Locked In with Ian Bick - I Was A Corrupt Rikers Island Prison Guard - Then I Went To Prison | Steven Dominguez

Episode Date: December 14, 2023

In this gripping episode, we dive into the turbulent journey of a former Rikers Island correctional officer. From confronting the harsh realities of prison life and engaging in underground activities to facing a DEA sting operation and enduring incarceration, this narrative is a raw and honest account of downfall and redemption. Our guest's transition from enforcer to inmate and his post-prison path of writing and rebuilding offers a unique perspective on resilience, hope, and the complex dynamics of the criminal justice system. Big thanks to MANSCAPED for sponsoring this episode. Get 20% OFF + Free International Shipping + 2 Free Gifts with my promo code LOCKEDIN at https://manscaped.com/lockedin Follow Ian Bick on Instagram: @ian_bick & Snapchat: ianbick Connect with Steven Dominguez: IG: - @CHILLSTEVIE ACROSS THE BRIDGE - A RIKERS ISLAND STORY BY STEVEN DOMINGUEZ AVAILABLE ON ALL MAJOR PLATFORMS. https://acrossthebridge.biglink.to/MoldingMessengersPublishing Buy Merch: https://lockedinbrand.com Use code lockedin at checkout to get 20% off your order Connect with Ian Bick: https://www.ianbick.com Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:46 - Connecting with Steven Dominguez 00:05:34 - Prioritizing Local Stories and Writing a Book 00:08:18 - Pursuing Opportunities in a Challenging Environment 00:11:04 - The Path to Stability and Responsibility 00:13:48 - Working in Riker's Island 00:16:40 - The Benefits of a City Job and Inmate Relationships 00:19:14 - First Day on the Job at Rikers Island 00:22:22 - Manscaped 00:25:09 - Training and Interactions with Prison Guards 00:27:57 - Conditions at Rikers Island 00:30:46 - How Bad Can It Be? 00:33:37 - Meeting with the Worker 00:36:27 - Temptation for Financial Freedom 00:39:23 - Living the High Life as a Correction Officer 00:42:05 - The Underground Organization on Rikers 00:44:52 - Mysterious Encounter in the Housing Area 00:47:48 - Gossip in Prison 00:50:38 - The Secret Meeting at the Parking Lot 00:53:24 - Arrested by the DEA 00:56:21 - The Sting Operation and Connection to the DEA Agent 00:59:17 - Arrested and charged 01:02:03 - Fighting Legal Battles 01:07:40 - Arrival at Clinton Prison 01:13:05 - Writing a Book in Prison 01:15:43 - Life After Prison Powered by Creative Evolution Studios https://creativeevolutionstudios.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There's no real red flags. He's not giving me, like, weird energy. It was just everything that the inmate told me was going to happen. We get to the parking lot. He goes, he meets a guy, like, six cars out, and I'm just there shaking. Like, internally, I'm just like, oh, man, like, come on. Like, whatever this is, I didn't touch anything at this point. He put the duffel bag in my car.

Remember, he's driving with me because I have the security that I'm an officer. We get pulled over. whatever's in that trunk, I'm pretty sure any law enforcement is going to see that, hey, listen, go ahead, you're good. So that's kind of what I'm getting paid for, that's security. He gets back in the car, no duffel bag, no nothing. He's on the phone the entire time we're driving back.

And I'm still a little nervous. We get back to the apartment, and I'm parked outside. He gets out. He's talking on the phone, sparks a cigarette, and he goes, give me one minute, takes out some money, gives it to me, says I'm going to call you. I'm busy right now. Like, I got to get dissituated.

I'm like, hey, yeah, yeah, yeah, don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. The money's still on the passenger seat. I don't even touch it. Like, that's how scared I am. I get back on the West Side Highway. I get on the Tribor Bridge. I go to Queens.

I park my car, block away from my house, and then I pick up the money. And it's $1,500 cash. On today's episode, we have Stephen Dominguez, a former Rikers Island correctional officer to share his wild story of how he ended up working for an inmate and his family who just so happened to be a confidential informant. Guys, this story is absolutely insane, and Stephen ends up getting wrapped up in a criminal enterprise, which ultimately leads to getting arrested and spending multiple years in state prison.

Yes, in this episode, we hear about how a former correctional guard gets sentenced to prison and what life is like for him. Thanks to my friends over at Manscape for sponsoring today's episode, get 20% off plus free international shipping and two free gifts with my promo code locked in at manscape.com slash locked in. I just started using manscape and it is absolutely amazing and phenomenal. I want to get into the habit of making my intros a little bit more personable and give you guys life updates on what's going on. This past weekend I got the opportunity to meet and hang out with Mike Tyson in New York City for his Tyson two.

2.0 brand launch event. Check out my Instagram at Ian underscore Bick to see the pictures. Mike's company has an exciting article coming out about me in the coming weeks, and we are working on working with Mike's brand more. Super excited and we'll keep you all posted. Remember to leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, whenever you get the chance. Leave us a comment also on our YouTube channel.

Hit us with that subscribe button, tell your friends, and sit back, relax, and get ready to lock in with Stephen Dominguez. Yeah, and a pleasure, man. Thanks for having me, bro. I'm a fan, first and foremost. I've been following you. I respect your hustle. And I see a lot of me and you, and a lot of you and me, we have a lot of similarities.

So the fact that I was able to reach out to you, and I can wholeheartedly say it was through comments, and then you responded back to the comments. You asked me for my email. We spoke through email. You told me that you are in... I forgot what part of New York you told me you were in. Oh, the first when I was in Hyde Park,

at our old studio. Yeah, the old studio, which was close to me in Queens, where, you know, I would be going back and forth. I just moved to Miami. New York City native, born and raised in Queens. You told me that, and I'm like, all right, cool. He's not too far away, but, you know, two-hour drive-in, made it.

I flew in this morning. But I'm happy to be here. Yeah, you hit me up and then like a few months ago, I think, or whatever. And then we connected and then I think you messaged me on Instagram. No, you emailed me again. You followed back up. And I was just going to ignore it because we were like we booked a lot of pods and we were going to take a little break till January. And we're filming like our last ones.

And then I opened the email and I click on it. I'm like, holy shit, this guy stores. It's insane. Persistent, man. I think you are our first, like we've had COs and I just interviewed a CEO yesterday. actually, or two days ago. We've had CEOs on the show, but we've never had a corrupt CEO on the show, which is very cool for our audience.

And the other thing I like about your story is that, like, it's out there, but the other prison YouTubers haven't really done anything with you. No, no. It's hard to get through to a lot of these podcasts, guys. You know, I understand they're busy. They might think it's spam. They might think it's a waste of time. But I come with, like, a sense of, hey, listen, I got.

I got a little foundation already. I just want to share my story on your platform. Yeah, honestly, it doesn't even, you could have zero followers, and if it's a good story, like, that's what I want. Like, I want the people that can't get onto other people's platforms because those are the best interviews. And I got the energy from you, so that's really why I try. Yeah, I do my best to, like, look through my Instagram DMs.

And, I mean, some people are just crazy. Or they don't even take the time to look at the website to, like, fill out. Like, if you're listening to this or you're watching this, if you want to come on the show, just fill out the forum. Like we actively look through the forum. We kind of prioritize like the local. You're pretty transparent on how to reach you.

Yeah, we want to prioritize like the local stuff because it gets pricey to fly people out and this and that. But yeah, I'm glad you followed back up so we didn't miss this opportunity because you have a crazy story. And, you know, you gave me a copy of the book. So thank you for that. Anyone that's tuning in and wants more, make sure they grab your book. It'll be in the description.

And you also have a merch line. line, right? I have a merch line. Rikers Island, it's not really merch. It's more of a statement piece. I originated the idea from a concept that Ray Kwan, the chef from the Wutan clan, he aired that shirt out the same day. He had an album release for Only Built for Cuban Links.

This is 1996, and he's wearing a shirt that says Rikers Island on the C-76. And this was, you know, 20-something years ago. I have a mutual friend that reached out to him. said, hey, listen, I will want to reenact this shirt. There's no real for-profit. I just kind of want to make it as a statement piece because it coincides with the book. I was a Rikers Island Correction Officer for five years. And I was incarcerated in Clay and Max prison in upstate New York for five and a half years.

Yeah. And he's like, go for it. That's awesome, bro. Has anyone like making a movie or a TV series or anything? That's the steps that I'm taking right now. You got a huge feature on, what was that Wall Street Journal, I think I was reading. A Wall Street Journal. The New York Post, the New York Times called me

Corruptional Officer of the Year. Like, I was everywhere. That's what they called. Oh, man. Like it was like, it was weird, man. That's a good title, Corruptional officer. It was weird, man. It was so much like information that I'm like,

this is not what happened. Like, it didn't go down this way. So I looked at it as like, hey, maybe that's a lane for me to explain exactly what happened entail everything from A to B, how I took the correction officer exam, how I went to John Jay College of Criminal Justice, how I passed the academy, and my first day on Rikers to my last day on Rikers. So you were born in the city, like you were saying. Born and raised. Why become a CEO?

