Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast - Nintendo Employee Embezzles Thousands & Almost Got Away With It

Episode Date: September 5, 2024

Nintendo Employee Embezzles Thousands & Almost Got Away With It ...

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Starting point is 00:00:00 In advance, I would make an advertisement, whatever I was going to steal the next day, and sell the items. I was doing it every day. If you ever steal from a company and you go to work every day, you are so paranoid. There's a prosecutor, and she wants me to accept 20 years. They were like, you have to accept this deal. And I never knew how I got caught. Right. But my head actually turned me in.
Starting point is 00:00:26 It took me a while to understand it. And then my next job was Nintendo, and I was 18 years old. At 18, and you worked at Nintendo? Yes. Doing what? So on the back of any Nintendo you buy or any video game that's made by them, there's a phone number. It's never changed, and thanks to their customer service line.
Starting point is 00:00:47 And back in the day, in the 90s, even the early 2000s, you could call that number, and if you're stuck in a game, they'd help you through it. if the Nintendo was broken or you have questions, you call them. What do you mean stuck in a game? So, like, I know, look, the last game I played, I was on the run, and I was playing Halo 2 had come out. I think we had Xbox, you know, see, this smirky kind of, that's the last time I played a game. So when you say they'd get stuck in the game, what does that mean?
Starting point is 00:01:22 So let's say you're playing like Zelda or any, any game, basically, that's made by Nintendo, even the ones that weren't, people would still call and ask. And they'd be like, hey, I'm at this part of the game. I'm on level four. And I'm trying to get a link to get through this castle. And they'll ask to, you know, for help. And you'll give them. That seems like cheating.
Starting point is 00:01:45 What do you mean? You're supposed to figure it out. It is. And they even had a hotline that you could call and get this any time. for free, they eventually changed it where it was a 1,900 number, so you had to pay for help by the minute. Then they changed it to like credit card, but they would ask us, and we weren't supposed to necessarily help them, but we're supposed to give them references and like links of places that they could go and get the help. But if they were really insistent or just annoying and kept calling,
Starting point is 00:02:16 we'd just look it up and give them the answer. But the most common thing you did was you set up magazine subscription or helped them with a broken Nintendo and you'd try to get them a new one or bring it to get repaired. That was, Nintendo has like a one-year warranty. I don't know what it is today, but I believe it's the same. And that was a common thing we did. So you worked like the customer help line. I did at first. And then companies like Nintendo have these things called projects. And a project is where you're going to do a job like what I ended up getting hired for was through Corp.com, which is corporate communications and advertising where you'll go and travel the country. And I got to promote the Nintendo DS had a game called Nintendo Dogs. And so I got to
Starting point is 00:03:05 go to North Carolina and show off this new game in the mall. And I got to go down to California and do it locally in Seattle. I could have gone everywhere in the country, but I was too young to rental car so i could only go to specific places where they're close enough where i could at the time there's no uber so i had to take a taxi to the to the hotel and then to the mall but the project is where i do this job but i'm still employed through customer service so i don't get paid their wage i might get a little overtime which you rarely got and that's their favorite thing to do a lot of businesses do that, where they have you do a project that normally you'd get paid triple or even more than that, but you just do it because you want the experience. It's a lot of fun,
Starting point is 00:03:57 and you don't want to answer phones all day. No one does. Drives you crazy. So I did this project, and then I went back where the project ended, and they were coming out with a Wii. I got promoted to consumer service admin. And when the Wii came out, the biggest problem at the beginning was people were throwing their controllers into the TV. I'm sure everyone remembered when that happened. Tell how Wii works. So the Wii was a handheld system where you held the controller, and it was sort of the first time where you were playing a game virtually.
Starting point is 00:04:36 Like if you've seen Wii tennis, people are actually swinging it like a tennis racket. And they had a wrist strap that came with a controller, and you're supposed to put around your hand. And initially when we came out, the wrist straps were not very strong. And it wasn't super important to wear them, but people were letting them go and throwing them into their flat screen TVs. And this happened a lot. And there's a lot of people that have them on video.
Starting point is 00:05:03 And there's times where they were the wrist strap. There was times where they did not. But they like had like one little snippet about please wear your wrist strap. And that's all they really said. But anyway, our job in administration was like problems like this, where someone said, oh, I have this really unique problem with my Wii. I think it might be a glitch. We found like one glitch the entire time I worked there.
Starting point is 00:05:29 I don't even know if it was real. But people said that all the time. They just didn't know how to use the system. They'd send it in and we'd check it. Put it away. And at this time, I got promoted again. I was older to back to Corp.com where I could give interviews and I got to travel again and went around the country and promoted the Wii. I went to, you know, same kind of states, California,
Starting point is 00:05:55 this time went to Texas, Minnesota, and could give interviews. And they only had a hand-select people at that company that could give interviews. So it was a really great job for a kid. You know, I was the time probably 23 years old. Right. And eventually I got the same old story everyone else has, just to give the fast version, got hurt, got the pain meds, got addicted to painkillers. And then you start to... How'd you get hurt? I was just jumping a fence one day with a girl going into this pool. And I had kind of my leg through one of those black metal bars.
Starting point is 00:06:36 I was drunk at the time and it was raining and I slid down. And it was probably like a nice quarter-sized hole, like a couple inches deep in my leg. And I was so annihilated, I didn't even realize it. Right. The next day I woke up and there was blood everywhere. Like, it was really bad. And then, like, an infection came on. And I got, it was like some of the worst pain I've ever had.
Starting point is 00:07:01 And I went to the ER. They cleaned it up. And then they just sent me on my way with nothing. And I never took painkillers before that. they ended up giving me some. I called my real doctor. He gave me some. And I was like, wow, this is great.
Starting point is 00:07:17 So it's worth getting in the leg for. Oh, yeah. I mean, let me get a couple more times. But so I kind of found this, you know, everyone says their little piece on your channel of what they think that it's like. My example would be when you have that beer after work and. you get that buzz, I would say it's at least 10 times as good as that, where you feel great. You have these endorphins that are coming out of nowhere, and who doesn't want that feeling to continue? So I continued it and did kind of try to manipulate the situation, get more painkillers
Starting point is 00:07:59 until I couldn't get any, and went back to, you know, kind of being normal, but you get desperate because they, you know, cost money. And I was buying them from someone. And at the time, I was buying Roxies from this person and also the patches. And no one knew what those were at the time. And they were 100 micrograms. You could cut them into, you know, quarters or eighths. And we were selling them at the time for like 20 bucks apiece.
Starting point is 00:08:35 And which is stupid. like they were so much more valuable back then but we didn't know but anyway to give a comparison like i eventually started finding oxy 80s just like everyone else did and they're really expensive and to compare to oxies i was smoking two or three oxies and i ran out of the batches and i still felt dope sick, like at that time with the, you know, still doing it, didn't matter, didn't make me better. And you're still working at Nintendo. I'm still at Nintendo, but the problem was I couldn't sustain this habit.
Starting point is 00:09:17 I didn't make very much money. They didn't pay that great. So my, it all started when the we came out and. Sorry. I was thinking, did you think about going to your boss and saying, listen, I'm having a hard time supporting my drug habits? You know, I really kind of wish I did, and we'll actually get there. Okay.
Starting point is 00:09:35 But when the Wii came out, the controller issue happened, and they had just boxes of these controllers. And these controllers were $40 each, and they were not even inventory. So it all started where I, like, took home a couple, and you could take him to a local game store, and they would give you cash for them, like $12 each. but if I took them 12 and, you know, maybe a game that I had, then I get, I don't know, $100, $150 and they had these cabinets where people would send in their Wii or their Nintendo DS or their game and think that something was wrong with it. It would get tested, confirmed there's nothing wrong with it.
Starting point is 00:10:21 And I would just pull out one of these systems, look up the file, and if it was closed, it would get returned to stock. So maybe they would just recycle it or maybe they would throw it away. But regardless, those were valuable and I would take what I needed and then I would go to the game store or even in advance I would go to, you know, Craigslist and make an advertisement, whatever I was going to steal the next day and sell the items. And I was doing it every day or very often where I was getting my habits. supported $300 a day. But the worst part was that I got a girlfriend who had always been
Starting point is 00:11:05 that girl that I wanted when I was younger. She was our neighbor growing up. And I mean, she's probably the second most beautiful woman I've ever been with. And many would say that. My wife's the top of this one was very beautiful. And she was, she sort of looked like a young Catherine Zita Jones, like to give comparison. Her name was Raquel. and Raquel was an addict as well. And when I got in contact with her, I had just stopped using, and I was on Suboxin. I was doing well. And she just got a jail.
Starting point is 00:11:40 So great. You know, I connected with her. She was clean for the time she was in jail and she got out. She had the same problem as me. And we hadn't talked since we were back when like 16 or 17 years old. and we ended up to start a dating, which was the worst thing that could have ever happened to me. Because supporting yourself is one thing, but it got to the point where I was supporting both of us. Supporting what?
Starting point is 00:12:07 Supporting your whole lifestyle or just or your job or your drug habit? I mean, she had a job, but our drug habit 100% was supported by me. I mean, she might buy the drugs once a month, but it just was spiraling pretty fast. and did you live with her uh yeah we eventually moved in together and my addiction got so rampant where i did something sort of what you did where i created these fictitious people in the computer and they didn't exist and i'd say so-and-so called today and they have a we with this really unique problem and these games and these controllers and they're really mad and i'm going to send them a new one. So I'd create a material move and I'd go over, they have a game store there
Starting point is 00:12:56 and I'd get these games and whatever I put on the computer and I'd pretend like I was going to ship it to them. I'd print up a UPS label and then I'd take it right on down to the pawn shop or I'd sell it on Craigslist and I was doing it every day and no one was a wiser. But I'll tell you, if you ever steal from a company and you go to work every day, You were so paranoid. You're just waiting for him to call you in the office, right? You are. I mean, there is, the paranoia eats you alive.
Starting point is 00:13:29 And every time you see him going in the office, like three or four guys, you're like, oh, no, they must be talking about me. Oh, they must know. Oh, they must know. They're going to call me any minute now. And they never did. And they did find that the controllers were missing at one point because the boxes eventually got emptied in the number of claims versus.
Starting point is 00:13:50 as the controllers was like 10 to 1. Right. They were like, where did they all go? Well, I think maybe you should look at Colby. He's been acting. I think he has a drug problem. Yeah. And as a matter of fact, I think there's some patches in his drawer right now.
Starting point is 00:14:08 That would have been a great idea. I mean, I never even liked Colby. That would be honest. Colby, somebody's got to take the rap. Sorry. It's not a bad idea, but... Next time. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:14:23 So I was doing this habit, and there were times where my girlfriend and I would get in a fight, and there's a number that you call into. It's directly to the managers when you're sick or something. Is it really important? And it was saved on my phone. And we got in a couple of fights where I was like, we're done. You know, like, it could have been the best thing that ever happened to me, but probably not. We'll get to that later.
