locked up - Blog - Gangsters Inc. - www.gangstersinc.org
2024-03-19T09:44:44Z
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How much money do inmates make and spend in prison?
https://gangstersinc.org/blog/how-much-money-do-inmates-make-and-spend-in-prison
2022-08-16T16:33:04.000Z
2022-08-16T16:33:04.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10771915489?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>By <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a> Editors</p>
<p>People in prison get “three hots and a cot,” right? So, what do they need money for? A lot, it turns out. If they want to spend their time behind bars with some kind of comfort that is. When you’re locked up, comfort costs and quickly turns into a luxury.</p>
<p>Prisons typically provide the bare minimum when it comes to food, clothes, shoes and hygiene supplies. Some states provide items such as toothpaste, soap and limited amounts of letter-writing supplies only to the “indigent,” or those who have little to no money. Other goods that many would consider necessities — deodorant, shampoo, sneakers, thermal clothes for winter — are often only available to people who can afford them.</p>
<p>But earning enough from a prison job is nearly impossible: The average prison wage maxes out at 52 cents per hour, according to a new ACLU analysis, and many people make pennies per hour. That means that basics, like a $3 tube of toothpaste, can take days of work to afford. If you get paid, that is. In at least six states — Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas — most prisoners aren’t paid at all for their labor.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/fitness-behind-bars-gangsters-tell-how-they-train-their-bodies-an"><strong>Fitness Behind Bars: Gangsters tell how they train their bodies and minds in prison</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>To make up for their paltry wages, people in prison often take part in a thriving underground economy of side hustles, bartering stamps or commissary items for everything from hand-drawn greeting cards to makeshift home cooking to legal help.</p>
<p>In recent months, <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/about?via=navright" target="_blank">The Marshall Project</a> has corresponded with dozens of incarcerated people about the money they make, the money they spend and the lengths to which they go to secure basic needs and comforts.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/how-guards-go-on-assaulting-inmates-without-consequences"><strong>How guards keep assaulting inmates without consequences</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Members of The Marshall Project asked several people to log their transactions; and sent receipts and monthly account statements for commissary purchases. Along with that information, they gathered commissary catalogs and conducted email and phone interviews about their official prison jobs and side hustles. Most are serving long sentences for serious crimes; some have spent decades behind bars.</p>
<p><em>Read their stories <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2022/08/04/prison-money-diaries-what-people-really-make-and-spend-behind-bars?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=planetmoney&utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20220811&utm_term=7098628&utm_campaign=money&utm_id=5038570&orgid=454&utm_att1=" target="_blank">here</a> to learn how they navigate and survive, often through sheer determination and ingenuity, the harsh reality of prison economics. </em><a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2022/08/04/prison-money-diaries-what-people-really-make-and-spend-behind-bars?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=planetmoney&utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20220811&utm_term=7098628&utm_campaign=money&utm_id=5038570&orgid=454&utm_att1=" target="_blank"><em>Prison Money Diaries: What People Really Make (and Spend) Behind Bars</em></a></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/organized-crime-in">Organized Crime in North America section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out the latest news on organized crime and the Mafia at our <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/list/tag/news">news section</a></strong></li>
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<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p></div>
The one thing a Menendez brother feared more than the Mexican Mafia
https://gangstersinc.org/blog/the-one-thing-a-menendez-brother-feared-more-than-the-mexican-maf
2022-05-23T14:33:47.000Z
2022-05-23T14:33:47.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10509583469?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>By David Amoruso for <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a></p>
<p>The Mexican Mafia reigns through sheer terror. From behind bars they spread their influence far and wide to the outside world. All criminals knew that “La Eme” would come for them – either on the streets or in prison. If gangsters had that realization and fear, imagine how a couple of Beverly Hills trust fund babies felt being locked up with them.</p>
<p>At first, the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/street-gangs" target="_blank">Mexican Mafia</a> focused primarily on protecting its own: Mexican-Americans from Southern California. Inside prison they were pushed around by blacks and whites. The only way to stop the bullying was to form their own tightknit group capable of committing violence at the drop of a hat.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Controlling the streets</strong></span></p>
<p>Before landing in prison, these original Mexican Mafia members were part of notorious Californian <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/street-gangs" target="_blank">street gangs</a> like White Fence and Avenues. They were intimately familiar with violence and death. It wasn’t long before the Mexican Mafia established a fearsome reputation behind bars.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/fitness-behind-bars-gangsters-tell-how-they-train-their-bodies-an" target="_blank"><strong>Fitness Behind Bars: Gangsters tell how they train their bodies and minds in prison</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Several mobsters had bigger dreams than simply running a prison yard, though. They wanted to expand their influence to the streets. As the 1980s rolled around, “La Eme” controlled almost every Hispanic gang in Southern California.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10509650086,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="555" alt="10509650086?profile=RESIZE_584x" /></a>If the “Carnales” sitting in a cell wanted someone on the streets killed, they simply gave the order and it was done. This power struck fear in the hearts of any gang banger operating on the streets of California as it meant they were never safe. If they stayed one step ahead of Mafia hitmen then they could still get caught by the cops and land in prison. Once inside, there chance of survival was slim to none.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/indictments-show-mexican-mafia-s-control-within-los-angeles-count" target="_blank"><strong>Mexican Mafia’s control within LA County Jail and on streets of Pomona</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Prisons are filled to the brim with killers, drug dealers, thieves, rapists, and fraudsters. Though many would fashion themselves as tough guys, the truth is a lot aren’t. Those that lack strength, but do have money, pay for protection.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>The Menendez brothers</strong></span></p>
