--- URBAN LEGENDS ---
20th September 2020

When it comes to American federal prison, the public seems to like to focus on the lower security institutions, often referred to as Club Fed. If you have been reading my blog for the last eight years, or if you have been decent enough to purchase my books and help pay my restitution, you know that the only time I have seen one of these places is when the BOP bus passed one and I looked out the window. I live, and have lived for over the last decade or so, in the opposite custody spectrum as Club Fed. I have lived in United States Penitentiaries, commonly referred to as USP's; federal pens.

Most days, USP's are akin to the citied of Sodom and Gomorrah the night before the two angels showed up. However, in my tenure as riff-raff I have had the opportunity to rub criminal shoulders with some unique and fascinating men in these joints. Men who just don't think like average people do and who are willing to suffer for their beliefs. Some of these individuals are considered urban legends of the criminal underworld and their life stories are woven throughout various genres of movies, literature, and American pop culture.

So under the belief that you might find my experiences and/or my friendships with some other these people to be interesting, I have chosen a few of them to tell you about. They are an eclectic and diverse group. Let's begin with the only person that I've ever been locked up with whose served time in USP Alcatraz. In The Rock.

JAMES "WHITEY BULGER":
Egomaniacal psychopath out of Boston, Massachusetts that was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list for well over a decade. I rode a ConAir flight with him years ago, then ended up doing time with him at USP Coleman 2 in Florida years later. Even well into his eighties, Whitey was still drunk on his own legend. He was a straight killer that ruined a lot of lives and took a lot of lives. He told me one time that he only slept an average of two hours or so a night because when he would doze off, his murder victims would haunt him. When he told me this, I replied, "Sounds fair." He committed suicide-by-inmate a couple of years ago by rolling into general population (in his wheelchair) onto the yard at USP Hazelton knowing that there was an active hit on him. He was dead less than 24 hours later. They beat him with padlocks (tied to belts), ripped his eyeballs out, and tried to cut his tongue out, but the razors weren't sharp enough for the job. Considering all of the misery he caused during his incarnation as Whitey Bulger, I figure that he got off light.

DAVID THAI:
Founder of a criminal organization called BTK (Born To Kill) in Chinatown in Manhattan, New York City (NYC). Given a life sentence in the feds for taking a band of young, uneducated, Asian men and forming them into his own personal racketeering enterprise. Post sentencing, David Thai killed an inmate on the outside rec yard at USP Canaan by using a knife that he'd fashioned out of a lawn mower blade and buried in the dirt. He did seven years for this murder in the Administrative Supermax United States Penitentiary in Florence, Colorado, commonly known as ADX. I met David and became friends with him in 2010 at USP Coleman 1 where he taught me meditation techniques out on the softball field. Before we would sit down, I would usually point at the dirt and ask him, "You haven't buried anything out here today, have you David? You're not beefing with a triad are you?" He would smile and shake his head. I actually had the opportunity to increase David's custodial life when I talked my case manager into transferring him to the Work Cadre at USP Lewisburg in 2012, which at the time, was akin to a retirement community for gangsters.

MUTULU "DOC" SHAKUR:
Doctor of acupuncture from NYC and father of slain gangsta rapper Tupac Shakur. Smart, funny, educated, interesting, avowed black supremacist. Was my polar opposite yet my criminal bestie when we were both in cellblock 6A at USP Victorville in 2014-2015. Doc is a member of the Black Liberation Army (BLA) and has done 30 years in the feds now. Three of these years were a stint at ADX for pissing off the warden at USP Coleman 1. His offense? Having a cell phone snuck in and posting "Stop Snitching" videos on the internet. Doc has been to, and walked down, the Great Wall of China and has also had a segment done about him on BET's program American Gangsters. He has interesting and fascinating stories, one of which was when he was at USP Lompoc in 1994 and the warden came to him and asked him to ask Tupac (who was coming to visit him) if he would come into the prison and give a concert. Tupac agreed and ended up giving a four hour concert out on the rec yard. He was shot dead about 6 months later in Las Vegas.

DEMETRIUS "BIG MEECH" FLENULROY:
Notorious drug dealer and co-founder of the Black Mafia Family (BMF) out of Atlanta, Georgia. He was doing his time at USP Atlanta when he got caught with two cell phones and sent to the SMU at USP Lewisburg (Special Management Unit a 24/7 lockdown program that lasted 2 yrs). I used to kick it with Big Meech at night as I mopped the tier in D Block where he lived at the time. He is a pretty nice guy and seems humble. But then again, who wouldn't be when you're locked down 24/7 in solitary confinement with a random psychopath? Big Meech was so addicted to the Hip Hop/Gangsta Fame that he appeared on the cover of VIBE Magazine when his only discernable income derived from moving kilos up and down I-95. He received the attention he craved, but unfortunately it also came with a federal indictment and a 30 year sentence. A classic case of Be Careful What You Wish For.

RONNIE "ONE ARM" TRUCCHIO:
Capo for the Gambino crime family that I became friends with at Lewisburg. I personally watched Ronnie threaten Father Willy (our angry Nigerian priest) at mass after Father Willy yelled at us for not appearing suffciently interested in his Homily. We were interested; we just don't speak Nigerian. Ronnie's doing three life sentences for organized crime-related conviction for his former vocation (and avocation). His territory was Tampa, Florida, the former stronghold of American mob boss Santo Trafficante. Before meeting an becoming friends with Ronnie (who has an atrophied arm) I had read about him in a book called "Cigar City Mafia."

ANGELO "DON CORLEONE" PRISCO:
One of 20 Capos for the Genovese crime family based out of Little Italy in NYC. Angelo is the Don Corleone of my blogs and books. He loves to tell stories, some of which I suspect are even true. I learned early on that The Don doesn't mind spinning one. This is also the guy who pointed to a guy sitting in a wheelchair who had a prosthetic limb (as we walked to the chow hall) and told me that the guy lost his appeal because his lawyer told him he "Didn't have a leg to stand on." Ange is a nice guy with a great personality, provided that you're not duct-taped in the trunk of his car or playing penny-a-point Gin with him in the federal pen. He cheats. Imagine that, huh? His territory was the Italian Harlem section of Manhattan around 2nd Avenue and 109th Street, His indictment claims that just one of his video poker spots brought in around $25,000 a day. But mind you, this indictment was drafted by a U.S. Attorney, who are equally prone to occasionally spin one. Angelo makes the best stuffed peppers that I've ever tasted and has been my greatest gift as a blogger. Fuhgettaboutit.

In meeting and getting to know the people that I have just described to you, I have learned a couple of things that apply to all of us at the very core of our nature. The first is that "What good is it to be smart if your intellect doesn't enhance the quality of your life for you and those you love?" The other is that intelligence don't always protect against impulse. Better to be poor and free than rich and in prison.

By the title of this blog you may think that I am in awe of these individuals, but if you think that you are incorrect; I am in awe of NO man. I am just introducing you to some of the velociraptors in my Jurassic life and to some of my buddies over the last decade or so.

So there it is. From my world (and Don Corleone's stuffed peppers) to your eyes. I hope that you enjoyed being a fly on the wall of my life. If you would like to experience a higher end of my prose, click onto Amazon and purchase Book 1 of my first mainstream fiction book titled "The Life of Riley." The cover and layout is still a work in progress, but the story is intact...much like myself. My books make excellent Christmas gifts too. Don't fuhgettaboutit.

Jeffrey P. Frye 89319-071
USP Coleman, II
P.O. Box 1034
Coleman, FL 33521
#LetCovid-FreeRobbersGo2020