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One in the crowd, so the most impressionable one, and the thing is i was basically the one who took the fall. so if you can just -- it's kind of a -- it's sad. i get -- i still get choked up thinking about it because i wish i could just take everything back. coming up -- tension boils over in the yard between inmates in the same gang.
Barbed wire are made available for family visits for inmates who are eligible and demonstrate good behavior. >> in other words, i behaved myself well enough to get out from behind the wall. >> gordon simpson was sentenced to 5 1/2 years for receiving stolen property. he has 2 1/2 years left, and his wife, barbara, is allowed to visit. >> we met through a friend. >> through my best frie ♪ i'm losing you for many of the inmates doing time in folsom, it's not their first lockup. >> this is my fifth here in the penitentiary. very time-consuming and exhaustive process, but it's what you have to...
The officers at the end of the tiers for visibility, but it still makes it difficult for observations, especially 150 yards down the tiers. >> sergeant rudy carmella supervises cellblock 5, one of the oldest operating prison structures in the united states. >> to walk up to a cell, to look -- to see what is going on, you have to sometimes look inside. so it puts us at close proximity to whomever, whatever is in here. sometimes it could be dangerous. he could spear you through these holes, and they make the antiquated type out of a newspaper with a blade at the end of it. very simply it could b...
It's a place where the sun never shines. >> you become a walking dead man in here. you understand what i'm saying? you're a walking dead man. ain't nobody really see you. it's like the old saying goes, out of sight, out of mind. >> 33-year-old inmate herman johnson is doing 12 years for a felony drug conviction. he is currently housed in cellblock 5. >> in here you lose a lot of things on the outside. and you really find out a lot about people by coming to prison, you know. >> paul poplin has been to prison several times over the last ten years for drugs and fighting. >> this is a big cell act...
I've had my knee broke. >> i had a back injury first, stabbed. >> i was assaulted by an inmate in handcuffs. >> i was stabbed seven times. >> if you show the inmates fear, then they're going to go ahead and feed on it. >> keeping that fear in control can be difficult inside this 100-year-old prison because what was state of the art at the turn of a previous century is now the biggest challenge to the officers' safety. when we return, cellblock 5, the most notorious cellblock inside folsom.