Psychics, Exotic Dancers & Life in Prison | The Twisted Fate of Jacob Gentry
00:00And I saw a sign and it said, Psychic.I went in there and I'll never forget this.She said, I hate to be the one to have to tell you this.He said, in the middle of August, something's going to happen to you.And you cannot fathom the severity of this.Life, as you know it, is about to be over with.Your whole world's about to get ripped apart.As soon as I graduated high school, I went to Iowa and started working on a pipeline.
00:22I went to a pipeline job in Michigan.And, you know, I met a girl up there and I was with her for like eight years.I got into, you know, some, some not so good stuff.You know, I started doing drugs and getting into that lifestyle.Drug use or are you selling drugs?No, I was.Okay.I was selling them.
00:44I was on my way back from Albuquerque, New Mexico with a trunk load of pot.And I got pulled over, ended up bailing out.I was sick, man, over that.And I thought, you know, I'm about to go to prison for this.and this was like before it wasn't legal in Michigan yet you know but it was right right aroundthe time they were starting to legalize it but uh yeah i got out and uh i was on my waygoing through Chicago and I saw a sign in this place and it said psychic and uh I had been toa psychic in Michigan that knew things about me like the things that were going on in my life
01:23like she just immediately started talking about it and it just blew my mindway, like there's no way somebody could have known these things. So I believed in that. So I sawthe sign and I went in there as soon as I walked through the door, the lady, she was like an old,she had like jet black hair and dark eyes. She was like a gypsy, I guess. And she said,what's this terrible thing that's happened to you? And I said, well, I got pulled over on Interstate94 was something I wasn't supposed to have. And police took my truck. She said, they tookeverything. And I said, yeah, pretty much.She said, here, shuffle these cards.
01:59So I sat down and shuffle these tarot cards, and one card just flipped out and landed face down on the floor.And I didn't think anything of it, you know.I was a 27-year-old kid and a young man, I guess you can say.And I reached down to pick the card up.And, you know, I guess she knew there was a reason why that card came out.And she yelled from across the table and said, don't touch it.And she screamed, you know, like it caused me to jump in my seat a little bit.And she got up from their chair and she walked around and squatted down the floor and flipped that card over.
02:35And when she did, she kind of gasped.She was like, and just looked at me crazy.And I said, why are you looking at me like that?She said, I'll never forget this.She said, I hate to be the one to have to tell you this, but this terrible thing that's happened to you,the reason why you came here, this thing that you're so worried about, she said, you might as wellforget about it because it's the least of your problems. He said, in the middle of August,something's going to happen to you, and you cannot fathom the severity of this.
03:07He said, life, as you know it, is about to be over with. Your whole world's about to get rippedapart. It's going to look really bad at first, and you're going to think about giving up,but you're not going to give up. You're going to come back from it, and you're going to live a happy lifeand have three children.That's pretty specific.I mean, it's not, it's not 100% specific.That's pretty, that's more than a generality.Well, I mean, as obviously that it changed my whole life, you know, meeting that lady.
03:37And then what actually ended up happening to me in the middle of August, just like she said.So in the middle of August, matter of fact, August has 31 days.I went out on August the 16th.I had gone to, so I was out on bail.I told my lawyer, like, look, I got a job offer in Pine Island, New York to go work on a pipeline.He's like, well, as your attorney, I can't legally advise you to leave the state, but do what you got to do.So I said, all right, I'll be at all my court dates or whatever.So I went to Pine Island, New York to work on a pipeline job.
04:15And I had met this girl.I mean, if you Google it, you know, they made a big deal about her, like being a dancer, you know, exotic dancer, whatever you want to call it.Right.And I was out there.Matter of fact, she bought me the bus ticket to go there because the police had taken my truck, you know.And anyway, I was there for five days and she called me and was like crying and she's like, I want to come out there with you.And I was just like, all right, cool.So I was living in this place.
04:53It was called the Legends Hotel and Resort, but it used to be the Playboy Club.Like Hugh Heffner built that place.There was swimming pools and tennis courts, and it was out on it like a ski.You know, there was a ski slope.And, you know, it used to be a really popping place.But by the time I lived there, it was a little bit, the lapidate kind of run down.You know, they called it the shiny.and but anyways it was full of pipeline workers i want to say there were like 700 guys there
05:22and i went to work and was like hey man i met the stripper at the strip club and she mustcome out here and live with me and uh you know i was happy about it like i was lonely you knowlike sure but um anyway so that guy i guess he went and told somebody and then that guy went andtold somebody and then like by the time the girl pulled up to that place it was like that wholebuilding was just waiting to see this girl that was coming to stay there and I I knew I knewit wasn't going to go over well like and I told her I said look like I was working crazy hoursI worked on the environmental crew and you know it was my job to like contain like erosioncontrol and mud like get mud getting on the roads and mud water
06:13washing away like and it was how it's it rained it torrentially poured you know the whole timewe were there it seemed and so I was working like 90 hours a week like I would literally go to workat 6 a.m. and then work till like 3 a.m. and come home and pass out with like muddy ass clothes on for liketwo hours and then jump back awake and run out the door you know with the same clothes on and so therewas a lot of guys that weren't, you know, they were working six tens, you know, 10 hours a day,coming home at 5 o'clock and going to the hotel bar.Well, I told the girl, her name was Emily, I said, look, you know, it's not that I'm jealous,you know, I don't want you talking to be, you know, it ain't like that.
07:01I said, but I don't think it's a very good idea for you to be down at hotel bar with my coworkers.Like if you want to hang out, like go down the street, go to a local place in town, meet somelocal people, but don't be down there with my co-workers because these guys are kind of rougharound the edges, you know what I mean? And somebody's going to say something to you or do somethingto you and you're not going to like it and you're going to come back crying to me and want meto do something about it. And look, I'm not even supposed to be out here. You know, like, I don't want,I don't need to see no police. Right. I was afraid they were going to be like, oh, what are youdoing in the state? You're out on bail? You know what I mean? Yeah. And so, any,
07:41way like it wasn't a week later she was come pick me up from the job you know we would come back tothe warehouse where we left from in the mornings it was like three o'clock in the morning i get in hercar and she just looks at me she's like look i got to tell you something like i don't want to tell youthis but um i feel like i have to he's like there's this guy and they call him frog and likehe grabbed my ass and that's you know set a bunch of dirty stuff to herAnd I was like, I told you that's what it was going to happen.And now, you know what I mean?And this is exactly what I did not want to happen.
08:17And I was like, look, I said, I'll find out who it is.I'll talk to the dude.And like, seriously, I didn't want to fight nobody.Like I said, I did not want to see no cops.All I wanted to do was, you know, get my paycheck and go to the house.But anyway, I go to work and I asked somebody like, hey, who's this dude?They called frog.And so apparently it got back to him that I was asking about him, you know, asking who he was.
