WHAT'S AN IMAC?

On July 5th, 2018, I was arrested by the State of New York and charged with promotion of prostitution. With my federal sentencing for tax fraud pending, this was of course, bad news. 

I had a federal status hearing scheduled for just a few weeks later and no doubt, the State would let the Fed know they'd arrested me - and for what reason. In theory, the State was working independently of the Fed. But you'd have a hard time convincing me that was really the case. 

CAN WE STALK?

By his own admission, my last celly at MCC was a stalker. According to him, he was beefing back and forth on either email or texting with a girl, and at one point threatened "I don't care if you call the police. I'm going to come over there and stick a gun up your ass." I didn't see him as the kind of person who would actually make good on that threat. But a female judge who had herself been stalked, saw it differently - to the tune of a 37 month sentence. Charley (not his real name) was upfront about his charge. He was man enough to divulge at least some of the truths behind his incarceration. 

HERE'S A GUN

My very first night on suicide watch at MCC federal prison in downtown New York. If you didn't want to kill yourself before you entered the BOP's most in-the-news prison, you just might after a month or two. I was the watcher - not the observed.

As an "inmate companion," it was my job to monitor a prisoner about whom I knew nothing - except his reg number and his name: Bahnasawy. He was young with curly hair and a beard. Nothing about him seemed amiss. I started the conversation. "You ok?" He nodded his head.