I just spoke to the judge's assistant. She is such a lovely LADY. The judge is pretty cool too. I mean that SINCERELY.

The judge went to bat and either wrote or called BOP to try to get Jim the desination that would have been perfect for personal reasons..... and made sense too. for all around. At least they CONSIDERED THIS but they wrote him back...saying his security level was too high...... and they're sending him to Terre Haute (Indiana). (The judge is so cool, he's still trying to get me designated as "family"..... bless HIS heart).

I sent a very small money order yesterday...... the chocolate thing got to me.:rolleyes: I called as usual to make sure he was still there. He was.

I called a few minutes ago to check.......cuz I was gonna write and tell him of his designation....... the Sgt. said he was on HIS CALL TICKET last night and spoke to him.......but he's not there today. He's gone. :(

Jim would likely have to pass right by me on the expressway (they drove I understand)...... ya know, I WOULD have stood out by my car on the expressway and ......... I don't know, just BE there so he'd see me... unless I was made to move along. :(

I thought BOP was supposed to keep people w/in the 500 mile radius. It's NOT. I think I plotted it's 471 from ME....... and I'm 155 miles from his sentencing area.

That money order. It will come back here I understand. I will take all the mail and resend it to him with his bop number (that's the one I use - right) to Terre Haute so he'll have a LITTLE in his account. It will take more than a week to come back though I guess.

I need somebody to hold my hand for a few days. Any takers? Life just sux sometimes.......but we all seem to bounce back.......right?

I'll look to see of there is a "Terre Haute" area here on PTO. I'm fairly SURE there is.......... PTO has everything.

Blessings my friend,

Doni

Doni,
The money order has to go to Des Moines, not Terre Haute. Check the BOP website (use their "inmate locator") for the correct addresses for mail and for money. Add his Federal register number to the money order as well as the envelope, and don't send it until you're sure he's physically arrived in Terre Haute, or they will send it back to you with an unhelpful leaflet. Also, there is more than one Federal facility in Terre Haute, so be sure you know which one he's in. I think they're across the street from each other, but mail forwarding from one to the other isn't real fast (ask me how I know). =)

I'm sorry he will be so far away; at least now you know where he'll be, though, and just knowing has to be some relief after not knowing for so long?

Hi WhiteDuck........... OK....how do you know?

Des Moines........as in Iowa????? WTHeck?

Jim is NOT showing up on bop.gov. We'll he's still showing up as "in transit" for 1.5 weeks now. It was the lovely Judges Assistant that got out the paperwork.... told me how the judge really tried to get him the designation that I wanted for specific reasons.....and BOP probably would have done this --- EXCEPT for his security level. He robbed 2 banks. This makes him eligible for maximum security the paperwork said. Although I was SHOWN AND TOLD the place I "needed" him to be at has all levels.. I guess BOP didn't want to do this for whatever reasons. I know they have a giant puzzle to put together to get everybody housed...... but this is just rotten. There is NO POSSIBLE WAY for me to travel like that.... physically I mean. In "spirit" I'm right there aside him.

So since Jim is not OFFICIALLY anywhere...... I guess I wait. Just like everybody, hurry up and wait.

Ya know, I WOULD have been out, on the side of the expressway just to wave or something if I would have known what time they left. Can you see the call-ins from cell phone users: There's some woman on the side of the road waving to all the cars (since I don't know what they'd be driving in). LOL Yup, yup, yup....... increase my medications or something. rofl

You can be certain that I'll be watching bop.gov and READ all about where he's at. I don't want stuff to get screwed up and I want to resend ASAP so he's not so lonely.....and probably scared.

I do thank the judge....... he tried his best......and for his sentence... he really came true. I was telling his assistant that in a few years WE'll be sending Christmas cards together.... to she and the judge. "Look, hands in the air.....and NO bank robberies.... saying, Clean, Straight and doin GREAT!" LOL She wrote it down for the judge....said he'll want to HEAR that. Ya know what..... I will make these cards when he's out....... cuz WhiteDuck and everybody...... he's NOT going back!

Blessings and Peace,

Doni

Hi WhiteDuck........... OK....how do you know?

Des Moines........as in Iowa????? WTHeck?

LOL... is there any other? Surely not. =) When he shows up on the BOP website, click on the link for his location to see the mailing address of the prison, then on the "money" link from that page for the Des Moines address.

