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.

Answers to your questions

I sent a long list of questions to Ted on October 27, 2009 when he was at the Central Florida Reception Center (CFRC) in Orlando. Here’s what he sent back on November 6, 2009:

Answers to your questions
(Uhhh Here we go)

Do you have a mattress at least on the floor or are you sleeping on the hard floor?
I have a bottom bunk here in Orlando.

Is the floor cement?
The floor is made of cement.
(He had been sleeping on the floor in the box at Brevard.)

Do you have A/C?
No A/C, but it’s cool outside at night, so it’s okay.

Is it too hot or too cold there?
It’s not too hot or cold as of now.

Are there bugs like before?
Not as many bugs here as at Lake Butler.

Is the cell dirty?
Every cell in prison is dirty.

What do you have for bedding? Pillow? Blanket? Sheets?
I have no pillow, 2 sheets, 1 blanket, and a thin mat.

Can you tell me about your cellmates other than the fact that they’re cool?
I don’t really know my new cell mate. He’s quiet.

You don’t get to go outside at all in solitary? Just to showers?
You can’t go outside when you’re in the box except after 30 days and then when you do go outside, it’s in a tiny human, dog cage that’s not even big enough to run around and you can only go out there for 3 hours a week at the most.

Are the showers for the regular cells also 20 minutes long?
Showers are for 1 – 2 minutes in regular cells.

Are they too hot or too cold or can you adjust the water temperature?
You can’t adjust the shower temp, but the showers are always either way too hot to get in or way too cold.

Do they give you soap, shampoo and a towel?
Yes, they give us soap and a towel. No shampoo.

When you first got there, what were you issued? Towel? Toothbrush? Soap? Toothpaste?
(Describe all items you were given on first day)
When I first got to Brevard, they give you sheets, blanket, soap, laundry bag, towel, new clothes with your name and DC# stitched on, a razor, toothbrush and toothpaste.

Did you get a rulebook?
Yes, I got a rulebook from Brevard.

Can you tell me about guards or other kids there, or is that not allowed? Can you write about them, but not use names perhaps?
I can’t write about guards and I don’t know anything about anybody else to write about.

Can you buy a TV in the canteen? Radio?
AH Ha There’s no TV on canteen, but you can buy a radio.

Now that weather is getting colder, can you buy long underwear or a sweatshirt or something? (Why do mothers always ask this?)
I’m not really sure about sweatshirts yet. I’m trying to find out though.

How far do you have to walk to get to the shower? Do you pass other cells on the way?
When I was in the box at Brevard, the shower was about four feet from my cell. Why they had to handcuff me to walk four feet, who knows?

What are the walls made out of in the cell? What color are the walls and floor?
The floor is gray and the walls are white.

What’s in the cell? Two beds, toilet? Shelves? Table? Where do you keep your stuff?
There’s 2 beds, a metal toilet/sink, and 2 metal lockers on the floor (at Orlando).

What have you bought so far in the commissary?
All I really buy on canteen is food. I was buying cigarettes at Lake Butler, but since I keep getting transferred, I think I might try and quit. It’s more stressful to start and stop.

Does anybody take your commissary stuff?
I’ve had some envelopes stolen, but that’s it so far. Oh yea, send more. Someone stole 10 last night when I took a shower.

Did you buy a deck of cards in solitary?
You can’t have cards in the box.

Did you get any of my books yet?
I didn’t get your books. I probably won’t now.
(He did eventually get all the books I sent when he got to the work camp at Lancaster.)

Did you ask the chaplain for a visit and a Bible?
I didn’t ask the chaplain to come see me, but I did get a nice Bible though. I read it every night.

What kind of food do you get for meals? Do you get enough? Is it good?
We get meatloaf, hot dogs, oatmeal, grits, eggs, coffee cakes, noodles, spaghetti, etc… Really we get a little bit of everything. It never seems like enough, but it’s better than the county jail.

Have you been able to get any books from the library?
I don’t know how the library works.

Have they told you anything about getting your wisdom teeth pulled?
!* IMPORTANT: They won’t pull my wisdom tooth because they said it was fine. I saw the dentist at Brevard last Thursday.

Will you be able to take a CDL class or any other class?
I’m not sure if I even have enough time to take a trade. They say I need at least a year or more.

What do people do when they’re outside? Just start fights?
People just sit around outside. All the fights are inside where the CO can’t see.

Do you know how tall you are now?
I don’t think I grew, but who knows?

Whoo…from now on if you ask like 1/12 the questions, I’ll answer them in more detail.

Ted later explained to me that the toilet and sink were one piece. The sink is on the back of the toilet.

Late night fight

Right now I’m housed in an open bay dorm. So everybody sleeps in one big room. There’s about 40 – 60 people in here on average.

