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Zach, welcome to Locked In, man. Straight from Springfield, Massachusetts. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Springfield, man. You know what it is. 413. Yeah. Shout out to Chickie, Damon, all that whole Springfield crew out there. Magic Marcus, man. Yeah, dude. Shout out all the guys. That's where I got my big breaks from, the Springfield crew. Yeah. There's a lot of stories from Springfield. I'm sure of it. Yeah. I'll never forget Chickie, man. He put me on. Chickie. Chickie Chickatown. He got a lot of stories. Chickie.
Yeah. He was my first mob guy I ever had on the podcast. And he has that look and he showed up with the Gucci glasses. The big sunglasses. Yeah, and everything. And, you know, he'll call me here and there. I got to get him here to film some skits. Yeah, he's a character. He's definitely good for some skits, man. Yeah, he's good for some stories.
worries and he's just like because he's not like boastful but he like tells it funny there was a viral clip of him talking about how mobsters eat in prison and you know he's a big guy he's losing weight though so shout out to him for that but that clip went
Dumb viral. Because they're talking about it. I've seen some things where I'm like, I'm like 700,000 views from Chickie. What the hell? It's crazy. He did another guy's podcast that hit over a million. Really? Yeah, Chickie was really happy about that. These stories, man, people want to hear them. So did you grow up in Springfield? Yeah, I mean, I moved a lot. My early life with my mom. It was just me and my mom.
My dad was in jail. They weren't really together either when she had me. And so, but I'm good with my dad now. We had a, I got brothers and sisters from my dad's family and stuff like that. So my mom always kept me in contact with the family. I go to my grandmother's house, my dad's mom on the weekends and
So I lived in Springfield, Ludlow, Palmer, all the surrounding areas because we moved a lot. And then my mom bought a house when I was like 13. We finally settled into Ludlow around 13 years old. And so I was there in Indian Orchards, which is part of Springfield is where I'm from. What did your mom do for work? She was a bartender when I was born, like when I was young. But then she...
She ended up being a telephone pole, like Verizon worker. She was the only woman in all Western Mass to be a telephone pole worker. So, yeah, she was like a tough chick. Did you have everything, you know, you kind of needed and maybe even wanted as a child? As a child, like, you know, she made sure I was good. I would say that. But until I was like 13-ish, yeah.
we, we just moved around so much. Like I never was settled in anywhere. Like I never stayed in one school. We moved so much. Like, uh, I got kept back in first grade cause I went to too many like different schools. They wanted me to like stay at one spot and they're like, well, he's going to learn different curriculum here. I don't know what they could teach a first grader, but they kept me back in first grade for that. And then, uh,
When she got the house and Lolo kind of settled down a little bit, started being a normal life for me, I would say. Do you have any childhood memories with your dad or did those not come until later? Yeah, I remember visiting him in jail. Most of my stuff with my father would be with my grandmother and great-grandma.
my brothers and sisters, their mom would bring them over on the weekends to my grandma's and my mom would bring me over on the weekends. So that was kind of cool that they, like the moms, they might have had differences or whatever, but they always made sure we knew each other, brothers and sisters and stuff like that. And were they open and honest about why he was in prison, what even prison was as a child? My mom was, my mom, one thing about my mom is she,
She's like a little firecracker, like a little Irish. Like you wouldn't even know she's my mom if you saw her. But she she she's like a little Irish firecracker. So she and she drank a lot. So I think sometimes when she would drink too much, she would spill the beans like your dad was this, that don't be like your father. I'm like eight years old. Like what the hell are you talking about? But yeah, so I knew that I knew what was going on. But.
it wasn't nothing really to me because my mom was my mommy and my dad for me. Now, when you said your mom not drink too much, did she have like an addiction issue or? I would say towards, towards the end she did, but she probably just, you know, she's just like kind of was like a guy the way she worked a tough job. Then she go out for beers and stuff after she was a bartender when I was like,
Like before I was born, like the late 80s, probably a bartender. And then a little bit after I was born, she was the bartending and stuff. So she was always around the bar and stuff. But my mom drank a lot. So but just later on in life when she really became like a bad alcoholic, if you ask me, but.
Young wise, when I was younger, she definitely was outspoken. Did seeing other kids that had both mom and dad at home make you feel some type of way as a kid? That's the thing. So when I moved so much, I didn't really have...
Like I have friends because when we moved so much, I ended up coming back around to some of the same spots. So I got a lot of my friends from Indian Orchard, but they were all older, stuff like that. Then when I was in Ludlow young and then when I came back to Ludlow, like for high school time, all my friends from them were there. But they had their parents. They got in-ground pools. Ludlow is like a suburb outside of Springfield. So they got in-ground pools, stuff like that.
I wasn't accustomed to like being around nobody in my family got no in-ground pool and both parents around and stuff like that. So it was a little bit weird, but my mom always taught me like to be respectful and stuff like that. I never wanted to like embarrass my mom. So I always like had the best manners when I was at other people's house and stuff like that, like ma'am and sir. And the parents be like, oh, don't call me that. Call me Debbie or whatever. And so, yeah.
