Prison and Jail

[Griffin (OP)]

Who here has been arrested, been in jail or done time in county or prison? How much of it was drug related and if you don't care tell us totwhat you went in for and how long. I have only been arrested twice the second is well documented here on another thread and only did a little over a month for that. I did a week for the first time I was arrested for a bs DV harassment charge that the girl didn't want me to get arrested or get charged for. It wasn't a threat other wise it would of been a more severe crime. The charge was for making a phone call with no intent or purpose for actual conversation. I made a horrible decision to not get an attorney because if i would of it would of been dropped because you can get charged with it for calling someone to many times or to late or to early and it goes against first amendment rights. Instead I got 18 months probation cost me about $4000 or more total.


If anyone has hired an attorney how much was it and what charge did you hire the attorney for? Was it for a trial or just preliminary hearings so you didn't have to have a public defender? Did you have to pay all the attorneys costs up front? If they set you on a payment plan how long did they give you to pay off?

Also if you went to prison or jail please give us some good some stories about the experience like did you have to kick in jail or prison and stuff like that? Also if you saw fights and what drugs you saw were in the prisons and jails? This stuff really interests me I hate being arrested, going to jail, and thank god I haven't been to prison. I like hearing about legal stuff and stories of things that happened in jail.



Griffin

[theSWPK]

3x Arrested, failure to appear warrant, jail. No more city jail since last summer, this last time i was in county.

2x arrested, Possession of para - city jail, bonded
4x arrested, Driving on a suspended license - routine traffic stop, road block, etc. - city jail, bonded

1x Got jammed up in Illinois but not arrested but forced to pay over $1000 to get my car out and be on my merry way.

Until I pay about $4000 to Mississippi (and $400 to Illinois) I will never get my license back.
I've asked my Governor and Head of Department of Public Safety for leniency/hardship status license to no avail.

The time in county was for 2 days and I was SO fucked up. 6g of gabapentin/neurontin after a week off fucked up for 2 days. Dude had to prop me up to keep me from falling on people sleeping on the floor. They humiliated me there. I was forced to strip outside of a private cell and left nude in a hallway for 20 minutes or so before getting a jumpsuit.

I've also been badly beaten by the police over a misunderstanding leading to me being arrested for resisting arrest. They beat my face into the concrete 6 times and busted my forehead open and broke some front teeth. They made sure to slam me into my truck and dent the fuck out of it first. All this because I tried to run after an officer snuck up behind me and bear hugged me without saying he was police. Wrong guy, wrong place, wrong time.  Every lawyer on the coast told me unless I had 20,000 dollars to file a civil suit then forget it.
I still shake when police are near. That was the only time in my adult life I've had my ass handed to me like that. Brutish.

[CHEF]

Who here has been arrested, been in jail or done time in county or prison? How much of it was drug related and if you don't care tell us totwhat you went in for and how long. I have only been arrested twice the second is well documented here on another thread and only did a little over a month for that. I did a week for the first time I was arrested for a bs DV harassment charge that the girl didn't want me to get arrested or get charged for. It wasn't a threat other wise it would of been a more severe crime. The charge was for making a phone call with no intent or purpose for actual conversation. I made a horrible decision to not get an attorney because if i would of it would of been dropped because you can get charged with it for calling someone to many times or to late or to early and it goes against first amendment rights. Instead I got 18 months probation cost me about $4000 or more total.


If anyone has hired an attorney how much was it and what charge did you hire the attorney for? Was it for a trial or just preliminary hearings so you didn't have to have a public defender? Did you have to pay all the attorneys costs up front? If they set you on a payment plan how long did they give you to pay off?

Also if you went to prison or jail please give us some good some stories about the experience like did you have to kick in jail or prison and stuff like that? Also if you saw fights and what drugs you saw were in the prisons and jails? This stuff really interests me I hate being arrested, going to jail, and thank god I haven't been to prison. I like hearing about legal stuff and stories of things that happened in jail.



Griffin

If it's a drug charge be prepared to pay 100% upfront, can't trust u junkies can we?

