the day we met james randall, we heard a jaw-dropping story. >> i originally came to jail february 21st, 1981. i was convicted in san bernardino county for murder and robbery. >> given a sentence of 34 years to life, randall was 18 at the time of his conviction. but his rap sheet started much earlier. >> i've been gang banging since i was 9 years old. coming from an impoverished neighborhood, southern california, my mother, father, tried to move to pomona to establish a better life for us. by the time we moved to pomona, which is mostly a middle, upper class neighborhood, being already bit by the gang bug we just exported the gang life out there. >> randall's gang activity led to his incarceration by the california youth authority and soon after, prison. there, he joined a militant gang called the black guerrilla family. >> ended up spending 15 years in solitary confinement for prison activities and conduct. tried to get back into the main line. it was hard after facing walls for 15 years in handcuffs everywhere i went. i didn't adjust too well. i still became more assaultive, more comb