Like what? Did you go to college? Did you graduate high school? What was like, yeah? I graduated high school and went to Forest Hills High School in Queens. I went to summer school that year, believe it or not, regardless of me being a public. author for English. My English regions, I got like a 66. English is not my major. I say that in hindsight to like, you know, anyone can write a book if it's intriguing enough

that someone's going to be like, wow, this person is not a scholar. You know, they didn't major in this in writing. I went to school for forensic psychology. Law enforcement was not really in my background, nor was it in my playing field. I did not want to be a cop. I did not want to chase people through project housing at five in the morning and below freezing temperatures. I didn't think that was ideal. I'm at a point in life where I'm in college and I'm working for TSA. I'm 19 years old. I'm one of the youngest kids in the terminal at LaGuardia Airport.

I had a lot of opportunity there. TSA had evolved from when the towers fell in 2001. TSA came about, I believe, in 2003. Don't quote me, but more or less. This is 2007. How old are you? I'm 19. Okay.

Oh, yeah, 19. I'm 19 at the time. I'm over here taking test left and right. CBP, ICE, anything. You know, I'm looking for opportunity because now I'm still at my mom's house. I want to gain some type of, like, you know, manhood. I'm a product of a single mother. My mom's a substitute teacher for the Department of Ed.

She's been doing that since I was paid maybe three, four, years old. So she's been a teacher as long as I've been alive. I want to make something of myself to show her, hey, listen, all that hard work you've put in, all that responsibility that you've instilled in me, I can be a good product regardless of my environment. You know, Queens, the part of Queens where I'm from, it's not the best. It's not the worst in New York City, but it's not the best. It's very crime-ridden, prostitutes, drugs, gangs, the whole spiel. Every borough in New York City has has those corners. I'm in LaGuardia Airport.

I'm making connections. I'm doing this part time. I'm only working 25 to 30 hours a week. I do that from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. 9 a.m. I take the bus into the city and then I get to John Jay. I take my classes. I go back home and that's my routine.

I got to hear what's the craziest like TSA story? Like give me the top one because I'm sure you've seen some crazy shit. Some really cool weapons. Weapons? Yeah, really cool weapons. What kind of weapons? Flair shooting dark guns, like things that you're like, wow, that's, I don't even know things like that existed. Brass knuckles in so many forms and fashions that you press a button, the knife comes out, and then you press another button and it turns on fire.

Are people doing it intentionally or is an accident? No, man, I think it's definitely majority of it is accidental. Because if I see it, it's because I found it on your person. When it goes under, you know, checking luggage, that's a whole other spiel of, you know, whether we're going to let it go or not. Because it's under the flight, it's under the plane. You don't have no access to it. You're not really, you know, dangering anybody. Interesting.

But that, you know, a lot of little bags of coke in people's new port boxes that they left from the night before. So things happen. But never nothing super major. I learned a lot. So why that aspect of law enforcement? though. Was it like because you couldn't become a cop or the military? Like why, why TSA and why John Jay? What was that passion for you? Where did you get that from? TSA was my intro to having stability as far as getting a check every two weeks. Prior to that, I used to sell sneakers,

jerseys, fitted. I used to work on Jamaica Avenue selling anything I could as far as clothing of power goes because I would get it early. You know, I would get Jordan's two, three weeks prior to their release and I'd make $40, $50 on top of what I paid for it. So I made that also. TSA just gave me structure, gave me a lot of stability, it gave me a lot of responsibility. So with that responsibility came me wanting to leave my house. I'm turning 20 now, and then I'm about to get into 21.

Again, I've been taking all these tests. Nothing's really hitting because I'm 19. 90% of the government agencies need you to be 21, especially if you have like a peace officer status, Peace officer status, meaning you're able to carry, you're able to arrest. Again, I'm taking the ICE and CBP test and DEA test, which is funny because they're a part of my case. Yeah. I was just, again, looking for opportunity, stability.

And you couldn't get into the DEA? Nothing, nothing, nothing. Nobody would even reach out to me. I took the corrections test. I'm coming out of John Jay one day and they have a booth setup where it's two officers and they're trying to hand out the exam. The exam is free if you're John Jay student. John Jay is one of the biggest universities for criminal justice in the U.S. So they're willing to give you the test for free because, you know, they're recruiting.

He goes, hey, big man, one of the guys that's at the table, I'm waiting for one of my friends. Come here for a second. I've always been tall at this time I'm 19, 20 years old. What do you do for a living? I'll work TSA. He goes, oh, okay, cool. You want to make some big money, like some real, real money? and I'm like, well, doesn't everybody?

And he takes out his check, shows me his W-2 and his pay stuff, whatever he had. He goes, look, this is bi-weekly. And I'm like, it's like $4,000, more or less. I'm like, wow, bi-weekly. By-weekly, I'm getting, again, I'm part-time at TSA. I'm getting $6.50, 700 bucks, which is fine, was okay for me,

but obviously I wanted more. So that kind of turned me out. I take the test. I pass it with flying colors. They call me within six months of taking the test. I'm still 20 years old. I let the investigator know, hey, listen, my birthday is in May. I won't be 21 until then.

Like, okay, well, maybe you won't be able to make it into this class, but you can make it into the following one, and that's exactly what happened. I was in the 2010 December class for New York City Department of Corrections at 21 years old. Do you end up graduating college? I never graduated college because now that I'm in the academy, this is a full-time thing.

It's one week. It's seven to three. One week is three to 11, so I couldn't juggle it like I did TSA. TSA was only part-time four hours in the morning. Do you think if you got into the DEA or any of those higher positions, you never would have gotten into trouble? I believe so. I believe so.

I hate saying that I was a product of my environment working in Rikers Island. I'd never been very criminal-minded, but maybe seeing how easily accessible making a quick buck was kind of drew me to, hey, listen, you know. maybe I can bend the rules. When you got that job at 21, was your mom proud of you? She was a little concerned more than anything because where are you going to be working? Rikers Island. Most dangerous prison.

The most dangerous jail in the United States, the most notorious jail in the United States. You know, culturally and hip-hop, how many people, how many rappers, how many songwriters don't speak about Rikers Island. It's a cultural, impactful subject. Whether you know someone that works there, know someone that's been incarcerated, you've been incarcerated yourself, you've gone to visit someone, you maybe know a mental health clinician that works there,

it doesn't have to be an officer in me. That's a hold, it's literally an island on itself. And it's a community within a community, and it's a whole other world in my eyes. Yeah. So what's the academy like? The academy is mostly a lot of rules and regulations. You learn a lot about policy and procedures

on when inmates are coming in through the intake area, how to process them, how to write tickets and fractions, how to write injury reports, things of these natures, things that corrections hold base is if something happens, we have to try to prevent it. And when we prevent it, we got to say how we prevented it, and we have to always keep liable of care, custody, and control. You must have been one of the youngest people in their class.

I was. I was, that graduating class was starting out the academy, I believe, was in the 400s, 430, 432. The gym is packed. It's right there on Metropolitan Avenue and Queens. It's packed. Like, it's 3, 400 people. And you're like, wow, man, it's a lot of people that took this test. You know, and you kind of feel a sense of like, I'm a little lucky, you know.

Getting a city job is kind of like hitting the lottery in a sense because, Now you have power, you have stability, you're guaranteed a check. You could go to any car dealership and they're going to give you a car guaranteed because you work for the city. They know you have steady income. You become a member society. So it's kind of like a badge that you wear, regardless of it, even if it's not law enforcement, sanitation, fire department, there's a sense of like structure that comes with having a city

job. They gun trained you too, right? Yes, of course. Because I know in the feds, every prison guards. gun train. Yes, yes. The only thing with having the gun, you don't get that gun privilege until you're off probation. Okay. Because, you know, they need to find you. Obviously, they have to deem you fit enough to withstand two years of Rikers Island. So they don't have you, like, doing the bus trips or whatever while you're on probation? That's the reason why you have,

you're able to carry on post, but you can't have your personal protection firearm. So you're able to do hospital runs. You're able to do court runs. But you're able to do. But you're You're obviously guided by a senior. Yes, you know. That has a gun. Of course. Now, you didn't look young, right? Like, you're tall, you're a big guy.

No facial hair. You didn't have facial hair. Yeah, no facial hair. Still very baby-faced. Probably 40 pounds lighter. But very youthful, for sure. It kind of worked in my favor with the inmates at Rikers because these are my peers in a sense. These are kids I grew up with.

