbling, mostly to themselves. They sleep under bridges
or on park benches and use the streets for toilets. Cat j's
pretty much wander aimlessly until they get into the face
of the wrong taxpayer, the one who runs screaming to the
boys in blue. The police snatch the Catjaying madmen off
the streets and pass them on to San Quentin's boys in
green to warehouse them for a while.
just as Catj's fail in the society outside the walls, they
fail in the general population inside the walls of San
Quentin. As you may have guessed, Catj's have severe psychiatric problems, so the prison stuffs them full of psychotropic drugs. The drugs aren't to help them with their
mental illness (San Quentin isn't about helping anyone
with anything), they're simply to dope them up, to cut
down on the erratic Cat j static. But the chemical solution

doesn't seem to be working too well this early mom
on Mr. Chrysler Newport '61.
Pulling my bod out of bed, I listen to the Catj beating his cell bars with something dense and heavy, perhaps his head, accompanied by this perfect rhythm with
his Chrysler chant.
Bouncing out from the cells around me are evil
threats directed at the madman deep in the throes of
a mental meltdown.
I call out softly: "Since you're all awake, get your
butts outta bed and work out with me." I laugh as my
neighbors assault my ears, but not my soul. I know
they're really angry with the Catj, not me.
Lacing on running shoes, I stretch out slowly and
then fold up towels, placing them on the floor to muffle the sound of my feet. Putting on my headphones, I leave
the Catj cawing behind, masked by the sound ofPearljam
rocking in my Walkman. The volume cranked to full, I'm
running in place to "Once," the first song on the first side of
'Ten."
Running in place in the morning takes me far away
from the craziness of just trying to survive another day on
Death Row. Racing to "Kamikaze," epinephrine fills my
adrenals, making me feel higher than any drug I ever took
on the outside. Pumping my body to the slamming tune of
"Even Flow," I find myself frequently going high to touch
my hands on the ceiling. The music keeps on pounding
away, beating into my ears, my brain, filling my soul.
Endorphins flow into my bloodstream, shutting out the
pain, no matter if it's physical, emotional, mental or spiritual. For just a little while on this glorious day, I feel FINE!
All too soon, "Release," the last song on the last side, is
gone and I reluctantly stop running and pull off my headphones. Glancing at my watch, I see it's a bit after 4 a.m.
and tinie for a coffee break. Taking in the caffeine, I listen
to another Catj starting his lunatic solo on th~ first tier.
"Help me, help mel I need my medication," the Cat J
calls to any damn fool like me who 'lllisten.
"What in the hell do ya want now?" growls a sleepy
guard, frustrated that the wild man's wailing is keeping
him from dozing at his post.
"I need my medication. I need help," the Cat j whimpers pathetically.
"The med tech will be by right after breakfast. jus'
hang 'til then," the guard responds not unkindly to the
Cat j's pleas.
"Not the tech!" the Catj cries out indignantly, his
voice laced with surprise at the guard's naivete. "I need a
·
cigarette."
The suckered guard turns the air about him blue with
curses, sounding for a moment on the edge of a Cat j
mental meltdown himself. But, in the end, he shoves a
cancer stick through the bars to pacify the madman, and
then there is SILENCE! Temporary for sure, but blessed
quiet all the same.
My coffee break over, it's time for push-ups. As I shove
my body up and down, I spy two guards with flashlights
walking down the tier counting bodies in the cells. I
shout, "Good morning!" Not that I give a damn about their
morning-frankly, I couldn't care less about their very exis-tence. I only say the words because one day, one or both of
the guards might be on a catwalk with an assault rifle pointed at my bod. A "good morning" now might be the difference between a warning shot as opposed to a bullet fired
unerringly i~to my skull. "DEAD DUE TO LACK OF

(continued on page 90)

PRISON Lin 57

AN
AMERICAN 'S
ACCOUNT OF
DOIN ' TIME
ACROSS THE
BORDER

by John Falkenrath

photos by Sandy
Huffaker, Jr.

58 PRISON LIFE

d on' t recomm end buying marijuana in Mexico. IL m ay be cheap, but
the re' s a su-ong possibility it'll cost
you more than mon ey. It did m e. You
see, if you get busted, the Federates got
you by th e balls, and th ese boys play
fo r keeps.
U nl ess yo u got t he funds, of
course. I' ve heard stories of b ribes in
the five- and six-figure range. If you can
pay off the cop who first busts you, do
it. Believe me, it' ll save you g rief and
substantial money in the long run.
I was walkin g down Revolu cfon,
Tijua na ' s main su·eet, wh e n a rookie
co p stoppe d and searc he d m e . Four
ounces o f m arijua n a we r e fou nd .
"Cooperate or I'll beat the shi t o ut of
you," his parmer said. So I cooperated,
aware of the reputation T ijuana cops
have. I was take n to th e loca l po lice
d e partment and boo ke d. Meanwhile,
my ho te l roo m was search ed and the

I

rest of my stash seized: 999.8 grams of
Acapulco Gold. T hen I was taken to the
Federate building and placed in a holding cell.
T he next few hours I spen t rapping
with a cou ple of Mexican p riso n ers,
o ne who was a "coyote," busted fo r running illegal alie ns across the border.
They asked me if I'd been tortured; l
hadn ' t. T hey said l was lucky and proceeded to tell me aboUL the chicham, an
e lectric cattle prod cops put o n your
teslicles while your fee L ar e placed in a
bucket of water. Another favm; te technique is tilting your head back, pouring
carbonated water u p your nose, placing
a plastic bag ove r yo ur head then
throwing a swift pun ch to you r swmach . When you inhale all you get is a
mouthful of plastic.
I was becom ing very uneasy.
One of these guys had been in La
Casa, and he told me that I"d most like-

ly end up there. He was righL
I' m a third-generatio n South e rn
Californian with a college degree, and
I've always considered myself a survivor.
Twelve years of living as a wharf rat and
co mm ercia l fisherm an in po rts fro m
Mexico to Canada made me streetwise,
but it n ever prepared me fo r th e 19
month s I spent a t La Casa. Streetwise or
no t, surviving a Mexican pen is hell.
When you arrive a t La Penitenciaria
de La Mesa, also known as L(£ Casa, yo ur
first stop is the office where papenvork
is done. Then it's off to the doctor for
an "examination ." Most li kely the doctor will sit around while a trusty tries to
rip you off in a cigarette sale - fou r
bucks for a pack of Marlbo ros. You ' ll
al so be watched to see h ow much
mo n ey yo u're carryi ng. The n yo u ' re
thrown temporarily into Las Tumbasth e Tombs. This is a prison wi thin the
prison and to be avoided at all costs. If
you've committed an offense that wa rrants a visit here, bribe the guard. Two
days before I arrived, a g uy hung himself there. He called his pa rents, to ld
them he loved them but couldn't take
two more months in Las Tu mbas.
T h e cells in Las Tumbas, like the
rest of the bu ilding, are d esigned for
seven men. T here are two, three-tiered
bunks and an auxiliary bunk, all made
of stee l. I spen t my fi rst five nig hts in

the nuevo cell in th e middle. As many
as 14 g uys were in that cell. T o avoid
fig hts a n d ge t some sleep, I'd crawl
un der th e bunks. The re's abo ut 18
inches of clearance a nd it's tig ht, but
nobody can stomp on your head or spi t
on you fro m above.
The filth in Las Tumbas is unbelievable. The water seldom works and the
toilets are always backed up. The smell
curls your toes. You 're given only a gallon of drinking water per cell each day.
You can ' t eve n wash the stenc h fro m
your mo uth.
The majority o f Las Tumbas' residents are malendres-former gang members who are strung out on drugs, usua lly chiva, or he ro in. They' ll do a nyth ing, even kill, for a fix . When you walk
down the cell block corridor, walk next
to the wall because if you' re too close to
a cell o f malendres, you ' II be g rabbed
and stripped of everything you have.
They ca ll the first three days grito.
During grito you 're fi ngerprinted , photograph ed a nd interviewed by social
workers. Yo u're give n a "psychological"
test to see if you're violent. During this
time you 'll see o ther Ame ricans. T ry to
learn as much from the m as you can.
Sometimes a cu p of coffee o r a cigarette can gain alot of informa tion. Ask
wh a t to ex p ec t in th e ya rd , wh o to
watch out fo r, how they handled what

you 're going through now.
This is a critical time to make contac t with you r family, friends and th e
American consulate. Ask the re presentative lots of questions because very little information is volunteered. Whe n
you contact your people on the o utside,
te ll th em you need money fast. H ave
the m set up a trust fund with the consulate. It costs $15 but it's worth il. It's a
pain in th e bu tt when you need your
money, but they' ll have it on account. A
coupl e hundred do llars can make a
huge difference.
How you handle your money is your
business, but I have a few suggestions
that could save your ass. You ' re gonna
need $4·0 to buy your way out of telaclw
- work. Make sure you pay th e head
guy in operations, not the foreman or
anyone else. If you refuse, or don't have
the mo ney, you ' ll spend your first 45
days d o in g t h e worst la bor yo u ca n
imagine. Mexican sewage and garbage
have a rather pungent odor and you'll
literally be up to your elbows in iL
I t's wise to put a nother $20 o n a
tab at th e little store in the h o lding
area. Te ll th e s tore own e r that NO
ONE e lse is to use your tab. T he re are
no priso n acco un ts he re, and until yo u
learn the ropes, don ' t keep any more
money on your person than what you
need to survive or can afford to lose. If

PRISON LIFE 59

you' re wearing sneakers, figure o n losing th e m o r fighting three malendres
with knives.
T he first day, you' ll be awakened at
5:30 a. m. and taken to the big door for
pasa lista, ro ll call. You ' ll go through
thi s r itua l twice a d ay for as long as
you 're th ere. Re member you're being
watched and sized up for your worth. By
th e tim e lista is over, it'll be a ro und
6:30 a.m. You and th e other nueuos will
be led through a small gate to a ho lding
pen. T his area is call ed "no tifi cation ,"
and you' ll get to know it well. It is here
yo u ' ll m eet wi th yo ur lawye r , th e
Ame rican consulate, and be no tified of
mauers concerning your case.
Mordida (b r ibe ry) is an acce pted
prac ti ce h e re, a nd m ost g ua rd s are
b1;beable. A word about the guards: Treat
them with respect and they'll treat you
with respect. And get used to the phrase
con fJC1miso, witl1 your pennission. Twenty
thousand pesos wi ll get you o ut of most
minor offenses. If you want to get into a
certain cell in tl1e building, find out who
th e head g uard is and give him 50,000
pesos. If you or your friends on tl1e oULside are havi ng trouble getting something
through the gate, 10,000 to 20,000 pesos
usually suffices. Also, find o ut who the
head guard of the build ing is and bring
hi m a cup of coffee or a soda once in a
while to make your life easier. But do n't

60 PRISON LIFE

make a practice of it,
or it'll be expected.
If you smoke ,
fi g u re on buyin g
three times the number of packs you usua ll y buy. The y're
going to be bummed
off you continua lly.
If you wanted a reason to quit, this is a
good o n e. If not ,
load up on Faros,
whi c h are on ly 30
cents a pack. Stash
your good cigarettes.
Since nothing is
furni sh ed by the
prison, you'll need to
buy clotl1es, but keep
them to a minimum
and
make su re
they're used. You ' ll
a lso n eed a large
bowl, a spoon, a twoin c h foa m mattress
a nd a blanket. The
consulate will give you
a blanket, vita min s
and tooth paste, but
tl1at'll take some time.
You ' II then b e
a ll o wed to ve n ture
into tl1e main yard, but for the first couple of days, avo id it. By 10:00 a.m. , a
large group will form at the big door. If
it's a Thursday or a Sunday, the crowd is
larger t11an usual because these are visiting days. Tuesdays and Saturdays are co njugal visiting days. Most of the guys by the
door are waiti ng fo r visitors, but some
may be waiting for you. You're a nuevo,
and that's the way it is. Every nuevo goes
throu g h it a nd b e in g a g rin go, a n
American, makes it that much worse.
If your mo ney is securely stashed ,
the n you' re ready to ta ke a walk into
tl1e jungle, the main yard. Try to fi nd
a nothe r American to walk around with
fo r the firs t couple of days. T here's safety in n umbers, a nd it n eve r hu rts to
show the rest of them you have fi·iends.
The first thing you' ll see is a plaque
o n the prison wall dated 1949. That was
the year the Mexican governm ent put
chicken wire fence aro und a field roughly the size of a ci ty bloc k, threw in a
bunch of prisoners and had the army
g u a rd th em. In sid e the pe n was a
Catholic church and a bull rin g. The
prisoners buil t a "'eetle town" complete
with sto res, ho uses, a gambling casino
and o tl1er cosas de vida, or things of life.
As the years went by, concre te gu n towers were built o n tl1e corners, and after
th a t a 40-foo t-hi"gh co n c re te wa ll
replaced the chicken wire fence.

La Casa today is unli ke an y
American prison you've been to or seen
in the movies. It's a community, still a
"leetle town," with stores, restaurants, a
bakery and other places to spend your
mon ey. Fam ilies ca n live wit h their
prison relatives in apartments called carracas. Drugs are available and cost about
a third less than they do in U.S. cities.
Many junkies mix the coke and smack
and do "speed balls." The n eedle s
around here are never clean.
If alcohol is your drug of choice of
drug, you're going to pay more. A cold can
of beer goes for $7 and change, a liter of
brandy is about $50, and a bottle of the
local home brew (known as tepache) , made
from fruit, rice, potatoes or anything else
that will ferment, costs about $3.50.
At the end of Main Street is a popular intersection. If you want to buy a nickel or a dime bag of weed, this is the spot.
The dealers pay the guards for the right
to sell weed here. So unless you're willing
to pay off the guards, do n' t try dealing
here or even buying until you learn the
ropes. If one of the C.O.'s catches you,
you're back to Las Tumbas. Remember, a
gringo stands out like a sore thumb and
the place is full of snitches. If you do get
threate n ed with a return trip to Las
Tumbas, 30,000 pesos should be enough
mordida to keep you out.
The re is a bsolute ly no pattern to
th e flow of pe d es tria n traffic in th e
main yard, and you 'll notice there is no
such thing as common courtesy. People
will run by an d shove you out of the
way. Be extra alert in the area known as
"Blood Alley." Keep your eyes open and
give the other people lots of room. Any
time three or four Mex icans start to
gathe r around you , figure on trouble
and get mov ing fas t to an area yo u
know the re are guards. Do n ' t run o r
panic, just walk fast
As you walk around the main yard,
you' ll see little apartments-cmmcas. If
you have the money, the going rate is
anywhere from a couple hundred dollars u p to $30,000, but they're worth it.
Living in a carraca gives you all the
comforts of hom e wh ile yo u ' re in
prison. You'll have privacy, your valuables can be kep t unde r lock and key,
and you ' ll have a place to cook and eat
without everyone trying to b um your
food. And if you're married, you' ll have
a place for conjugal visits. If you prefer,
your who le fami ly ca n live inside the
prison with you. A mon th or two before
your re lease, you can put yo ur carraca
o n the marke t and sell it for a profit.
Nothing like a profita ble real estate
deal while in prison.
Down Blood Alley are the tanques, or
cells, which are lettered alphabetically in

th e cou rtyard. As they were once cell
blocks, they have barred doors. Like U.S.
prisons, this place is way overcrowded .
Don't be surptised if you have to sleep o n
the floor. More senior guys usually get the
bottom bunks, which, along with the middle a nd bottom bunks, are the bes t
because you can rig curtains and have a
degree of privacy. As a nuevo you start in
the top bunk, where you can ' t rig curtains, and the ligh t shines in your eyes.
Each tanque is about 15 by 20 feet and is
constructed of concrete. Most cells have
makes h ift clotheslines
running from the to p
bunks to th e venti lator
grate. You do your laundry in the sink or a fivegallon bucket. There's an
e lectr ica l outlet in th e
wall if you have a TV or
radio. You can also cook
in the cell if you have a
hot plate or electric frying
pan. A hot plate provides
the ho t water for coffee
and showe rs. But if you
live in a cell \vith a jun kie,
you 'll have none of these
ite ms. He' ll steal and sell
them to buy smack.
Life in a cel l is an
e n dless ro u tin e. You 're
awake n ed around 6:30
fo r the mornin g lista.
T h e gua r d will kn ow
you're there, but you still
must respond. At 3:00 in
the afternoon, you have
to pasa lista aga in.
Everybody hangs in front
of their tanque and mills
around waiting for th e
lista guards. The courtyard ge ts r eal crowded
during this time, and as a
nu evo yo u can be sure
your name and n u mber
\vill be on the bottom of
the list. Wh il e you wait
for your name, stand on
the outskirts of the
crowd. Don't let yourself be surrounded.
V\'hen the guard calls your number, give
him your name and he'll check it off. If
you m iss afternoon lisla, you ' ll have to
track the guard d own and pay him to get
checked off the list. Miss lista too many
times and you go to Las Tumbas.
Th e re' s a lot o f b loods h ed at La
Casa. On my second day here, I saw a
hell of a knife fight. They cut each other
up pretty good. One guy lost an ear, but
they both lived. T he favo rite weapon at
La Casa is a punta, a shan k made out of
spoons, pieces of metal rod, tootJ1brushes and pieces of wood . Anything wi ll

work as lo ng as it's stiff and sharp, and
fo ur inches o f plastic toothbrush will
certain ly do. On my third nigh t, tJ1ere
was some kind of fam ily dispute. A guy
was visiting his brotJ1e r, and another g uy
whose family had bad blood with the
brothers, went loco. When he saw the
two brotJ1ers walking along, he went up
to his carraca, got h is Uzi, came back
down and blew tJ1e two brothers away.
The Uzi was on full auto m atic , a nd
when he star ted spraying bu ll ets, a n
innocent bystand er was hi t and killed.

The s ho oter was taken to Las
Tumbas and interviewed personally by
the comandan te (warden). The shooter
told the comanda nte there was no way
he was going to give up his Uzi, even if
he had to spend the rest of his life in
Las Tumbas. How many prisons do you
know of where the priso ners have better guns than tJ1e guards?
Life here is cheap. just inside th e
ma in wall , which is li ned with g uards
and g un towers, is an ar ea known as Ia
ti e rr a de no h o mbre, o r No Man 's
Land. It's a su·ip of dirt around 30 feet
wide with a 20-foo t chain link fe nc e

encircling it. The guards on the wall,
armed with sawed-off M-ls or shotguns,
shoot first and ask questions later.
As I und e rsta n d it, und er th e
Mexican Constitution, a Mexican citizen
may atte mp t to escape from j ai l or
prison three times. As long as no one is
injured o r ki ll e d in the atte mpt, he
won't be charged with ano ther crime,
but he ca n be pun ished b y priso n
authorities for the attempt. I don't know
if this escape clause applies to foreigners.
Naturally, there have
been a number of escape
atte mpts since I've been
h e r e, so m e successfu l.
They usually involve going
ove r the wa ll , but a few
invo lved d igg ing o ut.
Digg in g out is d iffi c u lt
because it's hard to get rid
of t11e dirt. During a recent
excavation, prison officials
fo und several skeletons in
caved-in tunnels.
Som e escape attempts
have been ingenious. On e
prisoner ha d his bro the r
visit him at a prearranged
time. Th e bro ther on m e
outside backed his statio n
wagon into th e rotting
concrete wa ll and the
other brother just walked
th r o u g h . Th ey have n ' t
been seen since.
My a ll-tim e favorite
escape was pulled off by a
g uy nam ed N ino. H e 'd
bee n he re for years an d
everyone knew him. H e
was also a junkie. Every
luca he cou ld beg, borrow
or steal went in to his arm.
One n ight h e go t in an
a rg ument with this guy.
N ino pu lled a knife and
th e other g uy pul le d a
sm a ll calibe r a utom a ti c.
He fi red four rounds into
N ino 's upper th igh. Nit1o
was taken to tJ1e infirmary. The bullets
did a lot of damage to his leg so h e was
sen t by ambulance to a hospital, where
doctot·s amputated his leg.
Apparen tJy they didn 't think he was
going anywh ere witJ1 a fres hly amput<1.ted leg, so th ey didn ' t hand cuff him to
the bed.Sure eno ug h, he escaped. I can
j ust picture h im in a hospital gown and
crutches hobbling off. He probably ran
for the border, but I wonder if he outran tJ1 e Mexican bounty hunters.
Eve n if you're a ble to evad e th e
physical abuse at La Casa, tJ1e food can
do you in. If you have no way of supple-

PRISON LIFE 61

menting yo ur di e t, you' ll survive, but
just barely. Breakfast is served anywhere
from 7:00 w 8:30a.m. , when they o pen
the cell doors. You take your bowl and
walk to th e cocina where the kitchen
crew serves caldo, a wate ry soup with
vegetables and sometimes rice or beans.
When there's meat in it, be wary. It is
probably old and tastes it. Give it to one

breakfast, except you get three tortillas.
In the late afternoon you get atole, powdered corn meal with sugar and milk.
I've never developed a taste for it. You
also ge t a bolillo (a roll o f bread ), and
th ey're pretty good. I'd save some beans
and make a bean sandwich for d inner.
But they only give you o ne bolillo.
Sundays a re th e wo rs t. The water

of the othe r guys. You a lso get two tortillas with breakfast. You return to your
cell to eat. You get a gallon of water per
day fo r a seven-man cel l. Anything over
than that you have to buy. If you can' t
afford to buy it, or yo u miss out on your
share, LOugh shit.
If you decide to go out in the main
yard fo r recreation , you'll be out most
of th e da y. Wh e n yo u ge t back in
depends on the g uards. A soda usually
gets you back in. If you decide to spend
th e day in your cell, you can read, play
cards, sleep or write.
Lunch is served a n ywhere from
12:30 to 1: 30 p .m. I t's th e sa m e as

truck doesn 't d eliver so there's no free
water, and you only get o ne meal. The
Mexicans usua lly get visitors who bring
them ex tra bread and things. If you
have no outside help or visiwrs, this can
be a very depressing day.
But not as depressing as the d ay
you receive your sente nce. First of all, it
may take up lO a year for the Consulate
Ge neral's office to stan t11e paperwork.
If you qualify lO be "kicked out of the
coun try," th e process the n takes ano ther six months.
In the Mexican judicial syste m, you
don ' t appea r before th e judge wh o
de c ides yo u r case. At my first co urt

62 PRISON LIFE

appearance I di scove red that court is
presided over by a clerk in a small office
they call the "courtroom." A translator
explains to you what the clerk says, and
then the translator reads you the police
stateme nt. It' ll probably be so dilferen t
than what actually happened that you
won't realize that they're talking about
you. All you can do is explain the disc repa n cies. But that's o kay because
under Mexican law yo u can change
your statemen t whenever you want and
thus can 't perjure yourself. And the
judge will always "take everything into
consideration."
Bribing the cops fro m the start usually takes care of th ings right away. But
if you miss the chance, mordida (the
"bite," or bribe) can hap pen any ti me.
My lawyer told me that for $5,000 he
could get my case dropped. I couldn't
get hold of that kind of money so I had
to take the alternate route - trying to
battle Mex ican Ja w. After my lawye r
would meet with me, he'd always leave
telling me to try to come up with the
bribe money.
You'll go through a series of court
appearances, where you 'll be read your
statements, asked if you have a ny d isagreements, and p resen t your evidence
and wimesses. Your fi fth court appearance, or vista sentencia, is the fi nal time
yo u ' II appear. Any evide nce you have
o n your behalf must be turned in now.
You never see the judge.
Drug charges usua lly carry a sentence betwee n seve n and ten yea rs,
a ltho ugh with the right "grease" yo u
may be able to ge t it reduced to five .
Anytime you get five years or less, you
can pay to get out. Gu n charges are usually "payable" offe nses.
vVhile your Mexican sentence is still
in effect, what you're waiting for is a u-ansfer back to the U .S. Once there , yo ur
original sen tence is refigured. My crime
was possession of 998.8 grams of marijuana, and I received an eight-year sentence.
[[I had been busted in California instead
of Tijuana, I'd have been looking at six
months. Since I had spent 19 mont11s in
La Casa, I was released as soon as I transferred back to the States.
But I s till missed my high school
reunion .

john Falkenrath cunently lives in
Califomia, on federal superoised release until
the year 2000. He is cummtly working on an
autobiography detailing 20 yem-s of fishing
and wandering on the Pacific Coast.

