CORRUPT Rikers Island Guard BUSTED for Smuggling Operation | Steven Dominguez

Intro I am the senior officer nobody knows what I'm doing I've been quiet I've never told anyone anything there's not a questioning anyone in the Department's mind that I'm involved in this type of organization like if you're going to do something wrong make sure that you do it right Stephen wake up you got to wake up this is bad this is very bad born and Background raised in New York City my mother is of Colombian descent my father's of Dominican descent they both got here in the mid 80s I want to say my mom is slightly younger than my father she came here she started working for a catering company she worked in the laundry mat there uh she had me in 1988 I'm 36 years old currently all of my academic years were also in New York City I bring that up to say that my mother I started applying for New York City jobs she got a job as a substitute teacher when she got here from Colombia she was able to get her student visa she got her Masters and she got into the Department of Education she learned English very fast uh she has a heavy accent still but she maintains and she floats through she's helping ESL students come in so she's gaining a lot of notoriety within the Department of Education my father is in basically building building maintenance sorry sorry Building Maintenance he also has his Masters but for some reason just can't get a decent job his English is not the best he gets into masonry and then he starts delving into construction where it's like granite and marble tops and things of that nature around five or six they start to get into heavy arguments I start to see this other kid I had my own room I was in a not great part of New York City I'm in Queens Village the north side of Jamaica Crim ridden still but I I didn't you know I didn't ever feel in uh in danger right this is five or six years old um my father leaves he moves to Harlem which which is still in New York City the back and forth starts to happen where you'll sleep here for the weekend and then you come back luckily my mom gets a steady tour and a steady position for the Department of Education as a substitute teacher we have the same days off so I see my mom way more often than my dad my dad slowly starts to like not be in the picture 6 seven years old at this time High School and my mom regardless of having this steady income she's still cleaning apartments with her friend on the weekend in the Upper East Side just to get she's hustling I was going to say of course she's she's an immigrant who come making they always work 10times I can never say that I missed a meal I can never say that I missed a Christmas I still had a Nintendo 64 you know things of that nature but I see this and I see the struggle of it's just her income I get into high school I go to Forest High School uh at this time I'm mostly just paying playing sports with my friends I'm not really getting into any deep trouble at this point Point Jordans are a thing getting jerseys are a thing you know having the latest like athletic gear is a thing I play baseball basketball football whatever my friends wanted to do that's what I was into um Mom can I get Jordan 3s that are coming out this Saturday they're $110 take you out of your mind you just got a Nintendo 644 like a few months ago no I can't I can't I'm sorry and I'm just like okay you know I'm not holding it against her but I'm wishing because I see and I know that my friends who have both parents are like yeah they're making it work even my friends that have single parents are making it work I get into high school it's my ninth year I get off on Jamaica Avenue which is like a prominent hub for hip-hop there's the sneaker stores the mom and pop sneaker stores that sell the Jordans and the Nikes and the new era fitteds and the jerseys and you can go and get the your your teeth grilled and gold and you can get a Rolex watch for cheap it's it's that neighborhood of New York City there's many there's Grand Concourse in the Bronx there's 125th in Harlem there's these little hubs where people go to get their gear in New York City mind you this is like the early 2000s um I'm walking through one day after school and randomly I go into the New Era fitted store called CAP USA and I'm like hey are you guys hiring I'm 14 First Job 15 at the time yeah we are come on Saturday at 9:00 a.m. I didn't ask about pay I didn't ask what the compensation was I didn't ask for scheduling you want me here at 9: perfect I get home I tell my mom all right you know be careful I take a dollar cap down Jamaica Avenue which was a dollar flat at the time less than the MTA which which was a150 more or less I get on that I'm going to Jamaica Avenue this is my first job I get off there's a beef patty and cocoa bread place this is like a very Caribbean infused environment Jamaicans Haitians gues trines it's that nature that side of Jamaica Avenue um this is South Southside Jamaica Queens 50 Cent is from Southside Jamaica Queens I see all of this Brewing him coming out with the mixtapes like I see 50 Lloyd Banks all this gun stuff rap Galore right Lamar odm from the NBA is there like it was again a a ground for hip-hop culture so I'm seeing these things as a 14-year-old and it's my first day at this new era fitt store where I'm selling fitteds for $20 he tells me Hey listen I'm going to give you 50 cash you get paid every Friday I want you here from 9: to 8:00 p.m. Saturday and Sun Sunday obviously because he knew that I was in high school took a picture of my high school ID and I started working there I met a lot of people this was great I enjoyed the money that I was making I was getting gear for half off this was beautiful the Jordans that I did want I was able to buy them myself so I gained Hustle Mindset this like uh structure that I feel started from Young where I'm like okay now I have finances I'm able to not ask my mom for things and I have a little Freedom you know at a very young age where kids my age are just worried about going to the park I gained this hustle mentality from my mother uh time passes my girlfriend in high school she tells me Hey listen my mom and my dad have a a a job opportunity at JFK airport where you can power wash the terminals and take away the little gum that is sticking on the terminal for the air TR it's from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. and they're paying $100 a day so I'm like okay this is perfect like I can go right in and like she's like yeah I'll introduce you and we'll make it work as a high schooler 15 years old making $100 a day after school and I'm not getting in the way of my academics my mom's for it it's my girlfriend's mom so this you know there's a there's a supervisor level to it where my mom knows this is safe this is real legit money regardless of them having me in JFK at such a young age they made it work again I'm buying myself these things I'm gaining this notoriety of having luxury stuff at a young age even though my mom is struggling I'm able to kind of show forth that I'm I'm making it work I start noticing that this isn't going to be forever and I need a little more money a little more means to make it work I want to get out of my house at this time I graduate college I was going to say 15 I'm sorry High School I graduate I graduate high school at this time 17 18 17 this is 2006 I'm working in JFK so I start networking with the people at JFK I'm seeing the TSA agents TSA came about in 2003 The Towers fell 2001 TSA is a brand new element of Department of Homeland Security so I say TSA Hey listen is there a way where I can apply where I can say Hey listen I already work in JFK and they're like yeah call this number and give them all your information and I did so I'm 17 at the time right I graduate high school shortly after TSA calls me this is beautiful wow a government agency at 18 this is perfect like everything that I've worked for and that I've you know maintained this like good kid role it's paying off you know they do a deep dive they make sure I don't have any prior arest which I did for something extremely misdemeanor I didn't have my ID on 42nd Street I jumped to Turnstyle I went through Central book for the weekend not a big deal arnard in New York City arnard they did their investigation I passed a drug test I'm working at LaGuardia Airport I am the youngest TSO Transportation security officer in LaGuardia Airport everything's beautiful I start taking other tests and other exams because my goal is when I turn 21 and I'm able to carry a firearm I can probably go to customs go to ice go some somewhere outside of uh TSA even though TSA is new and I can Branch out and be a supervisor quick I want to I I want to take advantage that I'm this young because I want to retire by 45 50 years old the the American dream yeah would that be nice I do TSA I'm having a blast mingling with flight attendants again at LaGuardia Airport I'm seeing the Stars com in they know me by first name I start again taking these exams no one's calling me because I'm 19 years old I'm 20 years old I'm in John J college at this time John J is one of the biggest colleges for criminal justice justice and ironically regardless of me wanting to go through maybe law enforcement as a path I never wanted to be a New York City cor New York City police officer because of just my upbringing it was like the police aren't really for us they're kind of against us stay stay clear of their way right you know this is me growing up in the early 9s 2000s so I kind of like void that test I'm like you know what I'm not going to take that test ever I'm in there for forensic psychology I'm kind of like borderline making it I'm still in TSA parttime and I'm still at my mother's house and I have girlfriends here and there and it's like I have such a great job and I got a nice car that I'm able to maintain but I still live with my mom I kind of want a little sense of freedom I want my my own place you know so I take the correction officer exam I'm coming out of John J one day they tell me Hey listen because you're a student here that the exam is free back then it was $30 to take and I'm like no you know what this kind of goes into the same group of PD that I'm trying not to do I'm trying to venture out you know whether it means me moving to Texas or seatt or whatever it is and they're like Hey listen he shows me his his pay up he goes you make some good money here man what do you do now and I'm like well I'm in TSA he goes well you know that's okay and at that time I'm probably making 700 800 by- weekly cuz I'm part-time again I'm I'm still going to school full-time and it's like 3 four grand and I'm just like wow that's a big step up you know 3 four grand will probably get me a studio apartment and maybe I can you know venture out and still be able to help my mother because she's a substitute teacher she doesn't make much you know she has a stability that she always gets a check you know every two weeks and I'm a product of that because I understand that that structure now but if I make Becoming a Correction Officer more than her then I can say Hey listen whatever I was helping you with I can still do so and do my own thing I just wanted the freedom single straight male I wanted to be with my girlfriends whoever they were and just be able to go home after my 9 to5 and have that structure so I always craved it I passed the correction officer exam with flying colors I got like a 96 or 93 they called me right away within like three months this is January of 2010 and I am only 20 years old I turned 21 in May of that year and she said Hey listen they assigned me an investigator they said okay after this we're going to sign sign you an investigator and we're going to do the same thing pretty much TSA there we're going to take deep who you are make sure that you're elig and credited enough at that time you needed 39 credits college credits to be a New York City correction officer they did all of that and they called me in December of that year I'm 21 at this time hey would you like to go into this class of course this is like a Christmas present to me because now it's like okay I'll do this for for a few years I'll give this a chance not knowing too much about corrections knowing a lot about Rikers just through like DVD culture and understanding that people get arrested and this is where they land if you get arrested within the five burls in New York City I knew it was dangerous I didn't know exactly what to expect but to me it's opportunity and it's an opportunity that comes once in a lifetime so I'm going to I'm going to go all in I get into the academy the academy is four months when I get to the Rikers Island academy I start realizing okay you know this is serious like you know they plan on giving us a gun we're going to going to be in Riker Island the infamous Riker Island uh it's a lot of policy and procedure we're learning there's a lot of like character building that they do they want to kind of weed out the weak and they weed out the weak in all elements that you can think of whether it's physical whether it's psychological they try to just let you know Hey listen there's going to be a lot of people that are going to test your character and we're trying to build this from start to finish and I kind of had that already from say even though it wasn't in that type of element because I would see people go on vacation or people go you know to a major city with their loved one it was a different element of people this was people that you're restricting their freedom this is uh serial gang members the worst of the worst and it's like okay you know I come from an element in New York City where this stuff is around me even though I've bobbed and weaved it as much as I have I've seen it face to face it shouldn't be that bad I'm 21 I'm one of the young people again just like I was in TSA in my graduating class we graduate and prior to going to Rikers which was like an all job training that they do two months into the academy and they say Hey listen this is an on job training for 5 days you're going to see a lot of people around you that aren't going to want to come back after this this is the reality this is like okay we spoken enough about this place let's get to it we get there and it's not my first time I had visited a friend prior to so I kind of understood what to expect but when you're behind that gate and you see the realism of it it's a shock to anyone you know everyone's first time there it's just a hold on wait a minute now now this is real I go through on job training the officers that are explaining things to us our seasoned 15 20 years in and I'm listening I'm just listening to everything thing I'm seeing a lot of people you know bicker and saying oh man you see that you see this you see that the inmates are ecstatic because you know they know that this walk through is a part of you know pre-employment to PreEmployment Anxiety actually being here and they're making a Ruckus you know they're they're causing that anxiety that you don't want but you're going to get it regardless um I stood tall I did what I had to do I graduated two months after what did the inmate saying this said we never said anything when when the when they came in to the federal to the prisons I like we never said nothing making fun of your shoes oh yeah they would but they wouldn't do it to us we wouldn't because we'd be afraid that something they come back or they we get a shot or something but a lot of times they were like hot chicks in their regular clothes and Rikers Rikers has an element where a lot of these guys at our house they're innocent to proven guilty they're fighting their case so that there's a certain ego that comes to like I'm getting out of here soon I could talk my [ __ ] to you I'm not going to be here for the rest of my life right you know so a lot of people didn't make it out of a class of 45 420 I want to say 360 graduated maybe so you know you feel a little prideful you know and ironically there there's more women than there are men in this graduating class after this graduating class 2 months after another graduating class comes and it's constant for my first two years on probation as a New York City correction officer classes are coming back back back back and I'm like okay my seniority level is rising my first day on Rikers you know I heard an alarm it wasn't in my housing area I was able to go to my housing area which was a dormatory setting I had to relieve the B officer there's an a officer and there's a b officer