These are kids I played high school basketball with. These are kids that I'd see on the train. Maybe we talked to the same girl. Like, there was a sense of like, hey, yo, where are you from? I've seen you before. And, you know, you're told in the academy, hey, you don't tell these guys anything. Yeah. They might use it against you.

You know, there would be a lot of black and Spanish guards that I would encounter that new people that were sent to that prison. And they were definitely the same age. And, you know, they got along on like that. And they would always, you know, kind of favor those inmates a little bit better, too. I would agree. Let's be honest. When you see someone that looks like you, you feel slightly more comfortable. Yeah.

You know, especially in a demographic where it's so much negativity around you, you just kind of see that breath of fresh air. Like, oh, my God, maybe this guy can relate to my story. Maybe I can vent to this person. Maybe I can ask this person for advice, you know, and I became that as a correction officer. If we had an inmate here today that was under your watch, how do you think you would have described you on your first day on the job? First day. Or the first week. How would you have described you?

Quiet, tibbing. Very to myself. I didn't have any friends that I can say I graduated with it. I met some cool people. But, you know, you're in there by yourself. And no one's there to help you because you should know everything. You just graduated the academy. You got guys there that haven't been in the academy for 27 years.

So you know more than them. Or they might know more than you, but it's more of like their way or their method. You know, corrections evolves with time because of the inmate, the classification of crimes. Social and like political environments can alter rules and regulations that a teenager that's been there 25 years has to listen to a supervisor that's half his age.

Did you feel prepared going into that jail after graduation? Prior to actually graduating the academy, you do two weeks of on-job training. So that first week of on-job training is your introduction to Rikers. It's like, all right,

you know, we've been talking about this enough. Let's take a field trip. And my first day on that field trip, five minutes in, you hear the alarms, and you see the noise, and you get that smell, and you're in this environment where you're like,

oh, might be second-guessing this, you know, like, but I stood tall. I said, hey, listen, I've gotten this far. I have not something to prove to anyone but myself, and let's just move forward and let's pray for the best. Mary Balsmus from our friends over at Manscape, the holidays are approaching, but what if I told you that the celebrations are starting early this year? It turns out the perfect gift does indeed exist, and who else to bring it down your chimney, than the leaders in below the waist grooming.

Keep calm and let your balls jingle this holiday season with Manscape's brand new performance package 5.0 Ultra, featuring the new lawnmower 5.0. Watch all your wishes and missile toe kisses come true. Look nice when you're going to go do the naughty. Go to Manscape.com slash locked in for 20% off, plus two free gifts and free international shipping with code locked in. Unwrap the gift.

gift of smoothness this season with Manscaped. Manscape sent me my first ever lawnmower, 5.0 Ultra, and man, have I never felt more confident in the bedroom. I couldn't get over how clean, shiny, and smooth my balls looked. I've never used ball deodorant or ball aftershave before Manscape sent me the crop soother, aftershaven, and crop preserver, anti-shafe ball deodorant to try. And listen, guys, I'm never going to go a day without it again. After I shaped up with Manscaped, I put on a pair of the Boxers 2.0 that they sent me.

And listen, these are legit the best boxers I've ever worn. Really, they don't get any softer than these boxers. They're silky smooth, super comfortable, and I got a great night's sleep wearing these things. If you want your balls to look and feel like mine, go grab Manscape's performance package 5.0 Ultra using my promo code, which is the ultimate bundle for the man that deserves it all of. this holiday season. It's also a great gift for your husband, for your boyfriend, if you are a woman watching this show. Also included in the special sack is the lawnmower 5.0 Ultra, the weed wacker 2.0, ear and nose trimmer, Manscapes, liquid formulations, and two free gifts. You can get all of

this and more using my 20% off plus free international shipping and two free gifts promo code, which is Locked in at Manscape.com slash Locked in. That's 20% off plus two free gifts and free international shipping at manscape.com slash locked in and use Locked in at checkout. Manscape, get your jingle balls ready for the holidays. And thank you again to our friends over at Manscape for sponsoring Locked in. Let's get back to my episode with Stephen Dominguez. What's the first day on the job like?

First day on the job, you get to roll call. you're with about 40 to 50 other officers, the captain, the warden. They know that this is the first day for a lot of people. So they want the other officers to know this. They're going to tell you, hey, listen, you might be paired up with somebody who's literally it's their first day. Teach them right. Don't teach them the wrong way.

Don't be lazy about things. Let's watch each other's backs. And let's start the day. And it's like, okay, cool. You get to the housing area that you're assigned, then you're the B officer. and the officer you're leaving throws you the keys, and they're like, all right, I'm out of here. And you're like, wait, wait, you can't leave

because I got to do the count. They're like, it's good. And they stressed the count so much in the academy that you're like, no, no, no, I need to make sure it's good. So now the officer gets pissed and this rookie guy doesn't know what he's talking about. So the intro is more about breaking the ice with the officers because regardless of them being on your team,

you don't know if they're really going to be beside you if something happens. vary by the book when you got there? I couldn't say I was. I tried to be because that's what I was told and that's what I feel was axed of me. But deep down, I saw so much like real pain. I'm a very empathetic person. So I'm looking at these guys and they're like, hey, man, this correction officer pride on the search took my sneakers. Can you call the property office and see if I could get them back. And it's like I'm trying to do these favors in a sense,

not because I need them to say, hey, Officer Dominguez is a cool CEO. It's more about I did something for you, and I tried. And if it doesn't work, then I'm sorry, but at least you know I tried. I gave a lot of guys respect, and I got that respect back. Do you think some of the senior officers were kind of helping you with on-the-job training, or are they kind of like pushing the new guys out?

It was a mix. And I think everybody's experience is circumstantial because I didn't have a bad on-job training. I had some officers that really told me what it was. I had some officers that tried to show me, hey, listen, don't do this because you'll end up this way. Or officers that would tell me you can do things this way, but just be mindful, these are the consequences or these are the possibilities that this could occur. And it's like they're telling me all their experiences. And I'm just soaking all that in. Are prison guards, like actually, like, sitting at the computer in the bubble, like looking up other inmates?

Like, what do you guys do in your computer time during when, like, guys are locked in their cells or overnight shifts? What do you guys do? Sadly, just be diligent with your surroundings and your officers that's on the floor. So you have the B officer, which is the officer that's on the floor. There's 31 to 50 inmates on one side. That officer might be in a low classification area, so he has to worry about both sides. When you're in a high classification area, there's an officer on each side plus the officer in the bubble. Because those inmates and that caliber of inmate requires a lot more attention.

Yeah, but during like your downtime, what are you doing in there? Remember, this is kind of like when iPhones and everything are starting to brew. Like we're at iPhone 3, 4. You couldn't bring that in because that's considered contraband. an inmate can punch you in the face and take your phone. That's really the only reason why you can't have a phone. It's a security risk at that too. Talk, converse, get to know your partner.

Have these inmates ask you for a pass to the law library or a pass to Juma for Muslim service. And you calling and verifying, hey, is this guy Muslim? Because he's asking me he wants to go to Muslim service. The officer on the other line says, no, fuck him. And then he hangs up the phone on you. And you're like, hey, officer, Jane Doe said, fuck you. What does that do?

That creates a weird tension because it's like, I just want to go to religious service. So now maybe your day could have been smooth up until that moment now. Now that inmate wants to retaliate, maybe not even towards you. Maybe another inmate got him mad and off of what just happened that he can't go to religious service, a fight breaks out. So it can happen like that. And you have to be prepared for that. That's why you can't just be doing a crossword puzzle or being on your phone or laid back sleeping. Does it happen?

We're human. Do you guys have internet access, like, on your computer there? There's not a computer in Rikers. They don't have, like, a database type of thing. It's literally a logbook. So when the captain or the warden comes, they're old-fashioned signing a logbook saying warden, Jane Doe, John Doe, was here at this time. Wow. Yeah, and the feds, it's like there's all computers and that's CEO and go on YouTube.

It's a little more techie. And I think they got to have their phones in there too. Yeah. When I was in West Chesa County, fighting my case, I was able to enjoy like Skype and stuff like that. Oh, lucky. This is great in comparison to Rikers, and it's still a county jail. Rikers is a county jail for the five boroughs. They put me in Westchester County because it's a conflict of interest as to, you know, why I'm there.

So how's the food at Rikers? Did you ever try it at all? It's disgusting. It's bad? Why is it so bad? What's it like? It's just food that I don't know how to express it. It shouldn't be ate. I mean, the best thing that you can eat on Rikers is probably the bread and, you know, the raw fruit. Other than that, the chicken is not as great as it seems to the inmates that have no choice. It's Boston Market.

Can you guys eat there? Yeah, they have, they have inmates that actually take. It takes food, you know, to the officers if they are in need of it. Some officers didn't bring lunch and they're there for 16, 20 hours. Do you have to pay for it? No, no, no, it's free. It's free. They let them refund.

