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tv   Lockup Orange County  MSNBC  November 24, 2011 9:00pm-10:00pm PST

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due to mature subject matter, viewer discretion is advised. >> man, [ bleep ]. bail is too damn high. >> jail takes a dark turn for a lighthearted teenager. >> it's a little bit more dangerous in here because people are fighting life, people snap easily. >> provides a new beginning for an old bank robber. >> i've been writing "bank
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robber blues, if tales of the mummy bandit." it's a page turner. >> and a mother who put drugs before her son gets another chance. >> being over there in afghanistan, it's just really hard on me. >> orange county, california, conjures images of well-manicured neighborhoods and a surfer culture that give way to the beach boys. blending seamlessly into the heart of one of its busiest neighborhoods is a reminder of the county's other side.
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the theo lacy jail is the largest of five facilities in the orange county system. it sits on 11 acres and has a capacity of more than 3,000 inmates. >> let's go. hands behind your back. back row go to the house. >> mark gonzalez is one of them. except for his jail-issued t-shirt and scrubs, he could be mistaken for any other fun-loving o.c. teenager. >> i love surfing. i love the ocean. nothing could go wrong except robbing a weed store and getting arrested. my mom's in a lot of shock right now. first offense. you know, my baby's robbing weed stores? what does he need that for? >> unlike most in the orange county jail system who have not
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been convicted but are awaiting trial, gonzalez pled guilty to robbery and received a one-year sentence. with good behavior, he could be out in nine months, and if his family gets its way, back in minnesota. >> i have a bunch of newspapers under my bed. my mom sent me a subscription because i wanted to stay updated with what was going on in minnesota, concertwise, weather, everything that was going on so i could still feel at home in a way. i'm the first one in my family history to ever get in trouble. although we do have treatment history, but never led to any crime. so they were so shocked. but they send me letters every day. they get mad when i don't talk to them. you know, they still love me because they understand how difficult this is for me. i'm doing nine months for a first-time offense. that's a lot of time. >> it's time gonzalez could have avoided if, as he claims, he hadn't allowed himself to be talked into committing robbery. >> my crime, he asked me out of the blue, hey, how would you like to rob a marijuana store. i was like, whoa.
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that's not me at all. i was like -- i try to keep it peaceful with everybody, you know. and like it grows from the ground. why would you need to steal it? probably two months later we're out of money, out of weed, we're just kind of stressing. he's like, all right, how about now? i was like, all right, we'll see how it goes. >> gonzalez and his friend targeted a medical marijuana dispensary that had a delivery service. >> they came to deliver it to us. he asked for my information. i was pretending to dig through it. he came back with the gun, did what he did, hopped out and that was it. >> less than a week later, gonzalez and his friend were pulled over for a cracked windshield. the police officer smelled marijuana coming from the car. >> they searched the car and found the gun, the weed, they found everything. they matched the weed with the description of the robbery, and then the gun -- he admitted that was his so i didn't get charged with the armed robbery, thank god. i learned my lesson, yeah.
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yeah, i learned my lesson. not to get pulled over. just kidding. >> because he is a low-risk first-time offender, gonzalez has had one piece of good news. instead of being housed among the hundreds inmates facing charges like murder, rape, or gang activity, gonzalez has been assigned to live in the minimum security workers barracks, probably the most desirable housing unit in the entire jail. >> as you see, it's a barracks type of setting. once day room is open, they're free to go anywhere this side of the barracks. they play ping pong, cards, watch tv, read the newspaper. they have a little bit more freedom in that it's a big dorm style of barracks. >> everyone gets a card. >> pick it up. if you want it -- >> that's what they told me. >> that's what i'm saying. >> it's spades.
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>> for every six days that you work, you get another extra day of good time, an extra day of work time taken off of your sentence. so for every six days that you're in custody and you're working it's eight days as long as they behave. >> gonzalez works in the laundry facility. >> where does this one go, sir? >> that's going to surplus. >> i work all the clothes that everyone wears. i sort them and fold them. take them out the truck, brand new. yeah, they're all fresh, socks, pants. i get new clothes every day, never dirty, always new. that's what matters. that's what matters. >> did you ever do laundry when you were living at home? >> no. my mom would always be doing my laundry. >> gonzalez says he has a good relationship with his mother. she's about to fly in from minnesota for her first visit to the jail. >> she wasn't very happy with me the last time we talked. she'll be here for a couple
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weeks, and we'll see what she has to say. >> three miles away in the women's wing of orange county's central jail facility, paula rivas, serving three years for identity theft and forgery, is also preparing for a mother/son reunion. >> i know it's hard for him, and he knows i'm not there out for him. i want him to know that i'm going to be out there. >> rivas' son is a marine who deployed to afghanistan seven months ago. >> i always wanted my son to join the military. when you realize that they're going to war and there's nothing you can do, it's not easy. especially being here in jail. he has nothing to come home to. i'm in here. i can't write -- well, i could write him but it's just difficult.