the aide of the dorm is 50 inmates the B side of the dorm is 50 inmates that b officer has to go back and forth to make sure things are okay if they need the Hot Pot open for hot water if they need the slop sink open to clean up a mess he or she is in charge of opening the day room turning on the TV putting on the phones on the uh um on the phone uh Jack to make sure that everything is working on both sides 100 inmates to one office officer is a lot of you know that's a lot of eyes on on you so your first couple weeks it's like you got to perform and these guys know that you're new they've been there fighting their case two three years right people don't think that you're on Rikers for that long I've seen inmates on Rikers six seven years fighting their case before way before I even got there On Job Training cuz I was only able to do four years and eight months so I'm there and I'm on the wheel tour which is 7 to 3 one week 3 to 11 another 1 to N9 one week 11 to 7 in the p.m. 5 to 1 p.m. it's it's rotating and this is a good and a bad thing because now you're learning the jail you're learning policy and procedure you're learning uh post that if they throw you in there you already know what to do so you're kind of using this really as the on job training I'm working in the recyard and the mess hole and I'm getting really cool with these inmates and by cool I mean I'm 21 22 years old afro Latino I'm from Queens my dad moved to Harlem I was able to navigate the city uh at a young age just playing sports with my friends I was very relatable working on Jamaica Avenue I saw I saw a lot of these guys that were in street life that spent their street money on Jamaica Avenue that they would see me now and they would be like wow like don't I know you from somewhere didn't you mess with this girl and you know I become like a fan favorite in a sense I'm not bending any rules at this time I'm still pretty by the book but I try to be as cool as I can possibly be these are kind of my peers these are sadly guys I went to high school with that made a you know a wrong decision the only difference between me and them is that I took a test and they didn't right so a lot of that stemmed my respect for them and their respect back did I see a lot of violence yes did I let a lot of slide on the search if they had four pens and they were only allowed one I wouldn't make a big deal about this because I already know being on this island and being as deserted as they are to society they're already in hell so why make it worse right you know and they felt that you know I was very approachable hey did you see the Knicks hey did you see the latest Mercedes-Benz that came out like I'm free and open to Off Probation conversation and they love that they're there all day I'm probably there with them for 8 hours I'm probably there with them for 16 so I made that work for me uh 2 years in I get off probation I finally get my uh uh personal protection firearm they give you that access once you're off probation a lot of people don't make their probationary period as a CO regardless of you having that firearm you still get the firearms training you just don't a you're just not able to take it home with you finally I'm able to buy my Glock 19 I'm able to take it home with me I'll bring that up later why that's so pivotal now I see these inmates they're they have been with me there just as long as I've been there fighting their case these guys kind of like grew up with me in these two three years that I'm there I'm tired of being on the wheel so I put in for a steady post and that is the one to9 Post in the rhu unit of Riker's Island in c73 where I worked in which is a high-intensity mental observation unit on Riker where these guys are heavily monitored on their mental health because they're schizophrenic they're bipolar on top of them being extremely violent extremely violent uh you know they've cut cosos they've cut other inmates they have red IDs which shows that they're predicate Cutters they've been caught with Contraband and things of that nature and they're in the box and their mental health observation so it's just a slew of things that these inmates are extremely high classification right if and when they behave they're able to get day room time High Classification and you're going to be in charge of that from one to nine if you apply for this steady tour you want a steady tour you don't want to be on the wheel anymore this is all we have right you've only been here two years there's people that have been here 15 years that can't get a recreation post just because they're not they're just not great officers I'm want to not give infractions I never gave an infraction as an officer again I was was very cool guys respected me just because I gave that respect back and I said well how bad can this be these are the same guys that I've housed that just got in trouble and they're in the Box it's not that serious these are mental patients they're coming from they're coming from asylums all over the city yeah these are the and they just have felonies and they're just like being weeded through the system yeah but these are the guys that throw [ __ ] on you these are the the worst they're setting they're setting their mattress is on fire and you're like how do they get matches I'm like no they don't get matches they get a battery and they get a paper clip and they make it work mhm so I'm around these guys and even then I'm like I still make it and manage to like glide through things I have not had an altercation with an inmate physically verbally all the time physically up until this point so the warden the assistant Deputy Warden they're this is like their baby and they're very proud that this unit is working with me as a one to n steady officer I am not on the floor I'm just an escort at this time so if they need to go to the mental health clinic if they need to go to the regular Clinic they have a visit they have to see their lawyer Law Library I'm escorting them through general population hallways as a high mental health patient regardless of these mental health labels that these guys get they're still Gang Related as well a lot of them are [ __ ] a lot of them are blood they're Lon King they're trinitario and it's like they get word from the general population guys that I'm a cool guy you know regardless of their a officer and the post or the be officer that's steady on the floor with them as an escort officer don't disrespect me because I'm I'm one of you guys right and i' I've never disrespected them so it kind of that karmic energy worked in my favor um I have this housing area steady now 3 months but as the escort officer I'm able to kind roam free throughout the prison I'm still seeing the general population inm that I encountered from my first couple years on the job and my seniority level is up now because like I told you the classes are coming back and forth so people think that I've been there way longer than I actually have been and I gained that notoriety and I kind of use it to my advantage um throughout my time on Rikers I've had a lot of inmates proposed to me hey do you want to make money on the outside yeah well right you want to bring cigarettes tobacco loose tobacco maybe this water bottle full of vodka like you know I'm good for it I can make you money MH and throughout my first couple of years I'm just like I brushed it off respectfully right I Roaming Free never alarmed someone and called my Warden and said Hey listen this guy's no because I'm too cool for that like n man like I'm good I'm not going to sell you my in my Integrity I work too hard to get here you know so I'm roaming free one day and I'm waiting for one of my inmates from my housing area ofu to get out get out of the visit inmate that was there the entire three years that I've been a CO at this time he's been there fighting his case ironically I know this inmate I've actually seen him in real time outside of Rikers in the street he's a well-known drug New York City might seem big to Outsiders of New York City but when you're in the loop of things you kind of know who's who and I've actually seen this guy in real time prior to me even taking the Department of Corrections exam he doesn't know this but I kind of know who he is I I know who he is through a friend of a friend since day W very respectful what's up Dominguez how are you everything good chilling he's working in the visit floor where he's giving the inmates a change an exchange into their regular clothes because at this time 2011 12 on Rikers you were still able to wear regular clothes and that was like an up on people because it's so egotistical in prison and in jail that if you have designer stuff you're the man so when you get to the viit Flor on Rikers you change into the jumpsuit the great jumpsuit they give you the slippers the brown slippers or the armor slippers he's working that detail while I'm working for while I'm working the escort and waiting for this inmate to to finish his visit take take him back to rhu we start talking small talk and he goes again just like the rest of them yo we should we should make some money like let's make some money like you know you know I'm good for it and deep down it's Making Money like he doesn't even know that I know him from an outsider that kind of vouches everything he's saying and I'm just like nah man I'm all right I'm good time passes maybe two weeks and I'm working the 1 to9 shift I get put in to work a vacation detail which is the 900 p.m. to 500 a.m. shift lockdown on Riker's Island is at 11:00 p.m. at this time this is 2011 2012 and all the inmates are locked in I'm working a sanitation detail I'm just going with two inmates escorted from a housing area and picking up all the garbage in the facility so the breakfast crew can open up and you have a clean slate and start out the day and everybody that works a 7 and3 shift that when things are you know happening Catholic Services visitation all this stuff could be up and running again it's the only time the prison kind of semi shuts down nobody's out everything is desolate I see this inmate again and he goes yo Dominguez and I can hear him it's it's a hallway of nothing mind you it's 1 in the morning my inmates are in the kitchen grabbing the rest of the garbage and I'm like hey what's up man how are you yo what's up man like talk to me and I'm just looking at him and I'm like man nah bro I'm good he goes [ __ ] Security on the Outside bringing stuff in Security on the outside and I'm like Security on the outside what do you mean by that and he goes you know my brother just wants somebody to ride with him like just drive you don't got to touch anything and when he said touch anything I'm just like I understand what he's talking about now because I know that he's a known drug dealer in New York City right I've seen him everywhere so I'm just like nah man like I'm good and even as desolate as it is I'm very cognizant of my surroundings and I want to make sure no one's listening and even watching us congregate because I don't want to I don't want to tarnish my character you know there have been officers just like Gary Haywood prior to me that we're incarcerated because of set situation but when he mentioned Security on the outside it's like you know what I kind of Justified it personally I'm like well I don't know what this entails but I'm not bringing anything in I don't know man I don't know and he continues walking with me takes out his log book his address book actually he rips out a piece of paper and there's a number on it already it's like this was kind of premeditated on his end call this number when you get a chance I finished that vacation deal I'm not working that shift anymore I don't see him for a few weeks I end up going on vacation myself so I had some time off for rers I was already like up to here with the violence I just needed some time off but I would be lying to you if I said I didn't have that scenario playing my mind over and over and over again and once that happens I'm just like you know what when I get back maybe you know and I sat on my bed the night before going back into my regular uh the morning of going into my once t i shift I'm like you know what and I called and I called and I spoke to somebody and he goes yeah this that's my brother he told me you were going to call I've been waiting for you when are you free and I'm like well I get off at 9:00 p.m. he goes well can you meet me tomorrow morning and I'm like what time cuz I have to be at work at 1 he goes I say like 10:00 a.m. okay give me the address he's like yeah I got you right now I'm going to text you the address seems very youthful you know in in his voice he text me that address right away I see it it's like maybe 18 minutes away from me the warning of that comes and I said Driving to Washington Heights you know what I'm going to give this a chance I'm going to see what this is about uh again I'm not getting into anything until I feel secure about it I get to Washington Heights I'm in Queens Jamaica Avenue at this time it's like a 20-minute drive on the Grand Central I get on the West Side Highway I call him when I'm outside he's in like a sweatsuit he's smoking a cigarette he's already on the phone and I'm just I'm nervous I don't know what to expect it's broad daylight which is kind of like saving me a little bit and at this time remember I do have my personal protection firearm right and I am law enforcement so I could say that this was something that went wrong and I'm just here protecting myself worst case scenario I'm playing all these things in my mind he gets in the car he looks at me and he's just kind of like astonished like oh wow you're super young and I'm like yeah man what's up this is now he goes listen I'm going to go back upstairs I'm going to get a duffel bag we're going to go to 42nd Street in 10th Avenue and I'm thinking in my head I'm doing the time I'm like it's like a 15-minute drive he goes upstairs I Tye it into the GPS I put it it's 14 minutes and I'm like perfect okay cool I'm nervous I'm shaking I don't know what to expect he tells me to Pop the trunk I Pop the trunk I'm not I don't touch anything at this time we're on the West Side Highway it's just small toe yo what's up man this and that yo I like your earrings and it's just like yeah yeah you know like I don't know what to expect I don't even know why I'm in the scenario I don't know how much I'm going to get paid I'm telling myself this was a bad idea I just want it all to finish and end as soon as possible why because at 1 p.m. I got to go back to Rikers put on a uniform and just we get to the parking lot he says go in I'll pay the ticket I press for the Buton we get the ticket dimly lit we're on T Avenue and 44th we get down there he meets a car maybe six cars to the left of us I don't really see much he gets back in no duffel back he's still on the phone and he's talking in Spanish I kind of can't really get what exactly they're talking about but he's just letting it known that whatever transpired like that's it he's done don't worry about it do I drop you off or would I drop you off are you getting off here who's going to pay a ticket and he's like relax relax take me back up town 14 13 minute drive I drop him off he's on the phone the entire time my heart is coming out of my chest I'm just like oh man okay I drop him off I'm double parked he gets out the car lights another cigarette and I'm just waiting there patiently maybe two minutes pass by seems like an eternity he takes out a water of cash and he's counting and it's all hundreds gets out the car gives me a handshake I'll call you back BR and I'm just like okay what how much he give you you don't don't know yet I wanted to get out I wanted to get out that vcinity I wanted to get back on the bridge and I wanted to either go straight to Rikers or go back home to Queens because mindre is still early at this time so I just want to leave hey real quick just wanted to let you guys know that we're looking for guests for the podcast if you think youd be a good guest or you know somebody do me a favor you can fill out the form the link is in our description box or you can just email me directly email is in the description box so back to the video he tells me Hey listen we're I'll call you he's still on the phone mind you this whole time he just paid me a couple hundred dollar and just threw it on the passenger seat I just want to get out at this time I want to leave the Vic the vicinity I just want to leave I want to be like clear out of all of this