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.

Dangerous contraband

For some reason, last night I couldn’t go to sleep in my cell. I was tossing and turning, but I just couldn’t sleep. Well anyway, at 1 a.m. or so, the guards came walking by searching the halls for contraband. They walked by my cell and kept going. They got to the end of the hall and I heard one of them say, “What’s this?”

I heard more talking, but the only word I could really understand was “shank.” I looked out my cell as they walked back and one of them was holding a prison shank made out of what looked like a piece of metal from a bunk.

It’s a scary thought what some of these guys are planning. It couldn’t have been hidden too long because the guard found it pretty easy. So most likely it belonged to somebody who’s here with me. I’m just glad nobody got stabbed with it, even though it wouldn’t be too hard to make a new one.

This post was also written about three weeks ago at RMC-Main in Lake Butler

Waiting

Today is Thursday here at Lake Butler. My roommate who came from Lancaster C.I. with me (and who’s also going to work release) left this morning. From what he said, he’s going to a work release somewhere way down south. He left on his third day here. I hope the work release I go to will come and get me soon.

There’s one more person here from Lancaster that I know and he arrived here a week before me. If he doesn’t leave tomorrow, he’ll have been here two weeks. I hope it doesn’t take me that long to go. I know two weeks isn’t that long, but in here it feels like forever.

Now I’m in a two-man cell all by myself with people walking bay my cell who have life sentences. Of course, I talk to some of them, but when you talk to somebody with so much time, you’re never really sure what to say.

Well hopefully I’ll leave soon. At least everybody seems to get along with me.

Big fight

Last night as my roommate and I were waiting for master count, we heard a person (or people) running. We ran to the bars to see what was going on. At first we thought it was a guard coming after someone, but when we looked out, we saw two older guys fighting. There was a white guy and a black guy. They were hitting each other blow for blow.

It seemed like they were fighting forever, when suddenly the white guy turned to run. A mistake. When he turned to run, the black guy grabbed him by his shirt and literally threw him down the stairs face first. I couldn’t believe the white guy was alive.

Before the white guy even had time to stop falling, the black guy was on top of him beating his face in. It looked to me like the black guy was trying to kill him. This whole time the guards were nowhere to be found. I felt sorry for the guy getting beat up.

Anyway, the black dude must have hit him in the face like 8-10 times. I was sure the white guy was dead or at the least, unconscious.

Finally after what seemed like a lifetime, the guard came in. To my surprise, he didn’t break it up. He simply asked the guy to stop. The black guy hit him good one more time and stopped. He was put in handcuffs and lead away.

Amazingly, the white guy got up. I couldn’t believe he was standing. He was actually pretty big. I’m surprised he lost. The black guy had some size on him, but wasn’t as big as the white guy.
As it turns out, somebody stole a necklace with a cross on it from the black guy and I guess he thought it was him.

As the guard was leading the black guy away, I could hear him yelling, “You might as well put me on death row because if I see him again, I’ll kill him.” I believe it too. My roommate told me that the black guy told him he’d been in prison for 27 years.

This blog entry was written at RMC-Main in Lake Butler at the end of March.

Caught with coke

It’s been a pretty eventful week so far here at Lake Butler. Today I was sitting in my cell and the guard was walking around and he caught someone upstairs with cocaine. At first I thought it was just a joke, but then I saw the guard lead someone away in handcuffs.

I couldn’t believe somebody actually had that stuff. You would think that if you’re smart enough to figure out how to smuggle it in here, then you would be smart enough not to get caught. Well I guess it’s the curse of a drug addict.

I never saw anyone with cocaine at Brevard or Lancaster. I’ve seen marijuana, but never coke.

Even though I’m in a cell all day, it’s crazy what kind of stuff you hear going on if you just sit back and listen.

This post was also written over two weeks ago.

Wasted lives

Ted also wrote this entry over two weeks ago.

Like I said before, I’m at Lake Butler now. They’ve got me on Wing 3 in I block, which is where all the adults are. So far, some of the people I’ve been talking to have been in prison since before I was born.

One guy has been in prison for 37 years (since 1973). He’s getting ready to be released in 2012.

Another guy I was talking to has a life sentence. He got into an argument with somebody and shot him. He has been in prison a long time, but just knowing you’re never going to get out must be the worst feeling a person can have. He seemed to feel really guilty about what he did, but he said that he deserves what he got. I guess, but I still wouldn’t want to be in his shoes. Your whole life thrown away for one bad decision. A life for a life.

When I get out I don’t even want a gun within a mile of me. I’m scared it might go off and hit somebody and someone else will blame it on me. I don’t need that pressure in my life.

Can you imagine the culture shock of getting out of prison after 40 years?

