Best of Teen in Jail

Here is a sampling of some of the best (and most widely-read) Teen in Jail blog entries. Ted was not allowed to write about a lot of what went on in prison and plans to write a book about his whole experience when he is released.

All day in a cell
http://www.teeninjail.com/2009/10/all-day-in-cell.html

My first arrest
http://www.teeninjail.com/2009/08/my-first-criminal-charge.html

A lead pipe to the face
http://www.teeninjail.com/2009/07/lead-pipe-to-face.html

Five mugshots since I turned 18
http://www.teeninjail.com/2009/08/five-mug-shots-since-i-turned-18_04.html

What life could’ve been like
http://www.teeninjail.com/2009/09/what-life-could-have-been-like.html

My biggest regret
http://www.teeninjail.com/2009/09/my-biggest-regret.html

Hope
http://www.teeninjail.com/2009/08/hope.html

Why I did what I did
http://www.teeninjail.com/2010/01/why-i-did-what-i-did.html

Your real friends
http://www.teeninjail.com/2009/08/your-real-friends.html

Is my life over before it even begins?
http://www.teeninjail.com/2009/08/is-my-life-over-before-it-begins.html

An uncertain future
http://www.teeninjail.com/2010/01/uncertain-future.html

Hell on Earth
http://www.teeninjail.com/2010/01/hell-on-earth.html

Why I got into trouble
http://www.teeninjail.com/2009/12/why-i-got-in-trouble.html

Surviving in prison
http://www.teeninjail.com/2009/11/surviving-in-prison.html

Constant harassment
http://www.teeninjail.com/2009/10/constant-harassment.html

A bad week
http://www.teeninjail.com/2009/11/bad-week.html

A real cut up
http://www.teeninjail.com/2009/10/real-cut-up.html

Teen in Jail: One year later
http://www.teeninjail.com/2010/07/teen-in-jail-one-year-later.html

My last few days

I’m finally down to my last 17 days in this place. It doesn’t seem like that’s any time at all, but it’s dragging by so slowly.

I try just to focus on work, but it’s hard knowing that soon when I leave my job each day, I won’t be going back to the prison release center after work. I can go back to my house.

I won’t have to be around a bunch of people I don’t want to be around. I won’t have to stand in line everyday to get a meal. I won’t have to wake up at 5:30 a.m. every morning surrounded by a bunch of other people who are just as grumpy as you because they have to get up so early.

Ah, I can’t wait. 17 days left….

After the brick wall

When I look back on the last two years, I can’t believe so much has happened.

Since before I got arrested, I knew I was headed toward a brick wall. I just didn’t care.

Now two years later, I’d like to think this whole experience made me a little wiser. Now I see the potential in my life. I know how to use my past to better my future.

Sure it’s not going to be easy now that I’m a convicted felon. Plus when I get out of this place, I’ll have to start all over again. As long as I stay focused for the first few months of getting out of prison, I should have some money saved up so I can get my license back. After that, it’ll get a little easier.

Visitation at Largo Residential Re-entry Center

Visitation at the Largo Residential Release Center takes place on weekends from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Just like at the regular prisons, visitors must successfully pass a background check.

Visitors must bring a picture ID. They can bring up to $50 to purchase food, car keys, decks of cards, cigarettes and a lighter. Cell phones are not permitted and purses and other items must be left in cars. Both visitors and the residents have a metal detecting wand run over them. They are not patted down like at the prisons. Visitors with children are allowed to also bring in diaper bags, bottles and toys.

Visitors park in an adjoining fenced-in, wood chip-covered parking lot. When it rains, visitors must wade through water (with floating wood chips) that is often ankle deep. If it rains hard, the water comes up to the knees.

Visitors meet with their loved ones in an L-shaped, high-walled outdoor courtyard. During the summer, the temperature reached 98 degrees and upward. Up until last week, there were three awnings that shaded approximately six round tables. The rest of the tables were in the sun. Last weekend, they added three more awnings. A number of tables remain in the sun.

When it rains, visitors are allowed to sit inside the air-conditioned cafeteria after the Center's residents have eaten lunch. Before the summer heat became unbearable, elderly relatives visited, but they haven’t been seen for awhile - undoubtably from the intense heat. There are approximately 15 round tables and three picnic tables crowded into the visitation area. Most of the tables are placed on crushed white shells. A concrete-floored section contains a small smoking area, two water fountains and a Coke machine. Two security cameras are mounted on the sides of the adjoining building.

