Locked In with Ian Bick - Wrongfully Convicted: Self-Defense Leads to 30-Year Sentence After Corrupt Prosecutors Twist the Truth | Jacob Gentry

Episode Date: October 3, 2024

Jacob Gentry shares his story of being wrongfully convicted of murder after defending himself in what should have been a clear case of self-defense. Instead of justice, Jacob faced corrupt prosecutors who twisted the truth, resulting in a 30-year prison sentence. In this episode, he reveals the prosecutorial misconduct that turned his life upside down and the events that expose the deep flaws in the criminal justice system. #WrongfulConviction #SelfDefense #ProsecutorialMisconduct #CorruptProsecutors #CriminalJustice #Injustice #TrueCrime #PrisonStory #LegalCorruption #JusticeSystemFlaws #PrisonReform #MurderCharges #30YearSentence Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ Connect with Jacob Gentry: YT: https://youtube.com/@jacobsladder111?si=h669E7qSEs5gdcii FB: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100074943452854&mibextid=ZbWKwL IG: https://www.instagram.com/valiantthor99?utm_source=qr&igsh=MWd1OWZxZDg1YTF4bA== Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jacobgentry518?_t=8q8W14qUk5W&_r=1 Thank you to our sponsors this week: MyBookie: Go to mybookie.website/LOCKEDIN and use promo code LOCKEDIN to sign up for free and double your first deposit up to $2,000 plus a $10 Casino Chip. Presented by Tyson 2.0 & Wooooo Energy: https://tyson20.com/ https://woooooenergy.com/ Buy Merch: https://lockedinbrand.com Use code lockedin at checkout to get 20% off your order Timestamps: 00:00:00 Interview with Jake: From After Prison Show to YouTube Success 00:07:00 High School Memories and Academic Performance 00:12:59 Tactics and Law Enforcement Encounters 00:19:21 Experiencing Arrest and Family Reaction 00:25:34 The Influence of Media 00:32:07 The Allure of Fast Money 00:38:37 Accusations and Betrayal 00:45:16 Arrest and the Unexpected Psychic Encounter 00:51:15 Confrontation at the Bar 00:57:30 Workplace Safety Meeting Incident 01:03:40 Intense Confrontation and Pepper Spray Incident 01:09:57 Unexpected Night Out: The Full Moon & Bar Incident 01:17:01 Unexpected Investigation 01:22:09 Discovery of Key Evidence 01:28:22 Fleeing New Jersey: A Race Against Time 01:34:48 A Jury Member's Letter of Support Powered by: Just Media House : https://www.justmediahouse.com/ Creative direction, design, assets, support by FWRD: https://www.fwrd.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Restrictions apply. Jake, welcome to Lockton, man. So happy we can make this happen. I know we've been talking for a little bit. I think you messaged me on Facebook, right? I believe so. Yeah. And you were on a couple other people's channels.

I know you want to shout out after prison show, who everyone has been asking for on the show. So if you can make that happen, we lined you up with the JD interview so you could return the favor with After Prison. I think I can make that happen. Yeah. But yeah, thank you for allowing me here, man.

I've been super excited. I'm a little nervous, but... Oh, you're going to do great, man. Very excited about it. And first thing, I definitely want to shout out Joe Guerrero in the After Prison Show. Because if it weren't for him, I wouldn't be sitting here right now.

You know, he... he encouraged me to start my own YouTube channel, which I did. And, you know, from his interview, I did the Matt Cox interview. And I did the Chad Mark's interview. Now I'm here with you. So if it weren't for Joe, none of this would happen. And I'm really appreciative of him. Yeah.

I mean, if none of us would be here if it wasn't for after-prison show because he kind of paved the way for everything. You see OG. Right. So I was going to pay homage to that. that. Yeah, man, I'm super proud, super proud to call him a friend. Awesome, man. Wow, that's glad to hear. Did you grow up in Nashville? Not in Nashville, about an hour east of here, straight down I-40. It's a town called, it used to be a little town called Cookville. Now it's more of a city.

But, yeah, Cookville, Tennessee is where I was born. When you were growing up there was a small town, though. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it was, I guess they still called it the city of Cookville back then, but it wasn't much of the city. But now it's legit city. Who'd you grow up with your mom, dad, siblings? My parents are still married, matter of fact. I see them every weekend. They've been married. Let's see.

I'll be 44 in December. So this December 23rd will be their 47th wedding anniversary. Wow, good for them. Yeah, and I have four brothers. Are you the... I'm the second oldest of five. How was that when you guys were all young? You know, it was cool.

It was cool. Like, we were all, you know, we're all different in, you know, in our own ways. I'm probably the black sheep of the family, you could say. Same. But, yeah, my older brother and I, we're like night and day. Hey, everyone, it's Ian, and I just wanted to say thank you for supporting this podcast. Remember leaving likes and comments on YouTube and reviews on Spotify and Apple help tremendously. Before we get further into this episode, I want to shout out my bookie, for sponsoring today's episode.

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My mother is, man, Martha Stewart ain't got nothing on my mom. Like, my mom is the ultimate housewife. There was one time I can remember for like a few months. My grandfather had a forklift service, and my mother helped him out with, like, secretarial work. But other than that, she's just, and she puts him work, too. Like, you know, it's not like she ain't have a job. She raised five children and, you know, kept a spotless house.

And cooks, like I said, you know, Martha Stewart ain't got nothing on my mom. But my father, he started in the pipeline business. And when he was, you know, probably 20, 21 years old and he did it, he made a career for himself and became pretty sought after in that industry and made a name for himself. And at some point in time, all of us, me and all four and my brothers have worked in the pipeline industry. That's so awesome. So did you guys grow up with a little bit of money then? Um, we were, I don't want to say we were like super poor or anything, but, you know, we ain't never really been rich.

Now my parents are doing pretty good, you know, at this time. But when I was younger, you know, raising five kids isn't easy. But we never, I never starved or anything like that. You know, I wasn't a spoiled kid, but we were always taken care of. How would your brothers describe you? If they were here right now, how would they say young Jake would be growing up? rebellious, honest, inquisitive, and kind. Okay, that's good.

And you still are that today, because you ask questions, you're kind. Yes, sir. Hard working. We'll give you that one too. So when you were growing up, were you guys in public schooling? Yes, sir. Okay. And what was that like for you?

What was your experience in that? I didn't care much for school. You know, I, and now looking back as an adult, you know, it's like a little mini-prison. And I think if you go to private school, I've never been to a private school, but I believe that if you go to a private school, they teach you how to be a master, and if you go to public school, they teach you how to be a slave. They teach you how to get up and that bell rings. And like I said, I was always kind of rebellious.

I always questioned authority, and I still do. So it didn't always work out for me too good. But I made good grades in school. Did you have aspirations? Like, did you want to go to college, go a certain career path? I had no idea what I wanted to do. I didn't, you know, I'm a senior in high school. You're supposed to pick, you know, your path and all that.

Like at one time, I almost went to culinary school in New York. CIA. Smith's College of the Adirondex. Okay. But yeah, I didn't end up going down that path. That would have been a totally different lifestyle. Right. Do you ever think about what life would have been like if you did that?

Not really. I don't really dwell on the past that much, but, you know, I guess maybe every now and then I think about it, but not so much. Yeah, I know you can't really dwell on the past. It's always, like I always say in all these episodes, it's always curious what would have happened if he chose a different path. So I was pretty intelligent. You know, I can remember I had a teacher named Mr. Bradford. And he woke this girl up one day because she was sleeping in class. And she got up and just started raising hell and screaming.

She was mad. And, you know, because he told the person next door, he said, wake her up. And so she gets up and yelling. And she's like, well, what about Jake? He's sleeping. Won't you wake him up? He said, don't wake to sleeping giant. He's got a 99 average in here.

He can sleep. So, like, I did well in school, but I didn't really apply my, like, I slept through class and didn't do my homework and still got, by with, like, good grades somehow. Where do you think that the brains came from, your mom or your dad? I think both of my parents are fairly intelligent people, but I think they came from my creator. Now, in high school, were you doing any drugs, getting any to trouble? anything like that. I know you said you weren't really following the rules, but...

Not so much in high school. There were maybe like a handful of times, you know. I think I drank alcohol at a friend's house when I was like 13 years old, a smoke pot once or twice, you know, in school. But my parents were super strict. And, like, we went to church every Sunday. And my dad was pretty scary. And, you know, the couple times that I did smoke weed and, like, be around my parents,

I was just so sketched out like I was paranoid and it wasn't enjoyable for me. So I just, I didn't really get into that. I mean, I turned into a pothead later in life once I was out of my parents' house. But, you know, while I lived at home, I walked the line pretty much. So you did whatever kid did, you know, dabbled a little alcohol, little weed, got caught here and there. Yeah, yeah. So, but then, you know, once I turned about 18 years old and I was out on my own, I did experiment and get in. into dangerous substances.

Yeah, so what happens after high school? So, after I graduated high school, I went on my first pipeline job, and that was in Iowa. And, well, it started in Iowa and went up into Minnesota. And that was my first job. I put like 30 grand in the bank and came back home after that and started college at Tennessee Tech University, which is about an hour east of here. Where are you major in? General curriculum.

I had no idea what I wanted to be. So why college then? Why did you think you wanted to go there? I mean, because my older brother did it, and I just felt like that's what you're supposed to do, and people expected it of me. So do you end up completing college and getting a degree? No, I dropped out first semester.

Why? So basically because of Tony Hawk Pro Skater and Liquor. I love Tony Hawk back of the day. Yeah, yeah, you know, my best friend from high school, he pretty much moved in. I had an apartment with my older brother. My older brother was like an overachiever. He did graduate.

He's a civil engineer. He works for T-DOT. He used to be right up in that Bell South Mobility Tower right there, here in downtown Nashville. He worked there. But he switched to offices.

I think he works out of Chattanooga now. But yeah, he was an overachiever. He was an Army ROTC. He got out and ran around with a rucksack on his back every day. I'm smoking weed and drinking liquor and playing pro skater.