08:47So I'm coming home from work.It's probably 10 o'clock at night, one night, which is probably like an early night to get off for me.But I had to walk past the hotel bar to get to the elevator.So I'm walking past the bar as I'm walking up to it.I could see Emily was down there.And I'm just like, oh, hell no.like she started this drama and now she's back down here again like I didn't I didn't really know what had happened yet there's some stuff that had transpired but that I didn't know about like see uh so there was a guy his name was Paul and I like I was cool with him you know that I didn't really mess with nobody that much outside of work but me and this guy were pretty cool and he worked on a different crew than me and but he heard about these guys like they wereplanning to like jump me that night when I came home. So he went to the room and told Emily like
09:44knocked on the door like, hey, you need to call him and tell him like they, them guys goingjump him when he comes to the door tonight. Well, I didn't get to call because, you know,she would blow my phone up at work and we're not supposed to be on our phones. So I just had toturn the phone off. You know what I mean? It was getting to be a problem. So I never got tomemo, you know, that there was dudes waiting to jump me when I got home. But so she had, when she heardthat she went down there to like confront them like oh why are you going to jump my boyfriend whatdo you do you know what I mean and I guess the dude like I don't know exactly what he did or what he saidbut she ended up like punching him in the mouth with her keys and then this big lady that was like
10:22cool with that group of guys like she beat the hell out of her like I couldn't I couldn't tell she wasbeat up when I first walked in because she was pretty far away for me but anyway so I'm walkingas I'm walking past the bar she comes running up to me trying to talk to me and I'mlike ignoring her you know like I'm just I was mad I was because she was down there and I waslike you know this this chick's bugging so as I'm walking to the elevator I hear somebody whistleand I turn around and look and it's this dude frog and uh so and it's crazy because I kindof knew who he was because like a week or two earlier we had been I think she said she wanted to gohunt for bears because there's a lot of bears up in that area in Vernon New Jersey so we
11:07were like driving around looking for bears and we had come back and we go to get in the elevatorand this little weird little dude gets up from the bar where he was sitting and follows us inthe elevator and like is all up in our faces just acting super weird and uh if she had just told me likeit was that weird dude from the elevator the other day like none of this probably would haveever happened because i would have known exactly who it was i mean i can't say that but anyway thatthis was who it was the little dude frog he ran up on me swingingAnd, you know, I'm not going to let nobody punch me in the face.Like, I protected myself, you know, and put a stop to that real quick.
11:47And the security ran in, too.And I kept it moving.You know what I mean?I wasn't trying to stick around.I was just trying to get to my room.So then I get in the elevator, and this dude's buddies followed me in the elevatorand, like, jumped me in the elevator.So I'm got my head down, and Emily's behind me.
12:05And I'm, like, fighting these two big-ass dudes.finally get them out of the elevator doors and the door shut and like and then i turned aroundand looked at emily and that's that was the first time when i saw like she was really beat up likeshe had two black eyes and i'm pretty sure her nose was broke because it was like that fat it wasso swollen and she actually went to the police she went to the police and like filed a policereport and the cops were like they told her we believe you've been sexually assaulted and we'llinvestigate this. And obviously she was physically assaulted. She had two black eyes and a brokennose. And, uh, but they didn't care. They felt they, they, they, they filed a police report that
12:44was like three sentences long on such and such a day. Emily Henry walked in the police and,uh, said she'd been sexually assaulted. That was pretty much it. Then, uh, you know, but it wasn'ta sexual, but you're saying she wasn't, she didn't say she was sexually assaulted. No, she did. She toldthem that the guy had like grabbed her ass and oh you know that and said some uh someperverted things to her so but yeah they were like that's the one thing i remember from that reportlike we they told her well we we believe that was a sexual assault and we're going to investigateit but then they didn't do anything until months later when the big incident happened but uh that'snot even the end i'm trying to like keep it linear for you so after that happened i got
13:31I got up to my room, and I was pretty pissed, you know, that them guys had ganged up on me like that.And especially, like, when I didn't even want to fight nobody.So we go to work the next day, and every Monday morning, you know, we would have a safety meeting.Like, there's a guy up there, like talking in a microphone, talking about, you know, incidents, like safety, you know, reports.Like, if somebody got hurt at work, you know, like they had to report that.but if nobody gets hurt, like, you know, they, it's, it's just a safety meeting.People probably know what that means, but, so at the safety meeting, the guy starts talkingabout people outside of work, need to mind their manners and act of civilized at the hotel
14:21because we represent the company, you know what I mean?And, like, he, he was talking about us.Like, he, he heard about a.fighting at the hotel and he was basically saying like y'all y'all need to act like somebody and quitquit that but during the whole time those guys were over there like pointing and smiling andlaughing and uh heckling me i don't know what the word for it is you know what i mean uh whatever uhand so like when it was over you know i walked past them and i was just like y'all y'allain't tough you know if it takes three of you to beat me up like you guys ain't tough um
14:59So anyway, they're like, what time you get off?We'll be, and I said, I don't know.It's always different.And they said, well, we'll be waiting for you.And I was like, yeah, you know, y'all go ahead and do that again.And, you know, I didn't back down from them.But so anyway, like a couple, a week or two maybe later, I'm up in my room.And Emily had gone back to Michigan.
15:23She, like, she was in college at Michigan State University to get like a degree or a certificate to become.a teacher and she had like one last test that she had to take so she drove all the way toeast lansing took the test and drove all the way back well she she called me and was likei'm like five minutes away can you can you come down and like walk me in so nobody bothers meand i was like yeah i'll do that and then she goes hey stop at the bar and get us a drinkshe said get me a vodka and tonic and get you whatever you want so i was like all rightSo I go up to the bar.I order her a vodka and tonic.
16:02I ordered me a double shot of Crown Royal and Cherry Coke.And I'm sitting there waiting for the bartender to make the drinks.And this guy came up to me.And he's like, hey, man, I know you don't know me.But I just came over here to tell you, like Frog and his boys,they're over there on some bullshit again.And they're fixing to jump you again.He's like, you ought to just go back to your room.
16:26I said, well, I appreciate the heads up, man.but I don't care if Hulk Hogan and Rodney, Macho Man Savage and the Ultimate Warrior down here,like, I'm not running for nobody, you know.They can just, if that's what they're going to do, they can do it.So the bartender gave me the drinks.I walked outside the little double doors.I'm walking down the sidewalk, and I hear the same, that whistle.And the dude, hey, hey, hey.
16:54So I just think to myself, like, well,Well, maybe if I just ignore him, you know what I mean?If I just pretend he ain't here, he'll just go away.Well, I just kept walking.I just didn't pay no attention to him.Well, he runs around me, around the sidewalk off into the grass, you know,and then he stands in front of me and, like, pokes his chest out, like, blocking my way.And I was just like, what, man?
17:22He said, you got my drinks.I was like, what?he's as I was like I was shocked you know I didn't even know what to say to that I said uh I don'tthink so man he said yeah I think so so I'm just like all right I know what I know what it is youknow he wants to fight whatever so I turn around and set the drinks down on the sidewalk and likebefore I could even set the drinks down like the dude started like hooking off on me likepunched me in the back and uh I set the drinks down and I turn around and I beat his assAnd, like, during something, I kept telling him, don't get up.
18:00Don't get up, man.I'm going to knock you back out again.And, like, I, you know, I said before, like, I, like, a Mortal Kombat of that dude.Like, and that's what it was like, you know, he, I was just, it was crazy.But he kept getting up, and I kept telling him, don't get up.But anyway, at some point, I got punched in the back of the head, and I turned around,and all his friends were there, you know, and I was just like, look, I knew I couldn'tbeat them all up you know i really wish i knew you guys don't want to see your friend get beat up
18:30but you know i didn't i didn't ask for this i didn't want to fight nobody um you know if youdon't want to see him get beat up just take them and get them out of here you know and i guessi kind of like a cord with them because you know they they were like well i guess kind of gotkind of got a point they his friends were like uh yeah he's got a point frog and he is he'swhooping your ass and so frog was likeHe threw his arms out to the side.He's like, I don't care.Hit me.
18:59Hit me.Hit me.And I was like, I don't want to hit you, man.Just get out of my face.Just leave me alone, please.And about that time, Emily comes walking up out of the parking lot.And, you know, probably wondering where I was at because I told her I was on my way out there.And she looks and she sees me, like, out of breath and sees dude beat up.
19:19And she realizes what's going on.And she's like, oh, no, not these guys again.And, you know, she said something and Frog said, hey, Adelaide, I need to go in the house.I got to talk about stuff and kids are not supposed to hear this.So he was like, I'll slap the out of you.And, you know, he started like charging over there to her, like advancing towards her.And, you know, I wasn't going to, I wasn't going to let him touch her.Right.