Ted's mom and dad used to stay and visit with him at the Center for three hours or more, but the extreme temperature now makes it impossible to stay for more than an hour and a half at the most.

After 1:30 p.m., the last residents have finished eating lunch and the cafeteria is opened for visitors to purchase food. The food is actually very good and usually baked chicken, two types of pizza, and hamburgers are offered with sides of French fries, vegetables and potatoes. Sometimes they have other specialty items such as steak or Mexican dishes. Desserts consist of gourmet pieces of banana cream cheesecake, chocolate cream cake and baked cookies. The food is quite inexpensive and an entire meal can be purchased for $3.50. Bottled and can drinks are sold, as well as packaged ice cream. A long counter holds microwaves and free condiments such as ketchup, salt and pepper. (Prison inmates have to purchase condiments in small packets.) Some of the residents work permanently in the food preparation and service area instead of holding outside jobs.

The visitor line to purchase food is usually quite long. Once visitors have bought their food, they must proceed outdoors to eat in the stifling heat - unless it rains. Then they can stay inside the cafeteria (air conditioning!) to eat at long tables. A rec room adjoins the cafeteria and residents can relax on couches to watch the selected DVD-of-the-day or sit at one of four square tables to play games. Supervisors can oversee both the cafeteria and rec room through two glass-windowed observation rooms.

Even so, cell phones have been smuggled into LRRC. Two weeks ago, a resident was taken out in shackles during visitation in full view of the visitors. He had smuggled a cell phone into the facility and was being escorted back to prison.

Ted’s classification officer initially received his home visit paperwork on June 1st. (The paperwork was mailed out on May 24th.) Today he was approved to get a home visit to his mother’s house, but not his father’s. A reason for denying his father wasn’t provided. Ted will not be able to come home this weekend, as he must submit a form a week in advance once the paperwork has been approved by the classification officer, warden and the release center. It took 51 days for the home visit paperwork to be approved by all three. (From the time the paperwork was mailed until the home visit will be 67 days.)

Ted will get his first home visit less than two weeks before his release on August 13th. The first home visit is four hours, the second home visit is six hours and additional home visits are eight hours. Home visits are either on Saturday or Sunday and begin at 10 a.m. The family member must have a land line (not cell phone) so that the facility supervisors can call to check to see if the LRRC residents are indeed at home and haven't gone anywhere else.

Teen in Jail - one year later

Ted began writing the Teen in Jail blog on July 14, 2009 while he was incarcerated in the Pinellas County Jail in Clearwater, Florida. He had been arrested for drug trafficking on October 30, 2008.

Ted was subsequently convicted of drug sales of MDMA (Ecstasy). Ted had gone ahead to see if the coast was clear for a drug dealer when he was apprehended by waiting police. In exchange for him casing the scene, he was to be paid $150. The 50 pills the drug dealer was selling did not contain pure Ecstasy – some were “dummies,” otherwise Ted probably would have received more time – even though he did not have any of the pills in his own possession.

Three prior charges from previous arrests were incorporated into Ted’s sentencing – possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana and criminal mischief. He was facing 25 – 30 years of prison, so he chose to plead guilty in return for a 2-year prison term.

Two months later on December 19, 2008, the drug dealer (that Ted had cased the scene for) was also arrested for the same MDMA trafficking incident on October 30th and posted bail. The dealer was again arrested on October 5, 2009 for multiple charges of possession and sales of Oxycodone and Diazepam. Almost a month later, the dealer was again arrested for trafficking MDMA and is now serving time at RMC Work Camp. The dealer is due to be released on May 30, 2013. He received a 3 years, 9 months sentence for 12 charges, including possession and sales of Methamphetamine, marijuana and other various controlled substances.

The Teen in Jail blog chronicles Ted’s two-year incarceration in jail and various Florida prisons, a work camp and a prison reentry center – Pinellas County Jail in Clearwater, the Reception and Medical Center (RMC) in Lake Butler, the Central Florida Reception Center (CFRC) in Orlando, Brevard Correctional Institution in Cocoa, Lancaster Correctional Institution and Lancaster Work Camp in Trenton, and the Largo Residential Reentry Center in Clearwater. Ted’s current release date is August 13, 2010 – less than a month from now. This release date reflects gain time for good behavior.

Ted started the Teen in Jail blog to let people know what it’s like behind bars and to keep other kids from making the same mistakes.

Ted was not allowed to write about many incidents and people (correctional officers and other inmates) during his two-year incarceration, so he plans on finding a literary agent to possibly publish his full story in a book.