What was on the PlayStation? Yeah. Yeah. Throwback. PS2 or PS1? No. This was before PS2. Oh, wow.

This was in like 99. So you had like the big brick of the PlayStation? Well, yeah. That first PlayStation, the gray one with the circle. Oh, the gray one. Yeah, because then I went to the PS1, which was the black box. And then PS2 was the thin one. Right.

Like a DVD player. Yeah. Wow. What a throwback. All right. So you're doing that. Then what happens? Where do you go from there?

Dropped out of college. I went to the infirmary, and they told me I had mono. And they're like, you can take a withdrawal if you want. I'm like, say no more. Give me out of here. So after that, I went on another pipeline job in Michigan the next time. And I completed that job. And during the job, I kind of had a falling out with my dad.

and I started hanging out at Strip Club in Lansing, Michigan. And I was 19 years old, and you can legally drink in Canada at 19. Like, you can go to bars. So I went over there just to drink. And I ended up, like, stumbling into this, like, techno bar, this after hours club. that don't even open until midnight, and they're open to like eight in the morning. And I met a guy there, and this was back when ecstasy was like popping. And basically, you know, ecstasy pills were going for 25 bucks apiece all day long in Detroit,

and probably all over this country, you know, it's 25 bucks. And I could get them for six. And so that's kind of what got me started, the illegal life. You know, I was messing around a little bit before that, but, you know, I was going over there and strapping up and coming across the border, you know, about once a week, and then I would just sit in the strip club and look at naked girls and make a bunch of money.

And that's kind of what got my life off on the wrong foot, I guess. So you were selling the ecstasy? Oh, yeah. So was it easy to go across and then back across the border, like without getting stopped or anything? No, no. They stopped me every time. I would be coming back across the border and my blue eyes would be black and they could just take one look at me and, you know, they got me out of the car every time and ran dogs to my car.

And they never found it? No. Where would you hide the drugs? Well, this was before I ever went to prison and before I learned the art of a key string. But, yeah, this is super reckless. Like, I would just like roll them up in a bag and put them on the, tape them around the inside of my. leg and uh you know I was done the dogs didn't pick that up never were dogs even trained maybe to search for yeah holy cow so but yeah many times I've been standing there

with the royal mounted Canadian police um tearing my car up with I was I was wild man I was crazy how much money were you making so I would get about 300 at a time 1800 bucks and I would turn that into 7,500 That's insane profit margins. It's better than weed in some cases. Oh, yeah. And, I mean, that's every week. You know, that's, what is that, $4,800?

And you would go to the same strip club every time? Oh, yeah. There was a, no, there was a couple strip clubs in Lansing, actually. But, no, I pretty much lived at the deja vu on Jolly Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Would you spend money there to not raise suspicion? Mm-mm. So does the owners know? I made money there.

You know, that's one of the only strip clubs Like I never got kicked Like a lot of times those guys that run them strip clubs They're like They got a weird like Thing going on with them girls And if they find out that you're Messing with them girls

They'll like I've had that happen to me Like up in Wisconsin This dude was like no no no You can't come here no more Because the girls are like leave with me And not show up for work And be gone for a couple days and so he would like ban

to ban me from there. Oh, the girls were going back to hook up with you because they got attracted to you? I don't know if they were attracted to me or not. Like, I get it, apparently. You know, yeah, they left the club and would be with me for several days.

And I wasn't really selling drugs in Wisconsin, so yeah, they must have been attracted to me because I wouldn't giving them anything. Now, are you selling, like, bags on the street, like a corner boy? Are you just picking up for one selling to the other? the mean plug and calling it a day i mean a little bit of both you know like i was i was reckless

back then i was a 19 year old kid and uh you know i thought i was the shit but uh you know i would sell to anybody you know i didn't i didn't realize how many like rats are out there back then you know in my life i've kind of been screwed over a lot because i just feel like everybody's like me you know everybody has good intentions and that's not the case of the world, you know. Yeah, welcome to the world. Yeah. But no, you know, like a lot of, you know, those girls would sell them for me, you know. Oh, so the strippers were selling them. Yeah. Oh, wow. This is like right out of a movie. Yeah. There's a lot of my life that has been wilder than any movie that I've ever seen. Like you, I always say, like, you couldn't write this. Like,

the best writer in the world couldn't make this up. Do you think that that's, you think that That's when like your entrepreneurial sense came out that like your dad kind of had because your dad was a business or, you know, in the entrepreneur world. No, I was born with it, man. Like, I was one of those kids that I would, and I just heard somebody talking about doing this exact same thing. It might have been one of your interview because I've been watching your stuff. Thank you, man. And somebody was talking about getting, or they said they were stealing them. I wasn't stealing them.

I was buying them, like the 10 packs of juicy fruit gum. And you could buy 10 packs for a dollar. So it was like 10 cents. You get five sticks. And I'll take them to school and sell them for 10 cents a stick. So I'm turning a dollar into, you know, what is that? 50 times 50 dimes. I'm turning a dollar into $5.

And just things like that. Like I used to, I would go to school and come home with like cargo pants full of quarters. You know, so I've always kind of had that drive, I guess you could say. That gum used to be the shit. Everyone loved that. It was the branding. They did such a good drive. job with that. Right. I mean, it wasn't just that. Like, I remember like the tongue splashes,

the warheads, like all the little designer candies. Like, I would have it like open up my trench coat. Like, what do you need? That's exactly what I sold in high school. I had a backpack. I had everything. I was the candy boy. I'd get dropped off at CVS and hustle the candy back. You'd turn 20 bucks into a couple hundred bucks easily. Those are the good old days, man. So do you get caught from the drug business? What happens from? From, there. I did eventually get caught. That was my first felony delivery of MDMA. There was a kid, man, and I would have got beat up for this kid. I thought we were friends, you know, and this dude, he had sold some weed to somebody and some young kid, and they got in a DUI and left the scene

of the accident and left a bag of weed in the car. They told him this kid for selling him the weed, and then this kid, they scared him into snitching, you know, and they were like, who can you get us? And he's like, I know a guy set me up, you know, on a sale. And that was when I caught my first felony. So tell us about the setup. What goes down? What happens?

Oh, man, it's been so long ago. This was 21 years ago. I mean, he pretty much, he called me and asked, you know, I got some pills. I said, yeah. And he came over. I sold him some, and he left. and next thing I know, the Tri-County Metro Narcotics Task Force was kicking in my door.

And what's going through your head when that happens? It sucked, you know. I don't even know how to describe it. I know, like, in the aftermath, like, I didn't feel safe in my house. It was just like my home had been violated. You know what I mean? Like, it was a pretty sickening thing. feeling, you know, to just have 20 dudes kick your door in and then go through all your shit.

And I remember, I probably had like 30 bongs or something. And they kept coming back with another bong and like the cop was like dancing around in my living room. This is back when Cisco's thong song was out. And they were singing bong bong, bong, bong, bong, bong, bong. And, uh, yeah. How did your parents react to the arrest? And when did they find out, did you have to call them?

And, well, I did tell them eventually, but I was living in Michigan. So, yeah, I went to Michigan on that job, and I ended up with a girl up there. You know, after all the stripper stuff was over, there was a girl, and I liked her, and moved in with her. And we were actually together for eight years. She died a couple years back. So, yeah, I was living with this girl. And, like I said, me and my dad kind of had a falling out, so I didn't come back to Tennessee for quite a few years at that time. We're super cool now.

Did you go to prison for these drug offenses? No, no, no. They barely did anything to me, actually. They sent me to a pretrial, like a probation officer, you know, to do a pre-sentence report. I'd never been in trouble for anything, and she recommended probation. And really, I could have gotten out of the felony, but I hired a lot. I looked at the phone book. You know, I didn't know who to call, and I just saw a picture on the phone book.

I called these people. I took them like $5,000. and the dude was like, well, your only option is to work. And I'm like, yeah, I work. I'm working at GM right now. He's like, no, that's not what I'm talking about. He's like, I mean work with the task force. And I'm like, oh, I'm like, oh, no, bro.

No, we ain't doing that. And he's like, well, and then after that, I kind of, well, I did see him one more time after that. And I'm like, so what are you going to do for me? You know, what are we going to do? He's like, well, he's like, smarted off. He's like, well, I told you what you got to do and you don't want to do it. And I was like, look, bro. If I was going to rat, I wouldn't come bring you five grand.

Like, I could have done that without you. And I don't know if he, like, felt threatened of me after that or something, because I did, it made me mad, you know. And I never saw that lawyer again. He would send his intern to my court. And I had just turned 22 years old, so I wasn't eligible for the YTA, the Youthful Offender Act, because it's for, like, 21 and under or whatever. and I want to like I can't it's been so long I mean I tried to get probation but the the prosecutor stood up and told and said your honor he was given an opportunity to work with the task force he refused he was uncooperative and I I don't agree with that and then I'm looking at the little intern you know that my lawyer sent and she just don't even say nothing she don't even try to fight for it so the judge is just like all right so I got stuck with a felony but at least I'm

If I had a decent lawyer, I could have gotten probation. And then once, so there was two different things. It was YTA and there was something called 7411, but they wouldn't give it to me because I wouldn't tell anybody. Let's take a quick pause to talk sports for a second. Whether it's football, basketball, or a big UFC fight, there's nothing like the thrill of game day. And if you're looking to take that excitement to the next level, my bookie is where you need to be. Imagine every touchdown, every buzzer beater, and every knockout having a little. more riding on it. With UFC 307 around the corner, you can bet on all the action and make those

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I just dead at it from the door. Like, I never talked to the police. I wouldn't give a statement. They wanted to take me in it. I'm like, no, bro. Get out of here. Where does that mentality come from? I'm not really sure.

