due to mature subject matter, viewer discretion is advised. >> i done fought, stabbed people in prison. i done orchestrated riots. >> right now i believe michael bates is our highest ranking member in the jail. >> a gang leader has his authority challenged by another inmate. >> one of my pups had a complaint against this gentleman here. yeah. said that he was not living right. >> the questions arise over whether the challenger is who says he is. >> still under investigation.

if he's not who he says he is he is going to get one. >> and in the women's wing. >> you come across very aggressive when you talk because you're loud. >> one inmate's personality divides her housing unit. >> she's funny as hell. >> and before long -- >> what you say? >> verbal altercations turn violent. >> i'm done. i'm sorry i came here. >> it's only 12 miles from midtown manhattan. hackensack, new jersey feels like another world. it's the largest city in bergen county, which is ranked as one

of the most prosperous regions in the nation. just outside downtown hackensack is the bergen county jail. most of the nearly 900 inmates here are accused of crimes and are awaiting trial at the resolution of their cases. the majority of them are from somewhere else. many say bergen county is better than other jails. >> sit and play chess all day. no problems. free tvs. >> the country club reference goes back as long as i've been here, so i look at it as a compliment. country club is a professional, well organized, strict rules and regulations, cleaner. i look at that as bergen county jail. some of the hardened criminals like the dirty, dingy kind of jail and won't find it here. >> right here in bergen county jail, there are good, good people.

just straight up real. >> with seven prior stays, enrique cruz qualifies as the jail's unofficial tour guide. >> spanish harlem over this [ bleep ] except for the white boy in the back. he down with them. he cool, dude. that's spanish harlem. you got up town over here. [ bleep ] up town [ bleep ]. sit down, man. stay still. >> over a period of 26 years cruz has spent time not only in bergen county but several other new jersey jails and prisons for dozens of convictions. they include assault, distribution of drugs, burglary, illegal possession of fire arms, criminal sexual contact, and endangering the welfare of a child. >> so y'all came in here last week you would have saw me over in that corner smoking my weed [ bleep ] but you came this week. i ain't got no more. you know? >> cruz is now back on a charge of drug possession with intent to distribute in a school zone.

he has pled not guilty and is awaiting trial. >> one thing i am, i'm like picasso with these things. i will dress [ bleep ] and it's up real good. if you give me a blade, or a burner, i make a masterpiece. there is nothing -- i bow down to no man. understand? that's officers, inmates, whatever you want to call them. dogs. >> the lieutenant, who has a long history with cruz, can verify that over the years he was indeed a fighter. >> enrique cruz and i go back about 20 years. he was in when this place was a little bit of a rough place, rougher place than it is now. didn't lose any fights that i know of. and most of the fights that he did wind up fighting were with people as big or bigger than him. >> during one of his earliest days here, cruz got into a fight

that both he and the lieutenant still recall. >> everybody feared this man. he was a giant. i think he stood like 6'5", 6'6". >> mr. cruz won the fight. he did a lot of damage to the other person. >> banged his head against the bed frames and stuck my hands in his mouth and tried to rip his [ bleep ] mouth off, you know, but he ended up bleeding bad and then the police came upon us here and they -- except that one lieutenant. >> he threatened to bring out half our staff. he said i could bring 20 people in there and ten are going to the hospital. my boss just let me keep continuing to talk to him until we got him settled down. >> just i have to go to the hole. he's like you got to go to the hole. okay. but no handcuffs i basically wound up taking him down to the hole myself and we've had open rapport and communication since then.

>> now as he has gotten older he doesn't do that quite like he used to so now he uses his ability to talk and his stature to kind of make a presence in the facility. >> cruz says he is a proud member of the jail's largest gang, the united blood nation. >> i'm blood. 100%. i'm b9 the minister over the state. i pray with you or pray over you. anyone denounce who i am, speak now. >> he claims to have been a blood for upwards of 20 some odd years. his name used to hold a lot of weight in the jail. as of right now i don't know if it still does. >> since cruz's younger days the bloods have formed dozens of subsets, even causing confusion among themselves about who's who. in cruz's case, some of the younger members either don't know him or don't respect him. >> i don't like him. >> my man right here, sam fran. >> he's one that thinks he's better than blood. he's one that wants things his

way or no way. >> this is my man right here. real [ bleep ]. >> is he a minister? >> is he a minister? >> of defense? >> that's not even a position. minister of defense. he thinks he's a [ bleep ] black panther or something. not going to take him seriously. >> now we're going into little italy right here. >> he was running around this gym claiming a position that doesn't even exist so instead of being abusive and having him touched we'll just let him be. you know, just be by yourself because he's definitely not a part of my team. >> while many of the 800 male inmates stay tight lipped it's another story among the 50 or so women in the story. >> do you want your blanket and your sheets? >> i don't want nothing. >> you got it. you got it. >> just dramatic all together. being locked up, confined to a small unit, dealing with all the different personalities, females i guess by nature are confrontational sometimes.