Starting point is 00:14:48 but she threatened to call him and turn me in for stealing and I'm like if I didn't stay with her and I'm not exaggerating this happened multiple times and it was like just like a gun was being held to my head and that all angles I mean I'm not saying that I didn't love her at the time too but that's insane and there's there was like one time where she actually called and like I had to rip the phone out of her hand and they didn't call back or anything but I'm sure they see who was calling on the call ID. But so this continues and one day I go in and yeah. The worst thing, like I would say next to being arrested, like most scared I've ever
Starting point is 00:15:37 been next to that day, or I guess maybe going to prison, but was when I walked in and I saw my manager and HR standing by your desk. And that's when you know it's over. I was going to say, you're going to work. You're terrified the whole time. You're going home. Your girls. I mean, this is just a bad.
Starting point is 00:15:59 There's no safe space for you in your car on the way to work, maybe. Yeah. It was a super unhealthy situation. But I saw them there and I was just like, oh, my God, I panicked so badly. I didn't know what to do. I just ran into the bathroom. I couldn't I could not face it like I had been there at the time for six years started 18 they hadn't hired an actual employee for like five plus before they hired me and one guy out of a group of like 120 people all of them were gone except for two of us and I like I blew it and I had the walls were caving in but anyway I ran to the bathroom and I just go I go clock out and I drove home to my dad's and I got to my dad's house and I don't know why I went there, but maybe just to think, I was just panicking, and then Nintendo's calling.
Starting point is 00:16:54 And I'm like, oh, my God, I answer it. It's HR. And the woman's like, hey, Brandon, what happened? It said you clocked in and now you're not here. And I was like, oh, I wasn't feeling good. I had to go on. Well, we need to come in because we know something's wrong. Is this about the promotion?
Starting point is 00:17:14 That's the worst part, Matt, is that. I actually was excelling at my job. They had manager positions opened, and I found out later that they had accepted me for the manager position. And I was so sick about it. I didn't find out until I was in prison, but that was pretty crushing. Is that the letter they said you taught you? No. By the way, this is worse than you thought.
Starting point is 00:17:38 No, they didn't do that. You guys are dicks. So the HR person was like asking me about. all of these systems and so if I back up a little bit I came in one weekend day I didn't work and I was going to grab some whatever they had there just to go trade in for some money and all of the boxes that I've you know been making up to send to people I kind of stored away and parts of my desk and cubicle and they were all gone and I was like and I saw one of them on my like not my manager but my supervisor's desk and I was like oh no and the next day was when
Starting point is 00:18:21 HR was there but she asked me if I could you know prove that I've been doing everything correctly and there were times where I would take a normal situation and drastically I would make it look like I would why just survive back to school when you can thrive by creating a space that does it all for you no matter the size whether you you're taking over your parents' basement or moving to campus, IKEA has hundreds of design ideas and affordable options to complement any budget. After all, you're in your small space era. It's time to own it. Shop now at IKEA.ca.
Starting point is 00:19:02 Book club on Monday. Gym on Tuesday. Date night on Wednesday. Out on the town on Thursday. Quiet night. In on Friday. It's good to have a routine, and it's good for your eyes, too, because with regular comprehensive eye exams at Specsavers, you'll know just how healthy they are.
Starting point is 00:19:27 Visit Spexavers.cavers.cai to book your next eye exam, I exams provided by independent optometrists. Sending them a system to, and I would send them one, so that I, you know, could kind of hide my fake ones with the real ones. Right. Normally you would. Like, I'm going to send you a system, but I've also, you've also written up, it includes So Joyce, Joyce, did they have joysticks, whatever? It includes, you know, I'm sending them all these things, but you're really just sending them one thing, but you're keeping some other, some of it?
Starting point is 00:19:51 No, I would, I would, like, you would call in, you would call with like a problem with the Wii, and I would say, okay, and you would just be really nice, let's say. And you would normally never do this. So I would be really nice, and I would make an exception, and I'd go get them a brand new system and whatever they had, and I would send it to them. And then in return, they would send back the other one. you put a credit card on file in case they don't send it back and I just did you would normally never do that but I was doing it just to try to hide my you know fake ones right so she asked if I could do if I could prove that everything was legit and I said you know maybe some of it and she's like well what about the other ones and I was like I I didn't know what to say and she's
Starting point is 00:20:41 like, well, you can either resign or I have to terminate you. And, like, I just, like, started bawling. Like, I, it was, like, all of that pressure, like, crushed me in that moment. You know what I mean? Right. And she just waited. And I could tell if she, like, she felt bad. I was just, I was just, I was a kid. And I was like, I resigned. And so I hung up the phone. I should have probably let him terminate me and try to collect unemployment at least, but I didn't. And so I resigned and I pulled out my 401k and they have a pension program there and I pulled out all the money that I had and used that for a short period of time to support my girlfriend and me. And all we did was get high with the money. And we probably owed a little bit of it
Starting point is 00:21:35 too for like borrowing money from friends and family that I probably didn't even pay all the way back. And after that, like, what am I going to do? But I knew their policies and procedures like the back of my hand. So I started creating systems out of thin air. I'd go on their website, type in serial number until something would come up as not registered. When you buy a Wii at Walmart, as soon as you buy it, the store registers that serial number in a nationwide system. so that Nintendo can see when and where you purchased it to see if it's under warranty. But the ones that are not registered are either two days old or from Costco.
Starting point is 00:22:19 And so I would call in and I'd say, hey, I just got this Wii from Costco and I would tell them a problem I know is for sure going to get me a replacement. And they would option to repair it, like bring it somewhere, or they would send me one. But you're calling the same place you used to work. How many guys are, I mean, nobody was like. Brennan, what are you doing? I would disguise, no, I would disguise my voice. Would you recognize the people you're talking to?
Starting point is 00:22:46 100%. And Jennifer, it's not me. I would use an accent many of the times. And I would try to call from different numbers, but they had a new call center that had opened in Oregon, not too long before all this happened. I worked in Redmond at the time. And so these people had never seen me. they'd only just talk to me on the overflow supervisor line.
Starting point is 00:23:13 Right. They wouldn't connect it. No, yeah. They're talking to tons of people every single day. This has now been weeks later, like they're months later. They're not going to remember. Exactly. And these people are all new.
Starting point is 00:23:23 So they're all trying to keep their jobs. And I would say I would be adamant and make them send me a replacement. And then I would give them, you can go online. And actually, I shouldn't say that. But you can get a credit card number where it's a legit number. just isn't anything and I would give him that number an expiration date you know fake billing information and then they would send me this system and what I would do is I would call a local hotel and say hey my my wife accidentally is sending something to the wrong place do you mind
Starting point is 00:23:55 we have a couple things coming there and oh no problem yeah we'll be by tomorrow to pick them up great yeah no no problem what's your name and I would just give him like fake name and then I would head over to the hotel like in Linwood, Washington and pick up five systems at this hotel and five over here. Right. And I would sell them online or at, or at Craigslist or pawn shop or what do you get for them? Usually you get about 60 cents on the dollar. But if you sell them as new on Craigslist, you'll get more money. It's just slow. How much are they brand new? I don't know how much a Wii is. The Wii at the time, you got $110 for trade in value. And if you sold, it if with everything they were $250 new and I would usually sell it for like $200 or 175 fast
Starting point is 00:24:44 sales so I could get money as quick as I could. I did that more rarely when I was getting the system sent to me. The easiest thing to do was there was like a pawn shop where I could take the Nintendo DS, the handheld system. Right. And they gave you like $70 per unit every time and I would bring them lots of them and they buy them up for me like, hotcakes because they actually just have this little paper and they have like a designated number that they pay and they would just pay it every time or I'd you know give some of my girlfriend and she'd bring them in there I say they don't realize that you're coming in over and over again no I would try to go to as many different places as I could I really would and game stores too
Starting point is 00:25:26 all the way up to the border and back and so I did that for probably two and a half three weeks and then one day I called about the we and I said it wasn't working and they're like, okay, we'll send you another one. And I was just, just so happened to check like the status and the order was deleted. And I'm like, that doesn't make any sense. Like, this is never happened. So I called back and I did it with like a DS and but my stories were kind of similar that I was in Washington, needed it sent to some address, and same thing happened.
Starting point is 00:26:09 The order got deleted. I'm like, something. Obviously, they've caught on. They have. And my heart's racing. I'm like, I don't know what I'm going to do. And at the time, I ended up getting like a, I had an interview for funeral home, which could have been really great.
Starting point is 00:26:27 Like, I'm not as good a salesman as you and some of the time. the other guys. But I was really good at speaking with people. I think I'm pretty decent at it today, but my confidence is definitely different than it used to be. But I was thinking that might have been a good gig, but I was so dope sick the day of the interview, I couldn't go. And they actually pay really well. That could have been great. But the problem is the girlfriend, too. Like, if I'm ever going to get clean, we would have never worked together. One of us is eventually going to going to die or you know the relationship will never last and i don't go i mean i think i maybe asked my dad for money and he told me no and my dad he's always been like right the most solid
Starting point is 00:27:15 guy in my life but he's like something this too much yeah he he yeah yeah and i'd ask everyone and their mom for for money at this point and they all told me no and we were with my girlfriend friend soon after and she was sitting in the backseat of my car and I had this little pellet gun and she's like, God, you could probably pull a lick with this. And I was like thinking, hmm, maybe you could. So maybe she could. Yeah, maybe she could drive the car. You go in the bank. The same day, she decided that she wanted to pawn some of her parents' jewelry. And so she went did that and got some oxies for us and then went into Nordstrom and was trying to steal clothes and then got caught. But all of her pills were in our car. So it was a kind of a win-win for us.
Starting point is 00:28:11 And we ended up making it like another day. And then we got sick again. And I was just like, I'm so sick of this feeling. I was like, I got to just get some money and get us ahead. I said this great idea that I was going to rob my girlfriend's ex place of business, which was a tanning salon in Mill Creek. I thought this was a good idea. There's not a lot of people. There's one camera. And she hadn't worked there for months.
Starting point is 00:28:39 And there was a lot of girls that came and went. And I went in there, pretended to be interested in services. Couldn't do it. I ended up going to the bathroom, like the stupid movies. and I like splashed water my face and I went out had the gun in my sweatshirt and I pulled it out on her
Starting point is 00:29:00 and she was like, whoa. On who the... On the girl working. And no one else was there. And she's like, we don't have much money. And I was like, give me all the money you have. It's like $100. Right.
