Today I met Jay, a man who voluntarily returned to serve five months in Taft Prison Camp rather than serve several years on supervised release. Jay served 17 calendar years in various prisons on the east coast before he completed his term of imprisonment. He left prison to begin enjoying freedom in Las Vegas, and from what he described he enjoyed that freedom in high style under the sponsorship of his nephew, Phil Ivey.
Phil Ivey, according to those who know, is one of the world’s most famous poker players. He plays in every major poker tournament and he is frequently on television. When Jay walked out of prison after 17 years, he walked into Phil’s world, as a true player in Las Vegas. Jay described driving the best automobiles, wearing custom tailored suits, and being catered to in the best ways that Las Vegas had to offer. Supervised release wasn’t too burdensome for him, Jay said, but rather than put up with several years of the hassle, he elected to violate the conditions of his release with an understanding that by serving five months more in prison Jay would conclude his obligation to the Justice Department.
Not all prisoners have the same option that Jay had. He was convicted in the early 1990s. The sentencing scheme then in place provided that offenders who violated conditions of supervised release would return to prison for a period of time and in so doing wipe out their commitments to the criminal justice system. That law has since changed. Individuals convicted under laws now in place face much tougher consequences if they violate conditions of supervised release. They return to prison, then face new and oftentimes extended terms of supervised release.
I enjoyed speaking with Jay. As it turned out, by talking to each other we learned that we both were confined at the medium-security prison in Fairton, New Jersey during the early months of 1996. We didn’t know each other then, but that wouldn’t be unusual because more than 1,000 men served time inside the Fairton fences.
Jay told me that Las Vegas had numerous temptations that weren’t always healthy for a man who has been in prison for many years. I do not feel threatened by temptations, I told him, because I’m well-disciplined.
Ran 10 miles / 5,330 miles in 598 days
500 pushups / 83,700 pushups in 2010
Monday, 2 August 2010
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