So how big were your paychecks? Like, were you getting good paychecks? As the time went by, and I hit my second and third year. I was off probation. I got a little leverage. I got a steady tour because I was on the wheel when I first started. I was doing 7 to 3, 3 to 11, 11 to 7, and it was driving me crazy. So I applied for working the one to nine shift.

Remember, I'm 23 now at this time, 24. I like going to clubs. I like partying. I have girlfriends all over the place. So I want to enjoy my nightlife, you know. So I feel 9 o'clock is a good time to come out. They say, hey, you can have the 1 to 9, but it's going to be an RHU. And RHU is restrictive housing units.

For sure, right? These are mental health inmates that have box time. and they can work their way to getting out the box and getting some dayroom time, but you have to keep in mind that they're mental observation inmates, they're level 1S. So they're on heavy medication. They suffer from anything for being bipolar to, you know, being suicidal. Like it's a high intensity unit.

And in the three years that I've been on Rikers, I personally never had an incident. I've seen incidents, but I've never had any incidents. So I'm like, how bad can it be? It's just guys that were in my old housing area that are in the box now. Everybody knows me here. I'm pretty cool. So I sign up and I get it. Around this same time, we'll backtrack a little bit.

In these three years that I've been a correction officer, I've been always asked to bring in contraband. By the inmates. By the inmates. Why? Because I'm so relatable. I'm cool. Officer Dominguez is one of us.

He's tatted up. He's just. as young as us, he's from Queens, he's from Harlem, like, he looks like us. You know, Dominican-Columbian descent, so a lot of guys on a Latino aspect look at me, like, you could be my cousin, bro, like, look out for me. And I always denied it. I always denied it because regardless of how cool I was, I wasn't really selling my integrity because I worked so hard just to get to this point.

And it's been going oddly smooth, and I don't want to fuck it up by doing the wrong thing. Uh, time goes by again, and I'm waiting to get this housing area, uh, the one to nine shift, and they keep postponing and postponing it. Uh, one of the inmates that mainly acts as me, like throughout time that has been an inmate there since I started corrections and that I know from the street. I know him from the street through a female that her friend and I used to do things when we were younger. So there was a sense of familiarity. Not so much that we were cool, but I'm like, oh, that's this guy from. this block in Washington Heights. So every time you see him, he'd be like, yo, what's up?

Like, let's make some moves and make some money. And he's living like a king on Rikers. He has 15 pairs of sneakers. He's got all the G-Shark color watches. He has a Cuban link chain on. The officers respect them. The inmates respect them. He's like roaming free.

He's facing a attempted murder charge. He's a drug dealer. He's a well-known drug dealer, but he's facing an attempted murder charge. He sees me one day on the over. overnight, I'm covering somebody's vacation shift. And then that same week, I'm about to get that one to nine shift in the box. He says, hey, listen, how about this? We make some money on the outside.

And this is the overnight shift. We're cleaning. We're doing sanitation and stuff. There's no inmates around. Everyone's asleep. It's two, three in the morning. I make sure that no one's within earshot. And I'm like, what do you mean?

He's some security. I just need security. My brother wants security. And in my head, I'm like, like elaborate. Like, you're kind of, you know, elaborate. Listen, you drive around, you got a badge, you got a gun, point A to point B, and I'll hold you down. Make a couple hundred dollars in a few minutes.

And I'm like, no, I'm all right. The ending of that week, because I had that vacation relief that entire week, he's one of the workers there, so that's why I see him every single night. He says, hey, listen. Listen, come on. Like, it's me. Like, let's, like, how much more can I vouch for you? You know that I'm good for it.

And I'm like, no, man, I'm good. I'm good. He's like, all right. Rips out a piece of paper, puts it on the table. He's like, listen, call that number if you change your mind. It was my turn to go on vacation. I had a vacation. I came back and I see that number.

I had it in my pants pocket from one out before doing laundry. Something told me to call it. And I'm like, nah, I don't want to call it. I go back to Rikers the next day after my vacation and I see the inmate again. He's like, you called? And I'm like, no, I'm good. I kept thinking about it. I went home thinking about it.

I sat on my bed thinking about it. And I broke. I said, you know what? Let me call. I call. Hey, what's up, man? Who's this? Hey, this is such and such.

He gave me this number. I gave him a fake name. obviously. He gave me the summer that he kind of put two and two together. He goes, oh, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. Can we meet tomorrow? And ironically, it was my day off after that. I said, yeah, like, where?

He gives me a street. It's in 150-something and Broadway, 160-something Broadway. I'm driving there, and I'm just like, man, I don't know what I'm doing. Like, I'm trying to talk myself out of it, but I feel like it's a little too deep, because now they have my phone number. You know, I'm thinking of stuff like that. Whatever, I meet the kid.

He tells me, hey, listen, I'm going to go upstairs. I'm going to grab a bag. We're going to go to 42nd Street and 10th Avenue. And I'm like, oh, that's like a 15-minute drive on the West Side Highway. He comes back with a duffway, puts it in the back of the car. We're driving with a little small talk. He's like, yo, how's my brother doing, this and that? And that is his brother.

They do resemble each other, so he's not lying. He doesn't look like an undercover cop. It's like there's no real red flags. He's not giving me, like, weird energy. It was just everything that the inmate told me was going to happen. We get to the parking lot. He goes, he meets a guy, like, six cars out, and I'm just there shaking. Like, internally, I'm just like, oh, man, like, come on.

Like, whatever this is, I didn't touch anything at this point. He put the duffel bag in my car. Remember, he's driving with me because I have the security that I'm an officer. We get pulled over. Whatever's in that trunk, I'm pretty sure. any law enforcement is going to see that, hey, listen, go ahead, you're good. So that's kind of what I'm getting paid for. That's security.

He gets back in the car, no duffel bag, no nothing. He's on the phone the entire time we're driving back. And I'm still a little nervous. We get back to the apartment and I'm parked outside. He gets out. He's talking on the phone. Sparks a cigarette. He goes, give me one minute.

Takes out some money. He says, I'm going to call you. I'm busy right now. Like, I got to get dissituated. I'm like, hey, yeah, yeah, don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. The money's still on the passenger seat. I don't even touch it.

Like, that's how scared I am. I get back on the West Side Highway. I get on the Tribal Bridge. I go to Queens. I park my car, block away from my house, and then I pick up the money. And it's $1,500 cash. Just for that one trip?

40 minutes, tops. At Hyundai of Glendale, Lisa New, 2026 Hyundai Tucson SC Front Wheel Drive for 269 a month plus tax for 36 months with owner's assurance in America's best warranty. 10-year, 100,000.

and miles. Stop by Hyundai of Glendale today or Hyundai of Glendale.net. 36 month lease, 4,49 to its signing. Tax title license and dock fees extra. Plus government fees and taxes. 7,500 miles per year, expire 6126. Who available at this payment? PH 71529, PH71529,

PH714659. And I'm... Looking back on it now, why do you think you decide to make that phone call? Do you think it had to do with not being happy or wanting to do better than where you're at? temptation for financial freedom because regardless of that check that I saw back when I was in John Jay that the recoupment officer showed me, I wasn't seeing that till maybe my six, seven, or eighth year. So I kind of always had that in mind, but maybe I didn't have the patience.

Maybe I was tired of telling myself, hey, you're a city employee, you should be doing better in life. Why are you still living in your mom's living room? You know, it was weird telling chicks, hey, you know, my bed situation is here. And, you know, like, I didn't, it was bothering my ego a little bit. I was still able to make ends meet, but I wanted more. And that temptation was like, you know what? It was that easy. And if it's going to be this easy, why not?

So what happens next after that trip? After that trip became other trips. And there was more familiarization with this guy. brother. This guy's brother introduced me to one of the cousins. One of the cousins introduced me to one of the aunts and now I understand the organization behind what they're doing. And the numbers fluctuated. I didn't always get paid 1,500. I got more sometimes, 4,000, 2800, 7,000. I got a $12,000 bonus once. And I call it a bonus because it's like $12,000 in one hit. We drove all the way to Yonkers. They took like four hours and whatever happened. It worked in my

favor because if they did good, I did good. In between those runs, the aunt gives me a small black box wrapped in like black duct tape. And she goes, make sure you give this to this guy. And I'm like, oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. We're back to square one. But I've been trying to avoid in these four years of being a correction officer to promote prison contraband and lose my job over something stupid. is coming back to me to, like, haunt me now

because I've been denying this same guy that put me in this position to move whatever we're moving for a high cost. I'm not really doing nothing. I'm not bagging up. I'm not weighing anything. I'm not touching anything.