Starting point is 00:29:13 And she's like, you're really lucky. And I'm like, why? And she's like, the camera isn't working. And this was like a god's saying this could have been my one free pass right and i'm like okay great but i'm i'm not even covered up or nothing like i'm just this stupid kid that thinks they'll never find me because i'm just this normal looking white guy and which is the dumbest thing ever so we go and we don't even have like our cell phones out of minutes at this point and i yeah i call this is horrible like i'm
Starting point is 00:29:48 surprised you didn't say give me 15 minutes on bed number six I mean, what's good? Oh, it was, it was stupid. I mean, no, nothing. And you know there's a camera. And I knew there was a camera. And I know. Even my mom used to give me shit later.
Starting point is 00:30:02 She didn't know who you were, though. She didn't know. No, no clue. And she doesn't, apparently, she doesn't seem that upset. She's having a conversation with you. Like, ah, you're doing, you know, you picked the right spot. Like, she did. I mean, I don't think she felt that, that threat.
Starting point is 00:30:13 Like I'm, right. I'm not an intimidating guy or I don't look like one either. And she obviously was not a. intimidated but gave me the money have a paligone yeah so she didn't know but she didn't seem phased either but yeah she gave me the money i took the money i called the dealer got we ended up getting like one pill and we had like no money left and i'm like we got to go do another robbery so we don't you keep saying we i feel like you're doing the rob my girlfriend and at the time was in the car driving and so we go to a gas station marysville and i go in there i go to the
Starting point is 00:30:51 bathroom because there was a bunch of people at the time, I would always try to rob the business when no one was, when no one was there. And like a coward, most of the time, they were women, like that I would try to rob because, I mean, I wasn't, I didn't have a real gun. Right. And dudes want to be heroes. Right. And I found out later that they really do. But I go to the gas and this and I pulled a gun and this woman's like really scared and she's like shaking she gives me all
Starting point is 00:31:24 the money and my girlfriend I run across the street jump in the car we had north on I-5 and my girlfriend's like and the cops are coming like the second one that just happened and the counties are the same that where I went was farther north
Starting point is 00:31:40 but they must have known it was probably the same person and they're flying down the freeway and she's like they know they know we got to pull over and I'm like what I'm like keep going and I'm like keep going and we ended up going to where my town is now and I'm like pulling a McDonald's pulling McDonald's and she's so frantic she like pulls in the gas station I'm like get out of the car and I was like and so she gets out and she's like they know they know and I'm like stop we're it's going to be fine at pulling the drive through and I'm like can I get a big mac and fries and I change my clothes
Starting point is 00:32:15 and I was like really calm and that's one thing that I learned about myself was that like when shit gets really bad I can hold it together but yeah your girlfriend was not no no worst getaway driver ever no but she was like this ride or die and her last boyfriend had robbed her espresso stand when she wasn't there like did a burglary on it and he went to jail there's a commonality amongst her boyfriends or or maybe it's It's her. I mean, I've dated some really whacked out chicks, but I've never once said, gee, you know, you could rob a place with this pistol or with this gun. And I've had real guns.
Starting point is 00:32:58 Like, I had a concealed weapons permit. I've never had a girl to go, you know, you could probably rob a place, a bank. Apparently, she's had this conversation before. She had, yes. And she continued to have it later, but we'll get to that. So I do the second robbery, and we get some money. get some pills. It doesn't last that long. It lasts like a day. So it lasts that night, the next day, and the day after that, we're out of pills again. So I take her to work. She worked at Tolis down
Starting point is 00:33:28 in Issaquah. It's a nice south suburb of, or east of Seattle for people listening. And I was like, all right, well, see you later. I'm going to go do robbery. Just like, have a great day. And I went and I looked for a place. And I think the next place I robbed was. a skin care place in Bothel, and I was still nervous at doing it. Like, once I had done it, I was okay. But before doing it, you're always nervous because you just never know what's going to happen. Right. And I was too nervous to do it. And I went to the bathroom, did the same thing, splash the water, dumb. I come back out, and the girl's on the phone. And she's like, all right, where are you at the other store? And she's like, okay, we'll talk to you
Starting point is 00:34:15 later hangs up the phone and I come around and I pull out the the fake gun again and she's like has this look on her face like oh that's what you're here for and I'm like give me all the money and she starts doing that and now at this point I have this idea that I'm going to take their phone also so I have longer time to get away and unplug the phone that they have at the desk someone starts calling and I disconnect the phone like don't answer that. And I'm like, go get your phone. And she's like, I will if you leave. And she was just like, just not a nice woman.
Starting point is 00:34:54 You know, why would she be nice to me? You know, like, I'm robbing her. Like, you got to be nicer. But she wasn't nice. And she's like, I'll get it if you leave. And I was just thinking, I have this bad feeling. I was like, she started walking away. And I was like, I got to go.
Starting point is 00:35:07 So I run out. At the time, I just traded in my car. I had an Accura RSX. And I took it to Accurri of Linwood. to get something fixed on it and got a rental car. So I have this nice, accurate TSX loaner car. And I pull out and all of a sudden cops fly in. Like, I'm waiting at the light.
Starting point is 00:35:27 It's like you can see the business very close by. And they're flying and they're do, do, do, do, do. And I'm like, what the hell happened? You know, like, how did they get there so fast? That wasn't, it didn't make sense. And I, we'll get back to that later. So I go back to my wife's work. get high and so they still miss you okay no they missed me for a while now I don't remember every
Starting point is 00:35:52 business I robbed but it got to the point where I would take my wife to work or she or I'm not not my wife I'm sorry my girlfriend and she would go to work or she would come with me to some places and she would case the place she really didn't drive anymore because she was so bad at it and she would tell me if it was good or not or bad and then I would decide to to do it. And probably halfway through my robbery stint, I go into this tanning salon and muckoldio, and I'm about to rob it. And on the desk is a sketch of, it kind of looks like this black dude with a bandana. And it's like, be on the lookout for this robber. He's in the area. And it was me, but didn't look anything like me. And I was like, no, this is just, it doesn't feel
Starting point is 00:36:43 right. So I didn't do this robbery. But I went to a Baskin Robbins in Lake City to rob it. And there were two girls working. And I pulled the gun out. And they both bolted to the back. And I like tried to open the register. And I couldn't. I didn't know what button to push. So I run out. And I didn't get any money there. So then I went to an espresso stand. And I just like walked up and I robbed it. and didn't even take the girls' tips. I just left her money. I took the business's money. I took her phone and I said,
Starting point is 00:37:19 give me some time to get away. And she's like, okay. And I threw her phone in the bushes where she could see it. And she ran to it as soon as like I was by my car and she was calling it in. And I was like, God, I should have took her tips, man. At least she doesn't pay me in a nice burglar. No, I was being a nice guy. And I was just so dumb and naive.
Starting point is 00:37:40 and I did switch from like the pellet gun to airsoft guns and I would paint the little orange tip black but you couldn't tell like if I was thinking if you had run into Jess my white like you'd pull that thing out and she'd been like is that a CO2 cartridge like what's she'd have been like what are you doing yeah most people they most people don't know guns but yeah yeah she does so she'd be like yeah they would or yeah and they would just you know laugh at me eventually if I pulled it on the wrong person right so So then, like, the next day I go to Mill Creek. It's another Baskin Robbins. I don't know why I want to rob these Baskin Robbins so bad, but there's a guy. Baskin Robbins and tanning salons. Yeah. And I go in there and this guy's like, just him. And I pulled a gun.
Starting point is 00:38:28 And this one looks very real. I'm also thinking about the skin, you know, give me this. Give me all the money and give me something for this rash. What's doing that for? Yeah. No, you're good. I'll take us. I'll take a double mint. You know, the bastard rob is like, I think you want to leave with something.
Starting point is 00:38:49 I only got 80 bucks. Like, I got to get that and a couple of scoops of mint chip. I wasn't getting much money from these robberies. And this guy that I go in there and he's like, he looks at the gun and he could tell he thinks it's real, but he's, he finds that hero in him. Oh, shit. And he just starts screaming, you, as loud as he can. And the door is open. It's the middle of summer.
Starting point is 00:39:14 And I'm like, just like, what the fuck do I do? I jump the counter and beat him up with this plastic gun. Like, this isn't going to work. So I run out to the car. My girlfriend's waiting. And I get in the seat. And she looks me up and down. She's like, you didn't get any money?
Starting point is 00:39:31 And I'm like, I don't really like this girl. No. And I was like, oh, I've never hit a woman in my life. but I was really close in that point. And I'm just like, wow. So we go off and I think, I can't remember what place I robbed that day, but I eventually was working my way to a bank. I told myself, like, I should have just done that from the jump, but I didn't. And I think I robbed like a clothing store in North Bend.
Starting point is 00:39:59 And again, average amount I got was like 300 bucks. And I continued to do. Eventually, I robbed like a big grocery store. And I remember when I did it, I didn't ask for the bills under the till, which was really dumb. But the lady was cool about it. Even offered me like a little to-go bag, you know, the little zipper things to have. And I'm like, no, that's okay. I'll just take the money.
Starting point is 00:40:20 And then as soon as I left, I heard it going, Bob did check stand five? Bob did you check stand five? Because they're on the phones. And I ran out to the car. And this was like right across the street from the police station in Everett. And no cop sell. They never got there in time. Like I was long gone.
Starting point is 00:40:36 and when I finally saw it, blue lies. But I'm just thinking this whole time, I'm good, no one knows. And I get, eventually, I've done 23 robberies, two unsuccessful were the Baskin Robbins, so 25 total. And my mom had seen it on the news. I guess the news was playing me every night on, they have this thing called Crime Stoppers up here. Yeah. Washington's Most Wanted. and it was just of me every night. Like, I got to the point where I was doing two, even three robberies a day.
Starting point is 00:41:12 But do they have camera footage? Like, did your mom recognize you? Was there clean shots of your face? They were pretty, I mean, they were, if you and I met today, you wouldn't have probably been able to say it was me. Right. But she knew it was me. Yeah, you can recognize.
Starting point is 00:41:30 That's the thing about people. Like, if you hang out with somebody long enough, they can walk across, they can have a picture of them walking across. cross the room and you're like oh my god that's jimmy like because you see them all the time you it's more than just recognize their face it's their mannerisms it's their walk it's everything no you're 100% right and they had my this stupid tattoo oh my it was it was like literally my like the nail and the coffee right and she saw it on the news and everything and she called my girlfriend's mom we were staying with her at the time and she's like they know guys like
Starting point is 00:42:03 your mom knows and she was just crying like just uncontrollably to my girlfriend's mom like what the hell and I was like just tell her it's going to be all fine it's going to be good we're going to be okay and it's it's not going to be okay like the next day I called 25 robberies yeah I called the dealer and it was going to meet him and I was like thinking of myself I'll go get a pill from him I'll go do a bank robbery, and then we'll leave. That's what we're going to do? Like that's... Leave what?
