Locked In with Ian Bick - I Was a Prison Guard — Then I Got Arrested | Andrew Gautreau

Episode Date: February 1, 2026

Andrew Gautreau grew up in a good family in Louisiana, but addiction took hold in his teenage years and quickly sent his life off the rails. After finishing trade school, he began getting arrested for drug offenses — yet somehow still landed a job as a prison guard, training for a month at Angola, one of the most notorious prisons in America. His time on the job lasted just six months before he quit right before being fired, all while being arrested twice for drug charges outside the prison. As his addiction spiraled further, Andrew ended up cycling through local jails and a correctional work facility, where he spent nearly two years behind bars. In this episode, he opens up about addiction, hypocrisy inside the justice system, life on both sides of the bars, and how he ultimately turned everything around and got sober. _____________________________________________ #PrisonStories #AddictionRecovery #CorruptPrisonGuard #LifeAfterPrison #TrueCrimePodcast #AngolaPrison #FormerInmate #redemptionstory _____________________________________________ Thank you to PRIZEPICKS & LUCY for sponsoring this episode: LUCY: Go to HTTP://LUCY.CO/IANBICK and use promo code IANBICK to get 20% off your first order. _____________________________________________ PRIZEPICKS: Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/IANBICK and use code IANBICK and get $50 in lineups when you play your first $5 lineup! _____________________________________________ Connect with Andrew Gautreau: https://tattedbadclothing.myshopify.com/ _____________________________________________ Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ _____________________________________________ Shop Locked In Merch: http://www.ianbick.com/shop _____________________________________________ Timestamps: 00:00 From Addiction to Prison Guard: A Life on the Edge 01:00 Growing Up in Louisiana and Early Influences 08:00 Family Values, Childhood Trauma, and Identity 13:00 First Drugs, Addiction, and Losing Control 18:00 First Arrests, Criminal Charges, and Consequences 24:00 Escalation: Jail Time, Probation, and Repeat Mistakes 31:00 Becoming a Correctional Officer Against the Odds 36:00 Inside Angola Prison: Training, Reality, and Moral Conflict 42:00 Daily Life as a Prison Guard Behind the Walls 47:00 Drugs, Arrests, and Walking Away from the Job 52:00 Addiction Spirals: Crime, Chaos, and Self-Destruction 58:00 Rock Bottom: Overdoses, Homelessness, and Survival 01:03:00 Getting Sober and Rebuilding From Nothing 01:09:00 Life After Addiction: Giving Back and Helping Others 01:13:00 Lessons Learned, Redemption, and Final Reflections Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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I immediately hit the button. And like, so everyone like is, you know, shut down the compound. Everyone's coming. What were some of the things you were witnessing in there? So I'm getting high every day. Not at work, but before and after. Now, as you're working there, you work your shift and then you go home. Are you just immediately going home and getting high?

What I did know was how to sneak drugs into jail. In this episode, you're going to hear a story you almost never hear, a man who went from training as a prison guard at Angola to getting arrested for drug charges while working the job and eventually ending up behind bars himself. We get into addiction, what it's like working in a Louisiana state prison, and what it's really like seeing the justice system, from both sides of the bars, including how close he came to losing everything before finally getting

sober and turning his life around. Andrew, welcome to Lockton. Thanks so much for coming out here today. Thanks for having me, man. Louisiana, right? Yep. Home of the good, what's it, seafood? Cefood, gumbo, crawfish, all of it. I still have not been to Louisiana. That's what we were talking about with Matt? Yeah, Matt. Mattie Ice. You got to come down, man, check out. Right now it's Mardi Gras season, and so parades and all that. Yeah, one of my cousins goes to Tulane. That's in Louisiana, right? That's in New Orleans.

A New Orleans, okay. Yeah, everyone tells me to go. I've had a couple guests from that area that say to come out there. I really want to try the gumbo and just the food in general. I'll tell you, though, the best food is in Lafayette in Louisiana, which is an hour from Baton Rouge, the other way, like towards Texas. Okay. Yeah, I think definitely this spring or summer will be the time we make it out there.

Definitely. Is it cold this time of year right now? It's up and down. I mean, especially the week. Like last week, it was 30 degrees on Monday and then back to 75 on Friday. So it's a little colder right now. But yeah, summertime is hot. Gotcha. And I want to thank you for the merch and shout this out, man. This looks incredible. Quality is great too. If you want to tell everyone about this. Yeah, Tadabed Clothing Company is the clothing line. Started probably about. three, four years ago. And yeah, I just started, I make them at the house. I got a screen printer and a press and all that. And yeah, I'll give you the link if you want to put it.

Yeah, well, I'll have in the description of Rocking Your Huddy. I'm Beanie right now and Pops out there. This guy, his honor, he stole the one to the one to the word. I said I might have to send him one of those. That's funny. Did you grow up in Louisiana? I did. I grew up in Baton Rouge.

Well, between, so right now I live in Gonzales, which is right outside of Baton Rouge, probably 20 minutes, closer to New Orleans. But I grew up between Baton Rouge and Gonzales. I was born in Baton Rouge. We lived in Gonzales, and I think we moved back when I was in first grade. What was your upbringing like there? It was good, man. Both my parents were together.

You know, I went to – when we moved to Baton Rouge, I went to, like, a Catholic school from first to eighth grade. It was good, man. I got my younger brother who's here with me. I have another sister. You know, I grew up playing sports, all that stuff, all the normal stuff. And you were the oldest? I'm the oldest, yeah. Was it hard being the oldest out of three siblings?

Not really, so there's an age gap. So my sister's four years younger than me and my brother's five years younger than me. So I think growing up, they were closer just because they're closer in age. but me and my brother have always been pretty close to. So you're the only child for a little while? For a little while, yeah. You got to have some fun. Yeah.

What did your parents do for work? So my mom was a social worker, child services. My dad in the plants, you know, working with, you know, mechanical pumps and stuff like that. Later on in life, he started his own little company. But yeah, they worked a lot. We were at home by ourselves a lot. Is that who you think you get your entrepreneurialism from your dad? I think so.

