Talking to the Detectives this time was different. I was not playing their "Work with us and it will go easy on you" routine, I saw how that one worked first hand. No, this time they were going to have to prove it!

I didn't realize that they had statements from all my "Friends" saying I had did it, or I might have taken a different tack. 

Even though I had been in the bedroom with the girl all night and didn't even know a crime had been committed until I got home, they had statements to the contrary. They had said that I planned the whole thing, which I had not. Unfortunately in the U.S. justice system it is not whether you did it or not, it's whether they can prove you did.
 
This time, they could
***
<center>![maxresdefault.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmT2YbLwdRULmXTFQwShQkq1SEQ9zqc95PAg7ntsXSCecs/maxresdefault.jpg)
***
### Long story short...
***
I will spare you the long boring details about being in jail again, it sucks, enough said. 

They charged me with Receiving and Concealing Stolen Property and with the Habitual Offender Notice (Second). In Michigan when you have more than one Felony they "Supplement" you. This means that for the second conviction they can give you one and a half times your max. So if it is a 5 year max crime, it becomes 7 1/2 years max. Third conviction it doubles, 5 becomes 10. Fourth Felony Habitual is an open ended "Life" max, meaning they can give you up to 25 years (Life in Michigan for non murder cases)

When I went to court they offered me the plea bargain of Dropping the Habitual and plea to the Original crime. That's how they work, even though I had a decent chance at trial of winning, because I had such a big possible sentence, I took the easy way. Almost everyone does in the U.S. Our justice system depends on plea bargains, and it would shut down quickly if everyone that got charged went to trial. Most would have to be released for violation of the speedy trial rule because they would run out the 180 day limit before they ever got to trial. What has developed here is not a justice system, but rather a system of coercion. Plea to this little crime or we will try for this big one.

I am not commenting on the fairness of it all. I was always guilty of what they said I did to some extent or another. I am just making an observation, not excuses for my behavior.

I was sentenced to 2-5 years in the Michigan Department of Corrections again.
***
###  Waiting...
***
Jail this time was a little different for me. I was being held in Maximum Security while I was in the county jail because of my general attitude and behavior. I had a bad attitude and didn't care about much of anything anymore at that point. I had been in several fights and was associating with the gang I ran with again, actively "Claiming" and being willing to "Bang."

The guy in the Max cell next to me I had known from the streets. He had confessed to me that he had "Snitched" or turned informant to get out of his trouble selling Cocaine. I had played it off like I was sympathetic, but I honestly hated a Snitch. They were the second lowest in the criminal world, next to a Cho-Mo (Child Molester) I was going to make sure everyone knew what he had did!

It was strange though. Over time in the cell next to him, I started to see him as a person and started to  understand why he had done it. He had a new daughter and wanted to be a father. It made me think of my son and the fact that he was now growing up without his Dad. My Dad had left before I was born and I was doing the same thing to my Son. In a different way, but no different.

I finally decided to let his own destiny play out without my interference when he was sentenced to prison the same week I was. Even though he had turned "States Evidence" and informed, they still sent him to prison. The poor guy cried for 3 days straight. I really felt for the guy, and it made me really start to think about what I was going to do.

I had been talking to my Son's Mother and we were trying to work out some kind of relationship. I laugh at this now because I realize I was just grasping at straws and trying to have something in the "World" because my life was in so much chaos. She was willing to be my "Girlfriend" of course, I think more because of her fear of raising a Son alone more than any feelings she really had for me. My Family wanted nothing to do with me again, but she had been visiting my Mother's house and spending a lot of time there. I knew that if I had a relationship with her, she would have a way to come visit and I wouldn't have to spend the next 2 or 3 years alone. Maybe my Mom would even send me some money here and there....

I was so selfish.
***
### Back to quarantine...
***
This time I knew what to expect, and I was nowhere near scared.

The guy from the Max cell next to me actually rode to quarantine the same day as I did. I remember him asking me to keep confident the fact that he had "Snitched." I told him I would, but he didn't know I had been planning on calling him out, and had only changed my mind a week or so earlier. 

On the ride I was laughing, talking about how I couldn't wait to get a cigarette and hang out on the yard.
He was petrified. 