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Photos & Text by Chris Cozzone, Fitness Editor

(Above) Rossi Taylor (left) and Vernon Butts are Wallkill's prime lifters. But will thei1· barbells be taken away?

h ec k di s out: A co n gets
released from prison afte r five
...uJ1 or so yea rs. Wh e n h e was first
locked up, ho meboy 1vas a 7-Eieven
robbing, 98-pound weasel; n ow he's
comin g o ut a 4 00-pound b e n c h
press in g, 225-po und b e h e m oth .
Since h e's a su percriminal now, h e
figures he's gonna find n ew meaning
for th e term ' strongarm robbe ry.' H e
goes rig ht to the n earest ban k: "Yo,
g imm e a ll th e doug h you got!" h e
says, fl exing his 19-inch bice ps for all
it's 1vo rth. But h e f ind s him se lf
lookin' down the barrel of the security guard's gun and he's back in the
slamme r at th e e nd of the d ay.
Pretty wack story. On ly a fool
dumber than a dumbbell thinks lifting weig h ts is gonna make h im a socalled "supercriminal." But believe it
or n ot, the scen a rio described above
is of real concern. The re is a serious
crusade happening out the re to ban

1

64 PRISON LIFE

Champion bantamweight Kenneth Mcllleil
of Rahway's Boxing Association won't be
!lilting the bag for fong if. the New [ersey
DOC Jumps on the banning bandluagon.

weightlifting in prisons. And from the reckless p opularity
the "3 Strikes, You're Out" type bills have received, things
do n't look so good on the iron pile.
It started with Milwaukee County supervisors voting to
ban weightlifting at the Milwaukee County H o u se of
Correction in Wisconsin. Soon after, police and prison officials across the country started whining for Congress to ban
no t only weight training but boxing in all state penitentiaries. And now other states are knocking around the idea.
James Fo tis of the Law Enforcement Alliance of
America is stirring things up with questions like "Why
should we use tax money to create pumped-up supercriminals?" And the misinformed General Public, manipulated with images of psyc hotic, muscle-bo und supercons, are falling for it.
Of course, nobody has b o th e r e d to d o much
research. Hell, even the prison officials a nd guards at the
Milwaukee County Ho use of Correction were opposed to
the ba n, but nobody bothered to ask them wha t th ey
thought. What these pencil-neck geeks (and geekettes)
need to do is find out why prisone rs are lifting weights in
the first place.
I'm sure even a politician would find himself crankin'
out reps in the gym to pack on some beefcake if h e found
himse lf be hind bars. The prison e nvironme nt isn't pretty.
When you live in the jungle, you adapt or die. And if
you're a 98-pound wimp, you 're more likely to get sh oved
around than if you've got a 60-inch ch est. Perhap s, if the
suits would focus more on prison conditions, the re might
not be such concern to lift weights to begin with.
Of course, it's much more than n ecessity that drives a
lifter to pick up a weight, or a boxer to put on his gloves.
Ricky Williams, one of the big boys behind bars at Rahway

Come rain or shine, partners Ta1_lar & B1ttts are out in the
yard jJUtn(Jin' iron. ¥ J.year-old Taylor has been doing it for 12
years ana he says it has been a fonn of discipline for liim.

to ld me: "If I didn't have lifting, I'd be in lockdown every
day." Would it be too off the wall to suppose that weightlifti ng was h avi ng the opposite effect (according to the
cops & suits) on him? Turning him away from trouble and
violence? Williams is just one of thousands be hind bars
who use weights or boxing to release pent-up energy.
H ell, I'm not in prison, but if I didn 't lift we ig h ts, I
could be. If I couldn' t take out my problems on a barbe ll,
I'd pro b a bly e nd up pumm eling t h e first punk who
stepped on my toe. But release is only one o f several positive reasons to lift weigh ts. The re's also self-disci pline a nd
self-esteem, both of which we igh tlifting builds u p even
m ore than it d oes muscle.
Besides tl1e many psycho logical benefits, there are the
obvious physical ones. Weightlifting will con tribute to a
h ealthier a nd more fi t body. Th e healthier the prisoner,
the less it will cost taxpayers for medical needs.
They're n ot against aerobic exercise, or even exp ensive Stairmasters. Yeah, cool. Maybe they can get us stateissued pink workout gear, too. And colo r-coo rd inated
Let's-Get-Physical h eadbands. After a while, we' ll be so
mellow, we'll just want to hug each other and talk about
our inner feelings.
Of course, if we get too aerobically fit, they' ll prohibit
us from wo rking o ur h eart. They wou ld b e worrying
about us outrunning cop cars a nd bullets. T h a t would
make us into supercriminals, too.
As far as building a supercri min al is co n cerned,
nobody seems to realize tha t maybe it's life in a bleak
and brutal environment-not barbells-that creates the
monsters they fear so much . Take away the we igh ts, and
the sui ts are going to find more problems than they have
now.

w

PRISON LIFE 65

ABLESS & TRYIN'

but a few sets of these will bring out
those abs. Keep the reps high , 20-40,
and increase the resistance when this
gets too easy.
Now, if you 're trying to build overall strength and upper body, I'd h it the
iron pile no more than four times a
week and for chrissake, work those
legs, too. (There's nothing worse than
a "tank-top" bodybuilder, or a guy with
bird legs.) What most people don't

To the Iron Pile:
I'm 23 and I've just started working
out 5 months ago when I was locked up. I
weigh 235 pounds and I'm trying to build
my chest, anns and shoulders. I do sit-ups to
try to get rid of some of my stomach fat. Can
you give me some tips to improve my stomach? I'm also having problems getting my
bench up in weight, and my tmps built up. I
would appreciate if you can
help me.
james Hills
Broward Main jail,
Florida
Hey j ames:
Before I start rappin '
to you about building shit
up, I want to steer yo u
straight on the fat issue.
Il's a common misconception that you 're gonna get
a wa s hbo ard stomac h
from doing si t-ups and
that the fat is gonna just
melt away. Wrong!
Doing sit-ups and
weightlifting are anaerobic
exercises. That means, you
a in ' t go nna burn fat by
C'mon V, crank those motherfuckers out!
do ing th e m. That mea ns
you're gonna work muscle--muscle that rea lize is th a t by h itting the e ntire
is undemeath the fat. If you want to see body, your overall reaction to increased
your abs, go on a diet or start doing more sn·ength and mass is going to be better.
aerobic exercise, y'know, like nmningTraps can be had by doing dumbsomething you can do 3-6 times a week bell or barbe ll shru gs. A tip: don ' t
fo r 20-50 minutes.
ro ta te, or roll, your sh oulders when
Your abs serve two main fun ctions: do ing them. The prime move me n t of
kee ping your body stable and doi ng your tra ps is an up-and-down mo tion
whafs called spinal (or mmk) flex ion. and whe n you ro ll your shoulders back,
The range of motion on spinal flexion you're taking tl1 e stress off of your traps.
is very small. Therefore, if you want to Stan with your sho ulders level and pull
work your abs, get rid of sit-ups and do those babies as far up as your ears.
crunches instead. Sit-ups put too much
su-ain on your spine and don 't work the
OVERKILL
abdo minals directly.
Crun ch es are d o n e b est on the Iron Pile:
floor or o n the slant bo a rd . What
I've been lifting evel)' day, three hours a
you 're do ing is essemially a body curl, day to build up, but I just can't seem to put
curling your spine fo rward. With your on any weight. Do you think I should lift
han ds behind your head (yo, don ' t be more? Like my chest and anns, they're so
a slob and pu ll with your a n n s, ay?) Jmny no matter how many extra exercises l
you 're bringing yo ur head cl oser to do f or them. It's jJissing me off I feel like
your thig hs. Again, tl1 e motion is small, quitting. What should I do ?

66 PRISON LIFE

Shit, I guess it don't matter none anyway because who knows how long we'll have
weights here anyway.
Don't publish my name 'cause the gli)'S
will laugh at me.
Folsom

Yo Folsom:
What foo l a t your pi le has you
doin ' so much work? Damn, don't you
know what the word rest means? Don't
yo u know that a muscle
doe s not ac tua lly grow
when you work it, but
breaks down? That's
right. All those tiny muscle fiber tears that accrue
due to pumping iron
need to be repaired, and
if you' re going to the pile
every day, that ain't happening.
Give it a rest, Folsom.
Train hard but no more
than four times a week for
now. That will give your
body time to heal itself.
Don't misunderstand me:
I'm n ot te lling you to
pamper yourself. Ever y
rep should count. But if
you're doing it right, you
shouldn ' t be at the pile any longer tl1an
a couple hours, if that. Hell, if you n-ai n
right you won't want to go anywhe re
near a weight until your body is ready.
Don't worry about the weight. The
natural bodybu ilder can only put on
a bout 10 p o unds of b eef a ye ar , if
you' re gene tically lucky. Stay away from
the scale 'cause it's on ly gonna depress
you. Go by how you look. And if anyo n e la ug h s at yo u, fu c k 'e m. H e ll,
th ey're probably laughing a t you now
because th ey got you trqin ing so hard
and wo•·•-yi ng so much. Take it easy and
read a book on your day off from th e
gym. Trust me, you' ll grow.
W
Let me hear from you. If you got a beef
with this barbell ban, a question about fitness, or if you think you got a one-Qf-a-ltind
exercise routine, slap it down on paper
and send it to Chris Cozzone/ lron Pile,
505 8th Ave, 14th Floor, NY, NY 10018.

Results
Powerlifting Event, April 17, 1994
FCI McKean, PA
Move-A-Mountain Contest
~~ht Name

Squat

Bench

Deadlift Total

Schwartz

185
225
350
420
525
18 1

185
200
280
265
300

45
350
400
460
530

415
775
1030
1145
1355

374.70
631.31
785.89
777.11
855.41

Whillow
440
Maste rs Over 18 1

330

530

1270

801.75

18 1
198
220
242
Hvy

240
310
380
490
320

500
430
530
680
590

1240
1190
1490
1890
1485

767.56
71 8.28
863.00
1015.49
796.25

123 Green
132 Vinelli
148 Fe rrel
165 Pace
181 Mye r
Masters Unde r

SmiLh
Vinelli
Ricci
Seeker
Russ

500
450
580
720
575

1994 New Jersey D.O.C.
Powerlifting Championships Weight Class Winners
June, 1994
148
1. Gayd en
Team Standings
2. Mitchell

1SP
ETSP

l. Pettaway
~,~~
2. Lo ne
181
1. Hassel
BSSP
2. Woods
SP
198
l. Brya nt
SP
2. Hunt
SP
220
l. Fi tzpatrick
SP
2. Fulla rd
I SP
p
242
1. Cody
2. Wilson
E SP
Maste rs 1. Moore
N SP
ESP
2. Smith

165

1. East Jersey Sta te Prison

(EJS:f>)-1 6 winnings
2. ew Te rsey State Prison
( US:f>)-1 2
3. 1 orthe rn State Prison
( SP)-10
4. Rive rfront Sta te Prison
(RFSP)- 7
5. Bayside State Prison
(BSSP)- 5

g

48 HR. SHIPPING
LOWEST PRICES
FACTORY WARRANTIES
ONE LOW $3.65 SHIPPING
CHARGE- ANY QUANTITY

~

The boys at East
.ferSf!)' Stale Prison.
Top & bollom jJics
are Rahruafs
rueightlift111g
chamjJs. MiddTe
Pic is Rahway s
bonybuilding tf'(lm.

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CONVERSE RUN 'N SIAM '115-l.CW-81J<-Iol .... 82.115
REEBOK ISOlATOfi.MI[).8I.ACI(IWHITE-I.I _ 47.1115 COINERSE RUN 'N SUJ.I 'll5oi.IID-IIlJ·M . 117.1115
REEBOK TEAM VERT1CAI.-WW-81J<-MEN _51 .1115 CONVERSE SPEEDPUU..foll~-1.1 .•• 49.95
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AOIOAS TORSION ATlTT\JOE.WW-8lACK-M 4&.1115 B..LESSE -..ul'N-8lACK.....f.IEN ..• 49.95
AOIOAS TORSION ATTITUOE-MJO.aACK-1.1 . 54.1115
SPECIAL! NIXE ADI. PORCE WGH
ADIDAS RESPONSE BOOT SOCI<-Mf0.81J(-M 54.115
BLACK OR WHJTE.-MEN •• • • .$49.95
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ADIDAS SUPERSTAR-lOW-8l.KNIHT-MEN •39.115 NIKEAIR~-41EN .511.115
ADIDASPAOI.IODEI..~-41-44.115 HIKE AIR FORCE 1-tOW.elACKtWHITE-1.1 - 57.1115
AOtOAS camJRY ~D-8lJ<iWHT-41EN 41.1115 HIKE AIR FORCE MAX C8-WID-41EN · ·- -· 94.1115
ADIDAS MUTOioiBO--I.II()--MEN ········- ······-· 4&.115 NIKE AIR SHEER FORCE-MID.au<NIIfT-lol •••81.95
ADIDAS W1NTER8Al.l.-t.OW-41EN ··········- ··511.115 NIKEAIR~ --····--· 94.1115
AD1DAS FUU. COURT-WI0-8I.ACK-41EN •51 .1115 NIKE AIR SWIFT-MID-8lACK OR WlfTE-41 . 1!5.1115
ADIDAS INTRIJDEfi-M0-8lACK-41EN ·-· 811.1115 NIKE AIR PREVAJI.-IoiG-WEN - - - - - · 7SJII5
AOtOAS AGRESSOR ~ --······· 50.1115 HIKE AIR PIIOP-MI0-8I.ACK-41EN -···-·-· 55.1115
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50.95
ADUlAS STREETBAU.III-UlW.au<NIIffoM •54.1115 liKE AIR POlJII)...W)...-41£N AOtOAS STREETliAI.I. R1-/o410-MEN · -.• 50.115 liKE DRMNG FORCE-MID-MEN ····--·· 39.115
ADIDAS EQUIPMENT BOOT--l.!lO-MEN - 811.1115 NEW IIAlAHCE 88 550-HIGIH!lJ(ff-1.1 --· 39.115
ADUlAS TORSION RESI'OHSE-MI().8U(-M - 46.115 PUMA SUEDE-t.OW-Ill.ACK OR 8UJE.MEN . 39.95
ADIDAS PHAHTOM 4-MID-41EN ·--·--···42.1115 PUMA BASKET-tOWWKT WI NATVRAL OR BU< SWOOSH-MEN •••315.95
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CONVERSE CONS 500-t0W-41EN •••.•••.••• 33.115 PUMA SKY ~CK-41EN ••.•••••..••38.115
CONVERSE CONS ~-1.1 •••37.1115
RUNNING SHOES
CONVERSE TAR IAAX-Mti)...-MEN -···········-48.116
REEBOK ClASSIC LEAf'HER.Bl.KI WKT-1M. •44.95
CROSS TRAINING SHOES
REE80K PYil()...MEN" lADtES - · - - -39.116
AOtOAS TORSION CFR HURRICAHE UTt:-M .49.1115 AOIOASTORSIONR~.39.1115
NEW IW.AHCE CXT TIS-8, 0, E.E l 4E-MEN •58.115 BROOKS HYDROfl.OW CHARIOT HFX44'\. . 411.95
HICEAIITRAINER~-Iol-49.115 ETONIC STABLE AIR 42K-41EN ·····--····-152.95
REEBOK SATB.UTE-LOW-aACI<IWHfTE.M •47.116 NEW IIAI.AHCE M
0, E.E & 4E-41EN 52.115
•49.115
REEIIOK SATaUTE--I.!lD-MEN ··············-·· 52.95 NIKE AIR
REEBOKEXOffTLEATHEfH.O.BlX/WifT-1.1 . 43.115
.......... 47.115
REEBOK EXOFITLEAfHER.IM0.8U<IWH-M 44.116
••••••••••38.116
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&LADIES --····-53.115
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I