My work ethic and definitely that, yeah. Did you have a work ethic at a young age? Yeah. I mean, since I can remember, he was always putting us to work, you know, whether it was in his little company when it started, we were in the garage. And then, you know, as it grew, my brother works for him now. So, yeah. When do you think he first taught you that lesson about hard work?

as early as I can remember. My dad's a very hardworking man. He always has been, you know, he doesn't come from much, and so he always worked really hard and taught us to do the same. Aside from working hard, what were some other values your parents put into as a kid? I mean, I was pretty messed up kid, you know. But my parents, like I said, yeah, I come from a good home.

home. My parents, you know, taught me wrong from right, taught me everything. I chose later in life not to really follow that path, but, yeah, man. And it was cool because, like I said, my mom was a social worker and so in child services. So we would go, you know, from my early age, I saw, you know, what drugs and stuff did to families. Like, we'd go pick up kids and they would come stay with us for a little while if they had to until she could get them into a foster home or, you know, whatever else. So I kind of saw it from an early age. What do you mean by a messed up kid? Like, I saw what drugs did to families at an early age. Not in my family, but like if she would have to take a kid from a home or whatever, they would come stay with us for a little while. And then,

you know, she would get them into foster care or whatever. So do you think that taught you something about drugs? I don't know if it taught me anything, but I definitely saw it, you know, I wasn't, I guess at an early age, I knew, you know, what it could do. So, yeah. Did you dabble in drugs yourself at early age? I started probably 14, so yeah. I mean, not as early as some, but earlier than some people, too. Started drinking and doing drugs at about 13, 14. What kind of drugs? I mean, at the beginning, like I said, I was drinking and then smoking weed.

And then that led to everything else, you know, to heroin. And that's where it ended up for me. How did you first get introduced to it? I think. So I grew up in kind of like when I was getting high, you know, a lot of the pain pill era, you know, the oxy cotton and all that. So I got introduced to that right after high school. I went to like a trade school right out of high school.

And I was going for drafting. And I had some friends that also went to high school with were there. And, you know, we were smoking weed and all that. And then I think I was at a party one night. And my friend asked me if I wanted to try this pill. And I did. and it just kind of started from there. And, you know, kind of like, when I first time I did it, I was like, yeah, this is what I want to do.

And I really didn't look back from there. Was going to trade school always your plan? I never really had a plan, you know? Like, I played sports when I was a kid. I always wanted to play sports. You know, I always tell people, like, a lot of people like peek in high school. I peaked in like middle school with sports, you know, so like, I mean, I played, but I, you know, I wasn't that great. And then when, you know, by the time I got out of high school, I was already into the drug world and all that.

And, you know, I never really had a plan, you know. What was your favorite sport to play? Basketball. Yeah. What position? Center. Yeah. Center is like point guard or is it different?

No, like down low in the post. People are going to rip me for that. it's okay whatever uh so you go to trade school do you finish and complete trade school i finished uh three years in a two year program um but i did finish somehow you know i got like a little associate's degree and and uh but like i said by the time i get out of trade school i'm fully you know into the drugs and and um that's when stuff like i started going to jail when I was in trade school, I was like I got arrested the first couple times when I was there. You know, that's kind of when my life started going down.

Did your parents know about the drug use? They maybe not right at first, but I was not a good criminal, so I didn't get away with a lot of stuff. Like I said, I started getting arrested when I was 18, so pretty quick they found out, you know, what I was into. And was that just possession charges? Possession charges. at first, you know, and then, so I guess let me go back a little bit because, like, not that my parents didn't know, but there was a lot going on at home. My grandma had got real sick.

My mom's mom, she had, like, brain tumors and stuff, so she came to live with us. So my mom was taking care of her, you know, and raising three kids. And so there was a lot. And kind of everybody kind of started doing their own thing, you know. I'd started staying out at friends' house more and stuff like that. And I think they probably had an idea of what I was doing. But like I said, when I started getting arrested, that's when I couldn't lie about it anymore, I guess. Now, are these charges sticking?

My first charge was a weed possession. I think I did like some community service and, you know, and got out. And then like I said, it just progressed to more and more. You know, at first it was possession of weed and it was, you know, possession of pills and all this stuff. And then I would skip court, you know, so then I'd have warrants out. And the police were constantly going to my parents' house looking for me, you know. And so, yeah. After trade school, what do you do for work?

I go to work for my dad. And what's his career? He's got like a machine shop. Like I said, down in Louisiana, there's a lot of plants all around us. So we did like pumps and stuff like that, that kind of work. So I went to work for him. And yeah, and that's when, and also I started catching more truck because I started writing writing bad checks and, you know, all that stuff started too.

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And how long does that period of time go on for? I never, so I never completed any drug court successfully or any probation. Usually I would catch another charge before I had to go to the next court date. But that goes on probably until I'm about. 23 or 24 and that's when the charges got more serious the time got longer um at that time they had like a program in louisiana it's called it was called sinecourt and they was like a two-year program so if you had some serious charges on you you could go to court and a judge could sentence you to this and it was kind of like a work release but also like a treatment um

but it was crazy. It was like I, I remember going to jail and, and, you know, I'm calling my mom, the lawyer, whatever, trying to figure out, because I had some serious charges. I had some possessions, a couple felony charges, and, you know, they offered me this Cynicor program, and so I go there, and I remember they dropped me off at the front, and I walk in, and there was like, people scrubbing the floors with like toothbrushes and like there's this girl sitting in front of a mirror like yelling stuff into the like they had it was like they call it um behavior

modification and so it's like so you do all that kind of stuff and then you also you go to work you know um at that time we were going to work building the the book the barges and the plant platforms. You'd work 12 hours a day, come home, you know, stay at this place, come back to that. And I had to do two years there. Two years of that type of labor work? I had to do two years of that to get my charges dismissed. And off your record.

Yeah. Now, is this before you become a correctional officer? No, this is after. I guess we'll go back. So that was, I was probably 22 when I did that. And like at that time, I'm getting, I'm doing drugs every day, you know. My grandma, she knew someone who had worked in the jail. And I was looking, I needed a job.

You know, I couldn't keep a job. I was in, I was working in a lot of, you know, like good drug using jobs, like kitchen. and, you know, restaurants and that kind of stuff. And she was like, I can get you a job, you know, as a CEO if you want. And it was like I didn't want to do it because, like I said, I'm getting high and I've, you know, I'm in that world. But I couldn't tell my grandma no because I needed a job. So I went and I think they still do it.

