Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast - Sheriff Grady Judd Arrest Homeless Man (The Real Story)

Episode Date: December 8, 2024

Gabriel Riding shares his experience of being arrested in Polk County. Contact Gabriel: Email: [e-mail] Cash App: $gabrielriding 1993 Get 50% sitewide for a limited time. Just visit https://GhostBed.com/cox and use code COX at checkout. Do you want to be a guest? Fill out the form https://forms.gle/5H7FnhvMHKtUnq7k7 Send me an email here: [e-mail] Do you extra clips and behind the scenes content? Subscribe to my Patreon: https://patreon.com/InsideTrueCrime 📧Sign up to my newsletter to learn about Real Estate, Credit, and Growing a Youtube Channel: https://mattcoxcourses.com/news   🏦Raising & Building Credit Course: https://mattcoxcourses.com/credit 📸Growing a YouTube Channel Course: https://mattcoxcourses.com/yt 🏠Make money with Real Estate Course: https://mattcoxcourses.com/re Follow me on all socials! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/insidetruecrime/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@matthewcoxtruecrime Do you want a custom painting done by me? Check out my Etsy Store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/coxpopart Listen to my True Crime Podcasts anywhere: https://anchor.fm/mattcox Check out my true crime books! Shark in the Housing Pool: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0851KBYCF Bent: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BV4GC7TM It's Insanity: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KFYXKK8 Devil Exposed: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TH1WT5G Devil Exposed (The Abridgment): https://www.amazon.com/dp/1070682438 The Program: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0858W4G3K Bailout: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bailout-matthew-cox/1142275402 Dude, Where's My Hand-Grenade?: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BXNFHBDF/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1678623676&sr=1-1 Checkout my disturbingly twisted satiric novel! Stranger Danger: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSWQP3WX If you would like to support me directly, I accept donations here: Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/MattCox69 Cashapp: $coxcon69

Jesus ain't happy. Helen Keller could have seen all the evidence. It's in California. I don't want to go back to present. But we're thinking you should. As entertaining as his press conferences are, that attitude seeps into the judges and the lawyers and the cops and the community. Well, these guys are coming to your job trying to get you fired.

Yeah. They arrested some guy that I know and they're trying to tie me in with him. Yeah. And then my actual home, you're saying I can't go there to protect the victim. When the victim is saying she wants me to be there and she's not. a victim. And so now you're homeless and that's illegal too. Yeah. I've never been exposed to this type of cop culture in Polk County. I was used to cops in Colorado. Cops were more worried. Like, there was bigger stuff going on. And then so six months into living here on the reservation,

I'm working at a call center and whatnot and trying to get my feet on the ground. Me and my girlfriend getting into an argument and she had just been diagnosed with diabetes and break down on the side of the road and we're kind of fighting about what we should do. And she, her blood sugar level starts dropping and she starts to panic and calls 911 and she doesn't know she needs an ambulance or whatnot but the dispatch hears us arguing and then I spit out the window next to her and the dispatch ends up accusing me of battery essentially so I get charged with felony battery because they thought that I'd spit on my girlfriend right and so is she saying you spit on her no she she was like you should probably go the cops are coming I've told him

not to come and they're trying to talk to you. And I just, I don't know what's going to happen. I don't feel well. You should probably just take a walk. And I was like, okay, cool. Like, let me know how it goes. And we're totally resolved the issue. Right. Yeah. And the cops are trying to make this big deal out of it. Six cops come there. And they're like, he's abusing you. Like, you got to stand up for yourself. And she was like, what are you talking about? Like, we had a little argument. And she gets forated for several hours. And I'm waiting there. I'm like, are they still talking to you? Like, what is going on?

This seems pretty excessive. And they finally let her go. So then I end up back on the reservation, and I thought everything was fine. And so on the reservation, we have our own police, Seminole PD. Polk County isn't allowed on to the res without Seminole PD's permission. But Seminole PD knocks on the door and they're like, hey, we need to talk to you. And I was like, okay. And they're trying to call Polk County.

And Polk County Sheriff shows up. And he was like, he didn't. really know what was going on. I didn't know that they decided I had a warrant. And he's like, I'm going to put you in handcuffs. If I'm going to call it the hub or whatever. If you have an active warrant, I'm going to take you in. If not, I'm just going to release you. And I was like, I didn't do anything. So I was like, very cooperative. And I'm sitting in the back of the cop car. He doesn't say we're just starts driving off. And I'm like, oh, shoot. And so what had happened? Polk County went ahead and pressed charges for your girlfriend. Yeah. So, yeah, I ended up with a

Tell any battery. And a lot of places they can't do that. But the people don't realize is that in what they'll consider a domestic violence situation, if one party decide, at least in Florida, if one party decides they don't want to press charges, but the officers feel they have enough evidence that a crime has been committed, that the actual sheriff's department itself can press charges, even if the other person is unwilling to cooperate. Exactly.

She took a class to try and say, this is not what happened. This was all before my first appearance in court. And it was with the state attorney's office, and she had to sign this paper, take this class. And we thought that was going to be the end of it. And I spent five grand on a lawyer just to be safe. Did you bond out? Did you spend any time in jail? Yeah.

So this is the weird thing, too. So since she was technically my victim, she bonded me out right away. The second I got there is a $500 bond. My dad had to end up signing for it because she was a victim. But I still spent three days in Polk County jail. And I kept calling the CEO. I was like, yo, CEO, like, the bondsman, I bonded out 24 hours ago. Like, what's going on?

And he's like, your bondsman's lying to you. And if you bonded out 24 hours ago, you'd be out of here by now. And I was like, this guy isn't lying to me. Like, Bull County jail, like, I had spent time in Bord County jail. And I thought that was rough until I got to Pull County. Full County is, yeah, it is. Right. it's like in the movies or something when you first go into intake it's 200 guys sitting on

cots in one room there's no cells for breakfast and lunch you get a couple water two pieces of bread and one slice of bologna and so i bonded out still in it of spending three days there and then so when i get out finally get out they're like okay you got to go to the pretrial office and so i go to the pretrial office and she reads my conditions and she was like yeah you're not allowed within 500 feet of your victim. And I'm like, this is the only person I know in Florida. What do you suppose I do? And her advice was like, she was like, well, technically, like, it's illegal to be homeless in Florida. So if you're out at night, just stay walking. Don't sit down or lay down. Just keep walking all night. I was like, that's your advice. And I was like, that's your

advice. And I was like, okay. And I didn't want any more trouble. So I was trying to do it by the book. ended up staying in hotels and shelters or whatever, and she's calling state attorney's office and taking these classes and trying to get the charges dropped. And then we have the first appearance, and I spent five grand on this lawyer, and she gets a hold of my girlfriend. My dad's kind of communicating back and forth because we're like, we don't, we want this to be over. Like, I don't want to break the rules. Like, like, there was never a real fight, even though, like, we were totally fine with each other. We, you know, followed the rules and didn't speak to each other had my dad relay messages whatever and in court the prosecutor i hear my