there's nothing in my car so I'm like I can vouch for myself right I hop on the highway real quick and I'm not on my way to work because I did this under 40 minutes yeah so I go straight home and I get there in maybe 15 18 minutes I park up and it's $1,500 oh okay and $1,500 a lot of money for back then to a 23y old who's probably getting this with the old overtime The Blood Sweat and Tears that goes into working a housing area that you're not familiar with and it's just excruciating money but you know correction officers do make Bank when it comes to city employees from New York City they're one of the highest paid I believe after sanitation if I'm not mistaken and that's because of the overtime um so I'm like wow $1,500 and I'm like well 40 minutes of my time I I can I can get used to this so I'm turned out you know at that point and he calls me three days later and he's like Hey listen I got another run this time I have to go to the Bronx from where you picked me up last time I need you to go to the Bronx I have a question yeah you're just there why because you have a What if something happens firearm like what like I don't understand what you're doing like what if something happens like what do you expected to do the whole reasoning for him to tell me Hey listen we're going to pay you a hefty amount to basically be with my brother is because you have a firearm not so much you have a firearm you have a badge right you have a New York City badge which is like having 10 Firearms you know and if you were to get pulled over you are in the driver's seat this is your vehicle hey credentials are right here right they're not going to search another member of service why would they waste their time you're just a CEO with his cousin this guy looks like he can be my cousin right literally even if he's a drug even a drug dealer they can't assess that situation within those seconds of them pulling me over and me having four kilos in the back of my let you go oh my bad whether it's for the tents whether it's for me not stopping so much at a stop sign regardless of it the security aspect comes that I have a badge okay I didn't know if he thought like if this these guys pull a gun you you need to pull a gun that was also a thought of mine and I had to always have that type of mentality because after these runs became multiple runs and I would always try to assess situations I would ask them prior to Hey listen where are you meeting me who am I meeting with and these things are Brewing while I'm still working my regular 1 to9 shift so it's like I have a superhero with the corrections uniform from one to n and then anything after or pre that I'm over here transporting what I believe is narcotics only could it have been guns maybe could it have been more than just maybe I never touched anything up until certain moments these moments start to fluctuate in money it's not just $1,500 people are probably questioning you sold your integrity for $1,500 you could have just worked two weeks and made that back How much he got paid then yeah but not if it's every every two or three days two or three days and it fluctuates like I said and within a month that's not 2800 4K sometimes 7K the most I ever got from them was $112,000 this was a 4H hour run they had me in the car for 4 hours whatever dealings they had upstairs and whatever was going on I was getting paid just to be on standby right whether these guys got into a gunfight whether we got pulled over after this they just wanted to make sure that I was there at all times that's what I was getting paid for and I'm going back back to work as if nothing I see the inmate that proposed this to me from start and I'm working with his brother inside this organization that now I'm a part of right I'm dealing with his aunt other cousins other family members that own restaurants hey drop this off here do this I'm basically a courier I'm not touching or bagging anything up so so what happened you said the second time was that any eventful or just another time now it's like okay if it was this easy I I kind of psyched myself out and I said you know what I I can do this like I'm not jeopardizing Riker's Island stuff right I'm just a law enforcement individual that is abusing my power with this shield and roaming the city with a Glock 19 and drugs and I'm just that's it that's all I know I don't know anything else I'm even justifying if I were to get pulled over I kind of already know what to do he tells me the inmate that proposed this to me from day one I see him roaming the building he has all all of these jobs he's a very loved inmate within this facility he's been here for three and a half years almost four years right just like me fighting his case he has a attempted charge um regardless of him being a drug dealer a known drug dealer he has an attempted charge and he's telling me yo listen you like that right you're good what about me and I'm like okay Meeting the aunt talk to me he goes no we'll talk later and then he he breezes that off I get a call from an aunt that I've met prior to on a few of these runs she calls me and says hey can you meet up with me tomorrow it's my day off I said yeah absolutely I'll go and meet up with her I don't know how much I'm GNA get and I'm enjoying these couple thousand dollars that are coming in weekly mind you I'm getting paid bi-weekly by the New York City Department of Corrections 1,500 1,600 and it's to like that's Play money to me at that point so uh the aunt calls me and we don't do a run she gives me a little brick it's maybe 3 in by 4 in it looks like a small iPhone it's not a phone though it's compressed in like a duct tape fashion and it's probably like an inch in diameter and I'm like okay she like yeah just give that to you know this guy and everything that I've been trying to avoid from bringing in this Contraband it's like what do I do now say no I've probably made 40K at this point with these people just doing these little runs that I haven't touched anything right but with the first conversation we had with with this guy was you don't have to touch anything you don't have to do anything it's just it's just this that was yeah that was the carrot but I to me I would have probably been like like we had this I I was very specific at the beginning this is what you assured me of go for yourself de a deer in headlights man you just so it's like what do I tell her no and this is my third or or second time meeting her you're afraid the whole thing might go away and I'm just like well I'm in I'm in too deep already they know too much well what do you make in a month now it it fluctuated could it be grand or 10 much no it was definitely over 10 I want to say again at at that first proposition at that at that first proposition of introducing Contraband that very first time I was at least at 40 mind you this is three months in two months in and it's not a everyday thing maybe it's twice a week thing but now you're telling me to introduce Contraband into Riker's Island something that I know has been found upon since I start since I started the academy literally since I started the academy these guys are going to you know they're going to sugarcoat this and going to try to mold you and they're going to try to friend you and it's like yo they they drill this in you pause so much that you're just like wow and then now you wonder oh it's it's so easy that is why they tell you don't fall for it do not fall for it cuz they're all going to ask you and I told you earlier they all did ask and once you told no and you let them know Hey listen I'm not here for that it's like they backed away because three four months down the line they're going to get a brand new rookie officer that's going to be like right I got you so I get that small brick compressed which seemed again like an Going to work iPhone 34 at the time which is kind of the iPhone size that I had back then in 20112 and I'm just like okay I'm like with nothing else she goes no that's it all right I go to work the next day 1 to 9 and I have this and I'm just like oh man like I got to do it right what am I going to do not do it and these guys know what car I drive the license plate my phone number he knows where I work there's too many scenarios where I can't back out I feel like my back against the wall and this is all I got to do and if I do this it might be just as smooth sailing as it was when I was transporting whatever they had in that duffel bag right you know I I wasn't scared about it then and if I was scared I still ran ran with it I get into the facility I'm a seasoned officer regardless of me being there four years there so many classes under me that I am the senior officer people are retiring left and right and I have my own steady shift I have my own steady housing area I take care of rhu like like a Golden Boy on Riker's Island in c73 so me going through the magneter and getting to my locker with this package of I don't know what it's not going to be that hard they're not going to stop me and Pat me down I go through this magneter five times a week you know I do exactly that I get to my locker I have it in my pocket it's a cargo pant pocket I also have a tic taacs in there like my regular stuff I get to my housing area now it's like okay how do I get this to this inmate that I would randomly see throughout random times because I'm an escort officer and get this off of my person person because what if there's a surgeon there's a canine unit and what if this duct tape is not as strong as I think it is and it seeps through and the German Shepherd is at you know in front of me barking and now the K9 unit officer is like right all this stuff all these scenarios are going through my head I said I kind of run this building I I I roam free through this building regardless no one's ever going to ask me I'm too much into my head let me just get this over with I do exactly that I walk to that inmates housing area the dormatory where he sleeps at I ask him to come outside I tell him Hey listen I need you for such and such I throw the Contraband in the garbage he knows exactly what to do he picks it up goes about his way and it doesn't look suspect no one's making sure hey is that Dominguez who's that what's going on this is I I'm here all the time nothing looks out of the ordinary and again I work so many units and housing areas that me picking up this inmate randomly the a officer is like what do you need that inmate for he's himself he can semi roam free he's not a high classification inmate either and it just became that and then when I couldn't get to him now doing these runs I'm also getting the Contraband on the side and I'm bringing Contraband to Riker Island so how often is that happening just as much as often as the runs happen because now what becomes a money maker on the outside also becomes a money maker on the inside you didn't have to do it the first couple times but we showed you how easy it was and you're doing it effortless effortlessly if you don't find me or you can't get a hold of me I'll let you know hey give it to this guy that's in your housing area or when you go to drop off this inmate these guys are watching everything so they know when I have a certain inmate that is diabetic and he has to go to the clinic they know I got to take him to the clinic at 4 at 400 p.m. why because they see me do it every single day so when you're in the clinic there'll be somebody in the clinic waiting for you and you drop just drop it off and get it to me and it worked that way for a very long time aren't you concerned at all that now too many inmates know what's happening that's where I didn't want to um get to in the The hardest part first place because it's like I never worked in your housing area for me to see you every single day so this can work like clockwork so me getting it to you is the hardest part of this whole scenario not me meeting up with your aunt or your cousin or your uncle or whatever it was I'm kind of already privy and used to this but how can I get it to you and it's like no you can drop it off at this guy but it's an organization and you know within the with within the organization and is is just a black market for impermissible items that you can't get on Rikers if you can get him you're the man right and he needed that power he had it on the outside he needed it on the inside and then you know in hindsight I'm just like I feel like he was already getting these things prior to me so there has to be others that are doing the same thing it was probably Hayward Hayward was already he' been gone for years he had been gone for three years already oh yeah yeah you know remember me he went to the tombs correct me starting in the building that I worked in he was coming out and then his situation happened well I mean I'm sure there's there's other guards bringing it in um what so what is it is it is it toac it what straight tobacco I don't know do not quote me on this to me I you know that that that makes always when I wrap it up real tight like that always makes me com compressed as hard as can be again no more than four or five ounces but you got to remember impermissible items on Riker's Island tobacco being one of them I forgot if it was mayor Giuliani early 2000s he took away being able to smoke within any city building right Riker island is a city building so co could smoke inmates couldn't smoke they used to sell tobacco on commissary prior to this law coming about so now that the item can't be bought there there's a need for it I'm not going to stop smoking after 40 years I'm going W his Island for a few weeks I need to get my fix and I'm going to get it somehow a finger of loose tobacco which is a you know like a plastic glove fied of loose tobacco can go for 150 bucks and a pouch of loose tobacco which you can fill a whole five finger row of is only $3 so you know it it it it makes its money and people get paid and when they get paid through these Western Unions or whether it's an civilian visitor bringing it in or a mental health clinician bringing it in or a doctor bringing it in and you would ask yourself a doctor why would a doctor throw away everything that they've worked for just to bring in Contraband look it up it happens yeah it's not just correction officers and I kind of want to always let that be known you know during covid there were no visitors so Civilian staff maybe yes it was only the correction officers it could be civilian staff too well I was going to say nurses a lot of the time the nurses they these guys get close they're there just as long as we are these 16 hour shifts sadly after 16 hours of being with somebody for 5 days a week you tend to kind of like you know have conversations and get to know the person you know they in now I know when Matt gets a haircut I know when he's coming off I know when he's going to work I know when his vacation is because kind of live with these people right you know so so you're still doing the stuff on the street the protection you're doing this I mean you're making you're making you're making a chunk of money every single month I'm getting there on top of getting my bike weekly check which gets better because now my time on the job is steady I'm doing a certain amount of overtime longevity is a factor so I'm getting close to my top pay top pay back then 2012 13 14 for a correction officer was 89,000 base and then again coming with the overtime uniform allowance holiday pay you could bring home 115k and as a single male 115k in New York City it works this goes on for a few months and and now that I start introducing the Contraband I start feeling this type of guilt cuz it's like damn man I didn't want to do this from the very beginning but I am making good enough money on the outside that the things that I did want are now they're easily accessible you know I'm able to help on my mom with the groceries now I have my own apartment I have a steady tool on rers I'm a city employee I have great benefits again I'm a single male so things are working out I'm doing this for about three months by myself one day I see the inmate and he goes um yeah I don't want to my brother no more and I'm just like I'm mind you I'm in uniform on Rikers Island and I'm looking around you know still very strategic about what I'm doing I don't like there's not a lapse in my judgment where I'm not on point about things you know I'm still very cognizant of everything I want to make sure nobody's listening nobody has a clue I've been cool since day one so so I don't look out of place talking to this inmate this inmate