Starting point is 00:42:35 The area? Yeah, the state. That was my plan. Because they'll probably... They'll never track you. The feds will never track you out. No, they couldn't have, you know, because I had my picture all over Washington State, and I go out to the car, and I remember walking out, and there was, like, a guy sweep in and stuff, and I'm sitting
Starting point is 00:42:55 in that accurate, and this minivan flies up, and the guys get out. and they like you always hear it but to see it for yourself no badges no nothing just a gun in your face right and you're just like you have that that feeling that you can't ever have again unless you're in that situation of just i don't know like this is it and i remember just thinking like it's just me it's just brand and like i i didn't this isn't that big a deal you know I had no idea how big of a deal it was. And they arrest me. And then I see my girlfriend being arrested.
Starting point is 00:43:39 Do the whole screaming. Get on the ground. Get on the ground. The whole thing. Are they just pretty, I mean, pretty much he's like, he wanted to see my hands. And then they had me walk backwards. And it was, once I was out of the car, it was fine. Like, I already knew what they were going to ask.
Starting point is 00:43:55 So I, like, kind of just did it before they even asked. And they were like, okay. They were, they were very fair and nice. me after they that happened it wasn't like they they treated me bad um but then they you know took me downtown and they they wanted to help me out the officers did so they what they offered was they said well if you if you help us out you know and you explain your side of the story then it usually goes a lot better you know when you you know you steal from a friend and then you tell the friend like hey man i did you wrong and they're like thanks man
Starting point is 00:44:30 you'll be all right you know and they're like Brandon if you tell us like what happened this is going to be so much better for you and at first I was saying I need to talk to in a channel yeah but they were like you know this will go a lot better and I'm like these guys are my friends these guys are great they're I'm going to help them out and tell them about all these crimes I did yeah and they have my girlfriend as well and didn't tell on the girlfriend But she's already told She did tell I just let you know and I don't know the story
Starting point is 00:45:07 But I know the story that part of the story Yeah So for sure The girls all they're telling in the car on the way It was yeah She must have said it immediately She was processed in there so fast Like I was there all day
Starting point is 00:45:22 Telling my story to all these other detectives Of every little city Luckily it was two counties it wasn't three because technically each county is a strike in it in its own county okay so they booked me on like six robberies my bail set at 1.5 million and it was like a big deal like they were this is 2009 and they're trying to down on all the robberies in Washington state as opposed to now you'd already you'd have been out on bail immediately yes that's the sickening part is like but at the same time like I am jealous of these guys that get
Starting point is 00:46:05 these light sentences but I think if I would have got that I probably would have eventually used the same old stuff everyone else is using I never put a needle in my arm or anything but who knows maybe I would have one day and I'm just glad I didn't but I'm I'm in jail and there's a three week timeline where your felony dismissal date comes up and usually your bail is lowered and they'll drop some of the charges and they dropped one of mine and then one of the guys is yelling at me in the in the pod he's like brandon come here there's some really hot girl out here for you and I'm like what and I go and my girlfriend Raquel is in the hallway and she's like I'm like where are you going and she's like I'm going home like I can hear
Starting point is 00:46:49 her saying that and I'm like what like how and she's like I love you I love you and she leaves and I go ask the officer like hey how many felonies do I have now and he's like I think they drop one or two and he's like four and I was thinking this is great this is Friday I'm stoked meaning my bail is going to go down like I'm probably going to only charge with one or two and I'm going to do three or four years maybe and I'm really really happy and I my dad and my stepmom pay for an attorney for me for a private attorney and I go to court on Monday, and I'm so happy to see my attorney. I'm like, Ray, they drop some.
Starting point is 00:47:32 And he goes, Brandon, they're about to file 10 on you, and your bail is going to stay the same. And I'm like, what? And he's like, yeah. He's like, and he doesn't argue for lower bail. He doesn't do any of that. He's like, it is what it is. I'm just thinking, thanks for, you know, arguing. I just don't understand why they don't just at least try, you know, at least make the
Starting point is 00:47:56 judge saying no right but he didn't say anything he just whatever but anyway i go and i i talk to him later like the same day we can have a meeting and he tells me that there's a woman in king county prosecutor and she wants me to accept 20 years and i would do 14 and a half on it but that's if i don't lose any good time she want and i'm at the time i'm 24 years old and i'm like 20 years I have never been in trouble a day in my life. Not one crime, never been arrested, nothing. Like, I had some speeding tickets. That's it.
Starting point is 00:48:35 And I'm like, this doesn't make any sense over a fake gun. And I was even able to prove the guns were fake. Like, I had to give up one of them to my friendly police officer friends that helped me out. And so I got the 20 years hanging over my head. And my attorney, every time I call them every Friday, it's the same old stuff. like, we're working on it. Eventually, I call him one day, and he's like, we got some good news. The prosecutor, who he hated, he said she was a bitch.
Starting point is 00:49:04 He used to work with her. He was a prosecutor before. And he said that she had stepped away for mental health reasons. And great. So there's a new guy, and his name was Craig Matheson. He's a judge now. And Craig said he would accept the 14-year three-month sentence, which is the highest sentence you can get with Max points treating you like a habitual criminal, right?
Starting point is 00:49:28 Like I'd done this my whole life. Right. And I'm like, that doesn't make sense. I'm like, well, I could at least ask for the low end, which is 10 years, nine months. I would do like six and change. And my attorney's like, I don't think he's going to go for it. I think he'd already sold me down the river for someone else. And he's like, but I will ask.
Starting point is 00:49:48 And I'm like, okay, I really need you to do this for me, right? I need to be able to go in the courtroom and ask for a lower sentence. And he's like, okay, I'm going to, I'm going to take care of you, Brennan. And I called back a week later, and he's like, no. And I even offered, what if we pay the restitution right now? Like, what if I just beg my family to just pay it for me? Right. It wasn't that much.
Starting point is 00:50:10 It was like 10,000 or something. And they were like, no, you have to accept this deal. And I also want to go back. I never knew how I got caught. Right. But my mom had actually turned me in. Okay. And I understand, like, at the time, like...
Starting point is 00:50:37 You can understand that. You've got to be able to understand that. Like, she's waiting for you to get shot, bro. You're going to walk in one day. You're going to walk into a bank, and you're going to get yourself shot. Or those cops are going to pull up, and they're going to shoot you. Or they're going to pull you over. Or you're going to do a car accident, you know, like you can, you can understand that.
Starting point is 00:50:58 Like, I couldn't be mad at my mom for that. At the time, I was, and it took me a while to understand it, but I did. And that was rough, though. Like, they would have caught me. And like you said, maybe I would have died. But she protected. me and uh she was really great when i was uh in jail she had everyone there you want to stop for a second let me get you wasn't planning on you know what happens is you
Starting point is 00:51:40 end up you end up talking about stuff that um that you might think randomly in your head you know what i'm saying but then you actually say it out loud i can mentally have have all kinds of conversations, but the moment I start to talk about it, boom, waterworks. Yeah. Like, like, you know, because because most people never, they'll go their whole life and never reflect back on, on certain events. And then they'll talk, then suddenly you're sitting there talking about somebody and they're like, I don't know what's happening.
Starting point is 00:52:11 Then they had this reaction. Like, I don't understand what's going on. Like, they really just genuinely, like, I don't understand. Like, I've thought about this many, many times. Yeah, but you actually have a conversation and talked about it with somebody. Boom. fucking hits you yeah yeah definitely uh it hit me pretty hard when i was there like it was in the news too like that she turned me in and i was frustrated because my mom is like she had some mental
Starting point is 00:52:35 health problems but not early in life but later and she like being the center of attention and i kind of thought it had to do with that but like at the end of the day like what's going to save your son And she just basically just tried to do that. Like, there was no reaching out to me. I wasn't coming around for her. It wasn't going to, it wasn't going to end well. Even what your thought process was, I'm going to rob one more place and then we're going to flee.
Starting point is 00:53:02 Like, this isn't, you're not making good decisions. You're getting in deeper and deeper and deeper. Yeah, it was just going to, I was going to bury myself, like, you know, head to the bank. Eventually, I was going to rob the wrong person. Yeah. Maybe one of these, these girls or these. people are going to come in with a concealed weapons permit and just blow me away. Did you see, I mean, you watch these things all the time.
Starting point is 00:53:27 There's people in a little, you know, like a 7-11, I'm not set alone, I think it was more like a subway. And there's a couple of guys, and they're just sitting there eating. And the guy comes in with a gun and robs the place. And the guy's walking around telling people, give me your money, give me your money. And he turns around. And one of the guys just pulls this gun out and just shoots him. That's it.
Starting point is 00:53:46 I saw that video. Yeah, it's like, holy shit, that dude had, he thought he had, 100% if you asked him, do you have this situation under control? Are you in danger? No, I got this. He didn't have it. No, he didn't. And if I would have been in that video, that same guy, I would have been the piece of shit that died. Like, me and the guys that do that, like. Yeah, I don't have a problem with the guy that shot him. Like, that's, that's like, you're right. You're not taking all my stuff and taking everybody. if you have an opportunity to stop that person by using good force. So that's it. That's when you walked in there, you knew that was a possibility, you know? I did. And you, you'd make quick peace with it. And I tell my wife this today, like, I miss being ignorant sometimes where you just
Starting point is 00:54:34 assume the world is a certain way. And it's easier to live in a way where I just thought, oh, never happened to me. It'd be okay. Yeah. It worked out. And it didn't. but I thought it would. But anyway, back to the sentence.
Starting point is 00:54:50 So the courtroom was full. It was, I had a lot of supporters there. Some of the victims' families were there, I think. But I didn't do any of them, like, any wrong. Like, there were a couple that were traumatized from it. I couldn't imagine what that would be like to be robbed one day. That wouldn't feel good. And I wasn't always, like, super nice, but I never, like, said,
Starting point is 00:55:10 I'm going to fuck you or anything crazy. Like, I didn't feel like it was necessary. but the judge was like he weighed it for a second and I read my like I had prepared statement and I read it and it was I thought it was decent a couple one that victim that wrote or that knew I was suspicious wrote a letter to the judge and asked for me to get the max sentence and a life sentence forever and I'm like really you really think that's justified for a first time person, first time offender with a fake gun. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:55:50 And I'm like, where you were in zero danger and I didn't harm you in any way. And did I mention that she had called the police on the phone? Oh, and you were suspicious and walked. Yeah, okay. And she was smart, but she just seemed like the type that was just kind of a nasty person in life. But. Well, there's always those people that no matter what somebody does, they should get life. they should be executed. They should be, it's like, okay, stop.
Starting point is 00:56:16 There's levels, there's degrees of crime that deserve different punishments. And you always think the person should go to jail for the rest of their life until it's your son or it's your brother or it's your dad. And then suddenly it's like, no, he's a good person. You could give him probation. What are you talking about? When it was the other guy, you said he should get life. No, but he's a good person.