Maybe movies. Like, I saw Jump Su Pablo on your interview, right? And I've even heard JD say this. I think he was talking about Wu-Tang Clan or stuff. But everybody says the same thing, man. It's rap music. Like, Jumpso Su Pablo was talking about walka flaka flame

and I may be wrong but he he was talking about I think one of them rappers for me it was 3-6 Mafia I think it was Waka that he was saying or someone on the show No jumpsuit definitely said walka-fack of flame Yeah that's what it was yeah

I want to tie your mom up I never want to tell nobody's mama You know what I mean Like I've always been a good dude But to me I justified the drugs Because I'm like well You know the doctors are giving little kids meth Like Adderall

You know they're giving pain pills This heroin why is it okay for them to say and they glorify this in movies like John Travolta shooting heroin in Pulp Fiction they romanticize the shit out of that they make that shit look so cool you know and I always well I didn't always know it took me a long time to figure this out but I realize now that they are brainwashing us you know the the people that own these prisons own the record labels and that's big big business for them if they can make us commit crimes and act like assholes to fill their prisons

up. And it's a conspiracy, man. And I mean, I've known it for a while. And then I saw a video a while back, one of the guys from Bone, Thugs in Harmony. And he's talking about being in like this Hollywood party. He's like, there's this group of dudes, you know. They look like they don't belong there. And all of a sudden they get up and this guy stands up and basically puts it to him. Like, look, we want you guys to promote gangbanging and drug dealing and violence and fill these prisons up and you're going to have a chance to be part owners in these prisons and the more people that we can lock up and you guys can make money off getting people. And dude like stood up and walked out on it. It was like, hell no, I ain't doing this. But I mean, that basically just

confirmed what I already knew, you know, like 36 Mafia, 666, bro. It's right in your face. Yeah. So after that, you get put up. on probation, what happens? And how old are you? I was 22 years old. Okay. I completed it, you know. No issues. I know, no violations. I completed my probation and got off of it. And, you know, I just try to carry on with my life after that. I did. So I did get in trouble again. I went on a pipeline job. Like, so I've said this on my own. YouTube channel and I'm not proud of this. Like I'm ashamed of this, but like I, I started doing heroin, man.

It all started with OxyContin, actually. I didn't even, didn't even, like, plan on doing it. Like, I knock on my buddy's door one day. And this dude comes to the door, eyes all bloodshot and glossed over, shiny. I'm like, damn, are you stone, bro? He's like, I'm high on Oxycontin. I'm like, what the hell is that? He's like, it's pain pills.

And I was like, I don't do pain pills, man. They don't work on me. Because I'd done Vicodins and perkinsets and all that. And I really couldn't even tell that it did anything to me, you know? So I was like, I think I'm immune to pain pills. He's like, man, I bet you. I know these will get you high, bro. And he's like, I'll stop over your house one day.

So I'm like, all right, whatever. And then one day out of nowhere, the dude's driving a van with tanks of oxygen. He's going to switching out old people's oxygen tanks. and he just dips, busts in the driveway, like knocks on the door, he's like, hey, man, you want to do an oxy? I'm like, yeah, whatever, bro. He comes in, took a 40 milligram pill, crushed it, you know, licked the coat and off, wiped it off,

crushed it on the table, split it three ways. It was me, him, and my girls, me, him, we each took about 15 milligrams, and my girl took about 10, and he dipped out. And within a few minutes, dude, like, I'm nodded out. Just, I'm like, is this? It's just why Kirkgo, you know, is this what he was talking about? Like this is, you know, it was the best feeling. And I don't want to glorify this shit because it's a nightmare, you know,

but that's, that's the evil of it that it tricks you into thinking that everything's okay when that ain't. But it was, that definitely changed my life. And then, so I never really want to be sober again after that. I wanted to feel that nonstop. Why do you think you did that? Like, Why do you think you agreed to do that so randomly? So when I told you, I was always rebellious. I can remember being in fifth grade. They had something called Too Good for Drugs. And then in sixth grade, they had the DARE program.

They're telling you about all this, like LSD, seeing like aliens and lepracons and shit that ain't there. Like, it sounded fun to me. You know, like I was always just like, I'll be the judge of that. You know, like, why does everybody do it if it's so bad? Or, you know, you would see. I can remember being in a kindergarten, and the cops bringing a brick of weed to school. And they brought all the kids around and let them smell this.

It was all wrapped up in duct tape. But they let all the kids smell the weed. And they're like, if you smell this, call the police. Call 911. They're like trying to get kids to, like, rat out their parents and shit. But, you know, I knew that lots of people did this, yet they tell us it's bad and don't do it. So why is it good for, you know, what's good for the goose is good for the gander? I wanted to know why do people do it.

That triggered you in your mind to do that. I guess, you know. Wow. That's the only explanation I can come up with. Okay, so now you're using drugs. What happens from there? So I went on a pipeline job out in New Mexico. And I had always heard, I heard people say,

man, I could get pounds of weed for like $200 in Texas or Arizona. or New Mexico, you know, and I was just like, man, that's cool. I almost didn't really believe it. It just sounded too good to be true, you know, because they're, it's $100 an ounce out here, you know, $1,400 a pound in Michigan. So I go out there on that job and I met these kids at a gas station. I'm like, hey, man, can you all give me $20 with the weed? They're like, yeah, they come back with like an ounce of weed for $20.

I'm like, whoa, shit. it. So my little gear started clicking and I had a little bit of money. So, you know, I met a plug, you know, and I could get pounds for, I think I paid 300 bucks for him, but it was fire. Like, it wasn't no booty. Like, it was like skunk, you know. And I did that for the first time and made a whole bunch of money, you know. This is going, like, I'm paying 300 bucks for 16, ounces and selling one ounce for $200. Wow. So I made a bunch of money off of it, and then I went back and did it again, and so that

became a thing. What was it for you? Did you like the money, or did you like the rebellious aspect of it? I definitely like the money. You know, who doesn't like money, you know? But I don't know if I really like the rebellious aspect. I don't like looking over my shoulder. Like, it stresses me out.

You know, I don't like the, I don't like the, fear of getting caught. But I'll tell you what I did like. I liked all those naked chicks that thought I was, you know, like when I was in high school, I never really felt like I fit in, I think. Like I always felt like kind of like different. Like, and maybe like I kind of wished that I was popular or more popular than I was. And then when I'm 19 and I'm sitting in the strip club and I got all these naked chicks like,

you know, hanging on me. Like, you know, my phone's blowing up. but it makes you feel important, you know, and I think I got addicted to that feeling to be, like, wanted to feel like I was important. Mm-hmm. You know? It's addicting.

It's a drug, you know, that I went through that. You want to feel liked and popular and wanted. I mean, we all want to feel wanted, you know? That's why people get stuck in these crazy relationships and stuff because they're just hoping, like, they get that want from the person. Yeah. Everybody just wants to be loved, man. So how much are you making at this point?

How long does it go on for? Man, it just, it depends. You know, sometimes I would go, sometimes I would come up on a bunch of money and I wouldn't have to do nothing for a while. Like, I made, this is a whole other story, this had to do with prescription pills, but I don't know if you want to hear that one or not,

but I don't know. Yeah, it's the same time period? Same time period, yeah. So I was in, I had gotten, matter of fact this is the first time I ever had to go to jail I got sentenced to 90 days in jail and I met a guy in there named Paul and he was super cool

and you know most people are like ain't nothing for free you know like somebody tried to charge me like some soups for a pair of socks with holes in the toe and this dude gives me a brand new pair of boxers and a couple soups and it's like here man I got you he's like what are you in here for I said possession of a

salt off shotgun with the serial numbers filed off and I said what are you in here for and he said possession of 30 oxy 80s and I kind of perked up you know and I was like oh yeah and I said what do you sell them or what are you doing or no I said I mess with those

and then he asked me he said what do you mean you I was like I said I mess with those he said what do you mean you sell them or you do them I said a little bit of both. And he said, well, I got plugged. And so I said, well, we're in Michigan, you know, and I said, where I'm from in Tennessee, man, they're going for a dollar a milligram. And now in Michigan, like top dollar was $50 for $80. And dollar milligram, that's $80 down here. So I didn't know it at the time, but they were actually going for $100 for one pill.

And I told the guy, I said, man, I could take you down there. And, you know, we can make some money. And I had taken a guy before, but this dude, he just wanted to give me, like, some free pills and I'd keep all the money. He didn't want to cut me in on the earnings. So, anyway, this dude gives me his number. And I look at it, and he's my next-door neighbor. Like, he lives in the same apartment complex as my girlfriend. And I, so I'm just thinking, man, it's meant to be.

like, God, put this dude in this crazy flawed thinking, but like I honestly believe, like I'm, and I, you know what, in a way, I still do. I think everything that's happened in my life has been for a reason. You know, it's not always been good, but, you know, I've had to learn a lot of mistakes the hard way, but I wouldn't be who I am if I hadn't walked the path that I've come. But anyway, he got out before me. I got out, and my girl came and picked me up, and we actually passed him going in the apartment complex but I hadn't seen my girl in a couple months you know so I want to go home

chill with her real quick so I go over there like an hour later I knock on the door this chick comes to the door and I said is Paul here she's like no he's gone he'll be back about an hour so I come back in an hour and um he's there the next time and he's like oh man what's up dude how you been so he's like this is my roommate this is my his baby's mom He's like, come back to my room. He's got a safe back there. He opens up the safe. He pulls out five oxy-80s, which in Michigan is $250 at that time.

Just gave him to me. I snorted one, like sniffed the whole pill. And he rolls up some weed and we start smoking it. And I get on the phone, I call my grandpa. Because I didn't tell my family about my good time. And I knew I was getting, you know, I'll just let them think. I was doing day for day because they knew that I wasn't really living right up in Michigan and I was, you know, and I was afraid that they would be there waiting to get me out of jail

and bring me back to Tennessee. And so I called my grandpa and I said, hey, father, let me out early for good behavior. I said, I'll be home tomorrow. And because, you know, we had planned. Me and this dude were coming down here. And anyway, I'm on the phone. My grandpa, dude goes, did you hear that? I'm like, nah, I didn't hear nothing. He, like, just putting the weed out, you know, and then I do hear it. It's the police radio. Like, they're in his apartment. And, like, he cracks the door, and, like, they're at the door, and the two cops come in. They looked at me, and they said, do you live here? I said, no, sir, I don't. Matter of fact, this is the first time I've ever been here. He said, you got an ID? I'll pull out my wallet.