lawyer so my girlfriend shows up to say this is a complete misunderstanding he's he's never spit on me he would never spit on me my lawyer goes up to the prosecutor and i hear the prosecutor say like yeah let's just dismiss this and the judge wants to hear from my girlfriend to hear her story and she goes up and she was like i just got diagnosed with diabetes um i had low blood sugar i didn't know what's going on, the car was broken down. It was very chaotic. My boyfriend smoked cigarettes. He spit out the window, toss a cigarette, and that's what happened. And the judge brings up my criminal history, the stuff I talked about before I was 18, stuff that I'd been charged with that was dropped because my friend admitted to it. Like, I was staying at a hotel once,

and he had a bunch of stolen IDs and credit cards, I guess. They took me in for filming for that, but he admitted right away and let me go. And the judge insinuates on my girlfriend, was part of this because she was like, oh, you guys were dating at the same time. And this was something that, like, should have never been brought into court and accused my girlfriend of being a part of when I was literally absolved the next day and decimates my girlfriend in front of people. And I never seen anything like this. It was traumatic for my girlfriend because we thought she was going to tell a story and be like, this isn't what happened at all. So they deny my condition to go back to back home. And so they did. They did.

didn't dismiss the case? No, they didn't dismiss the case. They didn't do anything. My lawyer, now she's already put my case to another lawyer. So I'm on my third lawyer now. And he seems a little more aggressive. So we're still at standstill. And so I'm still staying at hotels, going to work. I'm in a rented car. And Polk County decides to like follow me around. And so one day, they pulled me over four different times. Sometimes they're marked vehicles, sometimes in unmarked vehicles. And I was in a rented car driving to work. I was working at telemarketing. First time I pulled over that day um i was with a friend and the dude pulled me over he's a young cop he seemed younger than me he pulled me over because at a stop sign i stopped on the line i guess instead of before it

and he checked all our IDs for warrants and had drug dogs sniff the whole thing and he looks at the passenger and he's like what so what did you all have for breakfast and my friend was like what like we ate duncan and like it was so weird that she was like she couldn't help it she's like are you okay? Like it was a very weird situation. They thought like they were going to find some large amounts of, I don't know, they thought it was something that I wasn't. And so they had nothing and had to let me go. And so I dropped them off and I drive to my work. And when I get into work, and we're going to telemarketing job, please come into my work and say, yeah, we need to speak to a Gabriel writing. And then the supervisor comes like, the cops need to talk to you. And I'm like,

what? And they tell me that a concerned citizen said that I was driving. erratically on the way to work. So they're making me do field sobriety tests in my suit and tie and they've drug dogs sniffing around. Again, they can't find anything. And I'm like starting to get really stressed out and I asked, I was like, can I go home? Like, this has been a crazy day. And so I stopped at the gas station and then this time unmarked vehicles show up. Different cops. And again, the whole deal, like, when you see your ID, this time they didn't even ask. They knew they were like, you're Gabriel writing. Like, we need to check for open containers, I just have drug dog sniff.

And I was like, this is the third time you guys have pulled me over. Like, I'm sure you could have figured out some way to arrest me by now. Right. Yeah, like you could have made something up, like the first time. It was so strange. So I'm sitting there talking to the cops very politely for about an hour. And people were watching and two more cop cars show up unmarked. And they were like, we don't think you've been drinking or anything, but we want you to blow in this machine.

And I was like, a breathalyzer. And he was like, it's a new. technology we just want you to calibrate it and he's like you're not going to jail right now we like it doesn't matter what the machine reads we just want to test this to calibrate this machine and i was like am i allowed to say no and i was like i don't understand and he's like yeah he's like don't worry you're not going to jail we just want to try this new technology and i was like then try it out on each other yeah and i was like well i'm not i don't understand that so i'm not going to do that and so they had nothing and so they i guess they walked into the gas station and

and told the gas station attendant not to sell me any alcohol or cigarettes. And so I went in there and I was like stressed out and then tried to get some wine to bring home and the guy was like, I can't sell you that. And I was like, okay, well, can I get a blackmailed cigar? And he's like, the cop told me not to sell you any alcohol or cigarettes. And then they asked the manager and they're like, it's up to you and I don't want to get in trouble. And so these cops are actively trying to.

Were you drunk when the incident happened with your crime? girlfriend? No, no. So why are they, I mean, is a part of the, because you're currently on bond, is a part of being on bond you're not allowed to drink? Yeah. Oh, okay. Yeah, totally. Yeah. And yeah, yeah, but either way, they're harassing you. Yeah, they're following me and harassing me and they're trying to, it ended up in my situation with this job. Like, the cops kept showing up and asking for me and eventually they want you to leave. Yeah. Eventually, like, yeah, I felt bad for them. I was like, I don't want, like, the cops showing up here. And, like, I could go back there, but it's just, it totally root-soured that situation.

So, so when you leave that day, do you get pulled over again? So at that time, I was like, I'm not driving this car because they're following this car. And I ended up just leaving the car at the gas station, Ubering back to my hotel. And I was like, what is going on here? This is, this is craziness. And that ends up kind of making me spiral. And eventually, I do pick up a dream. And all the homeless shelters and the hotels, they're down in kind of the rougher areas of Lakeland.

And so all my friends and associates, they're all black people, all black friends. And so they're up to illegal stuff. And eventually I end up relapsing. And they see me hanging out with those people. And so I'm being followed all the time. They tried so many times to get me and they couldn't. And then I ended up developing a habit. Habit what?

From what? from opiate use yeah yeah yeah pretty much just whatever i could like i made friends with the people down there because i was my only community i don't have anyone else out here but my girlfriend who i can't talk to that's just was the culture and yeah so i end up relapsing on the drug that i recovered from in colorado funny i end up getting lumped in with these guys who are selling drugs and i i am messing up and it's this this whole situation could have been avoided if i could have just gone home and whatever. How long does this go on before you get, do you get arrested? I end up getting arrested probably about two months later with a friend in the car and I think he had drugs.

I ended up having a seizure in the car and I thought I was parked near the bus station dropping him off and I have a seizure disorder and I had a seizure in the car and I come to in an ambulance and the cops are asking me like which we're outside of a hotel near a bus station and the cop like right out of the seizure was like which room did you? you get the drugs from? Which one did you do? They thought I had overdosed and because they had Narcan me and they said my heart had stopped for for a minute and I didn't know what was going on. I didn't know if my friend had stuff on him. I didn't know if he had already been arrested, but they take me into the hospital and the cops come in and they blood test me to see if they

could charge me with a DUI or something like that. And I thought I was going to jail again. The cops escrowing me all the way through the hospital and I was like, oh man, like this is going to put a lengthier timeline on getting back to where I wanted to be with my girlfriend. So they blood test me and apparently I guess I was fine blood tested because I walked right out of the hospital. I ended up getting subpoenaed later to get those results back. So just preemptively after this, I turned myself into an inpatient drug rehab, a detox, like a five-day detox to look good and cops thought I was doing drugs,

out with these people and end up doing the five-day detox. And I'm getting sober and kicking all that stuff and still just like hitting wall after wall after wall. And now it's like they're trying to charge me with a DUI and or conspiracy to sell drugs because my passenger, he ends up getting arrested later on with drugs and they're trying to connect me back to that. And it's just, is he saying we're selling drugs with him? No, but he ended up catching charges. And so they're just still trying to link pieces that aren't exactly there. Right. Yeah.