Starting point is 00:56:36 Well, the other guy, people think he's a good person. You know, like they don't, people don't think they, that, they do that, that rush to judgment. No, 100%. And judge gave me the, he waited and he's like, I have to just go with the highest sentence. But he almost gave me the low end. He was really close, at least giving me less. And so off I went. And 24.
Starting point is 00:57:00 Which was 14 years and three months. 14 years, three months. And the good time you would do nine and a half years, which is what I ended up doing. So, yeah, I get to prison. And everyone's telling me. don't worry they just opened this new facility it's called kiety ridge everyone's getting these overrides to go to medium because they're the way that department of corrections in Washington um basically does your time on your risk level is how what your crime was which is violent
Starting point is 00:57:33 how many you did and your age so i lost points on my age i lost points because of the crime and because there's multiple they treat it like i had a history of the crime which is so dumb Um, but you say to me, it's a, in the nice thing about the feds is typically they'll, they'll, they'll, they're sometimes they'll consider them a spree. Like this is a series of crimes over, you know, over four months or three months like, but this is a crime spree. And sometimes they'll, they won't consider it like habitual, you know, but mine was over two weeks. Exactly. Come on. That's. And it was insane. It was like, I thought I should have gotten a less sentence. And I'm sure today, I probably would. But. Anyway, I get this counselor and he's like, don't worry, I'm going to hook you up. Blah, blah, blah. I'm writing this up really good. And then I get my chain bag when I'm waiting. And it's wall of all of closed custody, which is like the max security in Washington State.
Starting point is 00:58:31 There's no worst place you can go. And I'm like, oh, God, this is horrible. And I'm just thinking, you know, where am I going to sit? That's the thing that scared me the most when I was in jail. Everyone's like, I've seen people decapitated for sitting in someone else's spot. And I'm like, God, what are they going to do? And I get there and I get a room by myself. There's no cellmate, which was great.
Starting point is 00:58:57 And I was just like this super nervous kid. And it's kind of, I'm kind of on lockdown until I see my counselor. And these guys come up and they like offer me some deodorant and whatever I need. And I'm like, no, I'm good. And then I finally go out to the yard. and everyone kind of told me, like, when you're in prison, you know, you don't want to be, like, the punk or the bitch or whatever, but you can do your thing. Like, you don't have to join a gang or whatever. Right. And these, these dudes approach me, and they're like, yo, are you white?
Starting point is 00:59:31 And I'm like, what do you mean? And they're like, well, are you white? You ride with us? And I'm just thinking, like, the whole time I was thinking, I'm just going to do my own thing. Right. I'm not going to, you know, join up and be influenced. And I'm like, yeah, I do. I ride with the white guys.
Starting point is 00:59:48 Like, this is exactly what I do. Like, and they're like, hey, welcome. You know, like, I'm not like joining the gang. You can ride with your race when there's a necessity. And then there's also they're going to take you under their wing and they're going to use you for when they need to. Right. And it was fine. I mean, like, it was, you know.
Starting point is 01:00:10 know, decent time at first, but you're locked down a lot in the close custody. And eventually the Southsiders and the white guys have an alliance in Washington State. And there was a guy there and he was a known rat for telling on his co-defendants for so they all had someone and he did a bunch of robberies, tried to get out of it. It was like, oh yeah, but we this person. I helped bury the body and thought he would help, but they just connected him to that. And buried all of them and he was walking around the unit and in wall of all closed they wouldn't let people that they knew were rats or defenders walk on mainline that wasn't supposed to happen and the southsiders were pissed because they anytime that happened one of their guys boom they're gone like
Starting point is 01:00:57 they have someone take off on them it happened all the time and they're like this guy needs to go and so everyone kind of gets together and they're like well what do we do and they're like well how about this kid Jacob. Jacob was younger than I was, just got there. And Jacob's like, okay. But Jacob catches a lifeline where they send him to the medium. And he was going to do it, but it never really got to a point where it was like when and where. So Jacob gets sent out of there. And now it's me and this guy named Jason. We'll just call him. I don't want to say his last name. Right. But me and Jason are going to go take off on this guy. And this guy is probably like 245. he's benching 225 probably 20 to 30 times and I'm probably 220 and I can bench 225 at the time probably
Starting point is 01:01:50 three maybe two and and they have weights there they have free weights yes in the gym and this guy he's a big guy and I'm not at the time like I'm definitely like nothing and I'm like all right you know I've like kind of put myself in this situation And if I say no, they're going to beat my ass and then my time is going to be shit. But I'm thinking, if I just do this thing, I can do it, have a little respect, and the time will be good. And so we all like kind of look at a calendar, like, you know, sort of how we made this date. And we're like, well, we don't want to do it in December because there's football games and we got our Christmas packages come in. So here, let's do this.
Starting point is 01:02:36 Let's do January 5th. And I'll never forget it. Is that good for you? Scheduled. And it works for me, Matt. And so I signed up. And I remember the day before it happened, my counselor called me in the office. I'm thinking, she must know.
Starting point is 01:02:50 I'm going to somehow get out of this in a good way. And she's like, hey, we're just doing your assessment. You're going to be going to a medium relatively soon. Just stay out of trouble. And I was like, okay, I'll do a great job. And didn't do so good a job. So the next day, Jason and I are going to the gym, and I'm like, you got your address book? Because we know we're going to the hole.
Starting point is 01:03:12 You got to bring your address book if you know you're going to the hole. And this guy goes to the free weights and I go into the gym. And just before we're leaving, though, I'm like, Jason, where's your ID? He's, oh, oh, shoot, I forgot my ID. And he runs back to the unit. And I'm like, he's not going back. No, he didn't come back either. And this guy sees out there, it's a wintertime for the first.
Starting point is 01:03:35 full three and a half hours from 12 until 3.30 and I'm just waiting. And there's like multiple times he could have came in, but he doesn't. And I'm thinking, man, maybe he knows. But I like look out there and he doesn't look like he knows. He's like working out. And then finally he comes in and I'm walking in front of him like I'm holding the door for him. And then I just turn around and I just take off on this guy. I haven't been in many fights. Like this is not going to really go well unless I don't let up. And maybe the cops will rip us off in time where he can't, you know, do anything. And just before the fight, like, this guy was kind of schooling me, you know, get me in shape.
Starting point is 01:04:16 His name was Pudd. And he's a good dude. But Pud was like, Brandon, this dude is not going to fight you. He is going to run and tell the cops he's a rat. That's what he's going to do. He's going to run away. And I'm like, are you sure? He's like, dude, I'm telling you, he is not going to fight you back.
Starting point is 01:04:32 He's going to run to them. and I punched this guy probably like 10 plus times and then because he's like struggling with this jacket and you know trying to get it off where he can fight me back and I like just let up and I'm thinking let's and I remember just thinking okay he's going to run he hit me back really hard now I I was like oh my God where am I you know and and and then he just starts probably, you know, wailing on me. And luckily, I, like, I didn't get knocked down. And I, like, it, like, gets up to the wall. And the fight lasts a while. Like, I get some hits in, but he definitely, like, dazed and confused me at one point. But the very last punch I got to land,
Starting point is 01:05:20 he, like, had, like, blocked my shoulder or my right shoulder. And then I finally, like, kind of came to probably with one of the other punches he landed and got the very last hit. And then he like almost ripped my shirt off when the cops pulled them down but I never went to the ground I've never been knocked down in a fight ever I mean it's the only thing good I can say which I guess isn't great but so I that happened and I go to the hole and I lose two months a good time which is a lot and I have to tell my family like where I'm at and the Super Bowl's coming up and my birthday is in January and I miss it all and the hole in wall wall I don't know how it was in the feds but the hole in wall wall is very very small it's about the size of this debt i mean it's
Starting point is 01:06:08 basically about seven feet long and about probably five and a half feet wide with everything included just your bed fits in that space it's just barely your bed and like i can do a burpee on the ground and jump back up and it takes practice not to hit the walls or anything but while I'm in the hole I like befriend one of the leaders of the one of the white gangs and I remember when I was in close custody there was this guy his name was Al Davis and Al was just this big shit talker he talked shit to everyone I hated him he was always just like dick to me and he was first time or two But he was older than I was.
Starting point is 01:07:01 He was like probably 30. And he just acted like just this piece of shit. If I wasn't getting in the fight with this guy, I would have fought him, like guaranteed it would have happened. But I didn't want to fight him and make it look like I was trying to get out of the other fight. Right. Because guys just, they need something to dwell on. But anyway, shortly after I get in this fight with this guy, Al gets called the lieutenant's office and then they do a sweep. and they take all of the white dudes out,
Starting point is 01:07:30 all the South Sites and both of the units that we were in, and they all go to the hole. And I'm thinking, these guys aren't going to think it's me. And I'm luckily next door to the gang leader. And I'm like, telling him, like, I mean, he asks me, and I sent over my paperwork saying what happened that I lost a good time. And I'm like, why would I lose a good time if I told on everyone? I was like, that wouldn't make any sense.
Starting point is 01:07:54 And I, and ever, and he's like, find out. Al, Al's gone. Al told everything that was going on in the unit. While I was there, when I first got there, I wanted to get a cell phone, and they take those so seriously. I didn't know this. I was like telling people, I told a couple white guys, solid dudes, that I wanted to get a phone. And then the next day, me and my cellmate get pulled into the room, strip searched. They ripped our bunks into shreds, everything in a room, and we're like, where's the phone?
Starting point is 01:08:25 and I'm like, what phone? And they're like, we know you have phone, Brandon. And I'm like, you know, I want a phone. Exactly what I told them. I said, you know what? I looked all of them in the face. I said, I wish I had a phone. I said, I do.
Starting point is 01:08:39 But I don't. And I said, I don't know who told you I did, but they're lying to your face. And normally you always go to ad seg and they make sure, but they must have believed me. And they let me come back just to get in the fight pretty much. So, yeah. I'm in the hole. I befriended this guy, and then I get out. And you should have said, you'll never find it. I've hidden it so well. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:09:04 Then you would have been like, I was going to knock that dude out for you guys, but I was locked up because of that phone. Yeah. I wish I did so bad sometimes. But it, I wouldn't change it. You know, I really wouldn't. Everything, I think, happens for a reason. But I go to this, they send me to the other unit. Instead of sending me back to the one I was in, they sent me to the other unit where they're North Siders and North Siders and the whites don't have an alliance. So there's like a lot of tension in the unit. And it was, it was, it was horrible time. Like, it was not fun. But I slipped through the cracks and they, my last counselor had submitted me for medium and they had approved it before the fight.
Starting point is 01:09:51 the fight and so i got sent to the to the medium and went down there and you know it wasn't so bad but i remember i had this this cellmate and he was like this really he was like this chunky like half native half white guy and he's like talks this big game how he was what's it called a dirty white boy at lompoc and he ran the yard he said he someone and he kept his own hand to make it look like it was self-defense. And I'm like, I always just found his story. He's really suspect. And he, like, said he was really good tattoo artist.
