At the beginning of my sentence, I was sent to Hurlong California, a violent prison where I had no chance at even walking the yard very long before I was persecuted for my crime by other inmates. I was there for one and a half days before getting attacked by at least five other inmates in the bathroom at recreation. I spent the next three months in the SHU waiting to be transferred. from there I was sent to Oklahoma transfer center for two weeks and then to Englewood Colorado. Once there I found an incredible amount of sympathetic inmates who helped school me on the do’s and don’ts of prison etiquette, how to show respect and courtesy to all even the police. to abide by the rules of any institution no matter how inane they may seem because it’s their house and their rules of which if didn’t want to have them pressed on me I should have stayed out of prison.
I am native American and quickly joined the sweat lodge ceremonies and other activities provided by the institution. I met good brothers who led me down a path to self recovery and self discovery as I was only 23 at the time of my incarceration. I quickly enrolled in a trade class that taught me the basics of drafting and the autocad computer program. I earned two drafting diplomas. I exercised 6 days a week and ate a balanced diet to bring my weight down to 235 lbs from 330 lbs in one year. but all good things come to an end and they turned the institution into a low security from a medium and along with 90 percent of the population was transferred to Beaumont Texas USP. I stayed there for four years witnessing violence on a large scale. I saw an inmate eviscerated. I saw an inmate kicked in the face by twenty other inmates who stood in a single file line one after another. I participated in such acts, but never got caught by the grace of god, out of self preservation. I regret having done so. I was held at knife point and my life was threatened constantly. But I made it to the day my points dropped and was transferred to the low next door.