19:53I started, you know, I started beating them up again, you know.And about that's when the time, like, they all just, like, his little brother was there.His little brother come running like 40 miles an hour and just Goldberg speared me in the side.And I remember for like probably three weeks after that, like from my rib cage down to my knee, like my whole side just turned black like it was bruised.like but uh so he he like knocked me off of him and then there was like one person had one armone person had this arm another person had one leg another person had like there was likefour guys like holding me down and now all of a sudden you know frog's tough as hell he comes overtrying to like punch me in the face and somehow like I got my arms freed and um I got I grabbed him
20:46by the wrist, you know, and I'm holding his, holding his wrist so he can't punch me in the face.And he said, I don't give a fuck. I'll bite your nose off. And he, like, comes in to try tobite my nose and Emily come out with some pepper spray. Now, she, she told me that her bossat the Deja Vu and Lansing had given her that. But, like, looking back, I almost feel likeshe got it because that lady beat her up and she was scared, you know.But I don't know. I just know that she told me it was given to her by her boss back in Lansing.But so she had that and she sprayed dude in the face and, you know, he was trying to bite my nose off.His face was right in my face. So it blinded me too. And everybody just scattered after that.
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22:32Shop now at IKEA.ca.Comes out and I'm like pouring waterand my eyes try to see again and I had to like feel the walls and like feel my way to theelevator I finally get up to my room and I'm just getting like to where I can see barely againand I hear a at the door and I looked at her and I was like that sounds like the copsand I was like it's either the cops or them dudes found out what room we're in and they wantsome more sauce so I go to the door and it was the police and uh they saidJacob? And I was like, yes, sir. And they said, we, uh, we heard what happened to you. Can we come
23:13in? I said, I'd rather come out there if you don't mind. And they said, that's fine. So I go outinto the hallway. And, uh, I said, you know, I wasn't going to call the police. But since you guys arehere, uh, no, I ain't okay. And, uh, I said, you know, I didn't come out here to raise helland pick fights and get drunk. And you know what I mean? Like I come out here. And, uh, I come outhere just to work this job and make my money and go home and be left alone. And I can't do that.You know, this is where I live. And, you know, I had to fight three dudes like the first time.And tonight, there was like five of them. Like, what do I got to do? Fight 10 people next.And they said, well, unfortunately, Mr. Gentry, it's not even a crime to fight in the state of New Jersey.
24:02They said, it's just a disorderly person's. It's a misdemeanor. They said, unless they used a weapon on you,or unless you were seriously injured, or unless we personally witnessed the attack take place,we can't do anything about it.So I was just like, all right, whatever.Like, the cops don't care.Obviously, you know, I got to get out of here because somebody's about to get hurt becauseI'm not going to let these people beat me up, you know.And I got a newspaper, and I looked houses for rent.
24:34And the first place I found was in Port Jervis, New York.It was like an hour away.I was paying like seven or $7.50 to live in that hotel a month, and it was like 15 minutes away from my job.Well, I go to move to New York, which is an hour away from my job, and I had to pay $1,500 a month plus $1,500 deposit.So I had to spend $3,000, and it was a big inconvenience to me, but I knew I had to get out of there.And as we're walking out, you know, with all our stuff, one of those bartenders, she saw us and, like, chased us outside.side to my truck and was like, where, where were you guys going? I said, man, I got to get out of here. Like, I, this is not going in well. You know, like, this is crazy. And she's like, well, the troublemakers got kicked out last night. And I'm like, oh, well, that really sucks because I've already given this lady money. Uh, so I moved out anyway. But, you know, had she told me that, like before I paid that money, like I wouldn't, I wouldn't have left because it was a, like I said, it was an inconvenience on me.to move. So we moved to a house in Port Jervis and probably a month went by. And like my, my little brother was actually, he was working on a pipeline in Arizona. And he was on his way to Massachusetts to file an unemployment claim. Because at that time, Massachusetts had like this weird rule that you don't have to live or work in math. They paid the highest too. Back then it was like $5.50.
26:08a week and that was more than any other state in the country and you didn't have to live or workin Massachusetts. You just had to work. If you worked in three different states, you could fileunemployment out of Massachusetts. I know that's weird, but it's true. Or it was. It used to belike that anyway. So he was on his way to Massachusetts to file an unemployment claim and his truckbroke down or he wrecked in Neptune City, New Jersey. So I was like, I don't worry about it,man. You know, just come out and stay with me until you get your stuff straightened out.And so he did and I, uh, there was a guy at work named Jose and like he was always asking me to go out, hang out and hang out, you know, go out. And I said, well, you know, my brother's coming tonight. And I want you to meet my brother. So okay. And I told him we would. And so my brother gets to my house in New York and he didn't want, he had just broken up with his girlfriend, just wrecked his truck and he did not want to go out at all.you know and he told me that i don't want to go i don't want to go where and i was like dude like
27:13i told this guy we would like you know what i mean like i'm big on keeping my word if i tellsomebody i'm going to do something i was like please just do it for me and uh i remembertalking to my mom that night too and she was worried she's like well what about those guys you knowlike and so i had seen frog after that second fight you know i saw him at work and he wasn'tlike heckling me anymore you know like he saw me he looked and he turned around and walked the otherway. So I was just like, nah, that's over with, Mom. You ain't got to worry about that.So anyway, long story short, Jose, he comes out to the house in New York and we drive Emily'scar to a bar in Greenwood Lake, New York. State will like closing time. I'm drinking like
27:55agger bombs and, you know, at 2 o'clock, they closed by state law, you know, and we are coming backfrom that and uh i knew like a faster way to go than the way we came and so i took a different wayand i've thought about this a million times like if i had just gone back the way we came and nottook this way none of this whatever but there's a lot of those things that you know rightcould have made all this happen differently but this is one of them the the route that i tookhome because when we were coming back we we came upon it's this restaurant it's called the jollyand it's in the place called the black dirt region of Pine Island, New York, and it's right by where we worked.And when Jose saw that restaurant, he realized that we were 15 minutes from the hotel.
28:49So he was like, hey, do you care to just drop me off at the hotel, and I'll get a ride up to pick my truck up tomorrow.And I'm like, yeah, all right, cool.Or no, I said, if Emily doesn't care, you know, Emily was driving.And I was like, if Emily don't care, I don't care.And she's like, yeah, that's fine.So we go to drop him off at the hotel, and it was still open.It was three o'clock in the morning.And they're, like, legally required to be closed by two, but they knew, like,
29:19them pipeliner's had money and were spending money, so they were, like, illegally open still.And, but he's like, come in and let me buy you one more drink.Now, I heard all the troublemakers got kicked out, you know.But what had actually happened, there was one guy.And he wasn't even kicked out for fighting me.He was kicked out for telling the bartender that he would kill her and kill her kids and bury them in the pipeline ditch.And he was part of the pipeline mafia and would make them disappear.And she filed a report.
29:53She filed a complaint.And they told him he wasn't allowed to be at the bar anymore.But as fate would have it, they allowed him to come back that night.And then he was in there slapping people.in the in the face trying to get somebody to go outside and fight them i didn't know it at the time buti found out from the surveillance videos and witnesses who were there like the guy was in theretrying to fight somebody and so jose asked me to come in and i remember at when i got out of thecar i looked up in the sky and i saw the full moon and it i just i felt i knew i was like oh
30:27shit you know like i felt the feeling of like foreboding like i knew something crazy was aboutto happen and uhI thought so many times, you know, I wish I would have just turned around, got back in the car and went home.But I walked in there, and I didn't even notice the guy in there.You know, this was like the biggest one of them.You know, he's one of the two that jumped me in the elevator after the, you know, the first fight with Frog.And I'm pretty sure he's the one that punched me in the back of the head.Like, you know, I couldn't see who punched me in the back of the head.
