You can survive. Being afraid is your worst enemy.
When I was sentenced to 44 months in Federal Prison. I thought my life was over. I wanted to simultaneously pass out and throw up. All through the process, I had been assured by my highly paid attorneys that I would get 18 months or so and “be home before I knew it” yeah right, nothing could have been further from the truth short of my having received a death sentence for my “white collar” crime but that is another story for another day.
The fact is I was sentenced to 44 months and would soon learn that my time was to be done in the camp that is part of the Atlanta facility. As is customary, I was given a little time to get my personal affairs in order, something between 60 and 90 days and was instructed to self surrender on Oct. 27, 2004.
Of course, I had no idea what to expect. At that point in my life I had served a grand total of 24 hours in jail when I was arrested and arraigned on my charges and that experience proved to be nothing even close to a glimpse of what prison was actually like. No, to be honest I didn’t have a foggy clue what prison life would be like, all I knew of it was what I had seen on television and in the movies and I was scared to death. My family and I scoured the internet, book stores, etc. for any kind of written material on the subject of doing time and our experience was that there was just damn little of anything with any sort of quality out there. What we did find was either poorly written, what appeared to be the ramblings of one gentleman who had lost his mind in the process, and some silly attempts at humor regarding a situation that to me was anything but funny.
Suffice it to say then that I walked into the receiving office ill prepared for what I was about to experience and in one sense I guess I can say that was a blessing. Had I known some of what I would go through in the initial hours it might have made the time leading up to my surrender less bearable. For me the first few hours, even days, the not knowing if you will were the worst part of the entire experience. I am writing this article in the hope that if you are reading it, you are faced, as was I with the prospect of serving time and to try in some small way to lessen the angst that you might be feeling as the day of your incarceration approaches. I felt as if the top ten things you need to know format might be and easier and more to the point read because if you are like me, in the time prior to the day I reported, I had some trouble concentrating with all the thoughts that were swirling around inside my head.
Certainly this article will not cover everything that you will need to know or that you will learn as you pass through the experience personally but if it makes you better prepared for what is to come then the purpose for my writing it will have been accomplished. Keep in mind that even though this is your first time you will be serving with inmates who have been in for a while or those who have been in, been released and returned. There is a 65 % recidivism rate in the Federal Prison system. Be careful not get suckered in by those who have been around a while. Use you head, follow you own instincts and do what you believe to be the right things and you will have a better experience. Here, in my opinion are the things you need to know in order of importance.
Number one: You are in no eminent danger. Despite what you might have read elsewhere or seen on TV, you don’t have to worry about becoming someone’s “bitch” or being sexually assaulted in the shower. In my experience, in the camp environment, that sort of thing just does not happen. From what I saw, the camp environ is a pretty much live and let live sort of culture. In other words, you mind you business and I mind mine and we’ll get along just fine. To be honest I was witness to a few instances of violence, fights essentially between inmates or groups of inmates and they were always started over someone sticking their nose into someone else business. Fighting by the way is a automatic trip to Solitary confinement or the dreaded “Hole” as it is referred to inside despite who started the ruckus, anybody and everybody involved goes and for a long time. It can also mean being transferred to a higher security facility something that you do not want so simply avoid it at all cost. In short, mind you own business, do as your told and you will get along OK.
Number two: Club Fed is a myth. There is no such animal. I don’t care what has been written about tennis courts and saunas, computers, wood shops, etc. they aren’t there. The idea of going back to school and getting and education while you are there is also something you shouldn’t count on. There were no tennis courts, no computers and no wood shops were I was and no educational opportunities although I think some opportunities to obtain a high school equivalency certificate might exist elsewhere, even that was not available in Atlanta when I was there. What is there is a 1/4 mile walking track, a basketball court and a softball field. There were some free weights under an outdoor shed but they were being phased out when I was there. There is much free time in prison and the opportunity to improve your health does exist if you apply yourself to an exercise routine. I did and lost over 100 pounds while I was there. There was a small library and of course a TV room and the end of each dorm but watching TV is difficult because of the number and diversity of the inmates and getting that many people to agree on what to watch is a arduous task. There are ways to occupy your time but you have to look for them I read and exercised everyday and it helped me to get through my time more easily.
Number three: Don’t expect to be treated fairly. Prison guards, counselors and staff are human beings, some of them good some of them not. If they like you they will treat you well. If not you may not always come out where you had hoped to be in your everyday dealings with them. For example in the assignment of jobs, housing, etc. the people they like move up the ladder and get the better assignments, locations, etc. the others, often get stuck with some not so good duties. I was fortunate. I was pretty well liked and ended up with the best job on the compound in Atlanta, I was the clerk for the powerhouse. I kept the payroll records, read the meters, and sat in the office with the guards all day in the warm in the winter and the cool in the summer. I helped them with some real estate investment advice and kept them laughing all day and I fared pretty well. Get to know and make friends of the guards and staff if possible . It will make your time easier.
