We Asked Inmates How Paul Manafort Will Get Treated in Jail
"Do you know how many people in here despise Trump?" —Troy Hockenberry
The former Donald Trump campaign boss got locked up Friday after being accused of witness tampering. This could get ugly.
Instead of Friday night dinner and drinks at a swanky Georgetown restaurant, Manafort was likely eating a baloney sandwich out of a paper bag the US Marshals threw at him, if my own experience in federal lock-up was any indication. This is his new reality as he waits to go through the criminal justice machinery typically reserved for the poor and people of color. He faces up to 300 years in prison, a.k.a. the rest of his life.
At this point it seems impossible that Manafort will beat all, if any, of these charges," speculated Nicholas "Sawed Off" McDougal, who's serving 12 years in federal prison—also in Indiana—for armed robbery. "How will he fare in here? It could go either way for a guy like him. He has access to financial resources greater than 90 percent of federal inmates. This can help or hurt him. He could end up a victim of extortion or someone's 'sweet thing.' He has experience in running campaigns so perhaps his charisma can save him from that fate."
In the event that Manafort is ultimately found guilty—he faces two trials: one in July, the other in September—it's not implausible that he would end up in a United States Penitentiary (USP). These are the nation's maximum-security prisons, where he almost certainly be less than warmly received by scores of inmates who loathe Trump and his attorney general, Jeff Sessions. If that's the case, Manafort may feel compelled to seek the protection of an Aryan prison gang, perhaps the only kind of clique that would be kind to him—for the right price. Otherwise, African-American and Hispanic inmates could feel entitled to take out their aggressions on Manafort every time Trump sent out a tweet that they perceived as racist, inappropriate, or insensitive.
"The way I see it, Manafort is in a tough spot," offered Augie Abascal, who's serving ten years in the feds for trafficking meth. "He's facing too much time to walk free, so even if he does try to cooperate he's gonna have to go do some serious time, and who will ultimately be in charge of housing him? Trump’s people. So if he does roll on Trump, he'll be put in a USP and that won't be good. If he doesn't roll, then he's guaranteed to go to a USP. So what's this fool gonna do? At the end of the day, he can always go into protective custody and do all his time in a cell alone or in some spot with a bunch of cho-mos."
Prisoners were virtually unanimous on one point: Manafort's profile as a lackey of the man in the White House would put a target on his back, assuming he is ultimately found guilty.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bj3aqm/what-will-happen-to-paul-manafort-in-jail-prison
"Do you know how many people in here despise Trump?" —Troy Hockenberry
The former Donald Trump campaign boss got locked up Friday after being accused of witness tampering. This could get ugly.
Instead of Friday night dinner and drinks at a swanky Georgetown restaurant, Manafort was likely eating a baloney sandwich out of a paper bag the US Marshals threw at him, if my own experience in federal lock-up was any indication. This is his new reality as he waits to go through the criminal justice machinery typically reserved for the poor and people of color. He faces up to 300 years in prison, a.k.a. the rest of his life.
At this point it seems impossible that Manafort will beat all, if any, of these charges," speculated Nicholas "Sawed Off" McDougal, who's serving 12 years in federal prison—also in Indiana—for armed robbery. "How will he fare in here? It could go either way for a guy like him. He has access to financial resources greater than 90 percent of federal inmates. This can help or hurt him. He could end up a victim of extortion or someone's 'sweet thing.' He has experience in running campaigns so perhaps his charisma can save him from that fate."
In the event that Manafort is ultimately found guilty—he faces two trials: one in July, the other in September—it's not implausible that he would end up in a United States Penitentiary (USP). These are the nation's maximum-security prisons, where he almost certainly be less than warmly received by scores of inmates who loathe Trump and his attorney general, Jeff Sessions. If that's the case, Manafort may feel compelled to seek the protection of an Aryan prison gang, perhaps the only kind of clique that would be kind to him—for the right price. Otherwise, African-American and Hispanic inmates could feel entitled to take out their aggressions on Manafort every time Trump sent out a tweet that they perceived as racist, inappropriate, or insensitive.
"The way I see it, Manafort is in a tough spot," offered Augie Abascal, who's serving ten years in the feds for trafficking meth. "He's facing too much time to walk free, so even if he does try to cooperate he's gonna have to go do some serious time, and who will ultimately be in charge of housing him? Trump’s people. So if he does roll on Trump, he'll be put in a USP and that won't be good. If he doesn't roll, then he's guaranteed to go to a USP. So what's this fool gonna do? At the end of the day, he can always go into protective custody and do all his time in a cell alone or in some spot with a bunch of cho-mos."
Prisoners were virtually unanimous on one point: Manafort's profile as a lackey of the man in the White House would put a target on his back, assuming he is ultimately found guilty.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bj3aqm/what-will-happen-to-paul-manafort-in-jail-prison
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