Anyway, last night as I was asleep, I woke up to somebody screaming “What the &%$*. Help me, Help!” So I jumped up and looked.

Four beds down from me, this big white guy had another littler guy pinned down and he just kept hitting him in the face over and over. Nobody even tried to stop him. He must of hit him at least 30 times in the face without the other guy being able to block his shots.

Finally, the CO ran in and gassed both of them. Their spray is so strong it affected EVERYBODY in the dorm. I kept choking on it.

When the guy who got beat up finally stood up, he was unrecognizable and covered from head to toe in blood. I don’t even know how he was conscious, let alone able to stand up.

I have to say that was one of the worst beatings I’ve ever seen in my life. After everything was over, nobody could figure out why he even beat the other guy up. Those two people never argued once. They actually seemed to get along.

I’m just waiting to see what will happen next.

Ted told me that at Brevard, a correctional officer told him that a kid was stabbed 22 times one day during the last week he was there. Ted hasn’t heard if the kid survived.

Letter from Lancaster

This letter was written before I visited Ted on Thanksgiving.

Hey Mom,

I’m ok, just so you know. I was at Orlando for one week and five days and now I’m at Lancaster. My first two weeks are like boot camp.

You’re never allowed to talk. You can’t sit on your bed during the day. You have to make your bed perfect and there’s PT training. When I’m done with this orientation, I’ll most likely be going to the work camp across the street.

I don’t have time to learn a trade since I only have about eight months [left].

Oh yea, I got some good news. The books you sent me at Brevard were forwarded here. They said when I get out of orientation, I’ll get them. They said there’re four in my property I think.

I haven’t had my own pen or pencil for the last month and a half almost, but now I do, so I can write more than I have been.

I just talked to my classification officer and I will be going to the work camp for sure. I’m not sure if it’s a different address or not because it’s only across the street.

Other than that I’m just waiting to go to my work camp. I can’t wait. I miss you a lot.

Love Teddy

P.S. Need stamps and envelopes. Who knows where the ones I had are.

During visitation, Ted told me that during orientation, all the new inmates spend the entire day sitting on the concrete floor at the foot of their beds. They only get up to go to meals (a 10 minute march to the chow hall, 10 minutes to eat and a 10 minute march back), and to do PT. The rest of the day they have to sit on the floor without talking to anyone. They get up at about 6 a.m. and go to bed at 9:30 p.m.

Ted met another kid that he knew at Brevard who came to Lancaster a week after Ted arrived. The inmates at Brevard had their pens withheld for the last two weeks that Ted was there. The day Ted left for Lancaster, all the pens were returned to the inmates. Obviously someone didn’t want Ted writing about Brevard on the blog, so everyone suffered. Ted said he will write more about this.

I sent plenty of envelopes and stamps to all four of the places Ted has been. They apparently never made it to Lancaster. I also sent a total of 11 books to Lake Butler and Brevard.

I received an email notification from the VINE notification system saying that Ted had been transferred to the Lancaster work camp on Wednesday, November 2nd. The work camp is across the street from the main correctional institution and is only for inmates with a minimum security rating who have had no violent charges. Inmates in the work camp participate on work crews that go to surrounding towns doing landscaping and other jobs that the communities need to have done.

Photo: Lancaster Work Camp

Transferred to permanent camp

I received another letter today (the third in three days). Ted was transferred to Brevard C.I. in Cocoa, FL (near Daytona) last night. I called and he is currently in an air-conditioned dorm, but will not be staying there. He is in minimum security.

About Brevard C.I.:

Brevard only houses youthful/adult males from ages 19-24.
There's a maximum capacity of 1,032 in Minimum, Medium, Closed and Community housing.
There are two open bay housing units and 10 cell housing units.

Services offered are:

Academic Programs:
Adult Basic Education/GED
Literacy

Vocational Programs:
Air Conditioning/ Refrigeration and Heating
Architectural Drafting
Commercial Foods/ Culinary Arts
PC Support
Pipe Trade Systems Technology
Commercial Truck Driving

Wellness Education Services:
Fresh Start Smoking Cessation
Wellness Education
Sports Leagues

Library Services:
Library Program
Minor Law Collection

Substance Abuse Programs:
Tier 1- Substance Abuse Education
Tier 3- Long Term Residential Therapeutic Community (RTC)

Chaplaincy Services:
Chapel Library Program
Kairos Week-ends
Prison Fellowship Monthly
Religious Education
T.D. Jakes Satellite Location
Way Home Bridge Builders
Worship Services

Institutional Betterment Programs:
Parent and Child Together in Print

Other Ongoing Programs:
Life Skills