I

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• •••••____ 811J115
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11008-81NCI+-BROWN LEATMER-41 •• 107.95
20081~ !NCK-TAN-MEN ••••••....••••.••..•.. 81.95
~ INC:H-illACK-MEN •...•....•••••••• 78.115
30304-GENA TREKKEII-lAOIES - - -113.95
37'042--<HJKKA TREKKEJI.--MEH •••- 106.95
39001411.TIIoiATETREK--Ioi!O-MEN - 120.95
~ClASSIC ll!G--MEN • ••118.1115
~~~ .•. 78.95
50069-CHUI<I<A-I~K-41EN •..• 78.115
5705S-PREMIUM FIElD-MEN -··········· 109.115
57334-I<ARRIE-MIP-l..AOIES •••••••••••••••• 85.115
511033-3 EYB.ET OXF<>RI>-MEN •.•...... 106.115
6110113-7EYB.ETCHUIQ(A-MIO-MEN 117.95
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811047-ausHHtKER-U>W.elACK-1.1 .•.•• 50.1115
811058-80SH~ .•.•• II4.1115
8G057-ausH HIKER-MID-8lACK-I.I •.•••• 114.115
8II054-£URO HIKER CHIJKKA.....MEN ···-·· 117.1115
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--··-152.95

960&1-EURC HIKEfi-.I,MD-41£N •••••••••• 50.1115
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11531<1--l:URO HIKER-UATMER.u.otES 811.115
95392-aJRO HIKER-LADtES ••..•.•.•.•..••• 51.115
NEVADOSWILDCAT-MIO-MEN -······-········211.1115
NEVADOS T\JNDRA-MIO-MEN &LADIES .•• 33.115

DEXTER ~AH-1.1 - 1111.1115
DEXTER~ES 110.95
DEXTER I<J..ONOIKE-MIIEN - - - · · - 110.1115
DEXTER CARIII()(}-MIO-MEN -·······-······-114.116
DEXTER ROXIE-4oii!HIROWN/TAN-tADIES .110.116
HHEC ALPINE-O-MEN & LADIES .......•••• 54.115
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3051-CtiOCOI.ATE NUBUCK--Mf!).fo~EH • 74.116
3155-IIAOWN-Ul\¥4 --··- · -811.95
DISCOVERY~OW-MEN . 54.116

SKECHERS:
GIRDER WI STE8.. 10E.WW-8lACK-M •.. 42.95
I-SEAM WI STE8.. TOE-MI().8fi()WN.M •• 48.1115
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REBAR-LOW-TAH-41EN •••....••.••••.......... 43.116
RIPCVT.WW-81l()WN.MEN (EVEN SIZES)40.115
RIPSAW~ OR BROWN-MEN ... 315.116
OII.STDIIE-MID-TAWBROWII-l (EVEN SIZES) 48.116

TENNIS SHOES
AOtDAS STAN SIMTH-I.4EN -·--·-···- 33.116 NEW IW.AHCE CT 580-a, D. EE & 4E-Io!EN . 55.95
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AVIA 742LEATHER.....foiEN& lAOtES --····-211.1115 RE.EBOI( CUJIIC41EN& LADIES·--···········39.115

CONVERSE JACK PURCEU ClASSICBLUE OR WHITE-41EN ·-···········-········-····· 22.115
FilA ClASSIC TENNIS-MEN .•..•••..•...•..•...•••.• 48.115
HEAD RAOCAI.SOG-lOWLEATllER-4M. ••••••45.115

REESOK PHASE MLEATHER-WlDlliS-MIL 43.85
REEBOK CENTRE COURT-41EN ••••••••••.•••••• 49.115

REEBOK QUAUAER--MI()--MEN ······-···..... 53.1115

WilSON PRO STAFF--MEN & lADIES ··-····-CALL

i

Family Matters

L

Florence
Crane's Kids
N dM
ee
OmS
p
rogram

inda Wallace not only lost her
freedom but her 11-year-old son
Kejuante when the doors of the
Florence Cr ane Women's Facility
locked behind her in 1991. With 120
miles separating Linda in Coldwater,
Michigan from her son in Pontiac,
by
the only time she could see Kejuante
was when she was sent to Oakland
County to testify at his custody hearings, and she was able to steal a few
minutes wi th him at the county jail.
After the hearings ended she lost
track of Kejuante entirely.
Kejuante didn ' t take the separation well. "When I first came to
prison, his grades went down. He didn' t feel loved," his mother says.
"I was very mad," Kejuante adds.
"I wanted to ... " He leaves the though t
unfinished. "But now I ' m happy.
Prison is just a different home."
The reason fo r Kejuante's
change of heart is the prison's "Kids games and draw pictures- and the
Need Moms" program. Now in its spacious, colorful room they meet in.
third year, the program reunites chi!'There wasn' t enough to occupy
dren and t he ir mothers once a him there," says Karen Kilpatrick of
month. Of the prison's 650 inmates, the times she and her son Christopher
spe nt in the regular visitation room.
35 to 40 mothers are in the program.
While the goals of the program "We enj oy ourselves so much more in
are ambitious- "to heal the hurt of here. " The special "Kids Need Moms"
separation; restore fa mil y values; room is designed for children like
rebuild broke n re lationsh ips; and Christopher. Although steel bars still
preve nt children from following in cover the windows, cartoon characters
th eir parents' footste ps"-they are d ecorate th e wa lls. Donald Duck
cri tical con siderin g th e status of holds a balloon proclaiming "Kids
women in American prisons.
eed Moms." Smurfs dance a long
Since 1970, the female percentage another wall. The latest addition is a
of America's prison population has purple dinosaur.
almost doubl ed, and approximately
Today, when Linda and Kejuante
80% of female prisoners are mothers, ge t together, they talk abo u t other
according to The Women's Prison things besides when they'll see each
Association. When women are locked other next. Now that Linda's working
up, their children must go to relatives toward her bachelor 's degree in busior into foster care. The relatives often ness, when sh e asks Kejuante h ow
don' t have cars, and little money is
c
Ke]uante Wallace and his mother Linda wark on a
1ong b us t1.·1ps an d cab glztter
shamrock together. Photo 17y David Benson.
aVa1. 1able 10r
far e. Many of the mothers at
Flo re n ce Crane have never seen
their children, and the emotional
and social costs are en ormous:
These children are five to six times
more likely to e nd up in prison
th e m se lves, according to the
Women j udges' Fund for J ustice.
"Kids Need Moms" visits differ
from standard prison visits in the
th e amo unt of time the children
get to sp end with th e ir mothers
(four ho urs) , the activities they get
to do togethe r-eat lunch , play

David N. Benson

68 PRISON LIFE

school is going, he looks up and says,
"Fine. How about you?"
To be accepted into the program,
moms are required to take a parenting class. 'The parenting class is one
of the best things in this prison, " says
Linda. "A lot of mothers have come a
long way in that class, and I'm one of
them."
What the mothers need, however,
is more volunteers to drive their children to the priso n. (Cu rrently, 35
women are on the waiting list to see
their kids ). Because the Flo re nce
Crane facility in Coldwater is several
hours away fro m the state's population hubs, many of the drivers burn
out after a year , reports Marcie Nye,
who recently stepped down as the
program's coordinator.
To get the original set of drivers,
the prisoners and staff sent flyers to
churches around the state and placed
ads in out-of-town newspapers. The
search landed more than drivers: a
local church donated a stack of board
games and students at a nearby college volun teered their time. The real
bonanza was a one-year $10,000 grant
from the Kellogg Foundation to keep
the program running.
Alth o ugh prospective drivers
have to endure criminal background
checks and long car trips, a few say
they' ll never quit-no matter what. A
driver who visits prisons in four d ifferent cities, logging 325 miles a trip,
talks fondly of his passengers. One is
14-year-old Tynesha, who hasn't told
h er private school classmates where
her mom is. Instead, she to ld
Kejuante, and they n ow call each
other regularly. "I'm really glad to see
it, " says Tynesha 's mothe r , Sharo n
Morgan. "It's kind of a support group
for the children."
Betore
c
sh e 1eaves, T ynes h a presents her mo ther with an elegant
painting of a phrase she learned in
French class-j'adare vous toujours
(I'll love you a lways) - a lasting
memento that wouldn't have been
p ossible without "Kids
eed
Moms."
David N. Benson is an Auburn,
Indiana-based freelance writer.

Sentencing and
Post-conviction Consultant
"It just might make the diHerence
between winning and losing!"

MARY ANN MARZULLI, M.S.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE CONSULTANT
2503 CONGRESSIONAL WAY
POMPANO BEACH, FL 33073
(305) 428-111.7
FAX (305) 428-6222
FEDERAL AND STATE

• Defense guideline departure
strategies
• Defense sentencing
memorandum
• Parole representation
• Parole appeals
• Mitigation and alternatives
to Incarceration
• Objections to the
government PSI
• Relevant conduct
• Additional services
to help you win!

Mad Dog Bites Back
(continued from page 25)

h eadphones in without making contact
whe n Greek was around, so he could
h ear. Greek would always check Born
wasn't listening when h e'd tum a bucket upside down, sit on it, and talk to
me, his face almost pressed be tween
the bars.
While it's hard to kill a friend, it
was hard to ignore Arma ndo when he
flashed nine inches of steel, hissing,
"Kill the rat bastard now! I'll kill him
for you, just say the word!"
But I to ld him to wait a nd let
Frankos commit himself completely. It
was just before St. Patrick's day when
he did. I said, "C'mon Greek, what's
the real d eal? Forget all the escape crap
you gave me. He took a deep breath ,
then reached in his pocket and passed
a card through my bars: Investigators
Office,Justice Department.
The hair on the back of my neck
stood up, but I managed to compose
myself. "What's this, buddy?"
"That's the guy I've bee n wanting
you to call. He's my ... I mean, our
ticke t outta here. All you gotta do is
lie ... tell the m anything!"
"What have you told 'em, Greek?"
"They don't wa nt m e," he said
11

sad ly. "They w-want yo u Sully. You
can na me your price ... where you
want to stay for protection . . . with
Gail and the boys, y-your ticket o ut. ~~
He pleaded desperately. I knew I had
to kill him very sho rtly.
"What did you tell 'em, Gree k?" I
repeated . Fo r the feds to want to take
such good ca re of me, th ey wou ld
have to know so me thing.
"Nothing! I th ink it was Mickey
Featherstone w-who talked about you.
Liste n, I know you d on 't want to talk
to th e guy o n the phone, but can l
tell him you 'II see him?"
"Sure, why not?" I grinned conspiringly.
"W... when ?" I thought Greek
would do a back flip.
"When? Le t's see ... H ow about
St. Patrick's Day?"
"S-sure . Sure, no problem . You
call it." I had every intention of making Greek history within the next fe w
days. But for so me strange reaso n,
with the exception of Greek, we were
all locked clown ' til th e clay I was to
see this guy witl1 my de mands.
It was all a matter of which happened first. If we we re released from
keep-lock, Greek would be stabbed to
death. Or I would turn th e tables on
the world 's most treachero us peopl e-th e fe ds- a nd bea t th e m a t
their own game. Born a nd Armando
told me to fuck tl1e feels and go fo r it.
So I wouldn' t see the Board 'til 2092 .
. . I woulcln 't anyway, unless I lived to
the age of Methuselah !
Before g iving the federal investigator my demands, we played a game.
He read off a li st of nam es a nd I
would n od if I simply knew th em.
Then I gave him some d e mands,
which I knew they wouldn 't go for.
"Th ese are some pretty tough
demands," he said politely.
"It' s th e on ly way it can b e," I
responded.
"Ill get back to you. " A week later,
I was told I wasn 't "manageable. "
Greek was still un aware how deadly h is predica ment really was. If he
h adn 't bee n jockeying to the "vibes"
from the administration, h e'd have
been history.
The following morning I heard a
tapping o n the small square of g lass in
the solid steel d oor and saw Greek's
face fi lling the window. I wanted to cry
at the agony and sorrow I saw in the
broke n face of a man I once loved like
a brotl1er. He was nodding goodbye.
I was relieved tl1at he was leaving,
a nd that I had been spared killing a
man whose soul had already died.

w

Federal
Appellate and
Post-Conviction
Law
"Jllaldng A Difference Is
Our Business"
• Direct Appeal from Trial
• Direct Appeal from Plea and
Sentencing - 18 USC 3742 Direct Appeal by Defendant on
Issues of Sentencing Hearings
• Post-Conviction Motions - 28
USC 2255 and 2241 - PostConviction Motion Based on an
Illegal Sentence and Habeas
Corpus Relief
• Modification of Term of
Imprisonment - 18 USC
3582(c) Modification of
Imposed Term oflmprisorunent
• Motion for New Trial- Rule 33
• Motion for Reduction of
Sentence - Rule 35

Law Offices of
Miller & Shein
710 Lake Vie\v Avenue, NE
Atlanta, Georgia 30308
( 404) 874-9560
780 N.E . 69th Street, ~uite 50 I
Miami, florida 33 138
(305) 756-0403
Habla Espanol

PRISON LIFE 69

If you or someone you know is charged with a serious criminal offense, I will discuss the matter at no
charge. Please call me any time of the day or night. I will respond promptly to provide you with the defense
services you need. It would be helpful If you could provide the following information (if known) about the
person accused or arrested: full name, date of birth, day and evening telephone numbers, jail booking
number, court case number, next court date, amount of bail and whether bail has been posted.

Federal Court • State Court • Military Court Martial
• Over 21 Years Courtroom Experience in
California, District of Columbia and federal
courts, including the defense of felony criminal
cases.
• Hundreds of Cases handled to date including
factual situations of death, serious bodily injury
and property damage, four cases pending
against the client at the same time, as many as
eight prior convictions being charged, illegal
search and seizure, mistaken identity in arrest,
mistaken identity in records of prior conviction.
• Established Reputation for effective,
aggressive trial court representation in all subject
areas of criminal law, regardless of complexity,
adverse evidence or seriousness of
consequences.
• Former Trial Attorney with the Special
Litigation Division of the District of Columbia
Government, Washington, D.C.

• Former Trial Attorney for Santa Clara County,
California.
• Graduate, Georgetown University Law
Center, Washington, D.C. with experience as a
law clerk to a District of Columbia trial court
judge.
• Graduate, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, New
London, Connectic ut, with law enforcement
experience at sea
including duty as a
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in VietNam.
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95 South Market Street, Suite 300
San Jose, California 95113

Pre-Release
Your New Virginity
By Hardy Coleman

• I

hear it a lot: "Whe n I ge t out of
he re, firs t thin g I' m go nn a d o is
ge t me some. I h ear there's lots of
it a ro und th e bus stop a nd I go t a
two-ho ur layover."
I think we all know wha t's be ing
talked abou t. But doe it really make
sense?
Don ' t get me wrong. I'm just as
interested as th e next g uy in "getting
me so me." But I wo n 't be d o ing it
while waiting for the bus.
I n o n e obvio us resp ec t, be ing
incarce ra ted is a trip back to virginity.
T he re isn ' t "any" availa ble, a nd just
like in hig h sc hool, all the g uys a re
spendin g inordinate a m o u n ts of
energy talking a nd thinking abo ut it.
I guess it's na tural.
The body can be imprisoned , but
the imagination ca n ' t. If you d on ' t
believe me, consider th ose long, lonely n ig hts yo u s p e nd o n yo u r bunk
alone. J ust you a nd th e me mo ry of
he r, whoever sh e m ay be . whatever
she may look like. ow that's prison.
But we' re he re fo r X nu m be r o f
month s to review o u r X-ra ted fantas ies, to we ig h h ow th ey work, o r
don ' t work, \\ith respect to our lives.
In light o f respect for oursel\'es.
I d on 't know abo ut you , but ha\'ing re-e nte red virg inity he re, I find
t hat sex, o n ce again , has beco me a
myste ry. I ve ry mu ch want to ex plore
it; I feel its powe r in my gut a nd in my
groin . I may be a crimin al, a nd I was

crowded streets, handle me rc handise
in stores, get change for a d ollar bill.
I want to make my own choices.
As wa rd s o f th e state, we h ave
been sen ten ced to p rolo nged celibaeve rth eless, it
cy-not our c hoice.
is ou r re al ity until we ge t o u t. So
wh e n we co nte m p late sex, be it in
h o ly matrim o n y o r b o ug h t at th e
Greyho und stati o n, it re prese nts a
c han ge in th e wa y we live . Bu t
because this "new virginity" has bee n
a ha rd fight eve ry nig h t of my incarceration, a nd it hasn 't come cheap, I
don 't want to give it away just because
sh e loo ks good a nd j ust because it's
bee n a lo ng time.
A lot o f my self-respect is tied up
n ot in my own pe rceptio ns of myself,
which change d e pendi ng on whethe r
it's a good day o r bad d ay, but simply
in who I am , wha teve r 41 years h ave
p rod uced. Me. Th e respect I have
fo r m yse lf is what's bee n sa lvage d
fro m tl1e wrecks, the losses, the wornout parts of my life. My self-respect is
vuln erable and also the only sig nificant thing I' ll walk out the gate witll
10 m o nth s fro m n ow. So I've got
something to risk, a nd some thing to
bargain with: my body, my passions-

dumb enough to get caught, but I' m
no t so suicidally stupid as to take a
wo ma n 's power lightly.
When I'm released, I' ll have gone
a long whil e not only wi tho ut the big
ba ng , but also without living in a twogende r society. o t only am I unabl e
to sleep witl1 women here, but I rare ly
talk to any. I don ' t eve n get to hear
th e m sa y "Th an k yo u " o r "Ple ase
come back again " in a g roce ry store
checkout line.
Ce rtain ly, o n e o f t h e ve ry first
acts of freedom I will indulge in will C.~~~~~i!f::~~,ff
be finding a woman. But not just
fo r sex. I may want to liste n to a
wo ma n 's vo ice , th e slig htly
h ig her pitch than I' m used
to he re. I may want to sit
all uniq uely mine. I'd like to
in a busy restaurant in
think th ey 're worth sh a ri n g
my ho me town, d rink
with someone, bu t not just a nyco ffe e and c h a t
wit h h e r . Me n
one.
Wh a t I a m sa yi n g is th a t
d o n ' t ch at. For
m ayb e it's a good idea to kn ow
th a t, yo u n eed
wh a t's at sta ke h e r e . Wh e n we
a different
become free citizens again , we wi ll be
e t o f che mo lder a n d close r to d eath. We' ll
icals . And
co uldn ' t care less wh a t
co mpre h e n d, rig ht d o wn in o ur
bon es, th a t the years a nd mo mhs left
she'd wa nt to talk abo ut.
a re n ' t co m in g b ac k a se co nd t im e
rll gobble up eve11' WOrd.
a round. I think we' d ra th e r spe nd
For me, it'll be live music
fro m t h e a n gels above, a n d living th a t tim e wise ly t h an was te it.
Especially whe n given th e ch oice.
proof tha t I'm home.
After cofree, who knows? She a nd
H ardy Coleman is sPrving time at the
I may n ot have any p lan s. More tl1an
anything, l'djustlike to jostle thro ugh Federal Prison Camp in Du lu th, M N.

PRISON LIFE 71

Prison Papers
Makes Me Wanna Holler
by Nathan McCall
Random House
347 pp., $21 .95

Review by Amir Fatir

Delaware Correctional Center
f I wer e asked to se nd future
a nthro po logists a d esc ription of
how it feels to be a black man in
20th cen tury America, I wo uldn 't be
able to summon u p a nyth ing be tte r
tl1an: "The h orror, tl1e h orror ... "
White people, n o malter how li be ral, sen sitive or progressive, can't d ig
it, or eve n a pproach it. Nor can black
women come near the sheer existential desolatio n , for the experience of
being the prize differs vastly from
be ing the prey.
Language is too puny to capture
a horror so th ick. It's some thing tha t
resists a nd mocks eac h e ffort t o
explai n it. It's a horror intuitively a nd
viscerally fe lt. Few black writers have
even tried to shed their soul's blood
o n paper. The task is too dauntin g.
Instead , musicians have carri ed th e
burden through d isco rdant and
clash ing sounds, a Ia Coltrane, or the
d eep, searing wails of Muddy Waters
a nd Bowli n ' Wolf. It's th e bl ues b u t
some th ing more burning a nd capable
of carrying more payload.
Befo re Nath an McCall open ed
h is dark ve ins to sh a r e t h e horror,
Ra lph Elliso n , Ri c h ard Wright a nd
C laude Brown grapp le d wi th th e
razor. Wh ite publishers seem to have
a quota t h a t permi ts one e loqu e n t
black man per gen e ration to ho lle r
o ut the horror. Nathan McCall's burd en is therefore m o m e n to u s. H is
holler is for a n entire generation and
h is voice, that of the millions of su·a ng led , scared , e n raged a nd d iseased
black m en who, for th e most p a rt,
h ave d espaired of eve n yearning to
o ne day breathe free.
Read Native Son, Invisible Man or
Mancl~ild in the Promised Land. The n
read Mall es M e Wanna H olle?· and
you ' ll smell a ste nch th at traverses
d ecades. Yo u 'll sen se that the horror
has not weakened or disengaged but
has swelled a nd is at its starkest.
The race war faced by Wr ig ht is
not essen tia lly different fro m the one
beating up o n McCall. It's the sa me
war, tlwug h n ow it' s a more sophisLicated race war, one tl1 at's eve n more

I

72 PRISON LIFE

h o rrifyi n g for you n g b lack m e n
becau se of its e lusive n ess. H ow ca n
you avo id a p u nch yo u cannot even
see be ing thrown?
But as the attacks on black me n
have muta ted , so h ave young black
men 's reactions to th ose attacks. In
Holler you sense a he igh tened intensity
of anger and a greater willi ngness to
fight back than any of McCall's literat)'
ancestors expressed . They seemed to
cling to t h e possib il ity of at le as t
detente with wh ite people. They were
willing to invest in a future in which
'vhites mig ht even tually make an effort
to be fair to blacks. Even such min or
optimism is utte rly a bse nt in H oller.
McCall is having none of a rosy future,
a cessation of the war, a place of psychological o r bodily refuge for black
men in this socie ty:
For those who'd lihe answers I have no
pithy social formulas to end bladt-on-black
violence. But I do know that I see a
younger, meaner genera tion out there

guys, who now controlled my fanner turf I
eased back to my em- and left becau se I
knew this: that if they saw the world as I
once did, they believed they had nothing to
lose, including life itself.
It made rne wanna holler and throw
ufJ both my hands.

Fo r so me reaso n-be it a museme nt, gui lt or economics-th e white
publishi ng world pu ts out a few blac k
books now and t h e n. Black wome n
write rs have been first to sp eak their
p eace, to give voice to their pe rspective, experie n ces a nd aspirations in
America. With McCall' s book, th e
brothers get th eir turn:
The fellas and 1 were hanging out on
our corner one afternoon wizen the strangest