Starting point is 01:10:29 And I let him do this horrible tattoo on my left arm, like, the worst ever. Like, I was not. Impressed. No. But he was a really good fighter. And you would have never thought it. He had this, like, mullet, too. And we had this guy move in our house.
Starting point is 01:10:46 His name was Matt. And Matt was one of the craziest people I've ever met. He tied up this guy and said him like 50 times and he doesn't know why he did it. And they gave him life, but Matt must have been somehow smart because he went back eventually five years later and they dropped it down to manslaughter. And I'm like, how? And how's that possible? I don't know. I don't to this day.
Starting point is 01:11:14 But Matt would sit there and start talking to you about like the weather or something. and there was no changing that topic until he was done. And if you try to interrupt him, he would just keep on talking. He was insane. But he was this really buffed dude. And he said he was a really good fighter. But I remember him, my cellmate got in this really good fight. And it wasn't like they weren't punching each other in the face,
Starting point is 01:11:40 but the chunky native guy was winning, like the whole time. And then at one point, like, I sparred with him. and he kept inside leg kicking me where my leg was the most bruises ever been in my life and like he was really good and so I couldn't do nothing to him but eventually I learned one thing in prison
Starting point is 01:12:02 that everyone's karma comes to them and he was going to have this dude who is probating below him up this guy on the yard and the dude he was going to have him was a good dude there's nothing wrong with him him, he's going to go home in a few years, you do that.
Starting point is 01:12:21 The guy dies, he's doing, he's doing life. Or he's getting 10, 20 years added minimum. Right. And he was going to stop up of this guy over like a lame debt that the guy owed to my sell me. And everyone found out about it and was like, what the, the, everyone was like, dude, you're, don't come to yard. And I remember he just stayed in the house for weeks.
Starting point is 01:12:47 And in prison, you have to just, everything lasts in cycles. It's like they all focused on him for a couple weeks. He wouldn't come to yard. But many, no one wanted to run up in the house and try to fight him. They just were afraid to. Eventually, after a couple weeks, he came around, but that traveled everywhere. And the rest of his time, people were like, give him the cold shoulder. They're like, we ain't talking to you, dude.
Starting point is 01:13:12 Right. Like, you're trying to throw away this. Everyone liked the other guy. Right. That's why they were so mad. Luckily, it didn't happen, but it didn't matter. Like, if it had happened, they would have crossed my cell. For sure, he would have been stomped out in the house, but didn't happen.
Starting point is 01:13:29 But he ended, I found out actually just recently that he just kept on doing what he did and stuff through his life away and then fought the wrong person and got shot. But Al Davis went to every yard he went to, he disappeared from. him he checked in every place he went like i just learned one thing that people's karma just kept coming to him like in prison whatever you do follows you where where i was like if you did something where you you know just horrible like that then like al could have done his time so much differently he didn't need to you know be a piece of shit and then try to tell on everyone behind their back he could have just done it differently but i don't know whatever happened to him but he disappeared. But eventually, I got sent down to the camp, and they gave me, in Washington
Starting point is 01:14:22 State, they have a really good program called Correctional Industries Install, where you get to go all around the state and work on, like, the colleges, any state agency, even city agencies, have to buy certain products from correctional industries, like the desks, the chairs, all that stuff. And we got to install it. So we got to travel around and install the stuff. Kind of like the Nintendo thing with your traveling around. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Did that ever catch out with you? The Nintendo thing?
Starting point is 01:14:52 Yeah, because you got fired. You went back. You were running the scam. They stopped doing the scam. They ever put that? So, yeah, they did have theft one on my case. And they, Nintendo did file after I made the newspaper and I said I had worked there. I think that's when they filed.
Starting point is 01:15:08 They needed to, they have a very clean reputation. And they needed to make sure that they distance themselves from me. They were like, we don't know him. We're charging him with a crime. We hate him. Like, pretty much that's what they did. But I had to pay restitution for the items I took, and I had, I didn't plead to that crime, but it was. For a limited time at McDonald's, enjoy the tasty breakfast trio.
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Starting point is 01:16:14 agreement was that they wouldn't press charges for that it was a theft one in the first degree yeah they have that's it's minor in comparison what you were facing 100% right yeah so it was like it wouldn't unless they bow leg it did it they they weren't going to do anything about it yeah i had a bunch of like credit card fraud charges they were just like we're not even worried about that yeah get you on so much other stuff like that's nothing we're not even charge it with these yeah the small things are like just inconsequential but you know i will tell you though when I was, you know, when I was in there, like in the medium at Monroe, like, you meet some people and they'll tell you like, hey, man, when you're, look, when you're getting out, I'll help you
Starting point is 01:16:53 out. I'll help you maybe get a job. And one of my good friends, his name's Brandon, he told me that. And when I made it to camp and I was getting ready to go home, I'm like, dude, I need a job. I need to go to work release and I need a job. And I asked, you know, I called Brandon. And Brandon was one of those guys that got out like hit me up put money on my account sent me packages was a really good friend very rare in there very rare and he comes from a good family he you know had his own demons but Brandon was like let me make some calls and got me a job working for like one of his best friends doing construction and then after that like after I you know went there I went somewhere else and now Brandon and I work together we have our own
Starting point is 01:17:41 construction company or partners. I mean, he's definitely the smarter one. He's really, really talented, but you can really meet some really smart people and great people in there. And I have another friend named Reed, and Reed will do anything for you. You can meet some really good dudes, but Reed was a really good friend. There was a number of us that all worked on, you know, or we all were in the camp together, which is basically you have four years or less. You're considered low risk. And Reed was one of the very few people. that I'm still friends with today and reads one of my best friends
Starting point is 01:18:14 and with Brandon but one thing that just sucked is like you friend all these people on Facebook that you were in prison with and they go back they go back they die oh yeah you know they got shot like it's it's and you just
Starting point is 01:18:31 eventually I just stopped friending them because I was like I can't this feels like so unhealthy it's so fast and one of our really good friends had someone that's why he was in prison did 20 years he was a kid got out when he was like 39 and within a year he got back on and someone else and it was like one of read my really good friends and his name was Paris he we thought he was like I would have bet on him to never come
Starting point is 01:19:03 back right and in a year like he said he says the accident maybe it was doesn't matter you shot someone you got a gun with you have a gun for what are you on drugs for what are you in that environment for yeah it was it was crushing he was at you know reeds wedding and like i invited him to mine and it was just like it it crushes your soul sometimes when you you know see some of these guys just it's gone and he's somehow thinks that he's going to get out still and they gave him 35 years it's like you're done man like how much time did you do total nine and nine and a half years i did yeah did you go to a halfway house yeah so while i was in monroe the medium i eventually i got from wall-a-wall i got sent to another medium called coyote ridge and then we had to do
Starting point is 01:19:53 this they do these programs in washington state where like they come up with some BS and they supposedly lowers recidivism but you get nothing from it the only thing they would give us was a preferred institution. And anywhere east of the mountains in Washington State, horrible living. Well, it's depressing. Like, Coyote Ridge is everything is gray. They have gray rocks. There's no grass. It's far away. They don't treat you good. There's like cool guards and shitty guards. I will say Walla Walla's guards were actually pretty cool. There's some old school really cool guards there. Couty Ridge, they were shitty. And then I got sent, we did the program, got sent to Monroe, which is way closer to my house. And while it was at Monroe, a woman from the LA
Starting point is 01:20:40 Times named Harriet Ryan reached out to me, and Harriet wanted to write a piece about all the opioid epidemic. And I heard one of your recent guys, you know, say he was one of the early Purdue Pharma plaintiffs. Her story is what led to that whole, like, thing really blowing up. Like, She was a real journalist, a really good person. And when I was in the camp, I'm trying to get to a halfway house where I have six months left so I can save money, get things going. Right. They're not giving it to me. They're doing this.
Starting point is 01:21:17 I forget what is happening, but they're doing something different. Or they're closing down some of the halfway houses because of budget cuts or something, but they still had some open. And I couldn't, you have your, there's one person in the entire. state that's in charge of it. And I had people asking him, bugging him, and he wasn't doing anything for me. So I reached out to the writer and I said, hey, I'm really stuck. Like, is there any way you could maybe do something for me? And she's like, Brandon, I'm going to write him a letter and I'm going to say, I'm going to write a piece about why people continue to go back to prison and I'm going to have your name on it. If Brandon isn't going to this halfway house, the next day my counselor
Starting point is 01:22:00 called me the op or it was right after it was delivered she certified delivered it right it was like a day or two later and the counselor was like Brennan you're going and my brother's like yeah I think my calls must have finally got through to her I'm thinking you called her like 10 times dude she didn't care that letter definitely took care of yeah well last thing they last thing they want is bad publicity yeah and they were it was so fast but yeah I got to the halfway house and yeah Brandon Wilson is his name my friend then I worked for his buddy which was, it was weird. I had to take, like, two buses to go to the very edge of King County and work, and they allowed
Starting point is 01:22:37 it, which was cool, and I did construction for him, but I wasn't, like, really in the groove. I got out, and I wish I had more of your mentality where I got out and just knew what I wanted to do, and I didn't want to do construction. I wanted to do kind of a desk job because I was good at that before, but I didn't. And I don't know what it took, but eventually I started doing side work for my friend Brandon later on. And it's just like one day I was just getting that quick cash. And I like, I like this. And then I really grew to, I mean, I had done construction a little bit here and there for my dad growing up.
Starting point is 01:23:18 And just did. I was like, God, I couldn't imagine being outside all day. This just sucks. It's Washington. Yeah. And it rains. It's amazing. Okay.
Starting point is 01:23:27 Remember, I was thinking it's not hot. It's miserable in the fall in the winter. Oh, my God. I'd rather work in the cold. I guess not the rain, but I'd rather work in the cold than I would the hot, the heat. God, bro. Or I guess I really don't know, so I shouldn't say, but I've never worked in a really super cold. When it gets cold here, like you guys are wearing shorts.
Starting point is 01:23:49 No, yeah. No, I understand what you're saying. Working in this humidity would be very difficult, but it's 38. it's raining it's windy that is a hard i i would say my grandpa worked in alaska for like a long time and in washington and he said that the rain cold is the hardest because he's never been down here but right those two it's the hardest because you just you're you're sopping wet and you're freezing and it's easy to get sick but but eventually something just clicked where i got with that cat burglar woman you had on here called the hustle bug. I think it was her.
Starting point is 01:24:29 Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I got that and I just started like really growing an affinity for it and just absorbing everything I could and worked for some big name construction companies up there on some really beautiful houses, like Aegis living owner, he's a billionaire, worked on his house. The guy who made a Counterstrike, one of those guys worked on his house. Like really top end house. What is Counterstrike? I don't know. It was a video game for PCs made by a company called Valve. It was one of the very first, first person shooter games.