Just, yeah, I guess it was a little bit in my mind that, you know, these kids got something that I wish I had, but it wasn't nothing really. How would people describe you as a kid? Probably like a little crazy, outgoing. I was definitely outgoing. I was been funny. I feel like I've been funny since I was a little kid. My mom, all her friends, I used to make them all laugh when I was little. So stuff like that. But yeah,
My mom has a single like white mom with a mulatto kid. My dad's black. So she told me like basically not to take no shit. She, when she was pregnant, she got some shit for having about to have a kid with a black guy and stuff like that. So yeah,
I remember a story. I was on the bus one time and these kids, they're just talking, but they kept saying the N word, right? Keep saying nigger, nigger, blah, blah, blah. But they don't even know what they're saying about it. You know what I mean? These kids, they're too young to be racist. I think I was in second grade or something. I told my mom, cause I just know that the word's a bad word. I don't even know like the extent behind it. And she tells me, if anybody ever calls you that, you punch them in the face. I was like, oh,
alright so I've got the green light to punch in the face the next day on the bus kids said it punched in the face I get in trouble at school I tell the like principal or whatever so my mom told me to do that but he said this word
So then when the principal came down, I was like telling my mom, like you told your son it's okay to do that. She said, if he called my son a nigger, he can punch him in the face every time. So that's been my approach in life with everything. Your mom's a G. Yeah, my mom's a G. So I got to give it to her for that. And that's the attitude I kind of took in life. But I'm like funny, respectful, stuff like that. But at the same time, it's like a no-nonsense thing. Like if I feel a tension,
or something in the room, I'm probably gonna swing first because I don't want to get hit in the face. I'm too cute for that. You know what I mean? What did you want to be when you grew up? What did you aspire? When I was younger, I wanted to be an athlete, probably football. I played football when I was young. That's, that was like my dream to do that. And then as I got like a little bit older and realized like I wasn't the best, I wasn't bad at football or basketball. I was pretty athletic, but, um,
I wasn't paying attention to school. I partied a lot, stuff like that. So I kind of wanted to be a bar owner when I got like a little bit older. I wanted to own a bar or a club or something like that. Hmm.
When was the first time you got into serious trouble? How old were you? Serious trouble? I mean, first time I got like arrested. I got arrested when I was 16 for dribbling a basketball on the way home from a carnival or not even a carnival. They call it the festas, the Portuguese festa. And in Ludlow, it's mostly Portuguese people. Right. So my mom got arrested.
a house literally is two streets away from this big ass festa. And people like come from Portugal to come to this festival. So it was big. And I wanted basketball. And me, my friend, Jay knew my boy, Tom. Newsome was also black. There's not a lot of black people, Spanish people, nothing like that. And Lolo. So the cops kind of like,
If we were grouped up and stuff like that, cops would kind of, you'd notice them passing by when we're walking because none of us had cars yet and shit like that. So you notice them passing by and they pass by again and shit like that. So they was like keeping a watch on us kind of thing. One day I'm dribbling the ball. Not one day after the carnival, I'm dribbling the ball.
And a cop pulls up, says, stop dribbling that basketball. I'm like, what? My boy Tom thought it was funny and hit the ball from behind me. And the ball went boom, boom, boom. I grabbed the ball and dribbled it real quick and then just put it to my side. Cop comes out of the car and kicks my ball down the street. I'm like, what the fuck? He's like, get the fuck out of here. Go back over the bridge, which is basically saying go back to Springfield. I'm like, motherfucker, I live right here. All this shit. But I was walking Tom down the street.
He said, well, get to where you're going to, but I could arrest you right now for disorderly conduct or some shit. And I'm like, so me, Tom and Josh walked the Tom's dad's house. I called my mom. This is 2008, I think. So I have the little razor flip phone and, um,
I call my mom. She's drunk coming back from a Limp Bizkit concert with my aunt. And she's like, you stay right there, blah, blah, blah. Don't you fucking do nothing but all this shit. I'll be right there. I'm like, all right. So when we drop Tom off, there's a bench in front of Tom's house. And so I'm like, I'm going to wait in front of Tom's house. She's like, all right, I'll be there in 15 minutes, 20 minutes, whatever it was. We drop Tom off. The cops are still down the street. Me and Josh sit on the bench waiting for my mom. Okay.
Cops pull up like, like we wouldn't believe it. Three cops, boom, boom, boom. Pull up with the lights on. Didn't I tell you to get the fuck home? All this shit. I'm like, whoa, whoa. And so when I get up, I start popping off at the cop, like talking shit. And then the cop slammed me. My shoulder is still fucked up to this day. Slammed me on the hood. So stop resisting, stop resisting. Banging my head against the hood of the car. All I remember seeing is Josh get up off of the bench. Like, hey, you ain't gotta be doing all that.
And then they said, sit your ass down for what happens to you next. And Josh sat back down. But I was like, yo, tell my mom, stay here. Tell my mom when she comes because she knows we're going to be at Tom's house. So she picks up Josh. I'm in the holdings of my first time. I'm 16 years old. I have no idea. So they're booking me in the thing, all that. I'm waiting in the holding cell.
pissed off. My shoulders like dislocated, um, fucking cold. I'm mad. I'm thinking like, damn, my mom's going to whoop my ass. You know what I mean? So, um, she, when she picked up Josh, she asked him what happened. And she's like, when I go down there,
I'm going to ask Zach, if you guys stories don't match, like you guys can't hang out no more. And so when she came down, all I hear from I'm in the holding cell in the back, I can hear her yelling in the lobby. She knew the cop that did it to me. She's like, Baba, Baba, you want to hurt my son? You want to put your hand on my son? I'm like, oh shit, my mom's going to be back here with me or something. I thought she was going to get arrested. I knew she was drunk from coming back from a concert. And, um,
No, they released me because I think I was too young to be like book, book. You can get picked up by your parents or whatever. So when they released me, she asked me what happened. Story matched up exactly with what Josh said. And that's when she kind of understood. So she believed me from now on whenever I have run in with the cops or something like that.