I'm just the driver. I'm the courier if, you know, I froze and I'm like, all right, you know, not to make things weird. I grabbed it. These people have been paying me hefty. Like, I'm at maybe 40 grand at this point. If you put every single trip that I've done together.

And that's three quarters of my yearly salary in minutes. There's no bloodsweird in tears. It's not 16-hour overtime shifts. I'm not dealing with, you know, pepper spray being left all over my shirt from a fight that one of the officers sprayed. And I'm over there, like, in the midst of it. And it's not that hard-worked money. This is play money to the point where my checks, I get a notification. from Chase every two weeks, like, hey, New York City Department of Corrections just paid you.

And it's like, okay, cool. Like, I got, I got way more other chips on this side, you know, and I'm starting to feel myself. I'm buying jewelry. I'm buying, you know, clothes. I'm going out to extravagant clubs, extravagant restaurants, and I'm kind of living life where I don't look like a correction officer anymore because regardless of how much correction officers make, it's like, you're doing a little too well for yourself.

Do you have any other businesses? It's like, no, you know, I'm just chilling. I have two cars at this point. I'm giving money to my mother. She's going on cruises. I'm taking her to Costco. Five, six hundred dollars here. Life is getting better.

So I kind of rewarded myself by saying, you know what, this was worth it, but I'm not going to do it anymore. When I came to that realization is when I got this offer to bring in the contraband for this guy because now he's seeing like, hey, I've been letting you eat. outside and we have an agreement, you got to look out for me in here. I'm still in here. I've been in here four years, just like you.

Like, I want to make money in here. I want to be comfortable in here. I'm going to trial soon, you know, like, look out for me. I don't know what's in that box, but it's well compressed. I ask through text. I'm like, hey, is there anything in this that I need to worry about? Because it could have been a small cell phone. It could have been a USB charger.

It could have been a SIM card. I don't know what it is. It could have been razors. I don't know what it is. No, it's just weed and tobacco because, you know, he's, like, stressed out. And weed and tobacco go for a lot of money on Rikers. A finger of loose tobacco can go for $100, $150. So you're looking at it like these pouches that they sell in the bodega for $3, 4 bucks.

That's a killing. They're making $300 off that. That's a big profit that they make that money on the inside and send it to their family on the outside. It's like a whole organization within like the items that you can't get, the impermissible items that you can get on Rikers have a high cost. And if you can get them, then you're the man. And that's how you wanted to feel. I think they were giving you that much money for these trips

because they were trying to buy you off to get to this point where they could get the real goal of smuggling shit in. That's a part of it. The other part of it as we move forward is building up a case. the inmate that introduced me to these runs and introduce me to, you know, bringing in the contraband and making these sales and doing all these transfers of narcotics

from point A to point B is a confidential informant. The inmates are confidential informant? He's been a confidential informant way before I was a correction officer. Holy. So they planted him in the prison? Mind you, this is where it gets crazy. I've seen this guy in the street as a free man.

Remember, I know him through a friend of a friend. Not really know him. I just know that they had a situation and I've seen him in real time in the real free world. So it's like, did he become a confidential informant in right? No, he's been a confidential informant. Wait, what about his family that were,

are they in on it too? That was the problem of being not going to trial because I couldn't get to dissect all those things, but I wasn't the only person that got arrested. So they're a family of snitch. Or no? That I can't say because one of his cousins and the cousin's girlfriend were part of my indictment. Okay, so you bring that box in what happens?

This is where I should have looked at things and I should have understood not everything is too perfect as it seems. I get to roll call. They give me the housing area that I'm working. Ironically, it's the housing area of this inmate. I don't get to see him often. He's on the other side of the building. I got to see him that whole entire week because I worked the work detail

that he was working. I'm the A officer. I'm like, this is perfect. This is perfect. I made it through the McDonald's, so that means that the box that they gave me has no metal in it because I didn't ring the alarm. Officers have to go through a magnometer regardless of

being in uniform. It doesn't matter. Everyone goes through the magnometer for contraband purposes. My heart's beating fast. It's my first time doing this. And I'm just trying to play a cool. Remember, I'm already well known enough that I don't look at a place. I carry myself well and all the CEOs and the inmates respect me alike. I get to the housing area and I kind of make

eye contact with him right away. He's mopping the floor. He's cleaning the housing area. It's like he already knew that I was going there. I didn't see it that way, but that's what it was. I take the box, I put it in the garbage. I tell him, hey, inmate such and such, can you grab this? He goes, yeah, Yeah, yeah, yeah. He already knows what's up. And it worked perfectly. After that, I'm like, look, that wasn't that bad. This was just like the time I did the first run.

So now I'm hooked. And I know regardless of me not getting a payment for this, there's going to be more payments after this. And that was my mindset. Time goes by. He hits me up. The brother hits me up and says, hey, listen, like, I don't want to mess with my brother anymore.

The brother I see when I'm at work, he's like, I'm not messing with my brother anymore. He's doing this and that. family problems that I have no association with. I'm looking at it like, hey, this is kind of like my time to back off. Like, I can stop. I got away with it. No one knows.

No one suspects anything. There's no, like, bickering about, hey, do you know that Officer Dominguez is doing this? Clean slate. I think I got away with it. The brother gives me another number. He goes, call this guy. Same scenario, but this is the guy. Like this is one of the main guys.

And you've been doing so good. They heard about you. He wants you to be with him. I'm like, all right, cool. Day goes by. I call. I say, hey, listen, he already knew I was calling him. Can we meet out of Colombian restaurant on Queens Boulevard?

And I'm like, yeah, we can do that. But I work at this time. He's like, yeah, we can go right before work. It doesn't matter. 11 a.m. Just to talk and meet. I want to meet you in person. As I'm talking to him, he has a very deep Colombian accent.

My mother's Columbia. I get there and he gets there. He looks like he's in his late 40s. He looks like he can be my uncle. Gray sweatpants, white, dinchy shirt, no jewelry. He's not like this guy's brother where, you know, he was a little loud, right? We meet, say hello, and just start talking, you know. He's like, hey, listen, I'm going to need you like for a big run.

the only thing is that I would need two of you. And I'm like two of me. He goes, yeah, somebody in your situation. Badge, gun, and knows what to do. I'm like, well, I don't have anybody. He's all right, well, you know, if you do, it's more money. Throughout my time as a CEO, inmates were so cool with me that there was a lot of locker room talk. And they would tell me CEOs are doing this and doing that.

the CO's talking to this guy and flirting with this dude or this CEO is known for like bringing in cigarettes. This CEO is known for bringing in DVDs. Like they would not snitch, but it's kind of like they just wanted to talk. It was gossip, right? One of the guys that they told me was bringing in drugs I used to work with frequently. And they would tell me that because he was a little like what we call a little hot with it, you know. And he's going to get caught up. One of the inmates told me to talk to him and tell him to chill out because they're on him.

I went up to him one day that nobody was around. I said, yo, bro, if you're going to do something wrong, you got to do it right. And I learned that from my mother. And I guess he understood what I was talking about because all these inmates are cool with me. And he's looking at it like, what do you know? And I'm just like, I know everything. This is what I'm doing. You can stop doing this.

Like, whoever you're bringing whatever to, just stop. I can hook you up. We can drive these people around and make some quick cash. He's like, please, man, like, I'm down. I'm like, I don't have anything. There's a reason behind me doing this. I have a lot of school debt, blah, blah, blah. I call the Colombian guy back and I tell him, hey, I do have somebody.

He says, perfect. Let's meet up again somewhere in Queens and we do the same thing. I just want to see people in person. All of this is for a reason. I'll go back to it. We meet. We schedule a run for the next day. he makes $1,500.

I make $1,500. At that point, I'm like, man, all right, you know, they've done better than $1,500. He's ecstatic. He's like, oh, shit, this is my bi-weekly check, and then some.

We're new officers. None of us are at top pay yet. And he's turned out, too, just like I was. And it's like, oh, I knew it. And he's like, oh, thank you, man. And it's like, we're justifying the risk. We're like, we're not jeopardizing our,

our integrity because we're not doing anything in Rikers. We're correction officers. We're not cops. So anything we do in the street, it's like, no, we're not civilian, but we keep justifying that, hey, listen, like, it is what it is. We go on another run. He makes another, like, two, three grand. I make another two, three grand.

And he's really enjoying this to the point where he did a run by himself. I wasn't even there. And I'm like, okay, cool. I go back into the, you know what, let me try to back out of this. there goes about like two or three weeks where we didn't get any calls. None of us. And we saw each other at work. He's like, yo, have you been in contact?

I'm like, no. But I'm okay with that because, again, it's like if it's dead, if they got caught up in something, if something happened and this doesn't exist anymore, I'm fine because, again, I still got away with it. Spoke too soon. We got to call the next day. Hey, listen, can you meet me at the parking lot on 225th and Broadway in Target? Like at the last level, the fifth level.