>> i'm not mad at you. i'm just telling you that's the way it is. >> everybody is dealing with different situations, emotions are flying. they're petty and this is how they release their anger. >> you are your own racist. some people think they -- >> kills me over here. >> while officers have grown used to seemingly petty conflicts in the female housing units. >> lieutenant, can i talk to you, please? >> some veterans on staff say lately it's been worse than ever. >> it's never been like that. never. in seven and a half years we've never had the conflict, going to the door saying what are you arguing about now? she looked at me. she touched me. >> you guys all need to understand something. every one of you is pushing this beyond where it needs to go. i'm not going to deal with it. i'm not. recently we've had a number of different personalities inside the female wing. it's just been a lot of type a personalities clashing in the mix and causing a lot of

problems inside the unit. >> one of the most prominent among those personalities is shontera jennings. >> i'm outspoken and i speak my mind. i'm a little loud at times. they look at me as a trouble maker. another inmate feels i shouldn't be in the unit because they are intimidated. has nothing to do with me because i'm not intimidating them but just because they're intimidated because they're not real, to me the inmates run the jail. so why can't i be a sergeant? >> ms. jennings and i go back several years. her flamboyant personality tends to draw attention from staff and her and i had several interactions as a result of her loud nature, let's say. >> i know. >> what did i tell you was going to cause you to get in trouble? >> my mouth. >> and what got you in trouble? >> my outspokenness. my mouth. >> okay.

you list it as outspokenness. you come across very aggressive when you talk 'cuz you're loud. >> jennings is charged with identity theft, wrongful impersonation, and driving without a license. she has pled not guilty and is awaiting trial. but she has had several prior convictions for identity theft and credit card fraud which resulted in two prison terms. >> it's more like a hobby, credit card fraud. when you work you have to find something you like doing. you can't just pick any job because then you're not going to stay there. plus i can't work for minimum wage. it's not enough money. >> it seems most inmates who know her have an opinion about jennings. some appreciate her big personality. >> she's funny. she is funny as [ bleep ]. >> all i did -- she makes the day goes better. she makes us laugh. she jokes around. she plays. she is really a nice person. >> others could live without her. >> people gravitated to her like she was like the next coming and she's like the worst, you know,

next to satan's spawn. >> she is just loud and obnoxious. >> i thought i was your best inmate. >> she's ugly. >> i'm done. i'm sorry i came here. >> coming up shontera jennings finds herself in the middle of a fracas. >> one of my pups had a complaint against this gentleman here. said that he was not living right. >> enrique cruz confronts a member of the bloods, but has he gone too far?

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in the city's bergen county jail about 15% of the inmates are gang affiliated. while most are divided among racial lines, the dominant gang here has found strength in diversity. >> the predominant gang inside bergen county jail is united blood nation. they recruit anybody. they believe in numbers. it's a numbers game for them. there could be bloods from different ethnic backgrounds, black, white, hispanic. when i worked in the state prison system system i actually had a blood gang member who was a hindu. their willingness to accept anybody into their gang is what makes them the most dangerous. because we don't know where they're coming from. >> sometimes blood members don't even know each other. one blood everyone seems to know is michael bates, who has just met with his attorney, and is not pleased with what he has learned. >> i got to go to trial now. >> why? >> they're throwing double digit figures at me. i don't want it. i'm not taking it. if i got to do some time they

got to give it to me. i'm not pleading guilty to nothing. >> bates has pled not guilty to multiple charges of weapons possession and aggravated assault. he had hoped to reach a plea deal for a sentence of five years, but the prosecution had a harsher sentence in mind. >> 15 and three years running consecutive. i'd have to do 15 then when i finish the 15 start the three years. >> so 18 years? >> it would take -- >> bates will now take the case to trial. in the meantime, he'll remain in the bergen county jail where he holds a distinct status. >> i do believe michael bates is our highest ranking blood member in the jail. >> michael bates definitely is the real deal. he can throw his weight around here. >> i hold a high rank now, which is called og, original gangster. i done fought. i done stabbed people in prison. i done orchestrated riots.