I'm not saying every time wasn't my fault, what I get in trouble for, but I was always honest with her. So she would believe me after that. Wow. Yeah. So that was great. That was the first time I got in any like,
gotten arrested some type of real trouble did that give you like an opinion about cops and yeah my opinion my my opinion which has changed to be honest with you but my opinion at the time was like fuck the police and uh like them few bad cops and that to me they were bad cops they kind of like were targeting us even that kid tom that i said we walked to his house tom is uh
he's white and his dad Bruce his dad Bruce was the man but the cops went up to him one time it was like we see your son hanging out with these kids blah blah blah we get gas station t-shirts like you know what I mean like the five dollar fucking galaxy t-shirts and sometimes it'd be purple green whatever color the fuck it was we just
throw on the t-shirt. Could we play basketball and stuff? And he's like, I noticed them wearing colors. And I think your son might be getting involved with gang activity and stuff like that. And Bruce was like, you think my son's get hanging around with gang members? Cause they got different color shirts on. He's like, this is the dumbest shit I ever heard. But them cops gave me a bad impression on cops at first for a while. Now, do you end up graduating high school or? I ended up struggling in high school because,
And I was contemplating dropping out. And my great grandma, my dad's grandmother, she's an old black lady from Mississippi. Right. And so she was a hundred. She was about to be a hundred about to turn a hundred years old that year. And I was about to graduate if I could, but I had to make up like mad work. And I'm like, this is going to be too much. I'm already 19. I'm already a year older than everybody else.
I'm dropping out. Like, oh, shit. She called me to the room one day. It was like, baby, I want you to walk across that stage. I want to hear that you walked across that stage. I was like, damn. Can't let deal down. So...
Shout out to my deal, man. I had to do it. I buckled in. I talked to a bunch of teachers about making up tests. They gave me the chance because I had a good relationship with my teachers and stuff. I just wasn't paying a lot of attention in school. So they let me make up a bunch of tests and stuff. I passed probably with the lowest GPA in the history of passing, but I passed.
So what happens next? Do you end up going to college or what is your life? I was going to go to Western New England College and play basketball over there. I had to get I had to go to stick for a year, which is a community college in Springfield. I go to stick first for a year to get like my GPA up so I can go to their college there.
And I ended up just dropping out of there. I never even went to a class at stick and I just went right to work. I was working like little oddball jobs here and there. I had a girlfriend. I was out of my mom's house, stuff like that. And then, um, after that, yeah, I just, um, worked really. And then, um, so a little bit of like weed here and there, um, nothing too crazy, but then, um,
Me and my girl broke up from that time. I was like 22 now. So it's like two, three years went by. When we broke up, I moved back with my mom and then she had her back at work. And I think that's when her like addiction with alcohol or problem with alcohol became like worse. And I started seeing it like with my own eyes, what's going on, you know what I mean?
I have a little sister. We're 13 years apart. My mom had one more kid other than me, a little sister, Hannah. Her dad was actually a real good guy. He's like the only, like, I want to say father figure. He was more like a friend. He didn't try to be like a dad to me. He's just more like a friend or a big bro kind of guy to me. And when him and her, him and my mom broke up, and my sister was probably like 11 or 12,
No, probably like 10 years old. And that's when I came back to the house and she was not the same person that she was when they were together and shit like that. So from there, when I'm at the back of the house now, I'm still, I'm going out a lot, partying and stuff because I'm not with this girl anymore. So yeah.
Since a young age, since like 17 years old, I've been going out to clubs and bars because my dad is well known, well respected in Springfield, like very well respected. There's one thing I got from him. It was a lot of respect from older people. You know, he knows like Chicky, all them guys, but all the clubs downtown, like
At 17 years old, I was going in the clubs. Like, my dad would be like, don't you embarrass me. Park yourself in the back. And I always said, I don't want to hear you causing no problems. Mostly strip clubs, too, by the way. But, um...
My older brother, Larry, he's two years older than me. So when he was like 19, 20, asking my dad to go in, I'm like 17, 18. And I'd be with my older brother all the time. So he's like, I got to bring Zach with me. My dad be like, all right, you go ahead. I'll let him know. Just you guys better not get in no trouble. So I've been, I was going out a lot. And even when I was younger and it just continued to me going out. So I wasn't really focused on like what's going on with my mom and stuff like that.
And I ended up going to keep going out to the bars and stuff while she basically drinking herself to death, basically. And actually, she ended up passing away when I was 23 years old. And then after that, it kind of went all downhill from that. That's when I really turned back to the streets for real. Why do you think her death turned you to the streets? Um...
You know, I was kind of, like, always around it, especially after high school. I was kind of always around it because I've been going to these clubs. And the people that were letting me in these clubs and stuff like that, and the people from Indian Ocean where, like, I'm mainly from where I hung out the most and stuff like that, a lot of them, when I was, like, 10, 11, 12, were going to, like,
We're going to jail for like 10 years. A bunch of them went to jail for 10 years, seven years. And these are like, they're older guys. They're all way older than me, but they remember me from when I was like 11. Now they're out of jail. Now I'm like 21, 22 and I'm bumping into these guys now. And then when my mom passed away and now I'm at the bar with them, like, yo, why don't you come make some money? You know what I mean? So yeah.