I kept telling him he would be fine and playing myself to be the big tough guy. Pathetic, and I would soon learn I was not so tough as I thought, not by a long shot.
***
### Classification
***
If you read my last post about prison, you remember that when you're in Quarantine the thing you look forward to is Classification day. This is where they tell you your level, giving you an idea of where you might go to do your time. I had a couple of surprises coming.

When I went into the office and sat down the first thing the Classification Officer gave me was a new "Time Sheet." This is what tells you when you are first eligible to see the Parole Board. I had been sentenced to 2 to 5 years, but my first out-date was 7 years away! What was this nonsense? The Officer explained that Michigan had a law called the "O'hare Law" that stated when you violated Parole and got a new prison sentence, you had to do the Max from your first sentence before you started to do your second. I would not see the Board for 7 years, not 2...

As I sat in shock he proceeded to Classify me a level 2. Even with 7 years, I still had to have at least 8 to be a level 2! What is going on here? He explained that when I walked out of the Rehab I had been in when I was 17, he was counting it as a walk away from a non community residential placement (Non-CRP Facility) and that meant I was an escape risk. Level 2 prison in Michigan is a whole different Ball Game then Level 1. Lock down and violent.

Now I was scared.
***
### Ride out...
***
Since it was my second time in Quarantine, my file was pretty fast to process through. Instead of doing 90 days in Quarantine, I was there like 30. They sent me to the Handlon Michigan Training Unit, HMTU (MTU), or as it was known in the Prison System, "Gladiator School." This was the Prison that Michigan sent all the Prisoners under 21 years old that needed an education. Think about that for a second- Every young, dumb criminal in Michigan in the same prison. Sound like fun?

Now I was really scared.
***
### Arriving
***
When I got to MTU and was waiting to get processed in from the Control Center, I was looking at the yard through the door. There were a series of barred gates that slid open until you were in the final entrance vestibule, where you could see the yard through a final glass door that was behind the last gate. Funny in a way. A bunch of prison gates, but then a simple glass paneled door to actually open with a regular door knob. 

The facility was deceiving. It looked like a college campus. Mainly because that was what it was set up to be like. It was  the last Prison in Michigan that offered trade school. It had Machine Shop, Building Trades, Auto Mechanics, and Custodial Maintenance programs, as well as regular High School and GED classes. I had gotten my GED in the County Jail, but I thought a trade would be cool to learn. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

Then I saw the release of one of the Units for "Chow" or lunch. It was a mass movement of a whole Unit, about 300 inmates. They had set walkways to go down in the inner yard, and it looked like complete chaos. Then I noticed there was a group of about 10 that was fighting right in the middle. I just knew I was going to die. They gave me my Unit assignment and told me how to get there. The last gate slid open, and I had to turn the doorknob...

It was Chaos, and it represented what my life had become. The next 3 years were going to be the most formative in my adult life, up until the last 2.

But they were nothing close to easy.
***
### Please Read
***
This is where you can find the first consolidated part of my life story [--HERE--]( https://steemit.com/christian-trail/@nobutsd/my-story-begins) for the second part go [--HERE--]( https://steemit.com/christian-trail/@nobutsd/my-life-story-part-2) and for the third [--HERE--](https://steemit.com/christian-trail/@nobutsd/consolidated-life-part-3-growing-up-an-addict) There is  a Background Post [--HERE--](https://steemit.com/christian-trail/@nobutsd/a-little-bit-of-background)  Also, we have succeeded in creating a chat room on Discord for Recovery and Addiction issues! Please go [--HERE--]( https://discord.gg/j9q9Sx) to join and be a part of our online support network. 

My Bosses have given me permission to mention the name of our Ministry in my blogs. I work at Endeavor House Ministries Inc. in Lansing, Michigan. If you look us up you can see us on Facebook, and at endeavorhouseministries.com You can donate to the Ministry through PayPal if you want to. If you have enjoyed this post and would like to read more about a hard-core drug addict that has been redeemed by Jesus, please follow and support me. Also, we have succeeded in creating a chat room on Discord for Recovery and Addiction issues! Please go [--HERE--]( https://discord.gg/j9q9Sx) to join and be a part of our online support network. Thank you and God Bless!!
***
Image Credit: [1](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fnOtX4a3Peo/maxresdefault.jpg)