Page 17 - Convict Code News Today

His crimes were not against a child or of a sexual nature against a woman and lives by the convict code, which in prison is a big deal. >> the laws of the convict is, you dont respect others, you dont steal, you pay your debts, you can never become a punk or a bitch. ive done that. my reputation is clean. >> the pasco status as a convict was threatened by another distinction in prisons complicated social structure. >> are those animals out so we can go eat? feeding time at the zoo. >> we were in...

And escalated. >> vasquez says he was honoring the long-standing convict code which says snitches should be punished. >> telling them something about somebody else, technically it is snitching. he kept calling me a bitch. when we started to beef over lunch. and i was like you a bitch man. what the [ bleep ] you say to the detectives. >> that was the right thing for me to, do was to tell. if anybody -- if anybody do anything to anybodys food they deserve to be told on. >> it wasnt a real thing. i...

Shes very educated, very knowledgeable and wealthy. she quit her job to stay home with me so that i would have someone there for when i got home from school. do my homework, make sure i do what i had to do. >> but that didnt keep him out of trouble. >> i never had to face consequences, so i figured i was pretty much untouchable. and i rebelled against them being so straight and i went crooked bad. >> steeles rebellion culminated in a 60-year sentence for residential burglaries, armed robbery and...

Snitch. >> so he was moved down to here to get away from that pod because he had informed on them up there, and when he came down here he kind of was bragging about that incident and how he came forward and gave us the information, and vasquez said, well, youre a snitch. started from there. and escalated. >> vasquez says he was honoring the long-standing convict code which says snitches should be punished. >> telling them something about somebody else, technically it is snitching. he kept callin...

That was not wrong at all. >> tolbert had been housed in the same unit as jeremy merithew. he was the first to report merithews comments about the sandwiches to officers. >> extra mayonnaise, thats what i said. >> but in the eyes of some inmates that made tolbert a snitch. >> so he was moved down to here to get away from that pod because he had informed on them up there, and when he came down here he kind of was bragging about that incident and how he came forward and gave us the information, an...

Because he had informed on them up there, and when he came down here he kind of was bragging about that incident and how he came forward and gave us the information, and vasquez said, well, youre a snitch. started from there. and escalated. >> vasquez says he was honoring the long-standing convict code which says snitches should be punished. >> telling them something about somebody else, technically it is snitching. he kept calling me a bitch. when we started to beef over lunch. and i was like y...

About that incident and how he came forward and gave us the information, and vazquez said, well, youre a snitch. started from there. and escalated. >> vasquez says he was honoring the long-standing convict code which says snitches should be punished. >> you dont tell something about someone else. technically it is snitching. he kept calling me a bitch. we start, you know, had lunch and i was like, you a bitch, man. [ bleep ], the detectives. >> that was the right thing for me to do, was to tell ...

To extend the convict code to their own father. >> my father was in here for -- i dont know the exact charge, but he was in here for messing with kids. and, you know, i aint cool with that. brad and michael love are serving time for murder at animosa state penitentiary in iowa. >> i was never incarcerated with him. when i found out he was getting incarcerated, what he did time for, what hes charged for, they asked if there are any problems if were in the same prison. i said, yeah, i probably wou...

>> but perez left us with a piece of advice for any inmate thinking about joining a gang. >> my advice to him is to rug two things -- one is that hes not in control of his life because as long as hes a part of this gang, theres someone he has to answer to. whether he believes hes his own man, thats a myth. because someones running his program. so he can walk with his head puffed up, his chest out and everything and think hes really badass, but hes going to follow orders just like anyone else. fo...

In every prison profiled on "lockup" our producers have found subtle differences in how inmates enforce the convict code or the unwritten rules by which they live, but one aspect rarely changes -- the position of sex offenders on the inmate hierarchy. >> murderers, robbers, theyre up here. child molesters, rapists, theyre down here. them guys on the bottom deck, most of them guys are sex offenders, you know? i dont like them. i just tolerate them. i used to beat them. i used to prey on them. >> ...