Start making a little bit of money. But I was more like a guy at first, even before my mom passed away. I'd be like a guy if he bumped into me. Hey, yo Z, you know where I could get get an eight ball or something like that? I knew where you could get it from. I didn't do it or sell drugs, but I know you could get it from. So I hit the person up and be like, yeah, can I get an eight ball?
And they'd be like, yeah, for you, $140. So I'd take it for $140, give it to the person for $200. And I'm making $60 like that. But I wasn't like selling drugs. I was kind of just like a guy that knew I could get it for you at the bar. But I'd get like two, three of those a night. And then so that's paying for my drinks for the night to go. And I'm like, you know what? After she passed away, I just really didn't give a fuck. I felt like I didn't get a lot of help from my family. And my family is very tightly connected.
tightly knit on both sides my mom's side and my father's side but like I don't think they knew how to like handle me and stuff like that um like how I really took the death of my mother they knew we were real tight so I don't think people really knew how to approach me about it and stuff like that they wanted to but
I kind of did my own thing. Like I didn't live with any of them. So what can they really tell me? And so if I'm going to try and make money, I'm going to do what I got to do. And that's when I started selling, selling drugs, ecstasy, coke,
Now I was going out to the clubs and bars. A lot of strippers want ecstasy and stuff like that. So I was making a lot of money in the streets, man. Now, were you having the girls sell it or they were just customers? I had a couple of girls selling. I had a couple of girls that were just customers. A couple of girls I'm giving stuff to just so they come hook up with me afterwards. Everything, man. It was crazy. I was definitely in a down world spiral in my life at that point. And it was a long spiral because...
My mom passed when I was 23 years old. I would say that spiral went for at least like seven years going. And then like, I basically live with friends, whatever friend was single at the time. Cause some of that girlfriends and stuff, but if they were single and they got a house with an extra room, then I would be in there. That'd be the party house. That's where we pregame on the weekends. That's where, that's where I get my work together and,
sell my drugs from there, get people to come over for the after parties. You're selling more. Like it was, it was crazy. The money that was coming in at that time. Would you use the drugs yourself? Yeah, I, I, uh, I definitely was definitely on ecstasy a lot. Um, I've done cocaine. Um, I want to say like a lot, but it was definitely, I
I definitely was an alcoholic too, I would say. Not even an alcoholic, like a binge drinker. You know what I mean? Like if I go out with a drink with you on Thursday, we're drinking through Saturday. You know what I mean? And fucking, it was just a, it was a bad time for me, man. How much money would you say you were making selling those drugs? At first it was a little bit. It's like...
Like every good hustler story started with like probably an ounce. Went to, I was moving like 100, 200 grams every week, every other week. And I was around people that were moving way more than me too. So when we're out at the club, I had different groups of friends too. So I still had like my friends from Lolo,
I started hanging around with these, uh, these biker guys too. Cause you know, they, they like to party, they like the uppers and stuff like that. So I'd be around them. And then, um, I'd be in my street friends and stuff and they want to be at the clubs. They want to be with the bottles, the jewelry, the chains, all that kind of stuff. So I was just all around different people. And, um,
to compare to some of my friends i wasn't really doing nothing in the streets compared to some of them but i was making a good amount of money i would say at least fucking 10 15k a month that's pretty good yeah just just hustling and did you you had your own place no i was staying with my friend but who had his own place but 90 of my money went to the partying of taking girls out um
Fucking jewelry, clothes, stuff like that. And it was just, I was horrible with money and didn't even care. It was just, it wasn't even really an object. It was coming in easy. So I'm just spending, I would say, I'm not even kidding you, I'm probably spending like anywhere from a thousand to 3000 a weekend, every single weekend. And did you stop your regular jobs, like working normal jobs? Yeah, my last job I was working at that time was, yeah,
I was a roofer. My grandfather, my mom's dad was a union roofer. And after my mom passed, um, him and his wife, that would be, uh, she was the secretary for the union. And, um,
She thought it'd be good for me to go there. And to be honest, I regret losing that job because the union roofers are making like $48 an hour now. I would have full benefits. I would have been like 10 years in by now and stuff like that. Just think about I could retire after 20 years, you can retire from the union, stuff like that.
think about that stuff now it's like damn I was too into the fucking spiral at that point yeah so what happens next how long does this kind of run for um I would say it ran for a long time until um uh I met the uh the mother of my daughter and um
And when I met her, she kind of, she knew I was like damaged and stuff like that. She was like the first person I would say, I'm not saying nobody didn't care about me and stuff like that. But I would say like she's the first person actually like, yo, you need to take a step back. Like you're going down, like you have no purpose in life kind of thing. And I kind of had a crush on her, stuff like that. So then we started talking.
She ends up getting pregnant and I'm about to have a daughter. I'll never forget when she found out she was pregnant. She, she, she took the pregnancy test at the restaurant where we went to. She, cause she said she was late for a period. I'm like, all right, well take you out to eat afterwards. I'm thinking she's going to take you. She took it there and she stormed out. And I was like, Oh no. And she's crying. She's like, I can't have a kid with you. You're a drug dealer. My parents are going to hate me, but all this stuff. I'm like, damn.