So, yeah, and I'm just getting out of the treatment center. The cop culture here is really intense. It seems like Grady Judd, like, he's, a lot of people really do like him. And as entertaining as his press conferences are, like, yeah, I thought they were hilarious. Right. Until you end up becoming part of one. And that sort of attitude seeps into the judges and the lawyers and the cops and the community. For a limited time at McDonald's, enjoy the tasty breakfast.

trio. Your choice of chicken or sausage McMuffin or McGrittles with a hash brown and a small iced coffee for five bucks plus tax. Available until 11 a.m. at participating McDonald's restaurants. Price excludes flavored iced coffee and delivery. Unity and so running a little police date. Yeah, no, it's, it's rather intense. And so it's like, it feels like they almost have open season to like follow or do stuff. And so like now, like, after being followed and being pulled over by unmarked cars, like now it's created like a sense of paranoia and so I'm like I'm driving almost poorly because I think the car behinds me a cop at all times and it's just like they charged me with this first case knowing that I'm not from here

I have no community and that's what made me spiral and relapsing and having you get sober again it's this kind of psychological warfare like they try to scare me with 48 months in state prison and stuff like this um for for for what i mean like if you went to trial if you go to trial on the domestic violence or the assault charge your girlfriend's going to get on the stand and say he didn't spit on me that's not what happened yeah so that's the thing is that's going to get dropped i i hope so my family is just saying just take the plea like whatever it is if you have to go to treatment if you have to do probation or if you have to go do some jail like just just just do what they say. And I'm, and I'm just like, I don't understand because it's not my girlfriend

versus Gabriel writing. It's Gabriel writing versus state of Florida now for felony battery and whatever else. Yeah, but if you go to trial, your girlfriend's going to get in the stand and say that's not what happened. And then a jury is going to be like, okay, you've got who's, so who is going to say that he spit on her? You know, is a police officer or a dispatcher on the phone going to say it like what's you know who's going to be the person that gets up and says that yeah and so i keep asking my lawyers i'm like so like this seems ridiculous like should we take this to trial and the judge is so intense and was i've never seen a judge talk to a victim a victim the way that she talked to my girlfriend and so i asked my lawyer was like should we take this to trial and like

because of that interaction my judge was like i don't think that's a good idea yeah a lawyer yeah lawyer saying yeah my lawyer is saying like we should probably plea and your lawyer saying take a plea because you paid $5,000 yeah and doesn't want to spend a day or two at least two days oh no I can't get I can't get a hold of her ever that yeah no she would I would call her five times a day and she would text me like I'm busy and that would be it and I went here for her for days and she ended up passing my case off to a new lawyer and he he gives me the impression that like we're going to beat this It's like, this is ridiculous. Well, yeah, that's what I think you see for something like this where it's like, you're going to go, you're going to go in front of a jury.

Yeah. First of all, they're going to drop it. As soon as you get there and they start having to pick a jury, they're going to be like, all right, we're dropping or let them take it. Typically in Polk County, they almost beg you to take some kind of probation. Like if he'll take six months probation, no supervision. Like, we're not going to watch him, but he can't get in trouble for six months. Yeah. Like that's what they're hoping for.

Yeah, totally. that way they get a win yeah we got a win he pled guilty to a misdemeanor yeah and he's got six months probation yeah that's in the state system that's what they do yeah we're gonna scare the shit out of him with this ridiculous sentence yeah we're gonna we're gonna we're gonna we're he's gonna try and get it dropped he's gonna eventually we're gonna get into a plea negotiation and then if he goes to trial and we think we'll probably lose we're gonna give him a sweetheart bargain because the truth is most people just don't want to go to trial because they figure if I go to trial, there's always a chance that some officer gets on the stand and says, oh, I was there.

I watched him. He spit right on her. I saw the whole thing and you're going, and the jury's going to believe the officer. Yeah. Even though the victim's saying this. Yeah. And I'm saying this. This officer is going to say something completely different, even though he was 45 feet away and didn't see shit.

Yeah, no, there was an officer. And we've just seen Polk County police break the law so many times that it just seems. like there is no solution but to abide by their demands or whatever i mean i think ultimately they'll probably try and give you just some kind of a ridiculous plea like unsupervised probation for six months take a take a misdemeanor yeah that's probably what's going to happen yeah but most lawyers will try and get you to take some kind of a plea even if it's not in your best interest because the truth is for them that five thousand dollars is gone oh yeah and they don't want to spend two days in court trying to one pick a jury then they have to call

witnesses they have to go through the whole listen most lawyers have never been to court yeah no so they don't want they don't want to be a part of that so they'll come try and convince you to take some kind of a very very low end plea deal that expires in six months and nobody yeah you think because right now they haven't offered me anything except for this felony battery that's true they They also know if you go that nobody's going to convict you of a felony battery for that. Yeah. And so I did the anger management class. My girlfriend, we did the state attorney class to have me back at the house. And so I asked my lawyer, I was like, I'll take whatever I can if you can get the conditions changed so I can go home and be with my family.

Because my girlfriend's, she's ultimately being victimized without me there because we have dogs and she's diabetic. And I do all of the heavy lifting around the house and the cooking and the cleaning. and it's a big household for her to run by yourself. And so, like, ultimately, like, she's getting victimized just as much as me without me being allowed to go back home. And so I told the lawyer, I was like, I'll take whatever I can. If you can get the conditions changed to just let me go home. And so he's having trouble even getting the state attorney to amend restraining order

or protection order or whatever. So we just hit roadblock after roadblock, over roadblock, and it's just been continuance. Then I'd go to trial. I want to go to trial. You think so? As quick as possible, I want to go to trial. Yeah.

They're not going to want to, they're not, the government doesn't want to spend two days in trial and have a good chance of them losing at trial. Yeah. Because then it's like, look, I'm being harassed. I'm being pulled over. I'm being. And they may be able to justify all of that. Oh, we were just pulling them over because we had, we got, we got an anonymous complaint. Totally.

We just like, but. That's a Polk County vernacular. Right. Right. It's always an anonymous. Well, great. Can you play the, play the anonymous complaint? Oh, well, we can't, if we don't have it right now, Your Honor, we can't find that tape.

Yeah. So, but I mean, if you get, all you got to do is get, you get a juror, I mean, a jury up there, and the jury's going to understand what's happening. And there's about a 99% chance. Yeah. That they're going to say, yeah, not guilty. Yeah. You got the victim saying this.

You got him saying that. Yeah. And you've got no proof of anything else. Like, what are we doing here? Yeah. And just that, that first interaction with my girlfriend. in the judge, it just, it scared us because it was like, it doesn't matter what we say.