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i didn't want him to get a letter with orange county jail stamped on it. i look for articles about over there, overseas. every time i see the newspaper, i see 11, 10 men, i don't know if it's my boy. it's not easy. >> rivas says she loves her son but has admittedly not been there for him over the years. she was often more focused on drugs than family. >> i was getting high one way or another from 9 years old. whether it be on weed, drinking, back then lsd, pcp. in my later years, it was coke for a while. but i've went to other drugs, heroine, meth. i've been coming here for the last ten years consistently, and it's pretty sad that i know the deputies here more than i know my own family. i know this place more than i know my son, you know. >> this is the first time rivas' son has been deployed while
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she's been locked up. normally she would serve her time in prison, but a judge granted her request to stay at the orange county jail so she could be closer to her son when he returns from afghanistan. >> prison is a cake walk. it's so much easier. we got it made up there. upstate is our house. this is their house. over here, it's the deputy's, this is their house. they run it as their home. it's very tight. nobody wants to do their time here. i've chosen to stay, to see my boy. everybody told me i'm crazy, but no. i want the 45 minutes with him. because you never know if it's going to be the last. coming up -- >> i drink and i get aggressive, i guess. i said i wasn't going to drink again. and here we are. >> cellmates share tales of
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booze and bank robbery. >> throughout the years, i probably robbed more than 100 -- no more than 150, put it that way. vietnam, 1967. i got mine in iraq, 2003. u.s.a.a. auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation, because it offers a superior level of protection and because u.s.a.a.'s commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. u.s.a.a. we know what it means to serve. so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card.
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the most trusted inmates in orange county, california, live in the workers' barracks of the theo lacy jail, where they enjoy more privilege and freedom of movement than in other housing units. the majority of the inmates live under much more restrictive conditions. they're confined to one or two-man cells in housing units known as modules or mods. >> are any of them giving you any issues? >> no, really haven't had any issues with them, at least as of today. >> most of these inmates require a lot more supervision due to their charges and criminal sophistication. they're entitled to two hours every day of day room, and three times a week they get an hour in
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the outdoor rec facility. unless they have outdoor rec, they're in the cell for 22 hours. >> let's go. >> today, some of the inmates are being pulled out of their cells for a surprise shakedown. >> we search cells to find contraband, weapons, drugs. >> let's go, guys. let's go. go out to rec, enjoy your time out there, and we'll pull you back in. a lot of times they'll keep fruit, and they turn that into jailhouse alcohol called pruno. they'll save bread, they'll save all that. the yeast in the bread to ferment the sugary juice. they'll turn it into pruno. which they're making one right here. this could be dangerous because there's no way they can know what the alcohol content is on this. >> ryan abbey has never been caught with alcohol in jail but it's gotten him into plenty of trouble on the outside.
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>> drink and get aggressive i guess. start arguing, you know. it's pitiful. >> i haven't had a drink in 16 months, so this is the first -- actually the second time i've been drinking in 16 months. this is where it brought me back to. i did five months the last time i was here. i said i wasn't going to drink again. and here we are. >> but alcohol is more than just a problem for abbey, it's also the foundation of his career. >> i'm an investor in a company called boo-tay vodka. it's got a really good taste and it's smooth. >> dare i ask if that's what you were intoxicated on -- >> you are 100% correct. it sneaks up on you, let me just say that.
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it will sneak up on you, yeah, we had a few shots that night. i was celebrating a bar that i was part owner in that we sold. every time i drink, this is what happens. >> unfortunately for abbey falling off the wagon will likely lead to consequences beyond jail. he's expecting to get a prison sentence the next time he goes to court. >> it's a different experience. you got to show the respect that you show when you're here for the deputies, for the inmates. and yeah, you know. it is what it is, i guess. >> abbey's cellmate, jimmy torres, can tell him about life in prison. >> i spent all my 30s inside. i got out when i was 41. the federal government don't mess around. when they hammer you, they hammer you good, you know.