Like that did not make me feel good. You know what I mean? So I'm like, fuck, um, I don't know. And I wasn't ready to have no kid at that point. I'm like, we'll talk about it. Like, you know, go home, think about, we'll talk about it and stuff like that. And I'm happy that she never listened to me. Cause I was, I was like, we, we don't have to have a baby. You know what I mean? I'll be here for you, whatever. But, um, that's when kind of my other problems started in life was with that. Um,
Um, but that's when I kind of like told myself like, all right, you got to really lock in and, um, and step up kind of thing. Cause she's not going to get rid of the child. And, um, you know, you had your fun. I had a good seven year run of going out, getting girls, like having fun. Like it's time to man up a little bit. And to be honest with you, I didn't do that really at all. Um,
Her family was very like they're very like structured family, like the people from Lolo kind of thing that they had the mom and dad. And I call them the Brady Bunch family. And they they called me from her phone, her mom. It was like, if you don't want to be.
be around for this we have enough good men that can raise this child like I kind of took that to a slap in the face like a slap in the face like what you mean like what are you talking about so that's when I was like you know what I'm gonna be here for for this and all that and I was um for a little bit with her and then um
I fell right back into the bullshit again. I was going out, um, while she was pregnant. I was, I was a bad boyfriend. I'm not gonna lie. Um, I was hooking up with other girls, stuff like that. And, um, after that, she, uh, she ended up going through my phone, finding messages with other girls, talking to some stupid stripper that, uh, threw me under the bus. And, uh, she, uh,
And she ended up keeping my daughter away from me for a little bit. And cause she was pissed. And so then I had to go to her mom to go see my daughter. And I know they hate me now because she definitely told them what's going on. So it's just awkward for a while. And then after that,
is this is when it gets a little tricky here so after that I'm going to her mom's house to see my daughter and stuff like that and another like thing that was like a slap in the face to me I know like I was a piece of shit for what I did right there you know what I mean for cheating on her while she's pregnant she's a good person she would never do something like that to me you know what I mean so um I take I'm a piece of shit for that and um she
Her mom, one day I was like, what kind of car seat does, uh, does she have? Because I want to have the same car seat for my car. When I take her, she looked at me like, Oh, like when you take her, like, no, you're going to come here and see her, but you're never going to take your, like, I'm never going to take my daughter kind of thing. I was like,
What the fuck is going on over here? So I don't know. It's kind of always felt like they never really wanted me around kind of thing. Definitely not after I hurt their daughter, you know what I mean? But I just always felt like I had to prove myself to them kind of thing. And once I'm going over there seeing my daughter a bunch, I end up running into the mother of my child again. We do the family thing again. So then the feelings start coming back around, stuff like that.
Um, she ends up getting a house and, um, and when she gets the house, um,
uh she wants me to move in that kind of thing and i'm kind of like now here's all the feelings coming back again i'm like man am i ready for the family i'm still outside i'm still doing this and now i'm like i was just uh i never grew up really like that so i was like damn i was one foot in one foot out it was unfair to her and um i was talking to another girl
Once again, I'm at her house when she just moves in. I fell asleep with the phone right there. She used my thumbprint to get in the phone and went through my went through my phone, talks to the girl. I wake up on the couch. I hear her talking to somebody. I'm like, what the hell? I walk into her room. She's talking on my phone. Grab the phone. Who are you talking to? I look. It's the girl that I'm talking to. I'm like, oh, my God.
And, but I look, it was only like one minute of a conversation. I'm like, okay, they couldn't talk about that much. She, she gets up, starts hitting me, blah, blah, blah, get out of my house. Oh shit. I'm like, fuck. I'm like, stop, stop. My daughter wakes up and when she woke up crying, she's yelling for her mom. It really, that shit right there really like broke me. It hurt me bad. So she, um,
she gets up, she grabs my daughter. Now she's holding her like, get out, get out and stuff like that. I'm trying to console them. Uh, she's not having it obviously. Um, then she's like, get out. I'm about to call my mom and I'm tired of like the family being involved in our relationship. Like if I'm in a relationship with you, it's me and you, your family don't got to be involved in every little thing that's going on. You know what I mean? And, uh,
She went to grab the phone. I took her phone. I broke it. I smashed it. And then I left the house. I just walked out of the house. I walked from her house to my grandmother's house, my dad's mom. And, um, that walk was like probably a seven mile walk. That walk seemed like it was all night. I called the other girl. I'm like, it's not what it seems like. I'm trying to, Oh my God, that was a bad time. So a couple of days go by. I'm trying to call the mother of my child. And, um,
The phone's not picking up. It's not ringing. The number gets disconnected. I'm like, oh shit. One day I'm at my grandma's. They served me a restraining order. How the fuck I get served the restraining order? And it was during COVID. This whole thing happened. So they granted her a restraining order because basically even the judge was like,
You can't come... You can't be in fear for your safety a week after the incident happened. Like, she said... She said that...