I give him my ID. He looks at it. He's like, you can go. And I got four oxy-80s in my pocket, so I'm out. And I go home. And I go home. tell my girl, I'm like, now my boy just got raided. She goes, you don't think he thinks you set him up, do you? And I'm like, oh shit. Like, he probably does. Like, I didn't even think of that until she said it. And I'm like, yeah, dude, he probably does think that.

Because, like, literally, they were right behind me coming in there. So I'm all worried about it. I'm like, man, I can't have people talking about me like that, you know? So I'm thinking I'm going to go back over there and tell the girl. I know they ain't going to take that girl to jail with the baby. and I go knock on the door and dude answers the door and I'm just like bro what the hell

I was like what happened and he's like I know they took my safe and took all my shit and he wrote me charges I got a court date and I'm like well I hope you don't think I had nothing to do with that that's why I'm coming over here

because like I swear to God like I don't I had nothing to do with that and he's like oh yeah I know he said his roommate had like messed around with one of them cops' daughters and then didn't call her back or did you know he pissed off a cop's daughter and she told them you know these

guys are selling drugs and that was what it was about i just went over at the wrong time but anyway dude's like i don't know how you feel about you know going to tennessee tomorrow but um you know i'm still down if you are so i've already been snitched out once by somebody that i knew caught a case and i still messed with them anyway so my gut's telling me like don't mess with them you know don't do But I'm at this time, what am I, like, 25? I don't have a pot to piss in. I just got out of jail. Don't even have a car.

And, you know, everything was saying no, no, no. But whatever it was, I'm just like, you know what? Screw it. I was like, yeah, let's do it. So he's like, I'll be pick you up at 8 o'clock in the morning. I go home, see my girl for a little bit, throw all my stuff in a duffel bag. The next morning he shows up. I jump in the car.

This dude's got, like, brown grocery sack. you know from you know the brown paper bag full of like ziplock bags like footballs like you can't fit no more like the whole bag is full of ziplocks like and i'm just like hold up bro like wait just wait a second he had oxy 20s oxy 40s oxy 80s xanax uh roxa set roxy 30s uh like we we were getting well after that first trip you know we were like taking orders We were getting bottles of promethazine, purple and yellow, like, codeine permatazine, regular permethazine. But anyway, so I tell the dude, I'm like, hold up, bro. We got to get something straight.

I said, you know, I didn't realize, I thought, you know, when you said you had a plug, like maybe you knew a couple people and we're getting a couple prescriptions, like, I didn't know that you were coming like this with it. I said, we could do this, but I don't know how long it's going. going to take. Like, we might be down here for months, you know, trying to do this. And I was like, it, you know, it can be done, but I can't promise you how fast it's going to go. Like, the last time I brought somebody, you know, things weren't going as fast as he wanted and he started, you know, getting mad. And the second thing is, I need to know how much I'm going to make. And so he was like, how about you can do as many pills as you want to do and you get 33% of all

the money we make. I was just like, so. So long story short, we get like halfway to Tennessee, like Indianapolis, Indiana. I got on the phone and called like four people. I was like, man, I just fell off the roof. Like I got everything you could ever want. Just put the word out. And by the time we showed up like five minutes later or five hours later, they're just blowing my phone up.

Like how many out? Where are you at? Blah, blah, blah. And it took us about 24 hours. And we had 50 grand in cash, like stacked up. And, you know, I got like, made like $17,000 for making four phone calls. Um, but, you know, I guess that really wasn't the biggest, like, I remember, I probably made more off the weed. So everything went according to plan. He didn't, he wasn't a snitch. No, no, he never told it. Like, everything works out.

So how does he go from like this, you know, it seems like he's a petty drug dealer, like, with a small safe and some drugs? And then all of a sudden, the next morning he casually gets busted. And now next morning he's showing up with duffel bags. So this dude, I never asked, I was afraid of, like, creeping him out, you know? Like, I was, like, he got. Like, he got. He got. mad at me. There was one time when I, like, had this chicken his back seat of his car. He's like, we both bought cars. I bought an escalade. He bought an Impala SS. And I was with his chicken his back seat. And he got mad at me over it. It, like, wouldn't talk to me for like two weeks. And he was just, he was kind of a

strange cat, you know, and I didn't want to ask no questions. I was afraid, you know, if I was to ask him, like, how are you getting this? Where's this country? You know what I mean? He would just not mess with me no more. And I didn't want to mess up a good thing, so I never asked him. Wow. I found him on Facebook not long ago, and I messaged him. What is he doing? I probably shouldn't have. I probably shouldn't even, but he never messaged me back. Yeah, it's probably not the best idea. I just wanted to say, hey, man, I'm not, I'm definitely not trying to do nothing illegal. I haven't done nothing illegal in

years. So you're selling drugs, you're using drugs to yourself. Yeah. And just by talking to you, you know, you could tell you're not a violent person. You know, you're just a chill drug dealer. So how do you end up getting charged or getting faced with murder charges? Where in that story does it go wrong? So this is wild, bro. In 2000, actually, let me back up a little bit. I got caught coming back from New Mexico with a bunch of pounds of weed.

I was in Michigan, though, and I thought it was the end of the world, bro. like the cop pulled me over and I tried to try to give him my ID you know and I was just trembling I was scared and he knew and I knew it was over from right then and he got he put me in handcuffs

put me in the back of his car and searched my shit and I saw him lean over and smell the speaker box and that's where it was you know I was inside the speaker box and he turned around and so anyway I thought it was the end of the world bro and um

But they ROR'd me. Like, I didn't have to pay money to bail out. Like, they were like, well, you better show up for court. And they let me out for free, which was crazy to me. But anyway, do you want to hear, like, the psychic part of the story? Do you want me to just jump into? Just, yeah, give us whatever story you think is best. Okay, I think it's best just to tell the whole work.

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Conditions apply. The craziest part of the whole story. I went out there to New Mexico because I caught a small minor weed charge in Wisconsin. and they were charging me with a felony, and I was like, this ain't no felony. Like, this is simple possession. It should be a misdemeanor. So I have the bright idea to take all the money I got left

and go multiply it and hire me a lawyer. Ended up getting caught. But anyway, I'm on my way to go report, you know, to show up in court for the original charge. The whole reason why I went out there to do that, and it had already been dropped down to a misdemeanor. The cop was just trying to scare me into telling. So I did all that for nothing.

But on the way back up there to Wisconsin, I'm in downtown Chicago, and I see a sign that says psychic. And I tell my brother, I was like, bro, because I was sick with worry. Like, I was literally, like, I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, like I was messed up. And just, I thought they were going to smoke me, dude. I thought I was about to get 20, 30 years for that weed. And I walk in there, the lady says, what's this terrible thing that's happened to you? I said, I got caught with something on it.

interstate 94 I wasn't supposed to have and the police took my truck and she said they took everything from you and I said yeah pretty much and she said here shuffle these cards so I go to shuffle the cards and one card just flipped out and landed face down on the floor I was 27 at this time and I just reached down to pick it up you know I didn't think nothing of it and the lady the woman she like screamed at me and was like no don't touch it I jumped in my seat a little bit, you know, I'm like, damn, my bad. And I'm sorry. And she got up and walked around the table and squatted down and flipped that cart over. And as soon as she, as soon as she flipped the card over, like she gasped, like her jaw drops. And she looked at me with this crazy, crazy ass look.

And I said, why are you looking at me like that? And she said, I hate to be the one to have to tell you this. But this terrible thing that's happened to you, this reason, you know, this thing that you're so scared about, the reason why you came here to see me. She said, you might as well forget about it. It's the least of your problems. She said, in the middle of August, something's going to happen to you, and you cannot fathom the severity of it. Your whole world is about to be ripped apart,

and it's going to look really bad at first, and you're going to think about giving up, but you're not going to give up. You're going to come back from it, and you're going to live a happy life and have three children. And it's not going to be overnight, but you will come back from it eventually. So I left out of there, I told myself, no, that ain't, that wasn't real. You know, she, it was all theatrics, you know.

It was all put on. That's not going to happen to me. And I just, like, I didn't think about it. I put it out of my mind. And about that time, I, like, I had been trying to go back to work, you know, and I just wasn't hitting on no jobs, you know? Like, I wanted to be normal. I was tired of that life, you know?

Seriously, I was tired of looking over my shoulder and just the whole stress of it. Like, I just wanted to be normal. But anyway, I get a, my brother called me, said that he knew a guy that was looking for help on a pipeline job in Pine Island, New York. So I said, sign me up. I'm on the way.

And I had met this girl. at the deja vu in Lansing on MLK and Jolly Road, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. And we liked each other, I guess. And I said, look, it's been cool, you know, but I got to go. Like, I got a job. I'm going to New York. So I went, and about five days later, the girl called, and she was crying. And she was like, I miss you.

I want to come out there. I'll get a job out there in New York, and I'll help you. It's like she bought me a bus ticket to go out there. You know, I didn't, the police had taken my truck. And so I was getting rides to my boss to Walmart and just buying a bunch of peanut butter and jelly and milk and living on for five days, for the first five days I was there, I ate nothing but peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

And I didn't have a ride to go nowhere. And I'm not saying that I just told her to come out there because she had a car, but, you know, I was a lonely dude, you know? And so I said, yeah, come on out. And so I go to work and I tell a guy that I work with, like, man, I'm at this girl at the strip club and she's coming out here living me. Now, we, I was living, and the majority of the workers on this job were living at a place

called the Legends Hotel and Resort in Vernon, New Jersey. And it was built by Hugh Hefner in the 60s. It used to be the Playboy Club. And there's like tennis courts and skis. ski slopes and swimming pools. But the people like called it the shining because, you know, at one time it was a glamorous, you know, ritzie place, but now it was kind of run down.