Like, yeah, but that'll change if there's a jury in the room. Yeah, totally. Yeah. So, yeah, it's just, yeah, the way that these police officers think that they can act is outrageous. And like, I almost love his brazeness.

Like, I was reading about, I think someone was firing at officers and these officers ended up putting, I don't know how many, 142 bullets in this dude. And the interview I asked, like why that many and he's like well that's all we had we ran out yeah why did they fire that many rounds yeah because they ran out of bullets yeah we would have kept going if we had more and so it just it seems like yeah it just seems like a ridiculous situation and now we're like we bought this

house and we're like do we want to be in a in a county that's ran this way and so we're like questioning this whole move and well yeah they're they're they're not making it easy for anybody to to make a mistake, get out of prison, or get in trouble, and then recuperate from that or make a comeback, right? Like they're not making it. It's a harsh environment. And it makes for a sharp spiral because I'm stressed out and I'm at homeless shelters sometimes because I don't have enough money to pay for a hotel.

Like after the hurricane, like the cheapest hotels were still $106 a night. And so it's illegal to be homeless here. You can't sleep out on the street. And so, like, you either go to the crowded home of shelter or you go to the hotel or you go to jail. 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 the night or all of the above. That's where ghost bed can help. As the makers of the coolest beds in the world, ghost bed is your go-to for cooling mattresses, cooling pillows, and cooling bedding.

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Even better, our listeners can get 50% off sitewide for a limited time. Just visit ghostbed.com slash Cox and use the code Cox at checkout. Again, that's ghostbed.com slash Cox with the code Cox at the checkout to save a whopping 50% off site wide. And so it's just, it's funny because in other states, if you told them that, in other states, if you said it's illegal be homeless they go that's not true yeah and and and no no no yeah it's it's it's illegal to be homeless no literally yeah like my lawyer's advice was like don't stop walking at nighttime because you'll probably you might get a vagrancy yeah yeah and then that'll add more charges to your to your whole thing the truth is what what shot do I have you're getting me fired from my job you're pulling me over yeah I can't go to the

only person I know in Florida right yeah right my houses yeah I'm not a lot of go to my house even though the victim is saying she wants me at the house she needs me there yeah to take care of the she's in law school right now and so she has dogs and we have an acre of land and we have crops and we grow stuff and we try and like live by the seminal traditions and it's it's impossible without me there and so she's struggling greatly and it's just it's created this yeah entire mess now we're like questioning this whole move when we thought like like like oh like we just just turned 30. We bought a house. I thought this was a sweet deal. But we just had no idea what we were getting into in the pool county. So you're still in the middle of this. You haven't

still in the middle of this. Yeah. And so I'm not sure if they're going to try and connect me with my friend who had just gotten arrested and because I got subpoenaed to give my blood sample when I had the seizure in the car. And I didn't wreck the car. I was parked the car. But they're still trying to say that I overdosed and died and have me get a DUI. So it's, it seems like I'm nowhere near the end of this. It seems like it's a mute point. Like, no matter what I do, like they're going to get what they want. It seems like it.

But like the way they worded it, if I take it to trial, like, how could a jury convict someone of a felony battery for? Well, it's like, like I've been on probation and had my, my probation officer making, veiled threats, you know what I'm saying? Like they're semi-threats and it's like Yeah. Where I'm arguing about like my restitution. I'm like, do you understand how like I can't pay that much restitution? Yeah, who can?

And I'm saying where I'm having a discussion back and forth about them. This is when I first got out of prison for a few months that she's trying to get me to pay like $600 or something. I'm like, I don't have $600. So I'm going back and forth with her. Yeah. She's like, well, if you don't pay it, you'll get you'll get. She's like, I could violate you. Yeah, VOP.

Right. And I was like, I was like, that doesn't even make sense. Like I have a hard. time believing that you're going to get the judge to violate me when I have $400 in my checking account and you're asking me to write you a check for $800. Yeah. There was another time when I had bought a vehicle and they told me, you can't spend more than $300 on your car payment.

I was like, what car can you buy for $300? And keep in mind, too, I didn't have, I had to put down $1,000. You want to know where the thousand came from. I said, okay. yeah and then i said i'm selling my other vehicle for a thousand i'm going to use that yeah and so somebody's lending me the thousand like i'm literally juggling left and right to try and get into a vehicle and then when i get the vehicle the payment was like 350 oh just right over 50 bucks over yeah she's like i told you no more than 300 i said listen i get it yeah and i said but here's the

thing i'm going to refinance it that they were telling me they could give me an interest rate of this yeah but it ended up that that company couldn't give it to me so my interest rate was whatever 12% or something. I said, so that's what the payment is, but in six months, I'll refinanced it. She says, she says, you understand? She said, I told you no more than $300. She said, honestly, Matt, she's, I could violate you for this. And I said, I said, yeah, but it'd take you a little bit. Yeah. And she goes, what do you mean? I said, well, here's what I'm thinking. Yeah. It'll be a few months before I can get violated and get in front of the judge. It takes a few months even? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I said, I said, so here's what I'm thinking.

By the time I said, if you've, and I had already been like a month, it'd been like a month and a half or so, I'd already made one payment. Right. So I was like, I have a hard time believing that you're going to be able to get me in front of the judge. Right. And tell him that I went $50 over a car payment because you didn't think I could afford the car payment.

Right. And you thought it would affect my restitution when I've been making restitution. I've already been making the car payments and I'm still making restitution. I said, what's your argument in front of the judge? Yeah. But she sat there and she was like, she's sitting there irritated with me. But that's the truth. And she thought about it for a minute.

But her first instinct was to threaten me to have to violate my probation. And that's a scary thing about probation is like if I do take that plea, it's like they're going to try and get you on something. You're at their mercy. Yeah, I'm at their mercy now. And with misdemeanors in the past, like she brought up alleged charges that had gotten dropped and tried insinuate my girlfriend had been a part of this. Right. And like even like my lawyer was like, I've never seen anything like. that I've never seen a judge talk to a victim that way.

And my new lawyer, I tried to explain it. I was like, it was very harsh to my girlfriend. He's like, oh, I've heard all about it. And so it just seems like I'm at their mercy. And I'm willing to do whatever I can to just go home and make things right. And it just seems like once they decide that you're a person of interest or they want to try and... It seems like they're trying to run you out of town. Yeah, it does.

It actually does. And they know that I have no one here but her. Another thing is, is like when there's one white kid hanging out with all black kids in the ghetto, the hood, or whatever, I'm always the one that gets pulled over by the police for whatever reason. And it seems like racial stuff in the South is so different than Colorado that, like, it seems almost like they're targeting me more because I'm like a white person who has black friends. Right. Yeah, it seems like that now that I've, like, turned on them almost, like, because of the company that I keep just because of necessity, my friends at the hotel or downtown. And, yeah, it just, it's madness. And I just hear from so many people, like, like, the cops do what they want here.