Starting point is 01:25:03 Just tell them you used to work for your story? You know, I didn't tell my story. You should have. No. But, yeah, my manager befriended me when I was in there, like, not until I got to the camp, like six years in. And then she told me, yeah, Brandon, we had picked your name for that manager position. You know what kind of hurt, though, is she? She's like, there were so many times where we almost pulled you in
Starting point is 01:25:26 because we knew you were using drugs, and we never did. And I'm like, well, that would have been nice. Because I had benefits-wise, they were phenomenal. I could have gone to, like, any of those treatment facilities you see on TV, and it would have paid for it. And it was like carte blanche. It was really good. Yeah, but she wanted to want to quit, too.
Starting point is 01:25:47 I kind of did, but I would have lost my girlfriend, which, oh, God. when I was in, when I was in prison, I met this guy. He comes up to me and he's like, hey, you're Brandon. And I'm like, I don't know you. And he's like, you're Brandon. Rickal's boyfriend or he said X. And I'm like, yeah. How do you know her?
Starting point is 01:26:08 And he's like, I'm Jeremy. It's me, Jeremy. I'm like, I don't know you. And he's like, what? And he's like, I was with Raquel while you're gone. And I'm like, were we supposed to be friends? Yeah. Is that making a sparrants?
Starting point is 01:26:23 Yeah, and he's like, oh, yeah, I'm, and he's like telling me like, I did these robberies too, and I'm in prison and she's out there. And I'm, like, thinking, wow, that's an interesting story. She bumps into a lot of robbers or she creates a lot of robbers. You know, I would say that it was our fault, but. Yeah, but there isn't, she wasn't saying, no, no, there's a better way. Let's quit. Let's go to rehab, get out, and start our lives over again. Now that never happened.
Starting point is 01:26:53 My ex-girlfriend, after the Jeremy thing, she was on my email list where I could email her. And Jeremy was really insistent that I tried to talk to her because she wasn't trying to talk to him. And I messaged her and I was like, I waited until he left. And I was like, hey, Jeremy was here and I ran into him. He wanted me to reach out to you. and I was not actively talking to her anything, but she replied right away. And she's like, oh, I figured you might run into him, tell war stories about me, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, okay, you know, not much to it.
Starting point is 01:27:32 I didn't stay in contact with her. One thing, though, that happened when I was in close custody wall, wall, that, oh, it was so frustrating. I had gotten like a couple letters from her total. Like, that was it. And we had been together for over a year. before right and like i took the whole rap for her she went home she was good i mean not saying that she needed to come in with me but her life continued down the same pathway like yeah yeah nothing was
Starting point is 01:28:02 changing it but while she didn't suddenly straighten up no okay so while it was in walla walla she sent money to my mom for me to put on my books for commissary first time she done anything for me And I needed it the whole time. My dad took care of me. My brother, Jordan, took care of me. And I had some other friends help me out. But she finally sent money. And my mom called her and she wasn't responding.
Starting point is 01:28:37 And she said it's for Brandon. And she didn't know specifically what. And my mom didn't hear back from her and knew that she was kind of hard up for cash and ended up sending it back to her. I was like, you're telling me she sent you money for me and you didn't put it on my account. And you sent the money back? I said, we will never see that money again, ever.
Starting point is 01:29:01 Right. She ended up, the ex did do one thing. I think at the next institution, she bought me a tablet, which was like $50. Right. So she did do something. and then I really didn't have any more contact with her. She ended up getting with a guy, and I believe they lived down near Miami somewhere,
Starting point is 01:29:27 but he was, she sent me, like, this is a cruel thing to do. And I was never mean to her cruel, ever. Like, I was really good to this girl. She sent me pictures of their wedding. Like, I wanted to see him with, like, her and her new baby. And I'm not, like, hating on this guy. Right. But he was horrible looking dude.
Starting point is 01:29:48 Like he, his eyes were like both ways and he had like the mullet. But apparently he was super rich. Okay. I was going to say. Yeah. Maybe I was about to say maybe he had a good personality or. Yeah. And I heard through the great bind, she was on and off the whole time.
Starting point is 01:30:06 And then I got out and her mom was like, she loved me. her mom always sought the highest of me because she knew like me as a little kid and she knew that i took the rap times yeah and i took the rap for her daughter and the husband was so jealous of of me like she was not allowed to talk to me or nothing sort of like your i'm sure relationships at some point where you don't want your ex talking to an ex right and i haven't talked to her in like since my wife and i got together um But I did talk to her a little bit once I got out, and she seemed like she was doing okay, finally on the straight and narrow. I think she's had like three kids now, but I did hear like she would like constantly up until almost COVID was just finally doing okay.
Starting point is 01:31:08 That's the last thing I heard, but I don't know anything else beside that. but yeah it just is one of those times where the state's sparing someone that probably should have got a little time and maybe strained out their life like she's lucky to be alive and in my opinion but well she'd already gone to jail at least once because you said you met her straight out of prison and she had done time remember and you said she was clean correct yeah she did she got 90 days in county and she did all 90 and i'm like why did you do all 90 and she's like oh i get in fight and I'm like, dang, like, she was savage, you know, she didn't put up with any shit or anything. I give her credit for that. I got one. Yeah. And, but she was not a loyal person at all, you know, and like my current wife, she's the exact opposite.
Starting point is 01:32:03 She's loyal to the end, you know, that's all you want in your girl. Or anyone really in your life that you really consider a friend or. families just to have her back when when you need it. She never had my back the other girl. Like sold me down the river to get out and I get it. I she was a young girl and
Starting point is 01:32:27 I didn't. I really didn't hate her for doing what she did. It was pretty shitty to send me those wedding pictures, but she probably didn't mean it to be shitty. She probably meant it to be like, hey, I'm doing well if you were curious. You think I mean, or are you think she was just a mean person i think it was a little vindictive i don't think that she was doing it to say hey i'm doing well like she sent baby photos with her and this guy and i at the time we always talked about having a kid it was it was cruel it wasn't like she did it in a way to seem non-crual but women can be funny sometimes man like they can be very crazy especially when they're
Starting point is 01:33:08 doing that the drugs that we were doing but i put myself in that position it's my fault it's not not blaming her in any way like especially for the crimes i know we we joked about it but it was entirely on me no one else um yeah i was gonna say my wife's never happier than when she picking on me i can even tell when she thinks mean things she'll look over at me and she'll grin i'll Like, what mean thing did you think just now? And she was like, nothing, nothing. I'm not going to say it. Some people are just, they're just mean-spirited.
Starting point is 01:33:47 No, you have a great wife. She's very nice. And I can tell, like, she kind of keeps you your head, though. Because I'm sure you would do some things that you probably wouldn't do if she wasn't around. You know what I mean? But I just think that it sounds stupid, but everything happens for a reason. I think that eventually I would have probably died. and somehow someday for doing a dumb robbery or doing the wrong drug.
Starting point is 01:34:14 I don't know, but it led me to where I am now, and I'm very happy. I can honestly say that. Like, life can be tough sometimes, and, like, we were talking about, like, there's days where you forget for a second, but then I go to bed and I, like, have a nightmare about prison or something, and then it all comes back to me. And it's about something that didn't even happen. And that's a weird thing. It's like I still have that cloud over my head.
Starting point is 01:34:42 I don't know why, but it's never gone away. I was going to say, Jess mentioned, I want to say it was last night. She is, do you ever like kind of almost forget about prison? Like you know what was there, obviously. But like that portion of your life seems so small now. She's compared to your life now. And I was like, she's like, I mean, she was like, I mean, obviously for me, it was smaller than, you know, yours.
Starting point is 01:35:10 But she's like, do you ever think that or do you, because you realize how much of a chunk of your life that was? And I, you know, I was just like, I don't really thought about it because I don't, I don't dwell on it that much, but I don't, but it's like there was a massive amount of time that I really don't focus on that much. It seems, like it definitely, you know, I definitely can, you know, I remember and I think back to it, but it does seem like it's taken such a back. burner and it's become such a small portion of my life when in fact it was a huge portion
Starting point is 01:35:42 it was a huge just you know almost 13 years that's a huge portion you're what almost 10 years you know I'm saying so I mean I get I get what you're you know what you're saying like it seems like I don't know like sometimes I forget about it and like it doesn't seem like it's weighing on me that much every once while I'll tell a story about something and it'll hit me you know it'll be it'll be hard to talk about or think about it and he'll come back like in a rush and then but for the most part I feel like it's the further like it gets away from me the smaller it it is it's not like it has a huge influence like it did it for me it's a subconscious it just it's weird I have these horrible nightmares about it's like I'm going to go back or something and I'm like oh my God
Starting point is 01:36:30 how long have you been out five years five and five and five and five and five and five years actually but I don't know what is I still have a couple friends in there, but I haven't gone and seen him. One of my friends really wants me to go see him, but he got out, got a job at Costco, and he got fired. He got on drugs again, but he got fired for just being late, just an idiot. And he's a good friend of mine, but he wants me to go see him. I probably will eventually, but I don't know why. Like, I don't think about it during the day. If anything I think about, if I do, then I think how you do where I'm like, thank God I'm not there. You know, could you imagine being there in COVID or, you know, just there's so many days.
Starting point is 01:37:11 I remember being so bored because they lock us down or, you know, just anything happens that, like, the water gets shut off. They're like, no showers today when you come back from work and you're like, and I've been under desks all day and these DSHS offices. This is disgusting. Like, no way. And I'm just grateful. But sometimes I have to think about. it because it's easy to get caught up and just, you know, be like, and get mad or, you know, almost get road rage. But then I'm like, what's this going to do? Yeah.
Starting point is 01:37:47 How is this going to work out for me? No, if I think about it at all, it just makes me feel appreciative of being out and, you know, how just awesome it is out here, you know. And, bro, it was awesome when I was sleeping in that chick's spare room. That was awesome. If you sleep hot at night, you know how disruptive that can be. Whether you're having trouble falling asleep, you're waking up sweating in the middle of night or all of the above.
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Starting point is 01:39:31 things are out here, you know. And I think it would have been, and it was like I said, it was like that when I was, when I was broke, when I was in the halfway house, the whole time, the spare room, the whole time, you know, the one bedroom I was, you know, every single step, like I've just been so happy to just be out of prison and be out here and everything's so good. Because I think I would, my, my situation was so just, you know, desperate to begin with that I just kind of thought I'm going to be there until them 60-something years old and may I'll probably die in prison. And who knows? Like if you get sick in there, you just, you know, there's just a good chance you may just die.
Starting point is 01:40:09 Unless it's something they can basically fix fairly easily. But I'm just saying so many guys get, they get cancer, things that need immediate attention. They don't. You need something that's expensive and needs immediate attention. Yeah, bro, you've got a problem. There was a guy with a gallbladder he needed out. And when I was in the medium, he was getting out in a month. And they were, and he got.