But anyway, that place, I think there was like 700 of us, and it was filled with nothing but pipeline workers. And so she shows up out there. And by the time she gets there, man, like it was just like the talk of the town. Like everybody was like waiting on this girl to show up. And everybody had heard the doors of stripper coming and everybody wanted to see what she looked like. And it just the way everybody was acting, I just kind of like got a vibe. Like I was like, look, like I told her.

I said, look, it's not that I'm jealous or I don't want you talking to people or nothing like that. Like, but I just really don't think it's a good idea. that you are being down there, like the hotel had a bar, and that's where everybody hung out at. And I said, I don't think it's a good idea for you to be down at that bar while I'm gone. You know, because I was working like really crazy hours. I was working a lot of times I work 20, 21, 22 hours shifts and come home and sleep for an hour, two hours,

and not even take, just pass out covered in mud and run up, you know, wake up in an hour and run back out the door and go back to work. and do it all over. And it was raining a lot, and I was on the environmental crew, and, you know, everybody else, except for me when it rained, got rained out. And so everybody would be chilling at that bar drinking, except for me. I'd be out there putting in 20-hour days. So, you know, I knew the girl kind of had, like, what do you call it, like daddy issue?

You know, like she was adopted, and I could tell, like, she, like, She liked the fact that everybody was looking at her. You know what I mean? Like she kind of got off on the attention. But long story short, about a week later, I just got done working one of them crazy shifts. It's 3 o'clock in the morning. She's coming to pick me up from my job,

the yard, the warehouse, where we all met up every morning, you know, because everybody's working in a different place. You know, it's a line, a pipeline. but we would all meet at the same place every day and that was the place where we came back to at the end of the day when she was there to pick me up 3 o'clock 3.30 in the morning I jump in her car.

She's like, look, I don't want to have to tell you this but I feel like I have to tell you this. There's this guy, his name's Frog. He grabbed my ass and said a bunch of dirty stuff to her, asked me to do this and this and how much for this. And I said, I told you something like, that was going to happen, you know, if you didn't, you know, you didn't want to listen to me. And I said, well, all right, you know, I'll try to find out who the dude is.

I'll ask him to leave you alone, you know, and I didn't want to fight nobody, bro. Like, I'm scared to death. You know, I told my lawyer that I had a job offer in New York. He's like, well, as your attorney, I can't advise you to leave the state, but, you know, do what you got to do. Now, I'm out on bail in Wisconsin. I'm out on bill in Michigan. I'm living in New Jersey.

Jersey and I'm working in New York. And I was just scared to death that I was going to see a cop or I was going to get pulled over and they were going to run my ID and be like, wait a second, what are you doing? You know what I mean? And I was going to get arrested and extradited back to Michigan or Wisconsin or something. You know, like I just, I was just, I just wanted to lay low. And I wanted to get myself out of this situation I was in. But anyway, I go to work and I ask, you know, who is this guy?

and well it got back to him that I was asking about him and so a guy that worked around them heard them plotting, you know, talking and saying that they were going to beat me up when I got home from work. Well, that guy came to my room and knocked on the door, but so I had been having to like turn my phone off at work because the girl, Emily, and it was Emily, she would blow my phone up while I'm at work and we're supposed to be on the phone at work. You know, so I just, before it became my phone. a problem and cost me in my job or something.

I just would have to turn my phone off while I was at work. So I never got to call the warning. You know, she tried to call me and warn me that these dudes were waiting downstairs to beat me up when I come in. So I walked through the door. It was like, and it wasn't super late. It was pretty late. It was like 10 o'clock at night.

And I walk in the door and I could see, like, from a distance, I could see she was at the bar. And I'm just like, oh, hell no. Like, you mean, she didn't start at this. trauma because she'd come down here when I told her what was going to happen and now she's back here again like she's bugging like I was about to send her I'm about to tell her like you got to go and she sees me walk through the door and she gets up and starts running after me well I'm not even look I'm mad like I'm just I'm not even looking at her I'm just keep walking I'm looking straight ahead and I can hear like trying to talk to me I just keep moving all of a sudden I hear

somebody whistle and I turn around and look and here's this dude running up up swinging. He's like, yeah, I'm frog and swung at me. So, you know, I, I ain't never going to let somebody punch me in my face. Like, I don't even think the dude hit me. I don't remember if he did, he didn't hit me very hard because, you know, like, we, it wasn't much of a fight at all. But the, and the security guards came and, like, broke it up. But I kept it moving. Like, I wasn't trying to fight nobody. I just kept walking. So I go around the corner. get in the elevator. The next thing I know, these two big-ass dudes are, like, punching me in my face. And Emily's, like, behind me, and I, like, got my chin tucked down, and I'm, like,

firing back, like, trying to knock these dudes out of the elevator. Finally, I get them, like, pushed out of the elevator, the door's shut, and I go up to the room. I'm mad as hell by this time. I turn around and look, and I see Emily, it's like, she's got two black eyes, and her nose is, like, this fat, like, she had the shit beat out of her. And so she told me that the guy Paul had come to, his name was Paul too. But he had come to the room, knocked on the door, and told her that they were waiting to beat me up. And so she went down there to, like, confront him.

And I guess the dude Frog had said something she didn't, I don't know what it was, I wasn't there, but she ended up punching him in the mouth of her keys. And so this big-ass lady that was a truck driver on the job that hung out with him, dude, just beat the shit out of her. And, you know, I guess that, I don't know how long ago it was, but, you know, that happened before I walked through the door. And then, anyway, after that, I go to work the next day,

and these guys are, they had a safety meeting every Monday morning. There was a guy up on the stage with a microphone talking about, like, accidents at work and being safe and all that stuff. Well, he starts talking about people representing our company, even outside of work. And when we're at the hotel, we, we, we, we represent that company and to act according to like he was he was talking about us fighting at the hotel he didn't put it in the you know what i mean but i knew and everybody else knew what he was talking about he had heard about the whole fight at the hotel

and these guys the whole time are over there like pointing at me and grinning and like laughing and like heckling me you know and i'm i'm mad you know like i didn't want to fight them dudes and they like jumped me just for asking who this dude was So as safety meeting is over, I walk past him. I'm like, bro, I'll beat the brakes off you, and you know it. You know you can't see me. Like, y'all got to fight me three at a time. You're pussies.

And then the one guy, a matter of fact, I should probably back up. Like, the guy that ends up dying, he ain't even the dude that started all this stuff. But he's dead. I just found out, like, yesterday, this guy's dead too now. He died like two years ago. But the guy that started it is not the dude that died. The guy that, like, one of the two that was like, that jumped me in. the elevator, he's the guy that eventually dies.

But, so the other guy says, what time you get off? He said, we'll be waiting on you. I said, yeah, you guys going to jump me again? I said, you know, I work on the environmental crew, and I got a truck full of machetes in the back of my truck. I said, thanks for the heads up. I'm going to stick one of the machetes down the back of my pants. And the first one of y'all that lays a finger on me, I will sever your head from your

shoulders, find out, see if I want. Go ahead, jump me. And then the other guy, I don't even remember what he said anymore, but he said something. And I was like, I got something for you too, bro. Like, all they all can get it. I'm not scared of none of you. And then after the guy ends up dying, like, that was the first thing. Like, they run to the detectives.

Like, he said, he was going to cut our heads off. And this is, this. Like, I didn't want to cut nobody's head off, bro. Like, I just didn't want to get jumped. But I guess I'm jumping ahead. You can edit that part out if you want. I don't know. but um so anyway uh like the next week everything was like they said they were going to be waiting on me

but i worked till like three a you know the bar closed that like it was supposed to close that too by the time i'm getting home from work they were all everybody was gone from the bar and in bed and about a week later emily had gone back to lansing michigan because she was uh in college at michigan state university to become a teacher and she had like one final test to take to get her certificate or whatever she needed. And she took the test and was on her way back and she calls. And she's like, hey, I'm like five minutes away. Can you come outside and walk me in so nobody bothers me?

And I'm like, yeah, I can do that. And she's like, hey, stop at the bar and get us a drink. She said, get me a vodka and tonic and get you whatever you want. So I said, all right. So I throw some clothes on, run down to the stairs to the bar, and walk up there and I ordered her a vodka and tonic. and I ordered me a double shot of crown royal and cherry coat. And this dude walked up to me.

He said, hey, man, I know you don't know me. And I recognize this guy from work because he had like a really unusual name. And it was on his hard hat. And that was the only reason I knew who he was because I had seen his name on his hard hat and thought it was a strange name for a guy. But he said, I know you don't know me. But Frog and his boys are over there, man. And they're on some bullshit and they're about to jump you again.

he's like, y'all just go back up to your room. I said, man, I appreciate it. Thank you for the heads up, but I don't care who's down here. Like, I ain't running. I'm not running away from nobody. I got stuff going on. And so I pay for the drinks, and dude walks away, and I walk outside with a drink in each hand,

and I go out the door, and I hear, hey, the same whistle. He's whistling, hey, hey, hey. And I know who it was. I would have known who it was without that. That dude, you know, telling me they were about, you know, I knew. So I think to myself, I'm like, well, maybe if I just ignore him, you know, he'll just go away. And I just keep walking. I don't even turn around.

I just keep walking. And so he, I'm walking on the sidewalk, and he runs off the sidewalk out, around in the grass and puffs his chest out. Like, this dude is only, he was like five, six, you know. He probably weighed the same as me because I was like super. skinny back then and he was pretty stocky but he pokes his chest out and he's like you got my drinks and i was just like what you know like i was shocked i i didn't know what's just couldn't believe this too was saying this you know and i said man uh i don't think i do he said yeah i think you do i said all right you know i turn around and let's set the drinks on the sidewalk and

Before I could even turn back around, like as soon as I turned my back to him, he started hooking off, like punching me in the back. So I turned around, and I said in, like, my first interview with Joe Guerrero, I said I'm Mortal Kombated that dude. That's what it seemed like, you know, like the squatting uppercut. I'm like lifting this dude up off of his feet, and he's coming down and just landing flat down on his back.