<p>Among them the infamous Menendez brothers. Lyle and Erik Menendez had become tabloid fodder after they were accused and later convicted of murdering their parents at their mansion in Beverly Hills in August of 1989. The boys were 21 and 18 at that time.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10509599063,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="10509599063?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a><em><strong>Photo: The Menendez family.</strong></em></p>
<p>Their father José was a self-made millionaire and Hollywood executive who expected – and demanded - great things from his sons. Unfortunately for him, Lyle and Erik had a mean streak. They frequently got in trouble. They stole from neighbors and tried to scam their way through school. Lyle left Princeton University after one semester after he was suspended for copying another student’s psychology lab report.</p>
<p>Younger brother Erik tried to go into the movie business. Well, as a 17-year-old he and a friend wrote a script about, wait for it, an 18-year-old who murders his rich parents. His mother Kitty helped type it out.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>WATCH: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/a-new-york-mafia-capo-a-member-of-the-yakuza-a-mob-soldier-ex-con" target="_blank"><strong>A New York Mafia capo, a member of the Yakuza, a mob soldier, ex-convicts & an Irish gangster rate crime movies</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Two years later she lay dead in her luxurious mansion. Her dead body had been hit in the leg, arm, chest and face. Her husband lay nearby with his head damn near blown off by shotgun blasts.</p>
<p>Lyle and Erik had had enough of their rich parents. They wanted their fortune all for themselves. They went on a spending spree and lived care-free despite just having lost their parents in a horrific crime.</p>
<p>Investigators looked at the case from all angles but quickly focused on the two brothers. Erik was seen as the weak link and police used one of his friends to get him to confess. It failed, but Erik did need to lift some of the guilt that was weighing on him.</p>
<p>He told his psychologist Jerome Oziel that he had in fact murdered his parents. Oziel was shocked and despite patient confidentiality, he too desperately wanted to share this information with another person. So, he told his mistress. After they broke up, she went to the police and told them everything.</p>
<p>The entire country watched in amazement as the Menendez trial was broadcasted on Court TV in 1993. The brothers claimed their father sexually abused them and that he was egged on by their mother, who they described as a drug and alcohol addict.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/homicide-at-rough-point-the-billionairess-and-the-mobbed-up-polic" target="_blank"><strong>Homicide at Rough Point: The billionairess and the mobbed up police chief</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>They claimed they were forced to murder them. “As I went into the room, I just started firing,” Erik testified.</p>
<p>Their defense worked, at first. The jury deadlocked. A retrial – this time without television cameras – was needed to establish a verdict. This time they were convicted on two counts of first-degree murder and of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.</p>
<p>The Menendez brothers were about to step into the world of the Mexican Mafia.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Beverly Hills babies meet the Carnales of La Eme</strong></span></p>
<p>Members of the Mexican Mafia ran the prison tiers they were on. Among them, Rene “Boxer” Enriquez (photo below). A vicious killer who was part of the street gang Artesia 13 and became an official member of the Mexican Mafia in the 1980s after having put in a lot of work – murdering and plundering at the behest of La Eme.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10509635672,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="10509635672?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10509623075,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="300" alt="10509623075?profile=RESIZE_400x" /></a>Enriquez saw both brothers move through the prisons he was incarcerated in. Erik Menendez (right) would take Enriquez’ and other Mexican Mafia members’ orders to buy candy from the jail store. One time, Erik couldn’t deliver. Instantly, death flashed before his eyes and chills ran up his spine.</p>
<p>He immediately contacted his lawyer to reach out to Daniel “Cuate” Grajeda, one of the shot callers, to intervene. “I never understood why they did that,” Enriquez later said. “Actually, I liked those kids.”</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>What do you fear most? La Eme or…</strong></span></p>
<p>Another time, Lyle was housed just a few cells from Enriquez. To a stone-cold gangster like Enriquez, Lyle Menendez was nothing but a mark. A pampered rich kid who ended up behind bars and could be taken advantage of. Imagine his surprise when all of a sudden, he saw a sergeant and two deputies stand in front of Lyle’s cell.</p>
<p>“Give it to us!” they demanded.</p>
<p>“What?” replied Lyle.</p>
<p>“Give it up now!”</p>
<p>“I don’t have anything.”</p>
<p>“Now hand it over!”</p>
<p>“What are you talking about, officer?”</p>
<p>To a “Carnal” – a made member of the Mexican Mafia - like Enriquez such a conversation meant Lyle must’ve been hiding drugs or a weapon, something serious. Maybe I underestimated this kid, he almost began thinking.</p>
<p>Then the bubble burst.</p>
<p>“Give us the wig!”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10509644672,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="271" alt="10509644672?profile=RESIZE_400x" /></a>An ashamed Lyle (left) then handed over the toupee he was wearing. For the next couple of months, Lyle walked around bald and embarrassed. Luckily for him, a judge did allow him to wear his hair piece in court.</p>
<p>Is it safe to say, Lyle feared his baldness more than the Mexican Mafia? Probably not. But both certainly give him nightmares when he sleeps at night.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/living-life-crime-bikers-prison-gangs-and-the-future" target="_blank"><strong>Living Life: Crime, bikers, prison gangs, and the future</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>In 2003, after years of bloodshed, “Boxer” Enriquez decided to quit the mob and become a government witness. He remains behind bars. Journalist Chris Blatchford detailed Enriquez’ life of crime in the book “The Black Hand: The Story of Rene "Boxer" Enriquez, and his life in the Mexican Mafia”.</p>
<p>In April of 2018, Lyle and Erik were reunited for the first time since they began serving their sentences. According to press reports, they “burst into tears” after seeing each other during their first meeting in a San Diego prison housing unit.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/street-gangs">Street Gangs section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out the latest news on organized crime and the Mafia at our <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/list/tag/news">news section</a></strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out our <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/gangsters-inc-on-social-media">social media channels</a></strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/about-gangsters-inc">About Gangsters Inc.</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p></div>