The parole board has had its say, and it’s
official - the inmate is going home. They’re now free on parole, but the time
they spent in prison will be lingering long after they walk out the doors. Prison can be a place of rehabilitation and
contemplation, but it can also be a very difficult place to survive. Inmates often come there in an agitated state
of mind, and they’re paired with other potentially violent inmates and with guards who are taught
to show zero tolerance for convicts stepping out of line. That’s an explosive combination, and it
often leaves ex-cons with some disturbing memories when they finally go home. These are some of the most messed-up things
ex-cons reported seeing during their time in prison. When you go to prison, who you get as a cellmate
is anyone’s guess - and there’s no asking for re-assignments like you’re in summer
camp. When one prisoner arrived, he was given a
roommate who seemed like a normal guy - but at night, it was a different story. As he would lie awake at night, he would hear
his roommate mumble in his sleep “I’m a murderer! I’m gonna kill you!”. When he woke his roommate up, the roommate
remembered nothing, and he never acted violently towards him - although he did keep taking
his sandals. Who you encounter in prison is the luck of
the draw - and sometimes it can be terrifying. One man was trying to serve his prison sentence
quietly, and was sitting in the common room watching the news. It was a disturbing true crime story, about
a young man who had stabbed two local children and had been arrested. The news fan looked around the room - and
saw the same face he had just seen on the news sitting right next to him. Apparently this was a general holding facility
for all local criminals, no matter how dangerous. Fortunately, the stabber seemed more interested
in breakfast that day. Entertainment is the only thing to look forward
to in prison - even if it sometimes leads to disturbing confessions. A group of prisoners were allowed to watch
a movie, and surprisingly it was a horror movie. The guards didn’t seem to think it would
give them any ideas, and most of them were enjoying the slasher film. But as the killer snuck up behind an unfortunate
victim on screen and slit her throat, one audience member didn’t seem to be enjoying
himself. He scoffed and said “That’s not what it
looks like” as the rest of the prisoners in the room were left to wonder how exactly
he knew from personal experience. When you don’t get much entertainment, almost
anything can turn violent. In some prisons, the inmates get to choose
their own entertainment - as long as they don’t cause any trouble. Of course, they don’t always agree. In one prison, a trio of older Vietnam Veteran
inmates had commandeered the TV to watch their favorite shows - on the History Channel. But a young drug dealer who had just arrived
didn’t understand the pecking order, and he wasn’t about to miss an episode of his
favorite TV show - Breaking Bad. It nearly turned into a massive brawl before
the guards interfered. It doesn’t take much to start violence in
prison - and sometimes it’s just bad luck. A guy was doing a stint in prison along with
some hardened criminals. Among the most notorious were a pair of murderers
who were doing life sentences in another prison, but had been transferred back to the general
holding facility for a retrial. That was bad luck for an enemy of theirs who
had been picked up for a DUI. He was only going to be there until he could
see a judge on Monday - but he wouldn’t make it to then, because his old enemies made
a point of hunting him down and killing him. If you anger the wrong person in prison, you’d
better watch your back. Prisons have their own economy, and it’s
not uncommon for inmates to get deep in debt. But in prison, the consequence for being late
can be much more serious. One inmate reportedly decided to get himself
thrown into solitary to avoid his creditors. He climbed up on the roof of the prison and
stayed there for two days, while the entire prison was put into lockdown. They eventually got him down, he spent two
weeks in solitary - and was promptly stabbed when he got out, by a random inmate who had
to miss his turn in the weight room due to the lockdown. One thing you shouldn’t be looking for in
prison - privacy. John Williams was an armed robber serving
a lengthy sentence, but there was one bright spot in his life - his pet budgie, which inmates
were allowed to keep. But birds don’t live forever, and one day
the bird passed on and Williams gave it a burial in the prison yard. But as he watched out his window that day,
he stared in horror as a group of guards walked over to the tree and started digging! They had thought he had buried contraband,
and instead uncovered a little bird body. They had a good laugh, but Williams wasn’t
laughing. It wasn’t the only strange discovery during
Williams’ time in prison. While Williams was in prison, another inmate
got caught in an awkward situation. A convict was strip-searched after returning
to his cell from his job as a trustee, and the guards were shocked when he was found
to be wearing womens’ underwear. After tossing his cell, they found several
identical pairs. When questioned, the inmate confessed that
he had stolen them - from the house of the Prison Governor where he worked, by sneaking
into the Governor’s wife’s dresser. That was probably the end of that job. But there were more disturbing collections
found in prisoner’s cells. Justin Rollins was in the healthcare unit
for mentally disturbed inmates when a young man was brought in. Many inmates - including Rollins - self-harm
to get transferred to this safer unit, but the new arrival was definitely not pretending. He was escorted by guards wearing hazmat suits,
which meant he had been in possession of something contaminated. It turned out that he had been collecting
bread to lure pigeons to his cell - at which point he killed them and stored their heads
in his pillowcase. Everyone else in the unit gave the pigeon
serial killer a wide berth. In prison, people will do anything to distract
themselves - even resort to some questionable substitutes. Drug addicts often find themselves needing
their next fix, but drugs are hard to come by and dangerous to keep. When a group of female inmates in the county