doesn't look out of place talking to me so he goes I don't want to mess with my brother anymore I'm going to give you another number and this guy this is the guy like don't talk to my aunt anymore like these people are [ __ ] up and he's telling me I'm about to go to trial soon I don't know if I'm going to win I'm a predicate felon if I lose this attempt to charge I'm gone 15 to life they got to give me 15 to life as the minimum and he's just expressing this stuff and he's like I just need your help call this Colombian guy make things work I need a better lawyer like I need more money and I'm just like wow I'm really I need more money deep into this because he has this trust to tell me all of this and like this comes to a point where I'm making enough money I don't want it to stop but I kind of want it to stop right because I've been getting away with it that there there's not a question in anyone in the Department's mind that I'm you know involved in this type of organization I have a steady tour like I said around that time the assistant Deputy Warden and the warden of the facility gave me a certificate of appreciation they gave me an a certificate of appreciation for one holding down this housing area and while I was going on my vacation relief when I came back there was officer during that week that got his radio and his cuff key taken from a slot from an inmate that was in my housing area and this guy has an a walking talkie and he's on all the channels saying yo free this free this yo oh god oh suck my dick and this and that blah blah he's going crazy until the battery dies I come back from my vacation and I'm like give the give the walkie-talkie back they didn't want to extract the inmate he's a high level mental health and they just didn't want to hurt him they got the walkie-talkie and the cuff key back I got a certificate of appreciation from the warden so again I'm the Golden Boy me talking to this guy doesn't look at of place circling back he goes take this number it's like kind of back to square one call this number when you call this number you'll get all the information and I get this feeling again like damn man again like what what is this gonna like what is this what door is this going to open I wait a few days and I call the number and it's a heavy Colombian accent and he goes hello and I'm like hey how you doing such and such call me I gave him the fake name that I always have and and I'm like hey this is Tony and he goes oh Tony I've been waiting for you blah blah blah can we meet at this Colombian restaurant in Queens tomorrow morning I am off I can't meet you I've seen and been to this Colombian restaurant I go it's 11:30 12:00 it's about to be lunch and I'm nervous again I haven't had this nervous Factor as much as I've had up until now from the very first run that I did that I didn't know what I was getting into I don't know what I'm getting into at this point it's my day off I have sweatpants on a hoodie and I see this Colombian guy come in and he kind of gives me a head knot and he's like and I'm like yeah he sits down shakes my hand the guy looks like he can be my uncle and I'm just like hey what's up man he goes He listen I've heard a lot about you but you know I need you like ASAP and I need you to like be a little more free in the morning at night whenever I know what you're doing that's why you're here that's why whatever these guys pay you I don't want to deal with their brother anymore their brother's getting on my nerves this is the first guy that I met that gave me the 1500 and I'm just like I don't know what he did I don't care I don't want to ask it is what it is and I'm like all right cool call me and he goes okay cool can you start tomorrow and I'm like yeah there's been like a 3 week period where I didn't get any phone call because again he's having an issue with his brother the next day we're exchanging text messages and he goes I need you to meet me on Queens Boulevard close to the restaurant that we met at the first time I meet him there it's also my day off and I do a run with him but this time I'm driving his car in his Durango brand Durango it's not good hey yeah just park your car get in the car and I'm like you don't want me in my car you I have everything in I don't want to okay where are we going 44th Street in Tav oh [ __ ] this is the same place that I went with with the brother the very first run this is the first time I did the first run maybe this is like a meeting ground for whoever they're dropping whoever off to whatever it is this is way they meet it's enclosed it's on the ground dimly lit like I told you earlier we get there I kind of know I get the ticket I'm in the Durango now and I'm like okay like this is not my car where do I go and I'm asking more questions I'm not as comfortable as I am this is a brand new person he's a lot older than the brother and I try to be a little more professional about things Park up does the same thing as a brother gets back in the car nothing's in the car he goes all right take me back to your car and then you can you can go $4,000 and I'm just like in an envelope right things are a little more professional all right man I'll See You by the way do you have someone else that can kind of do this with you just so I can you know cover more ground I want to like I don't want to have to babysit you every single time I just had to meet you in person these guys are vouching for you but you know these guys are pieces of [ __ ] they're just Street kids that they just spend their money on jewelry and go to the strip club he's bad mouthing them and I'm just like I don't throughout my time as a correction officer I would have inmates that they wouldn't snitch but they would tell me yo man this guy's bringing in this and he's doing that and you hear the talk whole tals and you kind of just you mind your business it's not getting in your way there was an inmate that I would get told about that was making things very hot within the housing area that I actually house so the housing area that I house it was rhu on the BS side the a side was General population it was the Crips and the trinitarias which is are Dominican base ging in razan and he's there as a b officer a lot whatever his dealings are with whether it's with the Crips or the trinitarios he's doing his thing he's actually bringing in Contraband and one day I come in and I tell him Hey listen man you got to relax and he's just looking at me and I'm like if you're going to do something wrong make sure that you do it right because I'm letting him know that they're letting me know like you're a little too messy with whatever you're doing and it's within the grounds of he doesn't know what I'm doing no one has has gave him a flag hey he listen dingz is nobody knows what I'm doing I've been quiet I've never told anyone anything and I'm just letting him know like Hey listen bro you don't have to do this and he goes it's like gets into his feelings and he's like yeah man but this and that I have the conversation that I had with the Colombian deeply rooted here and I'm like I know somebody that I'm doing this with on the outside if you want you could roll with me and you could do this on the outside you don't got to get too messy I'm down I have student loans I live in my mom's basement he's kind of going through the same motions that I felt from the very beginning of this dealing where it's like you're kind of doing this wrong thing for the right reason there's no real malicious act you're not trying to hurt anybody you're not bringing in razors you're just like you know and he's already his Integrity is already sold because he's already doing it prior to me so I know that him doing this on the outside is going to get him a lot more money than whatever these guys are paying him and we do exact that I tell the Colombian guy through text like Hey whenever you're ready I have someone perfect let's meet up let's meet up at this parking lot in Queens and I'm like all right cool I tell my boy he tells me perfect I'm off also so he's on the wheel but he actually manages to be off this day he's a little nervous just like I was and I'm like listen I just met this guy too they just want us to drive from point A to point B I told him straight up I don't touch anything I don't bag anything up I don't see anybody getting hurt like you know you're just a driver you're a courier perfect Colombian guy text us get in the car we both get in the car we shake hands we meet he gives us each a duffel bag and he goes listen I'm going to text you both the address it's the same address you guys will go in separate cars you take this you take this meet me there when I get there I'll grab everything go upstairs do my thing perfect we do exactly that it's probably 30 minutes out it's a a longer trip than usual we get there he's parked he's looking at me and it's like okay cool he smokes a cigarette my partner the Colombian guy goes upstairs grabs the duffel bags does what he does he's up there for 20 30 minutes and we're just there like and it's just building it comes back the Colombia guy gets us in his car and then calls us over hands us cash it's $1,500 and I'm just like all right you guys done better than 1500 I thought I was going to get a lump some from bringing this guy in because now you have you guys have me but just you said you want to have more coverage right what I do just split my did I just split my [ __ ] now this guy knows what I'm doing so I'm extremely vulnerable myself and he's EC static 1,500 he was getting $22 $300 when he was just bringing in Contraband regularly he's happy he's like let's do it again let's do it again I'm down this and that and we continue doing so this happened three or four times we don't hear about this guy we don't hear from this guy for almost two weeks and he goes yo what's up and I'm like I don't know you know in my head I'm just like if it's dead it's dead like you I made my money no one knew Clean Slate spoke too soon I get a phone call he goes hey I need to meet you guys this is Monday June 23rd the day after Father's Day I need to meet you guys up town in the Target parking lot separate cars 8:30 and I'm like okay cool I tell my boy he sees it in the group chat he goes all right cool I'll see you then I start at one we both start at one cool perfect we get there and we're waiting and the parking lot is desolate he comes in to White Durango and he's parked maybe six cars to the left of us uh say says come in the car we get in the car same scenario Hey listen the brown duffel bag is yours which is my partner the black duffel bag is mine okay cool I'm on the right side I'm seeing him I'm going to text you the address it's in yoner it's about a 40 minute drive cool I'm go to bathroom and then we can kind of all head out all right cool but you guys could head out now separate vehicles we do exactly that we exit the car I exit out I look at my Nike fuel band and it's like 8:50 9:00 I look at my partner he goes I might have to pump gas and then I look at the time again I'm like well hurry up and then as soon as I look back it's a hearse rental car doors bust open DEA agents vest guns out get on the ground get on the ground get on the ground and I look at my partner I have the duffel bag in my hand and I'm just like a Dearing headlights he's looking at me a deer in headlights everything is slow motion I don't hear anything I just start seeing cars coming left and right squad cars guns everywhere and I'm just Frozen the only thing I feel is the knee of a DEA agent pinning me to the ground taking off my personal protection firearm unloading it and cuffing me within 3 seconds and I'm looking at my partner face to the pavement and I'm just like Stephen wake up you got to wake up this is bad this is very bad where the do we go wrong why did you not see this happen holy moly he's looking at me I'm looking at him we get thrown in the squad car I'm in the back seat is a young lady with a vest on DEA agent credentials on her neck there's a big white guy sitting next to me heavily tatted and he's just looking at me and he goes and I'm just like I'm trying to keep my cool but the DEA is there it's all right it's over what precin are we going to he goes precin what do you mean precin he pulls his badge out and he shows it to me and it's a DEA emblem and I'm just like man we're in separate cars my partner and I the Colombian guy from what I saw while I was on the pavement he's tussling with these DEA agents and he's fighting trying to roam free and it looks crazy and I'm just like holy moly a lot of things are going through my head were they looking at me were they looking at him were they looking at the car like what what do I say once we get to an office or a desk and these guys are asking me questions like what's going on mind you he this armed me knowing I had a gun on me yeah yeah he knows way too much he knows they have my wallet it's in my back pocket I have my shield there I have to have my shield on me at all times why because this is my superhero badge and no one can stop me in New York City if you have a shoe I'm trying to think I'm trying to think of where like is that the guy in prison who realized he's probably going to jail for 15 to 30 years and you know it slowly set up and he got to a point where he was like okay I got I can use this to my advantage because I'm probably going to desperation yeah is that what you is that what I felt that that's probably what it was months after mind you I'm still dissecting what I don't know what they know we're on the West Side Highway and again I asked the DJ want prec and he's just like precon we're going to headquarters and I'm like well this is big this isn't not this is not a 4 oz of or a gram and a half of whatever it was I don't know what's in these duffel bags I didn't even open them I never opened them I didn't want to know what they were I mean that for you for your conscience that tells you makes you feel okay but none of that matters none of that matter it's like the same thing with the guy that goes into rob a bank and says it it was it wasn't even a real gun doesn't matter it doesn't matter the threat is still there yeah you know and people can say oh later on they can argue oh why didn't you say this was entament he kind of lured you in but he told me hey this is what I have this is what I can offer and I gladly open that door you know and that's not even in federal court like in New York state that might be a defense but in federal court it's hard and I'll tell you why it was hard later on so we're on the westside highway on our way to headquarters and everything is going through my head and I'm just like wow I'm supposed to be on Riker's Island at 1 pm today you know and I don't know what my partner is going to do because I kind of just brought him into this world so he might sing this might be American Idol for him I don't know what he knows what he might lie about he might throw me under the bus he's only been New York City correction officer for 2 and 1/2 years I've been a New York City correction officer for 4 and 1/2 years going into my fifth year I haven't hit topay yet and all of this is flashing before my eyes we get to headquarters the elevator opens up and it's a big emblem drug enforcement agency and you're just like okay it's probably a nicer building than the [ __ ] you know what I'm saying you can see the budget when you go in these money this is big boy [ __ ] even them taking me out the squad car and taking me to the elevator there's Lamborghinis there's you know the the exotic cars and you're just like wow they probably every all the toys that they sees are here you know this is headquarters what happened to my car oh one of the agents got it they'll bring it over and jokingly he goes you own it and I'm like no I just bought it why did I just buy it because I'm making so much money that can afford a second car I bought a Grand Cherokee a Latitude 2014 15 miles on it still had the the plastic ripping off and he goes we probably put more miles on it than you did jokingly while I'm in the bullpen just waiting and not knowing what's going to happen I see all these guys in suits come in and out and then I see my cold Defender come in 15 minutes later and then I see the Colombian guy come come in 15 minutes later after that nobody saying a word I don't know what's going on one of the de agents comes and she goes Hey listen we just want to ask you you know these general questions this is not an interrogation you do not need a lawyer these are just general questions I don't