And cops do what they want in most places, but, like, this place, like, it's created a culture where it's, once they decide they don't like you. or want you, like, they're going to make your life hard, like, no matter what. So a month ago, Brady Juh is weighing in on the new Florida homeless law. I think it would be interesting for you guys to watch and maybe get your thoughts on it. Yeah, no, that's actually a great idea. You can get your thoughts. Yeah, I didn't know this. I guess it's pretty recent.

Being it's illegal to be homeless in Florida is like more of a, seems to be a new, a newer law. Yeah, like in Colorado, like there's so many services for homeless people. like they literally have places to give you tents and there's tent cities and like as bad as that is it's it's it's better than jail so let's see well i think the law is necessary because some jurisdictions may not have the infrastructure or support so i applaud the law i applaud the law but we've got to be careful when we implement this it's it's designed so that government really doesn't set up housing camps because it's that part of it is very honorous where the reality is we have a lot of homeless shelters that help those that want

help and we're not going to allow the county jail to become the de facto homeless camp i've worked with all the police chiefs and all of our providers in the private world and our goal is to work together to offer services so i don't think this law is going to have any great effect on us the way we operate in this county anyway. I personally go out and walk through homeless camps and talk to the homeless people. There are no homeless camps. And what I hear overwhelmingly is we want food, clothing. Where are the homeless camps? Yeah, no, there's no homeless camps. Yeah. But we don't want to go into homes. We don't want to go into organized places. We just want to be left alone.

So our challenge is where do they go other than homeless, organized shelters, and there's not enough space for all of them if they wanted to go or if we wanted them to be there. And the reality of it is we look for people who are allowing these folks to stay on their property and we support that. But once again, this law was created specifically to avoid people from sleeping on parked benches to laying around on sidewalks and i certainly support that law but i'm also a big advocate to help the homeless and it comes down to the lowest common denominator with me i open up my bible and it tells me clearly i'm to help those less fortunate so in this county i'm excited to tell you i would love to have not one homeless person but most of our homeless that

want some kind of shelter and housing, we can provide it. Many of them don't want organized shelter. They just want food, clothing, and to be left alone. And we go out, like in the wintertime and make sure they have quilts and blankets. We make sure they have... We're not allowed to sleep outside. Yeah, I don't understand ways. Yeah. This is not going to create a de facto homeless camp in the jail. I don't think it'll make the situation worse if it's appropriately managed. What they want to do with good reason is to get homeless people off of the sidewalks. And that's important because our family, our children, our wife, our husband, our significant other,

has the right to walk down a sidewalk without having to step over. or walk around a homeless person that's decided to set up camp in the middle of the sidewalk. That's a quality of life issue for everyone. And because you don't want to live in housing and because you don't want to work and live like the rest of America, it doesn't give you the right to lay around in the public parks, lay on the benches, set up your nasty little camps. So we, that's what we're cleaning up. But we've always done that here.

And at the end of the day, my heart breaks for them, and we're going to help them, but they've got to help themselves. But what we're working toward is what we've always done is not letting the jail be a de facto homeless camp, and that's not going to happen. I'm proud of my police chiefs, I'm proud of my cities and my private providers. We're all going to work together to deal with us the best that we can. So at the end of the day, you need to provide services. You need to provide help.

And we do that and are going to continue and we're continuing to look for more ways to help the homeless. We do that. We're compassionate. But we're not going to allow you to violate the quality of life laws that the... So... So what social... services have you gotten? Great Judge just said he wants to

help you. Yeah, I haven't been able to get on any sort of Florida Medicaid or food stamps or Out West, it's like Nothing? You got nothing? What about any vouchers to stay in a hotel? Anything like that? Nothing. No, no, nothing.

See, he created my homeless issue And I was going to say he doesn't sound like you're the, it doesn't sound like you're the, the homeless person that he's talking about. He's talking about. somebody who doesn't want to work well these guys are coming to your job trying to get you fired yeah so yeah right you did you had a vehicle you're driving around now you don't even feel like you could drive a vehicle anymore because they keep pulling me over and and having drug dogs sniff

the drug snuff the car for drugs yeah they're i had a seizure they're trying to tell me that i overdosed yeah took away my job and right they arrested some guy that i know and they're trying to tie me in with selling drugs with him when he's not saying that I'm selling any drugs with no not at all yeah and then my actual home you're telling me I can't go there even though you're saying I can't go there to protect the victim when the victim is saying she wants me to be there and she's not a victim yeah and so now you're homeless and that's illegal too yeah so yeah this is the this is the reality that Polk County is and yeah I I just never expected a place to act so insanely.

So they're, they've turned you into a homeless person and they're telling you, now they're telling you that's illegal. Yeah. And they took away my way to make money. And I still go to people ready, like the temp service, but it's so many people are looking for work. It's hard to find work out there. Finding a job is, in Polka County is tough.

And then I do background checks. This felony pending felony battery charge always comes up. And so you're a violent felon. In their mind, you're a violent felon. And I haven't been convicted of it yet. That's why I wouldn't take the fucking felony. But I was you, I'd say I'll take a fucking misdemeanor for some bullshit. Exactly.

But I'm not taking a felony. Yeah. So. Because it pops up every time I apply for a job and they ask. And I didn't think that a pending charge would would pop up. But it's every time it has around here. So he's basically created a situation that where it's not impossible for me to get out of but it's it's it's very challenging it I mean it sounds like he's doing everything he can for the

homeless people the way he's taught the way oh yeah he's out there walking the streets he's walking the streets shaking hands and kissing babies they need if they need anything and can we can we suppose he was giving him blankets and tents I it's Florida I'm not sure where you need a blanket yeah so when is your next when's your next cork date I had a court date during my detox and so I told my lawyer and he was like, it's okay, I'm just going to get a continuance. And so I don't seem like I'm at the top of his priority list. And so I don't know how near I am to resolving any of this. And like I said, I'll take any sort of plea. If they could drop down to a misdemeanor and I can go home and help out my partner. Right. But it's just it has been

six months or so now of me like navigating this and ending up homeless and then being harassed by the police and right so yeah I don't know how long this will go on what would you propose since you've kind of experienced and lived on the other side what would you propose to fix the situation or what do you think could help because i don't feel like that i don't feel like that situation that it doesn't apply to him yeah yeah i mean the homeless thing the homeless thing since covid is it's it's going to be an issue for a long time like i i don't know how to solve homelessness and I've been, I've spent a large majority of my life homeless, but I've never been criminalized for being, for existing in a space, a space that I can't leave now because I can't leave