i been in every prison in the state of new jersey except the southern state so everybody knows me. my word is gold to them because they seen me action. they don't just hear my audio. they seen my video. they know if i say something it's law. all i got to do is send an order and it's going to be carried out. whether i want somebody poked up or i want somebody stabbed, it's going to get done. >> recently, the self-proclaimed minister of defense of the bloods was transferred into the same housing unit as bates. enrique cruz says he came on his own volition. >> i walk around this [ bleep ] and do as i please, eat when i want to [ bleep ] go bust my cell, leave when i want to. >> mr. cruz likes to think he can dictate where he goes and how he moves in this building, but we move him around a lot so he kind of gets the idea that he can pick and choose where he goes, which is not the case. >> cruz says that he came to the

unit on assignment to investigate bates and has no problem saying so right in front of bates. >> one of my pups had a complaint against this gentleman here. yeah. said that he was not living right. so i came here to speak to the pups' og. after speaking with him and confirming that other individual is a liar, now i must go. tonight i will be gone. that's all it is. it's a status. hopefully going to a minimum tier. stay out of trouble. keep my nose clean. and i'll get out of here sooner than later. but yeah. this is a surprise to you, right? he didn't even know this. but, see, everything, everybody, i'm sent to higher ranks. let me tell you, you know who it was who sent me right? >> yeah, yeah. most definitely. >> now that you know, i spoke to his og. he was in the clear, but everything, see, i'm a hands on type of individual. although i can point my finger and have someone murdered, i

don't. >> i never heard of him before. never heard of him. now i'll make the necessary phone calls and get the necessary contact i got to make and i'm going to see about this guy. see what's up. to me in my heart and my mind i know i feel he's nobody but i can't just go with what i feel. i still have to do my home work. i still got to do a proper investigation. if he's not who he says he is, he's going to get dealt with. >> while bates has chosen patience over action, a fight has been reported in another part of the jail. >> the officers rush to the scene. >> i don't want to hear it. >> kiss my [ bleep ] fanny. >> staff quickly learn shontera jennings is at the center of the disturbance.

>> [ bleep ] i ain't doing -- shut up. both hands on the wall. face the wall. >> i personally never had to deal with shontera until her most recent time in. her name would always come up as being a problem in the unit, causing problems or whatever. >> officers separate the inmates in order to interview them. but they know from experience sorting out what happened won't be easy. >> the situation with the drier, the situation with the washing machine where monica let somebody go first and she was next. >> i'm not yelling at you. right? i asked you a question. no, no. >> she said well [ bleep ] i'm feeling it. >> who's camille? >> bundy. camille bundy. >> all right. all right. >> at one point i had a problem with a young girl who was stealing from me and stuff like that. >> now hold on. >> camille is already saying stuff. so i moved to another table.

>> after much back and forth, officers have concluded that the incident began when jennings started gossiping about another inmate's charges. >> this is the deal. you're staying here to stay out of their hair for four hours. you going back, four hours, no issues. doors open up tomorrow at 7:00. first issue, from anybody, the whole tier is going to get locked in for a week and then i'm just going to start pressing charges on everybody. >> i get four hours lockup and i didn't even do anything but have a conversation, like just because i am considered the ring leader, so put jennings in lock. >> coming up -- >> i want to get out. with every ounce in my body, i'm done. >> michael bates has second thoughts on gang life. then the war of words in the women's wing turns violent. that's why i've conducted this comprehensive analysis, comparing my prices to my competitors',

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doing time behind the walls of the bergen county jail in hackensack, new jersey is the last place michael bates wanted to be today.

not only did he recently complete a nine-year prison sentence for involuntary manslaughter, he's now awaiting trial on two new counts of aggravated assault. if that's not bad enough, today is his birthday and all he has is a gift from another inmate. >> he told me happy birthday and gave me toilet tissue with my name on it and gave me some of these. >> having served time before, bates knows this is no random collection of items. they're to make a device known in jail as a fifi. >> you could get a towel or whatever and you roll this up. you roll the towel up real tight and you take the glove and you stuff them inside the towel. then you take vaseline and you throw the vaseline in between the towel, the gloves, and it's called a fifi. and --. >> bates says he has more important concerns on his mind.