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>> torres is at orange county, appealing his conviction for an armed bank robbery he claims he didn't commit. but he does take credit for dozens of other bank robberies, some of which landed him a prior 11-year sentence at longpote federal penitentiary. >> the yankee bandit, my cellmate in '91, he was a world-famous bank robber. he holds the record of 72 banks robbed. come on, i was just getting warmed up at 72. throughout the years, i probably robbed more than -- no more than 150, put it that way. >> narrator: torres says the inspiration to become a bank robber occurred when he was a young boy growing up in a tough part of orange county. >> i never had money in my pocket to buy ice cream as a kid. that used to bother me because all the other kids had money. i got caught stealing one time from the neighborhood guy.
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i remember, i just finished seeing that bonnie and clyde movie in the day with warren beatty -- i forget the other actress -- faye dunaway. i remember walking home that day and i said i'm going to rob a bank, just like bonnie and clyde used to. i was kicking rocks. i was just a kid. >> how much money do you think you've gotten from your bank robberies all these years? >> i don't know. you might want to ask caesar's palace. i have no idea. i never counted. >> narrator: torres says he didn't just gamble away his loot but was a modern day robinhood. >> i would give money to homeless people when i see them on the street. i give them $100. i remember one time i was coming out of a bank, it was around christmastime. a guy was with the salvation and asked me for money, i go, "i don't have any right now, but i'll be right back." you can imagine what i did. >> now 49 years old, torres started his career as a bank robber when he was only 17. he claims all of his robberies have been nonviolent.
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>> i go in there and basically just passed a note. i never used a gun. basically i would put, "this is a robbery, give me all the 100s, 50s." bottom drawer first. i don't want the money from the top drawer, that's chump change. you want to get where the big money's at. >> torres became known as the mummy bandit, because of how he would cover his face in robberies. he says the man in the latest photos that led to his conviction was an imposter. >> i would put band-aids to hide my identity. band-aids, nothing like the guy in the surveillance picture. where is the mummy bandit? he happens to be on the streets today. okay? he's a scapegoat. it's got to be this guy, he's robbed more banks than anybody on the planet. >> investigators, however, linked torres' dna to the hat worn by the bank robber which led to his conviction.
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now he's hired a new attorney who has filed for retrial. >> there were big-time errors that happened during my trial. and certain evidence was not brought forth that should have been brought forth. my trial attorney passed away from a brain tumor. she had a brain tumor, no wonder she kept forgetting everything i kept telling her. she did fatal mistakes during my trial. coming up -- >> hi, son. >> hello. >> mark gonzalez gets a visit from his mother. and later -- >> i joined the marine corps for her, just trying to get her to be proud of me for once. >> paula rivas' son braces for a visit with his mother. ma melects breaking the bank.
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he'll leave as a convicted felon for participating in the robbery of a medical marijuana deliveryman and presumably with considerably less hair. >> that's me right there, all dreaded up. couldn't see without my glasses. i came in with no shoes and a tank top. oh, yeah. i was pretty stoned, yeah. >> drug use had led to problems for gonzalez before his arrest, as well. >> like seventh, eighth grade, i started smoking a little pot and started doing a lost psychedelics, more than smoking weed. then i got placed into an outpatient rehab facility for the first time. it didn't work, i relapsed. i was losing jobs. i was failing school, and i wasn't doing that well. i barely graduated. >> now three months into his one-year sentence, gonzalez is headed to the visiting room at theo lacy jail facility. his mother, who asked that we not reveal her face, has just
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flown in from his state of minnesota. >> hi, son. >> hello. >> oh, my gosh. this is the first time i've seen with your hair cut. i really like it. >> yeah? >> how was your day today? >> it was all right. it was all right. just sat outside and read a lot. it was really sunny outside. been sitting outside a lot. >> are you still working every day? >> every day. >> well that's a good thing, isn't it? >> yeah, going to work every day and having my time go fast. >> now, have you checked into classes, son? >> no. >> one thing gonzalez and his mother need to settle is exactly where he will fulfill his court-mandated rehab. >> i can go here and do a program here and transfer for free instead of paying. >> transfer where, here? >> from the phoenix house here, and transfer over there to the phoenix house once i get out. they'll pick me up and it's free. >> yeah, well -- >> you would rather have me go to minnesota? >> yeah. you'll have so much more family support. i think that's going to be