But so at that time, they would, you would go to Angola. and you do like a training. So like a month. You know, you go through this, like, they have like a whole, it's like a whole separate compound at Angola where they train you. You know, you do some like in the field training there and you learn all, you know, you learn everything you got to do. So I did that.

And then I got sent to Hunt's corrections, which is right outside of Baton Rouge. it's another max prison in Louisiana and that's where I was working at. Can you tell people what Angola is for the ones that don't necessarily know of the minority? So Angola is the state prison in Louisiana. It's not so much anymore but I think in like the 80s and 90s it was the bloodiest prison in the U.S. It's on Angola is on 18,000 square feet of land.

It's in the middle of nowhere, Louisiana. You go past St. Francisville, and you go down this long road for about 30 minutes. And then you, the, so there's like Tunica Hills, which is right next to it. And then the Mississippi River runs behind it. And it used to be a, it was a plantation, you know, and then, I guess early 1900s or whenever they turned it into a prison. But it's like a full, I mean, it's still a plantation. There's just camps. And so there's main prison, and I think there's like five or six other camps.

But what it looks like is like five or six prisons and just this big farmland. The big game is finally almost here. And there's no better way to cash in during America's biggest sporting event than prize picks, where it always feels good to be right. This week, prize picks has a special max discount for the big game live in the app now. Drake May just needs one passing yard for the max. discount to win. Just add another player to your lineup, and if your picks hit, you can cash in. I've been using the prize picks app, and honestly, I wish I started sooner. It took me maybe two

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How are you able to get hired there with arrests on your record and also they did drug test? Yeah. So at that time, I was, at that time, I think I just had like one or two weed charges. And I remember the guy when they hired me because, yeah, they knew my background. I had to fill all the paperwork out. But I remember him, he's like, so tell me about these weed charges. And I was like, yeah, you know, I was in a car with someone I should, whatever story I told him.

He's like, all right, well, that's good, though. You'll know what it smells like if you're in the prison and they're smoking it. So I was like, all right, cool. And then we had to take drug tests. So I would, and at this time I was kind of used to it, but I would have some fake pee that I would keep on me at all times. And that was the wildest part because I'm in the prison, faking a drug test, you know.

But yeah, I just kept it on me at all times. And those charges didn't exclude you? They just brushed it to the side? It was misdemeanors. I think if I would have had a felony, they probably wouldn't have hired me, but no. Because even something like that would disqualify you to become a cop.

Yeah. Well, and I don't know if it's a Louisiana thing either. Because they, I mean, there's never enough staff at a prison. You know what I mean? And especially there, they were always just going through a bunch of people. So, yeah, they hired me. So when you're at this training and for the month at Angola and you're going in under the influence, what was that like? It's up.

Because it's like, you know, so like I've been to jail. I've also, but like it's a whole different dynamic, I think. And, um, because I was, yeah, I would, I would get high at the end of, you know, every day. And, uh, I wasn't using there, but I would be, you know, still under influence from the night before or whatever. Um, and it was, it sucked because like, I felt like, you know, I couldn't, I was hiding that from everybody. But then I'm in a prison where these people probably know, you know, I mean, they, you know, and, uh, it sucked. What was the training like? Like, what do you have to for that month.

And that seems like a very short period of time to train. Yeah. It wasn't much, man. They, we did, like, they have a shooting range. So we did some shooting range stuff because, like, you could. Like, when I was working there, I was in the dorm, you know. So, but so they would train you, train you for dorm work. They train you, like I said, at the shooting range in case you had to be on one of the,

um, the towers, you know, they, you did like they had like grappling training in case i guess you had the fighting in me like all kind of stuff um they pepper sprayed you to get you used to it you know just just kind of anything i guess you would they think you might need a no work in there but but nothing that really prepares you for a prison now all the jobs that are out there you couldn't get anything else that's something you actually wanted to do i didn't I had so many jobs. Like I said, I was in and out of working at restaurants and stuff.

And I think for me, like, I knew I had an issue with drugs. Like, I knew I was an addict. I think in my mind at the time, I was like, maybe this will make, you know, like every time I was like, maybe this will be the thing that makes me quit, you know. Maybe I can get sober for this. What's starting pay back then? And what year is this? So I'm 37, so this is...

When you were 23, right? Yeah. It wasn't a lot. But honestly, though, at the time, it was probably the most money I'd ever made, you know. It was more than I was making in any restaurant. I remember that. Did your grandmother knew you were under the influence? No.

I mean, she knew, like, I think I had probably been to rehab maybe once at this time. So, like, it wasn't a secret that I was, you know, an addict. So you finish your training at Angola and then they send you to this maximum security prison. Hunt's Correctional Center, yeah. Okay. And Gismer, Louisiana. And what kind of inmates are house there at the max? So, so Hunts is the, if you go to prison anywhere in Louisiana, Hunts is where you go first.

That's the, I forget what they call it, but that's where you would go. And they would, that's classification. They classify you there. And then they would send you to whatever. prison, you know. And Hunts was, I mean, it was a max prison, you know, guys doing life, guys doing, you know, whatever. Just like most prisons in Louisiana, it's manual labor in a field. Most of the inmates, you know, some get lucky and have like cleaning jobs or whatever, but most of the work is manual labor in a field. And what was your position?

in there when you when you that's when I was working in the dorm okay um you know I'd be in one of the dorms it'd be me maybe one other CEO in a dorm of like 125 people and what would be your typical routine when you got in what shift did you work I work day shift um so I probably I think I got there like six in the morning you know six to six but so we would go in in the morning and they'd have like a briefing or whatever. And, you know, we'd go to that. They walk you through, because every morning you go, they have, like, you got to go through a metal detector.

Because I'm sure you know, like, that's where most of your drugs are coming in. You know, drugs, contraband, anything. Most of it's going to be brought in by the COs, you know. So they would run us through a metal detector. And then they also had, like, another little box that they would run. randomly put people in and they had a dog on the other side, like a fan and a dog on the other side for drugs. So you would do that, then you'd come in and, and then we, like I said, we do briefing and then we all go to whatever. Feels like every product claims real protein these days.

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Every dorm we were working in that day. Did you feel guilty at all knowing that you were someone that used drugs and there could have been guys in there for drug charges? Well, and not only did I feel guilty, but like, like I said, you know, like they could spot me out, you know? And like, I got arrested a couple times, which is probably the only thing that kept me from, because I guarantee I would end up bringing drugs in there. I mean, that's, you know, I would have wanted to make the money or whatever, you know what I mean? And so I guess I'm grateful that I got arrested and that job ended before any of that started. But it sucked, man. Yeah.

