SMUGGLER'S TALES FROM JAILS

"In Florida prisons the guards spit out the word "inmate" like a cat with a furball..." (Gary Waid)

Gary Brooks Waid was a middle-aged, good-looking guy with a nice home, a guitar and a boat when Fed agents busted into his home and stole it all.

They used his very elderly mother to squeeze him into a plea
bargain for dealing marijuana - with no drugs in evidence mind you - sentenced him to nine years, and put him into a Federal prison in Texas, where he was a quiet 'model prisoner' just doin' his time.

Five years later the Feds suddenly traded him like a worn out baseball card to the state system in Florida, where he was immediately hit on the head by guards at Lake Butler who warned him in their South Georgia/North Florida 'redneck' drawl, "Yo're in Noth Floda now, Fedboy, an' efin yew screw up heah, we take yew 'cross the road 'n beechew."

And it didn't take long for Gary to find out they were telling the truth.

Gary's Waid's "Smuggler's Tales From Jails" is an expose' of a world of brutality and greed where the real criminals
stalk the halls wearing the uniforms of authority.

Gary's Tales are rated R for raw language, delightful
irreverence, and colorful subject matter.

Often you will laugh, sometimes you'll even cry: but when he hits you with the punch line, you'll have to gasp out loud with the urgent revelation of the story.

This is all wrong - Something has to be done and soon!

Webmistress: Kay Lee
Smuggler's Tales From Jails
http://www.angelfire.com/la/kaylee/tales.html
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bless his heart, i feel for him, he is in my prayers

lulu

Hi Kaylee

Thank you very much for sharing !! My friend is in Florida, so this link, as well as your site are very interesting for me !!!
I've just read:"The Lake Butler Nightmare", and now I must admit I'm pretty worried and scary !!! Of course I knew life in prison is not a fairy tale, but even if Joey wrote me some of these kind of things, I really didn't imagine it could be so terrible, so unhuman and humiliating !!! Well, now it's early morning in France and I must go to bed, but I sure will read all the tales from Mr Gary Waid.
I have a question: it appears that there are 2 sorts of prisoners "fed" and "state". What is the difference, and why are you "state" or "fed" ? I didn't even know there was this difference before I read this tale. Could you please explain this to me ??
Thanks very much
Philippe

Hello Phil, its good to meet you way over there in France.

State prisoners break state laws, federal prisoners broke national laws. Gary broke the laws of the federal drug war, therefore he was sentenced to the federal level. He should have never been held in a state prison.

There is a big difference in the quality of federal and state institutions.

Federal prisons in America are run more professionally. The guards are paid more and have to do a better job or get fired. The Federal prisoners don't have to do without proper clothing, they don't as a rule get beaten by errant guards, and usually, if they follow the standard rules, they'll be okay.

Because we've sucked in nearly a million drug war prisoners in the last 10 years, on top of the million prisoners we already had, the main problem the federal level has is medical care. There is just not enough money to provide proper medical care and personnel for that many prisoners.

On top of the poor medical care, the state prisoner is subject to the whims of uneducated guards, bending the rules and breaking the spirits of their prisoners. Some states are not as bad as others, but in Florida it is dismal. The guards only have to have a high school education, six weeks training, and having a past criminal history does not necessarily preclude employment.

Each prison tends to run itself as it sees fit, each shift does what it wants, Florida rarely if ever fires a guard, no matter what he has done, and it is very hard to make them answer to anyone.

Disease is widespread in both levels, and it is made worse by overcrowding, poor ventilation, medical neglect, lack of sanitary conditions, sick prisoners in the kitchens, etc.

Of course no one seems to be remembering that most of the prisoners will get out one day and that's when we will pay the price for their poor care. We don't like to give ex-prisoners jobs in America, so we'll pay the welfare that pays their medical bills when they come out sick, but even more scary is the epidemics we may be subjected to in society when a couple million prisoners move through that diseased system.

The Washington Post called the Florida state system one of the worst in the nation.

For a non-violent crime, Gary did his time in the pits of hell. And when he wrote to the Miami Herald telling them about the beatings and depravity, he was thrown in the hole with people convicted of violent crimes. The only reason he escaped physical beatings was because we kept him high profile. Guards, like bugs, don't like to play in the spotlight!

You'll enjoy every one of his marvelous Smuggler's Tales From Jails at http://www.angelfire.com/la/kaylee/tales.html

My best to you and your prisoner as he 'pays his debt to society'.

Kay Lee

HI Kay Lee

First of all, thank you for your explanations !! After over 6 months writing my friend, I didn't even know there were 2 different prison systems !!!! Well, according to your explanations, Joey is for sure in a state prison, which is the worst !! Not a good news of course, but I'll try to cope with it !!!
Anyway, he has to cope with it more than me. :(

I've read other tales from mr Waid too. From "About Sanity" down to "Shoofly". Wow, I wish there were more like him "behind the walls, for other prisoners, as well as for our own information. He's doing a good job, and even if he writes awful things about the system, he's got some sense of humor, which makes some tales easier to read. Even if it affects me deeply in my feelings, I'll read all of these tales, I don't want to escape reality, even if it hurts.
Thank you once again for this link and your explanations Kay Lee
All the best
Philippe

Bless you both cause I feel your pain and know from living many years in FL that the ignorance of the "good" ole boys is a scary maze to be involed in!

The photos you posted are beautiful of you both and thank you for sharing them with your new family here at PTO!!!!!

I wish you the best and will honestly be praying for God to intervene in this situation!

Blessings,
Tamara H:wave:

KAYLEE

GLAD YOU FOUND PTO ON 9/25/02.... YOU ARE A VERY WISE LADY. I HOPE YOU WILL STAY WITH PTO AND OFFER THIS KIND OF ADVICE OFTEN... THESE LADIES AND GENTS NEED YOU.

SINCERELY

DONNA DAY

If I am wise (God, I wish), it is because I listen to people others tend to ignore.

Once I heard a fellow student proclaim, "I don't learn from anyone who isn't my direct superior." He was talking about on the job, but I'll guarantee he carried that philosophy into every aspect of his life. I really felt sorry for the way he was willfully and purposely stunting his own growth.

In my many years, I've never found anyone who doesn't have something valuable to share. I'm a much too curious person: I would never shut myself off from anyone, because there's no telling what all I'd miss.

Even if I'm just learning how NOT to be, everyone has a valuable lesson for me.

Just read a couple of Gary's stories Kaylee and I am sitting here in utter disbelief. Well, not really. I said a long time ago, when offered a position with my company down South, that they would hang me from a tree by my tongue. I lived in Florida for a while and ran into a lot of people described similiarly to the DOC guards that Gary has to deal with at the state level. Want to hear something funny? His picture on the boat looks exactly like my pool man! I'm sure Gary would rather be out here cleaning pools than dealing with the garbage in there. I have been involved in California prison issues more than anything else because that is where I live and where my husband is incarcerated. Gary's stories make me realize that I need to broaden my involvement as much as humanly possible (while still holding down a job and feeding my kids). The one thing that I can do is pray more fervently that's for sure. But I must get more involved in letter writing, etc. Thanks for sharing Gary's plight and please let him know that people do care and are trying to make changes in the system!! Take care and God bless!

Hello there sorry to hear about your friend it makes me think about what my man goes through in there hes in the Illinois prison and has 5 years to do.
We had meet under a pen-pal site and started to mail each other and we fell in love with each other and im standing beside him 100%....
Even though he never tells me about his time in there but I guess he does not want to worry me about what life must be like in there.