she was like, uh, she talked to her parents and they, they think it would be a good idea if she gets restraining or the judge is like, your parents can't decide if you need a restraining order or not. And you have to decide. And then she's like, you guys are young parents. Uh, this isn't the way you should go about things. I hope you can, uh, resolve it in different ways. And, uh, I'm going to give you a three month restraining orders. Uh, and then three months, you guys come back. Hopefully you guys have parenting things decided, stuff like that. And, uh,
God bless you. That's what the first judge said. Um, during that time I'm talking with the other girl and stuff like that. And I can't see my kid cause the restraining order, I'm not contacting her parents. So I just haven't seen, I'm waiting for the three months to come up. I missed the court date. They extended for a year. I'm like, Oh shit. And so during that time of the year, um, going by like obviously now reaching out to try to see my kids, stuff like that. And, um,
I ended up getting a private call one day, like a restricted call, like 1030 pick up. It was her. And then she's like, we need to talk. I'm like, yeah, I want to see Ava. That's my daughter's name, Ava. I want to see her, stuff like that. Ended up going over there. We ended up
So I ended up taking her to court for visitation because I couldn't go directly to her because of restraining orders. I forgot that part. So then I think that's when she called me is after that, after she probably got served those papers. And then we started talking and she's like, I don't want her to grow up in the center or nothing like that. And she's like, you can have supervised visits and whatever. So when we go to court, I asked for supervised visits, but I say with her, I'm not going to go.
Which I should have never did. I should have just did it through the system because then I would have been able to, you know, do it in front of counselors and stuff like that. And then they'll approve if you're fit to be, you know, father, if the kid's good with you, stuff like that. So the judge even told me that. She's like, you know, by giving them the supervised visits, you're no longer, you have no control. You go to them to see your daughter, stuff like that. And in six months, we'll come back, whatever. So...
That time's going on, stuff like that. We're playing, like, whenever we get back around each other, it's basically playing house again. And it's a little bit of time goes by, and I get a thing in the mail, and it said to change my daughter's last name. That shit, that dude pissed me off bad. I was like, what the hell? So they wanted to change my daughter's last name. My last name is my mom's last name. I don't have my dad's last name, so...
That my daughter having that name until one day she gets married or whatever was a big deal to me. And they put in for it to be changed, but I'm on the birth certificate. So they couldn't change it without, without my permission and nothing like that. So again, a little like, I'm like, yo, you trying to, what are you trying to do? She's like, oh, you shouldn't care. You have your mom's last name, all this stuff, like whatever. So the time's coming. I'm like, I'm appealing it. I'm just letting you know. So I appealed it. Then we had court.
that March or May. It was like a few months down the road. And she and me and her were hanging out again during this restraining order. We're hanging out and this is actually, I came on here hopefully to
uh, talk to people about like these restraining orders. It's, it's not like you can have a restraining order on me. If you invite me out for a beer and I come with you and have a beer, you could call the cops right there and be like, yeah, Zach's here. Like drinking, like, uh, harass me. Like it's a, it's a whole set. I thought it was like the second you called me, that's just null and void. Like I'm sleeping over the house. I'm doing this and that. That's not the case. It's, it's,
They have a restraining order on you and you're not, you are not to be in no contact with them. So I know that now better than anybody. We'll get to that in a minute, but that shit like makes zero sense to me. So if there's any other guys out there, if they're girls or anybody does that to them, just know that restraining order. It's not like if they contact you, they can contact you, tell you to sleep over. You could show the cops, the messages, everything that, that none of that matters. You broke it by showing up.
I'm like, that sounds like a setup to me. But so that was going on. So we're hanging out, literally slept over the house, made me breakfast. Oh, by the way, around this time, I started my own contracting business. So I'm working with, I met a few people,
And this goes along with my different groups of friends I was talking about. And you're done selling drugs. Yes. So I'm done selling drugs. I started the contracting business. I met some of these people by selling them drugs, but they flip houses and stuff like that. And they're like, man, what's the most you ever made? Like, well, I'm talking like.
Straight up millionaires that I'm hanging around with. I'm going to their house. Their kids call me uncle Z now, stuff like that. Like it's, I met some great people just from networking and networking is a huge deal of with anything in life. And, um,
I started my contract and shit, but I just jumped right into it. I painted a little bit before I've done the roofing stuff, stuff like that. But, and I know like common sense carpentry, but I'm not no fucking contractor or nothing like that. I just knew my uncle was jobless. My cousin, Will was jobless and, and I got some money so I can buy some tools and stuff like that. We'll start contracting with the guys. Took, started with a paint job in Connecticut. Actually, it was at a Ramada, uh,
My friend Tommy was renovating the whole Ramada. It was a million dollar job. So they gave me the paint, the doors, every door in the Ramada just had the paint. And I got a $10,000 check from my boy Sergio. He's the, Sergio was doing, taking the job from Tommy. Sergio put me on. Sergio actually did some jail time too. And so we talked a lot, but,
He's a good dude. He put me on, he put me in the position for the contract and stuff. It was the $10,000 to paint some doors. I was like, Oh, this is dope. He gave me a $5,000 deposit check, you know, to get the materials, stuff like that. All I had to do was buy paint and rollers and paint some fucking doors. So we started doing that. I'm starting to do a contracting thing. I'm starting to like get good at it, but I jumped, like I said, I jumped right into it. I didn't understand, uh,
about LLCs and stuff like that. I was just doing everything in my name. So I'm getting $20,000 checks and spending 12 of it on materials and paying my, my uncle and cousin under the table and stuff. But the government just sees you making a $20,000 that you made $20,000. You know what I mean? They're not, if you don't do the deductions and I'm not doing any of that. Nobody told me about that part of the game. So I jumped in a little too fast. I still had some ups and downs going and,
And, um, my, uh, my mother, my child, she, um, she needs money and stuff like that. I'm like, yeah, this money's tied up and stuff like that. And, um,
I go to her house and I put like 800, I think, on her fireplace. Ended up sleeping over that night. She made me breakfast, everything. My daughter woke, woke my daughter up, got her ready for school. That day was the day of the name change, right? But when I get mail at my, at my grandmother's house, that's where my extra room was at and my grandma. So all my mail is stuff from since I was a kid, even if I lived in other places, my mail goes to my grandma. So I'll put it on the fridge and,
My grandma's got like five fridges in her house, but I put it on the fridge in the middle room. And that will be my reminder that, oh, sure, I got court coming up. I haven't been there in a couple of days because I've been sleeping at her house. So she makes me breakfast. I go to work to go work in Connecticut on a flip.