want to make sure that this is your maiden name this is your address we just want to get things sorted out you don't have to say anything aside from the things I just told you okay they cuffed me they put me in a room she does exactly that maen name emergency contact I go through everything everyone else goes through it and I'm watching them go through it the Colombian guy is pacing as he gets transported to the room to do what I just did and he's giving me a look like yo you better not tell you better not say anything and again I'm just like nothing me and my C- defendant now are sells to each other and we just like yo bro listen I don't know it right away da hey there's no talking here unless you're talking to us one of the de agents comes he goes yo Dominguez you want to have a chat and I'm going no I'm good they take my codefendant next to me which is my partner they put him in a room they didn't even ask him if he wanted to talk it's kind of like a psychological game that they're playing now I see him going and not even saying that he does or doesn't and they're asking me in front of everybody I don't say anything I kind of was brought up on that culture you know until you have Council presid try your best just keep your mouth shut and again I don't know what they know I do exactly that and the de the DEA comes in to my cell they handcuff me the district attorney she's in a suit and she looks at me she goes you mean the US attorney the US attorney she goes you don't want to talk to my guys and I'm just like I don't not I try to be as numb as possible she goes get them out of here they do exactly that we get back into a car and I I don't know if my partner's coming I don't know if the Colombian guy I don't know their whereabouts at this time I ask the officer again that's in the back seat with me while I'm handcuffed where are we going we're going to Manhattan tombs you're being arraigned and if I'm in Manhattan tombs well that's a city case this is not federal anymore I got arrested by a DEA and I'm like okay now I'm very confused yeah I was going to say is it do they have the Marshall's hold over there is that I don't know what it was but New York City took over me once I got to Manhattan tombs so now I have my peers of the same uniform that I used to wear 24 hours ago and they're like yo what the hell happened I I don't know what happened and just like the movies I'm in the Bull Pen by myself and the news shows me 17 correction officers 14 correction officers arrested for promoting prison contraband bringing in oxycodone tobacco all these pills and promoting this and doing that part of a huge criminal Enterprise and I'm just like no my codefendant comes 10 minutes later and I'm showing him and we're on the phone I'm trying to get in contact with my mom I don't remember the phone number vividly I finally get a hold of her the Rikers had been calling her because at this point it's 3:4 p.m. she's my emergency content right hey is Steph coming into work is everything okay Riker Island does not even know what's going on this was a whole operation that had to do with a slew of Departments of Department of Corrections Department of Investigations DEA ATF all of these organizations came about just to look at me and I'm like this can't be what about the Colombian guy what about the Dominic guy the pieces start coming together and now I realize that I'm here because they were watching the Colombian guy that's what I think that's not that's not exactly what happened but they got 17 other yeah it was all over the place again I don't know where I'm going I don't know what's going on luckily for Corrections when officers do get in trouble there's a union that backs them up the union Bevan Association of correction officers yeah but I'm sure that doesn't last long when it's a criminal investigation they came through they bought me food they tried to consum me and say hey listen we don't know what's going on but we got your back there's going to be a lawyer that's going to represent you at least for arrangment purpose right and I'm like okay like I don't know really the steps I don't even know again what they know so I'm just I'm know at this point four or five hours pass by I break the news down to my mom I'm telling her I don't know what's going on I'm so sorry they CAU me with stuff I don't know what I was bringing I don't know how much they had I was just being a security guard I'm trying to sugar it my mother and she's just like what did you get yourself into they've been blowing me up for hours we get to arraignment I stand in front of the judge my partner stands right next to me with another Union president not Union president a another union lawyer with the Union president and a union representative uh they read out the judge reads out A1 possession criminal sale and A1 attempted sale 500,000 750,000 Bond and I'm just like whoa wait like like I'm expecting a 50 70k like right you know and I look at my lawyer he goes I'll talk to you in a bit I'm looking at my mom she made it she was with my girlfriend at the time and I'm just like I don't know what I'm what I got myself into sale of what okay you anything A1 in New York City consists of hey whatever it is if it's 8 o or more it's considered an A1 Fon okay we get back to the cell and I'm like man this was big the lawyer comes back he goes listen I'll see you in the morning you'll probably end up in Westchester County or Nassau County Nassau County is all the way in Long Island Westchester and Yonkers maybe 25 minutes out from where Riker island is now I realize that I'm in deep [ __ ] I get to Westchester County they come and pick me up they they take me there there's no word said I don't see my partner anymore I'm by myself and I'm just like what did I get myself into you know I don't even know how to explain this to myself we get to Westchester County I get to the intake area the warden comes in the captain comes in and they goes Hey listen we know what's going on you're a member of service so we suggest you go to PC and I'm like well I don't want to go to PC like you know I always knew that PC was not a place to be it was the worst of the worst it was a a lock down it was escorted movement and I'm just like I don't think I need PC I've never hurt anybody I'm not here for hurting anybody like I'd rather go to general population they're like that's there is no way that as a uniform officer still because you're innocent to proven guilty correct so you're part you're still a city employee whether I want to believe it or not even though I know deep down it's over and I would would never be a city employee again they told me listen you're going to PC sign this paper wear this armor sweat to you want a large extra large and they're just going through the motions they don't care that I'm a correction officer you know why cuz I'm not a correction officer anymore right the next morning transpires I wake up I get no sleep I'm in a cell and I'm looking around and I'm just like man this can't be everything that I worked so hard for led up to this moment ask one can I get on the phone they have me on a quarantine my lawyer comes in I'm able to see him through a glass I'm able to see my mom through a glass I'm trying to explain to her what happens I'm explaining to my lawyer what happens I go to court three days later sub seeding indictment 17 counts promoting prison contraband A1 possession in the first over 8 ounces bribery receiving conspiracy 245 again Pro promoting prison contraband and I'm just like what the is going on I sit down with my lawyer he tells me all right talk to me tell me everything that you've done cuz I've obviously known that you you've done all of this this is my union lawyer I don't want to tell him everything I don't know if he's working with the district attorney I don't know where my my faith is going to land I start explaining to him how I got into this and he goes well looking through your Discovery knowing how the district attorney is playing understanding the department of EV investigations understanding why the DEA was involved in this it just seems like you're dealing with a confidential informant and a confidential inform it could be someone in the jail and you said the person that involved you with this Colombian guy that you were driving freely for how how did that connection happen I said well he gave me a number he goes well there you go this was a confidential perance so the guy that gave me the number and position propositioned me from day one has been a confidential informant way before I was even a correction officer mind you what did I tell you earlier I've seen this guy in real time right right he's a well-known drug dealer like you mentioned he couldn't take the time he's a predicate felon 15 years to life you better give us something what are you going to give us another drug dealer no so he made a juicy for them and said you know what I got a I got a correction officer that's been moving around with me and I I I can give you the receipts M and that's something juicy because at this time Rikers is in Flames 30 40 slashings per building 30 40 slashings per building 30 40 slashings stabbings per building the violence is all over the place they had depend it on somebody I became the poster boy for introducing Contraband to rers Island telling the news that I'm the reason why the violence has spiked and things are out of control they need to dependent on and I became the gold that they made it seem that I was this shark and that's not that's not how it happened I was reeled into this and again you can argue the entament but I chose I chose to do the bad thing right you know so what I mean what is your does this lawyer end up staying he doesn't say you're lawyer once he knows that he this guy's involved this is a he knows so I speak with my mom about it we have our back against the wall I already know that I'm not vouching my job I'm not getting my job back that's already out the question he's telling me Hey listen if you want to bring another lawyer on we can do so I highly suggest you don't obviously this is Free Will this is the union dues that you paid bi-weekly to us that $45 is basically why I'm here for free what I can do is offer a forensic psychologist to come in and basically do a kind of pedigree about who you are and what transpired and why you're here and basically make it seem like you're a product of your environment and I'm like all right well you know how much is that and I was a few thousand bucks so the money that I made throughout this time I have to obviously maintain two cars that I have leases for I have bills of my own I have rent that I have to pay I have insurance that I have to pay so the money is liquidating as time is going by while I'm in County Jail fighting this case as I'm fighting this case I start realizing that this guy is a confidential informant that people from his organization kind of knew what was going on and this was all a means to gather us together and basically make this case that these are the corrupted guys we're doing our job and we're getting rid of them and my lawyer brought it down to me that way and he goes listen you're not looking at two or three years these guys know how much money you made throughout this process and you made a lot of money in comparison to your codefendant they don't give up about him they'll give him three four five years he was a probationary officer he's already oh oh oh the probation I thought you meant the he he's he's not a big deal to them they know that you're the the guy that they want because one it looks good to the district attorney and it shows that New York City as a whole and the mayor they're doing their job you know Rikers Island is maintaining we're cleaning it up we're cleaning it up so how much money are they saying you made in the paper they're making it seem that they were paying me $500 to $900 per run and I'm like you guys are missing a zero a whole zero and you guys know that but how do the feds justify giving me 5,000 here 9,000 here when you read the paper the New York Times The Daily News the post the Wall Street Journal they're saying I was getting paid between $5 and $900 per run it was really between1 and 9,00 per run but again why is our tax dollars going just to throw this dirty correction officer away when you can just you know so I I saw that this was very politically based and my lawyer let it be known that it was very politically based and that's why they were going to throw the book at me my first offer was 12 years and I'm just like for promoting prison contraband and driving around it's like yeah yeah why not why not we gave you you you son the O you went like this you said that you weren't going to do these things we gave you the trust my lawyer told me you're a minority that they gave power to and you that up so are they dropping the are they dropping the sale they're not dropping anything I they want to stick to that A1 charge because I did it so many times that wasn't the first time they just you're just you're just they don't want to monitor it that way because of the money that they spent the money and the budget that they had for this correction connection was what the the sting operation was called cute you know so they they they they knew that this was an investment and they wanted to boast and brag about it they had a party about this my lawyer told me that and it's just like man you know what so there forensic psychologist comes in I speak to him for days on at a time my mother speaks to him my loved ones I'm showing them all the certificates I gained from finding dangerous weapons in TSA letting them know Hey listen I went to John J College of criminal justice like I didn't come into this sector of business to do the wrong thing I was just kind of molded that way my greed me not having uh patience to you know move out of my mom's house when I got out of top pay I wanted it fast and they saw that I took advantage of it so now they're taking advantage and they'll spend that by saying exactly you went to John J College you knew better you did this you knew better you knew better you knew better all those things are all the reasons you should have known better the the forensic psychologist was trying to fight with the the label of like well maybe you have borderline personality disorder because my phone was tapped for eight months from the feds wow the feds had to pay $480 a month just to have that phone tapped and I saw that throughout my Discovery while I was fighting my case in Westchester County Jail in my jail cell going through through the law library trying to figure out out of way to like let it be known like hey guys like you guys are really coming for me and you guys know exactly what happened you guys understand how this transpired into this why are you guys coming at me so hard but again I was a poster boy you know yeah yeah it's not about not about Justice it's about doing the right thing I mean about doing the right example it's about it's about winning yeah and set an example if someone gets should get two years and they get 12 it doesn't matter you it's it's the whole well you put yourself in this situation corre so whatever we do to you is Justified that's not really what Justice is Justus you know if you're a little kid stealing stealing candy you don't cut his hand off you you don't give him five years but they're like oh he soole candy he put himself here like come on let's be reasonable yeah so and what what's what's the other guy doing has he already said he got me into this he's right next to me and it it becomes weird because I don't know what he's doing cuz now we don't go to court together we're going to court separately and I feel like it's a psychological game that the the court system is playing to try to pin us against each other because now my LW is coming to me and he goes well your offer is 12 years what are you going to do you know this is a A1 felony the minimum I can try to get you is the eight but they're trying to make the promoting prison contraband and the bribery receiving and they're trying to have that run concurrent and I'm just like it's my first time are you are you say are they coming to you saying look we need you to cooperate there's no reason to cooperate but they don't need you to cooperate but are they asking they they're asking for a profer so a profer agreement like you know but the audience doesn't know is tell us everything that you did tell us who you dealt with tell us how much you got paid tell us where you went and I'm