30:58I just know who was standing behind me when it happened.But anyway, I'm at the bar.drinking and Emily like whispers in my ear like that guy's behind you and like I turn aroundand I see him there and he's like glaring at me and he put his hand out to like shake my handand I didn't take it and anyway one thing led to another my brother is like who who who's thisI'm like this one of the guys that was jumping me and the guy didn't like that you know that I saidthat and he's like you want to go outside I ain't got to jump you and I'm just likewhatever bro and uh you know i'd been drinking and stuff so i walked outside to fight the dude
31:41and you know i thought i thought it just knocked them out and you know left went home throughmy clothes on the floor went to sleep and uh woke up the next morning like real super earlypolice banging on the door gold badges all in the windows and uh emily went to the door and iheard him say Emily and like they knew our names and everything. They're like, you guys needto put some clothes on and come with us. They said, this guy named Dave said he had a fight withyou. Could that be possible? And I'm like, yeah, yeah, it's possible. I'll tell you all about it,you know. I said, I guarantee you he ain't telling you the whole story. Um, so I gave them like ahundred, it started, you know, from the time they got me out of the house, you know, they had
32:29recorders on him and uh the transcription ended up being 176 pages long but i told him i told himthe whole story how i can't you know the first time i ever met that dude he was punching me in theface you know i didn't know before that and uh anyway i was like i don't understand why y'allcare you know you told me it's not a crime to fight like you didn't care when i was getting beat upso why why do you care about him right well he he's heard a little worse than you think he is and iI said, what's the matter with them? What's wrong?I mean, like, we'll tell you in a minute. And like, they know, they just wanted me to keep talking, you know.Yeah.
33:07They want me to realize that I was there for what I was there for and like lawyer up, I guess.But, uh, anyway, they end up pushing me in the courtroom and it's on a Sunday.And I'm, I'm just like, am I going to have a bail because, you know, I don't got time for this.Like, I've got to be at work. Um, and they're like, yeah, you'll have a bail.And I go in there and stand in front of the judge.And I'm like, where do they have court on?Sundays. You know what I mean? Like what is this? Like it was like a dream and um the judge saysyour charge was knowingly purposefully willfully inflicting serious bodily injury on David
33:42Earl Hallmark resulting in his death charged of first degree murder and I'm just like lookingbehind I knew the guy's name was Dave you know right but even though I've heard that like I'mlooking behind me like who is like I'm just here for fighting not me not he ain't talking to meAnd like, you know, they say denial was the first stage of grief.And I felt that because I heard what they said, but it just did not register.And my mind refused to process it.And so, yeah, they took me back in a cell.I was, they took me to the Orange County Jail in New York where I waived extradition.
34:24And they brought me to Sussex County, New Jersey, where it happened, which they're only like 15 minutes.away or so uh but it or man maybe 30 45 but um while i was in jail in new york like all thewhat that psychic told me all came back it just all came back to me at once she said in themiddle of august like i'm sitting there on august the 17th i went out the night of august the 16thdead ass in the middle of august and my life was definitely ripped apart it looked bad at firstyou know what i mean and i can remember telling that story like before i ever evenwent to trial. And I was on like the maximum security block. And I remember like grownass men crying. I'm like, but it's cool though, man. Like she told me this was going to happen,
35:08but she also told me I was going to come home. And I remember this dude just crying. And hekept saying, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm like, it's cool, bro. You cry if you need to.Like, it's all good. And, but I always, I think about that guy a lot. Like, I wonder if heknows that I'm home and everything. Hey, real quick, just wanted to let you guys know that we'relooking for guests for the podcast. If you think you'd be a good guest, you know somebody. Do me afavor. You can fill out the form. The link is in our description box. Or you can just email medirectly. Email is in the description box. So back to the video. Did you get Bond?No, my bail was 750,000 cash. So I sat in there for like three and a half years before
35:54I kept filing speedy trial motions, and the judge kept denying them saying, oh, three years is not a long time.What did your lawyer say?Did they give you a public defender?Yeah, I had a public defender.What did he say?He did the best he could.Like, I'll never have nothing bad to say about him.Like, he, I remember him, he told me that he told the prosecutor.
36:24He's like, you know, out of all the scumbag clients that I've had and all the people that I'verepresented him in my whole career as an attorney, he said there's one person that I would taketo my house and have around my children. You know who it is? And so that it was me, you know,and I did go to his house and meet his wife and his, you know, I spent the night at hishouse before. So, yeah, I didn't bail out. What happened at the trial? You went to trial?So, yeah, I couldn't believe, like, there's just no way, in my mind, I was like, there's no way that 12 people are all going to say guilty.There's going to be at least one person to hear this story and say, no, I'm not going with the all.I don't care if you have me in this room for 30 days.
37:08You know what I mean?I just knew there was hung jury would be the best they could hope for.But they came back with a verdict on, I was acquitted at first degree murder, but they came back with an aggravated manslaughter.conviction well i don't did you get up and tell them the story i did i took the stand in both trialswhat what who else testified that those all those guys like come back and tell their version of thestory so yeah they had frog and then they had no they didn't have they didn't bring chris frazybecause chris frasy had a really bad criminal record like he had like beat girls up with poolsticks and done a bunch of bad so they didn't want to bring him in there to show what kind of
37:48personally because you know that's all you can you know prior bad at like you can bring that up whenthey're on the stand to like dispute their credibility so they didn't bring chris phrasy who he wasthe other guy that you know jumped in the elevator but they did bring frog i mean did he saythat what really happened or did he alter it oh man yeah he he so frog wasn't even there thenight that the guy dave ended up dying you know right i understand but there was a back story ofthese guys. Oh, yeah. So, like, what I told you about the safety meeting when they were all, like, smiling and pointing and laughing at me, and they said they were going to be waiting on me. I looked at Frog, and I said, I'll beat the brakes off you, dude. I said, without your buddies, like, you're on your best day, you couldn't beat me. And then Chris Frazy, dude, he said, I don't remember what he said, but he chimed in. And I was like, oh, they said they were going to be waiting for me.And I said, yeah, y'all do that.So, you know, I work on the environmental crew.
38:48I said, I got about five machetes in the back of my truck, and they're sharp as hell.I said, I'll stick one of them down the back of my pants.And the first one of y'all that lays a finger on me, I will sever your head.And then the guy, Dave, he said something.And I was like, yeah, I got something for you, too.And so, yeah, as soon as it happened, those guys went to the detectives and were like, yeah, he said he was going to cut my head off.And he said he had something real special plan for Dave.I never said I got something real special plan for you.
39:15I just said I got something for you, too.All y'all can get it.Like, I'm not scared of none of you guys.But, but yeah, and I remember one of their, I've still got, like, right out in that barn right there.I still got all the reports and the, you know, statements.I've got the whole discovery and the trial transcripts and all that.But those guys, they told the cops, like, oh, we just thought he was a punk.You know, we weren't scared of him.
39:42And we didn't think he was nothing to be afraid of, but evidently he was.But, you know, I never wanted none of this to happen.How long was the trial?How long did the trial last?A few months.I mean, jury selection was probably a couple weeks just for that, you know?And, you know, they don't have it every day.It was like Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
40:03I started picking my jury right around the time that the verdict for Casey Anthony was coming back.Because I remember watching the Casey Anthony trial, and I said, well, this bitch is goingget away with this and they're going to smoke me watch and see and now that's what happenedso you end up they the jury comes back and ends up saying you know uh not guilty on murderbut guilty on manslaughter aggravated manslaughter aggravated yeah so the difference betweenaggravated and in regular reckless manslaughter is so reckless manslaughter is you showed an indifferencefor human life and ignored a possibility of death aggravated manslaughter is you showed anextreme indifference for human life and ignored a probability of death. Now, the detectives asked me
40:47how many times did I hit the dude? They were like 50? And I was like, no, hell no. Like maybe 10.And, you know, the medical examiner found that he was struck with approximately 11 blows is whathe said. So, you know, I was as honest as I could be about it. And I don't think, even if you elbowsomebody or knee somebody in the, you know what I mean? Hitting somebody 10 times is not probably going tokill them. Like, I watch, I've seen people get hit in the head with baseball bats andtire irons and all gotten hammers and not die. But yeah, they found that I, I showed extremeindifference for human life and ignored a probability of death by fighting him and hitting him11 times. And they gave me 30, 30 years with no early release, plus five years for failure to
41:35render aid to an injured victim. So, and that was to be served consecutively to the,the 30. So basically I got a 35-year sentence.I have a question. So you get 35 years. What did you feel like? Like were you justnumb? Yeah. Like I actually, I expected it. Like I even called it. I remember the morning of mysentencing, the nurse said, uh, what's going on, Gentry? I said, I'm getting ready to godown here and cop this 30 piece. And, uh, I did.The, you know, my lawyer was like, dude, you're coming back.You're coming back.