Events in 1973:

- World Trade Center in New York City, is dedicated.
- Burglars are caught breaking into Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate Complex.
- Skylab is launched.
- The Sydney Opera House opens.
- US and Vietnam sign cease-fire, ending longest US war and military draft
- George Steinbrenner III buys Yankees from CBS for $12 million
- With Roe vs. Wade, the US Supreme Court legalizes abortion
- Bahamas gain independence after 300 years of British rule
- Comic strip "Hagar the Horrible" debuts
- Good Morning America premiers on ABC

In 1973:

Average cost of new house - $32,500
Average house price - $9,942
Average income per year - $12,900
Average monthly rent - $175
Cost of a gallon of gas - 40 cents

Thirty-seven years ago (in 1973), there were no:

- ATM machines
- VCRs in the average home (never mind DVD players, video games, iPods or even Walkmans)
- Personal computers
- Cordless phones, cell phones or Caller ID
- Microwave ovens
- Digital cameras
- TV remotes

Attempted murder at RMC-Main

Ted’s alluded to severe fights in the various prisons before. He once told me how one guy was stabbed 23 times during his last week at Brevard. But this week at RMC in Lake Butler, Ted personally witnessed a bad incident.

I posted Ted’s description of his cellblock yesterday. There are two rows of cells (on top of each other) and an aisle with a wall of windows facing the cells. Ted observed the entire fight in the reflection of the glass.

Two inmates – one black and one white – began to fight. It was pretty severe and went on for several minutes – with no CO in sight.

Finally, the white guy turned to flee. The black guy grabbed a hold of the back of the white guy’s shirt, picked him up and threw him face first down an entire flight of stairs. A CO finally appeared afterward.

Ted also heard on another occasion a CO say to someone in another cell, “What’s this? Oh, this is cocaine, huh?” So apparently a stash of cocaine was found. Ted also mentioned a shank was discovered on the cellblock this week.

Photo: The inside of Lake Butler in 1976 from the FL DOC website. Notice the extra beds in the aisle. Click photo to enlarge.

RMC-Main at Lake Butler

Ted currently resides at RMC-Main in Lake Butler, FL. He’s supposed to be there for only a brief period of time before being transferred to a work release center near his home.

At RMC-Main, the first thing a visitor notices is the intimidating guard towers on either side. Ted had told me on the phone that he was in a two-man cell with a young Hispanic 19-year-old and they got along well.

Lake Butler is an adult prison, but also a medical center. RMC stands for “Reception and Medical Center”. So even though the visitation room looked similar to Lancaster’s, the differences were immediately apparent. The large room contained many small tables with chairs. A door led to an outdoor area with a sheltered pavilion and open areas with concrete tables and benches. Inmates of all ages were visiting their families. Many inmates were in wheelchairs and another man used crutches for his broken leg.

Inmates dressed in white with blue stripes down the sides were permanent residents. Ted talked to one man who had been incarcerated for 37 years and was due to be released in a couple of years. Others were dressed in blue and were due to be sent to various institutions. Ted was still wearing the dirty thermal long undershirt under his blue uniform. It looked like it hadn’t been washed in a year. He said they could only change clothes three days a week. During one period outside, it started to pour as they were walking back inside. Even though their uniforms were soaked through, they were not given any dry clothes.

The compound’s comprised of many buildings. (There’s actually also a RMC-West, as well as a RMC work camp.) There are four wings in Ted’s building. Two of the wings house youthful offenders. Ted is housed with some other youthful offenders on the end of an adult wing. The adults are free to walk around a lot during the day. The youthful offenders are kept locked up while the adults are out. Consequently, there’re not many opportunities for Ted to use the phone.

Each wing of the building contains three floors. Offices make up the first floor. Cells comprise the second and third stories. Ted said each floor has one row of cells and an aisle. On the other side of the aisle are windows. He also has a window in his cell. The view is limited, however, because apparently there is a wall of concrete squares on the outside. You can only see through the space in the middle of these squares.

I asked him if he got to go outside. He said for three days the youthful offenders were outside sweating for three hours straight in the hot sun. I asked if they had access to water and he said, “Yes, if they let us near it – which they didn’t.” The handicapped inmates go outside with the other adult inmates. The youthful offenders do not go out on the yard with the adults.

He told me he joined in one day in a game of soccer. There’s also an indoor basketball court somewhere and a track in the back that inmates can walk around. In another outside area, there is a covered pavilion with picnic tables and a TV.

For most of the day, he’s kept locked up. He plays cards with his cellmate, reads (he has two books left that he hasn’t read), sleeps and writes. Too bad his letters aren’t getting mailed.

They evidently go to a chow hall for meals. I asked if his current cell was filthy and crawling with bugs. He said that “there aren’t as many bugs this time.” Probably because of the cooler weather.

A couple of people asked if they could write to Ted at the RMC address. It might be best to wait until he arrives at the new work release center, otherwise it may take weeks for letters to be forwarded to him. Hopefully that will be soon.