And I'm like, okay, this is the day after fall this day. I called my guy, the guy the officer that I brought on, and he goes, yeah, fuck it, let's do it. It's been a while, you know. We meet at 8 a.m. The parking lot is desolate. I pull up, my partner pulls up, and the Columbia guy pulls up. We both get in his car.

There's two duffer. There's a brown duffel bag and a black duffel bag. We get specific instructions on the address. We're both going separate ways. And he's entitled to make sure the brown duffel bag is good, and I have responsibility to the black one. That's for a reason. I had more work in that bag, allegedly.

He tells me, hey, listen, I'm not going to pay you guys today, but obviously, you know, on the next one, it's me. we know he's good for it. I know he's good for it. I've made a lot of money with this guy, and he just started, so we're not worried about it. We're going to work right after that. We both are the one to nine shift that same day.

So we're doing this on the side and then getting ready to be correctional officers again. We leave the car, and the color-made guy gets out. He goes, I'm going to go to the bathroom. And we're like, all right, cool. We go, me and my partner, look at each other. I have a Nike fuel band on at the time. And I'm like 836.

We'll get to this location in like 25 minutes. go home, change shower, go to Rikers. As soon as I look at my partner, I'm looking for the Colombian guy, and he's still walking, but I'm like, target is closed. It's 8.30 in the morning. It's a day after fall, this day. There's nobody in the parking lot, and he's just walking. We're like, all right, cool.

Again, I look again to my right, it's a Hertz rental van screeching right in front of me. The door is busts wide open. DEA Vest, AK-47s, get on the ground, get on the ground. Get on the ground. Get on the ground. And we're like in shock. They're in headlights. We're like, what?

Wait, what? Like, get a what? Like, I'm dreaming. I'm telling myself I'm dreaming. You're like, Stephen, get up. Get up. Go drink some water. Go take a piss.

This is not real life. As soon as my knee touches that ground, I have a DEA agent. Push me to my stomach. Put his knee in my back. Take my personal protection firearm. I had a Glock 19 at the time. Unholster it from me. Give it to another agent.

I have all these agents surrounding me. From my periphery, I'm seeing the Colombian guy fight with other agents and all the squad cars are pulling in and I'm just like, yo, what is this? This is a fucking movie. Like, it's crazy. It's fucking nuts. My heart's racing.

I'm trying to tell myself to calm down. They put me in a car. They put my partner in a car. They put the Colombian guy in another car. It's this big DEA agent. He sits down. And even though I know they're agents, The first thing I ask is what precinct are we going to?

Because I have a lot of, you know, associates that are cops or NYPD cops. I can try to make this a little more comfortable. I can try to like, you know, be ahead of them and know where I'm going and look for who, you know. He goes, now we're going to headquarters. And he shows me his badge. There's a young Asian DA agent. She's driving the car. It's like a Ford Focus.

And I'm on that West Side Highway and handcuffs. like what the fuck like I was just on this west side highway two days ago moving four or five kilos of cocaine and now I'm in handcuffs we get to headquarters um it's like a little maze I don't even know where like what block it was on I just know that we were like on 10th avenue they lead me upstairs as soon as we get out the elevators it's a big emblem drug enforcement agency. It's their shield, but like seven feet high. It's just like a reminder. It's like a shock value. It's like, hey, look, you're fucked. Like, you're super fucked. They put me in the bullpen, but my partner comes 20 minutes later, and then the Colombian guy comes 20 minutes later.

I see all these agents, they're scattering around, they just have paperwork in their hand. I don't know what happened to my car. I don't know what's going on. No one's telling me anything, and I'm just trying to keep composure. I sit down on the bench, I just put my head down, and I try to just like take everything in. One of the agents comes and says, hey, I need you to, you know, fill out paperwork.

And me knowing and being already semi-privy to not talking to, you know, law enforcement without any counsel present, I didn't want to say or do anything. So I go, I'm not telling them no, but I'm like, you know, I'd rather worry for, for my lawyer, they're like, this is just general information. First name, made a name. We have your IDs.

Like, we just need you to confirm. I do that. One of the agents comes again to the gate, and he goes, you want to talk to me? I don't even not. Okay. It's going to be a long day, long day. Another agent comes. He goes, hey, whenever you're ready, because your partner, he's over there singing.

And I feel like that's a time. tactic because my partner's right next to me but then I'm like oh shit maybe it's a Colombian guy we get one of the detectives he has a NYPD badge on and I'm like I'm a little confused and he goes Domingas I'm like come on I say oh this is not about talking it's like I'm forced to go he goes how long you know this guy for and I'm like you know you don't have to explain we've been watching him for a while I'm trying to figure out who you two are they're playing a game with me they're playing a They're trying to make it seem like this was a sting operation for the Colombian guy.

Remember, he's the drug lord kingpin. Come to find out, he's a DEA agent. The cartel guy's a DEA agent? So it is, they're all connected. They're all connected. This was a sting operation for us. The whole family brought you down. It started with a brother.

Everything. So how many guys do you think that inmate approached? Multiple. And you think he's still in the jail now? I had a friend of mine look up his name after everything was set and done after arraignment. My bail was set at 750,000 over 500,000. Regardless of how much money I made, I didn't have that type of money. I didn't have any assets to, you know, seize.

Like, I just was in a predicament of, like, I don't know what to admit to because I don't know who's who and I don't know what they know. What were you charged federally or state? State. So what were the charges? The reason why I feel I was pushed to the state is because we were city employees. Yeah. It was a joint task force, drug enforcement joint task force with DEA, ATF, NYPD, Department of Investigations, which is a unit that oversees like corruption.

What I'm doing. They oversee, you know, people robbing city time. Like, they're that department. They're more for, hey, we want to know who brought in contraband or who has, like, fake sick leave papers. Like, they're investigators on that aspect. So I had all these departments trying to figure out what they're going to do with me. They see that we're not budging. They see that we're not going to say anything.

One of the main agents goes, you know what? just gather them up and let's wait for the ADA which is the assistant drastic attorney she gets there as a woman in a suit no badge no nothing she says

are you going to speak with my guys and I'm no my partner no the Colombian guy I don't know where they put him because remember he's the main guy that they were looking for that's the story that they want me to follow

The NYPD detective grabs us with two other officers, and I asked, where are we going? We're going to the tombs. It's process you. Go to court. He's like, you'll be out by tonight. And I'm like, all right. Even though I don't know what the bags consisted of, I'm like, you know, maybe they were just looking at this Colombian guy. Like, I'm still mind-fucked.

I don't know what's going on. We get to arraignment. They arraigned me on A1, fell. felony, possession of a control substance, A1, and with intent to sell. How sick were you when you called your mom to let her know what happened? What was that first conversation like? I get into the bullpen, bro. I start crying.

But not like bawling crying, just like this overwhelming crying. And I'm just like, hey, she doesn't know what's going on. Rikers doesn't even know what's going on. the office in there was asking where I was because I was supposed to show up for the 1 a.m. shift. They're going to call my next of kin, which is my mother. I'm not married. So they call my mother, hey, is this guy okay? You know, they want to know what's my status?

So my mom, like, what do you mean? He left to work earlier this morning. So I tell her, hey, listen, I got arrested. I was working for security for some guy. I don't know what happened. I'm in Manhattan, Tumes. her and my girlfriend at the time the gate to the arraignment

and that's when I told you the bail was that high we're looking at each other like how when, who are you? A1 possession, anything A1 is eight ounces or more considered by law by the state of New York City anything eight ounces or more is A1 felon. So did they end up charging you with anything

related to springing in contraband? I was charged with that because that was the stem of the investigation. They really did all of this on top of like making it a big deal because I was a postal boy for contraband. Rikers Island was in flames at that time. There was like 30, 40 slashes a month per building.

I was in GMDC, C-73, which is not the worst building, but it can get there. But I mean, it sounds like they were more concerned about getting the people outside of the jail. Like the fact they could have set you up on the inside without involving these other things, I feel like. The thing about the inside was that it can, shortly after.

So I needed to break my integrity before that because I didn't break it when I was asked to bring just that. So the prize had to be bigger. Okay. This is very elaborate. Extremely. So do you end up getting out on bail? There's no bail.

I can't afford it. My mother can't afford it. She's a substitute teacher. How long are you fighting your case for? I was in Westchester County. I couldn't go back to Rikers because it's a conflict of interest. Obviously, I can't be watched by my peers, you know. And technically, I'm innocent to proving guilty.

So the department doesn't even fire me because I have to either be trial or cop up. Do you get paid through the city, like on a leave or anything? I don't get paid. They freeze my pay. They freeze my benefits. But technically, I'm still an employee. I still have a pension, whether I beat this and, you know, everything is swept under the rug. And it's okay, which is 100% not going to happen.