I'm like, don't you get up, don't you get up, dude. And, you know, he's drunk. he gets back up still talking crap coming at me so i knocked his ass out again and after the second time i get punched in the back of the head and i turn around and there's all his buddies and i'm just like you know i knew i couldn't beat him all up so i said look i know y'all don't want to see your friend get beat up but i'm not y'all follow me out here i'm not trying to fight nobody you know if you don't want me to beat his ass get him and get the hell away from me just leave me a long please and I think I like struck a chord with one of them you know and I

I remember all this is like it was yesterday pretty much he said frog he's kind of got a point he said he is whooping your ass and so frog he like throws his arms out to the side he's like I don't care hit me hit me hit me I'm like I don't want to hit you bro just just leave me alone about that time here comes Emily walking up out of the parking lot like wondering where I've been been and she walks up and she sees like I think my shirt might have been ripped all I can't I think I was like shirtless and I'm like probably out of breath and she sees dude beat up and she's like oh god not not this again she's like just in this dude and uh when when she said that

frog said what'd you say bitch and he like he said I'll slap the shit out of you and he starts like charging towards her you know said he's going to slap her and I was like no bro Well, not today. So I started, you know, I started in on him again. And about that time, his little brother was there. He comes running like 30 miles an hour and just Goldberg spears me and just puts his shoulder right into my hit, like right into my side. And after this, for like the next three weeks, probably a month, you know, my whole side from my knee to my rib cage, like turned black. And, but yeah, his little brother knocked me off of him.

now I'm like next thing I know I'm stretched out on the ground I got one dude holding this arm one dude holding this arm one dude holding this leg one dude holding this leg and now frog's badass again he comes over he's trying to punch me in my face somehow I got my arm

I ripped my arms free and I grabbed him by the wrist so I'm not letting him punch you know he's trying to punch me and I'm holding his wrist he said I don't give a fuck I'll bite your nose off and he reaches he opens his mouth you know and reaches in

Like he's about to try to bite my nose. And about that time, Emily sprays the pepper spray right in his face. I didn't even know she had pepper spray at this time. But, you know, after the fact, she told me that her boss back at the deja vu had given it to her when she went to take that test and she'd just gotten it or whatever. Now, looking back, like I said, this on my own channel, you know, I kind of wonder now. Like, I feel like she was afraid of that Peggy lady, and I think she might just told me that and like went and bought that.

But I don't know that. That's just, that's just me guessing. But anyway, she had pepper spray and sprayed him. It got, his face was in my face, so it blinded me. And everybody, the people that were holding me down just scattered. And I couldn't see nothing, you know, I'm blinded. And the bartender comes out with like a glass of water, and I'm like pouring water in my eyes and stuff.

I still can't see, and I like feel the walls and get my, find my way back to the elevator. and get up to my room and it wasn't long just very shortly after that I said it on my own channel I might as well say on here I had a little bit of weed

and I was getting ready to light up the joint and as soon as I hear I'm like oh shit I hide the weed and I'm like I didn't know if it was the cops or if it was these dudes and I was like that sounded like the cops

and so anyway I cracked door and they said Jacob and I said yes sir they said we heard what happened to you we just need to make sure you're okay can we come in and I'm just like I got a quarter pound of weed in the drawer you know I'm like um actually I'd rather come outside I'd rather come out there if you don't mind they said yeah that's fine that's okay so I step out in the hallway and um anyway there they were like we heard what happened we need to make sure you're okay and I said well I wasn't going to call the cops now there's some people on the internet that's like called me a sniff and inch and a rat over what I'm about to tell you, but whatever, dude, this is what happened.

They said, uh, or I said, actually, I wouldn't go call the cops, but since y'all are here, hell no, I ain't okay. Like, I just, I had to fight three of these dudes the first time, and tonight there's five of them, what, I got to fight, 10 people next. I said, I ain't come out here to race hell and pick fights and being, I'm, I'm just trying to make money, you know, I'm trying to do my job and come back home and be left alone. And I don't know, you know what I mean? Like, I, you know, I wasn't going to call you, but since you're here, man, like, you know, what's up?

And they're like, well, unfortunately, unless they used a weapon on it, in the state of New Jersey, it's not even a crime to fight. It's just a disorderly person's charge. They said, unless they used a weapon on you or you were seriously injured or we personally witnessed the attack,

there's nothing we can do about it. So I said, all right, you know, whatever. You know, I went trying to, like, push the issue. But they left. And so I was like, well, you know, obviously the cops don't care. So I got to get out of here because I'm going to end up killing one of these dudes. You know, and I probably actually even said that, not having any idea that I actually was. You know what I mean?

That's exactly what was going to happen. But so I got the first newspaper. I rented a house in Port Jervis, New York. Everything was cool for about a month. I actually saw a frog at work and he wasn't laughing anymore. You know, he saw me and turned around and walked the other way. Now, long story short, about a month later, I was getting a promotion. There was a guy named Jose at my job.

He was always asking me to go out. And this particular night, like, my boss had come to me. It was like, look, I don't want to lose you. You know, I like you. I like you working for me. But Toby, like he wants you to be a straw boss. That's like labor foreman, you know, kind of like second in command. And I would have made more money, you know.

He said, I want you to do better for, you know, I want you to do as good for yourself as you can. And, you know, if you've got the opportunity, you can go straw for Toby. So I was like, man, I don't know, bro. Like, I like you too. Like, I like working for you. And, you know, I've always heard if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

You know, I might get over there and me and me and him don't like each other. He won't like me or, you know. So I was, I was going to take it reluctantly just because it was going to be more money. But anyway, I go out. Did I tell you before the, like, I'm sure I did, like the psychic said in the middle of August. So August has 31 days. This night is August of 16th. Dead ass the middle of August.

So, and I'm not even thinking about it. I go out that night. Jose, he left his truck at my house. We go to a bar in Greenwood, Lake, New York, and we stayed to the bar close. It's like 2 o'clock, and we're coming back home, and I go a different way than what we came, and it took us close to by where we work,

and he recognized this restaurant, and that he knew we were close to the hotel when he saw that restaurant. He's like, hey, bro, you think you could just drop me off the hotel, and I'll come get my truck tomorrow, And I'm like, yeah, bro. Actually, I was like, Emily's driving. As long as she don't care, I don't care. She's like, yeah, that's fine.

So we go to drop him off. He's like, the bar's still open, man. Come in, let me buy you one more drink. I get out. As soon as I get out of the car, I look up in the sky, and I see the full moon. This big-ass full moon. And I felt it. I was like, oh, shit.

Like, I had this feeling like, oh, shit. Like, something crazy is going to happen. I walked in there. Now, this dude, he, I didn't tell this before, but as we were leaving the hotel, the bartender chased us outside. I was like, where are you guys going? I said, I got to get out of here, man. Like, this is too crazy.

Like, you know, something's going to happen. Like, I've got to just, the cops don't care. I got to leave. She said, well, all the troublemakers got kicked out. And I'm like, well, that sucks because I've just paid $3,000 to rent this house. And it's like an hour away. But anyway, this guy had got kicked out of the boy. He told a bartender he would kill her because like she took some somebody was like,

oh yeah, you can have that chain, like a couple dollars on the bar. And I guess it was this dude's money. His name was David Hallmark. And anyway, he accused this bartender of stealing his three bucks off the bar or something. And he told her he would beat her to death and kill her kids and bury them in our job site in the pipeline ditch and nobody would ever find their bodies. And she reported that. You know, she made an incident report.

otherwise it never would have came out like they would have covered I would have never found out about this but there was a paper record and he had been kicked out of the bar for threatening to kill the bartender and her children but then they just allowed him to come back that night

and he was in there and he was smacking his dude in the head and this is all on camera I wouldn't have known that unless I watched the bar footage for that night but then I show up he was trying to get somebody to go outside and fight him and then I showed up and he wanted to fight and I'm thinking in my mind

Like, the police told me it's not even a crime to fight. You know, as long as I don't use any weapons on him, I won't get in no trouble. And, you know, I had to beat the shit out of frog. And now, you know, he saw me and he walked away. Like, it's over with now. So I'm like, well, maybe if I beat this dude's ass extra good, you know, he'll leave me alone too. So I walked out the bar. We fought.

He got knocked out. I went home, threw my clothes off. And the next thing I know, I'll go to sleep. I just throw my clothes on the floor and fall asleep and a couple hours later beating all over the doors gold badges all in the windows they're like come with us

he said this guy Dave says yeah I fight with you could that be true? And I said well yeah it's true but I said I guarantee you he ain't telling you the whole story and I said that dude last night he asked for that you know and he got what he asked for

I gave him what he asked for now I'm just thinking and I'm like why are you even talking to me. You know, you told me it's not a crime to fight in New Jersey. So you didn't care when I was getting beat up. Why you care he got beat up? And so he's, he's hurt a little worse than you think he is. And I said, well, what happened to him? You know, what's wrong? And they said, we'll tell you in a minute. So I sat there and give a 176-page statement and tell, you know, what I just told you from the time I got there, how it all happened and what, you know. And they still didn't

tell me what was going on and I was just like am I going to have a bail because like I'm getting a promotion like I got to I got to be back at work and they're like yeah you'll have a bail so they push me in a courtroom standing for and it's a Sunday and there's a judge in a robe and as a court reporter and like people all in the courtroom and I'm just like it's Sunday like where do they have court on Sundays like it just seemed like a dream you know I stand in front of the judge and he's like you're charged with purposefully, willfully, recklessly, or knowingly purposefully, willfully inflicting serious bodily injury on David Earl Hallmark that resulted in his death, first-degree murder.