Number four: You can’t have money. Cash is forbidden in prison although it does exist. Get caught with it however and you will have a one way ticket to solitary. I had a friend who made the mistake of trying to send me money in the mail and although I didn’t even know it was coming it was found by the guards and I narrowly escaped being punished for it. You are issued an ID card when you enter. That card serves as your charge card as such and can be used to pay for phone calls, commissary, and vending machine purchases at the facility. You are allowed to have up to $300 per month placed on that card from an outside source, family member, etc. and the small amount you are paid for working is place on there as well. My advice is to avoid trying to sneak cash in and to play by the rules where your monthly expenditures are concerned. Things will go better for you if you do.
Number five: The food is decent. I was at two facilities and in both the food was not what I would consider gourmet by any means but it was edible and in a sufficient amount that I never felt hungry. Of course there are three meals a day and they come pretty early compared to the outside world. Breakfast at 5:30 consisting of grits, eggs, toast or biscuits, sometimes bacon or sausage and coffee. Lunch is served at 11:00AM and the menu varies daily. Dinner is at 4:30 and that menu varies as well. Menu items include fried or baked chicken, hamburgers, hotdogs, fish, pizza, corned beef and ham occasionally. You are allowed to purchase snack items such as chips, candy and soft drinks from the commissary in a weekly trip.
Number six: Prison life is loud. Noise was one of the hardest things for me to get used to. 50 to 100 men in one big room, talking laughing, sometimes yelling, coughing, snoring, farting and singing can make for a sound something akin to a train coming down the track. It can be difficult to get used to but you will. Ear plugs can be purchased at the commissary which will help when you are attempting to sleep.
Number seven: Medical care is poor and dental care is a joke. If you have health issues and need medication be sure to take a list with you when you enter. Your prescription medications will be taken and given to you daily at the medical dispensary. Some pills such as blood pressure medications will be given to you monthly and can be kept in your locker. The doctors and dentists are over worked and basically non caring do your best to stay healthy during your stay. If you develop a serious condition you will be transported to a hospital. I never had to do that so I really cannot speak to the type of care given there although I would not expect it to be award winning.
Number eight: The accommodations are sparse but bearable. You will share and 8 by 8 cube with one or maybe two other inmates. Your furnishings will include a metal cot and mattress, a metal chair, a small wall locker, and in some cases a small metal desk attached to the wall, one blanket, two sheets, a pillow and pillow case. The beds aren’t at all comfortable but you will get used to them and learn to get a good nights sleep there. The walls of the cube are concrete and do not reach the ceiling, the floors are polished concrete. Both heat and cooling can be a problem in the worst parts of the winter and summer. Score and extra blanket if you can and keep in in your locker for those really cold nights.
Number nine: There is a prison economy and you can benefit from it. Many inmates don’t have money on the books. Either because they have no one on the outside who cares enough to put it their or simply aren’t in a financial position to do so. Those me have to learn to fair for themselves when it comes to extras such as commissary and the small amount they make working a prison job does very little toward that end. Many of them are then willing to work inside the prison for others doing odd jobs such as laundry, making beds, shining shoes, etc. in exchange for items from the commissary. This is how it works inmate one does your laundry each week and returns it to your cubed washed, dried and folded. In exchange, you give him five dollars in commissary which you buy and deliver to him when you go. He gives you a list each week and you deliver it to him after your trip. This method is used often and with success throughout the entire camp system.
Number ten: You will make friends in Prison but don’t expect them to be lasting. Prison is a different animal, a place where men are thrown together by requirement not by choice and you will, just like anywhere else come to relate to and enjoy your relationship with some of them. Of course there will be others to whom you do not relate just as it is in the outside world. Despite what you may think while you are doing your time, walking the track with a friend, playing cards or just sitting and talking, in my experience the friendship will not and should not extend past the walls of the prison. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, most people would like to forget the experience once it is over. It is a horrible and embarrassing time in one’s life. Two, despite your friendship inside the walls of the prison you are usually two very different people from very different worlds. It isn’t likely you would have ever met on the outside to begin with and even less so that you would have been friends if you had. My advice is to enjoy the friendships while they last and to let them go when when you sentence is done.
The prison experience is anything but easy. In fact It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I was horrified at the prospect of going and wasn’t sure I could make it through it but I did and you can too. Ninety percent of how you fare will depend on your attitude approach it with the best information you can obtain and the right one and you will be fine, Remember this 6 months or 6 years, either way it is just a period of time in your life and it will end eventually. The good news is there is life after prison. I am living proof of that
If you liked this HUB try my book “The Prison Experience” at http://amzn.com/B00JQJUZRE at Amazon for Kindle!
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