Hello! I am brand new to this group, and I am so glad that I found this site. Unfortunatly, this is not my first time going through this. This is my husbands 2nd time in prison, but I was wondering if someone could tell me about the Conolly unit. Does anyone have a loved on there. If so, what have they told you about that unit. My husband wrote me a letter and told me that they have been on lockdown since last Monday. They had no visitation last weekend, and as of today, they are not having any this weekend either, but they told me to check back on Friday. He also told me that that unit was not a good unit, and that it is a gang related unit. I know that there are gangs on every unit, but I aslo know that some units are better than others. Any info would be greatly appreeciated.

Thanks! :confused:

Conolly? from what I hear is a youngster unit and its a place 1 would want to avoid. Ferguson used to be like that, they called them gladiator farms. This is only from people I used to know not the TDCJ LINE.

a_coleman,

First let me say welcome to PTO, this is a wonderful site. I have a friend at Connally unit that I have been writing for a while now. He too told me about the lockdown. He doesn't like the unit but he does okay there. He hasn't had any problems there but he also said the unit has a lot of gang related activity going on. He stays out of the gang stuff and he said they don't bother him. He has told me about the sport activities they get to do as well as working in the fields. He said there is plenty there to keep him busy and the guards aren't too bad. He is trying to get transferred closer to his mom but it is taking forever. I am planning on going and visiting him next month for the first time so I was also wanting information on this unit. If you go visit any time soon could you please let me know how it goes. Hopefully the lockdown will be over soon so the visiting is opened back up.

Thank you very much jen_n_beau. You made me feel a little better knowing that your friend does well there, and he is able to stay out of the gang stuff. my husband used to be into all that stuff when he was younger, but all hes trying to do now is do his time, and come home with no problems. He already caught a fighting case on Middleton because someone urinated in the sink while he was shaving. he wasn't going to do anything, but the other guy hit him first, so he had no choice but to fight back. So he got dropped to a line 2 and he is a G4. I know that this will probablly affect his parole decision when he comes up in December, but I don't blame him for what he did. Anyhow, my main concern is that he is able to stay out of trouble, and trouble does not come looking for him. Sometimes when you try to stay to yourself and do the right thing, people pick on you more. I pray that he will be safe in there. I will let you know how the visitation goes when I go down there. I am going to go hopefully this weekend if they let me. I'm in Dallas, so I can only go about once a month.

I completely understand your concern. That stinks he got in trouble for defending himself but that's how it goes in prison I guess. If he truly wants to stay out of trouble then he can do it. My friend has been at Connally for two years and avoided the gang stuff and avoided the fights with other inmates. He doesn't necessarily keep to himself, he has made friends with some pretty decent guys in there and they all just hang out and play sports together. He told me that a few times he was asked to join the gangs and he just nicely told him that it wasn't for him so they left him alone. I'll keep my fingers crossed that you get to visit this weekend :D . I am really nervous about going because I have never been there. One thing I have heard about visitation there is that they are strict on the dress code so try not to wear anything they might find questionable. If you have an outfit you really like but are concerned about, just take an extra pair of clothes just to be on the safe side. I always leave a jacket in my truck just in case my man's unit doesn't like my shirt :).

Jen,
Hey you were saying something about your friend trying to get moved closer to his mom. How is he trying to do that. I would really like my husband to try to get moved closer to home, but I don't know how he can go about starting that process.

Well he has been trying but it is taking a very long time. She isn't in the best of health so it is kind of difficult for her to go visit. So they got a letter from a doctor saying how ill she was and filed some paperwork to get a transfer. I'm not sure of much other than that. I don't even know what the paper was that they filed but I know in order to do a move like that there has to be a good reason like someone ill that lives too far away.