42:14Like, they, they cheated you.Like, you're kind of just don't go down there and start acting crazy.Just chill out.You're coming back.And so I did.You know, I stayed to myself and just stayed out of trouble.And the, the, I remember when I found out who my appellate attorney was, my, my cellmate has been, he's still in there.Like, we still talk.
42:39I just got an email from him this morning.But he's been down for 20-something years, and he knew this old man named Ray Cat.Well, Ray Kagnon's real name is Aurelio, but he's like a Colombo family mobster.He, like, I think I'm pretty sure he's doing time for, like, whacking a mob boss or something.But he's like, come on, let's go down the law library and talk to Ray.He said, Ray knows all that's all he does to sit down in here and read case law.tell you if your attorney's any good so we go down there and he's like hey ray man what's up thisis my boy country tell him who your lawyer is country and uh i said step and w curse and the old
43:22man said steve curse who's got steve curse you got steve curse i was like yeah i got steve cursedand he goes kick back you're already home and i was like it's like that he said well i'll put it to youthis way nobody can win them all but i bet you this guy wins two out of three and uh so i go backto the cell you know get on the phone i call my mom i'm like mom uh this guys they're saying that mylawyer's really good and uh so i told my mom and you know she she contacted him and then i talked to heragain and she's like he he said give him a couple months you know to read your transcriptsAnd then he's going to let me know what he thinks.So about three, four months goes by.
44:09She talks to him again.And she's like, he said that he's been doing this for 40 years.And if your case isn't the biggest injustice that he's ever seen in his career, it's definitely in the top three.And he said he's got a rule where he does not take his cases home with him.Like he keeps his family life and his work life completely separate.separated, but he is making it a point to do everything that he can do to get you out.And so that sounded really good, you know, like it sounded really good, but kind of like with the,with the whole sentence, like you can't, you can't get your hopes up. Like, you have to hope for
44:53the best and expect the worst because if you get your hopes up too much and then things don't goyour way, you're just, it'll crush you. And that's when people like kill themselves and stuff.So I had to, you know, brace myself for the reality of the situation that, you know, things might not go my way.But it sounded really good.You know, he was saying he was going to do everything in his power to get me out and get me home.And a few more months goes by and they argued my, they argued the case.They argued the appeal in front of the appellate court, the panel of judges.And as soon as the guy walked out of the courtroom, he called my mom.
45:31mom and he said uh i don't ever do this i don't ever say like we won before the right decisioncomes back but we won and uh so my mom told me that and i'm just you know like i said it soundedgood but still i still even hearing that like until i'm walking out the doors like you knowit doesn't none of that means anything so uh i actually got shipped down the raw way andAnd, you know, Rawway is just better in Trenton in every way.Like, the food's better.You get more yard time.Like, you can get guitars there, which that was the main thing that would make me happy.
46:14And I thought, you know, if I got to do 30-something years, like, I can get badass at guitar, you know,and at least do something I want to do.So that was, like, my main goal was to get a guitar and learn how to play guitar.But after being in Rawaway for five weeks, I was actually a standing there.next to like Tommy Clauso, who's like a president of the pagans or the president inabsentee or something, like a big, uh, 1% or biker, you know, and me and him got kind ofcool. Like the day I walked in there, we both had long hair and tattoos and the police werelike, is that your uncle? And I was like, ah, that's my old man. I was just messing with him,
46:53you know, but I guess somebody heard it and it got around that I was his son. And like, meand him just like we would just hang out you know and i was sitting there hanging out withtommy one night and he got on one phone and i got on the other phone and uh i called my momand uh i was like hey mom you know how are you doing and she said baby i'm wonderful and i i knewi knew when she said that what it was but i wanted to hear i wanted her to want to hear iti said why and she's she teared up you know she started to cry and she saidbecause you're coming home.And I start to tear up, you know, like thinking about that.
47:35I really live in that moment.But yeah, they reversed my conviction.They sent me back to Sussex County Jail.And they couldn't hold me on a murder bond anymore because I was acquitted to that in the trial.You know, all they could hold me on was an aggravated manslaughter bomb,which was the most they could set of that was $300,000.which they did and like a couple weeks later I went for a bail reduction and the judge like he was he was a smart ass like he was totally unprofessional he like rolled his eyes and was just like all right yeah 275 you know like get out of my courtroom stop wasting my time you ain't gonna make bail anyway and um so anyway like my dad he you just probably just seen him a second ago he he he put it together um and uh my mom came andIt's like, give us our son.
48:31And I guess the prosecutor set over my dead body.He's getting out.Like, I don't know how the hell she thought she could stop it.But anyway, Steve Kirsch, my appellate lawyer, he told my mom, he said they are pissed.They do not want him getting out.And he said, you need to get him and get out of the state of New Jersey as fast as you can because they're so corrupt here.He said, those prosecutors will have the cops plant drugs on you and get both of y'all locked up.Like, that came from my appellate attorney who works for the public defender's office in Trenton, New Jersey for 40 years.
49:05So he probably knows a thing or two.And so, yeah, my mom got me out of New Jersey as fast as she could.I went home to Tennessee.I saw my grandmother who was dying of ovarian cancer.I started working on a pipeline job within like three days of getting out in Bourbonnet, Illinois.six months later, a matter of fact, on my birthday, December 8th, I started picking a jury in my second trial.And I'll never forget the very last person in the jury pool, the very last person in the state had used up all their strikes, but they kept cheating.They kept cheating and having the judge, like, give them more strikes.
49:49It was crazy.Like, I could talk forever about the, you know, they destroyed evidence.hid witnesses they coach witnesses they had them up there fake crying like theatrics like outthat dude you can tell when somebody's faking and right all their witnesses were getting up thereand just putting on this fakedest phoniest show you ever seen in your life and it's becausethe state told them to do it but um yeah like i you know if you want to hear more about thatjust ask me and i'll tell you but uh where was that oh yeah i'll turn around and look behind meat the very last woman in the jury pool and her name's Lisa I didn't know I know that now like we're
50:30actually friends now but smile at me and uh I was like mom mom mom it's like that lady that lady justsmiled at me like she don't hate me you know I mean so I said I'm picking her and I picked her to beon the jury and apparently at some point during the deliberations some a couple of the people werelike, all right, yeah, he's innocent of the manslaughter.We're going to free him on that.But a couple of them were like, but he didn't call 911.You know, he's guilty on leaving the dude and not calling for help.Well, they knew, they weren't supposed to know that I'd already been to trial, but all throughout
51:11that whole trial, they're like asking the witnesses, well, didn't you say in a priorproceeding, you know what I mean?Like, it was blatantly obvious that this wasn't the first trial.And they all knew it.And anyway, so I heard this from another one of the jurors that Lisa, like, threw her chair in there.And she was like, he's not going back.He's done enough time.And so they were like, okay, cool.
51:35And they acquitted me.I got found not guilty on all counts in the second trial.How do they let you, well, I guess you were already on bond.I was right out on bail, yeah.So when your family put together the bond, right, like what do they have to do, put up property?No, they put up, they put up $275,000 cash.Holy Jesus.They wouldn't do a property bond because it's not in the state of New Jersey.
52:03All my parents, you know, all my family's in Tennessee.So they won't take the state property.Do they get that money back?Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.See, they could have went with a bail bondsman, but that would have cost $27,000.You got to pay the bondsman 10%.So, yeah, that's, I didn't want them to lose out on 30 grand.Right.
