it indicates gang activity has penetrated the sensitive needs yard or sny. >> it is supposed to be gang a lot of guys go into sny not because they want to. a lot of these guys still want to be gangsters. >> many of these inmates come to sny because they violated gang rules and now need protection from gang retaliation. >> the easiest way to describe it is that even though you walked away from the gang, it doesn't change your gang mental state because what happens is that you've already been trained by the gang. so it's easy, again, to reestablish yourself. >> it's a lot of them, they go into sny, they see these older inmates, weaker inmates and they band together again. whether as a formal gang, or four or five bigger guys that want to pressure other guys out of anything, money, clothing, food, anything they can get out of them. >> lieutenant munoz must now determine whether de la cruz is the victim of a gang or an active gang member himself, perhaps one that has asked for protective custody under false pretenses. >> sleeper is one of the names they use. he's a sleeper, he's coming in u

process before inmates are allowed into protective custody in order to ensure that the sny population remains safe. this ex-gangr is currently in ad seg for threatening a cellmate, but he wants to be returned to sny. >> there was a battery that was in 2005, the current charge, though, is of threatening another inmate. >> he doesn't want to be housed with inmates who have sex-related offenses, whether it be against women or children or such. even though he's kind of in the same boats because now he's also requesting protective custody, yes, be safeguarded from the rest of the general population. realistically whether he is a gang dropout or has sex crimes, as far as the general population goes, it doesn't really matter. but he still wants to have that mentality that he is a little bit better than a particular inmate in the prison setting. >> did you have a problem going back out to that particular housing unit? refusing a celly? >> like i said, i was out there, never got in any trouble while i was out there. me personally, it's like if i don't know anything about you, i'm just trying to do my time and go home. i

sny. >> this yard is basically for prisoners that meet certain criteria, such as most of your rapists, your molesters, dropout gang members. >> also known as protective custody, this unit segregates high-risk inmates from others who might want to kill them because of the nature of their crimes or because they've turned on another inmate. >> these are inmates that have hopefully seen the errors of their ways and want to program and want to change their lifestyle. >> i go home next year. i got time taken off. >> how? part of a prison process. i dropped out of a prison gang. >> he's charged 288-a, which is unlawful act with a minor. sentenced to 230 years. it's a big honor badge for general population to kill somebody, especially a sex offender. i don't know whether someone's going to try to take me out. every time i go to chow. every time any sex offender goes to chow or goes out of their cell or even in their cell. can i go to sleep with this person in here? you're pretty vulnerable when you're sound asleep. >> inmate ray rowe shares a cell with earl hymer, another sex offender. >> i have a 37-year sentence. lewd a