And I'm just like, I look behind me, like, who is? Like, not me. Like, I'm just here for fighting, but I don't know what you're talking about. And that's really, like, how it was. They say, like, the first stage of grief is denial. Like, I heard very well what that dude said to me. But I was just like, my brain just wouldn't process it. I'm like looking for somebody else.

Like, who is not me? And they pushed me out of the courtroom. And I tell the detectives, I'm like, hey, that dude, that guy didn't die. And he just looked at me and nodded his head. And I'm just like, oh, shit. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile, the message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. Please for the love of everything good in this world, stop. With Mint, you can get premium wireless for just $15 a month.

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Yeah, that's how it happened. So they never arrested you at your house? You just voluntarily went with them the courtroom. Well, they, of course, they're going to say I wasn't under arrest that I voluntarily, but they showed a show of force. They- But do they handcuff you and say You're under the arrest for the murder

They didn't handcuff me They just said put your clothes on and come with us That seems a little strange That you're automatically brought to this courtroom on a Sunday And then just arraigned on murder Without even being arrested or read your rights or anything Um No lawyer, nothing

You know I No That's crazy I'm sure they did You know probably read me and say You know Before I started given the 176 page statement.

I'm sure they probably said, you know, you have a right to attorney. I'm sure they did read me my rights at some point. Holy cow. But I'm just thinking I'm here for fighting. You know what I mean? Like, I'm just like, whatever, dude. Just give me my assault charge and let me go back to work.

Like, never in a million years that I think I'm being questioned for a homicide. Do you find out how he dies, like what the actual cause of that was? Yeah. Yeah, the, they had asked me, they're like, how many times did you hit him, like 50? And I was like, no, hell no. I was like, maybe 10. Well, the autopsy, the medical examiner's name was Dr. Junade Shake. And he ruled that he was hit with approximately 11 blows.

And blood force trauma to the head, neck, and face was the cause of death with a subarachnoid hematoma. So I guess his brain shook in his skull and it swelled up. Was it because he was drunk that caused the death? Well, he was drunk and he was. was on cocaine. He had what's called cocaethylene in his system. That's when you drink and do cocaine at the same time, it bonds together and forms a new drug called cocaethylene. And so yeah, he was under the influence of alcohol and cocaine. But I mean, my lawyer did argue that that played a part in his death. But like I kicked the dude in his head, you know. The dude,

he was choking me. He bit my nipple. Like my nipple was like hanging off. And I just, When he started biting my nipple, dude, I just went into like a frenzy and just lost it. I kicked him in his head. Like I elbowed him in the face, knead him in the face. And the last thing, I kicked him in his head, like, pretty hard. Did you get bail? My bail was three-quarters of a million dollars. So do you bail yourself out?

Not at first, you know. I, well, I was in the county jail for three and a half years. Three and a half years? Yeah. Did they offer you any plea deals? anything? So at one time they said so

you know my girlfriend was also charged when we my brother was there my little brother was there I purposely like left him out of this because my parents they don't really want me talking about him at all on the internet and I don't I understand that but if you if anybody wants they can Google Google the case

but I personally don't want to say nothing about my brother but all three of us were charged with first degree murder and And actually Emily wasn't at first, but then when the indictment came back, we were all three indicted for first-degree murder. And I said, my lawyer said, look, they're offering you seven years, man, you've got to take it. And I was just like, I had promised my grandmother. I didn't know at this time that she had ovarian cancer, and she might not even had it at this point,

but she ended up dying of ovarian cancer. But before she died, she begged me don't take any deals. My family knew. They knew the whole, my mom, like, I was telling her how the dudes had jumped me. Like, she knew everything that was going on. And so they knew the whole story. And my grandma was just like, don't take any deals. But my lawyer was like, you've got to take the seven, bro.

You can't risk your life. Like, it's not worth it. Like, you've already got three years in. You'd be at a halfway house in two years. And I said, look, I'll take the seven if they let them go. You know what I mean? So the prosecutors came out. and said, well, we're letting them go anyway.

So I was just like, well, run it then. Let's go. Let's go to trial. If they were offering seven years for a murder, from an outside perspective, they got a weak case. So, yeah, like, there was a couple times, like they would act like they were offering me something, and then they would take it back.

And then they, you know what I mean? It was like cat and mouse. But, yeah, I didn't. ultimately I didn't take any deals. They said that they, and they did, they let my co-defendants go, just like they said they would, which I was surprised because they're dirty. Like, we could do a whole episode of like the, the underhandedness and the prosecutorial misconduct from my trial,

you know, in both of them, actually. But, yeah, I, there was a time when my lawyer went to him and said, okay, yeah, he's going to sign it. And then they're like, yeah, just kidding. Yeah. should have charged you with manslaughter. Well, that's what I'm saying. I'm like, look, if I'm guilty of anything, it's like reckless manslaughter.

And now, I did go to trial on the murder case. They had indicted me on possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. And the weapon was a polo sports shoe. And which was ludicrous, you know. And then the day I started picking a jury, they dropped, you know, they dropped those two counts. Because they knew it was bogus. And it probably would just would have inflamed the jury, and it would have worked on my part if the jury knew.

They had charged me with that. But there was a bunch of stuff they did. Like, they destroyed evidence. Like, when it first happened, I was like, look, them just jumped me twice. Like, get the, you know, and I was telling, like, nobody cared. Nobody cared. I was getting beat up. And I was like, get the hotel footage.

The surveillance cameras from the hotel. So my very first court date when it first happened, I made a moose. to preserve evidence and that was the security cameras from the hotel and it was granted by the judge he granted that so six months later when it's time for discovery my lawyers like we got the tapes we got the tapes and I'm like hell yeah like now you know because they're like accusing me a lying about it like they're trying to say that I never had any contact with this dude and this is something crazy too like my lawyer didn't even figure this out I'm the one that

figured this out his wife got up on the stand at my trial and said As soon as she found out he was dead, she knew it was me. I'm like, oh, really? Well, how did you know it was me if he never did nothing to me? Like, you're sitting here saying that he didn't even know me, he never touched me and all this, but yet you knew that I killed him. You know what I mean? So obviously you're lying.

But anyway, so we get to tapes back. And I don't think you can say this on YouTube, but it was the hard drives. had been taken from Sussex County, New Jersey to Bergen County, New Jersey, because Sussex County didn't have the technology for it or whatever. So he comes back from Bergen County. They open it up. I think I'm about to see, like, these dudes gang it up on me and all this, and I'm about to be able to prove that I ain't lying.

It's full of CP from Bergen County Sheriff's Office. They mixed up the tape. Because they were trying to smoke my ass, and they knew that that would free me. So are you out on bond? now on bail by the time? I'm in Sussex County jail. So you're still fighting the case so this happens then what happens? So my parents

dude came all the way up to New Jersey from Tennessee because they're expecting it. Well they got to let him go. He had a court order to preserve that. Well the way the law is written you have to prove bad faith on the part of the police. You have to prove that they did it in bad

faith. And how am I going to do that? It's my word against the cops. All they got to say is are bad it was a mistake and that's what they did but no one was accusing you that it was your CP right no it was the hard drive

from the hotel surveillance cameras okay that got overwritten by the police with some other case yes they overwrote the hard drive with wow the Bergen County it was evidence from Bergen County Sheriff's Office but it was taped over on the hard drive of the hotel surveillance cameras

yeah so my parents the prosecutor goes in the room they've got like this tech guy you know and my mom and dad go on and put their ear to the door and they hear the prosecutor in there laughing and giggling and they're like in there laughing and saying well it could be brought back you know if it was like a matter of national security but it's not it's just a little old me you know it ain't worth

it's not worth it uh which is crazy could have could have been brought back they could have they could have recovered it but they chose not to and because of that you got forced go to trial? Well, there was a bunch of stuff they did, man. In the original statement that I gave, it was transcribed by an independent, what's it I call it, a stenographer? I think so, yeah. And it said, basically, I was assaulted. Me, you know, my words, basically I was assaulted. So two weeks before we start trial, the Sussex County Sheriff's Office comes out with their own version of the transcript, and it says, basically I assaulted him. You know, just little things like that, you know.

And we had a whole hearing over that and just all kinds of stuff, man. Like the guy that the dude was smacking in the head that night, they acted, the prosecution acted like they couldn't find him like they didn't know where he was at because, you know, we wanted to put him on the stand. Well, during the second trial, I was out on bail. So, wait, was the first trial a mistrial? No, I got found guilty. I was acquitted a first-degree murder, but they found me guilty of aggravated manslaughter and gave me

the maximum. Which was what? 30 with 85%. 30% and a 5 flat running consecutively. So yeah, I think with murder charges, they're able to find you guilty of like either murder or a lesser charge like in their orders or whatever. Yeah, yeah. They had the whole, they had first degree murder, first degree aggravated manslaughter,

second degree manslaughter. And I think that was it. All right. So you got found guilty of that. And then do you win an appeal to win a second trial? Yes, sir. How far into that was that? So now three years goes by.

You're guilty. You go to prison. Another three and a half years goes by. So now you're six and a half years into prison. You win the appeal. Yeah. Based on what? Prosecutorial misconduct.

So you won that. You were able to prove that. Well, my appellate attorney was. Wow. Yeah. You get ordered a new trial. Yeah. Yep.

Holy cow. But you get bail when they... So, yeah, they couldn't hold me on a murder bail anymore. You know, the... $750,000 now because I was acquitted to that. So the maximum bail for like aggravated manslaughter was like 350 or 300 or 350. And a couple weeks goes by. I'll come back to the county, you know, a couple weeks goes by.

And I go in for a bail reduction. And the judge is just like rolling his eyes, like, 275. Like, you know, I could just look at him and tell he's thinking like, oh, he ain't going to make it. You're not going to make it anyway. So why are you wasting my time? That's exactly the attitude he was given, you know. And my parents didn't have 275,000 cash just laying around. But somehow, it took him about six months.