just like my lawyer is telling me that that this is what they want and I'm like how like what do I see I get this what do I get for this and he goes I can't guarantee you anything maybe they won't give you anything and you still get 8 years because now he's letting me know that the 12 years are the judge is not going to give me eight years of my first time it's not New York City is going to base it on Hey listen this is not a career criminal he made poor decisions it's his first felony and it's nonviral so we're going to give him the minimum hoping but you don't have a choice like it's like eight years at best but you have a chance have a chance to get it to be to get two or three years knocked off maybe four years knocked off proba and my lawyer even mentions it could even be probation they could tell you Hey listen this is a Time Ser we don't need this guy in jail we just need him to give up everybody else the lawy is telling me Hey listen there they they want a profer and he's basically breaking me down everything that I would have to do for this profer and I'm just like what is a guarantee again he goes there is no guarantee maybe they get all this information from you and you don't get [ __ ] remember they want you over right when he says that I'm like no so there's no reason for me to say anything if they know everything if my phone's been tapped for eight months I'm looking at the discovery they have uh uh still pictures of me at clubs and doing this and me and my vehicle they know enough they really want me to roll over and tell them about other corrupted correction officers that are on Riker Island but you don't know anything I don't know anything because I didn't let anybody know about me and even though I know these things are happening I'm still like in my own world yeah it's like survival of myself I don't care about what's going on and I let my my attorney know and he's just like so you don't have anything and I'm like no I don't have anything people know where my mom lives there's a certain like you know code of ethic that I have regardless of me having a badge and a uniform at one point it's like I know that I put myself here like why would I drag others with me even if I did know the good thing is that I didn't know and I couldn't throw anybody on under the bus even if I didn't care so I let him know that and he goes well truthfully I can't get you under the eight they're not this Aid is sticking because of the amount of money the time the overtime the officers they had to pay undercover and I'm just like wow this was a really big operation for this and they're like yeah we had to do it at one point apparently the officer prior to you didn't get a lot of time Gary right I don't know exactly how much time we did I'm I'm shocked that um yeah I'm shocked that the union is still representing you they had to I know but I mean I've always kind of heard that once they realize it's believe it or not the union president Neil C Brook at the time he spoke on air New York one I believe the Daily News and he said this is a Witch Hunt against stepen Dominguez because I guess he understood and heard about my character prior to this everyone is in shock on rers dominga has no way right he's he's he works the RSU unit and these guys love him and respect them and he gets them their mail and and like everyone on both ends love him can't be so he probably looked at that I said no this is a good officer this is a Witch Hunt and that's exactly how he played it and he never spoke bad about me want a laugh love laugh he's currently uh I don't know if if he's currently incarcerated but he got indicted on money laundering and wire fraud and he got seven years I believe I don't for what though uh moneya laundering and wire fraud right but money laundering what like the correction officers but now have in checked that they would get from each officer $45 they laundered it somewhere in the Dominican Republic he's like embezzling and laundering the money guy though yeah that's my guy he didn't say anything bad about me and again like I told you I got certificate of appreciation I was well loved in my facility you know I helped a lot of guys psychologically whether you know it's an inmate or I was always there for my fellow officer you know I was a pretty good officer regardless of promoting prison contraband I all that sounds crazy you know so what what did what time passes and I'm in the law library and I'm just like okay well if I get this eight years how can I make it less I'm not telling I'm not snitching I'm not going to this proper meeting I don't know what my codefendants are doing mind you the officer that I put on he's not my only codefendant this guy's cousin and her girlfri his girlfriend they're also codefendants of mine I see this through my minutes and everything you don't know that though we don't go to court at the same time none of this it really doesn't have nothing to do with me it just has to do that I gave him drugs once and I introduced it to him and he did whatever he did he's already incarcerated and the girl they let her go put her on probation whatever she was in college at the time she F that she didn't know what was going on it was the just like a love thing that she was in and she did whatever her boyfriend said the time passes it's like 16 and 18 months going in right now in Westchester County Jail I'm in PC I am the trustee uh I clean the unit I make sure everything with the laundry is good I take care of wreck I feel like I'm an officer at this time the officers that are in Westchester they're treating me pretty fairly cuz again I'm not in there for like anything aside from disrespecting the badge all say but they they see my character you know they're wishing me the best my lawyer comes up one morning and he goes listen eight years a trial it's a year and a half this time will go on to the eight years it's not violent you'll probably end up doing six years and 10 months and then you add the 18 months that you've been fighting the case yeah yeah plus you could you halfway how like yeah the halfway house thing going to work release in New York state prison and this is the information that I got while going to library and I'm just like all right man like I want to get out of West Chester County I'm tired of this every day back and forth I see my mom frequently it's only an hour drive but I know that once I get sentenced and I go to state prison I don't know how long that drive is going to be for my mom so now I create this strain for her and it's a financial strain too because the money that I was giving her freely doesn't exist anymore I'm in here I don't even get a a bi-weekly check from Corrections anymore I'm on freeze I'm still within the department innocent to proen guilty once I'm guilty none of that stuff exists I tell my mom listen I'm going to take the eight years and she's just like right like is that the best like can you talk to somebody and I'm just like Mom I've exhausted everything I can the forensic psychologist the lawyer this and that there's nothing else we can do but I'm trying to sugarcoat and tell her with the 8 years I can apply for work release 2 years prior to my earliest release and I'll be home in and blah blah blah whatever we go to the court and I get sentenced and I let the judge know and the people know I'm sorry for my actions this and that desperation aspiration became desperation and I'm just letting them know I I made a mistake a lot of weight is off my shoulders I get back to Westchester County two weeks later I get sent to downstate downstate is the facility that they send you as like a reception so they classify you there every one goes there high classification inmates because I got 8 years makes me a high classification inmate so now with the people that are doing eight years or more I'm nervous when I got to West Chester I denied PC but they still left me in there because I have a uniform now that I'm outside of the Department of Corrections technically I'm a civilian with a A1 possession charge A1 conspiracy you know bribery and all this stuff I'm just a civilian and I deny PC when I get to down State the warden comes and he goes Hey listen I know why you're here this is not a good idea and I let him know like no you know like I'm fine and I'm denying it why am I denying it because my entire time in Westchester in the law library I know that if I go to work release I have to be in general population I cannot be a PC inmate in work release it can't put me around general population inmates that's the only reason I was denying it for my personal safety I felt that I can do this I never did anybody wrong I never had a fist fight on re Kaz Allin I never had to hurt anybody I never put my hands on anyone I got the respect that I gave and I went in with that confidence I'm in general population in down state and I'm there for about a month and a half I don't know where I'm going they knock on my door one morning they tell me Hey listen pack up get on the bus I tell my mom get on the phone Hey listen I don't know where they send to me once they send me I'll let you know when I get there and I'll tell you how long that drive is and we'll figure it out I'm scared to death at this time now I'm around and congregating with general population inmates and I start seeing guys that I used to see on Rikers and they're like yo this is crazy remember I was on the news right yeah the inmates watch the news yeah there no there's no way they're not going to know immediately I start getting the head knots like yo that's crazy and then then you're in you're in GP like yo we got you like don't worry about it when you get Upstate they know you're there like we're where giving that stamp of approval that you're a good dude regardless of anything and I I I rolled with it I was on that bus ride for eight hours that morning and we get to Clinton Correctional Facility this is a Max a prison in damura New York this is the second most violent prison statistically in New York state the first one is ATA I'm not going I had to go PC Mom I'm not going to be doing the work release I had to go so we get there and I see the 100 foot wall that everybody talks about and I'm like wow this is a maxi Max this is not midlevel facility that people are roaming free and they get a whole pass to the library like a college campus status like no I I got eight years I'm going to be with the guys that got more than that eight years or plus we get off the bus and the screaming starts mind you I've been on this bus for eight hours and I'm not with my codefendant my codefendant let me backtrack was sentenced to five years why did my cold Defender get five years allegedly what he had in that backpack was under eight ounces so they were able to give him a A2 coincidentally they did that on purpose they know from The Wire Taps that I reeled him in that I brought him into this they know deep down that he was bringing in the Contraband prior to me bringing him in but I brought him into this world we're going to give him five years he's a probationary officer he didn't R either he didn't flip on anything he told him the same thing like what can I tell you I'm I'm I'm guilty just as anybody else can I ask a question yeah the guy that set you up the the inmate okay you got that coming okay when I get to Clinton I get a slew of mail that I didn't get for the last couple months that I was in Westchester and it kind of caught up to me I'll get back to me getting off on the bus in Clinton which is a whole another world um and I I get this mail and I'm looking through it and I start reading through my My Discovery while I'm in the Cale in Clinton and I'm just like I still wonder where this Colombian guy came about 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 lo and behold the Colombian gu a federal agent oh he was never oh the tussling was an act it's an act him looking at me like better not [ __ ] say anything it's all an act he was an agent he was just one of the guys Hey listen you know we need you because you kind of fit theart yeah that's why he's the one who this bag's for you this bag that's how he played it that's how he played it you know and he played it well I give it to him you know I didn't go to trial I want to say I didn't go to trial because if I did I would have been facing 32 years with that 17c count indictment you know they would have G me the A1 felony four times well and you're guilty as like you got no chance I'm guilty of everything they said there's not a lick that they were like I did this and I'm like I didn't do that yeah the newspaper and the media were totally wrong they thought that I was bringing in kilos of to Rikers and I'm like no I wasn't bringing in kilos of to Rikers I was transporting it outside of New York City and bringing in and tobacco in but I wasn't bringing in like you know I try to justify it and say it like that I get to Clinton I get off the bus and this is a whole new world it's a 8 and 1 half hour ride and guys on the bus are already talking like oh I know exactly where we're going these are ker criminals I'm like oh we're going to Clinton the wreck is at this time the cos's do this and I'm just like oh man not to mention I'm an ex correction officer and these guys don't know that I'm just in general population 27 26y old Spanish dude that's from New York City I don't look like I'm anything other than what I am and I play it like that the officers are screaming this is not Riker's Island this is not Westchester County if you want to fight in my yard you're only going to fight in my yard if you have an issue with my staff I will make it prevalent that you will not see out of this wall and they're like very militant and it's just like these guys are serious these guys are very serious I'm very quiet I sck to myself I don't talk much I'm just like listening to orders and I'm like okay wherever I go I just want to get to a bed I'm super exhausted I I have to pee I haven't drank anything I just want to get to a bed I have to start this time and I want to start it as soon as possible they take me to the clinic they're running me through the motions and one of the officers goes Dominguez and I'm like yes he goes come on you're coming with me they're desperate they definitely want to put you in PC right and I'm just like or does it are you that looks bad and nobody's Nobody's around oh okay it's and I'm by myself I'm not with anyone that I was on the bus up here with and he goes how many years you got and I'm like I got sentenced to eight I probably got to do like five more and they're go oh you be out of here and I'm just like five years is that's nothing you know to you right but apparently it isn't because these guys that he's used to 25 years 35 45 years we get to the unit it's Apu I forget the acronym for that I'll get it for you what does that mean it's basically a segregated unit in Clinton that is for high profile inmates it's not so much the PC inmates these inmates aren't really running from other inmates but other inmates if they got a hold of the inmates in this unit they would hurt right for whatever reason right I'm around seral cop X law enforcement rappers millionaires it's just Fishbowl of people that have a certain status whether it's because of the crime that they committed or the person's social status that they have outside of the prison I get there it's like 6:00 700 p.m. they're telling me hey if you want to go to the yard and get on the phone which is where the phones are you do it now I put my stuff in the cell I don't really see anybody I don't make eye contact with anybody I get on the phone my mom sets up the account and I talk to her briefly I let her know where I'm at she's doing the Google Maps and she goes oh my God this is so far and I just feel guilty right and I'm like damn man I'm telling myself from the very beginning I was just trying to do the right thing you know time passes I acclimate to where I'm at people ask me the general questions other inmates hey where' you come from what do you here what do you have how much time are you doing are you you a pedophile are you this are you that this is the unit where the worst of the worst are you know here and I let them know hey no I was a correction officer about you are what let me see your paperwork and I'm just like I remember from when I got off that bus they said if we find you with your paperwork and you're not on your way to Law Library you will get a ticket that infraction will lead you to the Box going to the Box in a Max a prison is not a good thing