that was the day of the name change. After I go to work, they go and still do the name change. They went to court. She went to court and followed through with the name change. And, um, when I got back after work, I went to go grab a change of clothes. And I look on the thing. I was like, Oh shit. Today's name change. Call her. Like, you know, today we had court for, uh, for Ava's name change. She's like, uh, yeah. Like, well, you didn't go right. And she's like, well,
Oh, I'm like, oh, hell no. So she went. We get in a big fight. Probably said some shit, you know, some mean shit. But it was... But that shit pissed me off because we're, like, on good terms. So I thought. And you follow through with that. And, you know, I'm not saying it's good or bad or anything like that. I'll let the people be the judge if I got played in that situation or not. But, yeah.
That shit really pissed me off. And I've wigged out on her on the phone, like,
And boom, now we're back to, I'm not seeing my kid and stuff like that. Now I'm missing my daughter. Now I'm pissed off again. Like, I feel like I got played and fucking a week goes by. Then I get a thing in the mail that my daughter's name has been changed. Now that just reminds me again, I'm pissed off again. Go back out to the clubs and back drinking heavy. Like I've still was drinking and stuff during that time, but I wasn't partying like I was before. And,
And, um, now I'm back out partying and stuff like that. Now I'm like going back down a spiral kind of, and, um, uh, I've started missing my daughter, start reaching out to her mom. Um, uh,
She changed her number again. I reach out from fake profiles on TikTok and Instagram, stuff like that. Like, I miss you. I miss Ava. I want to see her. I drove by her house, but she's a flight attendant. So I never knew her, like, schedule, stuff like that. So I go by the house and she never home. I dropped the card off. Like, nothing violent, nothing, um...
Like, intimidating-wise, none of that shit. Just, I want to see Ava. I'm sorry about, like, our argument or whatever, but I was hurt. You just changed my daughter's last name when we were hanging out. You know what I mean? I thought everything was good. So...
During this time, I end up getting in trouble and I get arrested for assault on battery, breaking an energy, assault on battery. And when I got stopped, I had a gun in the car. And that shit was... When I get arrested for that, this is all going on with her too. I guess...
While I'm standing in front of the judge and bringing up all my charges and shit, then they're like, oh, he's got other charges too, other things pending. He's got seven violations of restraining order. I'm like, fuck, you mean seven violations of restraining order? They went to the police with, like, the web camera of me dropping off the card. They went with...
my messages and stuff like that. Not even a swear word. Even the judge was like, they're not even a swear word in these things, but we'll put that, like put that off. But you got a $50,000 bail for the gun thing and all that. I'm like, what the fuck? $50,000. So I ended up going to jail. This is like, I've been to jail, by the way, a few times, like from in my twenties, but only for like a day or two, the weekend bail out, or we get let go on my own reconnaissance. Never been to jail for more than a week up to this point.
I'm in jail. I'm like, bro, my bail is 50,000. Da, da, da. Call this person. Call that person. Like, yo, they get a bail reduction. So we ended up getting the bail reduced to like 10,000. Then, um, a couple of my guys from the Diablos, uh, motorcycle club, shout out them. They put up five and my cousin put up five. And, um,
When I got out, I obviously paid them right back and stuff like that. But now I'm back out. Now I'm pissed off about that situation. And I was in jail, I want to say, for like 11 days or 12 days at that time, right? Before I bailed out. At that time, that whole time I never was on the news. The day I bail out, I go to my grandma's and I'm telling her, she's like, baby, what are you locked up for?
I'm like, grandma, you know, they're fucking with me. I got some stupid ass tickets or something. Drive. I made some stupid thing. I'm like driving a fraction. And she's like, what? They had you in jail for driving. I'm like, yeah, no license, no insurance. She's like, baby, you know, you need to have insurance. I'm like, I'm like, all right, well.
Next thing you know, my grandma's TV is right here. My dad still laughs about this to this day. The first thing on the 6 o'clock news is Springfield man arrested with a gun on the 900 block along Hill Street. I'm like...
The hell I turn around, my mug shots right there. This is 12 days after, like, it wasn't, like, reported the night of. How the fuck are you reporting this shit 12 days after I get released? And so when I get released, fucking my grandma's looking at the screen. She's like, you ain't nothing but a liar. I'll never forget her saying that. But that shit was, that was hilarious. And so that's going on. So I know if that's on the news, I know that my daughter's family is seeing all this.