thing happened. A while bay . . . co.me pedaling a bicycle casually through the neighborhood . . . "Look! What that uwtherfucka do in' rid in' through here?! I s he
craaaaazy ?! "

s

McCall and his "stickmen " ra n
after h i m. T h ey caug h t him a nd
knocked h im off his bike . Wh ile beating him , kic king h im a n d watching
th e b lood "gush from his mouth ,"
McCall reme mbered:
Every time I dnwe 11!)'foot into his balls,
I felt bette1;· with each blow delivered, 1 gritted
my Leeth as I remembered some recent racial
slight: "THIS is for all the times ·you followed
me around in stores ... and THIS is for the
times you treated me lihe a nigger. .. And
THIS is for the C.P.-Ceneral PTinciplejust 'cause you while. "

now-more lost and alienated than we
were and jJk1cing even less value on life.
We were at least touched by TOle models;
this new V!Lnch is totally estmnged from
the black mainstream ... l've come to f ear
that of the many things a black man can
die from, the ji1-st may be mge-his own or
someone else's. For that Teason, J seldom
stick around when I stop on the blod1. One
day not long ago, I spotted a few familia r
faces hanging out at the old haunt, the 7E leven . I wheeled into the pm·king lot,
strode over and high-jived the guys 1 knew.
Within moments, I sensed that I was in
danger. J f elt hostile stm·es from those f
didn 't /mow.
I was frightened by these younger

McCall stepped o nto the a ll-toofamiliar path trod by million s of b lack
me n around h im. H e transferred to a
mostly whi te school where h e e xperie n ced racism with o u t the protective
i nsu latio n prov ided b y a ll-black
sch ools; he persuaded his mother to
tra n sfer him back to the a ll-blac k
school; he started chasing gi rls, participa ted in gang ra pes ("n·ains"), n·ied
h is ha nd at an assortment of criminal
h ustles a nd was eventually busted a nd
sen t to the pe nite ntia ry for armed
robbe ry.
Since tl1e reputed term ina tio n of
slave•)', prison has been a black man 's
rite of passage. Like a ll initiatOJ)' rites,
it can either make or break you. It can
drive you past the borders of madness
or broil you in to an enlighte nment
that makes you an inner city sage.
It's neve r th e asinine, c ri ppling,
nco-racist "re h abi lita tion " progra ms
th at give birth to a Nathan McCall in
p riso n . It's the immin e nt a nd ever-

prese nt fi g h t fo r o n to logical b e ing
that forces a few b lack me n in p ri son
to yank out stuff that's best a nd most
invu ln e rabl e inside th e m. Fo r eve ry
Malcolm X o r Natha n McCall th e re
a re a hun dred th o u sa nd sni tching
weasels who get ground into the most
path e tic people they can be.
There were moments in that jail when
the confinement and heat nearly dmve me
mad. At those times, I desperately needed to
take 1n)' thoughts beyond the concrete and
steel. When I felt 1·estless tension 1ising, I'd
tTy a?~)•thing to calm it. I'd slapbox with
other inmates until ! got exhausted or play
chess until my mind shut down. When all
else Jailed, I'cl pace the cellblodt pe1imeter lihe
a caged lion. Sometimes, other inmates fighting the temptation to give into madness
joined me, and we'd jJace together, round
and round, and taiJt for hours about anything that got ow· minds off our mismy.

McCall develo ped a n appe tite for
books and d iscovered Richard Wrig ht's
Native Son. H e also took no tice of the
priso n wo r ld fro m a ll a n g les, th e
guards, the inma tes, the prison money
hustles-and most o f all, he analy-Led
himself. While the books were catalysts,
his own vision of himself and his e nvironme nt was the stuff that fo r-med his
social enlightenmen t.
Mahes Me Wanna H oller shows how
the black ma n is never u nconscious of
his blackness. H is very skin , his utter
p os iti o n in t h e cos m os, is al wa ys
launched from the f1.mda mental reality of his blackn ess. Try as he will, h e
ca n n ever fu lly e nj oy th e n o tion o f
just being human , al ive or Ame rican.
His very existence is modified by a n
adjective . If yo u' re luc ky e no ug h to
rejoice in being black, you have half a
ch ance to greet a new day with a measure of h op e. If you are like the maj ority, yolll- basic blac kness is foreve r an
emblem of suffering a nd shame.
When McCall soug h t a j ob, his
blackness and white people's reactions
to it were equally as prominent in his
co nscio usness as the j o b itse lf. If he
dated a woman, the scarcity of eligible
black me n became a pressing issue in
his mind . Wh en he broke up wi th his
children 's mothers, the legacy of black
me n abando ning the ir children haunted and often d ictated his actions. When
his job as a reporter required tha t he
report on crimes, the d efendants' race
called to aware ness his own and how
whi tes wo uld view t he rest o f b lac ks
b eca use o f t h e act io n s o f th e few.
McCall never felt free to just be, to just
act; in h is every momen t, he could feel
the tug of the chain of history.
White people gene rally ex pect to
b e loved, adm ired a nd n ea rl y wor-

shipped in the ir every encounter with
p eo pl e of d a rke r hue. Wh e n t h e ir
expectations are n't met, they are either
amazed or outraged. Often, whe n traveling abroad, they are astonished and
aghast over the pe rvasive hatred th ey
feel from Third World people. McCall
ske tch ed that sam e a nimosity felt by
re la ted people, n o t in some fo reign
land, but right in the middle class black
sn·eets of Portsmouth, Virginja.
McCall recounts a job inte rview
over d inne r with a white editor a t an
an exclusive Norfolk restaurant:
I was the onl)• blad1 there besides the
waiters and the kitchen help. The room was
filled with white people: flour-faced, bluehaired women and bald-headed, bloated
men in expensive pinstripe suits. T he whole
place had a hostile f eel. It was the /lind of
private club where they would've called the
cops if I had shown u jJ alone.
Dressed in rny one and only blue shirt,
I sat u jJright, jumbling every now and
then, trying to find a resting place for my
sweating hands. Sitting there across from
my host, I remin ded myself, Remember the
R u les. Blend, as much as your j:nide will
allow. Speak in crisp, clea1· Queen's
English, hardening the d's, the t 's, and the
"ing's. "And don't f orget: Sit straight, but
not tall. T hat might be tln·eatening to him.
... We taUwd j m· more than two ltou1-s,
serving but/shit back and jm·th lihe hard
volleys on a tennis court. As time wore on, I
f elt worse. From the jJained smiles to the
strained conversation, the exchanges wm·e a
sickening series of pathetic lies on both mtr
parts. 1 hated him and he feared me. 17um
why were we both smiling so much ?
When dinner ended, I was drained. I
feU like I'd spent all evening pimping myself.
I needed to go somewhere really bladt .. .

These black men who "make it" suffer nearly as deeply as those who don' t.
Even after signing on with the Atlan ta
Jaumal Constitution and late r with 77te
Washington Pos~ McCall fel t besieged by
racism. His rage eve r simme red and
often threatened to boil over.
If su c h d es pair is e ng ulfing so
ma ny, how long can we endure as a
so cie ty with o ut som e fund a m e nta l
c ha nge? Fo rge t t h e a b s u r diti es
mo u th ed by comfo rtable blacks a nd
whites alike that th ings have sure gotten b e tte r fo r b lac ks sin ce C ivil
Rights. The blacks on the streets and
in t he prisons a nd e ve n in the suburbs know that th ey a re vic tims o f
civil r-ig hts, not its be n eficiaries. They
believe in th eir bones th at Ame rica is
inte n tionally e ngaged in subjugating,
in ca p ac itatin g a n d p e rh aps eve n
exte rminating the m. T heir voices go
unheard and th eir fears trivialized.
Like abused children of alcoholic,

psychotic mothers, few blacks can bring
themselves to completely hate America,
the only mothe r they've known. Its hypocritical id eals of brotherh ood and
equality have been inscribed in our very
DNA. Yet n o san e person can expect
that blacks will quie tly accept the inexorable trek to high-tech gas chambers.
Nathan McCall's Malies Me Wanna
Holle1· is o n e b lack m a n 's p r im al
scream ab out th e factors th at have
produced t h e co n d it io n s fo r rac ial
con flagratio n. White people need to
read it and dec id e wh a t they would
ch a nge if they lived in a counu1' that
constan tly made them wan t to holler
a nd th row u p th eir han ds.
Amir Fatir is an incarcerated w1iter whose
most 1·ecent book inte1y1rets the M uslim
Lesson, entitled Why Does Mu ha mmad
& Any Muslim Murder the Devil?

The Ice Opinion

by Ice T
as told to Heidi Siegmund
St. Martin's Press
199 pp., $17.95

Review by Je nnifer Wynn
"I didn 't write this book to make
you like me," Ice T states in the preface of h is new book, The Ice
Opinion .. . Who Gives a Fuck? In th e
same no b ullshi t, take-it-for-what-it's
worth manner that has helped establish him as one of the most ou tspoke n
and artic ulate ra ppers a round, Ice T
sounds off on such issues as racism ,
the g hetto, drugs a nd sex. H e refers
to his book as "one-stop shoppi ng for
anyone who wants to docum ent what's
on my m ind."
,......-,..-....,..-..,.--.,.,_

If you've listened to h is m usic, you
won 't find much more in this qu ic k,
easy read. But if you ' re curious about
the mi n d set of th e ma n who won a
Gra m my awa rd for Best Ra p Artist,

PRISON LIFE 73

On the subject of women, relation- · abandons you. The ultimate spiritual
ships and sex, parts of The Ice opinion experience is found in sex.
will leave women cold. Despite his prac"We've been compared to a sex
tice of "telling it like it is" in his music, cult," Ice T explains, "because we
he advocates a different approach believe the meaning of life-the Holy
when it comes to relationships:
Grail-is found in the male and female
Some things are better left unsaid. connection, in reproduction...The act
Anybody who tells you they would rather of love is an act of euphoria. Without
you be totally honest is lying. Your girl- drugs, without any stimulant, sex allows
friend might say, 'Tell me, tell me, tell me. you to travel through time or space.
At least be honest. I want to know. ' Shes One-percenters also accept nonmonagreaUy saying, 'Lie better than you've ever amous relationships: one can, and
should, have as many partners as he or
lied in your life. '
she can love. "Romantic impulses
When he gets into his theory on should be dictated from your heart to
why men steal, it's easy to see why femi- your head," Ice T postulates. "Denying
nists and Ice T don't mix. "'f women your human instincts is unnatural."
didn't like criminals," he says, "there
In the final chapter, the author
would be no crime. If a thief knew rehashes the controversy over his song,
wom~n wouldn't accept the things he
"Cop Killer," which last year came
buys with stolen money, he wouldn't under attack by politicians, cops (natusteal." Yeah, right
rally), parents and the Religious Right
As he does at the end of every Dea~ threats were sent to employees
chapter, the author wraps up his dis- of Warner Brothers, including the
course on women, men and sex with president Despite intense pressure to
the line, "That's my opinion. Who can the album, Warner Brothers stuck
gives a fuck?" Indeed, certain sections by ICe T, determined not to let the
of the book, with their unsubstantiated cops or any other group control the
claims and machine-gun style of writ- entertainment it produces. Ultimately,
ing, leave the reader thinking: not me. it was Ice T himself who pulled the
Ice T accepts that most people will record, for fear that someone at
never understand a rapper's point of Warner was going to get killed.
view, especially white America. He says
Targeted at police who are brutal
listening to rap is like eavesdropping and cot:rupt, the lyrics say it all:
on a phone conversation between two
Cop Killer, its better you than me.
buddies. "When white America picks
Gop
Killer, fuck police brutality!
up the phone, they say, 'Gosh! Why do
Cop
Killer, I know your family's
you talk like that?' And we answer,
'Because we're talking to each other. grieuin''
Fuck 'em!
This is how we talk. If you don't like it,
Cop Killer, but tonight we get even.
hang up the fuckin' phone.'"
Ice T's response to the public outIn addition to a brief summary of
his life before fame (he was orphaned cry was, characteristically, "Fuck 'em.
at age 15, moved to California, joined Our parents are grieving for the death
the military, worked a 9-to-5 job, of our kids. They've been grieving for a
became a jewelry store robber, then long time, and the number of dead
began rapping), Ice T writes with con- cops can't even begin to compare to the
viction and clarity about his spiritual number of dead kids." He goes on to
beliefs and his general philosophy on cite a compelling statistic: In 1991, three
life. Having never found solace in orga- cops were killed in the entire state of
nized religion, and believing that "no California.·That same y~ar, 81 people in
religion is more powerful than one's LA alone were killed by cops in ·proven
Ice T says he values the respect of own spirit and determination," Ice T police-misconduct cases.
The final pages of The Ice opinion
prisoners more than anyone else. formed a group called the One Percent
·Having been incarcerated himself on a Nation with members of his crew in '91. sum up the author's approach to life,
number of occasions but never
"The main premise is that one which, given his success, is probably an
"stretched," he can empathize with and percent of the world doesn't wait to effective one: "Don't try to guide or
appreciate the views of people behind seek out heaven in the afterlife; we control everything around you, just live
bars. ''These guys have made their mis- strive for it now. We're not suckered it Get on the muthafucka and ride it
takes, and they are doing their time, in by religions that offer death pay- hard. It's gonna throw you, it's gonna
but they represent the real heart of offs; we already know how to find hap- hurt you, and it's gonna break you, but
hardcore street America." As for sell- piness and how to live in love in this the minute you try to control it, you'll
outs like Bryant Gumbel and "crazed lifetime." According to the One learn that it's bigger than you."
bitches" like Tipper Gore, Ice T spares Percent philosophy, the worst hell
no invectives. Gumbel, he says, "is the one can experience is not physical
epitome of the black-skinned white pain, but the emotional pain tha·t
person who would call gangbangers comes when you lose a family memniggers."
ber, or when the love of your life

was named Best Male Rapper by
RoUing Stone and was catapulted into
national controversy with the release
of his song "Cop Killer," then it's
probably worth the money.
Moving briskly from subject to
subject, Ice T offers a few original
insights and many truisms, especially
when it comes to the subject of prisons and prisoners. Why do so many
cons return to a life of crime when
they get out? Because "crime is the
only job that will employ you without
discriminating," the rapper observes.
As a result, Ice T points out,
America is creating a convict and exconvict culture. If the government
continues to put people away at the
same rate it is today, over the next 15
years 20 percent of the people on the
street will be ex-cons, which can be
good news for the incarcerated: "It
means that the next time you meet
somebody behind a desk, they may
have a relative locked up, and they
might be sympathetic toward hiring
you ...This convict subculture will be
very powerlul once it gets started."
Expounding on a line from his
album Original Gangster ("Slavery's
been abolished except for the convicted felon"), he attacks the 'just-us" system, the insanity of building more prisons and society's misplaced emphasis
on punishment over rehabilitation and
education. Pointing out the costs of
America's approach to "correction,"
Ice T offers an interesting analogy:
Each one of us has a criminal in storage we pay for and we take care of through
· taxes . . . I'd rather take my money and
send my. criminal to college, give him a
chance to get a job, so he can be a productive part of the system. Most people don't
even know that it's cheaper to send your
criminal to college-even to a private college-than to keep him in prison. At
Stanford, you pay around $21,000 a year
to send a person to college-but to keep
your criminal in prison, you're paying
$47,000 to $75,000 a year!

74 PRISON LIFE

IN-CELL COOKING
Chef's Special of the Month:
Jailed Pad Thai Noodles
1 pkg Oodles of Noodles (chicken or veggie)
1/ 2 cup instant rice
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1 clove garlic
1 very small onion, finely diced
1/ 3 cup chopped pineapple
1/ 4 cup raisins
1I 4 cup granola
dash curry powder
dash paprika
dash red hot pepper
2 tablespoons sugar

Boil 1 1/ 2 cups water. Mix ingredients. Le t stand 5-10
minutes. Eat.
A lberl J. Kinan
Enfield, CT

Shrimp Noodles Supreme
1 Oodles of Noodles, shrimp flavor
1 can of shrimp
3 small packets of mayonnaise
1 packet of Parmesan cheese
1 packet of Kraft French dressing (2 oz.)
1 packet of shrimp soup flavoring (comes with Oodles
of Noodles)

In a cup, fix noodles as directed on package (heat in
boiling water for three minutes or more.) Drain off
broth (o r retain it, according Lo your taste.) In a separate container, mLx dressing, mayo, Parmesan cheese
and shrimp soup flavoring. Add can of shrimp. Mix
sauce in with noodles as desired .
Lesley Prince Hemt
Creensville Correctional Center, jmTalt, \lA

Christine's Frito Chili Pie
1 can chili
1 medium bag Fritos com chips
1 bag shredded cheddar cheese

Crush corn chips into bou om of casserole dish. Add
1/ 2 cu p of water to chili, stir and heal well. Pour over
corn chips and stir lighLiy. T op with shredded cheddar.
Ch1istine WilLs
Albion ConectionalFacility, New Yorh

rfJR OEcftERT
Heart to Heart Peanut Butter Raisin Fudge
1 22 oz. jar smooth Peanut Butter
1 12 oz. bag brown sugar (can sub. white sugar)
3 oz. (1/ 2 bag) powdered sugar (optional)
1 12 oz. bag shredded coconut
1 12 oz. bag raisins
1 newspaper (Sundays are better)
1 24" piece butcher paper (or just clean paper will do)
1 cardboard soda flat

Line the inside of soda Oat with butche r paper or simila r cl ea n paper (yo ur food goes o n thi s p a p e r ).
Combine peanut buLLer, b rown suga r, ra isi n s a nd
coconut o n Ll1e butcher paper. Mix or knead wiLI1 yo ur
hands until you have one large gob of potential fudge.
P lace gob in center of butche r pape r and fla tten evenly
with your ha nds until you have it about one inch thick.
Coat the surface with powdered sugar. Leaving fudge
on paper, wrap with abo ut 10 layers of newspa per LO
absorb oil and harden fudge. You can also put fudge in
a plastic bag to protect from ants, roaches and othe r
pests. Let fudge sit for 24-36 hou rs to cure a nd develop.
Toni & j ohnnie Rivers
Hend1y Co1Tectionnl Institution, Florida

PRISON LIFE 75

HOROSCOPE *ASTROLOGY
What you need is a

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an incarcerated person a re
predicted and forewarned in
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76 PRISON LIFE

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Prism Optical has been selling prescription eyeglasses to inmates across the
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men and women, including designer styles, metal frames, and sports glasses,
discounted 30-50%. You can have your prescription lenses ground by Prism
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Native Am.erican Perspective
A Jury of Peers and All That Bull
The white man's court t·ries Indians,
not by their· peers, nor by the customs of
their people, nor the law of their land, but
by superiors of a different race, according
to the law of a social state of which they
have an imperfect conception, and which
is opposed to the traditions of their history,
to the habits of their lives.
-U.S. Su p re me Court, 1883

by Little Rock Reed

th e po lice and news media that I was
very mild-ma nne red a nd po lite fo r a
trial. With the exception of the defen- ro b be r-nothing at all like in th e
dants who are wealthy enough to retain m ovies. As a res ult, o n e n ewspa p e r
exceptional legal counsel, few CJiminal even referred to me as a "gentlema nly
defe ndan ts of any kind ever make it to gangster." Whe n I was arrested , th e
trial in the white man's coUI"ts.
charges for which I was indicted by the
From 1987 to 1991 I conducted a grand ju ry fo r th e single d rug sto re
survey of the indictmen ts of 612 con- robbery I just d escribed were:
victed felo ns in O hio's prison system. -two counts of aggravated robbe1y
T rad itio n ally, Ind ia n tr ibes h ad In each case the priso ners had pled because I toolt money and drugs
their own stri ct codes of conduct, so e ith e r g uilty o r n o co ntest to th e -one count of hidnapping for each person
there was little need fo r crimin al sanc- charges fo r which they were ultima tely who was in the stou during the robbery
t io n s t o be p laced aga inst t h e m sent to prison. But before I reveal the (According to the law, if a robber· says,
through any formal judicial srructure. results of th e survey, I will present my "Freeze, this is a sticlt-v.fJ!" he is guilty of
If an Indian committed an unaccept- own case to you, as I am one of those hidnapjJing anyone who freezes because in
able act, the matter was resolved within 612 prison ers.
doing so, they m·e restrained of their liberty)
the t ri be, between th ose individua ls
I comm itted an armed robbery of -one count of drug theft
a nd t h e imm e dia te
-Felonious assault
fa mil y
m e mb ers
(this charge was the
involved. T h e ultimate
result of one of the cusgoal of this process- a
tomers stating to the
process tha t was te mpolice and rejJorters that
p e red with me rcy- was
when she realized the
reconciliatio n, not punstore was being Tobbed,
ishme nt. In tl1e case of
she "almost had a heart
Crow Dog (a La ko ta),
attach. " Although her
fo r exampl e, a d iscusstatement was merely a
sion between the famifigure a speech, and
lies of C row Dog and
