it's hell. >> the prison within the prison, doing time in the hole. >>> when inmates at kern valley break prison rules, they are placed in a highly restrictive lockdown unit known as administrative segregation, or the hole. >> when you cause problems, you go to ad seg. that's basically the way they do it. >> the food sucks. all kind of -- going on in here is unjust. society is blinded. they don't want to hear nothing, they don't want to see nothing. >> you don't have access to books or education programs? >> there's no -- it's designed to break you mentally and physically. it's hell. to put it bluntly, it's hell. >> 240 men are housed in ad seg. the cells are small, measuring 8 by 6 feet and there are no windows, only a narrow skylight. >> as you can see in here, this new cell is completely all concrete, which will eliminate the inmates from breaking the mattresses down, taking the wire, creating any kind of contraband. if you're inside and looking through the glass window, you're really only looking at a concrete wall. it's for isolation purposes. it will prevent them from communicating

so we'll just see what opportunity the future holds. >> when kern valley opened, corrections officialsaid it would be the last prison built in california. but in a state with so many overcrowded prisons, many

. >> surveillance footage from the kern valley prison showed how bizarre smuggling techniques work. >> we have a suspect attempting to introduce narcotics into the institution. that is a suspect sitting right there, he's looking around. there's another inmate. the inmate directly in front of him, is attempting to block the cameras. as you can see, he's halfway off the chair. that's what piqued the curiosity of my officers, the way the individual is sitting. that's usually an indicator that there's a chance he's going to try to introduce narcotics. you can see his right hand. there's an orange bindle, within a matter of seconds it will be secreted in his rectum. you can see there he goes. at that point he's introduced narcotics into the institute. unfortunately for him, we had staff in the area monitoring the video cameras, we watched this as it unfolded we were able to apprehend him and his visitor. >> for this attempt to smuggle one ounce of marijuana into prison, he was placed into administrative segregation. and his female visitor was arrested. >> some women are attracted to the ba

. >> we met officer epperson at the kern valley state prison in california. armed only with pepper spray and a baton, he's the lone officer responsible for supervising the inmate kitchen staff. >> i have six, seven inmates back here now. i've got one sitting on the line. granted, i got four, five cops outside that door. that door's locked. there's only one dude out there with the key. you have to trust them to a certain extent. they have no reason to assault me. unless they're totally pissed off or i disrespect them. >> among the inmates epperson places his trust in is the number two cook, carter hill. >> tell me what your sentence is. >> murder. >> you're here for murder? >> yeah. >> what's your sentence? >> 51 to life. >> you know, it's interesting. sometimes there's this dynamic in prison when you're interviewing somebody, if there's a corrections officer and an inmate together, they'll pretty much watch their ps and qs. they'll tell you into the camera what the other guy wants to hear. but when we met carter hill, we got some real brutal honesty that day i

known for farming and agriculture, it is also home to kern valley state prison. the facility costs $379 million to build, and it will eventually hold 5,000 men. >> we want to try to get the inmates to start programming and try to rehabilitate them to be able to get back on the outside and get their footing back into the community. >> there's no rehabilitation in the california department of corrections. and i don't care who tells you that there is, they're lying to you. >> this prison is supposed to be a model throughout the entire state. its specific purpose is to show society, right? that hardened criminals can be rehabilitated. okay, but that's not what it is. everybody's landing here and it's just exactly the opposite.

the racial divide. when we ran into dillon dunn at work in kern valley's kitchen. >> how unusual are you here? n i'm the only one. >> the only what? >> the only white crip. >> when we met dillon dunn i think the whole crew was surprised to find out he was a crip a white guy as a crip. >> i run with the blacks. there's not too many people like me. >> at first we thought he was messing with us, or just trying to have a little fun, but we found out he was the real deal. >> so talk to me about how an irish boy end up as a crip. >> i'm not irish. >> dylan dunn? i tell you, somebody is irish. >> my father. i'm puerto rican and italian. >> dunn's fish out of water status could last for a long time. he's serving 25 years to life for armed robbery. >> how are you perceived here? >> i get my respect. if i didn't, then, you know, they could stab me or whatever. i wouldn't be here. i'd be dead, you know. so evidently i get my respect. i mean, it wasn't easy, you know, it's still not easy, some places i go, i'm a target. >> why? >> because of who i run with, my gang affiliates. like i said, it's real racial

>> it was in the middle of central california we heard the sounds of the muslim call to prayer emanating from a cell at kern valleytate prison. cellmates jose garza and rehan ali bhutto explain to our crew how their religious practices aren't hindered by prison bars. >> at 5:00 we come up and do prayers. we begin our day like that. >> talk to me guys, why this cell is so different from the other cells you've been in. >> it's based on cleanness. we have to be clean. we keep ourselves clean and organized. islam is islam. in here or the street, it's the same. >> but bhutto and garza have more in common than religion. >> my sentence is life without a possibility of patrol. >> i'm charged with murder, first degree, so as far as details, life without possibility -- same thing. >> i'm here for heat of passion. i caught my wife with somebody and -- >> and? >> killed her. know, i'm not proud of it, i've regretted every single minute of it. >> so what was the charge? what was the conviction? it's not heat of passion. >> it is heat of passion. >> he told us he took responsibility for his actions. but during the course of the

the revolutionary recharge sleep system from beautyrest... it's you, fully charged. receive up to a $300 beautyrest visa prepaid card when you buy select beautyrest mattress sets. >>> it's monday at california's kern valleymarcus armstrong, that means it's laundry day. >> a lot of guys don't trust the laundry. we do the laundry ourselves. some do it in the sink. me, i do it in the shower so i can really get it clean. soap it up, rinse it out, wring it out. get a little workout in the meantime. good as new after two hours. just like mamma taught me. >> it's also the best night for television. >> monday night, primetime tv come on and i watch the primetime shows. my favorite shows right now are "24," "smallville," "grey's anatomy," "desperate housewives." you know what i'm saying? i love you bree. >> armstrong's weekly routine will continue indefinitely. he's serving 25 years to life for first-degree murder. >> sometimes i can see the victim in my case when i'm walking, you know what i'm saying? it's like demons that never go away. i have dreams about it, you know? >> the victim was a friend who learned that armstrong was involved in drug dealing and credit card fraud. >> she was an ex-girlfriend of mine,

the california's three strikes and you're out law. i ended up getting a sentence of 35 years to life. >> aaron yost was 11 years into his latest sentence when we met him at kern valley state prison in california. he says his problems stem from a near life-long abuse of drugs. >> i grew up with drugs. my parents were quote/unquote hippies. both my parents dropped acid. my mom's dead now from a drug overdose. when i was 9 years old, i was rolling joints for mom and dad. >> yost's life is now largely confined to this cell, which he shares with another inmate. >> i'm not comfortable with this. i don't like men, i like women, you know? and this, to me, it's disgusting. i'm still irritated. if i wake up in the morning, i'm agitated because i have to live with another man. >> now, the closest yost comes to female companionship is through his tattoos. some of which are too graphic to show on television. >> that's what i dream about, that's all i got. you know? >> i remember when we met aaron, the man was tattooed, incredibly inked. if one word describes him, it's intense, just full of energy. and i remember when my producer asked him, what's the daily routine? he just start