he has a 12-year-old son that he has missed out on raising due to the years he spent behind bars. >> i'm supposed to show him exactly what he is supposed to do, ain't supposed to do, right from wrong, to be there as a plan and father to do that. when i was 12 i was smoking weed and cigarettes and having sex. that was back then. now it's more, the world is more advanced now. so i can imagine the positions he put in right now. >> can you imagine if your son ends up like you? >> i don't even want to think about that. i hope not. absolutely not. >> bates knows if he wants to be a positive role model to his son, he must reconsider his 13-year-old membership in the united blood nation. >> i want to get out, with every ounce in my body i'm done. i have nothing left. everything is gone. so what more could they want from me? >> but leaving the bloods is not easy. >> it's real hard. you got to know people whon people up there high in rank. where you can go to them and you can plead your story.

you may get blessed out and you may not. i'm not going to say tomorrow i'm not going to be a blood or next year i won't be a blood. who knows? but i know what i want for myself. i just don't know when it's going to happen. >> and right now bates can't take any risks. another member of the bloods with a reputation for violence, enrique cruz, recently transferred to bates' unit and says he was looking into rumors about bates' loyalty. >> come on in. >> and now he's just invited himself into bates' cell. >> i've been in this jail here so anybody who's blood is part of my soul, is going to come across my desk if they're doing something wrong. the paperwork is going to come to me. >> he's a minister of new jersey and all this. got to come across his desk. what desk? what's got to come across -- who are you? >> damn, i like this cell, this view. this is what i like. >> bates says he's playing it

cool until he has accurate information on who cruz really is. >> i think he's retarded, kind of slow. i think something is wrong with him. something is wrong with this guy. >> all day, blood like that, five, all day. recognize real when you see real. you know? ain't nothing hidden about this. this is straight blood love. you know what i mean? this is what i do. >> he's going to get dealt with either here or when he goes down to prison somewhere he's going to get dealt with. >> coming up -- >> i'll break his face plate. i'll stomp a hole in him. >> enrique cruz has a change of heart about michael bates. the women take it up a notch. @ñ

behind the walls of hackensack's bergen county jail, tensions continue to rise in one of the female housing units. >> we only have about 45 to 50 women in the female wing right now. usually even with more women in there it's a lot quieter than it has been. this particular group just does not mix well. >> officers continue to monitor the group to figure out which inmates fuel the conflicts. >> one of them who is the loudest person in there, she was removed yesterday after an investigation where multiple

people have said she was the common denominator. >> that inmate is shontera jennings. shortly after she was released from a four-hour stay in the neighboring segregation unit, she is back in for disruptive conduct. >> i don't know. they target me because i'm the loudest. i talk back to the staff. they look for a way to keep me locked in here. >> back on her former housing unit the conflict rages on two new fronts. martina bush files complaints to staff that led to jennings' expulsion. dudley denied the allegations. >> she stole the gel! she stole it! >> step outside for a mint so i can talk to you. >> shontera's nice. she is funny as hell. even though she be wrong sometimes that was wrong what you all did. >> take a breath now. relax.

>> back up. back up. >> now bush directs her rage at harley rooney, accusing her of snitching on jennings as well. >> that was wrong because nobody ever said they was going to do nothing to either one of you all. you want to go home. >> you don't know what the [ bleep ]. >> let them go. >> aur [ bleep ] scared of shontera. >> they did tell on her. and they did steal from her. shontera's a good person. i'll sit down. >> bush is moved to the segregation unit just a few doors down from jennings until she calms down. >> did i start that too? >> yeah, you did. >> but now rooney is in an argument with another inmate. chelsea carpontier. >> what do you say [ bleep ]? >> i didn't. >> [ bleep ].