even though this same
Spo tte d T a il (w h om
customer· to ld jJolice
C row Dog h ad killed)
and reporters that I was
satisfied everyone con"awfully polite for a
cern ed and th e ma tter
robber, " it was totally
was resolved. Everyone,
irrelevant, according to
that is, except fo r nonthe law.)
Indians wh o n e ith er
-having weapons
lived am ong the Lakota
while under· disability
n or had any legitimate
-fow· counts of possession of c1-iminal tools
in te res t in La kota
affa irs. T h e n o n-In (a pajJer bag, a piece of
dian s were simp ly ou tjJaper, and the like).
raged th a t th e ir own
My co u rt-app"morally correc t" phio inted a ttorn ey asslosophy was n o t being
ure d m e t h at a le xerc ised. And so it
tho ugh it wasn ' t fair,
came to be that Indians
I would be convicted
PRISON
~l~-·
were rried in th e white
of eve ry ch arge b eman's courts.
cause, techni cally, I
To this d ay, I a m Illustration by Many Voelker
was g ui Ity of eac h
u naware of a ny instan ce in which a n a drug sto re in C levela nd, th ough I one, even if th e only crime I knowingly
Indian defendant has received a rrial by t oo k m eas u res t o see th a t no o n e and inte ntio n ally commi tted was th e
jury of h is or her peers in a federal or would get hurt in the robbery. I took single robbe ry of a d ru g store. My
state court, much less one in which an money and several types of drugs fro m attorney told me tha t if I cooperated
Indian has received a fair rrial. O ne of the store, all of which were listed on a with the prosecutor by pleading guil ty
th e g rave injustices th at plagu e th e piece of paper I had brought wi tl1 me, to just a coupl e of th e ch a rges, h e
white man's system is "plea bargai ning." a n d eac h of whi c h I placed in to a could arrange to h ave tl1e re maining
Of course, it is n ecessary fo r th e paper bag I had also broug ht into the charges d ropped. H e told me that if I
Indian to be tried in order to receive a store. After the robbery, each of the would no t coope rate with tl1e prosecufair rrial, but few Indians even make it to people who had been in the store told tor in tl1is manner, h e would be pow-

PRISON LIFE 77

erless to defend me. If I took the case were coerced into pleading guilty or
to trial, he said I could expect to be no contest because their courtconvicted and sentenced to prison for appointed lawyers refused to investieach and every charge. He pulled out gate the charges or prepare a real
his calculator, pushed a few buttons, defense, choosing instead to "encourshook his head in feigned sorrow and age" the prisoner to "cooperate with
proclaimed, "I think we better cooper- the prosecutor." Only 8 % said they
ate with the prosecutor, because we're did commit the crimes for which they
looking at 59 to 195 years if we take a pled guilty or no contest and felt that
stand at trial." As if '\ve" were going to they got a fair deal. A hundred percent were instructed by their courtdo the time together.
I was young, scared and inexperi- appointed lawyers to state for the
enced in the machinations of the record (in the court room) that no
criminal justice system so I believed plea bargains were made in their cases
him. Who would've thought that a and that they were pleading guilty or
prosecutor could be so dishonest as to no contest of their qwn free will. Fiftyhave me indicted for all those charges three percent stated that they
knowing that the only crime I commit- received stiffer sentences than they
ted was a single armed robbery? I pled were promised in return for their
guilty to one count of aggravated rob- pleas of guilty or no contest.
The results of the survey clearly
bery and one count of drug theft-two
convictions for one crime: double _ suggest that the overwhelming majorijeopardy. I received the maximum sen- ty of prisoners in the United States are
tence allowable at that time for each victims of coercive "plea bargaining"
charge, and the sentences were to run and have never experienced a trial.
One may argue that it doesn't
concurrently: 7 to 25 years.
Similarly, of the 612 prisoners make sense that an innocent person
whose cases were reviewed in my sur- could plead guilty to crimes not comvey, 100% pled either guilty or no mitted. But co.nsider the circumcontest to the charges they were sent stances: You have no money and must
to prison for. Forty-one percent swore therefore rely on a court-appointed
that they were innocent and that they attorney whose only energy expended

Lee's Time
(continued from page 55)

a fit. Then this cop came to the door
with four thick paperbacks and tossed
them through the slot. Now I was trying to read Hawaii, by James
Michener, but all I kept thinking
about was how much I wanted to be in
Hawaii.
We call the hole 'three hots and a
cot.' Actually it's three of everything:
cold food, cold water, cold weather;
three hours a week outside; and three
showers a week. What I hate the most
is never being able to get hot coffee.
Every time they come for me to
go outside for recreation, I'm ready.
Segregation's rec yard is the size of a
basketball court, and it's chopped up
into six little cages, each with a basketball hoop at the end. Sometimes,
there's even a basketball. You walk
into the cage one at a time, then the
gate is locked. You put your hands
through a slot and they take the cuffs
off. Then you have 60 minutes.
Beyond the cages is an open, grassy
space but ies off-limits except for pris·
oners on landscape detail.
Keisha and Cakes appeared in
that grassy area pushing an old hand
lawnmower. They were hoping they

78 PRISON Lin

wouldn't be stopped but here it was
40 degrees out and the snow was still
on the ground; I could see my breath
and had to jump up and down to stop
my teeth from chattering. I had no
coat. They came to about five yards
from the fence.
"What's happening, my nonnubian sister?" Cakes asked.
I smiled. "I feel like a fucking
corpse, but what else is new?" I hoped
they knew what was happening. Cakes
said something to Keisha, then started stamping her feet. She took a cigarette and tried to light it, but couldn't
because of the wind.
"I'd really like to get that whore,"
Cakes said. "I really would. Lee, it's all
fucked up."
"They lynched him, Lee. They
lynched him." Keisha sounded
hoarse. jane got transferred to some
cushy joint, Maria got parole, and
your poor ass is lying down for a year.
But Wilson, they gave him 20 years. It
was on the news. We saw it on TV. His
wife and kids were in the courtroom
and they all came out crying." Keisha
kicked the ground.
Cakes hollered: ''What really pisses me off is watching all those happy
crackers running around here like
they won a prize or something. "

on the case has been used to get you
to plead guilty. Court-appointed attorneys have a clear motive for this, since
they are paid the same regardless of
whether they win or lose a case; therefore, they make more money in less
time if they can convince their client
to plead guilty or no contest so they
don't have to conduct an investigation
or prepare a defense. In some cases,
you are also informed that other
county jail prisoners who may or may
not know you have agreed to testify
that they saw you commit the crime or
that you told them you committed the
crime, and this is, of course, their
"plea bargain." Their own charges,
which may or may not have anything
to do with your case, will be dropped
in return for their testimony against
you, and you have no alibi witnesses
because you were at home alone at
the time of the offense for which you
are charged. And if you've got a prior
criminal record, you know it will
weigh heavily against you in the minds
of the jurors-especially if your prior
conviction was also based on a guilty
plea, which the unknowing jurors will
consider as conclusive proof that you
are, in fact, a common criminal. A
habitual criminal.
Then Keisha said something, but
I couldn't hear her because the wind
ate her words.
"What?" I yelled at her.
"Oh shit, I feel like I should be in
there instead of you. My advice sure
didn't help anyone."
Keys. I heard keys rattling behind
me.
''Time's up McMann," the officer
barked.
"Damn," I thought. "Okay," I told
the cop. ']ust let me tie my shoes." I
turned back around.
"Keisha," I yelled. "Cut it out. I'm
all right with it. I really am. It's cool.
It's Wilson who got destroyed."
"Thank you," Cakes said. "You
hear that Keisha? I told you she'd say
that. She's alright. Lee is alright."
And I was.
"Lee's Time" won Second Place in the
1993 PEN Writing Awards for Prisoners
contest. Entries for poetry, fiction, nonfiction or drama should be submitted between
January 1 and November 1, 1994.
Winners will be announced in early winter. Prizes of $100, $50 and $25 are
awarded. Send entries to: PEN Writing
Awards for Prisoners, 568 Broadway, New
York, NY 10012.

Celllnate of the Month
Rap Sheet
Name:
Ase:
Birthplace:
ConVIction:
Sentence:
Time Served:
Ambitions:

Kerry Rodney Lee

46

Rowe, Georgia
Murder
20years
16years
To start all over

Southe rn California, which was
passing through Albuque rque.
The first thing you notice are the With the support of a n eyewiteyes: deep, dark and secr e tive. You n ess (who later recan ted h e r
can see the con fli cti ng emotions, testimony) the district attorney
which ma ke you want to turn away. was a ble to quickly convict and
But instead you stay, and listen to his se nd th e four bikers to death
tale of crime and redemptio n.
row.
Kerry Rodn ey Lee became a runFor 22 months, Kerry Lee
away at the age of 14. During his ra n. Physically, he was free, but
teens h e roa med the co un try, and by mentally h e was e nslaved-torthe time he reach ed his 20's he was men ted by h is thoughts, th e
making mo ney the way most rebel- decision he made to run a nd the conrunaways did: drug smuggling.
seque n ces he'd face should h e turn
In the mid '70s Ke nr Lee was liv- h imself in. It wou ld be him or the m
ing in Albuquerque, New Mexico, sentenced to die or to a life in prison.
spending most of his time at a local bar With h elp from God, he says, Kerry
with bikers, college-kids, drug dealers Lee decided to come clean.
an d users. It was there that Lee was to
"Th ey didn ' t do it," h e says. "I
make h is last score and commit one of decided I was wi lling to go to the gas
the most sensational crimes in th e his- chambe r and meet my maker as long
tory of the Southwesl.
as I did wha t was right. It's like being
Kerry Lee h ad met a college stu- patriotic to the end. You 're going to
dent, Wi lliam Ve lten, J r., who wan ted do it because yo u believe in it a n d
to buy a shipme nt of Mexican weed tha t's all you need."
that Lee had just run in . Today that
On ce he'd made th e decision,
a mount of dope wou ld fetch in the there was n o turning back. But Kerry
six figures. They a rranged to mee t in couldn't find a lawyer wh o would repthe foo thi lls of the Sandia Moun tains resent him as long as he was choosing
to make the exchange. According to to incriminate himself. At the suggesKenr, when h e arrived h e was dou- tion of a lawyer who agreed to take
b le-crossed. Velten tried to kill him.
the case, Ke nr tried to give th e state
In th e life or d ea t h stru ggle, enough information to show that the
Kerry shot and killed the college kid. bikers d idn't kill Yelton, without
And th en, hi g h on T equ ila and incriminating himself. The district
Secconal, h e muti lated the body in attorney's office didn 't want to hear
su ch a way that some claimed it was a it. They h ad a n air-tight case a n d
ritualistic killing.
wanted to kee p it that way. (It was
It had nothing to do with twisted later learned that the d istrict attorrituals, Ke rry said. "I was angry. I was ney's office and the cops had manua ngry a t myself because I had killed factured and suppressed evidence.)
someon e. I know tha t basically I'm a
Ke nr knew that a full adm ission
good person and I couldn't believe I from him was the only way th e b ikers
had ki lled. I went crazy."
wo u ld be fr eed. " I wanted to get
Police discovered th e crim e the those guys o u t of prison no matte r
next day, but to Ke r ry's a mazeme nt what," he says.
th ey didn ' t come looking for him.
Almost two years after the crim e
Instead , they pegged it on four me m- was comm itted, Ke rry was sen tenced
bers of the Vagos Motorcycle Club, a to 20 years in th e slammer, and th e
notorio us outlaw biker group from bike rs were freed.

by George Gray

And now, after nearly two decades
of hard time, Kenr's bid is drawing to
a close. Recently, he went before tl1e
parole board but was denied. He feels
the board was influe nced by a book
about his case written by the brotl1er of
the attorney who prosecuted him. The
book, "Against the Wind," by David
Friedman, is fictional, yet Ke n}' feels it
was written to be used against h im. He
is suing Friedman for defamation of
character.
Meanwhile, an author wh o did a
g r eat deal of research i n~o K~:ry
Lee's case, Daniel J ohnson, ts wnong
a book o n i t called "Gr ave
Conseque nces." The autho r may be
call ed in as an ex p e rt witness in
Kerry's suit against Friedman.
Regardless of whether or n ot he's
offered parole, Kerry won't ta ke it.
"They want yo u to j ump t hrou g h
hoops whi le you' re before them and
when you get o ut, the P.O. is just
waiting to kick you b ack in. You ' re
just ano the r notch on his g un."
Fortunate ly for Kerry, h e's just
bee n d eclassified from a max im um
security LO a medium security prisone r. H e adheres to a r igo rou s
we ightlifting sch ed u le to keep hi mself together.
Toying wit h a gold cruc ifi x
around his neck, Kerry talks abou t his
immedi ate future. "I ' ll just d o my
own time like a ma n, and when it's
over I'll start my life again. "

PRISON LIFE 79

I CAN 8ELI~VE "ffilS
IS HAPPENING IO ME.
W-lAI 1-\AVE. J: '()o~E..t
"I'M NoBOPY NOW.

Go O DAMN IT
MA'(BE Too

WEL-L-, • .

ll:

80

PRISON LIFE

I

I DIP l l WE.\...L...

WAS A.
1-lE.RO.

WRITTEN BY CHRIS COZZONE/ART BY ROB SULA & MARTY VOELKER
I UP\-\UD 1"1-lE

LA~.

~YMBcL ?U~E~ '11\A~

8€CAUSE I

r WASP.

"mE. R.A<!>
W/\5 A B!<eAn-1\NG LIVING

I..A~G:.Eg -WI->.N- UFE MA~\.

SUY\:..I<Hl-,KO

DE'DICA\EP Tb FIG.~TING ..,--Ll,._,,._
MAKE OUR COUNTRY UN

PRISON LIFE 81

Attica-Then
(continued from page 3 7)
Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller
ex p laine d h e was co n stitution a lly
pro hibited from gra nting e ithe r
dem and. l-Ie implied that to give in
would be to invite anarchy.
Commissioner Oswald decided
there were to be no further negotiations in the exercise yard . H e may
have feared tha t Gov. Rockefe ller's
final rejection of their demands fo r
amnesty might have made the priso ne rs even more angry a nd unpred ic tab le than they'd been in previous
n egotiat in g
sessio n s.
Negotia ting, Oswald d ecla red, h ad
to be made on neutral grounds.
The prison ers wou ldn't budge.
th ey stated, "Th e n ex t move is e ntirely up to him (Oswald)." Anythi ng
that resul ts will be the result of th e
commissio ner moving, not us."
Oswald moved at 9:45 the next
morning.
T h e full-scale assault o n Attica
resulted in more deaths by gunfire
th a n any o ther priso n ri ot in U.S.
history. Canisters of CS rio t gas (also
known as "pepper gas," is capable of
putting a victim out of commissio n
in three seconds or less) we re jetti-

soned from choppe rs into the yard
of Cellb lock D while sharpshooters
were station ed on top of the prison's
30-foot walls and within the cellblock
with o rde rs to shoot d own any pt;sone r me nacing a hostage. Wh en the
command to "move in " was give n , all
h ell bro ke loose. Rifles set up such a
staccato chatter t h ey so unded like
mach ine guns; bullets ricocheted off
the bric k walls of the prison buildings. From atop th e prison walls, you
could see bodies jerking along the
ground like puppe ts on a string.
Later, autopsies showed some bodies
to have as many as 10, 12 or 15 bullets in t.hem.
State troopers, armed to the teeth
and wearing Day-Glo orange raincoa ts, ri ot he lmets a nd gas masks,
swung into action while the reserve of
sh e riff' s
d e puties,
Na tion al
Guardsmen and Attica correction office rs h e ld b ac k until th e troope rs
needed the m. A large r force of troopers attacked the rebels from underground, eme rging with sh otguns and
rifles blazing.
T h e mop-up began abo ut an
h o ur after the troo p s storm ed th e
prison. At 12:30 p.m., an aide to the
Commission e r e m e rged fro m th e

pri son a n d a nnounc ed th e first
death toll. "There are 37 dead," he
said. "Nine of them were hostages."
Despite unfounded rumors of
brutality to the hostages (casu-ation
a nd throat-sli tting were th e most frequ e n t ly a ll eged) , autops ies co n firmed that all nine hostages died of
gu n s h ot wo unds. Since n o gu n s
were found among the prisoners following the takeover, the implicatio n
was clear: The h ostages h ad bee n
accide n ta lly sh ot to death by the ir
fe llow law-enforcement officials who
were trying to rescue the m.
T h e tragedy a t Attica sh oc ked
the American public from coast to
coast. It left in its wake not only a
legacy of horror but a slew of questions th at, today, are ever pertinent:
Ca n priso n b loodshed be avoided ?
Must our priso ns remain the grim
a nd inh umane institutions they were
a nd , for th e m ost part, sti ll are
today? If we're smart, it won't ta ke
another Attica to teach us.
Parts of this article were excerpted
from "A ilica, " !Jyj ames A. H udson.

LIBERTAD TEMPRANA
PARA

PR.Esos

MEXICANOS

Los prisioneros Mexicanos, especialmente
en el sistema federal, pueden ser transferidos
bacia Mexico para recibir libertad temprana,
y vivir cerca de sus seres queridos atraves de
los servicios del Bufete de Benninghoff. &
Ramirez. Atraves de oficinas en los Estados
Unidos y Mexico, Benninghoff & Ramirez
provee a sus clientes un servicio sin igual.
Los prisioneros transferidos pod ran recibir
libertad inmediata bajo fianza, libertad
temprana para trabajar, y tiempo libre por
buena conducta. Tambien, hemos tenido
mucho exito con prisioneros a los cuales se
les ha negado Ia transferencia anterionnente.
Favor de escribir a Ia siguiente direccion
para que reciba un folleto descriptivo preparado especialmente para prisioneros Mexicanos. Escriba a:

Charles F . Benninghoff Ill
Benninghoff & Ramirez
Post Office Box 1355
San Juan Capistrano, Calif. 92675

']usttcla yor los Mdicanos"
82

PRISON LIFE

I
1

Rich Girls
Sassy Sorority Girls
Private Ya<ht Party
Horny Hitchhikers
Motor<yde Mama
Eager Beavers
Alabomo Ali<e
Drugstore Cowgirl
Jenny & Suzi
Too Big for Brenda
Kneepad Nancy
Knob Gobblers

6
7

8

S<reamers
South of the Border Action
Rub-a-Dub in the Tub
ATale of Two Titties
Female Bonding
Pearl Neckla<e
Ba<helorelle F-orty
Secretariollnterv1ew
Tammy & Tina
Cheerleader Confessions
Ba<kstage Visitors
Stewardess on Ffight 69

(osseNtl ore prolt!lionally sealed in ~osli! and cooloin no 11plici1 gropbia or nud"rty oo covers. AI
prodoo ~ shippd in plain packaging with 'We~lern Aud"oo' moaing lobek ond no indicolion of coolenls.

..
:

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0 SIS.96/3

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Tattoo of the Month

" But have you
ever heard about
the steel? Or the
gentle breeze
that blows
through your window, if you have
one? Depression
in here never
ends. "

About the photographer:
Morrie Camhi sfJent 18
months at the Old Idaho
Pen fJhotografJhing fJrisoners and ashing them
the question: "What do
you want peojJle to /mow
about the fJrison experience?" The 1·esult was a
booh, The Prison
Experience, available
through Charles E.
Tuttle, Inc., 28 S. Main
Street, Rutland, VF
05701 for $37.50.

-Chris Sheehan
Old Idaho Pen

Poetry fro:m Prison
THE SHADOW

THE UN KNOWN CONDEMNED
" FAREWE LL"

The governor sits there,
in reflection
as the clock nears 12:01
he's thinking of re-election
and staring at the phone.
Outside the walls of the prison
a crowd begins to gather
a woman begs others to listen
but to most it doesn 't matter.
The prisoner's strapped in, waiting
they've shaved off all his hair
the chaplain stands there, praying
but no one really cares.
Justice is an elusive thing
if you're dumb, or black, or poor
money is the only thing
that matters anymore.
Two wrongs will make it right
you're present, but you're not there
you're hiding from the light
in the shadow of the chair.

-a man on death row
Missouri

Whether the facts say
it was by accident
in cold blood
or even,
"He didn't do it!"
It doesn't matter now
I've exhausted my last writ.
Perhaps if I expressed
more regret and remorse
would that make a difference ?
would it alter the course?
Does it even matter
what the circumstances may have
been?
The issue now is
the State is putting my life to an end.
For all those who have struggled
trying to stop this ultimate fate
please, don't stop now
even if for me it is too late.
There still remains the continuing
question:
Whether the innocent or guilty
full of remorse or none
what purpose is there now
in the kiffing being done?

- O'Neil Stough

Arizona State Prison

SHOULDA , COULDA, WOULDA
I shoulda split this way instead of
that way
Then I coulda got away
I woulda, if that snitchin' bitch
didn 't tell on me
If I shoulda, coulda, woulda, you see
If it wasn't for them, those and him
I wouldn't be here,
In an 8 by 10 ceff
Depressed and so melancholy

The fact, the reality is, and was,
Me!
If I shoulda,
I coulda,
I woulda,
Took a long, deep look,
Inside.
Instead of pissin' and moanin'
Blaming everything and everyone,
Except myself
Or pointing fingers and sitting in a
funk to brood
I shoulda, I coulda
Changed my attitude
Then I woulda
Not be in prison

- Christopher Devore
Michigan State Pen

PRISON LIFE 83

AskBubba
another convict prison time while
th ey're in prison. Man, what's this
n ew sch ool all abo ut? (You hi t me
and I'll tell.) What ever happened to
the o ld sch ool? (You hit me and I'll
mess you up, shitl1ead.) I sure hope
you can shed some light on this mess
for me, dog?
Randy Kiper, a.k.a. The Mountain
Kentucky Stale Pen

Dear Sir,
I wou ld like very, very much for
a free year o r two subsc ription of
t h e Prison Life magazine. And I 'm