[Jethro]

   Many times, small stuff . . . DWI , POM, and Misc. ; mostly in a small town ; connections, Good old Boy Stuff. A few times my probation officer was my sister-in-law.
    Funniest one. . . I was at a kegger at the Lake rolling some tasty Oaxacan with dust. The Gendarme raided the party, walked up on me. . .
   I stuff things out of sight as they  walk up on me . They take my license and tell me to "Stay Here".
    I did not know where all the dope was, so grabbed some and ran. Ended up paying $50 bucks for disorderly conduct, a few weeks later.

[Jethro]

      At one point I was hanging off a cliff , hiding. I saw a friend also hanging from the cliff, he fell. minor injury.
    So . .  I walk back to campfire, blend in. The people there say "I am glad I am not "XXXX" , ME.  So I wander back into the woods.
      All this time the Cops are calling my name "to Surrender" over their PA speakers !

[razor girl]

3 possessions of dope, 1 DUI.  And the worst thing (in retrospect) was that every one of them could have pretty easily been prevented, they were all due, to one extent or another, to carelessness and/or stupidity on my part.  If I had taken the usual precautions and used the usual common sense-like waiting to get home to get high for one example-none of them needed to have happened.  Live and (I fukin' hope anyway) learn.

[dysmorphic]

i was in the brig in the navy for a short stay. it actual shows up as a federal penitentiary....im so fucking hard core lol!!

i been in vegas metro jail and that was fucking scary. i was 3 days in the 40 man holding cell that held 80 of us. i slept under the bench in there. fuck that sucked bags of dicks.

[DeadCat]

i was in the brig in the navy for a short stay. it actual shows up as a federal penitentiary....im so fucking hard core lol!!

i been in vegas metro jail and that was fucking scary. i was 3 days in the 40 man holding cell that held 80 of us. i slept under the bench in there. fuck that sucked bags of dicks.

Been there, done that (Vegas), Fortunately the initial holding cell I was in held maybe 15 prisoners max, but only 2 benches.The 8 hours or so in that room, I too slept under a bench. 

Guys in holding tend to talk, usually complaining about how "unfair" it is that that they are in lockup, the CO's are dicks who wont give you the time of day or an aspirin if you have a broken arm. One guy was in there with a sheredded leg all full of hospital staples after a police dog bit him and shook him and wouldn't let go. But defend yourself from a police dog and they charge you with assaulting an officer. Yeah, police dogs are more valuable than your life or limb. ANd in Las Vegas th cops shoot somebody about once a week.

One trick I learned is to tell the intake processor that I have a serious opiate habit, like 2 or 3 bundles a day and I will need medically assisted detox or I'll be puking and shitting all over my cell. It is especially helpful if you are loooking at more than an overnight stay. That has gotten me into the infirmary for comfort meds including some benzos , lope,  klodine and other things I don't remember. Plus, they keep the infimary quiet and you can take unlimited showers while you detox. All in all it is much more comfortable (and safer) than general population blocks.

In the hand full of jails I ever visited there has ALWAYS been one or towo pathetic crybabies or gay hustlers begging
for your phone card or your cookie or your milk. Just flat out refuse, unless they have something worth trading, But in general county jails are just full of screw-ups and drunks charged with petty crimes, Once in prison it's a whole different story.

[Chip]

all I ever got was a cannabis caution but I'm generally pretty straight these days apart from the odd meth. session and some pot - and my Methadone taper, of course.

I know, I'm such a lightweight.

[Diacetylmorphinefiend]

Ive done a grand total of 3 nights in jail and I really hope it stays that way. Last time I got picked up after nodding out in my car. I almost threw up while in a holding cell that was stuffed full of people waiting to be prccessed in. After i announced i was gonna puwas everyone was yelling and beating on the door to let this sick kid out of the cell. Luckily the CO got me out in time and I had my puke session in a private toilet. Other than that nothing exciting happened. The CO laughed at me when I told them I was addicted to heroin and would need a medical detox. Glad I got bailed out...

[Zoops]

Arrested 6 or 7 times (I don't remember exactly how many) for Rx fraud. "Attempting to obtain the administration of a controlled substance through deceit, fraud, trickery or other subterfuge" is how the VA statute reads.

Did 16 months in three county and one city jail in NoVA, got out, and six months later, I got hemmed up again in Alexandria, for one more Rx fraud case, where I did about 30 months. That time, I "went down the road" and was a prisoner for the Virginia Department of Corrections for the last 16 months of my sentence.