And I know because we didn't find PTO until sometime last year. Before that, we learned all the little details that families need to know by doing it wrong the first time, often as not. For awhile, we had money orders, letters, books, etc., bouncing back at us like tennis balls, until we learned to call each facility, ask what written information was available, and then ask Jack very specifically to get a copy and send it to us. Before that, I don't know how many times we heard "the inmate is responsible for giving you that information" -- about things like where to send money, how to send books, who could visit, dress codes for visiting, visiting procedures, what you could carry in to a visit, etc. Of course, if our inmate had ever been responsible about those kinds of details, perhaps we wouldn't have needed the information in the first place. He didn't get more crisp about communicating with us just because he was locked up. =)

For sure, PTO makes the administrative side of having a family member in prison a whole lot easier ... not its most important service, perhaps, but very helpful nonetheless!

White Duck is right. My guy was at the FPC in Terre Haute for 18 months, and they switched to the Des Moines address during that time. That's for the money orders only of course...regular mail and letters still go to the prison.

That must have been confusing.

So how IS this facility....in your estimation....in his estimation? He is going to the max sec. place in T.H.

Thanks.........

Doni
I HOPE THERE ARE SOME PTO FRIENDS TO WELCOME HIM.

Another ?.

Since I KNOW he left last night or today sometime....... and he's not showing up YET on the bop.gov site...... when will he be able to make out his phone list and call? How about a letter? Will they give him a stamp/envelope/paper.....just a little......to get him started?

Sigh.
Sigh.

God is trying to teach me patience again, isn't he. Ok, I'm listening.... trying anyway.

Also.... I can't seem to find a "Federal" Terre Haute "club" on PTO. I'm I blind tonight?

Time for a shower....... I'll look again when I get out.

Thanks Friends........ ya'll are the BEST-est on the net.

Doni BLESSINGS

Since I KNOW he left last night or today sometime....... and he's not showing up YET on the bop.gov site...... when will he be able to make out his phone list and call?
........
Also.... I can't seem to find a "Federal" Terre Haute "club" on PTO. I'm I blind tonight?

Doni,
We never knew when Jack was actually traveling. We usually knew that he was scheduled to move soon, but that was all. He just called when he arrived. I believe the BOP intentionally blurs the travel schedule information -- probably so we won't go out and stand on the expressway, waving. =) You have been in a unique position in terms of being able to get more information from the judge's assistant and/or the CO's at the county jail than most of us have ever succeeded in obtaining. But now that he's actually traveling, I think your only choice is to wait until you hear from him.

I don't believe there are any special forums or clubs for specific Federal facilities; at least I've never seen any. We Federal people are all lumped in here together.

My information (extremely limited) about the Terre Haute maximum facility comes via a penpal whom my husband mentors there, not my stepson. As I recall, he found the max facility rather bleak, because the physical plant is old and he thought it was cold and dark in Terre Haute (but he's from the South originally, and he had most recently been in Southern California). He said he kept to himself whenever possible, followed the rules carefully, and had no real problems; he rather quickly worked himself into a medium security level and moved across the street into a facility where he seems somewhat more comfortable. Maybe that's not as pleasant a description as you were hoping for... good news is that he did find it relatively easy to avoid trouble and better his overall situation there as he went along. And I'm sure the chocolate will help. =)

This may sound cold but I don't mean it to........ if it seems a bit bleak... well...... things could be WORSE. Maybe he'll remember BLEAK when he's released and associate that with crack and bank robbery. (My verion of a verbal tap to the butt)

Yea, God blessed me GREATLY by helping me with these folks who I've had contact with in regards to Jim. The judge, his assistant.... the PSI, both county jail staff folks, friends at PTO, N-C region director's assistant....and many more folks. I must thank my God again (thanks for the reminder!).

I'm GLAD that the trouble level seems low in Terre Haute....... WHEW... that's what I was worried about. Jim is NOT a trouble maker at all. He'll charm the ba-jeepers off of folks. He wants to do ministry work inside and the chaplin at the county place last time was helping him a bit. He even called here. GOOD .... reach out Jim........but I'd suggest FIRST to sit back and watch. Keep an eye on the pecking order.

Hey, how IS your stepson doing anyway? I'm glad he could call you when he got to wherever he was going. Since I don't have a FAMILY designation (unless - until the judge can work it out) I don't know if he can call me. I hope he has stamps.

Thanks for answering me so honestly. Actually.... that reply was much better than I'd thought.

I still wish I could have waved. LOL

Blessings to you and all you love,

Doni PS: Maybe Jim will meet your husbands penpal!:)

Hey, how IS your stepson doing anyway? I'm glad he could call you when he got to wherever he was going. Since I don't have a FAMILY designation (unless - until the judge can work it out) I don't know if he can call me. I hope he has stamps.
............
PS: Maybe Jim will meet your husbands penpal!:)

Thanks for asking, Doni. He is still in the federal halfway house; has a telemarketing job. I don't want to be negative about telemarketing in general, but he always thinks he's going to get rich quickly that way... and when he doesn't, he's off on the next crazy tangent. He really needs a job that requires more of him than just being charming on the phone.