What were some of the things you were witnessing in there? I mean, fights. You know, we do shakedowns. Just the, you know, the regular stuff that goes on in any prison, I guess. I remember one time we used to have these like beepers. And that was like the panic button. And if shit was going down, you press this button and everyone's coming. And I remember one day, like, it was like probably my first week on the job.

We're in the day room. Because, like, so at Hunts, they had had, like, the COs had, like, a little desk in the middle. And then on each side was bunks, you know, in showers and whatever. And they had probably 10 of these all down the compound on this side where I work. And I remember they had like a guy, had like, I think he was getting high, but he ended up having like a seizure. And this is like the second day of my first week. I immediately hit the button. And like, so everyone like is, you know, shut down the compound.

Everyone's coming. And they were like, man, why did you hit the button? You're inmates. They're like, why did you hit the button? I was like, I don't, you know, I'm new to this. So I hit the button and everyone comes. and he ended up being okay or whatever, but that was like my first introduction to just like,

you know, how crazy and how out of nowhere stuff happens in prison. Did you ever feel endangered? Oh, all the time, yeah. When was that first feeling of being endangered? I mean, it's as soon as you walk in, you know, being in that environment. And then not only being in that environment,

you know, like having been an inmate and now And, like, it was, I guess, it was scared to be a CEO, you know, because you realize that you are on the other side of, you know, and it's two of you to 120-something inmates. You know, at any time, if they wanted, they could have taken over the, you know, at least that dorm. What do you think prevents them from doing that? I mean, it's probably the same things that prevent any inmate, you know, They don't want to get added more time or whatever. And it's also, and I've learned it being locked up too, like you can kind of sense when something's about to go down. You know what I mean?

People are more quiet. Everyone's moving different. So, yeah, it was terrible. And then, like I said, so I'm getting high every day, you know, not at work, but before and after. and so like, and I'm on opiates. So I'm sitting in the, in the middle of this dorm trying to stay awake, you know, is like my main concern and like not not out. And I don't want to, because it's like I don't want the inmates to know.

And I don't want any of the other COs to know, you know. So it was like, it was a very like isolating feeling. The other officers aren't noticing because normally like when someone's high, you could kind of notice of especially if they're nodding it. And like I said, I was only there for about six months before I got fired or quit. I quit before they found out about my arrest. But a lot of times it would only be one of us. Like it would be two of us when we had to do count or when we had to do certain stuff.

But a lot of times it would just be one of us in there. And the other one was kind of like walking around, you know, checking out, whatever. How do you think the inmates were noticing you that you're... Oh, they definitely noticed. Did they ever try to say something to you? No. I had a couple of them say, you know, but I was just like, I'm just tired or whatever from that. But like I said, I think they knew, you know, like I said, I would know if I was in, you know, in their position.

And the corrupt officers that you were talking about that do bring in drugs, did you get to know any of them at all? I didn't. I wasn't there long enough to get to know any of them. And it's probably like anything. You probably got to be, you know, there long enough. certain people, you know, the whole deal. So no, I never came across any of them that I knew were bringing anything in or whatever. But it was a matter of time. When did you at first cross your mind the idea of that you could possibly break something in? Probably, well, probably in the

training, you know, because that's one of the big things they stress in there in the training is don't get, you know, because the whole, a lot of the training was, you know, don't want to, because like if, you know, a prisoner that it starts small, you know, oh, can you bring me whatever, a piece of candy, and then they get you hemmed up, you know, and that's when they're like, all right, well, now you got to bring this or I'm going to say this, you know, and get you in trouble. Did anyone try to ask you for anything? No.

I was, I kind of, I was shutting all that down, you know, if they would ask me for anything. I was like, no, man, I'm good, you know. Why do you think you did that even under the influence? Because in my mind, I knew where it was going to go. You know, I knew, and I didn't want to be in the prison with them. You know what I mean? And that's where it would have ended up for me. If I had to stay working there probably much longer, I probably would have started doing all that.

So your morals or, I guess, still intact? I guess morals or just not wanting to, you know, get caught up in that. So do you believe that you're still a good person at heart even though you were actively using drugs? Oh yeah, for sure, man. Like I said, you know, I was raised. I come from a good family. You know, I just went down a different path, you know. What about the food there?

What's that like? So it's not like a jail. You know, food in prison is better. They have a lot more options. They have, you know, they were even like selling like seafood plates and stuff and the like visitation. area and shit like that. So, um, and like my only experience is with Louisiana jails and prisons, but, you know, when you go to prison in Louisiana, it's a lot more, you have a lot more freedoms, I guess you would say. Um, so yeah, you can, you can get better food. You can

move around more. Um, like Angola's got a bunch of hobby shops and stuff like that. And, um, so yeah, food wise, it was better. Who was telling the seafood platter? the inmates or the prison? Inmates. How would they make a seafood platter in prison? They would cook it. Yeah. So they would put orders, you know, they would, they would have, they had like a kitchen in there, you know, so they had inmates work in the kitchen, and they would have somebody, one inmate was over the kitchen, and so they're over ordering whatever food, you know, so they could, they had shrimp poe boys, they had gumbo, all of it. And that was in contraband, there was all.

Mm-mm. You could buy it, and you could buy it as a, an inmate. You know, if you had money on your books, you could buy it and they would deliver it to people. Yeah. That's great. And how much would those trays go for? At that time, probably six, seven bucks, maybe 10 bucks. You think they still do it now? Oh, for sure. Yeah. I know they still do it in Angola. Now, people that can't afford that, what's a normal meal like for them for breakfast, lunch and dinner, what's like the menu? So, at Hunts and also Angola. So Angola is a self-run. Like, they, every, like they have fields so they they grow all their own food and everything um but yeah so like it's it's self-supporting so they would you know they get all that stuff and they cook it so

the food there is actually a little more decent than a regular jail i guess um but they do the same thing there they got you know different kitchens i know at angola they have different like clubs and those clubs can do the same thing in like sell food and order food and you know they have like a little kitchen all right let's take a quick break to talk about lucy i've been using lucy breakers and what i like about them is the built-in capsule inside each pouch when you're ready you break it open and it releases a boost of flavor and hydration so the flavor actually lasts instead of fading out halfway through my go-to flavor lately is mint and i stick with the eight milligram strength i'll usually throw in a Lucy when I'm working, recording, or on long drives, basically anytime I

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Nicotine is an addictive chemical. Now, if there was ever any incidents, did you ever have to put anyone in handcuffs at all during your working there? I never had to do that. I never had a handcuff anybody. Because they had like a riot squad. And so if there was a fight or something like that, those guys were coming and breaking it up and, you know, handcuffing and all that. Okay.

