Read from start to stop in one sitting.
Great Thread.
Kudos, OP!

I wonder if you ended up in Old Colonny. If so, please write a TR.

Met a man once in Vegas that spent 2 years there and was seriously messed up after the hell he went through and saw. Really sad stuff.

Thanks for the great TR!

What do they tell you about gangs in orientation?

For both your own protection and to know which one to join. I'm thinking of the show Oz of course where everyone was part of a gang of some description...

I think this is the 3rd time I have read this thread.

And every time I think I would just flee the country. But not even sure that is possible since I am sure the US can and will extradite.

What I don't remember reading is what house arrest was like. Obviously better than prison, but unless you have a spacious place, that would be tough too.

I always get a laugh at this one.

Good luck with that, sir.

MyTurn2Raise,

I only read up to page 6 so I apologize if I am asking any questions that have already been asked.

Favorite (illegal) drug generally?
Favorite specific drug trip?

It's my goal in life to somehow change the system/the average joe's opinion about non-violent drug use so your story is particularly scary but warming at the same time. Warming in the sense that you made it through and are alive/in good health/enjoying life. Cheers man, people like you give me faith that there are those worth fighting for.

Sometimes just hearing and seeing so many bad things come out of drugsmakes me question what side I'm on in this whole thing, but then I read about all this BS... some guy trying to get a promotion off prosecuting a young kid who is just enjoying himself with a degree of self control; purposely (I would say) twisting the nature of your "crime" to make you seem like a dangerous date raper despite likely *knowing* you weren't. Super disgusting man! Cheers, again, for living through it. I hope someday you're in a position to encourage others to change their mind about the USA's drug laws... and really just telling your story normally imo should make anyone reconsider.

Did psychedelics help you at all during your prison stay? If that's a lol question then don't sweat it.

Lastly......... **** that cop's kid. Wow. Not only do I have problems with someone who takes drugs without knowledge of dosage/safety (wtf was this kid thinking?) and not only is snitching (on someone he stole from!) so terrible, but lol of course "he's not the drug user" and doesn't face any charges. For taking the drug you got stung for in a totally unsafe manner that was entirely his fault. Who had more maturity and responsibility as a drug user (or a person in general) in the eyes of hardliners? ****ing cheers a 3rd time man. Karma should be tough on that dude hopefully -____-;;;?

Wow that was a wild read. Hope you're doing well now.

bump

Sorry for the huge bump, this such a great read. Thank you for posting this.

Seriously something wrong with the criminal system when it comes to incarcerating drug offenders.

I just noticed the bump...I won’t be reading the thread, I’m sure it would be dangerous to my health...besides I have a 400k diary I can dip into if I want to plump up my nightmares.
I’m a disabled vet with PTSD which I did not get in Vietnam but did get in the penal system. I wonder just how many cases of PTSD are generated by the “system”. I have decent care from the VA but I’m the exception I’m sure.
The prison system has long been a business opportunity, and this has only gotten worse with the current administration.

The current administration of what?

This came up recently as last week marked 20 years since I went into department of corrections custody. I've kept a quiet 2p2 presence for reasons which will be obvious but can post a bit more now. Mulled it over and thought, "Sure, I'll give you guys the Hollywood ending."

I'm alive and doing ridiculously well.

I've now been married for roughly 10 years. Breaking my record to my now wife about 3 months into dating was a hard one. She took a few days to think about it and was fine moving on with me. Huge risk which paid off well for her. Despite the move to stick with me, she's really smart (Bronze Tablet at UofI) and wise. She's better looking than me, nicer, and taller (which stands out to others but I don't even realize most of the time). Guess all those years working on myself paid off.

We have two kids (both boys) together. They're amazing. In an effort to not have them end up like me, I researched parenting methods/techniques quite a bit. I came across peaceful parenting and Montessori stuff. I loosely follow it and a large shout out to Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. It's working out better than I can imagine. My kids are already better people than myself. So much patience and self-control. I don't see them spiraling into the things which drove my heavy drug use.

