A friend from high school in prison

HardDrive · 10:19 AM

Many moons ago, I was an angry, drugged up teenager. My parents marriage was disintegrating, our family was in shambles. There were no rules. I didn't have to come home if I didn't want to, and when I did, my parents were often gone.

One of my 'lost boy' friends was this guy:

Offender Tracking Information System (OTIS) - Offender Profile

In the photo, he looks hard. I wouldn't recognize him if I saw him today. Back then, he wasn't a bad guy. He was just a lost suburban kid like us. If anything, he was a voice of reason, the one trying to stop things from getting to dangerous. In some ways, I feel like I contributed to corrupting him.

I was there the first time he took LSD. We watched him wander around a golf course at night, tripping out of his mind, and we laughed at him.

I managed to find a path that led to a positive life. Evidently he didn't.

It makes me very sad. He wasn't a heartless person.

KevinP73 · 07-28-2011, 10:23 AM

Whats the expression, "But for the grace of God, go I"?

Dottore · 07-28-2011, 10:51 AM

It's all about the choices that we make, and it is so very easy to get those wrong.

I have some similar stories of friends who made bad choices. Tragic.

genrex · 07-28-2011, 10:56 AM

Hard to tell how serious the two offenses were; might have been rather innocuous in actuality. Looks like he'll be in prison for a while, among the insane and violent animals. I hope such a thing didn't happen to any of my high-school buddies.

Very sobering post..

Burnin' oil · 07-28-2011, 11:06 AM

I think there are more than two offenses - sounds like a drug addict. Too bad. Many of the friends I had that were into drugs, partying and joy riding are now dead or shuffling around, mumbling to themselves.

VINMAN · 07-28-2011, 11:31 AM

One of my buds from school ended up butchering (literally) his grandparents and putting his grandfathers head in the storm sewer.

scottmandue · 07-28-2011, 11:44 AM

I was raised by two loving parents... but fell into the drugie experimentation... consumed much more than most of my friends... somewhere along the way I just got tired of the lifestyle and changed paths.

Several of my friends didn't and have died form abusing their bodies.

Sad

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

I was never into drugs at all.

I went to see a buddy once and when he let me in he was acting strange. He showed me a shoe box full of quaaludes. I just turned around and left. A few years later I saw him on TV doing the perp walk. He has straighted out now I think but we are not buddies anymore.

davidbir · 07-28-2011, 12:02 PM

Some people are gay, some are attracted to drugs, some are Republicans...

I have a friend who sold a tab of acid to an undercover cop and was sent to Attica for four years! (1970) he escaped from a work party and made his way to Canada and got into the draft dodger pipeline and acquired a new identity and moved on. Thirty years later bounty hunters located him in Vancouver and after a legal battle that cost him everything he had he went back and served another year in Attica. A very small mistake that changed his life dramatically. He lives in England now with a very wealthy woman ...

ps Are you sure it is a good thing to publish your friends criminal record like that?

HardDrive · 07-28-2011, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidbir

ps Are you sure it is a good thing to publish your friends criminal record like that?

Why? Its public record, and he announced on facebook that he was going to prison. He's not hiding from what he did. He admitted his guilt on FB.

dennis in se pa · dennis in se pa's Garage

You either straighten out, somehow, or you end up dead or in jail. I know a few that were in jail that are now dead. How I lived to be 60 I have NO IDEA! "Wild" has it's price.

Superman · 07-28-2011, 12:14 PM

I've used drugs every day for as long as I can remember, and nothing's ever happened to me. Well, gotta go......Mom's calling me for dinner.

davidbir · 07-28-2011, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HardDrive

Why? Its public record, and he announced on facebook that he was going to prison. He's not hiding from what he did. He admitted his guilt on FB.

OK, I missed that!

So, I know of a guy who already did time for automotive theft and fraud and I suspect he is about to rip off a few more people (he operates at the very high end of the market). He went to jail in Florida-can I get his criminal record?

legion · 07-28-2011, 02:07 PM

I ran with a rough crowd early in high school, then switched to a straight-laced crowd later on. I did light stuff, but would never touch LSD or anything that I thought might have lasting effects--physical, emotional, or cause an addiction. I watched a really bright and pretty sister of one of the guys first lose her smarts (she couldn't hold a job waiting tables because she couldn't remember orders) from too much LSD use, then become the sex/beat toy for progressively rougher/more abusive men.

I remember the last time I hung out with the "rough" crowd. It was sophomore year of college, I was home for Christmas, and one of the guys was throwing a New Year's Eve party. At first I didn't notice people disappearing to the bathroom and coming out with a really bad runny nose. It wasn't until someone got a bloody nose that I figured out what was going on. I left the party, and that was the last night I saw most of them.

john70t · 07-28-2011, 02:12 PM

Saw an artical about a guy I used to go to school with. He was arrested for minor drug possesion and the police left him alone in the booking room chained to a chair.

He was last seen by a homeowner several blocks away running through their back yard dragging that chair.

scottmandue · 07-28-2011, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Superman

I've used drugs every day for as long as I can remember, and nothing's ever happened to me. Well, gotta go......Mom's calling me for dinner.

Hey man... when am I gunna get Inagadavea album back?

Scuba Steve · 07-28-2011, 02:29 PM

A guy I was friend with in high school was part of one of the largest acts of cemetery desecration in US history. That was 8 years ago and he'll be paying restitution for the foreseeable future. Before that he was in and out of prison for all sorts of things... he's managed to stay out since 2003 anyway since he plead guilty and was given probation.

The one who everyone thought was most likely to succeed wound up in the rave scene. He's been in recovery for the last several years, finally sobered up. No prison though.

rnln · 07-28-2011, 02:30 PM

:d:d

Quote:

Originally Posted by superman

i've used drugs every day for as long as i can remember, and nothing's ever happened to me. Well, gotta go......mom's calling me for dinner.

BeyGon · 07-28-2011, 02:32 PM

Yes I got older with some people like that, one of them, Charlie Tuna, was in prison for his import/export business, they let him out about two weeks before he died of cancer. He still had plenty of time left to serve. There is even a book about these guys, "Storm Riders:Messengers of Change", by B.A. Freeman. I still see some of these guys around, they have changed.

scottmandue · 07-28-2011, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by legion

I watched a really bright and pretty sister of one of the guys first lose her smarts (she couldn't hold a job waiting tables because she couldn't remember orders) from too much LSD use, then become the sex/beat toy for progressively rougher/more abusive men.

Sorry to hear that... but she had other problems than LSD... thousands of people took LSD for many years then sobered up and went on to become professional businessmen and engineers.

The whole LSD will melt your brain story is a myth.

Not that I would recommend anyone try it.