not subsc ribin g 'cause t h at big
dope looki n g Bubba said something about ki cking some ass ...
Because I stand 6'3" and weigh 241
with no fat, I'm not worri ed one
damn bit about him. You tell him
that I will pull his spinal cord out of
that pink assh ole of h is if he gets to
acting u p.
T hanks.
Cha rles Turner,
Gatesville, Texas
Dear Chuckie:
Pink? Fuckin' A, and tight, too. A
free subscription? You sniveling, cheap
jJriclt deadbeat motherfucher. But 'cause
you made me laugh, I'll give you your
damn one-year sub. After that, yo ur
pink one's mine.
Love, Bu.bba

Hey Big Bubba,
Just read a little of your advice
you gave the cats in tl1e June issue.
Man, I thought you might be able to
give me a little advice. See dude, I
rece n tly caught a case inside t h e
walls of Kentu cky State Pen. They
said I was involved in an assau lt on
anoth er inmate. Bu t th e real sick
thing about this is the only evidence
they had was the word of the inmate
that got assaulted.
Not o nly did I lose two year s
non-restorable goodtime, but I also
stayed in the Hole fo r six months.
The h o le time went slow, and I'm
o ut on the yard again, but now I'm
going to face outside ch arges-30
years on another inmate's word.
Bubba, I h ave a ha rd time witl1
the fact that one inmate can get
84

PRISON LIFE

Randy, a. k. a. The Mountain:
I hear you, home slice. I've been
jailin' since I was 12. Got sent to refomt
school for beatin' up a gym teacher who
wmtldn 't let me play softball because I
forgot my sneakers. (11uth is, Ma was
so poo·r she couldn 't afford to buy Bubba
sneahers, and I was too ashamed to
admit it.) Anyhow, doin' time just heeps
gettin' harder because of all the punhs
and sissy shits comin' to prison nowadays. A true convict can hanlly tell
who's who and what's what anymore.
Rats mle! Look who's mling our count1y: Fuchin' holier-than-thou politically
comet, lily-livered liberals lihe Billy Boy
and Rodham!
M)' advice: Live and let live. Be
tme to yourself Stand you?" ground. Of
course you didn't assault that wimp.
Tell those jerks they can call Bubba as a
witness. He must 'a hit hisself with that
mop wringer.

To Prison Life,
First, we are ha ppy to see your
magazine is back. Second, I fee l
yo ur magazin e shou ld h ave more
sin ce re articles, like the one on
H erby Spe rlin g. Putting degenerates suc h as Bubba in your magazine will only degrade the prisoners. Wh y wou ld anyone wa nt a
smuc k with no c h ance of paro le
answering suc h serious questions?
T a ke, for instance, the individual
considering suicid e in the last issue.
Bubba said, "Do us all a favor and
ki ll yo urself. " What would society
tl1ink of us with this moron telling
anot h e r in mate to end h is life?
Where are we going h ere?
Richard Brady
Lewisburg
Dew· Rich, et al at the BU7g:
Printing letters from degenerates lihe
you will only degrade the magazine, but
fuckit, here we are.
SuTe, call me a degenerate. The boys
in New YoT!t do. Hell, that's why they
hiud me to lttrite this column for their

jJ1ison rag. Who else but Bubba wmtld
be able to give advice to a bunch of
cons?
But get you1· facts straight. I never
told that gtt)' to hill himself I said, hill
your old self and become a new p erson who has the self-esteem it tahes to
survive in this degrading, humiliating
hellhole.
See, I'm trying to raise alla you to a
new level of consciousness. Bubba
believes in transcendence. Who gives a
fuch what society thinks? Society is corrupt. Society only cares for tightwads
who TeadVanity Fair, notlmbs lihe you
reading Prison Life. And just because I
ain't never gonna get oulla the joint
don't mean I don't know a thing or two.
My body is stuch here, but my mind
ain't.

Yo Bubba,
Just received my June issu e and
I'm hopelessly infatuated with ya!
Being assigned a cell with ya wouldn't be my worst nightmare at all but
my wildest dream come u·ue. Your
picture is pasted up on my wall next
to my pillow, where I may drool to
my heart's content!
It matters not that you 're doin'
life plus 40. I' m doin' life, too. But
just knowin' a quality d ude as yourself exists in this fu cked-u p world
does my head a nd hea rt good. It
takes a realist to recognize another
realist.
If ya ever find the urge to lean
on someone, here I am Bubba! And
my ankles look nothing like Hillary's!
Witll Honor & Respect- "This
drool 's for you!"
P.S. I'm not tryin ' to be fu nny or
an asshole, either- you're mega-cool,
Bubba. I'm sorta tongue-tied now so
I'll shut the fuck up. Peace, bro!
Cheri McKee
Broward Correctional Institution, FL
Ma Cheri,
Ah, a romantic woman, now this
column's really paying off YoU7· letter
means more to me than the chump
change I get from the bays in New Yark.
You 'Te just what ol' Bubba needs to
liven up this living death they call life
in the big house.
Listen, the hottest erogenous zone of
them all is the mind. StTOhe me, bally.
I'm youn.
P. S. I'd like to tie my tongue around
you .

by

Robert H. Norris
FCI Allenwood

THE QUESTIONS:
1. When a new guy arrives on your
block, do you ask him what he's in for
and for how long instead of finding out
if he needs anything to tie him over?
2. Do you think being loud makes you
seem tough or impressive?
3. Do you constantly "borrow" from
others because your job pays you little or nothing and no one sends you
money from outside?
4. Do you get conned often?
5. Do you constantly run to "the
man" over any little injustice someone has done to you?
6. Do you have more than one tattoo?
7. Have you ever taken anything from a
convict without permission?
8. Have you ever snitched on a convict just because you knew what he or
she did?
9. Have you ever snitched to get yourself out of a jam?
10. Have you ever told a convict that
another was a snitch just because you
heard it somewhere else?
11. Have you ever borrowed something
with a promise to repay but didn't?
12. Do you often blame racial prejudice on your shortcomings?
13. Do you create fantasies about
yourself or tell outright lies to impress
others?
14. Do you feel that if you butt the
commissary or other lines that you
are getting over on the system?
15. Do you complain to anyone who
will listen about the raw deal you got
or are getting?

Rece ntly I was accused by som eone of being a n in mate, n ot a convic t. Of co urse, th at p e r so n was
wrong and I think I've convi nced him
o f su ch . But, I tho ug h t, "how can a
guy really te ll?"
When you h ave a n swere d these
questions, go bac k and do it again,
o nly this time, be ho nest.
Scoring
1. The fastest way to ge t a rumor
started tha t you ' re a rat is LO seem too
inte reste d in so meo ne 's case, especially whe n he first arrives. If he wan ts
yo u to know d e tail s, h e' ll te ll yo u
with out yo ur as king. A YES a nswe r
here gets you 10 p ts.
2. obody is impressed by a loudmo uth except himself and other loudmouths. A YES here gets you 8 pts.
3. Ain ' t nothing wrong with borrowing a li ttle to tie you over, but pay it
back whe n you say you will. Everyone
has so m e ta le nt th at can be turn ed
into a semi-legal, if no t legal, hustle. A
guy next door to me has a locker full
of sco r es just from doi ng la u ndry.
Iro n ing, typing, drawi ng, cell cleaning,
even g iving massages o r rub-downs,
(but be careful with this one) are ways
that you ca n kee p from becoming a
leech. Give yo urself8 poin ts if you' re a
leech; 4, if you' re an occasional one.
4. Al l o f us get co nn e d at so m e
point. But if you le t it h appe n repeatedly, g ive yourself 8 pts.
5. I call this th e "second donut"
syndrome, name d after a n inma te in
CA. When tl1is inmate was re fused a
second donut at breakfast, he filed a
series of g ri evances tha t exte nded a ll
th e wa y to th e fede r a l co urts. I f
yo u ' re ge tting sha fte d , by a ll means
use th e syste m aga in st itse lf . But
nobody li kes a whine r. Give yourself 8
pts. for a YES.
6. Go tc h al This was a trick qu estio n . I kn ow inma tes with nume rous
tattoos a nd convicts with none. Give
yo urself no pts. fo r e itl1e r answer.
7. If you answered YES to this quest io n , yo u ' r e not just a n inmate,
yo u 're a lo w-life scum bag. 10 pts.
8. See #7. A YES is 12 pts.
9. See # 's 7 & 8. A YES: 14 pts.
10. I o nce heard a rumor tha t I was
a snitc h. Whe n I tracked th e r umor

to its source a nd confro nted the g uy,
h e said that it was because I'd been
moved from o ne cell block for two
wee ks a nd then back. If you wa nt to
s pread it arou nd t h at so meo n e 's a
snitc h , have proof to back up your
words. But even tl1e n it's not a grea t
id ea. It's best to just stay away from
th a t p e rson . Sco re 5 pts. for a YES
witl1 proof and I 0 fo r a YES witho ut.
11. A g uy came up to me once and
said, "I need a pac k of smokes. I don ' t
h ave a ny m o n ey, a nd I'm probably
not going to get a ny, but if a nd when I
do, I'll pay you back. " I gave him tl1e
cigarelles, even thoug h I should h ave
g iven him th e advi ce in #3 instead ,
but a t least he was d irect and h onest. I
don ' t ad vocate borro wing whe n you
know you can' t re pay. If you borrow
some tl1 ing a nd promise to repay o n a
cenai n day the n find o ut you can't, at
least be man eno ug h to go to the guy
a nd tell him why. Score 8 pts. for a
YES.
12. This is LOuchy subject. Fac t is,
th e re 's more viole n ce in prison over
race tl1an all o ther problems combined.
T h ere's not much you o r anyon e e lse
can d o about that, but don ' t use your
race as a crutch. Score 8 pts. fo r a YES.
13. Most convicts can spot a habitua l li a r a mil e away a n d be li eve me,
they aren 't impressed. We a ll stre tch
th e truth from tim e to tim e , but to
c rea t e wild ta les to mak e yo urs e lf
seem special j ust ma kes you an inmate
who lies a lot. YES? 10 pts.
14. 4 pts. fo r a YES.
15. We all got a raw dea l, rig ht? We
a ll got too much time , the prosecutor
was out LO ge t us, an d tl1e police and
witnesses lie d . Okay, it happen ed to
me too, bu t give yourself l 0 pts. for a
YES.
Over 100 ·Go no funh e r-give this magazine LO someone e lse. It damn sure a in ' t
fo r you.

100-85 - I celled wi1h a g uy like you o nce,
b u t I t hink h e's n ow in th e Witness
Protection Program.
85-70 - l wouldn't go to the yard after dark
if 1 were you.
7 0-50 - I wou ldn't lo ck with you , but I
might let you shine 111)' shoes.
50-30 - You m ig ht be com e a co nvi ct if
you 're a "newbie" but right now rou 're an
inmate. Get busr!
30-10 - You 're so close LO be ing a convict,
so wh)' not try just a lillie bit harder?
1(~1- You'rea com 1ct, roujUSLslippcd

up once.

0 - YO U NEED A CELLY?

w
PRISON LIFE 85

CRIMINAL DEFENSE
TRIALS, APPEALS AND POST-CONVICTION
LAW OFFICE OF MARKS AND HOSTETLER
ATfORNEYS AT LAW
STANLEY H. MARKS

1733 High s ucci
Denver. Colorado 80218
{303) 399·0773

I (800) ?()().4544

RICH~LER

FAX (303) 333·9493

llRADFORD l. LAM
••Also
,1\\W Admitted
Admined in
in Califoc1\i:t
CaJifOfllill and Pennsylvania

d<l"~ ioolodio~

Tho loW 0[<00 Marl<s ond Hostetlcr 0 " "P'ri"wl, <ffo<ti", ond oggres>i"
finn d,.,tod to oil p - o[ orimiDal
trio\s, opp<a\s .,d post-

Stooi<Y Ma<ks
conviction
relief. is <h<co-[oood" "d past P"sid"t of ili< Colomdo Crimioal
Ookos< Sa< aod has p<aotiood orimiooll.w [O< 23 yeatS· H< is •·' <ato<l by
Mortiodolo Hobboll. Rioho<d " ""tl" hos pmotiwl O<imioal low [O< 18 yo• s.
most ""'"tly omphasioiog app<ols, ond hos ""'"'"'
'" Q.,otio
Prison inmates accused of committingcrimes while incarcerated.
W' ""' tepres"tOO dcleod"" io """"'s stote ond fOO<.al courts fumo!,hoot
the countrY in all types of serious criminal cases:
• complex white collar crimes, including securities violations
• drug cases, includingRlCO and CCE
• crimes of violence, including death penalty murders
• First Amendment cases, including pornography
• robbery, burglary, theft
• sexual offenses
• extradition, both interstate and international
• federal sentencing guidelines
0..< yws of ""'"'"' hos sonOO to stre•g\h" "' resol" to pro•id< tho host
repres<'"""' pOSlibl< fo< ilios< ao:os«< of orim<"d fowl wiili misiofotmOO pobl<
do""'ds [O< "low ond o<d«", politically mmi"tod - •i" pooishm""· ond th<
unwillingness of courts to protect and enforce constitutional rights.
I1yoo o< ""'"""' yoo knoW is io owl of
lot trial o< appro\ o< ;,
sook\og post_,.,.,ioti"' rehol, th<o call, writ< o< FAX ou< offic<. Call " toll 1reo at
1-800-11\0-4544 " call collect W' will gladly ruscuo yo" situ•""' ond pm•id<

"~""'"io~

"~""'""""'

an estimate of fees and costs.
Stanley H. Marks

Richard A. Hostetler

A
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(continued from page 4 9)

Nobe l prize-winning preside n t, for
gun ru nning and drug smuggling. My
friend , anoth er DEA agent nam ed
Cele Castillio, the agent who was in
cha rge of El Salvador whe n North 's
Contras were running cocaine by the
ton up to the U.S., has come out in a
new book and told the truth: tha t DEA
a nd the wh o le Am e ri can e mb assy
knew No rth 's people we re running
dope up to the U.S. Cele was told to
keep out of it by the U.S. Ambassador
him se lf, Edwin Co r r.
He tO ld
Cele,"It's a White House operation."

No rth may we ll b e elected
Senator, some say h e' ll ru n for
Preside nt. All Senator Kerry's rhetoric
not withstanding, no government official will ever stand trial for the to n s
and tons of drugs they helped flood
thi s country with. Wh y? Beca use
Americans d on't know h ow to figh t
back, and they are con tent to swallow
any shit the politicians throw at them.
The transcripts of the Rodriguez
testimony account for only two of 12
executive sessions that we re full of evid e n ce of governmen t cover-up of
drug trafficking, all kept secret from
th e Ameri can peop le . Jack Blum ,
who was chief investigator for Senator
Kerry, resigned from the committee
a n d said, "I am sick to d eath about
th e truths I cannot tell. " The Big White
Lie is one of those truths. The tra nscripts te ll an overpowe ring, nauseating truth.
In 1980, Ramon Milian Rodriguez,
a man who is sitting in the Federal can
right now for laundering over 200 million dollars a mo nth in d rug mo ney,
was so overcome by t h e a mo un t of
power he had-he said that he could
virtually buy anyone, a ny country Lhat
he wanted-tha t he we nt to the CIA
and told them what he was d oing and
the CIA to ld him to keep on do ing it.
He named th e CIA agen ts he spoke to.

They later asked him for favors a nd the re. He aided the guy. So h e was
mo n ey in return, including the $10 indicted, convicted at trial and senmillion he paid to Felix Rodriguez, the te n ced to 30 yea rs in prison. The
CIA guy wh o worked direc tly for smuggl e r, Davidso n , flipp e d and
North. Milian Rodrigu ez testified that worked for the government. He go t
he made money-laundering deals with five years. The financier of the operathe heads of every maj or U.S. bank in tion, Trupkin , go t 15 years because
Panama, and that they all knew it was h e pled guilty in the middle of th e
drug mon ey and n one of them was u·ial a nd made a deal.
indicted-n o t a banke r, n ot a CIA
Now co mpare that tO No rth ,
agent, no one.
who's got 543 refe re nces to drugs in
You and I both kn ow, we've been his p e rsonal h and-w ritte n notes,
the re. This so-called drug war is all including state m e nts like, "Aircraft
a bout money, big mon ey. It's about needed for 1500 kilos," and "fina nced
money a nd power and political cor- by drugs," as well as compelling eviruptio n and political cowardice. It's de n ce that he profited fro m his activieasy to get a street dope pushe r a nd ties. None of this was investigated by
put his face on televisio n, th e n put professio nal n arcotics investigators,
him away for 30 years. But if you have n o n e o f it was put befo re a g rand
political power, if you are protected jury. North should be indicted, and
by the CIA o r if you a re the CIA or some people are ta lking a bo ut him
the head of a major U.S. bank, you 've b eco ming th e n ext Preside nt.
got a get-out-ofjail-free card.
Meanwhile, J ohn Cle mens, as far as I
I'll give you an exa mple of how know, is still doing hard time.
un fairly this bogus drug war is being
wage d, an exa mple from m y ow n
You 've worked with a lot of inforcareer as a narcotic agent. It's the mants over the years as a DEA agent. Do
story of John Cle mens. John Cle mens you find them u liable? (I thought back
is a good example of what happens if to when I was on trial first in the District
yo u ' re ju st a walking-around of Maine, then in the Southern District of
American with no power, a nd how New York. In both cases there was no
easy it is to ge t an indictment a nd physical evidence connecting me to the
conviction for conspiracy.
marijuana conspiracy, just the testimonies
O n July 4, 1971 I arrested a guy of some lying sacks of shit, yet I got conn a m ed J o hn Davidso n smu gg ling victed and sentenced to 25 years.)
three kilos of heroin a t JFK Airport.
I never met an informant who didH e flipped and gave up the financier,
a gu y named Alan Trupkin, who was n't lie. An informant will do anything
wai tin g for him a nd the dop e in to save his ass. Unfortunately, many
Gainesville, Florida. We were on a informants are a lot slicker than some
plane that night to deliver the heroin. of the agents. And there are agents
We substituted powde r for most of who just want to make cases and don' t
th e smack, leaving about a gram of have much of a conscience. That hapreal stuff in the false bottom suitcase. pens all the time. I was hired as a conWe ended up in a trailer in the mid- sultant for the d efense on one case
dle of a swamp outside of Gainesville. where the informant was wanted in difDavidson called Trupkin to tell him ferent countries and so he made a deal
that he just got in. This, by the way, with government agents. He was supwas his seventh trip that year. When posed to deliver one Class One dope
h e called T rupkin, I was taping the d ealer in exc h ange for our governphone call. John Cle me ns, a 22-year- me nt protecting him and paying him.
old unemployed musician, got on the So the gu y wen t out and fo und an
ph o n e durin g t h e co n versation ignorant illegal alien who was working
because Trupkin couldn' t remember his butt off 70 hours a week as a parkhow to get to Lhe trailer. Cle me ns got ing lot attendant. The informant told
on the phone and said, "[ know the the parking lot attendant that he had a
way. I can show him. " T h e statemen t bunch of dumb gringos who were willwas recorded. It was the on ly sta te- ing to give him mon ey for cocaine and
me nt the kid ever mad e that could be that all h e had to do was tell them he'd
used against him. So this kid who bring the dope later and these gringos
mad e abso lute ly nothing fro m th e would front him about $300,000. So
deal-they used to toss him a bag of the parking lot attendant had a couple
hero in from time to time for favorsof meetings with unde rcover agents
showed T rupkin the way to the trail- a nd he played the role the informant
e r. He was in technical viola tion of gave him. The undercover agent asked
th e conspiracy law and in possessio n for a sam ple, but the parking lot atte nof about a gram of h e roin. H e was d ant couldn 't even come up >vi th a line

PRISON LIFE 87

of coke to give him. Next we cut to a
hotel room where a hidden video camera caught the undercover agent sitting on one side of a table and the
parking lot attendant on the other
side. Between them was a briefcase
containing $300,000. They let the guy
count the money. In Gomer Pyle
Spanish the undercover agent then
asked the guy if he would promise to
deliver drugs for the money. The guy
was nodding his head up and down,
his eyes were bugged out You can see
him thinking: Can the gringos really
be this stupid? The guy was busted
and charged with conspiracy to deliver
an enormous load of cocaine. The
informant already got paid something
like $17,000 for the case.
Part of my testimony for the
defense was that all of that government time and effort and money
should be spent on the streets of
America getting violent criminals and
hard-core addicts off the streets-not
illegal alien parking lot attendants.
That's one of the big reasons we have
25,000 homicides a year in this country, why whole segments of our country are war zones. We're spending billions to fight a war that doesn't exist.
In the last decade we spent more than
$100 billion on this bullshit war and
got absolutely nothing for our money.
H we had aimed that money at violent
criminals and the treatment of hardcore addicts instead of things like the .
half billion dollars we spent on military radar last year, which didn't even
catch a single drug smuggler, and the
· thousands of bullshit drug seizures
and arrests paraded as drug war "victories," millions of lives and billions of
dollars would have been savedincluding the life of my son who was a
New York City police officer killed by
a crack addict, and my brother who
was a life-long heroin addict. Yet this
year our latest "leader," President
Clinton, has budgeted more money
than ever before, 13.5 billion, for
more of the same crap.

In The Big White Lie you recount
how you became a total paranoid. You
were investigated by your own agency; he
began to wonder what side he was on; he
caine to fear for his life after he wrote a letter to Newsweek exposing the CIA's role
in the Bolivian cocaine roup.
I think I'm still alive because I
so paranoid. I didn't tell people I
was leaving Argentina because I no
longer trusted anyone. While I was
cooling my heels in Puerto ·ruco, the
Argentine secret police, the same
was

88 PRISON LIFE

killers who worked for the CIA and
who were also working for DEA,
broke into my house, only, surprise, I
was not there. So they sat around all
night waiting for me to come home,
drinking my booze just like they did
when they visited me. The gardener
showed up in the morning and they
split, leaving the bottle of Sc<?tch and
glasses on the floor, just the way they
usually did. That's the kind of arrogance these guys have-they literally
had a license to kill. Paranoia for a
DEA agent working in South America
is a healthy emotion.
I wrote a letter on U.S. Embassy