Photo: Google Earth aerial of RMC-Main. Click photo to enlarge.

Freedom of speech in prison?

I did manage to visit Ted on Sunday despite being sick for a week. He had called on Saturday night to say he had some important things to tell me. It turns out he witnessed one inmate attempting to kill another inmate among other things. More on those in subsequent posts.

Ted did write more blog entries and placed two envelopes on his cell bars for the CO to pick up. The CO came, took one of the envelopes, crumpled it up and threw it at Ted - for no reason whatsoever. So much for freedom of speech in prison. Ted will attempt to send them out again.

At one of the other institutions Ted has been at, he kept a list of things to write about in a book when he gets out – since there’s a lot he’s not supposed to discuss from inside. That list was found by some COs and torn up. So I’m keeping a record of certain events for Ted.

You may remember that Ted met up with another young man who had come to Lancaster from Brevard as well. COs at Brevard took all the pens away from all the inmates for two weeks. As soon as Ted left for Lancaster, those pens were returned to all of the inmates.

Ted was not transferred to the work release camp yet and still remains at Lake Butler. He described his living conditions to me and I’ll relay them in tomorrow’s post.

Last letter from Orlando reception center

October 14th

Mom,

I’m going to make this quick. Last night I wrote you a five-page letter. I’m not going to send it out yet because I was transferred to Orlando reception center and I only have one envelope left.

Like I said, they transferred me to Orlando. They tell me I’ll only be here ‘til Friday so don’t bother writing me here. Also Sunday night, I sent you five blogs then four more Tuesday night. Let me know if you get all of them. Also put money on my account the second you get this letter. If you put money on my account Friday or before, put like an extra $10 on Saturday or Sunday because it takes two weeks to get my money from one camp to another.

Tonight is Wednesday. I’ll leave on Friday, but make sure on the computer. I already know you will.

Well oh yea, in that other letter I answered every question in your letter. I’ll send it out when I get an envelope. I know stamps are expensive, but I may need more also. I’m OK for now. I’ve got about 10 left.

Love you lots. Pray for me.

Your favorite son, Teddy

P.S. I would send the other letter out with this one, but I don’t know if this will make it to you because the envelope is a little messed up.

This was the last communication I received from Ted besides the list of commissary items he sent. I never did get the other letter. I sent him 30 more envelopes, sheets of paper and three books of stamps right after I received this on 10/17.

Letters at last

Today a bunch of blog entries arrived in the mail! Ted has been moved to the Central Florida Reception Center in Orlando. I called the prison and spoke with his occupational officer. He will be moved to his permanent facility on Monday. I was told to wait to deposit any money into his commissary account until he arrived at his permanent one. He is very sick, but does not have the swine flu, as he is in with the general pop, the officer said.

Hiya Mom,

For the last three days I’ve been so sick. It’s from one of three things. Either it’s from being hot with no A/C all day, this filthy cell, or them making us walk back from the rec field in the pouring rain. My guess is all of the above.

This is the first time in three days I’ve had enough strength to even write you.

Besides not being able to get medicine in here – the worst part about being sick is having to walk to and from chow hall and having to stay out on the rec field. They make us stay out there for two or three hours and the whole time, I just want to pass out.

Anyway, I’m still sick, but I’m starting to recover a little. I still can’t eat much, but I’m tryin'.

It’s so boring in here I can’t take it. Oh yea, they sent your books back. They've got to be from a book publisher or dealer. [They were.]

When I get to my permanent camp, I’m going to try and get my CDL license or take up carpentry. It’ll give me something to do. I’m really hoping to get my CDL though.

Anyway, even though I’ve been sleeping for three days, I’m gonna go back to sleep.

Give Cocoa a tummy rub for me. I love you and miss you.

Teddy

First day in prison

This is the first blog I’ve wrote since I got to prison. I’m currently at Lake Butler, and to be honest – I have no idea where that is.

In the last few blogs, I said that I would have to watch what I write and that I would have to keep it PG-13. Now I actually realize how much stuff I can’t write about without correctional officers taking my letters. Instead of PG-13, I’m going to have to keep them rated G.

It’s now my second day here and it feels like months.

Within minutes of arriving here, I found myself standing in a room naked with about 20 other guys being strip searched.

The rest of my first day consisted of sitting on a wood bench in my boxers – being yelled at. I know they’re just trying to scare us, but to be honest – it’s starting to work.

Also throughout my first day, they gave me a hard time about my gang tattoos. They don’t even care if I was in a gang or not. Just the fact I had tattoos that even looked gang related.

By the way – keep in mind that I’m keeping the details to the barest minimum. My first day was pure hell and it’s only just begun…

(Stay tuned for more horrific details.)

Photos: Prison intake mug shot; Tattoos: "Courage an Honor" and "The World is Mine"