Polk County because of my bond conditions. Right. And so. Or maybe not even the homelessness, but maybe just the culture, like, because yeah, I'm thinking, who knows how many views this video does, but the last one did a million views. And I'm sure some people have seen it. Yeah. So let's just say someone within the Lakeland Police Department is why. watching this. Sure. And, and you now you have a platform to express your experience throughout there. Like, what do you think could have been done differently as a department or how you could have been treated or like, what do you think could have been done better or what do you think they can do now to help? Well, I think in the first place, if the judge would have just listened to

my girlfriend or like, see, the thing is, is like, he's right. There are people who don't want, don't want to live a regular life and do want to be homeless. But for the majority of the homeless population, they're trying their hardest to not live that life. It's not desirable by any means. I do know people who do decide to be homeless, but for the majority, people don't want that life. And so him saying that like, why don't you just get a job and work like the rest of us. And so our quality of life is being impeded upon because of you suffering and having to about side like the eyesore that you're creating is impeding on our quality of life and it just completely dehumanizes people who are trying their hardest and the thing like so Colorado

grass been illegalized for for so long and so I know so many people who are doing year like a year in county for I think it's like 21 grams grass is a felony in Florida and so like in Colorado like you could get caught with it 100 pounds and so it's like They create these laws to, to trap people into situations and, and the jails are so overcrowded. Like, it's, the jails are so grim, like the county jail is so grim that, you know, I really don't know. I just think to answer your question, like, what could they do differently is just the way that they hunt down and track people and decide some people are good and some people are bad. And if they just, I don't know, fall. I mean, I was going to say, do you feel like?

like there's there's no there's no real cohesion between between the court system and social services like like had they or that it's not logical that they're telling you they're making things worse by not saying hey well in your specific case because every case is different every case is different you know in your specific case it sounds like they're just making things much much worse for you and they're offering you nothing in return like hey you can't go here okay where so where should I go I can't go anywhere oh we can't tell you that like yeah is it do you have a voucher do you can you is there a homeless shelter that I can go to that has room because most of the time they don't they'll say oh there's a homeless shelter over here

you go there they'll be like oh yeah come back in 30 days because we're booked for 30 days totally yeah and a lot of these places they'll say hey you can stay here for 30 days and then they kick you out and you have to wait 60 days to come back that sort of thing it's like okay so come back it's like okay so I have to be homeless for 30 days but that's illegal Yeah, and I can't go back to Colorado to be with... Because I'm on bond. Yeah, because I'm on bond. So, like, I'm stuck in this place where it's really hard to find work to get a hotel or I would get another apartment.

Like, if this thing ends up taking longer than... Well, the problem is if you find a hotel, I mean, if you find work and you're making, whatever, $12 an hour, which would be all right, right? For here, yeah. Yeah, 12 bucks an hour. You're working eight hours a day. you're making basically not even a hundred bucks a day and then the government is taking and you don't get paid every day. Well, maybe you do on, I don't know how you get. For some time services you do, but you wouldn't get paid enough to get even get a hotel room. Right, but you're not even getting

the 90, you're not even getting the $100 because they're going to take out 20% of it minimum. They're going to take out about 20% of it. So let's say you're getting 70 to 70 to 70 or between 70 and $80 and a hotel room is $90 to $100. Like I can't. So that doesn't give me the ability to rent a hotel room it basically allows me to eat and sleep outside on july 18th get excited this is big for the summer's biggest adventure i think i just smurf my pants that's a little too excited sorry smurfs only theaters july 18 yeah and maybe have 40 bucks in my pocket right yeah but i can't get a hotel room and even if i could give a hotel room with every dime i had yeah then i can't eat yeah So it, yeah, it's, it allows for nothing else.

It doesn't allow for hygiene products. It doesn't allow my clothes. It doesn't allow for transportation. Yeah. There's no, it's either I go to prison for being homeless or I work to get myself to get yourself back on your feet. You're going to have to work and remain homeless until you can get enough money to maybe get yourself back on your feet. And that's not a, that's not an easy fix. That's not a one.

Oh, I'm going to have to sleep outside for. week. It's not a week. No, no. That's me staying outside for 90 days. And it's traumatic sleeping outside in Lakeland. And so that creates more traumas. And I'm staying sober, having to go meetings. And so it's like the trauma of being homeless, like is a self-fulfilling prophecy. So like being homeless is traumatic. And so you end up having these poor coping mechanisms, which just drives you closer to homelessness. Right. So it's a cycle. Yeah, it's a cycle. And it's so complex. And the way that he tried to describe it, it seems like these people don't want, these people don't want to contribute. And that's not the

case at all. Like I work any job that I can get. And it's, it's hard to find it. And I do temp service work. And yeah, I think they pay me like $10, like whatever the minimum wage is, $10.75, $11 an hour. And I find work there maybe, if I'm lucky, three days a week. So that would be three nights in a hotel a week and nothing more. So I'm curious, well, with your current situation like what are you doing those other nights are you where are you where are you staying i walk around all night and like i'm staying busy and not homeless but yeah when do you sleep in the daytime yeah i mean yeah it's it's it's hard it's been really really hard and that's part of the reason like i was willing to go to this detox center because i

was at a place that i was legally allowed to sleep at so they only allow you stay for five days or whatever but it was just like just to get somewhere that was safe and that I was legally allowed to stay at and because it is hard to find work with this pending felony and stuff like people really don't want to hire someone they don't want to hire a violent someone that's violent that's yeah that charge makes it sound like you're violent yeah yeah felony battery yeah and your current you currently can't communicate with your girlfriend right and you communicate through who was it what family member or something so my dad and my girlfriend talk and we're yeah yeah because it's they're they're It would be a violation of my bond.

If you were to show up and you got caught at her house, they would take the jail. Yeah. And I get charged with, I would end up spending a significant amount of time. Yeah, I'm curious how much time is, is like on the line. I think it's around 16 months. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And you're stuck in Polk County. I'm stuck in Polk County. Colby's trying to figure out how to get out of this. Yeah, I'm just trying to think like, how does he, what can he do? like yeah i can't do anything i brainstorm with my parents every day and they're just like just just try and stay positive like they're like this is crazy like we well there's a the problem is that i'm sure somewhere in between as a balance between being in a conservative state and being

in a liberal state and i'm sure there's a balance somewhere but but this isn't it this is this is this is this is this is pretty far from that balance yeah and it would be different if you were sitting here telling me I didn't want to work. Oh, yeah. If you were saying, I don't want to work, fuck that. I want to sleep in the woods and be left alone. All I want to do is work and come home and pay my bills with my partner. Or if that's not allowed by them, pay bills somewhere else, but they've made it almost

impossible for me to work. Yeah. So you're not the homeless person that Grady Judd is talking about. You're someone who's been forced to be homeless and can't get out of it because of Grady Judd, the system they have in Polk County. Yeah. And me going and buying this house with my girlfriend was me getting out of homelessness in Colorado.

Right. So it just seems like the issue of homelessness in America is so complex and it's, it's so powerful that like there is no one fixed decision or answer. It's, it's, yeah, it's going to be prevalent for a long time. And my dad, he lives out in Los Angeles now. And since COVID, like, their homeless population has exploded, like, close to six figures. And I understand that, like, that's a grim situation because there's open drug markets and nobody wants that.