But, again, innocent of proven guilty. So I'm in Westchester County for 18 months, fight in my case. Do you get a plea deal or you go to trial? My first offer was 12 years. Holy shit. And it was 12 years because after my third time in court, I got a superseding indictment. So with those two A1 felonies became a 19 count indictment. So conspiracy two, four, five, bribery receiving, promoting prison contraband in the first and the second.

That was all the prison stuff. That was all the prison stuff that came about like, hey, by the way, we got you on this too. And even though those charges don't amount to what an A1 felony holds, everything together, I have to fight and beat every single one. My chances are very slim. Why? Because I did all the shit that I did. And you have a public defender. And I have a public defender that's given to me by the union of corrections.

How did you feel like the public defender represented you? They tried. They tried. We had another lawyer that came in that we paid off. and they were kind of working in like a team effort thing. We did a study with forensic psychologists to try to show the courts like, hey, listen, this kid became a product of his environment. He's never been this type of kid.

He comes from this background. We have like all my awards from TSA, finding weapons. I even got an award from the Department of Corrections certificate of appreciation from the warding. because in the unit that I worked in the box, when I wasn't there, one of the inmates snatched a radio and a cuff key from one of the slots from an officer that was working there, and they weren't giving it back.

I came in the next day and I got it back. So your life got flipped upside down because of one decision you made, which is a lot like my story and a lot like pretty much everyone we have on this show. They make one bad decision. What would you say to someone, that's contemplating making a decision that they know is morally wrong or is in the gray area, what would you say to them to get them not to make that decision?

That risk is not worth your freedom at all. I don't care. What value it might mean to you at that moment, that instant gratification, it's not worth it. Those trips are going to court from Westchester County to New York City Court being in that what we call like that dog kettle, you know, in the back of the van shackled, you know, wrist to ankle, I wouldn't wish that on nobody. And I understand now that patience, having patience in the long run is best because if I wouldn't have done nothing, maybe when I hit my fifth year, top pay, I would make enough money that I didn't have to run that

risk, you know. I would try to tell myself, hey, listen, I was doing the wrong thing for the right reason and try to justify it. Like, I was helping my mom out. You know, I was just trying to make things better, but there's no justification. When you're in jail, did you ever have, like, those flashbacks to when you were like a good, decent kid before you made any bad choices? Because I know when I was in jail, I always thought about those happy moments. Did you ever think about those and have flashbacks? Like that innocence flashback. You know, where going to the park was like everything, playing basketball for 16 hours a day. Like, that was life.

Everything was normal. Everything was normal. People were more happy. What it seemed like, you know, things were okay. Again, regardless of me living in my mom's living room and, you know, eating cereal at two, three in the morning and her going to school and me working here, like, life wasn't terrible, you know, but I just wanted better. I wanted more. How much time do you end up getting? I copped out to eight years because that was the lowest on A1 felony.

They put everything together. Mind you, I don't have any criminal records. So, you know, the judge understood. You fucked up, you know. We gave you an opportunity and you fucked up. My lawyer even told me that, you know. So I took the eight years. The fact that it was a nonviolent charge, I do five years and 10 months out of that.

Where do they send you? Send me to downstate first, which is a reception. after West Chester County and I get there and I'm in general population. I asked to be in general population because my time in West Chester County was all in the law library

and I was trying to just figure out a means to understanding that this is a nonviolent felony. It's my first time. What can I apply for? Where can I go to cut time out? I'm trying to get out of here. Like I'm admitting I understand what I did

and I'm just trying to pay my debt as fast as I can. So I have like work release just on my mind. at all times. Like, I'm going to get work release. I'm going to get work release. I'm going to be entitled to it two years prior to my earliest release. I only got to do three more years. Like, I keep telling myself this. In that time, I'm telling people my story. I get to Clinton. From downstate, I get to Clinton. Clinton is a max a prison. It's the second most dangerous

max a prison in New York State. The year that I get there, the two inmates had just escaped. So security is tight. This is a whole other world. This is upstate prison. This is not Rikers Island. Rikers Island is gladiated school and it's razor tag. They're killing people on this side of time, which is Clinton. I get to Clinton. We're border in Canada. It's like really up there.

It's eight hours from New York City. This becomes a burden on my mother. I start to feel terrible, but I said, you know what? I just got to grind this out and make it work. I get there at reception. The officers are dead. different breed. They're a different breed in a sense like they're letting us know this is not Rikers Island. They don't know who I am at this point. They're like this is not Rikers Island. We don't

give a fuck. If you fight in my mess hole, if you fight in my school, we will make sure you don't get out of here. If you're going to fight, you're going to fight in my yard. And they tell you to do that because they have the guards with the pelagons, you know, ready to shoot. So this becomes a little shock and I'm a little nervous now because regardless of me being in jail, all this, this time and having this jail in prison etiquette because I'm coming from correction officer into inmate. I know protocol. I know procedure, but I don't know if someone's going to hold it against me.

I was still a correction officer before. Regardless of me not being there for beating up an inmate or something harsh like a sex crime or something, I was still law enforcement. I get there when a Spanish dude comes up to me, hey, listen, what's up, man? Just bring your paperwork to the yard. I remember them saying at reception, if we find you with paperwork, and you're not on your way to the law library, you're going to the box.

I'm already in Clinton. The box is hell under hell, under hell. I run the risk because I don't wanna show any type of fear that me not showing my paperwork is something wrong behind it. I didn't snitch, I got the eight years. My partner got five years, the reason why he got five, because obviously through wiretaps, they understand that one, he wasn't doing this for as long,

two, they didn't invest in much, money into the investigation with him. Three, they knew, they know that I brought him in. And four, he had less work in that duffel bag. Remember I told you it was brown or black? Whether that was strategically done, he took the five years. Showing my paperwork. He's reading it.

He goes, correction officer. And I'm like, yeah, man, this happened, this happened, this happened. He's like, what? He called somebody else. They call somebody else, and it becomes a thing. And it's like I start getting this weird, like, you know, glory of like, yo, man, that was badass. Like, you know, you're one of us, this and that.

And sadly it became a positive thing, but it worked in my favor. So the inmates didn't treat you badly, even though you were a law enforcement technically, they didn't treat you badly. No, because in hindsight, they kind of saw what I was doing. And again, it was glamorized in a sense, you know. I was like a golden boy. Did you understand the concept of paperwork as a prison guard? Yes, only through working as a prison.

Because I saw that process. I saw the process of an inmate coming into a housing area on Rikers Island and basically being pedigreed, what we call it, and saying, let me get your name, you're nice it, I'm going to get on the phone, I'm going to call my girl, we're going to look you up. One, we want to see if you're not here for any sex crimes. And two, we just want to know who you are, who we're living with. Now, as a former prison guard that ends up going to prison himself,

were you, did it make you kind of like realize how the prison system treats inmates now that you're on the other end of the spectrum? I definitely saw a whole other perspective into what this was. I saw the business aspect of prison. I saw the, I hate saying this word, but I saw like the, the slavery type of structure that was there. Like, we're going to get you to do this and we're paying you pennies for it. And you can't do none about it because you were a bad guy. And we're going to just hold you to it because you're state property. And you're considered property of the state.

So that has a weird feel to it, you know. Regardless of all of that, I made sure that whatever I did, I did it right. I didn't want to get in trouble. I didn't want to get any infractions. Like I said, I had work release on my mind. People were telling me, hey, listen, you're in a max-A prison. regardless of your crime, regardless of how much time you have, people don't leave Clinton to go to work release.

This is the max. Maybe in a medium you get that opportunity. My co-defendant was in a medium. He got to go to work release. I'm over here writing the work release program director, letting them know, hey, listen, I read in the law library. I can do this. I can do that.

And I was persistent. And I wrote them three, four times. They denied me twice. The third time, I come to my bed after work one day. I used to be a barber in the prison. And there's a paper on my bed. And I'm just like, it's mail. It's a big yellow paper.

And it's from my counselor in Clinton. And she goes, hey, congratulations. You were accepted to work release. You'll be leaving in the near future. The near future could be tomorrow, two weeks, three months. I'm excited. I only have two more years left on my bid. But now I'm eligible to go home and become a member of society again.

go home on the weekends, like, it worked out. And throughout that time, I was writing my book because people were so intrigued. Officers were intrigued. Ammates were intrigued. I was around serial killers. I was around gang leaders. And they're like, yo, this needs to be a book. I bought a typewriter.

I'm writing things. I'm buying screenplay, writing books, and I'm just educating myself and taking advantage of the time. How are other prison guards treating you as a former officer? Are they, like, disgusted by you because they're thinking, man, you know, like, you broke the bad? You went against a badge or are they treating you better? Energy when I was in Westchester County by a few guards. Remember, I don't know my fate at this time.