>> right now. that's it. >> the officers order all inmates back into their cells. carpontier and rooney are removed from the unit and taken to segregation. >> i had a broken nail. >> that's it? >> yeah. >> what are you guys talking about? >> a new girl was saying a few of us wrote a statement on another female to get her removed. it's false. they asked her questions. we answered the questions. she was the source of all the problems so they removed her. chelsea came out of her room from upstairs and started talking so i told her to come down and say it to me.

she came to the top of the stairs so i decided to meet her up there and she just kept getting in my face and she shoved me. >> the whole unit got in everybody's business. just stupid, petty drama. >> both women will receive several days in segregation for fighting. tensions continue to rise in another unit as well. enrique cruz says he came to s 4 on his own free will in order to investigate the alleged misdoings of fellow blood member michael bates. >> i was sent here. after speaking with him and confirming that that other individual is a liar, now i must go. tonight i will be gone. >> a couple days later, though cruz often boasts that he controls his housing assignments his transfer is actually prompted by a plea agreement on his drug charge. >> he came back from court. his maximum security status was

changed based on his sentence, so he went to medium. he is going to be transferred there tonight. >> thank you. i appreciate that. >> cruz's plea deal will result in a maximum of four years in prison on his charge of drug possession with intent to distribute in a school zone. his final sentence will be issued in an upcoming hearing, but for now, cruz is busy making his presence known in his new unit. >> yeah, yeah. what's up, old-timer? how you doing? all right. what's up with you? >> three days later, things seem anything but good between him and michael bates, who has just heard from other blood members that cruz has issued a threat against him. >> he's saying, yeah. he's going to find -- if you felt this way why are you even coming up here? he was up here with me for days but he never showed no type of aggression toward me. now when he move off the tier he's saying going to do this, do that.

a kite was sent to me, that he is a snitch out of new york. he's got a couple guys who are on a trial and he's turned state and is snitching on them guys. if this was true you think i'd be sitting here today with 12, 13 bloods around me? two crips? not at all. i don't care how big you are, how tough you are or not. you get dealt with. everybody is expendable. i could be walking and get stabbed today. i don't sleep on nobody. i take nothing for granted. my right hand on a stack of bibles to my kid that's false. hopefully i'll pass him in the hallway. if i have to sacrifice myself, i will. but he won't make it to that trial. and if he do, his mouth will be wired shut where he can't say nothing. they probably have to put wires on the inside and outside of his mouth. i'll break his face plate and i'll stomp a hole in him. i'm going to try to hurt him.

it's hard for me to kill him so i'll try to hurt him to the best of my ability. >> coming up enrique cruz lets his fists do his talking. >> just one hit. he was all over the place. couldn't stand up. >> but the results may not be what he claims they were. >> there's been enough [ bleep ] going on in this unit for the past week or so. i am tired of it. >> lieutenant acakios lays down the law.

staff at the bergen county jail have grown used to the bickering among female inmates. it's less common for shouting to turn violent. according to some the cause of this recent fight had to do with differing opinions of another inmate, shontera jennings, who

is currently in segregation for disruptive conduct on the unit. the jail's disciplinary committee has met to determine the length of jennings' stay in segregation. lieutenant acakios will now deliver the news. >> i think she kind of knows she is going to get sanctioned. i think the length of the sanction is what will maybe throw her off a little bit. the panel found you guilty of all charges. with a 30-day sanction. okay? so air going to be in lock for 30 days. i bought your appeal form. you can file that and send to captain davies. >> i can have my legal form, my legal paperwork? they took that. they said i couldn't have it as long as i'm here. >> legal paperwork? >> yes. >> i'll review it. actually i will have the sergeant review it with the staff and make sure you get everything you're supposed to have. >> okay. thank you. >> okay. i anticipated her to react a little differently. however, she took it rather well. any and all privileges are

suspended for the length of the stay. she'll be locked in 23 hours a day. she'll come out for one. for, you know, basic needs, necessities, shower, stuff like that. all right, ladies. my next step is to enter the housing unit which all the nonsense took place in and i'm going to address them as a group. now i'm only going to talk about this once. i'm not going to keep talking about this. some of you don't even know who i am and that's fine but there's been enough horse [ bleep ] going on in this unit for the past week or so i am tired of it. this is not to be tolerate onondaga any level. stealing, fighting, arguing, name calling, this is not high school or junior high school, ladies. okay? this kind of [ bleep ] keeps going on, you guys will all be placed in lockup. i don't care who did what who didn't do what. i'm not going to listen to any stories. i'm not going to deal with anything that says who did what and people pointing fingers at each other. am i clear? all right, ladies. thank you for your attention.