My first two days out

Last night I was thinking of all the good movies I’ve missed that came out. So I decided the first day I get out, I’m going to Hollywood Video to rent like 6 – 8 movies that have come out that I’ve wanted to see, and for the next couple of day, I’ll sit at my mom’s house and watch movies.

I could probably watch them all in one day, but I’m still going to have other things I’ll need to do like register as a convicted felon at the county sheriff’s office and go to work. I’m not going to quit my job just because I got out of prison.

One very important thing that I’ll probably have to do is clean my old room out. My mom sent me pictures of what it looks like now and it looks like she turned it into a storage room.

Hollywood Video closed its doors in December 2009. Some of the movies that Ted wants to see are Slumdog Millionaire, 2012, and Ironman 2. Ted’s mom will clean out his room before he comes home (hopefully).

Photos: Ted's room before he went to jail and prison. (Click to enlarge.)

Saturday and Sunday

I hate sitting here at the Center on Saturday and Sunday. It’s so boring. There’s nothing to do except play cards, but for most people here, that’s all they’ve done for the last several years. There’s only three things that there are to do: watch movies, play cards or smoke cigarettes – which is something I really need to quit.

All day Saturday and Sunday, I just wait for Monday. Monday means the beginning of a new work week and it’s also one week close to getting out. I figure I’ve only got seven or eight more weeks to go. That also means 16 more Saturdays and Sundays to deal with. Agghhh…. At least I’ll have home passes soon and that’ll help out a lot.

Ted is going to try to go to work today (Saturday), if he is allowed. It's been six weeks since the paperwork for Ted's home visit was submitted to the Largo Residential Reentry Center. I spoke with Ted’s CO on the phone today. She said that approval for Ted’s home visit should be completed this week and sent to the Center – hopefully in time for his first home visit next weekend.

Photo: One of 16 commissioned paintings of dogs playing poker by artist C.M. Coolidge for cigar advertisements in 1903.

Weird guy

There’re some of the weirdest people riding on the bus. You can always tell who they are. Now I’m not saying that everybody is weird – not even a small fraction are – but every now and then you’re bound to run into one of them.

For instance, yesterday on my way home from work on the last bus I had to take, we picked up this guy who reeked of alcohol. He kept looking at people and smiling, but all he would say is “Marijuana”. Everybody on the back of the bus where I was sitting was laughing at the man. He didn’t even notice and just kept smiling.

After about 15 – 20 minutes of this, he finally got up to leave, but when he got off the bus, he went around to the front of the bus and stole somebody else’s bike and started to ride away. The whole bus saw him do it, but nobody chased him. Most of the people on the bus just laughed.

Transition manual

I just finished completing a 100-hour transition workbook. Everybody in prison has to do one to go home. (Well I guess they would let you out eventually if you didn’t do the workbook, but I’m not trying to wait.)

It asks you questions about everything: family problems you have, what you’re going to do when you get out, etc… It took me over two weeks to write the 340-something pages, but I finally finished it last night.

It’s only four days late, but at least it’s finally done. I would’ve had it done on time, but it’s hard when you’re gone to work 12 hours a day. I don’t really feel like doing anything when I get home from work except sleep.

Ted was also awakened at 3:45 a.m. three times over the past week to get a random drug test, which made him all the more tired.

Photo: Yukon Suspension Bridge over the Tutshi River, Canada - Kelly Shannon Kelly. Click to enlarge.

Home visits

I know I go home in 50 days or so, but still I can’t wait to be approved on a furlough. It’s the same thing as a home visit.

The classification officer claims she had my paperwork since June 1st, but it’s now July and she is taking her time.

I’m just really getting excited to go to my house. I haven’t been there in so long.

My first home visit is four hours, then the next one is six hours and the third one on is eight hours a week. I just can’t wait.

I’m hoping for my papers to be approved sometime this week so I can go home the following week. It’ll feel so good just to be there with family. Also I can’t wait to eat some BBQ! Mmmm…..

Close to the end

TWO MONTHS LEFT! It’s so close, but it seems like it’s never going to get here. As long as I get the rest of my gain time, I should get out on August 23, 2010. Right now my release date is September 2nd, but I still have one more month of gain time I can get in July.

It’s hard not to count days, but when you only have 56 and a wake up, it’s really difficult not to. I’ve seen so many people go home from here and I see how excited they were and I just can’t wait.

I’ve been away for 20 months and in two more months, it’ll finally be over. The only thing I’ll still have to do to put all this behind me for good is pay my court costs.