We live in the Summerlin West area of Vegas. It's pretty much the bees knees for what we're looking for in life at this moment.

For the past 9 years, I worked for PokerStars in Game Integrity (hence the cutdown on posting). I know, I know, I'm embarrassed and ashamed I helped that company out, but, in my defense, the company I joined was perceived far different than the company it is today and it's not like I had many other options for a regular type job given my background. When I rationalize it, I argue I helped people get an honest game to stretch their discretionary funds further. When I'm honest, I feel like I was shepherding sheep to a slaughter. Obviously, I kicked ass at the job: I had something like 8 million online hands across 39 sites before I started in 2010, extensively used HoldemManager PT and HUDs, have the accounting degree where I taught internal controls and ethics class, and am fairly good at being a self-starter working on his own. I just got laid off this past year. It's disappointing I was viewed as a cost rather than an asset, especially when I crushed it and have more experience across all the various gambling verticals than 99.9% of the employees in my estimation, but so it goes. Was awful nice to get a severance payment when I had contemplated walking away with nothing for the past couple years.

Which all ties into me being retired at 40, now. Ideally, I was going to work 3-4 more years, but am in a good spot. I have always been a bit of personal finance nerd as a hobby and was behaving like someone in the FIRE movement before there was a name for the thing. We lived off my wife's income this whole time and shoved all my after tax earnings into savings/investments. Been a good ~9 years to be long. I also did my side hustling ass off - poker, casino games, sports betting (many thanks to the RD crew on that last factor which has been the best part of 2p2 and, well, nearly the whole internet for me). So, I'm a stay at home dad now, and, it is awesome. I'm livin' the dream.

There were rough patches. Both my kids went through the NICU on birth. The first had a significant issue which meant weeks of hospital time and fear he wouldn't make it. Thought my wife was in jeopardy during that first labor as well. Nothing in prison compared to the darkness I felt that day. But, everyone came through healthy. I sometimes joke with my wife that we make 99.9999% of a great human. She doesn't think it's funny but it's how I deal. I did lose a testicle and go through chemo due to testicular cancer. That wasn't fun either. Wife had a car accident where the car was totaled. Ya, life stuff. We all go through it.

My record stands. It probably always will. The parole board doesn't like how I feel absolutely no remorse for my actions. I actually think those persecuting the drug war are the evil ones. That doesn't go over well. Whatever, I won't lie to them or, more importantly, myself. I know how the game is played but F them all. I don't compromise my integrity whenever possible. I still have an infinite well of anger at the whole thing. It worked out well but the ends don't justify me being thrown in a cage for enjoying an awesome product of my own volition. I have this crazy idea where I own myself.

Glad you're in a good place, OP. Way to bounce back.

Great bump. I remember this years ago.

Best of luck to you and yours - you deserve it.

MM MD

Thanks for the update!

Apologies for bumping this. I've been on this forum for a long time, and this is the first time I've had a chance to read what is imo one of the best threads on 2p2 from beginning to end.

MT2R, thank you for sharing this part of your life with us. Glad to hear your recent update and that you're doing well and have a wonderful family, home, and everything

Good for you Mt2r. I dont agree with everything wtr to your pokerstars stuff but I get it, you gotta make a living and our stupid ass laws made it difficult for you. **** them and I hope you remind all those sad sacks at the parole board you're retired at 40.

Just found this and looking forward to it

We've all been waiting for this day to come.

A ****ing men to this whole paragraph. I'll just leave this here.



Amazing update, sir. Glad to read it.

Are you somehow implying heroin isn't absolutely terrible for people and shouldn't be illegal?

North Philadelphia and Reading are widely known as 'heroin supermarkets,' have been for decades, and I can assure you it wasn't the 'War on Drugs' that devastated and continues to devastate those communities.

About 1 in 6500 american men btw 25-45 die of a heroin overdose every year, according to the CDC.

this was an interesting read