>> thank you. >> i hate you. >> just when all appears quiet and under control -- an outburst is heard from the neighboring segregation unit. >> she's screaming. >> oh, my. >> 3 years old. >> i wouldn't care if i did something but they're lying. they're lying. >> bring it down. bring it down. you got to bring it down. you have to bring it down. the only way i'm going to stay here and talk to you is you bring it down. i'm not going to let you yell at me. ultimately the reaction i was expecting when we gave her the results of her hearing is what we got. you know, i expected her to start ranting and raving. what's the issue? >> i want to be able to call my lawyer. >> you will have the opportunity to contact your lawyer. okay?

>> it's not fair. >> but you need -- what you need --. shontera, shontera, look. look at me. look. okay? when you look at me i know you're listening. if you're not looking at me i'm not sure you're listening to me. okay? you and i know each other a long time, right? right? yes or no? >> yes. >> okay. all right. have i always treated you fairly? >> yes. >> all right. >> i don't think it's fair, though. i really don't think it's fair. they was just arguing. i don't understand it. >> their situation is a little different. >> how is that though? >> listen. i don't have to explain that to you. >> it's not fair. >> there are a lot of things in

this world that aren't fair. okay? fill out your grievance paperwork. get it to the staff by the end of the day. i'll make sure it winds up on captain davie's desk. okay? >> all right. >> i think she'll settle down. she'll get everything she is supposed to have. she has rights to legal phone calls. those will be given to her. she can submit a grievance or appeal of her sanction to captain davies which is what i instructed her to do. explain to him why she felt the sanctions were unfair. she'll be given her due process in that way. i'm telling you, shontera, no sitting here screaming and yelling at the door because that's all you're doing. you're screaming and yelling at the door. you're wasting a lot of energy for nothing and you're going to get yourself in more trouble. >> in the men's medium security unit, it's chow time and one of the new inmates enrique cruz

says he has informed the inmate food service that he is now in charge of distribution. >> basically they got three guys who runs the wagon but they won't move nothing unless i let them move something like they want to pass out the extra trays, i tell them who to pass the extra tase to. now everybody understands it's my way or no way. >> enrique cruz claims he has this clout that he runs the jail. he doesn't run the jail. i'm the man. i own this place. no. there is only one person that runs this place and that's the warden. >> one of the inmate food servers also took issue with cruz trying to lay down the law. a fight ensued and cruz is now on his way to segregation. >> mr. cruz is a bit of a cave man. all he knows is food and fight. so he come up to me and pushed up on me for extra trays and what not i told the individual, stop handing out the trays the way he was handing them out, giving them to all his friends instead of giving them to the workers and the people who

deserve the trays. >> being very aggressive toward me in front of the whole tier. and i, you know, in here you can't really appear weak in front of everybody. i didn't want him to push up on me in front of everybody and think i was just going to hand him over let's talk about this in your cells. i said, you don't want to go in my cell. well let's go in your cell. so i walked in behind him. he walked in my cell. he says shut the door. so i went to shut the door. when i turned back around i from my peripherals he's taking a swing. he missed and lost bad. real bad. >> but the 27-year-old, 5'8", 160-pound bevelac tells a different story than the 44-year-old, 6'1", 220-pound cruz. >> as soon ace walked in the cell i turned around and he decided to punch me in the face. cruz has this idea he is still 25 and he can hurt people and stuff but his punches were bouncing right off my head. >> just one hit.

he was all over the place. he couldn't stand up. >> he hit me first and yes. after three or four times of him punching me in the face i realized i wasn't able to calm him down. i hit him with an uppercut. brought him to the ground and that's when we both got maced. >> were you injured? >> no, not at all. >> not injured. >> no, not at all. >> but cruz says he had a secret motive for the fight, one that has nothing to do with food trays and everything to do with returning to the maximum security unit to confront michael bates. >> he ran his mouth. now he has to stand before me and be judged. i want to see him. i can't get moved unless i move myself. >> meaning? >> meaning i have to [ bleep ] somebody in order for me to get moved. i'm praying that goes my way. but if it don't, just a matter of time before somebody else gets knocked out. you better not tell my super.