But if I was able to just maybe for a month, maybe for two months, work every day, if I can, save up money and then get into an apartment, like, that would be a solution, not a great solution, but it would be a solution, but that's not. that's not but you're breaking the law until that time yeah so i have to break the law yeah until i can get myself into a position which i'm already on bond and they're already monitoring me and so yeah yeah they're trying to either get me into prison or get me out of florida it seems like but you can't leave but i can't leave yeah what is the difference from your experience from i'm assuming were you homeless a little bit too in colorado like yeah yeah so what was that what's the experiences like

difference between Colorado and Florida? So in Colorado, their homeless population is significant. And so there's big tent cities and you have people with services come up and give you food every day and people check on you. And you can get health insurance and food stamps and you can get vouchers for hotels. And I haven't been able to access any of those services. I don't think there's much funding in Florida for. No, there's no social services. Yeah. There's, there's, yeah, very little. Yeah. I never have lived somewhere where there hasn't been big homeless populations.

And when I first got here, I was shocked. I was like, where are all the homeless people? And then after going through all this, I realized, oh, they're in jail. Yeah. Or driven or driven out of the state. Yeah, exactly. And so the reason the big homeless populations in out west are because people are leaving here because they're not allowed to be homeless here. and they're going somewhere where they are allowed.

But that's what they want. Yeah, exactly. That's part of the plan. Yeah, part of the plan is if you want to behave this way, then you can go to California. You can go to New York. You can go to one of these liberal states that will pay you to be homeless.

Sure, yeah. So in that respect, I get it. But I also understand that you have to help in some way. What they don't want to do is say, here, we'll pay you to be homeless. Yeah. Absolutely not. No, absolutely not. That's unacceptable.

Yeah. But if you're saying, hey, you would think that the court in all of its wisdom would say, you've explained to me the situation here. Yeah. I'm going to let you go back home because your girlfriend is saying that she's okay with you, that this didn't happen, that that's not what's occurring. Even let's assume for a second, you were furious, you were angry, you guys were fighting, you spit on her.

Let's pretend for a second. Yeah. I understand that. that we, we, that that's deplorable behavior. But what? It's not a felony violence. So, so for you to say, oh, no, you're beating your girlfriend. No, no, no, no.

We got angry. I spit on her. She says, maybe she's saying, hey, look, she's, of course, saying that didn't happen. But even if she said, look, we were angry. We were screaming. I'm prone to do some stupid things. He did something stupid. I'm not scared of this guy.

That's the worst he would do. which you can survive you can survive saliva now you may not survive a good beating yeah but you can so i can survive saliva now if someone spit on me in in anger i would be disgusted by that person and furious but i don't think that that raises to a felony conviction especially in a domestic violence situation that doesn't raise to a felony conviction especially spitting on someone doesn't raise to a felony conviction and i get it they're trying to say hey it's unacceptable yeah but okay but the victim came in and said that's not what happened i'm not scared i'm not with the state attorney i took a class yeah let this dude back into my fucking house yeah instead

you're you're basically about to that Polk county is about to create a career criminal because to me if i got desperate bro i may rob a bank i mean if i get that if i get desperate if i get desperate in you don't know what you'll do. And they are putting you into a desperate situation that you can't get out of. Yeah. If I'm going to end up possibly going to fucking prison anyway, I might as well take a shot. You see what I'm saying? Like I get it. And that's why I spiraled and I relapsed and I ended up getting clean and stuff. And I was really proud of my recovery. And like I never thought I would go down that road. And like me moving out to Florida was like the success of me overcoming homelessness and this drug problem in Colorado just to run back into it.

you didn't see Grady Judd coming. Yeah, no. You didn't know, you didn't know, you didn't know a Grady Judd existed. I didn't know anything like that existed. Right. Yeah. Well, God bless him. I've heard this, and I've heard that if there's a domestic call, someone has to go to jail.

That's what they told us. So this is from some article, I haven't finished reading it, but it says, Polk County, Florida, Sheriff Grady Judge stated that, well, almost no law enforcement officer will ever admit. sheriff judd was quoted in the local newspaper the ledger as saying that if someone calls about a domestic assault in his or her home someone is going to jail every time every time that's what they told us once the siggy make that call and yes they show up but there's two people there that's why you that's why you bolt yeah one of you needs a haul ass yeah and that's what i did and she didn't know if she had to go the hospital because she was getting like headed from her newly discovered diabetes and she didn't

know if she needed an ambulance or a tow truck she had a panic attack and she just got on all these new meds and she just panicked in this argument and she was like, I just need some help. I don't know if I'm in a faint or and yeah. So she wasn't trying to say that or she wasn't trying to call the police necessarily. She just, she got sick and didn't know what to do.

She's in distress and I need help. Yeah. I'm not quite sure what kind of help might need because first of all, she's not thinking clearly. And the cops aren't letting her go inside and get something to eat to raise their bloodshur, They harassed her for several hours trying to get her to say that I did spit on her. Yeah, right.

So what I don't think people realize, if you, like I actually have a family member. My brother-in-law is diabetic. And people don't realize that when you, that diabetics, they think, oh, yeah, they have low blood pressure, like, oh, they have some medical problems. Yeah, but part of the medical problems is when they get low blood pressure, they actually, they do things like their their thoughts aren't clear. totally my sister can tell you when my brother-in-law's blood sugar drops she said he will become angry irritable he'll say she is sometimes he says things that don't even make sense and she's like she's

like and you're and you I realize before he even knows it she realizes you need to eat something yeah you need this or you need that he's like what are you talking about I'm there's nothing wrong and he'll he gets irrational right she can see it from a mile away but he can't see it. Yeah, totally. The diabetic doesn't really understand what's happening. Yeah, and she just knows that I don't feel well. I might need some assistance. Like, and, yeah. And she's newly diabetic. Yeah, so she doesn't really know what's going on. Brand new, yeah. And it was just, yeah. So, and she's, like, ultimately, like, taking a brunt of this punishment as well because, like, there's so much stuff that needs to be done at the house. It's a, it's a brand new house. And there's animals. We have a diabetic dog that

we have to give insulin twice a day too. And so she's in law school. And so it's nearly impossible for her herself. And she's like, I don't know if I can even stay here now without your assistance because this is, yeah, almost impossible by myself. And so, yeah. So that quote that I read earlier, it's from a law form's website. And this is the last paragraph or two on this same article page.

If a police comes out to investigate domestic violence call, the law states that an arrest can only be made if the officer has a probable cause that a crime has been committed. If a decision has already been made by police that an arrest will be made before the police arrive on the scene, there is no possible way a lawful arrest can be made. Therefore, any arrest made without probable cause violates the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Yeah, I'm going to say, oh, I'm sure Grady Judge has gotten as much fun as he is to walk, as entertaining as he is, I'm sure he's gotten to living a shit suit out of Polk County over and over and over again for the press conferences.

for the policies for the little police state that he's running and go ahead and yeah it's just it's ridiculous he's once you go to the Polk County Jail you see his picture everywhere all the TVs have him speaking and he's he's like you know like it seems like a clinical narcissist you know well I got hold on oh oh nice get are you serious and see oh my God yeah wow and see the thing is is like this is charity raising but I did think this was oh my god and the funny thing is like I do appreciate

some of the stuff he does like but it's just he just needs a he needs to pull back a little bit yeah he's been he's been in service for 53 years and there's never another person up for you know election you know so like and people love him you know so he's not going anywhere you know yeah he's but he needs to dial it back a little bit yeah just a little bit yeah like Polk County and Lakeland like like I said is like one of the most safest places I've ever been which is which is great but it's also people are very paranoid they think they're going to

jail at any point because well I mean I get that I don't have a problem with that I've said over and over again, like a lot of this stuff, like, I absolutely agree. Someone breaks in my fucking house. Guess what? I get to, cute you. Yeah. I don't give a gun. You didn't have a gun.