Maybe Jim and Joe will meet -- hope it's when Jim gets transferred to the medium security facility and not vice versa!

Doni-

My boyfriend is at the USP Terre Haute. There is actually a Complex in Terre Haute that houses a camp. a medium security, and the brand new USP. I just visited him at the USP last weekend. I can answer any questions you have about it. The phone number there is 812-244-4400. Just call them and ask if they have your guy there. Generally a CO they call Nichols answers the phone thursday through monday. Tues and Wed are his days off! Just give him ur guys name and number and ask if he has arrived there yet.

I am a 47-year old widowed father of three minor children (ages 17, 15 & 11) who has been sentenced to 120 months in federal prison recently for wire fraud and money laundering charges.

The judge who presided over my case and sentenced me reccomended that the BOP incarcerate me at FPC Saufley Field in Pensacola, Florida.

The investigation and prosecution of me has left me indigent and my three children will live with their elderly grandparent (the parents of my late wife),,,,,

I have yet to receive my designation yet so I do not know where I will be sent yet. As my luck would have it, the BOP just closed FPC Eglin which is located five miles from my home. The next closest FPC is in Pensacola (FPC Saufley Field).

Does anyone have any information on FPC Saufley Field? Any other information on anything related to doing this long of a sentence with three minor children will be greatly appreaciated.

I am a wonderful father that has been a full-time caregiver to my three wonderfully incredible kids for the past three years since their mother died of breast cancer. I am scared and devastated that I am being separated from the three things that mean the most to me. I am confident that I can do the time in prison but the separation from my loved ones is weighing heavy on my mind, soul and spirit.

Please, any assistance will be helpful.

Stephen

Hi NickNBree........ aren't you just the sweetest person. What love and compassion I could feel in your post...... THANK YOU. I almost called last night........haha. I'm glad I didn't.

I checked bop.gov today........... HE'S IN OXFORD. WHAT? Jim told me he thought Oxford or Florence.......... BUT I ALSO know from living in this state that Oxford can and often is a holding facility. I suppose time with tell. Of COURSE I have a letter in my hot lil hands to send. Calculating time...if mailed today (during a blizzard) he should have it by Monday. RIGHT? It's ONLY 1.5 hours from here. ~~~ Dang it Jim....... get your visitor list approved before you're moved again.

I indicated to him in the letter that the Judges Assistant had the BOP paperwork that said Terre Haute....but I wasn't sure if they'd let this info go through... so I just told him he's SUPPOSED to be a Hoosier per the papers. lol I wonder if he'll get what I'm saying.

Anybody with loved ones at Oxford that wanna give Jim a friendly PTO handshake? Holler out to me.

Now STEVENM4....... I'm sorry for you....and your children. You've come to the right place. PTO is a very loving family. Please go to bop.gov and look up the place you're speaking of. I HATE to say this...but, errr, just cuz the judge recommended somewhere....or another is closest to you home, doesn't mean much friend. The man (Jim) I'm speaking about above is going to Terre Haute..... which is 7-8 hour drive from ME...and I'm 1.5-2 hours from where HE was sentenced! So hold on...... and READ a lot of the info on this site. Use the search box and type in keywords. Ask questions......... we were all newbies at one time or another....... you'll be fine in PTO.

When you want to ask a question, after looking using the search function... use the NEW THREAD button on the left in the sub-sections. Try to use a descriptive title so the EXPERTS here and all others concerned can help. Soon YOU will be helping too...... you wait and see. OH.......don't forget to click on the Instant Email Notification button to be able to see when somebody writes you.....it's down below this box.

I don't know about posting guidlines for minors but maybe you can check with the rules and guidelines to see if your 17 year old is able to come here for comfort. S/he'll be embraced I'm sure.

Best of luck........ you're in the Federal Forum. There are WONDERFUL people here who understand and REALLY CARE.

Blessings to ALL,

Doni

Doni,

Keep in mind is many Federal Facilities are refusing to accept cash and/or money orders directly. If they do get it, they "snail mail" it to the Lockbox account. The down side to this is that it may take a week or more before the funds are available. For this reason I now recommend to everyone that they either mail funds to the lockbox about 1 week prior to surrender or Send funds via Western Union the day before. To send your money...

There are two basic ways to deposit money in an inmates account, Western Union or "Snail Mail". I personally prefer Western Union. In order to make the deposit:

1.) If you go online with Western Union at WWW.Westernunion.com (http://www.westernunion.com/) (or at a local Western Union Office), you will need to click on the "Quick Collect" option. Then for the CITY CODE enter FBOP. For the STATE CODE enter DC. Once you do this the rest is pretty self explanatory and you should figure it out without problems. You will enter your Inmate number and last name (i.e. 12345-678Smith). It will take about 2 hours for the money to post to your account.