Because I might have felt weird for you if you did, knowing that you were in that position before a couple times. Yeah. And what about like the whole squat and call thing doing that to inmates? You probably had to go through that when you got arrested. Yeah. Did that feel weird to do? Yeah, that feels weird.

Because I used because I would also like I worked in the dorm and then I would also when they had visitations they would pull some of us so I'd work visitation. So then we'd have to do that, you know, coming in and going out of the visitation. Now were you did you have to do shakedowns and all that? We did shakedowns. You were probably a chill officer. Yeah, I was. Yeah. Well, and yeah, like as long as you didn't have some big shank or something, you know.

But yeah, we did shakedowns. I think I think every day. We did shake downs. What was some of the things you were finding? You know, a lot of nothing like, I never really found any weapons. But like, you know, what they call contraband in prison is not just weapons. It could be whatever, you know, whether it was like clothed lines to hang stuff with or just stuff they would make. You know what I mean?

So a lot of that, maybe like a couple tattoo guns and stuff like that. What were the guys like that were serving all this time? there. Were they nice people, you know, people that made a bad decision in the moment, but are ultimately good? Yeah. That's the thing. And like for the most part, you know, a lot of, a lot of alcoholics, a lot of addicts, you know, people who just were in a bad situation and stuff went bad for whatever reason. And I think that's what I started to learn working there too, is like, I guess like the world makes you think that these are, these people are different than you. And And then when you, not only when you live that life, but when you see it too working in a prison, it's like you start to realize this is, you know, they're the same as me.

They just, you know, shit went left for them and it didn't go so left for me. Now, as you're working there, you work your shift and then you go home, are you just immediately going home and getting high? Yeah, every day, yeah. Did you see yourself working there longer as a career? No, I knew. who, well, and the first time I got arrested was probably a month into working there. You know, so I was in a drug bus. I was in my uniform from work.

I got off of work, and they had a guy, my friend that I went to high school with, who I was getting drugs from at the time, and he had an apartment right by LSU, and so I get off of work and I go there. I have, yeah, I'm in my uniform. we're hanging out, you know, I get the droves. We're kind of hanging out for a little while. And it was like a townhouse.

So you come in the front door and you immediately go up these stairs. And I remember we're sitting and we had like the door to the patio area open. Middle of the summer. And I just hear a big, and people are coming in and out, you know, buying drugs, coming in and out. I'm probably there, maybe 20 minutes, you know, and all of a sudden. I just hear a big boom. And it felt like it took 10 minutes for the cops to get up these stairs. But like next thing I know, you know, big AR-15s are coming around.

Everybody get on the ground. You know, like I said, I'm in my uniform. So they're like, what the hell are you doing here? I'm like, well, these are just my friends, you know, whatever. So they, but they like split us all up. you know, talk to us and they ended up arresting him and they ended up, we didn't have any drugs on us. You know, there was drugs in the house, but we didn't have drugs on us. So we ended up, they let us go. I think they wrote me a ticket, you know, and that's the first time I get

arrested. So as soon as I get arrested, I'm thinking, like, my job already knows, like for sure because I think they even told me like, hey, we're going to call your, you know, officer in charge or whatever and let them know what happened. So I'm like going in the work the next day thinking I'm getting fired for sure or arrested. And they never called? They never said anything. Knowing now, did they end up calling? I don't think they did. I think there's no way they would let you keep working, right? No, for sure not. And I think what happened is I think they just didn't want it to, because like anytime a CEO or anybody gets arrested bringing drugs into jail with, It's all in a newspaper.

So I think they just didn't want that to happen. And yeah, like I said, I didn't have any drugs on me, so they wrote me a ticket. I go home, go to work the next day. I'm at work waiting for, you know, waiting to get called out the dorm. Never happens. You know, a month goes by. I'm still working. I go.

And the second time I got arrested. I got arrested the second time. I wasn't in my uniform that time, but I was going to a friend's house to get loaded. And I had like a book sack full of weed. My brother had given me to go sell. And I took it and I got high. And then I came. I was coming back home and stopped at a stop sign and fell asleep.

So I'm asleep. Next thing I know they're knocking at the window. you know, pull me out the car, find the drugs, take me into jail. It's kind of the same situation. They're like, oh, you're a CEO. And this is a different parish. This is Ascension Parish that had happened. The first time was in East Baton Rouge.

This is Ascension. So they take me to jail. I get out, bond out, or get out the next day. Never get a court date, summons, or anything. you know so and same deal we're going to call your your officer in charge or whatever and let them know about this go back to work never hear anything um so that's the only thing i could think i can i could just i think that they just didn't want this to get in a newspaper or whatever that they got a CEO out here in the middle of a drug buster and you know got a book sack full of

a weed that we, you know, he's passed out at a stop sign. And shortly after that, I go to work and, like, I put my resignation in and quit. That was a few months after, though. Yeah. That was probably a month after the second time. Why did you decide to ultimately quit? I knew there. I knew either, because I wasn't going to stop getting high.

So I knew either I was going to, it was going to happen a third time, you know, like this was going to keep happening or eventually they're actually going to call and let these people know what I'm doing when I'm not at work. What did your grandma say when you quit? Did she find out? She did. I think I gave her some, because I think I lined up like another job. So I just, I was able to be like, oh, well, I'm just, I got this other job now. I don't want to work at the, at the prison anymore. Where did you start working? Probably like some labor work, I think. Yeah, probably labor. So you quit. What's happening with the charges. So I never hear anything, you know. I got a ticket. I got wrote a ticket the first charge. Second charge. I go to jail and bond out and I never get a court summons. I never hear anything. Nothing. Nothing. So then what happens? You just continue. Well, I continue using I get arrested. You know, that's when stuff, probably when I left there is when my drug use got even worse. And, um,

And that's when I started. Because at that, right after that, you know, my drug used to get so bad that I wasn't even working. You know, I was writing bad checks. I was robbing. And, you know, I was doing all that stuff to. Excema is unpredictable. But you can flare less with ebbglyss. A once-monthly treatment for moderate to severe eczema.