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critical to your recovery, son. >> yeah, but it's going to be hard. like we talked about before, with all my friends there. all my friends use pretty much. >> yeah, yeah, they do. yeah, they do. >> it's going to be hard. you know when i switched schools, it's hard for me to get into another group of friends. out here it's going to be a fresh, new start. >> you know what, mark, it's going to be hard wherever you go. >> it will be hard. i don't want to be shoveling for five years. i don't want to be surfing for five years, i would rather lean the other way. >> but you can snowboard. >> i can go snowboard here. >> but i just think that the support is something that is crucial. >> yeah, that's true. i want to choose what's best for me when i get out of here. so far everything's been going well for me in here, just where i've been placed in the house. when i feed, i don't know if i told you, when i feed the mods, it's totally different seeing -- people are locked up in a
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totally different way than i am, you know. >> that's what you said. >> it made me be so thankful for where i am, you know? i would probably never be in the mods, the mods is like way inside. like no sunlight, two-man cell. you're in a cell -- >> really? >> like they lock the door on you. >> that's where you see i guess the serious inmates, i would imagine. >> it's a whole different world, yeah. it's a whole different world. >> are they close to you? that's somewhat disturbing. you can't hear me? >> when their 45 minutes is up, their intercom is cut off. and gonzalez's time with his mother comes to an abrupt end. >> i love you. i'll see you tomorrow. i'll see you tomorrow. >> so how did it go?
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>> it was all right. it was really good to see her. i haven't seen her in a while or really heard her voice. at first she seemed really just kind of worried and really sad. but she's really strong, so she picked herself up. it was really good to talk to her and see her. soon i'll see the rest of my family, and everything will be going by fast. soon i'll be out of here. she's probably feeling pretty down right now. she's -- you know, we get cut off. dead silent. i can't do sign language or nothing, can't write no notes. don't want to get in trouble. she's probably pretty sad she has to go back all alone. but i'll see her tomorrow. i miss her a lot. we used to do so much together. now she's visiting me in jail. that's part of our journey together, still continuing what we do. it's not going to hold us back. it's not going to change anything at all. coming up -- ♪ i'm in orange county going down south ♪ ♪ there's no place i can stay
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>> the mummy bandit sings the blues and works on his autobiography. >> i got a couple guys looking at it, that they say it's a page turner. >> mark gonzalez runs into bad trouble. >> it's bad, yeah. have given way to sleeping. where sleepless nights yield to restful sleep. and lunesta can help you get there, like it has for so many people before. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities while asleep, without remembering it the next day, have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks. allergic reactions, such as tongue or throat swelling, occur rarely and may be fatal. side effects may include unpleasant taste, headache, dizziness and morning drowsiness. ask your doctor if lunesta is right for you.
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hello, everyone. hope you had a great thanksgiving. here's what's happening. the holiday shopping season is officially under way. toys "r" us, walmart, target and best buy have already opened nar doors to black friday shoppers. and industry experts predict more than 150 million people will shop this weekend, up 10% from last year. and chicago is mourning the loss of its first lady maggie daly. she i doed last night at the age of 68, nine years after being diagnosed with breast cancer. now back to "lockup."
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♪ ♪ i'm in orange county ♪ i'm ordinary i'm wanted down south and there's no place i can stay ♪ ♪ down in el paso so i gotta lay low ♪ ♪ i wipe my tracks and get away to mexico because i'm wanted ♪ ♪ america's most wanted man yes i am ♪ ♪ and if you see me coming baby i'm on the lamm ♪ >> jimmy torres has plenty of reason to sing the blues. he spent 11 years in a penitentiary and is in prison for a robbery he claims he didn't commit. ♪ say you see me coming baby ♪ i be on the lamm and the crowd went wild.
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that was "america's most wanted man." >> way to go! >> thanks. that's the crowd. unfortunately they're a captured audience. >> torres used to sing in a band on the outside, but he's probably known for being a prolific bank robber. now he's pursuing a literary career, working on his autobiography. >> yeah, "the bank robber blues: the tales of the mummy bandit." it's pretty good. i got a couple guys here, i let them read it. they're kind of my critics. they say it's a page turner, you know. it keeps the reader interested. it doesn't take a genius to figure out how to write one and lay it down. they can do it, i can do it. i'm working on it. i'm just getting warmed up. i got a lot more to go. i'm like in 1985 right now. >> for now, torres puts his book aside to help out a cellmate, ryan abbey.
