23. When Gangsters Get Out of Line in Prison

When Gangsters get Out of Line in Prison is the continuation in a series of hubs in which I discuss my life of rebellion, dabbling in the Occult, drugs, crime and prison to life-changing conversion through Jesus Christ. Click here to read it from the beginning. In this hub, I will discuss some details about what happens to gangsters when they don't go along with their gangs program.

If you’re in a prison gang, one of your biggest threats is not going to be from rival gang members, but from your own gang. That is because gangs keep their members in strict order with particular rules. If a gangster is found to be in violation of those rules, punishment can come swiftly and without notice.

For instance, there was this shot caller (leader) of the Norteños that did not want to lead them any more. He was getting tired of their politics, so he decided to announce he was stepping down. Nevertheless, you cannot just leave a gang like that because you are tired of it. The Norteños have a blood in, blood out policy. That means you have to shed someone’s blood to get it (which might be your own if you choose to get jumped in); and if you want to get out, your blood must be shed. That could very easily mean your death. Stay away from gangs!

So this shot caller was sitting at a metal picnic table in the inner courtyard of the prison when, unbeknownst to him, two Norteños with padlocks inside socks as weapons were making their way towards him to violate (punish) him for bucking the system. They pretty much bashed his head in. The aftermath looked like a murder scene, with a pool of blood on the concrete and blood spatter in various directions. Last I heard, he was in the hospital, in a comma, with a swollen brain.

Another time, a Sureño was violated because he got caught in some kind of homosexual activity. Homosexuality is a big no-no for the Sureños and many other gangs. He was violated in the bathroom at the same time I was taking a shower. I didn’t actually see it, but I heard it. I was in the shower, washing-up, when all of the sudden I heard some serious blows being administered on the other side of the dividing wall between the shower stall and the bathroom (the wall did not reach the ceiling).

There was grunting, the sound of boots scuffing the ground and wall, the smacking and thud sounds of fists connecting with the face and body; and, finally, the heavy thuds of boots to the head and body once the victim was down (which continued some time after he was down). It sounded like at least three people were involved in the melee.

In prison, when someone is beat up, the terror doesn’t stop once the victim is hurt, down, or unconscious. It usually continues on until the guards arrive, or the ones doing the beating get tired (whichever one comes first). Sometimes, the guards don’t arrive for quite some time. Other times, they don’t arrive at all. That’s because prison is generally understaffed. For example, in Lompoc FCI, there was only about 12 guards on any given shift to watch 1,600 inmates. You do the math. Prisoners got away with a lot!

There was yet another Sureño violated when he didn’t want to pay up on an $1,800 gambling debt. When he was confronted about payment, he just flat-out refused to pay. Maybe he thought he could get away with it because he was a seasoned Sureño. He was about 35 years old. However, that didn’t matter. He got beat up, like all the rest.

What made his refusal to pay even worse was the fact that he owed the money to someone from another race / gang. The danger in that is it could lead to a race / gang riot. The only way to quell that is to violate the offender. Three guys attacked him with padlocks inside socks. He was a bloody mess. I watched him get carried away on a stretcher from my window. He was shirtless with blood all over his chest and stomach, and his head was wrapped in gauze.

There was a time when a leader of the Crips was discovered having a homosexual affair with another inmate. However, his crew let him slide without a beating. They just told him he could no longer be their gang leader, and that he had to role it up (transfer to another prison). He got lucky; although, that wasn’t a good move on the part of the Crips. Other gangs take that as a sign of weakness. I’m pretty sure the Crips lost respect over that. That could have dangerous ramifications.

A couple of hubs back, I promised to tell you about the guy who punched a cop. It happened in the chow hall. It appeared it was for no apparent reason at the time; but then it was rumored sometime later that it was a part of some kind of gang initiation. Anyway, this was another event that I hadn’t seen, but the whole prison was buzzing over it. When exiting the chow hall after the evening meal, the prisoner punched the guard monitoring the exit door right in the mouth. Then he chased the guard around a table a couple of times until more guards were called over to subdue him.

The guards have a panic button pinned to their uniforms. Every time there was some kind of emergency where they required the assistance of fellow guards, the pressed it and other guards came running. This often happened during fights or medical emergencies.

The guy who punched the guard was subdued and taken away, never to be seen again; and the guard was transferred as well. Why would the guard be transferred?, you may be thinking. It is because he had lost respect and authority over the inmates as a result of being victimized before them.

Writing about these events brings to mind the time when two black guys got into a fight in my dorm over a game of dominos. However, this was no ordinary fight. It was one of the bloodiest and most gruesome fights I had witnessed in prison. By the time it was over, one guy's face was cut up and his grey sweater was soaked in blood. And I just remembered, there was that time when a guard got stabbed to death. I’ll tell you more about that in my next hub. Click on the link below to read it.

24. Prisoners Gone Wild