Traveling in Style (BOP Style)
My first day of travel was uncomfortable. It started at 4:30 a.m. in Jesup. The Corrections Officer woke Me up and told me to be ready in 15 minutes. I was ready in 10 minutes. He came back an hour later. We were moved to the administration building, strip searched, and placed in paper pants and T-shirts for the trip. The bus arrived and we were placed in handcuffs and leg irons and led out the front gate onto the bus. I was told to get a window seat but only aisle seats were left. I sat down next to large guy who later turned out to be the most talkative guy on the bus. (My Luck). The bus ride was ok. It took only 3 hours to get to the holdover facility in Tallahassee. 12 of us were placed in a 10 by 10 room to await processing. We were again strip searched and issued new clothes. We were run through a scanning machine to make sure we did not have any contraband. We saw a counselor who asked us questions such as ; Have you ever been raped? What is your sexual preference, Men or women? I proudly responded that I had not been raped and I liked women, in particular, my wife. We were then divided up by our security levels and the higher security guys went to one pod and we went to another. The pod is like something from a television show. Big open center surrounded by two stories of cells facing out to the common area. While I waited to be assigned to a room, I chatted with a couple of guys. A holdover facility holds guys in transit (like Me) but also holds prisoners involved in active cases in federal courts in the area. These guys have pending charges and are awaiting trial and/or sentencing and they were completely stressed out. It brought me back to the time I was in the same situation and stirred memories I would much rather forget. My cellie spends his time reading a book called “Busted by the Feds” and looking for ways to beat his charge and/or reduce his sentence. His wife was arrested at the same time and she is in a county lock-up while their two children live with their Grandmother. Ugly situation.
I hope to leave here some time next week for Pensacola Camp.
At holdover facilities like Tallahassee, prisoners are locked down for 23 hours each day and are allowed outside for recreation one hour each day. On the weekends (like today), there is no outside recreation. I am going to accomplish allot of reading over the next several days.
Ken Flaska
Let me know when you get settled so I can write you again. Good luck.