52:26You know, they just saved up the whole thing and put it up and they got it all back.You know, once the whole thing is over, like they, they never, like the, what are the prosecutors say?I mean, what are they saying?Like, are they?I wanted her to look me in the face so bad.I just wanted her to look at me so bad.And there's like a picture of me in the newspaper with that, like, look.on my face like i was just like red like it was a crazy adrenaline rush and uh she just hung her head
52:55down and put her hair in her face and she wouldn't she wouldn't look at me and um but uhyeah um i ended up suing them for wrongful conviction and i settled out of court you knowthey first came at me with 150 000 and i was just like no that's that ain't enough they came backat 225 and like all i ever really wanted was a little house you know somewhere i could justkick back and you know not worry uh and i asked my grandpa about it and i was like what do you thinkpa and he said well son sometimes a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush and uh you knowafter i took the two and a quarter but after they paid all the lawyers and everything i onlyup with like $135,000, but I bought a house and a motorcycle and a dog.
53:53What happened with Emily?So Emily had gotten married.They actually flew out to Michigan to try to get her to, they're like, okay, well, they're nottogether anymore.Emily got married to some dude and had kids.And I guess they thought, I don't know what they thought, but I saw the video of it.And Emily was like, you can get your ass off my property.She ran them the hell out of there
54:18But they just showed up at Emily's door one dayI guess going to try to talk her into testifying against meIn my second trialYeah, she told them where they could take itDid she testify for you?NoNoThat's not good
54:35Like I would, you knowYou would have been better if she had beenYou know, maybe there for youSo yeahI mean Emily we were all chargedEmily was my co-defendant. My brother was charged.They kept them guys in county jail for four years, basically trying to get them to tell on me, you know.And then after I got sentenced to the 35 years, they let them go.
55:04So how much time did you do total?Seven, about seven years.Expecting to do 35.Yeah.Is there a good time connected with 35?No, that's with the no early release.Well, yeah, I guess technically, yeah.So the NERA is 85%.
55:23So there is like a 15% in there.But I don't think that's good time.That's work credits.You know what I mean?Yeah, yeah, yeah.So it's called NARA, the No Early Release Act.So there is no good time.But they got to give you work credit, I think, which comes to the 15%.
55:37Hmm.Well, I don't think you'd ever been charged in Florida.Oh, yeah, they got stand your ground.Oh, I didn't tell you this.I changed the law in New Jersey.So New Jersey has what's called the duty to retreat.That's the opposite of standing your ground.I'm supposed to run?
55:55Exactly.Exactly.And that's why they convicted me.But the appellate court ruled that just because I entered into a fight with somebodydoes not mean that I entered into a fight to the death.And that if the jury believed that at any time I became afraid for my serious bodily harm or my injury or death,that I could, in fact, use justifiable homicide.You know what I'm saying?
56:19And the jury had to be read that particular instruction that came down from the appellate court.They didn't know that it was my case, my own case, that caused that law to be made.But they were read that.And I got, you know, that's what they found, that I did not have to run away if they believed that in the course of that fight, it was escalated to a more serious matter.And, yeah, they freed me.So now you're, I mean, what about like, did you, did you ever go back and find the fortune teller?That's a good question.Right.
56:54I would have loved to.I was talking to a lady for a while, and we used to talk about it because, you know, the, the, did I tell you that?Yeah, I told you, she said I was going to live a happy life and have three children.Yeah.I have any kids.And she said I was going to live a happy life and have three children.I'm 43 years old and I don't have any children, but I'm talking to a lady that has...Well, who was the little girl?
57:18Oh, that's, she's my niece.That's my brother.Okay.Yeah.So, but yeah, I'm like a rock star uncle, all of my nieces and nephews.Like, they, they, my parents, my mom calls me the Pied Piper, because if I'm around, they don't want nothing to do with nobody else.But, um, but yeah, so I was, I used to talk to this lady and she has three children, but they're all grown.they're almost my age probably but uh we used to talk about going to try to find the lady and
57:48i wouldn't even know where to all i remember is that it was in the nice part of chicago it wasn'tin the hood like there was like a Ferrari outside like it was in like midtown that's all i knowbut i mean i guess stranger things have happened i could go to the nice part of chicago andand also like i said this was back in 2008 this was a long time ago that lady's gonna be realLike, I don't know if she's even still doing that anymore.But, yeah, that would be.I was going to say, or if she's even around.Right, exactly.
58:21But I would love to.I would love to find that.I would give, I would give a lot to be able to speak to her.So you're saying the, the, you said something about Vikings or something.I mean, are you Norwegians, Swedish?Are you?Well, so I'm mostly Scots-Irish.but my I've got some my brother my aunt like they're real big in a genealogy and they've got our bloodline traced back to king William the lion of the Scottish king or they his actual name was Yuliam but they call it William today but he's the guy that put the lions on the Scottish flag and he was like a Knights Templar and you know anyway he was a Norman and the Normans were Viking blood you know you
59:10You know, that's North man.They came from the north.And, but yeah, I've got some Viking blood in me, Celtic.Yeah, I went to a family reunion.Gosh, it was like 20-something years ago in Norway.Because I'm Norwegian.And, you know, I used to think I had some Indian in me, like Native American Indian.And my wife got me the ancestry.
59:34Bro, it's 100% Nordic, like everything.Like, it's all Norwegian.Swedish, um, a little bit of Danish. Like it's, and it's, it's, it's all right there in the,in the, in kind of the Nordic region, right? So it's all, no, no Indian, none. Right.I got kind of a, uh, an Indian, you know, I got kind of a, uh, like this, I'm, this isn'tme laying out. I just have a little bit of a, of a pinta or whatever, whatever you want to calla little tent to me. Right. I don't know what's going on. Uh, but, uh, yeah, I've been to,but I've been to Norway. And so when you said, you know, um, um, um,
01:00:10You mentioned she said something about Vikings or something and I thought or did you say Vikings or you said something made me think that you and plus you're blonde look you couldn't get any blonde hair. You're a grown man with blonde hair and blue eyes. That's you know, that's extremely Nordic. Right. Now, yeah, I was talking about my axes. I've got some. Oh, okay. Okay. But the guy that actually makes them is from Pakistan, but he lives in Australia. But he's a very good.good wood carver. Well, he doesthe carving on the handles, and then he'sgot another blacksmith that makes the heads tohim, but they kind of like work together, buthe makes me some really cool stuff.Do you throw them?Well, this
01:00:54order that I'm waiting on right now, he'ssending me some throwing axes,and I'm going to get into,you know, I'm going to mess around with ita little bit, but so far I haven't,and I wouldn't throw the ones that I havenow because they're too nice. You know, I don'twant to scratch them up. There are pieces of
01:01:10artwork you know yeah i i going on the wall i went to a buddy's uh party he had this huge partyman they had a ferris wheel and everything he's doing really well and um just a ton of people thereand one of the things they had was a guy that was there that you could throw axes i couldn't get onefucking axe not one my wife walks in boom boom boom boom i'm throwing them they're bouncing offthere i mean i just couldn't do it i was like this is humiliating i gothad no chance.But anyway, yeah, so.Yeah, I'm going to set up a little target out here and mess with it.
01:01:46He specifically makes Axis for throwing, too.I'll just shout him out.His company is HG Axis.But he sponsors like ax throwing leagues and stuff like that.But he makes some really awesome stuff.Well, listen, I mean, is there anything else you want to cover?I feel like we got a kind of a condensed version.I could talk forever about this, man.
01:02:12So I'll just tell you what happened with the,destroying the evidence.I got a lot of support from the community.As a matter of fact, I can remember after I was convicted the first time,one of the COs in the jail came to me, came to my cell door,and his name was Officer Long,and he told me he was disgusted to wear that badge,knowing what they had done to me.