going to the Box in a Max a prison has a EXC correction off officer is not a good thing I don't want to do my time like this so I want to abide by every single rule possible I go to the yard and I break that rule and I said you know what I want these guys to know that I came here doing this and this is what I'm here for I don't want them thinking anything different and if I'm transparent enough they'll respect that they know that I just want to do my time and I do exactly that people start telling me Oh I read about you in the paper I saw about you in the news and it's like all right it's not that bad things are still happening in Clinton people are getting people are getting shot people and and you say how do people get shot the guards on the towers they have shotguns ready for when you get into an altercation if you don't stop that altercation on that first warning fire uh shots will be fired and it happens and then we'll go on a lockdown for a couple days I'm around this environment an environment that I'm not too used to but I'm able to acclimate a little better because I was on Riker's Island I kind of had prerequisites jail and prison I guess culture and like the rules and regulations so I kind of moved very like freely knowing what I could and couldn't do and I didn't get in anybody's way and it worked in my favor so I mean you EV I mean eventually like you you're you still do all your time there I do all my time in Clinton so time passes by and I get work details I'm cutting hair I'm working in the meso I get outside details because my crime is nonviolent and in comparison to the serial I'm around I don't have a lot of time to do these guys are lifers you know I'm around lifers and if you got away and got to a house you know two miles away you're not going to hurt anybody I want to add that the the year that I arrived to Clinton was the year that the two inmates escaped from Clinton soal security was extremely tight right they weren't giving outside detail to just anybody the warden had to sign off and he knew he's like all right these guys aren't threat I'm going to let them mold along let them shovel snow do whatever they want and it worked in my favor because now I'm able to roam free in a place that is uh 22 and two 1 hour wreck and one hour whether it's a school detail or it's like job uh um training or whatever it is and the rest of it is in a Cell you're in a Max a prison I'm in the law library again and I said you know what I remember being able to apply for a work release two years prior to my earliest release and I do exactly that they deny me and I'm like how are you denying me on the bounds that have a non-violent felony and this is my first time oh but you're in Clinton Max they wrote me back and it's a Max a prison nobody goes to work release from a Max a prison you got to come down medium status and I'm like but I am medium status I only have 24 months up until my earliest parole date and I fought it and I let them know Hey listen this is what you guys said I can do and here it is and I've done every vocational I haven't gotten an infraction I never got into a fight here I have a a positive I'm a positive role model here they write me back and they grant me the work release nice so I get the work release and this is like okay what does that mean is that like a halfway house it's a halfway house Work Release is basically you acclimating into society in New York City you have a part-time or full-time job but you still got to sign in and go back to this like prison style camp and you'll do this up until your parole date we'll let you acclimate you can see your family and loved ones on the weekends but you have to give give us your check and you have to be within good standing drug testing frequently uh uh verification of employment those type of things and I got that I get home and I call my mom right away Hey listen now I'm closer to home after all these visits and all this time the time's getting better the time's getting closer and I'm just like in New Leaf I want to start all over I'm letting her know the time while I was in Work Release I mean in Clinton I was writing this book and letting them know I'm going to make this like a Redemption story and letting them feel regardless of what I put you through and by them my loved ones and my mother letting them know no matter what had light you saw me and this is not me and I'm sorry and I'm going to make up for it I'm in Work Release they let me out at Whole Foods making sandwiches 40 hours a week minimum wage but I'm happy that I'm closer to home I can eat good food I'm not in a Max a prison any and it's like okay I'm starting I'm starting new March 3rd 2020 I get released 3 weeks later the pandemic happens and it's like the city shuts down and now it's like oh [ __ ] I just got out of prison and now the world doesn't know if it's going to you know see tomorrow it was an easy way for me to get back and I met one of the Publishers while I was kind of promoting that I had this manuscript out and they were like all right you know like we'll give it a chance and I was like pitching pitching pitching one friend of mine had a podcast I got on his podcast letting them know I had this they reached out to me and we're here oh okay what was your what's your buddy's podcast well no this was many moons ago so I don't think he uh um has it titled the same it was called trapping Anonymous and it was basically me detailing what I was doing as like I did today um it was the first time I did it I never got in front of microphone and I kind of let it be known Hey listen this can happen to anybody and even throughout my time being incarcerated I would read in the paper how many times this same scenario would happen to other officers and it was like There's an actual unit dedicated to you know investigating officers that are willing to do the wrong thing and it's kind of weird you know but I kind of like felt that this was like a calling to others hey don't be stupid right don't take advantage cuz this is what happened to me so what I'm wondering is the inmate not your code defendent the inmate that set the whole thing in the motion what happened to him so a few months into my bid while still in county jail before being sentenced I had a friend of mine look up this inmate's name obviously I knew this inmate's real government name and she looks it up and we're on the phone together and she goes nothing comes up and I'm like no type it this way and she goes nothing comes up he was released yeah released where I don't know I wouldn't be able to tell you that yeah I mean I I said this I had I said this in another podcast one time I I had met a guy that at the medium who like I got thrown in the shoe one time at the medium because the newspaper came out and said that I had and in the in the article it said that I was cooperating with the FBI against a a a corrupt politician I'd bribed the not a cop I'd bribed a uh politician to rezone like a 100 properties that I own so I I helped him get elected got helped I got him elected we had a whole arrangement I ended up taking off the run on the run but he got investigated for that and I was when I got caught and the FBI talked to me they were asking me about him cuz they had checks for all these synthetic ID f identies had had written checks so you got a bunch of fake people who written this one politician $500 checks it looks pretty suspicious they can add it up it's like 20 something thousand and his whole campaign was run on like 30,000 this is Tampa you know so anyway so it comes out front page of the paper and so they throw me in the shoe for like 45 days but I when I get back out you know I get R got back out so now people know that's not good I'm at the medium it ain't good but regardless I so at this point I actually get approached by another inmate a black guy that was the biggest guy on the compound selling cigarettes and he was like he was like listen so he talked to me and to my buddy Zach and he was like listen if you guys know anybody that's selling drugs or selling this or uh he's like let me know or if you know if you can get close to a CEO if you could whatever this you know what I'm saying he basically let us know that he had just gotten there maybe a six months before but he had been at another institution and had busted a bunch of guards and when they so the like the night before they grabbed all the guards they came in to his cell in the middle of the night and open the door and grabbed him and took him out and walked him out and put him in a van and said where do you want to go send him to another prison and then like the next day when all these guards show up they grab all the guards right yeah and so they brought he brought them to Coleman which was you know medium and he start immediately he already had some he he was already selling cigarettes so he had to have a guard bring in cigarettes so he's already selling he's already within six months he gotten another guard he was do he was working off his time but I knew inmates who were like high-profile inmates that possibly maybe the cartel was looking for right and so if you look them up in the the Bop you couldn't find them yeah someone told me that and this is far-fetched but it's not um witness protection definitely witness protection regardless of it being at a state level you I did get arrested by you know the feds yeah so you don't know what dealings this guy had this guy could have had dealings in other states and things of that nature but then I always asked myself I saw this guy in real time right I saw this guy in the street before he came to Riker's Island I don't know if they came at him and he was a confidential informant before I was a CEO or he became one while I was a CEO and he was just trying to fish wherever he had to but it's hard because I didn't go to trial if I would have went to tral I would have learned a lot more about my case I would have got way more Discovery way more evidence and minutes I would have understood who was who and it's not just a figment of what I feel it was you know yeah well it usually is what you think it is so okay so if we don't know he basically they he they just released him most likely the other thing is the publisher you said a publisher came to so did you get a publishing deal I got a publishing deal again this is when the pandemic starts and I'm just like Hey listen this is all I have I'm actually currently in Work Release I'm still on parole I'm still a felon like would you work with me and he goes well listen let's see how this does I'll put you on every streaming platform shout out to Jack molding messages prob publishing they gave me a chance and I've been running ever since I've been on a few podcasts this is an open-ended introduction to characters that I basically met as my time as a New York City correction officer and I kind of introduced them and how they perceive Riker's Island their perception of Rikers so you're going to meet a few characters here that I make myself a character obviously but it's kind of third person narrated okay so it's not like a memoir it's not a memoir it's not about me and that's kind of why I push it so much because I kind of want this to be a TV series I have a good producer next to me Chris hin and Albert Sai who has a very big connection with Shaquille O'Neal we're trying to get this published our screenplay has been professionally graded I have everything from the show Bible to the episode deck and I have a few seasons written out and all of this time that I did w and Clinton is is a concoction of these memories and these characters that I made the character developments in these stories are real life characters I change names I alter you know how they look but these are real people any anyone that's been associated with this jail can understand that same feeling and it's like a survival of the fittest type of thing so that's how I wrote it you know yeah but if they they make it into a series you'll be they'll they'll they'll well they'll expand the character like it won't be I'm moving this and next thing you know you'll be call sh but we can start it off as me it's my first day my rookie first day and it's like this is a world that not too many people get to answer getting a city position and employment is hitting the lottery for a young kid like me that's never had anything you know well it's it's um I was going to say it you know obviously like it's a dream to get a series like that's the coolest that's the goal but the other thing is that they'll take you know they'll they build the charact it's like like orang did you ever Orange is New Black you know so like by the first season or two it's over like if you read the book it's a short book this chick didn't do anything but they build these characters up that people are now they're investing gravitate to and then they they spin an entire massive story that you're like wow it's like oh that's orange like none of that happened but it's those characters that you well the other thing is it's so super unique CU it was the same thing that you know Hayward correct like such a unique story but his story never leaves the prison no do you I actually have an encounter with an organization outside the prison so now I'm dealing with gangs I'm dealing with Mafia money I'm dealing with Street politics you know so it's another Endeavor where it's like oh we're outside of Rikers but we always end up back so so listen if you watch that one that I did with him you know I've watched the whole thing I would I wouldn't wish that on anybody but if you span to like the last 10 minutes where we kind of talk about his book you know what I specifically said I said you know what would be cool I said if because when they do the series I said the same thing they'll turn it into this they'll do this I said but what what would be great is I said they could make you now you're doing stuff outside the prison like people have to first they start by giving you something a cell phone to bring my my cousin and then the next thing you know I said like you're moving stuff and then they want you to somebody in the prison or they you know you know things that are happening they're asking you to do stuff you're I said you know or somebody in in prison about to go to trials like look you need to go talk to this guy I said that's I said like it' be cool if they could move it outside the where the suspension but yours is already outside the prison exactly that's where the that's where the real stuff happened anyway not that bringing in Contraband is isn't a big deal because you and I or the normal person on the street thinks he brought in tobacco it's not going to affect them no right but you but they don't realize how serious of an infra or of a of a how serious that issue is correct for the prison system they they take it super and you're like it's tobacco it doesn't matter doesn't matter people get hurt over that yeah I was going to say you're giving these inmates power it's a it's money those cigarett that's not statistical it's and it's thousands and thousands of dollars some of these guys some of these guys are making so much money inside they're sending money outside they send money back and I learned that doing these these these runs it's like wow man all of this comes back just to funnel it back outside you know because the that's just tobacco it's just tobacco crazy right I was going to say and then with Hayward although yours is your story is I your story is super unique but I mean also the fact that you were doing stuff on the outside that's really cool but what's with Hayward what was what always me was arranging for inmates to have sex with other that that's a line that I never even had to cross I wouldn't fathom Crossing I never understood just time and and and environment wise how that even happened that's very very rare mind you I'm not saying that it's farfetched it did happen you know yeah but I I don't know never I never I you you got to watch this episode because when I go what these what these chicks look like he was he he's like you you know what they look like he's like they were it wasn't good it wasn't good you know he was trying not to laugh and joke about it I get it I get it I get it that's a different that's a different animal though you know it was anyway he really kind of the combination of those two sto or if they took some of some of that and blended it together of course you have you're really not doing much in the prison no it's a sense of control for for the guys that have these