It's really not that bad. Only thing is no females and drugs were really hard to come by, at least where I was.

The first couple months when they take you to DOC sucked ass though. Went to this place called "Powhatan Correctional Center" where they classify you and decide where you're gonna go. Was in there with all sorts of murderers, rapists, pedophiles, bank robbers, and big-time drug dealers. You're locked in your cell about 18 hours out of the day while there. Eventually, I got sent to a level 2 prison, where it was a dormitory sleeping situation and you could buy a TV for $200 and they had about 80 cable channels. Don't talk when Walking Dead or Sons of Anarchy comes on!

Met a lot of really bad men in there, but never got into anything with anyone. Except one time when I unintentionally bumped into a pretty cut-up black dude in the breakfast line. He went to fuck off on me and I explained that I was sorry and that it was unintentional. No blows thrown.

I actually met this dude (see below) and cultivated a sort of friendship with him; wrote a letter to his bank so they could release the funds he had in an account there to his commissary account at the prison. Two life sentences plus 20 years. I remember one time when we were walking around the track, talking, I said, "God will forgive you for killing them." And his response? "I don't believe God."

He ended up going to a level 5 joint. Where they keep you in chains when you shower, and you get one hour of "rec" in a walled-off yard per day by yourself. Maybe. That kind of treatment probably has made this guy go completely bonkers by now. He was more than a little bit off back then, screaming out his cell window sometimes. When we were on rec the next morning, I'd ask him if that was him I heard screaming and he said, "yeah, I have to exercise the voice."

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Pn9ZcxQkeMI


Fixed the youtube link -z

[monkawat]

Damn zoops- guy cut his own little girl's throat along with her mother's...

I am surprised you guys got that many channels. I know someone who is in TXDCJ and they don't have more than 4 or 5 (religious programs and news only) and thats at an even lower level facility.



.

[Opus]

Longest stint in jail in over 25 years of junkiness has been about 4 days, and all cumulative time, including the two weekends I did in juvi for the only felony I've ever caught when I was 14 (stole a motorcycle), is maybe 12 days tops.

I'm pretty lucky, I have been popped for boosting several times, but they were all in a state that doesn't have laws like they do here in Cali, laws like "petty with a prior" which is set up so that if you've been convicted for shoplifting, another charge can make it a felony. Here they don't fuck around, you can go to prison for misdemeanor theft, but I got lucky and (have at least so far) managed to stay out of the system..

I had a klinik counselor tell me just a couple weeks ago that most people he knows in the system would MUCH MUCH prefer to do time in the CDC than elsewhere in the country. I was a little surprised by that statement, but he's black and this is in Oakland. It might be easier in the CDC for black folks, but I'm not sure that applies everywhere, I'm sure a lot just depends on the state you're dealing with..

[DeadCat]

The old Dade County (Miami) Jail overnight for "possession" which was over a used spoon and works but the charges were dropped becasue I had cleaned them after use in my car and they tsted negative.

A week in Broward County when I was accused of grand laceny by the wife of a guy whose tools I had borrowed WITH HIS CONSENT (while he was in  Everglades Federal Prison for growing pot) but she didn't know and freaked and called 911 when she found out. Crazy See You Next Tuesday.

A 48 hour "Hold for Identity Check" in Clark County Jail (Las Vegas) after I got stopped and had forgotten my wallet and driver's license. The cop saw fresh tracks and made some "fucking junkie" comment.  I think just he just wanted to get a chance to search me and my car and make me get dope sick if nothing else. On release I was handed a ticket for Driving W/O a License in my possession AND had to pay almost $300 to get my car back. Judge dismissed it when I went to court with my DL.

2 or 3 overnights in different Boston jails for possesion of a bag or two of ECP. All continued without a finding and dismissed after 90 days unsupervised probation, 'cause I was a White, employed professional but my buddy was a Black cabbie who lost his hack license also for 1 bag on one of those same busts.

Part of a day in Gloucester MA jail for posession of MY OWN PRESCRIBED BUPRENORPHINE !!! It was in an old bottle so the idiot cop said it was illegal. Neither my lawyer or the judge could even believe the stupidity of that cop. The charge was dropped but only after I had to fly back  few times for procedural BS and I gave the court a copy of my pharmacy records showing I had been taking it for YEARS. And, by the way, there is no law against keeping any drug prescribed to you for as long as you want, even past expiration date. It's that kind of nonsense why I always tell my bupe doctor I take 2X as much as I do so I have a stash for emergencies like that.