stationary to Newsweek, return-receiptrequested, telling them that they
missed the real story. I told them
that the real story was the CIA's secret
support of this drug running government in Bolivia and escaped Nazi war
criminals. But more than that, I told
them the real story was the ultim(lte
betrayal of the American people.
Weeks went by and I received the
postcard· indicating that Newsweek had
received the letter. Then nothing. A
month later, within a 24-hour period,
first the Argentines tried to kill me,
and when that failed I was placed
under investigation by DEA's Internal
Security Division. I was falsely
accused of everything from black
marketing and stealing government
funds, to having sex with my undercover partner, a married DEA agent
assigned to play my wife. They even
wrote me up for playing rock music
on my radio and disturbing other
people at the embassy.
Then they force-transferred me to
Washington, D.C., where I was kept
under investigation, followed, my
phones tapped, you name it As a government agent you have no rights, you
are literally at the mercy of these people. I was holding on for dear life. In
the middle of this madness, I was
asked to go undercover to pose as the
lover and business partner of Sonia
Atala, the ·woman known as The
Queen of Cocaine. When The
Washington Post reviewed The Big White
Lie, they called it an "edge-of-the-seat
thriller," but questioned how the government could have me under investigation and at the same time send me
undercover on their most sensitive
case. I have proof backing up every
single event that I wrote about. The
question should not be posed to me; it
should be posed to the people who
sent me out on the assignment.
Sonia Atala was one of the people
running the Bolivian government,
and she was one of my targets. In

Bolivia she had a Nazi paramilitary
unit under her command, her house
was the main government torture
chamber, and suddenly she turns up
in the U.S. working for DEA. As it
turned out she was also a CIA asset,
protected by them. And while she
was working as an informant, she
never stopped selling dope. She in
fact was arrested for selling cocaine to
DEA undercover agents while working for DEA and CIA. Of course she
was never tried for the arrest because
she had carte blanche to sell
Americans dope.
I am probably one of the most
investigated men in the agency
because I was one of the most outspoken, and becau~e I represent a threat.
I represent a threat to giant bureaucracies making a big buck off this
drug war. I don't remember who said
it but the quote goes, "If you create a
bureaucracy, the bureaucracy's first
enemy are the people who created
it." That's the nature of bureaucracy.
In the drug war, these bureaucracies
are created to try and solve the problem, but that would put them out of a
job. Now if you think they are going
to put themselves out of a job, I've
got a Class One cocaine dealer posing as a parking lot attendant I want
you to meet.
We've gone from two federal agencies enforcing all the federal drug laws
and a $20 million budget in 1965,
when I started in the business, to an
$11.5 billion budget and 54 federal and
military agencies screaming for more
money when I retired in 1989. The
American people have gotten absolutely nothing for their money, but the
bureaucracies have profited handsomely; they gobble up this gush of taxpayer
funds like hungry animals. Who's paying for it? All of us. And it's not just
the police agencies, it is a lot of the socalled "good guys," the treatment-ondemand programs that have absolutely
no effect on hard-core drug addicts
but which make a hell of a lot of
money. According to the Village Voice,
the guy who heads up Phoenix House
makes a $600,000 a year salary. The
Partnership for A Drug Free America
and other federally-funded programs
that chum out television ads and informational booklets and hold rallies and
marches and fund drives really don't
want this phony war to go away. There
are a lot of people who make a lot of
money, which can only be justified as
long as we have a drug problem. I'm a
threat to all of these so-called good
guys. I can very well understand why
they would come after me.

Pen Pals
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Elvis Impersonator will sing your blues away.
Intelligent, optimistic, family-oriented, very affectionate, works hard-plays harder, handsome and
has a nice, hairy chest. Wants a lady from the old
school who wants and needs to be held. Richard
Shere, #116520, U.C.I. 44-2165-Al, P.O.Box 221,
Raiford, FL S208S.
Creole/Blk guy. College-educated, attractive, artistic, poetic, respectful. Seeking female friend, 25-40,
to share photos and fun. Happy letters. Eric Martin,
P.O. Box 7500, B6037S, A6-122, Crescent City, CA.
95531.
My mail is too depressing. I'm an artist in lockdown
looking for correspondence. Would like to write
homegirl from Philly or New York; likes white and
Puerto Rican.George Stone, #806676, Iowa State
Penitentiary, P.O. Box 516, Ft. Madison, Iowa 52f/D.
SBM, 27, seeks an understanding woman of any
race to be a good friend. Enjoys writing, reading
and romance novels. 5'10", 185lbs. and looks nice.
Will answer all letters. Aaron Collins, #D-S07S8,
P.O.Box 29, Represa, CA. 95671-7129.
Handsome Prince with unique style &: personality.
Smooth, hard body connected to strong, incredible
mind. Fearless heart overflowing with love &: compassion for the Princess I've been searching for since
I stepped into this world in '66. I'm old school and
cannot contain my royal Jove much longer. Where
are you, my Princess? Anthony Mungin, #288522,
UCI A-I, 45-1254, POB 221, Raiford, FL 32083.
"Friendship" is the closeness people feel as they
grow to know each other, is the trust that means
more than words can tell, is the richness people
find as they share their lives, is the joy that blossoms
and grows, is the gift that makes the world forever
fresh and new. This is what I seek! Paul Hildwin,
#923196, UCI A-1, Box 221, Raiford, FL 32083.
19-yr-old BM on Death Row si.nce age 16. Seeking
sincere and friendly pen pals. Race, religion unimportant. jerome Allen, #704007, 45-2204-Al, Union
Corr. Inst., P.O. Box 221, Raiford, FL 32085.
SBM 34, 6'2", 212# seeks compassionate, affectionate, honest, intelligent, disease-free female. Age &:
race unimportant. Arthelies Humphrey #500932,
Ellis II Unit, Huntsville, TX 77540.
Death Row prisoner desperately seeking correspondence with anyone anywhere. Gerald W. Bivins
#922004, PO Box 41, Michigan City, IN 46360.
SWM 40 seeks letters from females. For every smile
you give me, I'll give two in return. Raymond Hale
#554903, Coffield Unit, Rt. 1, Box 150, Tennessee
Colony, TX 75861.
Lifer needs to talk to lady lifer. No freeworlders.
Let's do life together. William E. Gold #171650, PO
Box.900,jefferson City, MO 65102.
6'3", dark ebony and delicious! Born 1/26/49,
reformed and looking for that lady who's ready for
a powerful love. C.B. Hassan Taylor #A01834, PO
Box 4002, Danville, IL 61834.
Forgqtten prisoner. 8 yrs. down and many to go
would appreciate letters from anyone inside or out.
Richard A. Simmons #189585, 4535 W. Tone Rd.,
Kicheloe, MI 49784-0001.
Prisoner seeks correspondence. Freddie Utsey
90T5254, Pouch #1, Woodbume, N¥12788.
Lifer desires intelligent, long-term correspondence
with real people regardless of age, income, religion
or eccentricity. Keith Merritt #461016, Rt. 1, Box
150, Tennessee Colony, TX 75884.

BM 27, 6', 182# looking for someone special. Let's
get busy! Calvin Vick, 1300 Western Blvd., Raleigh,
NC27606.
Doing time and looking for answers to stay out. 41
and still falling &: reaching out. Backslider. Diane
Olivares #1495212, 500 N. Flower St., Santana, CA.
92703.
In need of female friends that can appreciate a loving man's company. I like to write books and work
out. Henry jackson Minford #206501, Lucasville,
OH45699.
Hi lonely ladies! I'm Albert. 6'1" 190# and single. Drop
me a line and you may never have to be lonely again.
A Davis #N47848, PO Box 500, Hillsboro, IL 62049.
I'm changing my life and seeking penfriends.
Interests are fibless, learning, listening &: writing.
Will answer all. Marvin Miller #281-424, 2075 S.
Avon Belden Rd., Grafton, OH 44044.
SWM S2, 6'4", soon to be released seeking correspondence from female. All letters answered. Kenny
Calihan #D95027, PO Box 3476, Corcoran, CA
95212-8510.
Male 28, has lost family ties. Depressed from never
getting mail. Likes art, wood carving, weightlifting
&: gymnastics. Willie Davis #D39-100984, PO Box
667, Bushnell, FL 38513.
Do you feel that your child is headed for prison?
I'm not a psychologist, just a concerned person that
can speak from personal experience. Terry
Shockley#S9259, Box 7, Moberly, MO 65270.
WM 37 seeking white or Latina lady for friend·
ship/relationship. Kids OK. Enjoy Harleys, horses,
traveling &: nawre. All answered. Daniel Hancock
#657251, Terrell Unit, 12002 FM 850 South,
Livingston, TX 77351.
Native American (Papago) man, 29, 5'5", ISS# seeking correspondence with all interested parties.
Enjoy reading, writing long letters, poetry & all
kinds of music. Clinton Poe #59867, Florence, AZ
85252.
Young jewish lady wishes to hear from anyone out
there kind enough to write me. Lynda Zeefe
#51570, 1479 Collins Ave., Marysville, OH 43040.
Handsome BM wishes to correspond with & meet
nice, sincere, down to earth ladies who want to be
treated like women. Age &: race are unimportant.
Merion johnson #162812, PO Box 5000, Carson
City, MI 48811.
SBM ·54 seeking other half. The manifestation of
our union awaits us. Kenneth Key #A70562, PO Box
4001, Danville, IL 61834.
Freeworld comely male 29, au courant, well-kept &:
educated seeks lady friends behind bars. Kevin
Lewis, 616 S. Prospect, Lima, OH 45804.
SBM 28, 5'10", 160# looking for female friend 18-35
·anyone who's interested in writing a guy who's
down. Please send picture. Will respond to all.
Embery McBride #EF-207197, PO Box 310,
Valdosta, GA 31603.
Male 38, 5'7", 155# has no one to write to ease the
misery of prison. joseph Wright #86252, Camp 29-B,
Parchman, MS 38738.
SBM 34, 5'6", 165# seeking correspondence & more
with sincere, dedicated woman. Age unimportant.
Floyd Nelson #B-94850, PO Box 7500, Crescent
City, CA. 95532.
Easy going artist 4S, 6', 180# green-eyed free spirit
seeking warm, intelligent lady of any age to share
thoughts. Tom Connolly #B-38619, Box 99, Pontiac,
IL61764.
SWM 37, 5'10" lonely lifer will answer all letters.
Interests range from philosophy to long walks in the
woods. john E. Lorino #78482, MAX Unit, 2501
State Farm Rd., Tucker, AR 72168.

SBM 42, 5'8", 215# Taurus wants to correspond with
and hopefully meet a professional female 35-45 any
race. Into weight training & cardiovascular fitness.
Soon to be released. Harry Ammons Jr. #A-191944,
PO Box 5000, Carson City, MI 48811-5000.
SWM 28, 6', 185# Christian first-time offender who
recently lost wife & two girls to drunk driver seeks
special lady. Glenn "Minnesota" Hazelton #18745,
·
Box 16, Winnebago, WI 54985-0016.
SWM 49, 6', Great health! Loves outdoors, reading,
writing letters. Country boy looking for caring lady
to share ideas & have fun with. Ken Annack #165997, 30420 Revells Neck Rd., Westover, MD 21871·
9799.
SWM 36 seeking woman to ease his loneliness. No
address to parole to. Anthony Byars #209-363,
Maximum Security, PO Box 5200, Lorton, VA
22199.
jewish grandmother doing life without parole seeks
correspondence with communicative gentlemen of
all ages. jeri Richards #W-SS670, California Institute
for Women, 16756 Chino-Corona Rd., Frontera, CA.
91720.
SWM, 5'7", 180 lbs, 25, brwn eyes & hair. Seeking
females 18-40 for correspondence, possible relationship. Wdl answer all. Frank Philbrook, #21047, P.O.
Box 14, Concord, NH 08301.
31-yr-old WF Christian who lives by the King james
Bible looking for male Christian 24-40. janice Funk
#087007-A, Taycheedah Corr. Inst., N7189 Hwy. K,
Fon du Lac, WI 54955-9099.
WM, 50, 6'1", 250#. Nice guy looking for younger
women anywhere, pen pal or more. Pren Nothnagel H47805, L811MJ, P.O. Box 2210, Susanville, CA 96130.
35-yr-old white boy doing 2 life sentences. Into music
and Harley's. 5'10", 150#, long, red hair & ~ eyes.
Looking for women. Frank Elliott #42954, P.O. Box
1059, Santa Fe, NM 87504.
40-something SBM, 6'2", 200#. Educated & down-toearth. No friends or family. Seeks female. Needs to
relate. William j. Berry, #23739, Ely State Prison, P.O.
Box 1989, Ely, NV 89301.
BM, 43, 5'7", 170#. Seeks fun-loving female for a serious relationship. Bobby Peterson #038416, B-66, P.O.
Box 221, Raiford, FL 52083.
Widowed Oregonian, 45, 5'10", 160#. Kids & wife
died in auto accident. Neat, clean, slim &: trim. No
family, no mail, no attorney. No visits in 18 yrs.
Richard joe Kidd, Box 29-B72191-C7102, Folsom,
Repressa, CA. 95671.
SBM, 5'7", 155#, 45. Highly self-educated. Loves to
read, write letters, play chess &: debate. Wdl answer
all. Robert Wooley, #N-50709, Dixon Corr. Ctr., 2600
N. Brinton Ave, Dixon, IL61021-9254.
BM, 5'11", 175#, handsome & intelligent. Seeking a
lady with an open mind and compassionate heart.
Sincerity a must. William Speed, #8781268, P.O. Box
2000, Pine City, N¥14871.
SWM, 44, 6'. Doing a dime for armed robbery.
Looking for a she as lonely as this he for friendship &:
letters. Will answer all. Frank Robin, ~617363, 2605
State St, Salem, OR 97510.
Death row BM, 26, 5'10", 174#. Warm, gentle, intelligent. Never married. Gregory Capehart, #755994,
Union Corr. lnst., P.O. Box 221 45-2206, Raiford, FL
3208S.
Tared of games and lies. I'm educated, single, goodlooking, 5'5", stable and compassionate. just want the
right woman, age & race unimportant. jose Anthony
Rivera, #86A8644, Box 500, Elmira, N¥14902.
SWM, SS, 6'2", 280# seeking single moms who want a
good ol' man. Daniel David, #190823, Farmington
Corr. Ctr., 1012 W. Columbia, Farmington, MO 68640.

PRISON LIFE 89

Mail Call
(continued from page 13)
-ed. They're also cafJable of acts of
coU1·age (Sperling), tough love (CA$H)
and creativity (Martorano).
Our mission is to give expression to
the voice of the convict. And yes, if a
con's worth glorifying, we'll glorify him.
ONE WHITE MAN'S PERSPECTIVE

Prison Life:
So yo u say you' re down with
"prese nting e ve ryo n e's p e rspective" (emphasis on e ve ryone), and
th en you go on to say "wome n 's,
Afr ican -Ame ri can's,
ative
Amer ica n ' s, Hispanic's, Asian's,
yo u name it."
I take it the ~you na me it" part
of th at paragraph was referring to
the whites in America's prison system.
Well I've o nly read on e issue of
Prison Life Uune 1994) as of yet,
a nd I do n 't want to be prejudgme ntal in my assessme nt o f your guys'
work, though I do have an opinion
of the June 1994 issue: IL is just like
any oth er magazine I've read, aside
from th e New Re publi c. It is a
sniveling, libe ral publication catering to Ame rica's so-called de prived.
I don ' t see any thin g wro n g with
helping rehabilitate those me n and
women who are receptive to suc h
re ha b. But there is n o thing righ t
about glorifying the ran do m victimization of society by most of your
readers and contributors.
Now there 's a wh ite man 's perspective. Le t's see you prese nt that.
So far with respect,
Steven Czifra
Ontario, CA

Cat J
(continued from page 57)
OF SOCIAL GRACE" is a damn poor
epitaph. A "good morn ing" is a cheap
prem ium to pay, eve n if it doesn ' t
ultimately garner a dividend.
Push-ups done, I bird-bathe in
my sink and wash o ut my sweatsoaked gym clothes. Putting on a
clean se t of sweats, I settle down to
my second cup of coffee.
The lo udspeaker in the housing
unit squawks out the name of a Catj,
informing him it's time for him to
parole. The crazy has just finish ed his
wino time and he's free to rejoin the
world fo r a beat or two, but not three,
because he' ll soon be back. I e nvy
him h is release from the walls of San

90 PRISON LIFE

Quentin, but n o t his lifetime sentence trapped inside a brain that's
more than a bit skewed , a mind incapable of coping in mode rn society.
Minutes later, incred ibly, I h ear
the Cat J refuse to leave his cell for
p arole. The ma n states with impeccable Cat J logic that it's cold outside.
No way he's go ing to leave a warm
cell with breakfast about to arrive for
the uncertain shuffle of the streets.
The g u a rd s huddl e to disc uss
th e ir quand ary. T hey cou ld call a n
exu·action team to T aser 50,000 volts
into the madman and yank his bod
out of the cell by force. As much as
th ey' d enj oy the spectacle , th e
r eq uired rules viola tion report for
"refusing moveme nt" would void the
Cat j's parole and they cou ldn 't kick
him o ut th e front gate. Each a nd
every day more Catj's flood into San
Que ntin sent by the boys in b lue. The
guards are forced to move some bodies out to simply free up cells.
After some sc rea min g, a lot of
threats and a little discussion, the Cat
J agrees to leave if tl1e guards will give
him breakfast first. When the guards
quickly agree, the Catj senses he's on
a roll a n d hold s them up for more
concessions.
The condemned me n in the tie rs
liste n in disbelief, many calling out,
offering to take the Cat Js p lace on
parole. The guards ignore the dead
me n as they continue th e ir pa rley.
Finally, the Cat J d e parts with breakfas t in h is bell y, a bag lunch in h is
ha nds, a pack of cigarettes rolled up
in h is sleeve, and a triumph ant grin
on his face. The loony-toon wi ll have
a few weeks Catjaying around in the
world before the boys in blue ship
hi m back to co ntinue his li fe sente nce on the installment plan.
After the housing unit eats breakfast, it's time for exe rcise yard. T here
a re six small concrete yards for th e
hou sing un i t, eac h so small th ey
r ese mble dog run s. Th e yard s are
side by side, se para ted from eac h
otl1er by chain-link fences.
Four of th e yard s are for condemned prisoners. The other two are
disciplinary ya rd s for n on-condemned prisoners from the gen e ral
po pulation who h ave received a ru les
violation re port from some guard, so
they're se nt to securi ty h o using for
punishment. The rul es vio la tion
could be as serious as mayhem, or as
silly as going through th e c how line
twice. On e g uy was written up for
aggressive eye contact with a guard,
whatever th a t means. Though most
o f the men in th e discip linary yard s

are not Cat J's, the disciplinary yards
a re where the Catj's are assigned to
exercise.
Arriving on my yard, I e njoy the
early morning sunshine while starting
to work my biceps wi th a cu rl b a r.
Idly g la ncing through the fe nce, I
spot a young guy tha t I me ntally mark
d own as troub le-looking-for-a-p laceto-happen. H e looks about 16 (they
seem to get younger every year) , a nd
he 's proudly flashing his first prison
tattoo. It's scabbed , still heali ng from
the need le.
Across the yard from tl1e youngster is a Cat J d o ing the t h o raz ine
shuffle , h ead looking down in the
g utter for cigare tte butts, take home
an d fire up in his cell. The kid steals
up be hind the Catj and punches h im
in the skull, right b e hind the ea r .
Down to the gro und goes the Cat J,
but like m os t lu natics h e see m s
impervious to pain and leaps back to
his fee t and the figh t commences.
I carefully place the weight bar
o n the ground. I don't want to make
any noise that would attract the attention of the gua rds. Glancing a t the
catwalk, I inte ntly watch th e g u a rd
assigned to the d isciplinary yard. The
gree n-ga rbed ma n h as just spotted
t h e altercation. Lea ping fro m hi s
ch air, h e fumbles at his assault rifle in
a panicky man ner. At last h e cha mbe rs a bulle t a nd his weapon is ready
to fire, to kill.
Back ing away from th e fe nce, I
watch the gua rd swing the business
e nd of his rifle toward the combatants
pounding away at each otl1er. I glance
at the hands o f the prisoners and feel
reassured by the absen ce of weapons.
San Quentin policy requires a warning in a no n-life threate ning situation.
I feel confident that ilie guard won ' t
shoot, at least n ot yet. The rifle finishes its arc, the barrel staring down at
th e two combatants, and a sharp
crack ech oes in my ears. A clo ud of
red mist ex plo d es in th e a ir, surrounding the two fighte rs as they
crumble to the ground. Fragme nts
from the bulle t rattle past me, sounding li ke gravel kicked up from the
spin ni n g wh eels of a car skidding
d own a country road. Men on my side
of the fence fall to the ground, clutching their sudde nly bleeding legs.
The g uard o n the catwalk ove r
my yard j oi n s the scene. Taking
ch arge, he ch ambers a bullet in his
rifle with a mechanical clack and bellows: "Onth emotherfuckinground
RIGHT NOW!" Then he b lows his
whistle to summon h elp.
My casu al assura nce long gone,

my b ody is hug g ing co n c re te.
Re lucta ntl y ra ising my h ead, I see
another guard o n the catwalk above
me. H e's swinging his rifle a round
randomly. I wond e r if he' ll j oin the
insanity and shoot too. For a neeting
moment o ur eyes m ee t. I see h e's
pumped up , his eyes bu lging with
adrenaline. But pan ic is absent. H e's
in control. Looking close r, I can see
disbelief in his eyes in resp o n se to
th e quick sho t fired by his pa ni cked
fe llow guard. The disbelief overOO\vs,
spilling out of h is eyes and taking
ove r his face, ge nerating an expression o f co nte mpt for th e ot her
guard 's ina bility to control himself
and the situation. I begin to feel confident that this guard won ' t fire his
rifle, send ing a nothe r bullet ricocheting randomly about my yard.
My eyes fli ck back throug h th e
fe nce to the two co mbatants. I no te
that the g uard has not only shot without war nin g , h e's shot th e wro n g
prison e r ! The vic tim , th e Cat J, is
shot just above the elbow. As I 'vatch ,
the Catj calmly wraps a sock aro und
his arm just above th e m eaty gash
where blood is pumping freely, splatte ring onto the concre te . The Cat j
finally pulls the sock tight with a fe ral
tug of his tee th a nd the blood flow
slows to a trickle. I shake my head in
amaze me nt, thi nking tha t this Catj is
one tough sonofabitch.
Guards com e r unnin g with a
st retche r a nd unlock th e gate. The