And my mom shows up to the jail with the bag. And said, give us our son. And I guess the prosecutor said, over my dead body, he's getting out. but they had to let me out anyway and then my appellate attorney he told my mom he said I mean

I don't know if you would want me saying this on the internet but it's the truth man he said he said get him and get out of New Jersey as fast as you can because they don't want him out and they're pissed and he said they'll

they'll plant something on you guys and get both y'all locked up so just run as fast as you can so we did I jumped in the car with my mom mom and we took off. And then you came back for trial. I was out on bail for six months and yeah, I started picking a jury on my birthday. And how old are you by this point? Um, so I was 27 when it happened. You were probably about 35-ish. It was my 35th birthday. Holy cow. How long is this second trial last?

From December 8th of 2015 to I was exonerated on February 16th, 2016. So it was a pretty long trial. Almost three months. Holy cow. So your lawyer was able to successfully prove that it was self-defense, prosecutor, misconduct, everything. So my appeal actually changed the law. It was like, I don't know if it still is, but it became the presiding case on mutual combat self-defense. And the jury was given a jury instruction by the appellate court, and it had to be read to them. They didn't know that it was because of my own case. And they were not even supposed to know that I'd already been to trial. They kept, but it was obvious because they kept the witnesses. They said, they would say, but isn't it true in a prior proceeding, you said this?

And, you know, I mean, it was, and, you know, the dates, it was seven years ago. So obviously, they figured out that I had been locked up. When you got that first 30-year sentence after the first trial, do you wish you took that plea deal? Oh, yeah. Even though you knew you didn't do it. Very much so, yeah. I wish that I would take it. But then looking back on it now...

I'm glad I didn't. Yeah. But the six years I passed by would have evened out, but then you would have a record for murder on your... And I wouldn't have got paid. Oh, you ended up suing. I got paid. So after you got found not guilty,

you were able to sue for a wrongful conviction? Yep. Wow. Dude, prosecutor misconduct is so real. And like it could change your whole life. It does something to you mentally when they want you to follow all these rules and you're supposed to obey all these laws. And you're sitting here watching this prosecutor knowing damn well she's lying.

She knows that the thing she's saying ain't true. I had two prosecutors. I had a man and a woman. Here's just an example. They started off. Their opening statement was, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, this man right here, Jacob Gentry, he beat David Hallmark to death

and then he said that he deserved what he got he asked for that he deserved it yeah that's true but then once the jury heard my 176 page statement and they can hear me saying like I don't even know why I'm here like you know it was obvious I had no clue that the guy was dead

you know what I'm saying so they they're twisting the fact like yeah it was true that I said that but had I known that this guy was dead I never would have said that so just and that's something even that, but I didn't even finish telling you about the Brandon Lewis thing. They said they didn't know where, the guy that was getting slapped in the bar,

they said they didn't know where he was at. Well, my mom, while we're out on belt, while I'm out on belt, she became good friends with, like, the manager at the Holiday Inn. And I have no idea how it even came up. But somehow, this lady goes and goes through the hotel records and finds where the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office had a room rented with Brandon Lewis in that room the whole time during. in my trial. And they're lying to us saying

they don't know where he's at. That's got to be illegal. I think that the biggest thing with like prosecutors, and it's not all of them, but it is a good amount, is that they get tainted and they fixate on one person. And they focus on that.

And detectives, especially in these small towns, you know, they fixate on that person that they think did it and they can't put it aside. And they do whatever it takes to get to that. Because no one wants to be that loser, that loses and, you know, and in this case, there really wasn't another suspect, because the only suspect was dead. So there's no way to point Blaine on anyone. So this lady, dude, her insanity,

her craziness, it did her in. There was one day, well, I was like, it was before court started. And I'm just saying, you know, they got like the little church pews out there. I'm just sitting there by myself. I'm not bothering nobody. Just sitting all along, just stressing, you know, going through murder trial all in my head. And all of a sudden I hear, get him away from me, screaming, screeching. This lady is screeching. Like she comes walking up on me with like five detectives looking like Tom Selleck all around her and starts screaming, like talking about get me away from her.

And I'm just looking at her like, really? Like you, I've been sitting here for 30 minutes and you walked up on me and wanted to start screaming, get me away from me. like you're crazy lady and then when I first took the stand I testified for two days straight you know

and as soon as I got on the stand dude I turned my chair like 45 degree angle like straight at the jury and I looked each every single one of them right in the face and talked to them and she's over here like I'm over here

Mr. Chetray like screaming look at me look at me I swear I thought she was going to rip her own hair out like she's jumping up and down She's going off, dude. And I just, like, killed her with kindness. I was like, man, I would prefer to address the jury. Like, my life is in their hands, and they hold my life in their hands,

and you're the one trying to take it away, and I would rather not look at you. And, you know, she's raising hell, and my lawyer is like, Your Honor, there's nothing that says that he has to look at her. And so I never did. I wouldn't look at her. And just the way she acted, you know, Like there were several times when the jury laughed, like all, like erupted in laughter because she just looks stupid.

You know, all that weird hatred, you know, vile venom she's trying to spit. And like my, I guess it was, it wasn't, they weren't really laughing at her, but they were laughing at my responses to her because I was just like tripped out. Like, are you for real lady? Like, and that worked in my favor. And then like once once it was over. the second trial anyway, one of the jurors ran up to me with an envelope and handed it to me. Now, I, during that trial, I kept telling my mom, I was like, Mom, I can tell, like, by the way, they're looking at me, like, they're on my side.

And a couple of, like, I'm friends with a few of them to this day. That's so cool. And I still talk to them. See if one of them wants to come on the show. They already told me they would. Okay. Yep. She lives up by you.

I remember. Well, she was in Delaware. One of them lives in Delaware, another one lives in New Jersey. I'd love to hear the perspective of a jury. It would make an awesome interview. Yeah. But yeah, I would love to do that. So what was in that letter? So basically it said, it's in the middle of the night right now. I can't sleep. I'm stressing out. And I can only imagine what you're going through. And I just want you to know that we all make mistakes. And, you know, nobody's perfect. But we can all see. that you're a good person.

And if I have it, if it goes my way, you're going to be walking out of there a free man tomorrow. And she's like, basically that was it. And I kept that letter for a long time. And I don't, I hate that I lost it.

I don't know what happened to it. I probably, I was, you know, my house is, I bought a house and somebody stole everything in my house. And that's a long story, but that's probably what happened.

to it. But yeah, that was like my prize possession, man. And I love that lady. So her name's Lisa. I'm going to say her whole name. Her name is Lisa Frisha. And I'll never forget. This was, she was the very last person in my jury pool. Like if I would have not picked her, they would have had to get 50 more people in there. And it would, you know, the prosecution had used up their strikes several times over. And they kept cheating and get, the judge to give them another, you know, they, they're, we, I think we each got 20, or no, they got 10 and I got 20, I believe that's what it was. And they used up all their strikes, but then they would still, they would get the judge

to excuse jurors for cause when they would, one would come up that they didn't like. You know, somebody would fill out the questionnaire and be like, yeah, well, the cops beat up my brother. And because one of the questions is, do you have any ill feelings towards law enforcement? And, you know, this one girl was like, yeah, well, my brother was beating up by cops and this and that. And so they were tripping out. They didn't want her on there at all. And that's a whole other side story. They, like, threatened her to remove herself from the jury. Wow. Her name was Nicole. I still remember that. But anyway, so the very last juror, I turned around

and I look, and it was Lisa. And she smiled at me. And I was just like, my mom sitting next to me. You know, I had an elbow on my mom. Like, mom, mom, mom. That lady just smiled at me. Like, I'm picking her. Like and you know she was just being polite, I guess, but I just when she smiled at me, I was just like, well, she don't hate me. You know, she ain't, she ain't me mugging me. Like it's a sign. So I said, I'm picking her. And I did. I picked her.

And she ended up. I found this out from another one of the jurors named Stacy. And I guess Lisa got up like, so all of them pretty much agreed that they were going to acquit me on the homicide and everything. But there was a couple of them that said, well, you know, I was also convicted of failure to render aid to an injured victim, which means I'm supposed to call the cops, and I didn't. So a couple of them were like, well, he didn't call the cops. You know, he's technically guilty of the second one. And Lisa stood up and, like, threw her chair and was like, he ain't going back. Like, you know, they weren't supposed to know that I'd even been in there, but they all knew.

And she was like, he's done enough time. He ain't going back. So it's like, all right, well, not guilty on everything. Wow. What an incredible story, man. So what's your life like now? What do you do now? Dude, my life is still like a fairy tale. I see so many people just not happy. And I think that's the main reason why I'll tell my life story to the just strangers that I meet. I just met a girl at a birthday party like a week ago and like we're telling each other our life stories within like two minutes. and I want people to like understand I guess like live vicariously through me and just people don't appreciate life

and I want them to understand like it can all be taken away from you in an instant and you should be happy be grateful be thankful that you breathe in fresh air that you're able to go to a restaurant, eat a steak anytime you want to. So I'm a super happy guy, man. Like, if I even start to feel sorry for myself, which I really don't, you know, I had a breakup about a year ago, and I got a little down over it for maybe a month, but I bounce back real quick from it. And, but yeah, like, all I got to do is just think back to the people, like the guys that

I got cool with that ain't never coming home. They ain't never going to, you know, be able to do what I can do any day. This is something else crazy. Like I have U.S. government credentials. Like I'm fingerprinted by the FBI and I work for, I work at a power plant about 30, 30, 40 miles away from here. And I love it. I just, I'm happy to have a job.

I'm not struggling. I don't have to sell drugs. to get by like I my life is normal I'm a normal guy I'm kind of a hermit like I don't really socialize much you know we got you out socializing today right yeah this has been awesome yeah man well thank you so much Jake for sharing your incredible story and everyone's been asking for a wrongful conviction story so hopefully this fulfills it for them and you know keep in touch we'll have all your channels plugged in I know you got your own YouTube thing going and best a look with everything, man.

Man, I appreciate it so much, bro. It's been a privilege and an honor, sir.