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>> basically what you want to tell them is that you need help, okay? >> yeah. >> you got a problem. we both know that. >> yeah. >> you told me -- i read the police reports. >> abbey was convinced his last arrest would send him to prison. but the judge has allowed him the option of entering an alcohol treatment program. now he just has to be accepted by one. >> 38 years old, male. theo lacy, alcoholic. >> definitely. >> i'd like to be accepted to your program. if i could be accepted to your program, the judge recently aloud me to go to rehabilitation. >> yeah, don't write it in ancient scriptures. that's what it looks like, dude. the writing's a little -- >> messy. >> yeah, a little messy. >> be thankful for a second chance. >> it looks like he's using ancient scripture to -- >> a chance to change my life. to get into the steps of alcoholism. >> while things are looking up for abbey, mark gonzalez has had
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a big setback. one likely to disappoint his mother. >> said don't get into any trouble, don't do anything bad. >> shortly after his mother's return to minnesota, gonzalez was given a new job. he was moved from laundry detail to helping the jail's intake unit. >> inmate gonzalez was a trusty worker, as we call it. when an inmate gets booked in, inmate gonzalez would take his property and put it in different carts and bins. he had access to inmate property, and he stole a cell phone and transported it back to his dorm. >> gonzalez says one of his co-workers stole the phone. >> he stole the cell phone from one of the property bags. it was in the big thing of clothes, and i put it in the bag while i was moving other stuff that we needed to bring back. i got in trouble for bringing it back. >> either way, inmates are prohibited from having cell phones because they're considered a serious security threat. >> to have access to a phone at pretty much any time where you can contact someone on the
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street to authorize a hit or you can contact someone on the street to try to facilitate bringing drugs into the system, it becomes a major issue. especially if it gets in the hands of those who are more sophisticated. >> the violation not only causes gonzalez his job but his place in the workers' barracks. probably the most desirable unit in the entire jail system. he's been transferred three miles away to the county's central jail facility. >> he was moved out of the trustee barracks to a more secure dorm, c-12, at the main jail. >> this place sucks. being locked up behind these bars is a whole new -- whole new lifestyle. hearing the door open and clink and the keys and the slamming. it's -- it's brighter here, it's musty, and -- it's a lot worse. people come and go. it's easy to catch stuff. it's dirty. it's a little bit more dangerous in here because people are
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fighting different cases. i was locked up -- i was with people drunk driving and that type of stuff. not really hard stuff. not here, here people are -- they're doing life. people can snap easily. there's a lot of small tempers and fights over small stuff like soap and the tv. that's why i stay in my rack and do my time. keep my head down for real this time. not get caught up in any trouble. coming up, a tearful promise from a mother to put her marine son before drugs. >> i don't want to miss any more time with you. i want you to come home next time and i want to be home with you. an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement, available only with liberty mutual auto insurance,
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paula rivas gets rec time at the orange county jail in california, she usually spends it alone, punching a basketball.
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>> i'm a fighter. i use my fists, you know. i used to go to the boxing gym out there. you have to be solid as a rock in here, you know. nobody wants to see nobody cry in here. it's the first thing we tell them, don't cry. don't shed a tear. man up. >> face the glass. hands. >> it's been very hard for me to man up. >> rivas has spent most of the last ten years locked up on various drug-related charges. this time it's different. while she's here, her son lorenzo has been serving as a marine in afghanistan. >> i don't want him to be hurt or injured in any way, you know. he's seen a lot. i know he has. he's lost a few friends. i know that. >> today, lorenzo is not only safe but home from his deployment. he has just arrived with his grandmother for a visit.
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>> i haven't seen her in about nine months. to see my mom in jail, it's really hard on me. seems like she's always gone when i need her the most. and me being over there in afghanistan and my mom being here, it's one of the worst feelings ever. she hasn't always been there for me. it's a void in my life. i did get one letter from her, and i was really surprised. i must have read it 10, 15 times. like she told me she was proud of me. my whole life, i always tried to make her pride. i always tried my best in sports, looking my best, dressing nice. i joined the marine corps for her, just trying to get her to be proud of me once. me thinking she would stay out of trouble if she was proud of her son, you know, and not go back to jail so many times. just for me once. seems that she always goes back to her life. she chooses her life over me. that's always been the hardest part. >> i love you, baby.