They're watching the news. They're reading my court documents while they're on the search. And they're just trying to see how much time I'm getting. I'm the talk of the town. I had a lot of great positive correction officers tell me, hey, listen, man. Like, hopefully this ends soon for you. and, you know, you come out and you restart and you learn from this mistake. I had a good, good amount of officers that had my back.

What year do you end up getting out? And how much time do you end up serving? I get granted the work release program. I get to work release December, 2019. They don't let me out to the second week of January. So starting into 2020, I was in work release. I got a job at Whole Foods, kind of similar to you. Yeah, that's.

Yeah, man. Oh, yeah, you sent me your green ID card when they used to do that. I did, man. And you worked in prep foods, right? Prep foods. Which is the same thing I did. Yeah, man. Listen, if you are a felon watching this, or even if you're not a felon, you're watching

and listening, Whole Foods a great company. It's a great company. There's a lot of money potential if you're a hard worker. The best part for me was being able to have access to really good food before going back to lock in. Yeah. Because I'm working 3 p.m. to like 9 p.m. 10 p.m. and they're like, hey, listen, you got to grab this and grab this. I'm eating it on the subway home, and then I lock in, and then I, you know, I'm like, it's an incentive.

And the city stores are great to work in because they're understaffed. And if you want to stand out, if you're a hard worker wants to stand out and you want to make money, go to prep foods. I could have definitely moved up for sure. Because they are so understaffed and no one wants to work prep foods, great to get noticed. Fuck the other departments. Shout out to my supervisor, too. What store were you in? 28th and 8th.

What store is that called? That is, oh man, I got a brain for, I don't know. Which area in New York is that? That is considered, oh, my God, bro. I have a brainful. You know the story you live. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Remember, I've been in Miami resident for two years now.

I'm not a New York guy no more. What was life like after you got out of prison? How long were you at Whole Foods? Was it hard? Well, when I left Whole Foods, I got a decent job working as a case manager under a company called Breaking Ground. They used to help people that were basically homeless and boys. borderline, like, shelter hopping, getting to what they called Safe Haven. So I'm getting people off the street.

I'm on parole at this time still. Yeah, Whole Foods was cool, and my parole officer would come and check in, make sure that I was at work. But then when I got this job, it's like, oh, man, this is kind of like, you know, this is good work. You know, I'm helping drug addicts. I'm helping people with mental health issues, get off the street, giving them a place to stay, offering food, socks, everything.

And it's decent pace. So it kind of backed off parole. After that, I got into production. That's when COVID happened. I became a COVID compliance officer on set for Paramount. Really? And that was my, like, opening into production world. And I fell in love with it, and I've been a production assistant, director and writer ever since.

Did they care that you had a record at all? Not at all. Not at all. Especially that it was nonviolent, you know? So they understand that, hey, listen, I made a mistake. I owned up to it. I'm very transparent. and what I did because I want people to kind of emulate that,

hey, listen, you can fall down, you can get back up. I kind of feel for you, man, because you're just like, you're a nice person. I am. You know, talking to you on the phone, talking to you here, like, you made a mistake, you know? That's it. You fucked up. And I think we all do, man. Yeah, we all.

And there's so many people that listen to the show or that are in the world that make mistakes like yours and they don't get caught for it. And I'm not saying they should get caught for it. I'm just saying, like, it happens, you know. I've had correction officers from all over the nation reach out to me, especially after I did the VH1, the true crimes. They reached out to me incognito, some from their direct page. Like, hey, man, like, there's been times that I've been in that position.

And just seeing what you went through kind of verified that I made the right decision by not doing so. You know, a lot of law enforcement officers watch a show, and I'm sure you'll get a lot of feedback. Sure. I was a young kid, man. I was 21 with that power. You know, it's like. It's hard. man. It's a cautionary tale.

It is. Remy Maude does that VH one thing. Yes, she loved my show. I was the last episode. I was the season finale with I believe his name is Matthew, Matthew Cox. Yeah. You interviewed him, me and him split the season finale. She fell in love

with my story. She was another person that went through state prison. That's a character. His episode just came out last night. Yeah, no, I watched it. I like that he let me. He's like, Ian, play it up, man. Do what you got to do. So no one else, because his story's,

well documented all over YouTube. If I did anything other than Prisid Snitch, it wasn't going to work because it's been done a thousand times, which is what I was saying to you when you got here is that your story really hasn't been done. So those are the stories that I like the most. But with Matt's,

if I put it like mortgage fraud, led to whatever, it's been told a thousand times. But putting a big rat on it, that was great. Headlines are everything. Yeah. And I know that from my personal thing because, again, correction officer gets caught

with two kilos of cocaine. Correction officer gets caught on Rikers, bringing oxycodone. It's like, what? No, I didn't. I got arrested in Manhattan. What are you talking about? You know, I interviewed for that Rummy Mosh show.

They hit me up in, like, January, and they never got back to me. They go through a lot of producers. I'm pretty sure. No, I'm not doing. But they paid you for that, though, right? They did pay, because they were out. Maybe I told them I wanted too much.

I think Cox got a couple of grand. And I told her, I was like, I think I was going to want five grand. It was low. It was low. But they did compensate me with my flight and everything. It was a great experience. Remember, this is me starting. I'm trying to get this to be a TV series.

I'm trying to show that I am the most, I guess, logical and most have the best perspective. There's so many different directions you could take it in. Like, you could go. It's like a power, but for prison, you know? I love power. I want to combine what Oz and the wire was that realism because we're not just talking about officers and inmates. I'm talking about the mental health crisis, the drug addiction that officers and inmates share alike, the alcohol abuse, sexual advances that happen in the jails, gang culture that stems out into New York City, that if something happens in the New York City Street that falls into a housing unit in Rikers because someone else has to pay for it. Like I want to get in I want to hit every single layer and I think that being that I went through both sides of the fence

The fact that I can give it the jargon that it needs the realism that it needs and the authenticity that it It demands I'm the right guy and that's how I wrote the book the book is basically open-ended characters And everyone's point of view everyone intertwines with each other You see an inmate you see a girlfriend's in a girlfriend of an inmate you see the the grandmother that's trying to bring in drugs to her grandson that's fighting for his life because the gangs are putting pressure on him, the warden, the union president in real life of corrections that actually vouchs for me, he's doing seven years of prison right now for wire fraud.

Wow. So this is bigger than me. I am just a grain assault. It's a real problem in America. You got guards fucking inmates. You got guards smuggling in drugs, contraband. You got to, it happens, man. the end is great entertainment.

It is, man. People, that's why people like this type of show. For sure. And I have longevity in it, because every time you see something in the news and this happened, that's just an episode. Yeah. That's a whole new episode. Dude, I always say, I tell people all the time, it's so much different than your typical podcast where you have the same hosts talking about the same shit who interviewed the same people every week. In every episode with my show, you got a different story.

You can, I don't have any contact with him anymore, but if you were to talk to my co-defendant, his story would, his point of view is totally different from mine. Really? Well, maybe you get in contact we'd do a double episode. But I'm saying that it's that big where it's like it's going to be constantly like, what? Yeah. How did that happen, you know? How's your relationship with your mom now?

Do you think she's like rebuilt? I'm actually visiting her this week. I came in to fly in to talk to you to see her before the holidays. She's doing well. She's about to retire. She's accepted that I made a mistake. And every time I saw her on that visit floor, every time we wrote each other a letter, I apologize because I kind of wanted to let her know, hey, listen, this is not really your fault.

You didn't do wrong. You know, this was me. This is a decision I made. And I owned up to it and I'm paying it forward now. I think that mistake brought you to exactly where you're supposed to be in life? I believe so because I never had time to sit down with myself. I never had a conversation with myself. I became a man in prison.

And not so much on an age sense because I went in at 25. I came out at 31. It's more about understanding what your path means, what type of energy you want to put out, and the type of person that you are, you learn that through these trials and tribulations. You have any kids or anything? Or a wife, girlfriend?

No, man. I only have to, I've been out three years. I'm trying to get cracking, man. Listen, man, I'm 35. I'm trying to establish this. I really have a lot of drive behind my project across the bridge of Rikers Island story i see it on hbio i see it on netflix i see it on fx any network that can hold that type of real raw tv where it's like oh i can't believe they showed that are

you know again power the wire uh oz that type of like this is this is crazy like i'm i'm waiting for that moment i have some partners i have great producers behind me i have great writers and And we're aiming for it. Again, the book is available on all platforms. That's an open-ended introduction to everyone that you'll meet in the TV series. That's awesome, man. Well, Stephen, I appreciate you so much for coming. We're going to switch over to our Patreon right now.

Ask you a couple, you know, prison questions, prison guard questions. But it's a pleasure to interview you. If you guys are listening, watching, switch over to our Patreon right now to get some behind-the-scenes information with Stephen. Thank you.