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loss of sleep, and sudden belief in extraterrestrials. No credit cards or alien encounters necessary. Pluto TV, stream now, pay never. I support my habit. So I wasn't holding a job anymore. What was that feeling you think you were chasing in addiction? Like, why do you think you kept turning to drugs?

I think it was you know, there are like a lot of alcoholics and addicts say like, oh, I was just always was different. And like, and I don't know if it was that or it was just like I just, I remember the feeling the first time when I did it. And like I just chased that, you know, for 10 plus years. You know, it was, it was whatever, whether it was an escape or whatever. You know, once I started, I just couldn't. So when's the last charge that gets you into hot water? So I had, so yeah, so leading up to going to Seneca Corps, I had a couple, I had a couple charges, possession charges.

I was, again, fell asleep driving. And I was like, I wrecked a bunch of cars at this, you know, I got in a bunch of wrecks. I flipped a couple of vehicles. And then I got pulled over. You know, I fell asleep. I was swerving or whatever. I got pulled over. And at this time, I'm going to jail enough times to know that I'm not going to let you search my car.

So I remember they pulled me out of the car. They're asking me if they can search. I said, no, you know, get a warrant. So I'm sitting there and I remember the cops like calling. They're trying to get a K-9 unit. They're trying to get whatever out there to give them permission to search the car. And finally, he just came and grabbed the keys out of my pocket. And he opened the car and found my drugs and took me to jail.

So I get to jail and I'm like, oh, I'm going to beat this. You know what I mean? They never had a warrant. I didn't give them permission. But when I get to jail, I have like two holds on me from skipping court dates and charges in East Baton Rouge Paris and in Ascension. And that's when they offered me, you know. Because at this time, I probably had three or four felonies pending.

And, you know, I was, I wasn't going to get a bond, you know, because they knew I wasn't going to show up to court. And that's when they offered me the two years at the work release in a corps. How long were you in jail for before that plea deal, that worked out? I think I did two months. Yeah, two months and they took me from there directly to the, and I did two years at that place. What was that experience like in the two months in the jail? Um, I mean, it wasn't terrible. It wasn't my worst time in jail for sure. Um, like, I was getting high in there, you know, um, and in ascension, they have like a, the dorm you go into

before you get processed. You're usually in there for like three or four days. Well, I was, for whatever reason, I was in there for like a week. Well, that's where all the drugs come in, you know, because it's the first place everybody comes to when they get arrested. So I was using the whole time I was in there. And then when they took me to the Senate Corps, I stayed sober those whole two years.

You know, I think that was like the first time I really tried. tried to stay so. Like, I really wanted to get sober. You know, and also I didn't want to go to prison, you know, because I had all these charges over me that if I would have left that any time, you know, I would have had to back up whatever time they were going to get me. When you were in the jail, did any of the inmates know you were a prison guard? No.

And that was, and that's also a different, like, you know, I can, that's like a whole other level of fear. Because you know how it is. like if you're if anyone finds out you're you were a guard or a police officer or whatever in jail like that's a green light on you um so i was very careful not to because i was in general population you know and i was very careful not to ever let anyone find out about that um did the guards now yeah the last time i was in jail and this is after this is years later but the last time i was in jail there was like a couple of the guards that knew. Was it weird being in jail, you know,

coming from being a guard? Yeah. Seeing that different perspective. It was definitely weird the first couple times I went to jail after that. But I went to jail a lot of times after it. So like after the first few times, it was a little less, you know, stressful as far as that goes. You know, I guess the further away I got from when I was doing that job. Yeah. Was there any knowledge you learned on the job that helped you as an inmate? I mean, not really. Because, you know, when you're in jail, like, you're, you got nothing but time to sit

there and learn everybody's routine anyway, so I already knew all that. I did, but so the last, the last time I got arrested, I actually took. turn myself in. I was, I had done the two years at, at Cine Corps. I, you know, they dropped all those charges. I went back to court after that. They dropped those charges and then I caught some more charges. Now, I relapsed and caught some more charges, um, breaking in the houses and, stealing debit cards and stuff like that. So I get those charges and, and I have, have a court date coming up and I got the idea one night I was I was I was just going to I was going to run from this I'm just go to California so I get in my car I drive you know from Louisiana to like

I think I made it to like I made it past New Mexico I think I made it to somewhere in Arizona and then my mom got me on the phone and talked me into coming back and turning myself in So I come back and I turned myself in and I say that because what I did know was how to sneak drugs into jail, you know, so that's what I would do, you know, when I got arrested or whatever. Like that time, I think I, when I was turning myself in, I knew, so I went and got like some cigarettes, tobacco and whatever, you know, because I knew if I could get that in, it would make my time easier, especially in the beginning, you know, I'd have some money. So I think that's what I learned more than anything was how to sneak drugs in. And how would you sneak them in? Get some wighty-tides and put them in there. I never did the prison purse thing.

I could never get myself to do that. But a lot of it is I knew what they would search harder and not. I'd put it in different places. But yeah, a lot of it was just I bring in cigarettes and tobacco. stuff like that, some weed or whatever. Something I knew I could get some, you know, some money for when I first got in. So if you did two years at the Seneca Corps facility sober, why did you get out and relapse? So and when I got out, like the whole part of like graduating that place is like you had to have like a job and a place to live and vehicle and all this stuff.

and mind you like for the whole two years you're working there you're not getting a dollar they keep every they're sending people to work these plant jobs making a lot of money and they keep everything um but so i get out of there and i you know i've got like a little apartment a little job um but i just i had no like i hadn't changed like i had i had grown up like it you know i think you do two years any place it it it changed you it makes you grow up and so like i did that, but, you know, I still wanted to go to the bar or whatever, and then that's kind of how it happened. I was drink one night, and then I was just right back to it. When's that first time you end up getting arrested again? After Senate court, probably six months. And that was just for

drug-related charges? Drug-related charges, whether it was, like I said, writing bad checks or stealing from out of stores or breaking in the houses. And where's your parents at during this time? By this time, they have to know you're a full-blown addict. Oh, yeah, yeah. By this time, I'm not hiding anything from anyone. But I had, you know, that was kind of where my, you know, all the other crimes started because, like, at some point,

no one's giving me any money. You know, nobody wants to lend me $20, $40. They all know what I'm doing. And so I had to find other ways to support the habit. So that's when I start breaking in the houses and doing whatever. I tried selling drugs, but I was never good. I just did all the drugs. Oh, so you would pick up the drugs and then I end up just doing it out.