impermissible items you know you don't have anything so the stuff you're stripped of if I have it I have a sense of control now I can make money like you said I can funnel enough money to send back home because I'm incarcerated I can't make the street money that I was making I got to make it somehow right you know well this is like it's super unique and I mean that's I I love unique stories thank I watch the way the way that things came about for me is what makes it unique you know it's not so much to turn around everyone has a Redemption story we all you know admit to Gil at one point and say Hey listen we up and it is what it is I do want to express that wholeheartedly that I do speak on these platforms and I did publish this book to kind of give that lesson like hey don't be me I know the Temptation is there but don't be me you know you're have a cooler jacket than I do really I have I'm on the Creator and you know I have I do have my picture on it which okay really in a way pushes it over the again the book is not about me oh no mine's all about me I make fictitious characters that existed once in my life and I give you their world into this exact Community everyone's affected by this whether they know somebody that works there they visited someone they're accused of a crime themselves this is it touches home when you're from New York City and it's a culturally impactful place whether it's in the RAP Community or it's in politics Harvey reinstein is on Riker's Island currently right now Donald Trump might go to Riker's Island so this is a place where it's a h Brewing of stories and I am not the only person that could talk about Rikers Island and I know this right but my perspective the stamp of approval that I have on a street sense the stamp of approval that I have on a jail and prison sense I I can give you a really cool perspective and I'm creative enough to give you these stories where it's like you know what I know someone or I actually felt this once and it's closing why is the prison closing right the prison is closing it's uh do they build another prison no what they're trying to do is you know there's a bail reform going on where you know minor crimes or semi minor crimes you know other than and like you know arson and things of this nature if they deem you fit enough to come back to trial you're going to get RNR up until your next court date they're doing this to not pack Riker's Island because when I was on Riker's Island I believe the total count was in the 10,000s 10,000 12,000 13,000 at a time remember the scenario I gave you on my first day I I'm in charge of 100 inmates and I'm on the floor going back and forth so a population decrease is the main reason for this bail reform um how many inmates was Riker's Island designed for that I can't give you the exact total amount but if there was 10 operating buildings at the time that I was a CEO it it was filled up to the te like there wasn't enough you know when I got to the medium like they had designed all of the cells were supposed to be initially they were designed for like one man you were going to get one man sales by the time they started the construction they had decided no no you know what they're going to have to be two man cells by the time they were done they were doing three man cells three three bunk beds you you you know how like a submarine that you don't have much you sleep and you have to kind of skip around to try and roll yeah so so I can imagine Riker's Island had to probably be it was that so now with this Bay reform they've decreased the population a lot and they think that with the decreasing population it's less violent and because the officers have a little more control but why close it you still need it it it it's it's already infrastructure that is deteriorating Rikers has been there since like the 1920s early build another prison yeah but it's on an island it it it's across the river the Hudson River from the guia airport there's a a power plant next door the water's polluted things are deteriorating by the day the metal is breaking off the walls and these inmates are sharpening these metals and cutting each other with them so it's not working for anybody so what they plan on doing is closing down those inmates into the society not so much releasing all of them but the really bad ones we're going to put them in the burrow jails like queens and Brooklyn house and we'll have the same seos that we had on Rikers just house them there and it will make it easier for them to go straight to court there's not so much Transportation happening within the five burrows which was a big money maker for Corrections because these buses and having someone with a CDL license and a correction officer with a CDL license like this is a big business you know so uh hopefully they close Rikers I want to say 2027 2028 it's projected still got a few years left but population is decreasing violence is still prevalent these inmates have phones now something that they didn't have when I was an officer and their internet access kind of let you know that they can get anything in there's still officers bringing stuff in there's visitors bringing stuff in like I told you there's doctors and Physicians bringing stuff in so this is this is a never ending cycle do you ever see Escape From New York yes the movie yes I watched it last night yeah I've watch I I own it I've watch I watched it 50 times you have to watch the night of that has a lot to do with what the steps are prior to getting to Rikers okay it's a limited series I forgot what see that's probably like a Ser you're very serious I'm I'm I'm I'm dark humor trust me but I got to act professional in this couple minutes that I'm here with you you want to hear something really funny but see you're this almost you're like the same age as Cole have you ever seen Escape From New York no my God bro best be movie ever it's good it's good so good please watch the night of the the writers for the night of knew what they were doing and I kind of want to emulate that with my T Series I know we all have this dream you know but the way I'm telling the story and like wrote it open-ended in this book it's just an introductory to the hell that is Raz Island all right you want to are we good I'm good feel I'm great man I'm happy to be here truthfully I do stuff for the journey and the experience uh tomorrow I forgot the name of this little water park man-made Lagoon thing that I'm going with my home girls that I drove here with and this is just an experience it's like 20 minutes from here it's like a lagoon yeah it's like pretty new like the Lagoon yeah something yeah know it's it's yeah it's it's not far from they just opened it to non-residents and I saw okay it's not far from mad it's not from the far from the hotel sign to eat my wife and her daughter went there a couple months ago I've driven by it a bunch of times okay what are your plans for after this like well I know I know that you're a rider too so I know that you also try to assist these guys with their stories like where are you going what after what when this ends this podcast podcast I don't want this podcast end you know this is something that people need you know it's I thought you meant this specific episode no no I mean no no not tomorrow I mean as a whole because I know that you you can tell these stories no I mean I you know I've got so I'm actually working with a company it's called law on crime and because I wrote a bunch of stories when I was locked up yeah same and I wrote a bunch of True Crime sto they're all true crime stories and some of them are just synopsis but they're large synops they're like their their what does Pete call them um have you T screen writing these these no because I have always you know my understanding is that screenwriting is a very clicky business and they they like it's a group an in inside group and you have to know somebody you have to have and so for me to get in there it's probably difficult and secondly my in was I know these guys I was in prison with them I research the stories I have their discovery I have you know the Freedom of Information so I've got an entire story that I wrote with you and I didn't spend two hours with you I spent you know 40 80 hours wrote the stories so a lot of these stories about I've got I think I've got like I want to say it's eight or 10 of them right now with law and crime and they're currently working on turning them into documentaries and all they do is documentaries they have had like six different series on you know like A&E and Discovery so they're turning some of them into into like three-part series some are just like Anthology because it when you write a documentary you have to have multiple people correct you know so if it's three people well that's maybe a 30-minute episode if you can get maybe six you can get maybe an hour you can get like 12 people and it's a good story you can get yourself a three-part Series so some of them are going to be three-part series some are going to be like an anthology where maybe I would be helping tell the story I don't know yet we're not there and then my story there's a company called uh Foundation Media Partners which you know I signed a shopping agreement with them and they're shopping the story and I've been working with a a screenwriter who's actually just wrote a screenplay called monkey man I screenplay he wrote this he wrote this the the script for the movie monkey man which is like right now it's like number two to movie theaters the person that graded my script co-wrote Hellboy so oh I love Hellboy yeah so this is for me it's just like a trophy like wow this is great this is stuff that I used to think about in myself and who are they trying to they try to get somebody attached yeah we're trying to get more of like someone that can cosign this that makes sense you know to play you not so much to play to kind of push the series and go hey this has been such Staple in New York City I want to talk about this jail before you know it in the midst of it closing you know like I said it's going to close 2027 202 you're talking about we're try we're trying to push a series because I have I have it written out as such the the screenplay is derived from the book right it's written way differently like you said screenplay writing is totally different camera angles and things you know more character development and stuff like that I'm Lu I figured out how to write a book like I can't figure out how to write screenplay uh English I almost failed my English region in in high school I'm not an English manager and I tell people that too I say listen write whatever you feel you can express and maybe it'll come to fruition to be something and this is where we both are have they so have they tried to connect we're getting there we've been talking to a lot of networks that think with that is that this is such Network I'm talking about an actor no okay cuz TP because what they're doing is what these guys are doing is they've written they're writing a a you know screenplay and they're trying to attach an actor then they want to go and say this actor has agreed to play him if you bankroll and that's how that's kind of how they that's a good way to that's a way to go about it and these guys have done a ton of big stuff and like you know and they keep asking me questions like well what do you think about this like I don't know anything like I keep want and I tell them that all why are you asking me I don't know well we want to get your approval like I don't know but they know they know that again you can fact check things you know they don't got to really uh dive deep into research they could be like let's ask M what they eat on Thursdays is it chicken no that's I'm saying they're like what do you think of these actors I'm like what are you talking about which one will play me well we want to know who do you think should play you kidding me I he can't be taller than 5' 6 I refuse to you know what I'm saying like I get it I get it don't let me I'll pick Brad Pit of like what you of you know you can't don't I'm an egomaniac don't let me be involved in this no I totally get this yeah and I I always joke around like I'm like you know but I am having fun just like like with the meetings and talking about and thinking about it because to me my fear is it's not interfere this is probably what happens you go through all the excitement see most people tend to focus on oh the movie is going to be amazing it's going to be great it's going to be this but the truth is getting there is probably what's great yeah I mean I'm sorry you know the Journey of getting there is what's great because once you get there I'm going to go into that movie with my wife and we're going to sit there and we're going to watch it and we're going to walk out we're going to look at each other and we're going to go it was all right right it's not going to be the real thing it's you're never going to be happy you're they've cut that scene and they did this and they talked about for me for me it's a community effort thing like this book here the cover art is done by one of my great friends who also has tattooed me throughout the years uh the audio book version of this book I actually did it in a studio of an inmate that I was with in Riker's Island so like I'm involving people that Hey listen this will benefit whatever you know you got going on I can bring you in and that's kind of what I've been trying to do so when you say pitching it actors first that that's a a lane that I haven't done yet I have a actor list that I would love for people to look at and see hey you know what I can see this character playing this person so that might be a lane that I I might look into for sure I mean that's s like I didn't come over that my own by just that because my my whole thing right now was kind of figuring out what network we can talk to this is something that is gritty violence drugs sex you can't just put it on ABC nobody's coming nobody's optioned it it's get I'm putting in the footwork to do so now man this is why we're having a conversation I don't know who watches your podcast and this is where I'm at I have a episode deck I have a whole Five Seasons worth of screenplays I have two writers next to me that are doing their thing you know what's funny um like there's there have been like two people of option their film rights just doing this program I I I have everything ready Jeff Turner Zach Zach's got a guy he's working with on a book right now about you know who Zach is no I I have a he's a black guy that I was locked up at Coleman with but he comes on and does podcast with me the one the glasses yes so funny bro so funny and he's got an amazing story he's a great story he's a great story but yeah he's actually working with a guy right now like I think I don't know if they have a polishing deal yet but that's the goal man I have a lot of boxes already checked off there's Foundation the book has been out for almost almost three and A2 years I was 43 on Apple Books like I said the audio book is out if you don't want to read Barnes & Nobles Amazon Apple Spotify everywhere and it's a tall tale of something you've heard already but it just hits home when I look like your neighbor I look like a friend that you've had before it's like hey I also went through this experience regardless of me not being a career criminal you know you ready yeah are you good I'm good all right we're good well do I don't know if you watch this we I interviewed somebody the other day and they had a a book and they were talking about like and you know this much of the profits of the book are going to some some charity or something and and I was like I was like oh hell no I said I'm keeping all my [ __ ] keeping that [ __ ] you kidding me so you're a better person than me bro no I know I get it I'm charity hey if you guys like the video do me a favor hit the Subscribe button hit the Bell so you get notified just like this leave a comment uh share the video that really helps also please consider joining our patreon we're going to put a link to the book in the description so you just go in the description it'll be like one of the first links you click on it boom you'll go straight there it's on Audible audible it's on Audible Kindle Kindle Apple Spotify no Walmart Target everywhere better copy than the Harvard bookstore Harvard bookstore I don't know what that is but yeah it's everywhere so click on the thing get one sent to you I really appreciate you guys watching thank you very much see you