24 Hrs mandatory for a 1st offense DUI in Arizona, but served it in my home county.

Overnight in Hennepin County Jail (Minneapolis) on that recent DUI that I fortunately beat.

(Not so) Funny thing about  DUIs; I drove high on H for 15 years and never had a problem. I got prescribed some Xanax and got a DUI and now get pulled over all the time even completely sober. The cops' computers flag your car's plate as being owned by a convicted drunk driver and you are immediately followed. AND some states now make 1st offense drivers have both ignition interlock AND special license plates for 2nd offenders. There's that and every busybody in America has a cell phone and can't wait to narc on anyone that fits their own "profile" (bias).

Like William S Burroughs said; "America is becoming a nation of finks."

[Griffin (OP)]

Deadcat I am glad you beat that 2nd DUI case I was pulling for you when you were writing about it because it was literally a week or two after I plead guilty to my stuff. I wish I would of had the money for an attorney that way I could of had my charge dropped down like yours. The 9 month license suspension sucks, I got my license back with a breathalyzer after 30 days of no license after completing the written and driving test. If I have no screw ups in 4 months of having the device I can get the breathalyzer out and my license will be just restricted until the 9 months is up. If I get a traffic ticket in the next 7 months I can't get my license back until the full 9 month suspension is served.

 The breathalyzer is such a hassle I figured it would be no big deal super easy sense I haven't drank in 4 years, but you not only have to blow in it to start your car you have to blow in it every 5 minutes while you are driving. It is hard and always pops up at the worst time like when your trying to yield onto a highway or right before you hit a traffic light. I blew "hot" 3 weeks ago and it gives you a 2-4 day lockout which means you have that much time to pay them $75 or you won't be able to start your car after the countdown of the 2-4 days ends. It is so ridiculous because it can give you a failed breath test for any reason. The time I blew hot I had blown normal to get it started and blew normal 2 minutes after i failed. The guy at the company said it could of been from my work clothes or hand soap because I had my windows up but any hot readings means you have to pay the $75.

The dmv said I have to have a hearing for it to not go against me getting it out after 4 months. It is going to suck if I can't get it out before it starts snowing because you can't leave your car on to defrost or warm up you because you have the chance of missing the test if your car is on and you are not in it.

I've only been to jail twice the second time I did a little over 30 days for a dui for taking methadone that I was getting from the clinic 18 hours or so before getting pulled over and failing the roadside test. I had to C/T from 280 mgs of methadone with a few tylenol a day even though they had my lockbox which still had 7 days of doses left in it (which they took both the box, bottles and meds and threw them out. I got 18 months probation so once I am finished I will have been on probation for 38 months total. I am hoping to get off early this time I had a month left of my original 18 month probation which they let me end it unsuccessfully after getting revoked because of the new charges. I tried 3 different times with my P.O.'s approval and recommendation to get off probation early the first time with no luck but hopefully this county and judge are more lenient and I get off after doing a year or 15 months of the 18 months.

 I find out Wednesday who my new PO is, it is for a private company that does probation. I also find out how many UAs and classes I am going to have to take so that will be good to know. Hopefully I find out if they are going to drop my $2000 supervision fees in the original county soon because at first they wanted me to pay that fee plus the $900 fee for being supervised by the private probation company. Even though I was transferred from original county and will only see them when I am done with my probation to get a paper saying I am done with everything.

Thanks everybody keep the stories coming, I feel terrible for all the harassment due to the drug war that you guys have had to go through but hopefully everyone can learn from each others mistakes and lower the risk of incarceration. I read some statistic about people on methadone going to jail who were not allowed to stay on methadone while in jail. It said 10% of the people who goto the clinic get arrested each year. The study and article were about people on methadone not getting back into treatment after being arrested and either dying from an OD or going straight back to their DOC. I forget the percentage of people who didn't return to treatment after being arrested but it was pretty high. They said the people who don't get to continue their MMT in jail and the ones who don't return after being released are much more likely to die or be arrested again.

Griffin