CatJ rolls thro ugh and is tossed onto
the stre tcher for the ride to the hospital. I ca n alread y h ear th e scream
of an ambulance in th e distan ce. As
the su·etc he r passes my yard, I can
se e th e Cat j's bl ood -soa ked blue
prison clo th ing contrasting bea utifully, hideously, with a face that's g rowing increasingly wh ite .
T h e wannab e tough g u y who
throu g h dumb lu ck has esca p ed
unscath ed from the vio le nt sce ne is
ordered to th e ga te . I watc h th e
youngster nex his ne w tattoo in defiance while the gua rds roug h ly slap
ch ain s on to h is bo dy a nd lead him
away. As he passes by my yard , I hear
him sn a rl to th e esco rt g u a rd : "I
kicked his ass. I' ll kic k your's too!"
Th e g ua rd simpl y sh a kes his h ead
wearily and sighs.
G u a r ds b egin to r e m ove th e
wounded men fro m my yard. They've
been hi t by lead fragme nts that sp lintered off th e bu ll e t as it passe d
thro u g h th e Ca t J 's e lbow. Th e
wounds look supe rfi cial to me . But
after years in this h ouse of pain , my
d efiniti o n of a supe rficial wound is

any wou nd on someone e lse's body.
Afte r the bleeding men a re led
off to the hospital, th e guards call the
res t of u s o n e by o n e to th e ga te.
We' re chain ed , take n to locked cages
and strip-searc hed for weapons.
Th e g uard searc hing m e asks :
"v\fhat happe ned out th e re?"
"Do n ' t kn ow," I a n swer wa r ily.
So me cani ne got it into his head to
bust a cap. "
"Yeah , bad luck fo rjo hnson."
"Is he going to be OK?" I ask.
"Don ' t kn ow. He didn't fo ll ow
procedure. Bad sh oot co uld cost h im
his cha nce to make sergeant. "
Spinni ng the words throug h my
head, it dawns o n me th a t j ohnson is
the g ua rd who pulled the u·igge r, not
th e Catj.
"How's the Catj ?" I ask softly, trying to kee p my voice casual , disinte rested.
"The med tech said they' re going
to whack ofT the arm fo r sure." With
an absent, careless shrug of h is sho uld e rs, the guard added: "Maybe we' II
a ll get lucky and he'll just die."
Michael Wayne Hun te1~ 35, grew up
in Sunnyvale, CA. In Februmy of 1984,
he was found convicted of munler in San
Mateo Cmmty and sentenced to death row
at San Qy.entin.

11 DAYS UNDER SIEGE
(continued from jJage 33)
guishe r. Along with the lack of food
and wate r, it was impossible to get a ny
slee p. I wo uld lie on a matu·ess, but
my mind lvould still be racing. Just as I
was o n th e ed ge o f slee p , m y eyes
wo uld pop o pe n and I'd sit up a nd
look arou nd to make sure no o ne was
cree ping up on me. I'd go thro ugh
th is routine ove r an d over.
By n ow , Nationa l G u a rdsm e n ,
state highway patro lme n , SOCF security a nd FBI age nts had circled th e
prison, along with mo re tha n a tho usand h eavily a rmed personnel dressed
in camo unage a nd goon squad black.
Arm y h e li copters fl ew ove r h ead;
sharpshoote rs lined the roof.
T he majo r con cern of those of us
in s ide was t h at t h e t r oo p s would
laun c h a fu ll-scale assa u lt as they'd
done in th e 1968 uprising at the o ld
Ohio Penitentiary. If that ha ppe ned,
m a n y of u s would b e ki ll e d , a n d
wh ile mos t of the co nvicts h ad n o
pan in th e riot, they'd be shot dead
j ust like th e ringleaders. There woul d
be n o d istin c tion be twee n guilt a nd
inn ocence. But I a lso kn ew that

somewhe re inside L-Corridor there
were seven hostages, and they were
th e only thing tha t stood be tween life
an d death, bullets a nd negotia tion.
A team of convicts set up a phone
line a nd established con tact with the
prison staff a nd the SO CF negotiator.
T he convict negotiawrs connected a
tape recorde r to th e p hone line a nd
reco rded eve ry co nve rsation so that
those inside cou ld be kept informed
of the progress. The prison authmities
assigned a negotiator who was clearly
operati ng above his level of co mpetence. He began by calling the convicts "a bunch of clowns" a nd demanding tha t they surre nd e r. Sub tlety and
pa tience were no t h is forte.
Eventually, the state wo ke up to
the ser iousness of the situ ation and
fl ew in a special advisor from Georg ia.
H e turn ed th e talks a ro und with a
h igh degree of pro fessionalism and
won the guard ed respect of the prisoners.
"We wan t eve ry stage of th ese
ta lks covered by the news media, sir,"
said one of th e co nvicts. "We kn ow
h ow the prison adm in istra ti on operates, and we don 't trust any of tl1e m.
If th is isn ' t covered by the media, the
state wil l do no th ing but sta ll and
renege on any progress made."
News coverage would resu·ain tl1e
outside troops from beating o r killing
th e co nvicts once this was ove r. The
troops would also be restrained from
bum-rush ing the prison if th ey were
unde r the eye of the camera. But the
sta te wan ted the situation ke pt under
cover, with only selected informa tio n
reaching tl1 e o u tside via their pub lic
rela tions office.
Not surpri sing ly, t he s tate
released a story alleging t11a t the riot
was a racial war and tha t the p risoners
refused to let th e media talk to a convict spo kesman. When th ey did a llow
one of the major Ohio newspapers to
speak with a convic t by phone, they
q ui c kl y pull ed th e p lu g whe n h e
began to list th e prisoners' d e mands.
In side th e priso n , th e co nvicts
rigged up a p.a. system using a tape
p laye r a nd two large spea ke rs taken
fro m t h e rec d epa rtm e nt. They se t
these up near the windows facing tl1e
la rge m e d ia ca mp in f ron t of t h e
SOCF A ta pe reco rdi n g was p layed:
"The prison authorities want you to
thi n k that this is a racial war. It is not!
W h ites a n d b lac ks h ave u n ited to
p ro test tl1e a buses o f th e SOCF staff
and adm inistration. We want the FBI
a nd we want a peaceful e n d in g to
th is ... "
Th e ta p e p layed on, listi n g

PRISON LIFE 91

11 DAYS UNDER SIEGE
demands. A SWAT team was sent to
remove the system, but the speakers
of the battery-operated tape player
were set up so that they only could be
reached from outside. Officials sent
up helicopters hoping to drown out
the sound of the message. Every time
the tape would start to play, the choppers would take to the air.
Another group of convicts began
painting messages on bed sheets and
hanging them out the windows for
the media to read. Prison authorities
tried to move the media out of the
area so they couldn't see the sheets,
but it was too late. The cameras of the
local and national news didn't miss
any of it. The next day, the painted
sheets made front-page news.
Meanwhile, inside the prison the
riot was gaining momentum. The convicts were cliquing up and surrounding themselves with their road dogs
for protection in case the unpredictable happened. Along the hallway
several prisoners were laid out with
broken bones or other serious injuries
that required medical treatment. A
few of the convicts built a makeshift
infirmary and went to every cell collecting any medication or medical supplies they could find. Using the stage
area of the gym, they rolled out a
dozen or so mattresses for those too
fucked up to walk. That first night all
of the mattresses were full. One of the
wounded was bleeding so profusely
that I didn't think he'd last the night.
The self-appointed medic found a
needle and some thread and went to
work stitching up the guy's neck. In an
hour he was stitched and laid out on a
mattress. He was one of the lucky ones
who would live to tell his story. The
unlucky ones were piled on top of each
other like a heap of dirty laundry.
Later the bodies were wrapped in blankets and dragged out to the rec yard.
Two of them thought to be dead
jumped up and broke camp as soon as
they were laid on the grass. They ran
straight toward the National Guard,
who didn't know whether to shoot
them or run from them. A roller
thought to be dead lay on the yard for
several hours playing possum while
numerous convicts who had clustered
there kicked and assailed him. When
the coast seemed clear, he hobbled
over toward the fences where armed
guards covered him as he made his way
across the yard to the K-side gym. That
he survived was surprising. One of the
prisoners who was running across the
yard was the prisoner Val and I saw

92 PRISON LIFE

lying in the L-Corridor with a badge
pinned to his body. How he managed
to lie perfectly still for all of those
hours, including the pai~l moment
when the badge was being stuck to his
body, is still a mystery.
When prison authorities saw all of
the bodies dumped in the rec yard,
they began to realize this was more
serious than they'd thought. So when
negotiations continued, attitudes
were more strained.
"We want food and water! You
people think we're playing games.
We'll bring this fucking place down!
Now get us some food and water and
stop with your fucking stupid games,"
the convicts demanded.
"Listen up!" the negotiator
responded. "We're working on food
and water. We'll get it together and I'll
call you back as soon as it's ready. Just
hang on for a couple hours."
Several hours later the supplies
came and were left in the yard. A
team of Masks brought it in and
rationed it, which greatly reduced the
tension. The downside was that the
prison authorities would now try to
use food as a bargaining chip. Their
mistake was in thinking that now they
were in a position to call the shots.
The negotiations continued like a
ping pong match, neither side wanting to lose the first point. The siege
had been going strong for days and
very little progress had been made.
Prison authorities still wouldn't agree
to live media coverage.
"You either get the news media
in here or these talks will end!" the
convicts yelled. "We don't have to
talk at alll"
But the officials acted like it was
just a game. med like it was just a game.
"We can't let a 1V crew inside because
of security reasons. It can't be done!"
Several more bodies were
dumped into the rec yard. The
phone began to ring.
"Okay. We're working things out
with an Ohio news network for a live
TV interview. Can we get a hostage in
return, as a show of good faith?"
"A hostage is no problem. We'll
bring one of your people out when
we come to do the interview. Set it up
and call when you're ready."
The following morning, before
the interview was scheduled, a group
of masked prisoners explained to
those manning the phones that more
food and water was needed.
The authorities saw this as a
chance to show who was in control.
"We can't change the original deal.
You said all you wanted was a 1V inter-

view and we got it for you. Now you're
playing games. We'll give you the
interview but nothing else. If you want
the food and water, you'll have to give
us two hostages. It's the only way!"
The Masks refused to turn over
the two hostages. A few minutes later
another group of Masks came to the
phone. They called themselves the
"hardliners."
"Here's what's gonna happen,"
said a spokesman for the hardliners.
"You people are going to bring us
more food and water with the TV
interview for one hostage. This is not
negotiable. If you play games we'll
send you a hostage-but he won't be
walking out!"
Still, the authorities denied the
demand and asked to talk with the
original negotiator. Returning to the
phone, the negotiator tried to convey
how serious the hardliners were.
"All we're asking for is food and
water. We know this won't cost you a
thing. If we don't get it the hardliners
will take overt There's nothing I can
do. You could lose a hostage for something as basic as food and water!"
A local radio station had received
word of the exchange, and expressed
concern that a hostage might be killed.
The same day, a spokesperson for the
prison authorities released a statement
to the media: "We don't take this too
seriously. We believe it's a serious
threat, but it's a common ploy used
during a hostage situation."
Later that day, a hostage was
killed. His body was placed on a mattress and carried into the rec yard by
six convicts. Everyone waited for the
National Guard to hit the joint, guns
blasting anything that moved.
Suddenly, one of the convicts at
the back window yelled out: "They're
crossing the yard! The state boys are
in the rec yard heading this way!"
I ran to the window to see how
much time I had before they reached
the walls of L-Corridor. Outside, a
light fog had begun to roll in, and
from the center of the rec yard about
30 National Guardsmen marched forward in V formation.
"Get your motherfucking asses
back across that yard, boys, or you '11
get one of these hostages hurt!" a
rioter yelled at the police.
All movement came to a halt.
The phone began to ring. Before the
prison officials could say anything,
the prisoner manning it yelled: "Get
those police off the yard now! What
the fuck are you trying to do?"
They cleared the yard. It was later
discovered that they were only in the

yard to sel\le as security while the news
media set up a confe re n ce ta ble a nd
moved their equi p m e nt in to p lace.
Th o u g h t rag ic, th e murder o f the
hostage sel\led as a catalyst. From that
momen t on , th ings moved forward
q u ic kly. A sp ecial n egotiator from
Georgia was now supel\lising most of
th e ta lks. A h orde o f 35 "expe rts"
swarmed th e prison a utho ri ties who
we re manning the phone banks.
The state wan ted th e siege to e nd
wit h o ut f urth er blood sh e d. They
wanted the prison back unde r their
rule, the remain ing hostages re leased
un harmed and the mselves out of the
national media. Most of the convicts
fe lt the same way. Th e ta keover had
been dragging on in a slow blur, and
p eople on both sides wan ted to get on
with the ir lives.
Live TV and rad io cove rage was
soon a rranged. To show good faith ,
two hos ta ges were r e lease d. Th e
remain ing fi ve wou ld be he ld unti l
the d ay of surre nder.
One of the rioters' maj or d emands
was that the 409 prisone rs inside of LCorridor be represen ted by competent
legal counsel to assure the ir safety and
the p ro tection of th e ir r ights. The
auth o riti es qui ckly agreed to th ese
dem a nds, a nd an atto rn ey from
Cleveland was flown in . H e me t with
the convict negotiators to hamme r out
a con tract. It was d ecided th a t th ey
would surre nder the followi ng day.
I nside , the mood c h a n ged dramatically and activity shif ted into high
gear. De molition crews were formed
to destroy as much of SOCF as possible. Uni t managers' o ffices were gu tted, files destroyed a nd windows, walls
a nd ceili ngs were bash ed. Each cell
was hit. Toi le ts, sinks and windows
were busted ; cell doors were removed ,
p lu mbing d estroye d , and cabinets
ri pped off the walls. T he cono·ol pane ls in each b loc k were disma ntled ,
and all the wiring and e leco·ical compone n ts were ripped ou t or set ablaze.
The sounds of destruction could be
heard by th e u·oops surrounding the
prison. T hey stared as though expectin g the walls to fall and the prisoners
t o co m e po urin g o ut into th e r ec
yar d.
The prison e rs pac ke d u p th e ir
personal prope rty, pre paring to leave
a bad me m o ry be hin d. High fi ve's,
la ug hs a nd j okes fill ed the air, a nd
the last of the food was given o ut in
th e most generous portio ns we h ad
see n since th e riot bega n. It wasn 't a
celebration of wha t had been accomp li sh e d ove r th e p ast ten d ays as
much as a reacti on to th e incredible

re lief th at this th ing was fina lly coming to a n e nd.
T h e n ex t a fte rn oon , priso n e r
n egotiators went through L-Corridor
collecting nam es of co n vic ts who
were willing to transfer to other priso n s. As p a rt of th e agree ment, the
prison authorities had a pproved mass
transfers. L-Corrido r would be closed
for a co uple of years or at least until
all th e d a mage h ad b ee n repaired.
This m ea nt th at hundre ds of bed s
h ad to be fou nd in a syste m already
working at 185% over capacity. I d idn ' t care where I e nded up. I just wanted to leave SOCF Val fe lt the same
way. Our nam es were added to th e
transfe r list. We k n ew a n y pl ac e
would beat the shit out of whe re we
came from.
Val a nd I walked into o ne of the
blocks that was now opened a nd sat
next to a fire. We had ou r prope rty
packed into large p lastic trash bags
a nd we were waiting , read y to wa lk
out the door.
Out in th e r ec yard the co nfe re n ce tab le was fu ll. State officia ls,
media, legal counsel and prison negotia tors sa t facin g eac h oth er. Each
party was furiously sig ning cop ies of
t he 2 1-po int ag r ee m e nt t h at th e
lawyers a nd p1i son ers had prepared.
I wa t c h e d f r om a wi nd ow as
everyo ne shook ha nds and la ug h ed .
It was an inappro pria te, false show of
fe llowsh ip. H e ll, I kn ew t h ey h e ld
each othe r in co n te mpt, b u t at least
it m ea nt th at agree me nts had been
reach ed. If part o f the wra pping of
th e p ackage was b la tan t h ypocrisy,
the n so be it.
Every major TV stati o n h ad its
cam eras fo cu sed o n the door tha t
would soon open and release the first
of th e surrende ring prison ers. Insid e,
th e priso n negotiato rs were ge ttin g
together th e first g roup to leave.
The sick a nd th e wounded we nt
first. Som e were busted up so badly
tha t stre tchers had to be brought in to
carry th e m out. Bloodied T-shirts a nd
d ir ty m a kes hi ft bandages h ung off
their bodies li ke rags off scarecrows.
Those ab le to wa lk o n th e ir ow n
limped or hobbled as fas t as their fee t
could carry the m, eager to p u t di stance be tween the m and the source of
the ir injuries. Convicts watc h ed th e
process from be hind covered windows
to make sure eveqrthing was on the up
and up. If an yth ing happened to the
firs t g ro up, th e e xc hange wo uld n o
longer be hono red.
Th e su rrend e r we nt sm oothl y,
a nd at 10:30 p.m. Val a nd I walked
in to th e rec yard with a group of 30

othe r priso ners. We we re me t by the
special n egotiator from Georgia, who
escorted us to th e state pau·olmen.
"Alright, me n , liste n up! Wh en I
direc t you to come fonvard , yo u are
to wa lk over to that officer th ere,"
said a state official paci ng in fro n t of
u s. Po int in g a t m e a nd two o th e r
prisoners, he shouted, "You, you and
you. Move up!"
I walked forwa rd.
"Listen carefully to every word I
say! Pu t yo ur hands o n your head ,
inte rl ock your finge rs, look straigh t
ahead a nd don ' t move!"
I stood there wh ile on e man held
my ha nds toge t11er on top of my head
and a n ot h er sea r c h e d me for
weapons. After tying my ha nds be hind
my back with nylon rope, th e officials
esco rted me to th e K-Corrido r gym.
My sh oes swish e d thro u g h th e we t
g rass as I walked away from the most
bizarre 11 d ays of my life.
Two hours later I and over a hundred other convicts we re put on three
pri son buses a n d s hi p p ed to th e
Man sfi e ld Co rrectional Institution .
The b us stopped at a red lig ht in a
small town, and through the steamed
windows of th e bus, I could see a digita l cl oc k g lowing a d istorted "4: 00
a.m." I looked over at Val. H e was off
in a world of h is own , probably thinking of home an d fam ily. It seemed like
the right th ing to do, so I closed my
eyes a nd we nt ho me, too.
W

Are You ...
. . . A Victim of Behavior
Modification Experiments?
Chips in your brain?
Transmitters in your dental
fillings? Has the government
used you as a guinea r>oig?
. . . Doin' Time for White
Collar Crime? Were you
busted on Wall Street?
. . . Sitting on Death Row
with Sometl1ing to Say?
. . . a Former Cop but now
a Con?
... Man or Woman Enough
to Tell About Sex Behind
Bars?
Send Yom~ Stories to:
Prison Life Mag, 505 8th
Avenue, 14th Floor, New
York, NY 10018.
PRISON LIFE 93

Classified&
know someone who is, order this book
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Relationship While Doing Time in Prison.

This book is way over due. A real manual that deals with real issues and creative
ways in keeping the one you love or are
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state prison. So, if you are locked up or
94

PRISON LIFE

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Jon Hassell and bluescreen
Dressing for Pleasure
Access codes for a culture
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Call (212) 695-8863
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Then get some. CD or cassette.

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BUS! ESS
Many different ways to go. We guide
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Prison Writers. Our professional editors will help you polish and publish
your novel, nonfiction, poetry, autobiography. Copyrights/ royalties pro tected. For application, terms, guidelines,
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CONVICTION

ADVOCATES
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PRISON LIFE 95

ART BEHIND BARS

Announctng I e sl Annual
PRISON LIFE Writing and Visual
Arts Contest
Prizes
1ST PRIZE - $250 and two subscriptions to Prison Life
2ND PRIZE- $150 and two subscriptions to Prison Life
3RD PRIZE - $50 and two subscriptions to Prison Life

Writing Categories
FICTION: short stories or excerpts from longer works,
not to exceed 20 pages
NON-FICTION: essays or articles, not to exceed 20 pages
POETRY: no more than three poems, not to exceed 1 0 pages
DRAMA: scenes, excerpts from plays or screenplays,
not to exceed 30 pages

Visual Arts Categories
Paintings and drawings, any medium

CONTEST RULES: Entries accepted only from incarcerated contestants. YOU MUST BE IN JAIL OR IN PRISON TO ENTEF
THIS CONTEST. Manuscripts must be typewritten or legibly handwritten in English. Name, prison ID number, name anc
address of institution must be on the front page of all entries. Contestants may submit only one entry in each category. Entrie:
will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed , stamped envelope. Only unpublished manuscripts and art will b(
considered, with the exception of the pieces that have appeared in prison publications. Winning entries will be published ir
Prison Life. Send entries to Art Behind Bars Contest, Prison Life magazine, 505 8th Avenue, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

e Your
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