jail were desperate, they found an unconventional solution. When they got their instant coffee powder
from the canteen, they didn’t mix it with hot water. They snorted it right up their noses for a
high-intensity caffeine fix, and the other inmates reported they stayed up all night
making weird meowing noises to each other. For alcoholics, finding a suitable replacement
can be even trickier. Prison has its own culture, and many inmates
have reported it even has its own drink menu. With alcohol strictly prohibited, inmates
have taken to home-brewing a questionable substitute called Pruno. They collect fruit juice, candy, sugar, and
crumbled bread and collect it in a plastic bag which they fill with hot water. They hide it in a piece of cloth and let it
ferment over an extended period - knowing that if it’s discovered, they’re headed
for solitary. The eventual result has been described as
tasting vile, but it contains just enough alcohol to be worth it for some. Of course, some inmates manage to get their
hands on the real thing. Drugs are pretty common in prison, and some
inmates resort to extreme measures to get them. One inmate tried to smuggle a bag of drugs
into prison concealed in his rear end, but was quickly discovered. The guards dug it out and planned to seize
it as evidence - but the inmate had other plans, and everyone in the prison hospital
got to see as he grabbed it and swallowed it again. He was forced to vomit it up by the officers,
and he was probably pretty lucky the bag didn’t burst after all that - that would have likely
been fatal. Uncomfortable as it is, that seems to be a
pretty popular hiding place. One inmate was living in a low-security dorm
where the inmates had more freedom, and many were smuggling cell phones in. But this was still prohibited, and a violation
could easily get them sent back to a more secure prison. When the dorm was raided one day, the inmate
watched in shock as at least five inmates quickly shoved their cell phones - including
some pretty large models - where the sun doesn’t shine. Even more shocking? Every one of them was strip-searched, and
not a cell phone was found. In prison, freedom can disappear at any time
- sometimes for the most ridiculous reasons. Stephen Jackley was doing a stint for armed
robbery when he suddenly discovered that the prisoners’ time in the yard that day had
been cancelled. Normally this only happens when there’s
trouble at the prison or serious bad weather, but today the reasoning was...a cloud. The prison guards had decided that a cloud
meant it could rain, and the rain could make the ground unsafe for recreation. Not exactly a reason to cancel a day of outdoor
time, but there really isn’t a customer service division in prisons. The guards have a lot of power in prison - and
sometimes they abuse it. One man was spending the weekend in LA County
jail after being arrested, and just had to get through the weekend. But another inmate wouldn’t be so lucky. They were standing on line for inspection
when the guards suddenly stopped him, pulled him out of line, and beat him in front of
the rest of the line. The inmate never knew why that specific inmate
was targeted, and saw other inmates obviously smuggling goods. Maybe the poor inmate was just randomly chosen
to be an example by abusive guards. But guards aren’t always on the ball. When a young man was doing a short stint,
one of the inmates he was doing time with was a notorious member of the Mexican mob
who was in jail awaiting trial for murder. But that didn’t stop him from getting a
position on the Work Release team. One day, when he was out doing his job, he
just decided to make a break for it. He made a gang sign at the guards, laughed
at them, and disappeared while he was at work. He was never seen again and was believed to
have made it back to Mexico, and the odds are those guards were looking for a new job. Of course, sometimes the inmates fight back
against the guards. One man doing time for DUI in the Macomb County
jail reported seeing an old inmate who’d had enough. He started repeatedly dipping his shirt in
the toilet, wringing it out, and wrapping it around his head. Most people thought he was crazy, but he said
he needed it to block out the light. But then, the old man scooped some of the
toilet water up in a milk cartoon, and waited for an officer to walk in. As soon as the officer barged in to move them
to another cell, the old man threw the cup of toilet water right in his face. This turned into a near-prison riot, and the
old man was beaten by guards and paraded out in front of the other inmates. But that’s nothing compared to the revenge
plan the next man cooked up. One inmate shared a story of an HIV-positive
inmate who became a legend among his fellow cons. He had been collecting newspapers during his
stay, and quietly worked on a project by dipping the papers into toilet water, which had the
effect of hardening them. No one knew what he was working at - until
one day the guards came under fire. He had made a makeshift bow and arrows out
of the petrified newspaper and some string, and had apparently even coated the arrows
in his blood to potentially infect the guards. No one knows if any arrows hit their target,
but it’s hard to imagine paper arrows could actually pierce the guards’ clothing. But the next inmate took his revenge plot
to the next level. Ceri “Cesto” Stokes was a frequent flier
at a Welsh prison, but nothing prepared him for what he was going to see this time. He shared a prison with a young Irish inmate
who loved to boast that he knew how to make bombs. No one believed him - until one day he showed
up with what looked like a bomb, and took a female guard hostage. The guard had apparently made a lot of enemies
among the men, and this hostage situation led to a riot in the whole wing. By the time the guards calmed the riot and
broke into the office where the hostage-taker was, the riot had made the news. As for the bomb, it turned out to be a flask
with some wires in it - completely harmless, but enough to turn a prison upside-down for
days, and send the would-be bomber to a much longer stint in prison. For more on what you’ll need to know to
get out of a prison stint alive, watch “The Ten Commandments of Prison”, or check out
this video instead.