Starting point is 01:40:29 jaundice and they were trying everything in the world just to keep him alive enough to get him out the gate and he eventually got so sick that he like pretty much fell over and he was a young guy he was probably like 30 and they took him to the hospital and the hospital was just livid they were like what the f like no one's helped you like yeah he had been getting seen and they had to give him here some ibuprofen and they had to do an emergency like he would have died they were like you will you will die if we send you back right now and they they fixed them but it's they are really bad sometimes about taking care of people like what i remember when i went that seems dumb but as a young 24 year old you don't think for sure you're getting out like
Starting point is 01:41:13 i did not see the light at the end of the tunnel until i probably got to the camp when i had three and a half years left or something it's just kind of weird where you just think something is going to happen they're going to come get me like i still had that feeling till the very end Oh, yeah. Well, I've told you. I've told you. Sorry. I mean, I've talked about that before. I talked about that the other day with, we did a video on getting on like finishing probation. Listen, for the first six months or so, the door, I'd hear a knock at the door. I kept thinking I was going to open the door and there were going to be a couple of sheriff's deputies or a couple of marshals there with somebody saying, listen. They got out, bro. Like, I'm sorry. Turn around. Like, like, you got an extra three. There was a miscalculation. You got an extra eight months or an extra three. years or the court just reversed whatever. And then you're like, I almost felt like that was going to happen. And if it had, I'd almost been like, oh, I kind of thought something might happen. Yeah, let me cuff up, you know.
Starting point is 01:42:10 Like, I mean, I was that felt like it or count like around about 3.30, 3.45, I would start feeling sick to my stomach because in the federal system, you have to be standing in your cell waiting to be counted. Shut your mouth. Don't talk. You know what I'm saying? Like, don't say anything. Don't.
Starting point is 01:42:29 It has to be quiet. Just nothing. And you've got 180 guys in their, in their cells. Completely quiet. Waiting for the cops will walk by, you know, with a little, some of them have clickers. Some are just like, and there'll be two of them walking for the shift, right? So by four o'clock is what it happens. But you already know, you know it's coming.
Starting point is 01:42:54 So you're getting your stuff. So you start feeling uncomfortable. And when I was out for six months while I was out, I would feel sick because they count you in the halfway house too. So not at 4 o'clock if you're at work, but, you know, so I would feel sick to my stomach for six months after I got out, one, thinking they're going to come get me. And two, well, it's close to count. And then eventually you realize like, nobody's counting you, nobody's coming for you.
Starting point is 01:43:18 You know, eventually that, you know, kind of, you know, fades away. But yeah, it was just, it's funny because I've talked to guys who have been like, oh, yeah, yeah, around count kind yeah yeah it's like you you get that that anxiety like i'm supposed to be in my cell even though you know there's no cell to go to there's it doesn't matter it's an irrational thought it's like having a panic attack yeah you know it's completely irrational you could be telling yourself i'm having a panic attack and there's one part of you is saying everything's fine it'll pass and the other part of you selling saying you're about to die and your your heart's racing and you're thinking that's it's it's about to die oh my god what have i done what's got to happen
Starting point is 01:43:52 what and you're like then the other part of you just going it's fine it's a panic attack It'll be over in 30 seconds. It's the same thing. It's just it's irrational. You know what's happening and yet you've got this emotional or physical, sometimes physical nervousness. It's anxiety, you know. Yeah, I know how you feel.
Starting point is 01:44:12 I don't know if you heard. Our state actually did that where they miscalculated a ton of people's time because of enhancements and people were released and they were going and getting them, rounding them up, sending them back and making them do the rest of their time. and that's disgusting it was so sad to see and i had like a couple people i knew really well and they had to come back and they're like i have a year and half left and i'm like well where were you and they're like i was out i had a job i had a girl i had this and now it's all gone and i'm like oh my god i couldn't imagine and then that guy gets out and he goes out he gets
Starting point is 01:44:46 frustrated anxiety he can't reacclimate to society he goes out he commits a robbery or burglar or something and it's oh well see he's a scumback no he he was he was doing okay you're not giving him a chance to begin with and then he this guy put his life back together you yank him up again i'd have a grudge against society yeah they did it to an i mean a huge number of people like i don't know how big of a number but it was a lot i mean a couple of them were like yeah i kind knew they were going to come because they knew what their sentence was supposed to be right they were like they can't do math that ain't my fault it's embarrassing though like how can you be that dumb where you can't figure out the basic math on someone's crime i know that there's a bunch
Starting point is 01:45:31 but it's your job it's it's and not just that it's it's software yeah it's like you get out in 12 and a half years you know i'm saying it's not it's not rocket science no but they didn't have that software they must have done it a different way and then put it into the computer after they did the math on a little calculator. Like, it blew my mind, but it did happen towards the end of my sentence. What about those two guys that got themselves released? I think they actually, like, filed release papers or something in the court, and they actually got themselves relief.
Starting point is 01:46:02 Really? Yeah, I want to say, if I have it right, there was two guys that had someone on the outside file release papers in the court and then send them to the prison, and the prison put them into the system. Next thing you know, they get. hey, you're being released on Tuesday. Oh, okay. And they released them.
Starting point is 01:46:23 And then they figured it out shortly after, and then they went after them. I think that's what happened. I probably got it wrong. But it's something, it was like that. Like, it was literally like they just had someone dummy up some paperwork and send it in, and it released these two guys. They ended up getting caught. But probably worth it, maybe.
Starting point is 01:46:40 I don't know. I don't know. Maybe. I had one cellmate that his name was Dave Campbell, and he was at Walla Wall a medium and he gets sent down to Oregon for a DUI and this is probably in the early 2000s and he had like five years left and they run his DUI concurrent for time served and they take him to the holding cell and the cop's like hey going home today and Dave's like oh yeah yeah and Dave was a funny guy and he was like chubby with a mullet and he's like yeah yeah yeah I'm going
Starting point is 01:47:16 know him and the cop walked off and he took all his paperwork and he literally just ate some of it and flush the rest down the toilet he's like i swear to god and i just sat there and i waited as anxious as i've ever been in my life and he said on everything they let me go and i ran across the bridge in portland and i was he was out for a week or two and then i think his aunt or someone turned him in but they made it seem like he was an escaped convict like he did it and And he ends up, he loses all of his good time. The Walla Wallace says, nope, all your good time's gone. But then he files an appeal and he's like, no, I have the right to remain silent and not
Starting point is 01:47:55 incriminate myself. Because had I walked out and said that, then that's exactly what would have happened. So they reversed it. So he ended up going back, but he's like, it was a great two weeks. I wouldn't have changed it. It was awesome. There was a guy who was, I want to say it was a bank rob or something. I don't know what he initially did.
Starting point is 01:48:13 He got out of prison. And everybody, he'd been locked up for like 30 years or something. And he said, he was getting out, what did he say? I don't forget the whole story, but he basically said there were three things he wanted to do. He wanted to go to the track. He wanted to like get drunk and he wanted to get laid. And he got to the halfway house and he left the halfway house or something. And then they scooped him up.
Starting point is 01:48:41 And then he came back to Colvin. And this was when I was at the medium. And everybody was like, somebody said they were talking to him. They said, hey, bro, like, did you do all three things you wanted to do? He's like, man, I got two of them out of the way. It was so like, I was like, well, what were they? You know? Yeah.
Starting point is 01:48:58 I don't know what they were. But he was just, he was like, you know, I got two of them out of the way. I was like, one. What were they? That's awesome. Let me tell you my, my, I want to ask yours to you. Okay. My favorite prison story.
Starting point is 01:49:11 You mentioned one of yours, but one of mine. was there was this guy his name was Bulldog I met him in the Wall Wall of Medium and he was struck out and he was like a younger guy and he was just one of those people that
Starting point is 01:49:24 he was like probably minorly special needs you know what I mean and just would never have made it in society he needed some help but he was one of those people in there that was like very institutionalized but supposedly he was a great fighter
Starting point is 01:49:40 and he said that when he was early on there, he saw this kid come in. And, you know, back in the day, well, people would come in, you know, these kids are just nobodies and guys would come up to them and send him on a mission. And this guy came up to this kid and he's like, hey, you see that guy over there standing? I don't know where they were, maybe on the yard. And he's like, you need to go take off on that guy. And the kid looks at him and he goes, why? Why would I do that when he's all the way over there?
Starting point is 01:50:21 And the guy's like, because he's a piece of shit and you need to go take care of business if you want to prove yourself. And the kid probably was just there for a day or two. Just got there. And the kid's like, I don't know why I would go all the way over there when you're right here. And the guy's like, what do you mean? I'll prove myself, I'll beat your ass, right? Yeah, and he goes, but he's all the way over there, and you're right here. And the guy, like, maybe said one more word, and the kid just beat the shit out of this guy.
Starting point is 01:50:56 And the kid came back. I said, well, what happened to the kid? Did they beat him up? And Bulldogs said, no, he was like, I said that he was going to be with me, and they let it slide. I believe this story. I mean, he was kind of a weird guy, but I, I, I, do think that there was some truth to it but it's like we were talking about the other night some of these these kids or these people that you least expect are some of the most brutal people they
Starting point is 01:51:27 really are like one there's this guy is he was tiny little API guy when I was in the camp and there was this other guy who is just Billy badass act like he was super tough and apparently he got this shit kicked out of him there was like blood all over and the police came they were doing like a walkthrough with a video camera for like a crime scene and it turned out the little the little guy just almost this guy and with his bare hands and they thought there for sure was a weapon but it was just his hands that's it nothing else but that was probably my favorite story i i love that and it was great i love that hey you guys if you like the video do me a favor, hit the subscribe button, hit the bell so you get notified of videos just like this.
Starting point is 01:52:15 And please share the video because that is so important to the algorithm. It's huge. Also, please consider joining our Patreon because we put Patreon exclusive content. We got a whole slew of stuff that we talked about here that isn't going to make this video because we went, okay, I was going to say we went off on tangent, but because I went off on a tangent for an hour, 45 minutes, what did you say? An hour. an hour, I went off on an hour, for an hour long tangent, and it was what, it was about, it was about
Starting point is 01:52:44 basically people that I've seen that were a part of my conspiracy in Tampa, people that I've seen since I left prison and interactions that we've had that have, in some cases I think were okay, and in some cases, we're really bad. So, uh, we're going to put that on Patreon. Patreon is $10 a month. We get put Patreon exclusive content on Patreon. That's why we call it Patreon exclusive content. So, and it's only $10 a month, and I really do appreciate it. Thank you guys so much for watching. Oh, wait a minute.
Starting point is 01:53:15 Do you have anything you want me to put? You have like a social media or anything you want me to put? No, nothing to link. Just thanks for watching, guys. Okay. Brandon's a bigger person than me. He has no social media, so he's not interested. But I appreciate you guys watching.
Starting point is 01:53:31 Thank you very much. See you.

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