You didn't have this. I don't give a fuck. You're coming to my house. Yeah, no. But that I believe in stand your ground. I believe that you should be armed. I believe like I get all that. Yeah.

But what I disagree with is that in your situation, because I've come out of prison, because I've interviewed so many people and I've heard all the horror stories of guys getting out of prison. And then what they do is they get out of prison. And then within six months to a year, they're committing crimes again. Why? Because I couldn't get a job. I couldn't this. And nobody would rent to me.

This is the only place I could find. This is what happened. I got pulled over more times. I got this. And they got so frustrated where they do, what would solve all this is me making money. So what they do, they went back to selling drugs. They went back to burglary or they robbed the fucking bank or they started committing fraud. They did something to relapse.

And of course, everybody says, oh, well, you shouldn't have done that. And what, I didn't want to do that. No, yeah. But I couldn't pay my bills because I'm a felon. And of course, well, that's your fault. No, I'm not saying it's not my fault, but I'm saying my, I felt my only out was this. Yeah. And sometimes, some people hit the ground running.

Yeah. They do great. Yeah. But here's, but here's the thing. Some people can hit the ground running and some people struggle. And sometimes things just go wrong. Yeah. Totally.

Sometimes you get pulled over in a vehicle and you, you know, you get pulled over in a vehicle. and your buddy's got some drugs on them and they searched the car and your buddy doesn't want to own up that that own up to the drugs and you both end up going into get you both end up going and getting arrested and it takes a week or two for you to get bonded out by that point

what happens is I got fired from my job I now don't have the money to pay my rent I'm now being evicted and you were barely making it to begin with and the whole thing spirals down and you think either I'm going to end up homeless once again. Now that's illegal. Yeah.

And what do I do? My only choice was it was, in my opinion, was for me to commit some kind of a crime to start making enough money to try and get myself back to the place I was at before. Yeah, to some viable place, whatever that might look like. Yeah. And the problem is, is that most people have no empathy at all for someone in that situation. No, yeah, no, none at all. So like I get it.

I get that, hey, we don't want criminals. committing crime here, but you also don't want to see people commit a crime and bounce back. Yeah, right. You want to see people commit a crime and decline and go somewhere else. Yeah. Go, go, don't stay in this county. And the problem is, and most people are okay with that. Yeah. Most people are okay with that until it's your sister. Yeah. Or it's your son. Right. And then it's like, no, no, no, but he's a good guy. He's a good kid and you don't know. No, no. He burglarized a house. He was 19 years old. Yeah. He was on drugs. Well, now we definitely don't want him. Yeah.

It's like, okay. Everybody, everybody wants that person out of the state of Florida until they're a friend of theirs. Yeah, totally. Yeah, it seems like in Polk County, I don't know about Florida as a whole. Polk County doesn't believe that people can. They deserve a second chance. Yeah, grow and change and learn from mistakes. Like, if you have any charges from way back, they're going to bring them up.

Like before I was 18, that kind of thing. Sleeping in a car because I was on a 40-mile walk, they brought up everything. and try to insinuate my girlfriend with some charge that I got charged with for one day until my friend said, no, those were mine. And she was like, how do I know? You were involved with this credit card and ID charges that he got charged with back in Colorado since you guys have been together this long. And she's like stunned by like how berated she's being by the judge. And so like she's scared to like try and advocate much more because she did what the lawyer said to do and just got absolutely badgered by the judge yeah dude do you want us to leave any type of

contact information in this video yeah totally yeah yeah i have no problem with people contact me or what about this what about can i can we put your cash app yeah i mean yeah yeah i mean that would be great but at the same i'm not looking for handouts i'm not like you know asking for it but like you know anything helps you know bro people send me people send me like seven box eight bucks they're like, hey, Matt, have a coffee on me. And I used to, and when I got out of prison, I used to, I used to, I used to be like, well, I don't want your money. I don't, like I was like, I don't need that. I'm not asking for that. But it doesn't matter. People see it and they watch and they go, oh, man, this was a good, this was entertaining. And I wish I want to help this guy out. And I get you to want that. But if some guy says, he says, hey, man, I know this isn't much, but let me give you 20 bucks. Sure. Yeah. 20 bucks makes them feel better. And it might help you. It would, yeah, it would. Yeah. You don't know. Tremendously help. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. So you have no idea. You might. You might. You might. You might. You have no idea. You might. You might. You might it might be a hundred bucks it might be do you know what I'm saying? Yeah yeah

Nothing totally yeah yeah yeah So at least let me put it in there yeah for sure Yeah obviously yeah okay I'll just move the box Wait I'm gonna keep the box That's yours that's your Christmas kid No it's not yeah I bought it You know those things are selling Because you can only pick them up in Polk County

I've seen a couple on eBay of like 150 Like you see he's getting so famous Like he's a he's a TikTok star now Yeah yeah like the last episode about Grazier like you said did one point one million views so he didn't do a morning briefing on you you know he does like a little coffee break every morning and he can talk oh yeah oh no and like we we watched those and like we discovered that after we moved here and we were like what's happening yeah and we thought like this was like a crazy

place because like there's always like oh we arrested a hundred and 20 you know traffickers and like the way that he describes this place makes it seem like it's so chaotic and like a crazy place to live. Right. The truth is it's pretty safe. Yeah. Yeah. You know, that's the whole thing is that you know, when you run out of real criminals and you just start arresting innocent people and saying

they're criminals. Exactly. Yeah. All right. Hold on. Hey, you, what? I was like, you should be like, hey, do whatever you thinking. What do you think? What? I was just thinking like, hey, if you've been arrested by this guy. Right. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Hey, you guys, if you've been arrested by Grady Judd, please contact us. I'm going to leave my email in the description box, so you can go there and email me. Also, 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. We're going to leave Gabriel's email in the description box. So if you want to shoot him an email for any reason, you can contact him there. Also, we're also going to leave Gabriel's cash app right underneath his email. So if you want to cash at him, $10 or $20 or anything that could help him get back on his feet because this has created a real problem for him. And I know he's struggling. I know he's trying to get back

on his feet. So if you guys threw him $5, $10, $20, $50, whatever you think could help him get back on his feet, that would be great. And I would appreciate that. Also, please consider joining our Patreon. It's $10 a month. It helps us create these videos. Once again, look, thank you very much. If you've been arrested by Grady Judd, please contact us. We'd love to your story. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. See ya.