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i love you so much. >> i love you, too, mom. >> sit down. how are you? >> i'm good. how are you? >> good. i love seeing you. i worry about you. i'm sorry i'm not there. >> it's okay. >> when are you going overseas again? >> i don't know yet. >> you don't know? >> huh-uh. >> i see on the news all the time things that are happening over there, and you see the newspapers and stuff. and i worry about you so much. >> i'm fine. >> i'm almost out of here, and i'm going to go to a program, a tough one. which i need structure. >> uh-huh. >> i'll be home after that. after the program, you know. i'll get a job. i'll go to sober living and get a job and do what i have to do
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to do things right, stop messing around. >> yeah. >> i'm tired of this life. i'm tired. >> i'm tired of it, too. >> i know you are. i know you're tired of it. this is it. i don't want to miss any more time with you. i want you to come home next time, and i want to be home. i promise you, i'm not going to break it this time. you're the best thing i've ever done. you are. you didn't follow in my footsteps which is good. i'm proud of you. so proud. i'm so proud that you're my son. >> i miss you, mom. >> i miss you, too. >> i miss you. >> i miss -- i want to hug you. and i want to hold you and tell you that it's going to be all right, you know. that i'm going to be okay. i don't want to miss any more of your life, son. i just want you to know this is
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going to be the last time you see me in this place. i've got the best of a son to go home to, i know. i'm so grateful. i feel like a load has been lifted off my chest, seeing him okay. >> i feel a lot better now, seeing my mom. it made me feel great that she told me she was proud of me. it just makes me feel like accomplished. she tells me she feels proud of he had. i can never hear it enough from her. she wants to prove it to me. make me believe this will be the last time coming to see her. she promised she'll be a mother to me. >> my son needs to be my number-one priority right now. not me. my priority was always me, selfish. he's my priority from now on. i needed to tell him that, you know? i'm not just going to tell him, i'm going to do it. i'm going to show him. this is the beginning of a new life.
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a better life for me and him. >> hey! ♪ no no no no ♪ i'm an emcee murderer ♪ going down tonight ♪ i'm the most hated but never faded ♪ >> things are looking up for mark gonzalez, as well. >> this here spades, this is a jail game. like jail, like anybody who knows how to play spades has been to jail or just an old man. >> i was going to say, my mom taught me. she's never been to jail. >> my mom taught me, too. mom and pops. >> though he is now in a more restricted housing unit with inmates accused of more serious crimes, he's made some new friends. >> like me, i'm j-dizzle. that's my body guard right there.
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that's my body guard right there. >> that's whacky chan. whacky chan. ♪ >> damn man, [ bleep ]. ♪ it feels like i can't afford it ♪ ♪ got my man dancing in the background ♪ ♪ we get around in your town ♪ i'm from atlantis >> while gonzalez has made the most of his time at the central jail, few things in jail last forever. a couple of days later, he was transferred back to the theo lacy jail. he's been assigned to a cell in one of the mods, the very place he wanted to avoid. >> i would probably never be in the mods. the mods is way inside, like no sunlight, two-man cell. you're in a cell. >> really? >> like they lock the door on
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you. >> so that's where you see, i guess, the real serious -- see, that's somewhat disturbing. >> i don't know why they brought me over here. i liked it better over there. >> does your mom know you moved over here? >> yeah, i talked to her. she got right on the phone with my lawyer. i talked to her again and she said there's nothing they can really do. >> on the bright side, gonzalez says his cellmate is hoping him adjust to the change. >> he's a good guy. right away we connected. which is really good, especially if you're doing time together. i want to learn, and he's getting me more into god and jesus. got me a bible and we do bible study every day. >> have you accepted jesus christ as your lord and personal savior? >> yep. when i first started coming here, i decided to let him fully in my life. and got rid of all my sins and blessed him for everything that i've done and what i have to become. >> that's the first part, you accept it. now it's your time to grow. let him work through you and
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change you to become the person that he wants you to be. coming up -- mark gonzalez makes a surprising discovery about his new cellmate. >> when i first found out, it kind of took me offguard. i was like, whoa, okay. >> and a judge decides if paula rivas can leave jail. smal l bu sinesses are the smal lifeblood of our communities. on november 26th you can make a huge impact by shopping small on small business saturday. one purchase. one purchase is all it takes. so, pick your favorite local business... and join the movement.