2.)On the otherhand, should you decide to send the Money Order by snail mail... be sure to include your Name and Registration Number along with the lock box address on the Money Order:


Lockbox, Federal Bureau of Prisons
InmateName and InmateRegistrationNumber
P.O. Box: 474701
Des Moines, Iowa 50947-0001

Posting via the lockbox can take as much as 2 weeks, although I personally do not believe it has taken more than 10 days for money to post that I sent this way. If you have more questions or need more help, please feel free to PM me or Post again. Hope this helps and that you do not forget to....

Keep the Faith

Michael :thumbsup:

Doni-

Your feeling about Oxford being a holdover facility might be right. Nick spent a week and a half in Milan, MI (a detention center) before he was transferred to Terre Haute. Once he arrive at Terre Haute, he spent a week in the SHU there in the medium facility (right across from the USP) until they transferred him over to the USP. My understanding is that the medium facility does all the intake for the three facilities and then you are moved out to either the camp or USP. Hope everything goes alright for him. Keep in mind that he may not even stay at Oxford long enough to receive mail...but always send it just in case! We don't want our guys going without mail :thumbsup:

Oh Michael (TxRhino) I'd HAVE to snail mail any funds.......aka: chocolate money. I can only do like $10-$30 at a time. For fun I went to the WU site and just saw how much $20 would be to send..........rofl..... a total of $36.00. Good grief.......free enterprise I guess.

Thanks for the info and address to send money orders to though. My God afforded me a good mind........ but I didn't take advantage of this when I was younger....... so no education....equals no real money. Ahhhh, if we could only go back in time. Look at our loved ones though..... if THEY TOO could only go back in time.................:idea:

NickNBree.........lol I SHOULD try to work my "whatever" it is that I work and see if I can find out info. I KNOW what the letter from BOP to the terrific judge (really......he IS terrific) said. Then again..... SINCERELY I hope he DOES STAY AT OXFORD. Only 1.5 hours from me? Holy cow! I wonder if BOP makes a designation......and changes their mind (often)? Who knows?

I had a nice phone call this morning from the Clerk of the Court in Jim's district. I was still asleep for the most part and FORGOT why I had left a message. I'm glad there is a blizzard in this area (and hers) cuz talking about the weather bought me a little wake-up time. As it turns out... she will send me a copy of the transcripts from the sentencing. Did you and everybody know that the court reporter gets the money for transcripts? She or he does it on their little machine and spends a lot of w/e's transcribing them......and sells them? They have to be PURCHASED for the record and such. Anybody else also has to pay.....and it's not transferable or supposed to be copied (and is stamped as such)... or s/he doesn't get their cut. Mine...... nope it's not copied (if it ever comes!). This was an extra copy from the clerks office and it will be "assigned" to me. How cool is that? I keep saying it.... I run into the NICEST people wherever I go. ~~~ It was the judge's assistant that told me how all this works...and that's how s/he makes the bulk of their income (transcription). Ya learn something new every day.

As far as sending mail...... oh you betcha. I was getting disheartened cuz I hadn't gotten any jail-mail from Jim. I got a great letter today.... a total of 4 pages. It was dated by him last Friday......but not MAILED until Monday. Hey.....that's not good. I figure my letter will get to the Oxford PO Box for the facility tomorrow or Saturday. I don't know if there is Saturday pick up.... so maybe it will be MONDAY. Then I'm sure it has to be sorted..... and sent to whatever unit. Anybody know about this? I want him to know so badly that I know he's out of the county jail... and "we're on our way" to the rest of our lives. :)

:o He told me how SPECIAL I make him feel. :o This from a guy who has trouble expressing emotions. Even that's hard for him, I know.

HEY.......now that he's at Oxford....... he can receive regular pictures and stuff, right? I'll have to read on the website what is allowed. Wooo-hooo. A really cool woman here at PTO put my Avitar together with his picture and put a backdrop to this. ISN'T SHE GREAT? It's our only picture "together." I can't wait for him to get it. :D

Everybody.......... THANK YOU FOR THE LOVE AND ENCOURAGEMENT. If it weren't for YOU ALL and PTO....... I'd be even more lost than what I already am. God bless ALL of you, your loved ones....... and PTO.

(I just thought...... if Jim gets to stay at Oxford........and our PTO goodies come....... I can take them with me!!!! Now to get past the ION Machines w/ all my meds...... minus perfume and such [which I don't wear much of anyway...except for his favorite... Flower Oriental by Kenzo] )

So many heartfelt blessings to all,

Doni