Yeah, I try to be a drug dealer, but I just end up doing all of them. And where were you living at the time? I mean, homeless most of the time or if, you know, I'd go into like some sober living that would, you know, let me in. until I had to take a piss test. And a lot of times I was living in my car. Now, the time you went on the run and then you end up coming back because your mom convinces you. How much time do you get for that? And do you go to prison for that?

No. So at that, all my charges, and for whatever reason, because I would go and like steal a bunch of stuff from like Walmart or wherever, like a Home Depot and then I go pawn it. and that's kind of how I was supporting my habit. And what ends up happening is, you know, there's like a, I think it's like $750 limit. So I had a bunch of like, I had a bunch of misdemeanors because I didn't hit the limit. And so like I had all these misdemeanors. But so I get, she gets me to get back and I come back. I turn myself in.

And I was thinking, I was thinking I was going to get. out. You know, I was like, oh, I just get in front of a judge and, you know, whatever and get out. But what happened was the week I turned myself in, 2016 was the flood in Louisiana. So I turned myself in on like a Monday, Friday, it floods. So everything is shut down. There's no, all the courthouses are closed. There's nothing going on. So I sit for probably a month in there. and I get put into the federal dorm. So in the sense, they have one federal dorm, you know. Anybody who like ice, you know, or federal charges, they put them in it.

And for whatever reason, they put me in this dorm. So, and that was probably like the wildest jail time I ever did. But I ended up doing like six months. Because that was the most time they could give me. I mean, I finally get in front of a judge at like three months. And, you know, of course, like, by this time, this judge has been seeing me for the last 10 years and, you know, in and out. And I know all the things to tell her to get out on, like, a probation or whatever. And so I tell her, I tell her all this stuff.

And I remember she looks at me and she's like, you can do all of that, you know, after you do this time. So she gave me the max, which was six months. And I did that. And, yeah, that was the hardest time I ever did, though. It was a wild dorm to be in. Why was it so wild? It was fights every day, every night. Yeah, they were dragging people out of that dorm.

It was a crazy dorm. What was the worst fights you saw? So they used to do, like, a fight night. They would make people fight. The guards? No, the inmates. And, and, and, and, and, and I had, you know, I was involved in a couple fights. People, there was people, like, they were stealing everybody's stuff in there.

And, you know, anytime that happens in a jail, it's, it's wild, you know. You can't steal too long and not have some kind of altercation. So they were doing that. And, and it was, you know, so in the dorm was a lot of, you know, because it was a federal dorm, So a lot of Isis, a lot of the Mexicans were had like a whole part of the dorm. And so there was like beefs between different, you know, races and all that. And it was just a wild place to live. What was the fight you were involved on?

The fight I was in, I was going to court. I remember it was like it was late at night. And we were playing cards or whatever on one of the bunks. And it was a dude that I was called. cool with, you know. And we were messing with each other, but for whatever reason, I was stressed out about going to court and, um, and he was talking shit. And I was just like, you know what? Let's go into the, you know, in the back, put shoes on. And, uh, I remember I started out fighting him. And then, like, all of his people came. So I ended up getting jumped. And, and, and, and then it started,

like, a whole thing. And, uh, it got wild. Yeah. Now, during this sentence, I mean, during this part in your journey, are you doing drugs in there this time? I'm not doing drugs that time. Because, like, I had been sober a few times before this. So, like, I kind of, I knew I wanted to be sober. I just couldn't, I couldn't figure out how to do it. And so at this time, there's drugs coming in and out.

but I wasn't getting high. I was trying to stay sober. What was the final outcome with those charges? I did. They maxed me out. I did. But it was all misdemeanor, so all they could give me was six months.

So you did six months there? I did six months and I get out, yeah. And what's your mindset when you get out of there? And how old are you at that point? 28. Yeah, I was 28. I got sober at 29. So I was 28.

So I got out. of there and and yeah my mindset at the time was like I because I you know I got six months sober at this time from being in jail and I was like you know I could do this and so I get out and I'm trying to do the sober thing and I think I made it like two months and then it got really bad you know that was a lot of overdoses and trips to the hospital and and I had a really bad overdose right after I I got out of there and I had to like relearn how to walk and all that. I was in the hospital for like a month. And at the time, my brother was getting sober and he was at this place out in Mississippi at like a rehab.

And they were trying to get me in, but they didn't want us both there at the same time. And yeah, I was lucky to make it out of that and finally get in there. What do you think kept reverting you back to drugs was that your environment, people you were hanging out with or just the mindset? I think all of it, you know, mindset, people I was hanging out. I just, you know, I just couldn't not go do it. You know what I mean? I just didn't have the power to not go do it. You know, it just, I would be so, you know, I would be sober and I'm like, yeah, I'm doing this.

And then just whatever would happen and I'll just go get out. So what finally ends up happening? So what finally ends up happening is that, um, At this point, you know, my mom, because that was another thing, like my addiction had, you know, my parents were always, because they could never get on the same page of like wanting to help me or not wanting, you know what I mean? And so at this time, my mom had let me come stay at the house. And I had bad overdose at the house. And I went to the hospital. And that was when I had to relearn how to walk.

And my hearing, I lost my hearing for like a couple of days. And so I get out of there and I'm like walking with a cane and everything. I got like patches of hair missing and whatever. And my brother was getting out of the treatment. And they got me into there. And I don't know what happened because it was just like any other time. I was like, yeah, I'll go to this treatment. And for whatever, you know, it just took.