01:02:36Like the cops in that place were like,for me. Matter of fact, during the second trial, the cop that works at the metal detectoras you're going in, he's like, I played this song for you today. And it was the innocent manby Billy Joel. And he had it playing over the speakers in the courthouse. And another, well,when my mom came to bail me out, all the COs lined up outside the door down the sidewalk andlike took their gloves off and shook my hand as I walked out of the place. And so, like,I had a lot of people behind me, you know.And one day during the trial, there was a, we would go for lunch break every day to the public defender's office.
01:03:19And there was a Chinese place down, you know, just 100 feet away from the public defender's office.And we would go and eat this Chinese food.And so as we're walking to the Chinese place,passed this pet store and this is a whole other side story but these guys had uh believed that theywere becoming patched into the hell's angels because the guy named billy barger told him that he wassunny barger's son and it all started over this guy and i met all these guys in jail likeand they kind of like became friends with them but they long story short they drove to new jerseyand kidnapped this guy and he was the wrong dude he just had the same
01:04:09name as the guy that they were looking for and they got caught they drove they kidnapped themtasered them through them in the car and got them all the way back to missouri and their car broke downand the guy escaped like one of them fell asleep or they fell asleep while they're supposed to bewatching them or something and uh the guy ran up in a store and was like call the cops call the copsand they came and those guys got arrested for kidnapping and uh you know i had been in jail andAnd I knew, I had known them pretty much all of the guys at some point in time.And I caught eyes with the guy that they had kidnapped.And I'm sitting there thinking, like, I bet this dude hates my guts.
01:04:49Like, you know, I wonder, does he know that I've sat down and eaten with these guys thatwere probably going to kill him?You know, like, what were they going to do?Like, just turn them loose and be like, oh, we're sorry, man.Wrong guy.Let's just not tell nobody about this, please.but yeah i'm i caught eyes with that guy and we're just we locked eyes and we were looking at eachother and it was just the weirdest feeling because i was just like i bet he hates me and at that
01:05:15very moment like i turned around and this this lady comes walking up to me and it was me and my momstanding there and she said i'm from the community and i want you to know that we support youAnd so yeah, that was a crazy story, but I was going to tell you about all the just craziness that the state of New Jersey pulled to try to convict me, you know.So the very first opening line of their opening statement said that I beat this guy to death and I said he deserved what he got, you know, and I said he deserved it.Which, that's true, but I had no idea that the guy was dead.You know what I mean?I thought he'd...Hungry now.
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01:06:31This beat him.I thought he was going to be back at work Monday morning.So I had no idea the severity of the situation, or I wouldn't have said that, you know.Right.But, you know, they're trying to deceive the jury into thinking that I, you know,but that kind of aside the point.But the first thing that I did when it all happened was like, look, get the security cameras from the hotel.you can see, you know, everything I'm saying is true.
01:06:57I even had like an 80-year-old lady named Patricia Prince, and I didn't even remember doingthis, but luckily the investigators that worked for the public defender's office, they wentout and they were like trying to get information, and this lady came forward, like an 80-year-oldlady, she worked security there at the hotel, and she was like, yeah, he stopped at the frontdesk and asked for a security to take him, to walk him to his room, said that these guyswere saying they were going to jump.him and he wanted a witness to, you know, in case something happened, so somebody, you know,knew that he didn't start it. And that was true, but I'd forgotten all about that. But luckily,
01:07:33that lady came forward and she testified at my trial. But the very first motion I filed in courtwas a motion to preserve evidence of the video footage, the surveillance cameras from the hotel.Well, that was granted by the judge. So like six months later, a lawyer's like, we got to,we got the security cameras from the hotel.So I'm like, awesome.You know, this is going to prove everything I'm saying, you know.Right.And so then they open it up and it's, it's been recorded over pornography from the Bergen County Sheriff's Office.
01:08:09Yeah.So they took, I wasn't even in Bergen County.I was in Sussex County, but they took the hard drive from the surveillance cameras from that hotel and sent them to the Bergen County Sheriff's Office where somebody taped over it with a bunch of pornography.now so now I make a motion to dismiss the case because you violated my you know order of protection like my preserve I had a motion to preserve and which was granted but the way the law is written in New Jersey is you have to prove that they did it in bad faith and how am I going to prove you know what I mean it's my word against the police and they're just like oh it was just an accident yeah it's a mix up we're sorry we didn't mean to and there's nothing I could do about itAnd during that, the hearing that they had on whether or not they were going to throw the case out, my parents were both there.They drove from Tennessee to New Jersey to attend it because they're expecting them to let me go.And so the prosecutor goes in this little room with like their little tech guy.And my parents went and put their ears to the door and were listening to what they were saying in there.
01:09:14And they were, she was in there laughing.And like the guy told her like, well, you know, it could be brought back.but you know and she's like well if it was a matter of national security or something butyou know i'm not that important it's just me it's just my life so it's not important enoughto to uncover it and get to the bottom of it but uh yeah my motion for a dismissal of the chargeswas denied because they just said it was an accident and uh not only did they do that butthere was a guy named brandon lewis and he's the guy that was getting slapped aroundin the bar before I showed up there.
01:09:53And, you know, the state of New Jersey, they tried to,they tried to say, oh, he wasn't, he was just playing.He was just playing around with him.But there were people there that took the stand and told the truth.Like, no, he was not playing at all.He wanted to fight.And we were trying to get this Brandon Lewis guy and have put him on the stand.So he could testify.
01:10:15And, like, he's also the guy that walked outside and, like, found the guyplaying there um but they they told us they couldn't find them they didn't know where he was at butnow during the trial while it was going on me and my mother were staying at the holiday inn there in newnew jersey and my mom became friends with like the hotel manager and i don't know how it evenhappened but that hotel manager went in the records and they saw where the the the prosecutor's officethe Sussex County Prosecutor's Office had a room rented with Brandon Lewis in thatroom. And he was in town and in the hotel room the whole time during my trial. And they saidthey didn't know where he was at. Did that come out in the trial?
01:11:01Nope. There was a lot of stuff that they covered up. Like they tried to say that this guy was agood person. And like I took away this loving father of his family and all this. And, you know,they did what's called.called opening the door it's it's called so the way the law's written that if i didn't know all thesebad things he had done uh they can't be brought up unless they opened the door to his characterwhich they did they said he would if i've got evidence to refute what they're saying it's supposed to beadmissible but they the judge denied it and he like i had so they had to say they had to tellthe the lady the bartender had to take the stand and say yeah he threatened he was going to kill me
01:11:46and kill my kids and all that because she made a report and there was a paper you knowand uh as she got down off the stand she walked past the prosecutors and said i'm sorrylike sorry you're sorry for telling the truth you know because she was she she got up there andfake cried too like both the bartenders got up there fake cried peggy floyd the lady the womanthat beat up emily she got up there and fake cried um but uh yeah they just they theyThey tried their best to just to take my life.And luckily, I got a good jury, and they weren't having it.Why do you think that they were so adamant to try and convict you?
01:12:27I've always wondered the same thing.I don't know if it was, like I said, I had a minor criminal history, you know,with some, like, drug charges and things like that.Maybe they just, like, oh, he's a scumbag, drug dealer, smoke them.other than that i i don't know if it's because i had a girlfriend that was a stripper like i buti don't know if it's just the prosecutors are just trained to do that like that's their job youknow i i really don't know why they hated me so bad and went so far out of their way to twistand distort you know they're supposed to be the fact finders and the justice and the you know
01:13:06they're not yeah exactly the justicesystem is not just at all.And, but yeah, they, they hid witnesses.They destroyed evidence.They coach witnesses.The fake cry and, oh, also, they, this is something else that they did.They had those bartenders stay that they heard him say he was going out to burn one.He was going outside to smoke cigarettes.
01:13:31That ain't true.You know, they wanted, they begged the jury to believe that I went in there with the intentionof luring him outside and beating him to death,which it's just nonsense.But they had both those bartenders say that they heard him say that.Well, there's video that shows us getting up and walking out the door,and both those bartenders are turned around looking at a TV screen,looking up like this.