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jimmy torres is no stranger to the orange county jail, but even though he claims to be one of the nation's most prolific bank robbers, he says this time he's not guilty. and a judge has decided torres will get a second chance to prove his innocence. he's been granted a retrial of his most recent bank robbery conviction. >> it's going to be a new trial now, and everything's going to come out. the truth is going to come out. >> torres' cellmate ryan abbey also got good news at a court hearing.
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he was accepted into a rehab program and a few weeks into it has written to torres about life outside the orange county jail. >> i received two letters from ryan since he's been gone. he goes, hey, jimmy, what's up, buddy? did some research on the "mummy bandit" thing for me. he says there's "mummy bandits" all over the place, like a mummy nation. he mentions that sobriety is great. people are good at the house. he says he's going to help me with this project we have going on. we're going to make t-shirts, free the mummy bandit. itwasntme.com is going to be the name of the web site. and he also says, keep positive. you'll win your case. let me know when your next court date is. >> mark gonzalez is adjusting not only to a new cellmate but a new cell where he's confined most of the day. he even eats meals in a cell. it's not that he's paranoid about the food, but he is
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cautious. >> i'm washing my meal. this is what i call boo-boo meat. the nastiest smelliest meat ever. he likes it, but i think it's nasty so i wash it off, you know. like a little rinse dry i got going, you know. that's just me. if i'm going to eat this meat, i'm going to try to eat it right, you know. i just -- that's just me. that's just me. some people like to eat it, but i see a lot of people washing their meat off. it's just -- the water turns -- it turns all musty brown. >> stupid. >> gonzalez has been getting along with his new cellmate, alvin lovely. then he learned that lovely was in jail awaiting trial on a murder charge. >> when i first found out about his charges, it took me offguard. i was like, whoa, okay. i started thinking of new ways, how to play it off. i've got to be calm around this person. i shouldn't be talking much about this or this. i don't want to set off certain triggers that could make him
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mad. i'm with somebody getting charged with murder. i'm not calling him a murderer, but he's been there, done that. i don't want to know. try to keep that from my mom, too. being with someone who's for murder. that helps her a lot. you know, doesn't know, doesn't hurt in this situation. >> while gonzalez's mother might be concerned if she knew about her son's living situation, she can take comfort in knowing that the orange county jail might have realigned his priorities. >> in my mug shot picture, i stuck my tongue out. it was a joke to me, totally. spending 11 months. i learned how to become a man physically, mentally. then to have to go to rehab right after i get out, that's a big eye opener for me. i'll never come back. i experienced all the things my family had to go to, all the money that's been spent. i never want to do this ever again. i got my little calendar on the wall.
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it says 22 pancakes left. every saturday we get pancakes. i have 22 left. i mark it down every time. today is the 22nd. 22 pancakes left. >> paula rivas is hoping she'll never eat another pancake at the orange county jail either. she's headed to court and hopes that a new plea bargain will soon set her free. >> my public defender told me that everything is okay. but i could always go to court and maybe them not give me all the credit because i have two open cases. and one's supposed to run concurrent with the other. but there's always that chance that it might not. i've seen it many times from girls, they're positive that they're going to go in and get their credit time. then they come back devastated because their time didn't run concurrent fully. if that happens, basically i'll -- i'll end up going upstate for like 10 months. there's always that slim chance. >> all right, defendant's ready
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for sentencing, correct? >> yes, your honor. >> are you sentenced for a period of three years. you have a credit of 550 actual, 550 good time, work time. the total of 1,100. you've done your time. you're not going to be transported to state prison. you have credit for time served. it's been a long time coming. you know that. and i have a sense you're going to do it well. the problem is, you have no choice, you have to do it well. with your history, your priors, if you don't do well, you're going to wind up back in prison again. you have a son in the marine corps, pretty proud, huh? point is, they can't do it for you -- i know you're motivated. this, believe it or not, is actually the easy part. the hard part is tonight when you get out and you've been in custody for so long. our court wishes you well. good luck. >> the judge's ruling is good news for rivas.
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he's decided that due to the time she's already served in orange county, she can transfer to a drug rehabilitation program rather than prison. >> i remember when it wasn't this way, right? >> yep. with all my priors, i've always went upstate. so there's something different for me, something new. and for me, it's the last time i'm going to come here. i'm out of here, bunky. yes, ma'am. yes, ma'am. >> yes. [ applause ] >> thank you. good-bye. i'm out. as soon as i touched down downstairs, i'll call the program, do what i have to do for myself and my family. my son. [ cheers ]

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