>> coming up enrique cruz takes a battering but it's a verbal one dished out at the prosecutor in his case. >> he had no problem whatsoever hitting on the undercover officer on the audiotape. ♪

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further analytics are necessary. beam us up. ♪ that's my phone. hey. [ female announcer ] the x1 entertainment operating system, only from xfinity. tv and internet together like never before. it's a new day and according to staff a calm one in the women's wing of the bergen county jail. in a plea deal with prosecutors shontera jennings pled guilty to unlawful use of a credit card in excess of $75,000. she will receive between two and six years in prison. >> now that she's gone we do have a certain measure of peace down at the entry unit. she can definitely stir the pot. now the pot's kind of peaceful now that she's not here. so it's not such a bad thing. >> enrique cruz has also had a change of scenery. he was deemed the instigator but

not necessarily the victor in a recent fight with inmate food server jonathan bevelac. cruz says it was all a ploy to get back to his former housing unit in order to confront fellow bloods gang member michael bates. but after serving 15 days in segregation, cruz was assigned to a different unit. bates, a recognized leader of the gang, says he is still baffled by cruz and his allegations. >> i never knew this dude. i don't have no problems with this guy. i never knew him. i don't know whoa is. he's putting on a big hat from back what he used to do. he got it in his mind that he's the person he was 15 years ago and it's not like that. you can't be. you got health, i got health issues too. i got high blood pressure. right now he's gone so there ain't really too much i can say. he's not here to defend himself so i'll leave it at that. he knows when he sees me when we cross paths we got to be known. >> the only person cruz might

square off with today is his judge. he's now in a holding cell waiting for transportation to court. where he will be sentenced for drug possession with intent to distribute in a school zone. >> i'm staying close by the door in case there is a way out of this [ bleep ]. >> as the men wait, the group of female inmates also headed to court, enters the holding area, and cruz has something to say. >> thicker than a bowl of oatmeal. and i ain't scared. i'm going to tell you. >> but about an hour later in the courtroom, cruz takes a more somber tone as he adrees the judge. >> been 16 years i haven't done anything but stay home with my girlfriend, took care of the family, took care of the kids. >> cruz's plea deal makes him eligible for up to four years in prison but he hopes to convince the judge that all he really needs is a drug rehab program. >> in 16 years i haven't been in no trouble.

you can see yourself to help me instead of sending me to -- i done research on what rehabilitation -- that meant and it says to make better. i want to be a better drug user. i want to be a better person. >> now it's the prosecutor's turn to give her account of cruz's past 16 years. >> in 1997 burglary and defiant -- 2000 possession with intent to distribute a dangerous possession in a school zone. pled guilty. unlawful possession of firearms. possession of a defaced fireman. he pled guilty. 2004. threats to kill. threats of violence. possession with a weapon with purpose to use it toward another. attempt to cause bodily injury 2012. possession with intent to distribute. the instant offense. the state had to defend -- selling marijuana to a female undercover police officer on several different occasions. he had no problem whatsoever hitting on the undercover

officer on the audiotape trying to pick her up and saying, girl, you're thicker than a bowl of oatmeal. >> after four minutes, of hearing the dozens of charges and convictions, cruz has accrued during the past 16 years, the judge renders her decision. >> i am going to honor the plea agreement. i will sentence you to four years in jersey state prison with a two-year period of parole eligibility. >> can i say something your honor? >> no. the sentencing is -- >> i know it ain't going to help me but i'd like to just put this on record. now, i did sell drugs. i did. i'm being honest. i sold drugs to a friend that i knew, a so-called friend for 35 years. >> mr. cruz, you -- >> i understand. okay. kicking me out. huh? i understand. don't worry about it. >> it's over. >> it's over? >> well, you've had your chance. >> i wasn't lying.

i do have a drug problem. but it's over now. you know? >> soon cruz is out of court and back in the holding cell. >> thicker than a bowl of oatmeal? >> hey, hey. she had a fat ass you know what i mean? it is what it is. you know what i mean? but everything else, i don't give a [ bleep ] about what they say. people know me. loved on the street. loved by a few. hated by many. but respected but all. know that. always know that. you know what i mean? they don't got to like me. they ain't got to love me. but they will respect me.

msnbc takes you behind the walls of america's most notorious prisons, into a world of chaos and danger. now, the scenes you've never seen. "lockup: raw." gentlemen, how are you all doing? i hope you're enjoying this overcast cloudy day. >> catch that dove over there and eat that mother [ bleep ]. >> it prides itself as america's toughest jail. >> we don't issue them pillows. they use extra blankets or toilet paper rolled up in a sheet. >> we went behind the headlines to find stories that ranged from the unexpected --