01:14:00Neither one of them moves their head at all.And if you heard somebody talking to you,aren't you going to at least turn around and look at them or something?Right.As we walked out, their faces were stuck in the TV.But they both, yet they both said that they heard him say, he's going outside of a burn one because that fit with their theory of the case that I lured him outside to smoke a cigarette.Right.So, yeah, it was, it was wild, man.
01:14:26And that kind of, that does something to your psyche when you see, like, the justice system, like, that's supposed to be, like, the righteous people.And, you know, I think it's, it's no accident that it's called the cruiser.criminal justice system because they're criminals ill well do you have any like do you have anysocial media or anything like that that you want to anything you want to push like did youso i actually just started a youtube channel like 10 days ago and uh i've got a thousandsubscribers so far that's that's great and uh but yeah what do you what do you do on that what do youtalk what's the channel about so most of the people came from the after prison showAnd so I do tell, like, some jail stories and stuff like that.
01:15:14But really, I'm a real spiritual guy, man, especially after the psychic incident and all that.And there's other things, like, if you watch my YouTube channel, you'll probably understand a little bit of why because I've just had so many things happen that I have, like, no choice but to be who I am.But so I talk about a lot of, like, spiritual things.Like, my first videos were on the law of attraction and angel numbers and, like, experiences that I've,I've had with that.I mean, you want me to tell about some of these things?Yeah, well, I'm wondering what your, what's your, what the goal of the channel is.I mean, you don't have to.
01:15:52So the goal of the channel is I'm probably going to be saying some things that could get me in trouble.Exposing things, you know, I, I study the occult, you know, and, you know, the world is run by secret societies and occultists.and so you know my family are all Christians and you know everybody down here they hear that word occult and they think that it means devil worship or evil and you know the word occult comes from Oculus your eyes it basically it means hidden occult just means hidden is all and there are things that they're not taught to anybody unless you I guess seek seek out the answers to that stuff but so.So, yeah, I'm going to be, I talk about, like, magic, you know.So I'll tell you a little story real quick.When I first got to Trenton State Prison, they threw me in the hole for six weeks.Starved you.She starved to death.
01:16:53They freeze you to death.There's just people screaming nonstop and all the voices just blur together.And it's just, it's psychological torture, basically.But after six weeks, they came and they unlocked my door and were like, come with us.cuff me up, you know, through the little port, and they took me to a psychiatrist, and I walk in this room, sat down, and she said, I'm Dr. Adrian Serafin. I need to make sure you're not homicidal or suicidal before we put you in population. I said, seraphim are angels. And she said, yeah, I know. And I said, no, I'm not homicidal or suicidal. Please get me out of the hole. And she said, okay. And she said, hey, you should say,sign up for my positive thinking class, it'll get you out of the cell. And I said, well, I'm allabout positive thinking, because if I wasn't, I had to hung it up a long time ago. Right.Exactly what I told her. So she signed me up. They put me in population. And about a week later,
01:17:52they came and they said, Gentry, you got, you got positive thinking in the school. So I go downthere, the very first day, the very first minute of the very first class, she pulls out this book. II don't know if you ever heard of a book called The Secret.You ever heard of that?Yeah.Well, she pulls out the book The Secret and tells us, you know, about the law of attraction.And we made, everybody made a list of what they wanted.And obviously, I wanted my freedom.
01:18:26Number one, I wanted to go home.That was my number one.Number two, I wanted a stone house.Well, it didn't even have to be made out of stone,but I wanted it to have stone veneer around it and I wanted it to be built into the side of a hill.I wanted like half the house to be covered into the hill and then the front half to have stone around it.Number three, I wanted a 2012 Ducati Diavo that was red that had brushed aluminum intake farings.And number four, I wanted a female American bully that was just bad, a big bad dog that was battered that, you know,
01:19:05put all the boys to shame but i wanted to be a girl a big beastie girl and uh oh sleepinggood like i saw this dog in my mind bro like seven years you know before i ever actually on but longstory short all of those things came true i got my freedom i bought a house with stone veneer sidingbuilt into the side of a hill that Ducati is right out there in that garage and my dog's right hereand you know after these things happen like how can that not change your life how can you notwant to tell other people you know I would be not doing my duty as a human being if I knew thatthese things were real and I just kept it a secret it sounds like you're still working on the wifeand three kids yeah yeah sure am but that
01:20:04I mean, the trick is, not even to just believe it, but to know it, to know that it's already happened and to be thankful and to thank the universe for giving it to you.Hey, sorry to interrupt the video.Just want to let you guys know that we're going to have an extra 15 or 20 minutes of content on my Patreon.It's $10 a month for about an hour's worth of extra content every single week.Back to the podcast.What's the YouTube channel name?it's uh at jacobs ladder one one one at jacob's ladder oh yeah okay that's how we got connectedright i'm not you know my email address is jacob gentry 222 right but i mean i i i someone had
01:20:47told me to contact you right yeah i thought i thought you just emailed my regular email addressi think i did but i think that they sent it there was this is like a cut i'm like customerthis is like a um a subscriber's like bro you got to talk tothis guy. He's got an amazing story. And I think you'd already been on several other channels.And then I, and I like, listen, I'll respond to people like, bro, can you get me his contactinformation? And the guy came back, I think, with your contact information. I think. I think that'swhat happened. Yeah. Like I said, I've not been on several other ones. There's a guy namedChad. Chad Marks. Yeah. Yeah, he's the ones to interview me today, actually. He's good.
01:21:30Chad's good. And Chad's going to ask better questions because he's he's, you know what I'm saying? Like I do kind of true crime, but he's very interested in like the court cases that because he does legal work. He did legal work for years. So he's going to be interested in the court cases. He's going to be interested in what happened in prison. You know, to me, I'm always kind of interested in like what got you here? Right. But this seems like it was just this was thrust upon you. This isn't something like it seems like you brought on yourself. And I'm shocked. Like I've lived in Florida my whole life.So I mean, I've always been of the nature, you know, of the thought that like, look, bro, like, you know, you don't have to back down. If someone comes in your house, if someone like a moment I say, moment you in Florida, you somebody's here and you tell them get out, bro, you got to go. They better start walking. You know what I'm saying? Like, I mean, you got these sheriffs in Florida who are, you know, people get into fights and you get and you tell them to get out of your house and you tell them to kick rocks and you go get a gun and fucking shoot them. And they're like, hey, you told them to leave.In other cities or other states, they're like, oh, no, you're going to prison now.It's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, how am I going to prison?I told the guy to leave out of my own house.I have a gun.I'm allowed to have a gun.Like, there's all these things that you hear these stories in other states.
01:22:42You're like, are you serious?Like, the guy was on my property.I told him to leave.We got into an argument.Like, it just doesn't make it.You hear guys in getting to fights in, you know, out in public.And somebody gets killed.It's like, okay, we were in a fight and someone got killed.
01:22:59Like, I'm sorry, but.that's just what happens yeah so i still am in contact with my appellate attorney and i guess likemy case law has like kept some people from going to prison and got some people out of prisonyeah i just don't see where i'm supposed to take off and run yeah you know especially in yoursituation listen your situation where there's multiple people i would have fucking taken off you knowyou're still standing your ground um but i would have taken off not because it's my right to stayI'm going to be like this fucking four guys I'm out of here this is not going to happen I'm fivefoot six this is not going to end well for me um I I pre first of all I appreciate you taking the
01:23:38time to you know taking your Saturday to tell me the story I appreciate you for having mehey you guys uh I appreciate you guys watching the video do me favor hit the subscribe buttonhit the bell also we're going to leave uh jacups a youtube channel link in the descriptionso just click on the link it'll take you straight to his YouTubechannel, subscribe, check out his videos, you know, try and show some support. I reallyappreciate you guys watching. Also, please consider joining my Patreon. It's $10 a month. I haveexclusive Patreon content on Patreon. I really do appreciate you guys watching. See ya.
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