What do you think stuck to you the most about this treatment? I don't think it was the place. I think it was whatever, whatever happened I finally got to a point in my life that I was willing to do what it takes to be sober. You know, and it just happened to be that time, you know, at that place. What does it take to be sober after, you know, that many years of abuse? It's a lot of stuff. I mean, it's a lot of work. You know, since I got sober, it's been, you know, I had a lot of stuff that I messed up,

a lot of relationships with people and that I had to make right. And it took, you know, it's taking years of work, you know. What were some of those first struggles of being sober that last time? Um, I think just like, because at this time, you know, I got sober. 28, I think I turned 29 when I was in treatment. And so it was just like, man, like, what am I going to do? You know, what am my life going to look like? You know, because like I said, I never really had a plan of what I wanted to do.

You know, I always just did drugs and whatever. And I really didn't know what it would look like, you know. How old are you now? How long are you been? I've been, yeah, almost nine years. Nine years. Congratulations, man. Yeah.

So what does life look like now? Is it what you envisioned it to be when you first got sober? No, man. It's been crazy. Well, and like, you know, I'm sober now. My brother, he got sober a couple years after me. You know, I got my family. You know, my mom passed away a few years ago, but my dad's still around.

You know, my sister just had a baby. I get to be a part of that, which is crazy. You know, I did get married. I got divorced like two years ago. but I was married. I had two stepkids, so, you know, I raised them. And, yeah, nothing I could have, like, planned, you know, but... It's only getting every customer's order right.

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Habaniero, more like habanier yes. Save the everyday with Amazon. Thanks, yours too. What does Ravs stand for anyway? To me, it's the remarkably advanced vehicle. Really? To me, it's the runway-approved vehicle for its amazing style. What about remarkably adaptable vehicle

because of its versatile cargo space? Or really admired vehicle? Oh, or really awesome vehicle. It really is the recreation. activity vehicle. The stylish 2026 Toyota RAP4 Limited. What's your Rav for? It's been good, man.

It's been up and down. What did you end up getting into for work when you first got sober? So when I first got sober, I think the first job I had was at this, like, steel cutting place. And all I had to do was, like, sit there and cut these beams. and I remember I got fired. I was like six months sober and I was like, mind you, I was still pretty like, I was still trying to get it together from that many years of doing drugs.

And I remember like I kept cutting these beams like two or three inches short. And finally like the boss called me off. He's like, what are you doing? I was like, I don't know, man. You know, I'm doing my best. And so I remember I get, they end up firing me from that job. And I remember the day I got fired, I walked out in the parking lot, my car died, you know, and I tried to call somebody and my phone died. And I was just like, man, what, you know, which is in like six months, it was usually about that time where I would just go back out.

And, you know, for whatever reason, I was like, no, man, I'm just going to keep doing this, you know. And what ends up happening is my brother, he had been sober and he had relapsed. And the day after I got fired from that job, my brother was going back to treatment. And he had been working for my dad. And I hadn't been allowed, you know. My dad was barely talking to me at this time, rightfully so. But in the last time I had been at his shop, I got arrested there, you know. And so my brother, my brother goes to treatment.

And my dad needed somebody to help him. And it was supposed to be for, you know, just until my brother got back and I ended up working for my dad for the next five years. And then I'm at a new company the last two years. What do you feel like you missed out the most on during your addiction in life? Just time, man, time with my family and time, you know. just life really i guess you know whatever whether it had been you know a family of my own or whatever i missed a a good chunk of that when you spent so many years in addiction uh and then you get sober

and you look at all the people that lose their lives over drugs how does that make you feel yeah it's it's it's rough man um and especially nowadays you know um um with the fentanyl and all that stuff, man. And then being in, you know, being in that, being sober and being around people, you know, you see people pass away and it's tough, man, but, you know, you also get to see people get sober, you know, and people get married and people have,

you know, turn their lives around. So it's kind of a give and take. Are there any temptations now to drink or do drugs at all? I mean, not really. You know, I'm not going to say I don't ever think about it, but, no, man, and I continue to do, you know, that's been another thing in 2018, you know, about a year or so after I got sober, we started going into Angola for like sober, you know, talking to guys that were in jail, in prison, you know, trying to get sober. and that kind of became a whole other thing that I was super passionate about, you know, because I come from, you know, being locked up and whatever. So it's been awesome to be able to do that.

You know, we've got to go talk to guys on Death Road at Angola. And remember the first meeting we ever went to there. There's like a room with a big table, and this is the, I mean, we get in there, we sit down and we're talking to the guys. And these are all trusty dudes doing life. And we're sitting at this big table. You know, we do, we talk, we whatever, hang out. And I remember they looked at me.

They're like, you know where we're sitting. I was like, no. I mean, I know we're in prison, you know, Angola. And they're like, this is the last supper table, you know. They're like the lethal injection, you know, right, that door right there is where they, you know, they eat their last meal here and then they take them in there. And that was like, you know, like one of them moments. Because I can just, like I remember feeling.

It's like an out-of-body experience because they're like, you know, this is like, you know, this room and right there is like, you know, like we're bringing life into this place that's meant for, you know, the end. Is it weird stepping back in there sober? It's way better. You know, I don't have to worry about not getting out. But it's been really cool, man. We've got to see guys in there.

And then not like they started their own thing in there of like a dorm, like a sober dorm in Angola, which is awesome to see. But yeah, it's great to not to walk back in there sober and not, you know, not have this, like, fear of, are they going to find out and, like, keep me here. Have you ran into any of your old coworkers at all that were? No, and I never really got close to anybody, too. You know, I was only working there for, I guess, such a short period of time that never really got close to it. And I never really wanted to because I was trying not to get found out.

So. Why do you think you needed to work there? Like, why do you think your journey brought you there, even though it was a short period of time? Yeah. You know, when we look back at our life. lives of why certain things happened. What do you think that lesson was that you took away from that experience? I think it, you know, I think it makes sense that that happened so that, you know, I could get involved with, you know, giving back to the people in prisons and people in jails and, you know, trying to help those guys get sober and them, or, you know, and some of them have

gotten out since then and, you know, help them try to, like, stay sober. I think I needed all of that, that experience, you know. Knowing everything, you know, now, what would you say to your teenage self before you ever, you know, start doing drugs? Definitely don't do that. But, like I said, dude, everything I went through I went through for a reason, you know, I wouldn't be able to, to offer that experience to the next guy and be of any use to the people that I can be without that experience. So I don't regret it, you know. Well, Andrew, I appreciate you coming out on the show today. Yeah, it was a great conversation, and thanks so much for coming out here. Yeah, thanks for having me.