And I'm like, this is going to be, if it wasn't already uphill battle to be in my daughter's life, it's going to be more of an uphill battle now. And, uh, and so I do the dumb shit. I'm not supposed to do my lawyer. They put me on a bracelet. I know I'm out on bail at this time. Uh,
We have court in like seven months or some shit like that for the gun. Which, why did you have the gun in the car to begin with if you stopped dealing drugs? The gun, well, the gun was in there because of a different reason. I can't really say what it was. It wasn't mine, but we'll just put it that way. But it was in there and I was still like in the club scene. I have jewelry. Like I had a lot of expensive jewelry. Me and my friends like,
Some of my friends got beef and shit in the streets. Not me personally. I don't got no problem with nobody, but, um, it was just a thing. Like a lot of people carry them is Frank Phil, you know what I mean? And, uh, I actually, uh, around this time too, right after the gun thing with me, uh, my friend, my brother, um, Boston, he was a rapper from Springfield and he was up and coming. And, um,
He literally was fully invested into being a rapper. Like he went down to Texas with the crew, with everybody, went down to Texas. He got into Johnny Dang, who does all the rappers, jewelry, all the rappers, grills that you see, like any famous rapper you can think of. Johnny Dang does this shit in Texas. And he went down there and he got permanent set teeth, $30,000 grills, permanent set flawless teeth.
The only person in Springfield with that. You know what I mean? So he was hitting me up one night and this is while I'm out on bail for this gun case and that date's coming up. So during that time, I still want to see my kid and stuff like that. Get in contact with the mom again, like an idiot. I've reached back out and
We start, I'm telling her like the whole gun shit was like, it's not what it seems. It made me look horrible on the news. It wasn't even close to that. And I'm trying to like contact her, but I'm also outside still, stuff like that. My boy Abastan's hit me up to come out.
The Celtics were playing the Heat that day. I'll never forget. It was game seven, the Eastern Conference Finals to go to the championship. Celtics playing the Heat. And I'm like, I'm going to meet, I'll meet you out after the Celtic game. Watch the game at the apartment and then I'll head over there.
And so he's out with like six, seven girls, just him. We always went out as like a crew, you know what I mean? So there's not one or two of us. There's definitely more than a few of us, you know what I mean? So he's out with a bunch of girls and there's just haters. There's haters everywhere, you know what I mean? So you got $30,000 grills on, big chain, $50,000 watch, all this stuff. And you could just feel the hate from across the room from some people. But I like that kind of stuff, you know what I mean? I'm
I want you to hate me for no reason. You don't even know me. If you talk to me for a second, you probably love me. Same with David. That's Boston. Same with him. And he ended up, some dude ended up running up on him in the bathroom at the club, in the club, and shot him in the back of his head. And I think it was, they say it was an attempted robbery, but...
Um, who knows, man, that day I was going to meet up with him. Like about the last talk I had with him was 30 minutes before he ends up getting shot. And then I hear I'm getting the calls shoot down to, um, shoot down over there, man. God bless. We didn't find the person cause that night I probably would have, would have went to jail for, for a long time if we caught who did that at that time. And, um,
I mean, so RIP to Boston, but then that happened. So then my baby mother's talking about this and she's like, yeah, you got your friends getting shot in the club. You're getting stopped with a gun, but you're not fit to be a father. You're not this, that. I'm like, damn. So, um,
One day I'm at work. We're working on flips. Most of my contracting work is in Connecticut because Sergio and the connection I got there in Connecticut. So when we were doing big flips, they were always in Connecticut. So I'd be gone for most of the day anyways in CT, if not staying in CT. I had an apartment out there and all that. So when I'm in Connecticut one day, my dad calls me. It's like the police just came to your grandma's looking for you. And I'm like, what?
He's like, yeah, you got a warrant. He's like, I want to come home today or something like that. Like, what the fuck do you mean I got a warrant? I don't know. Call Dan. That's my lawyer. Call Dan. Figure it out. But don't come home or something like that. I was like, what the fuck is going on? So I call. They're like, yeah, you got some violations of restraining order or something like that. I'm like, this chick did it again. And so, yeah.
Yeah. I got a violation of restraint order. Now it's times going by. So I stay in Connecticut. I send up staying at my friend Tommy's house. He got like an in-law apartment in Glastonbury, Connecticut, by the way, you got in ground pool. Tommy's rich. So it was not a bad place to be kept up at, but I'm not going back to mass to get arrested for nothing. So, uh,
Uh, I have to, my lawyer's literally like, if you're out of the way working, stay out wherever you're working, but you have to be back for your gun case. And they're going to, they're, when you come back, they're going to arrest you for whatever this shit is. But he's like, we'll try to get it all settled up. Do not contact that girl no more. So go to court for the, uh, for the appeal, the gun case or whatever. Um, what the hell is it called? Not an appeal. Um,
I forget what it's called, but to fight the gun case. And, um, when I go there, they fucking, they cuffed me up for, uh, for, uh, the pilot for reaching out to the mother of my child. And, um,
It's just crazy. I'm sitting down there like you fucking did it again, you dummy. Of all the things, all the times I could have been arrested and like Damien would tell you, like my friends with Diablo, we beat people's ass at the bars and clubs like many a times. I could have been arrested a million times before. I could have, the drugs, everything else could have been arrested a million times before.
And the fucking thing I'm getting the most trouble in is literally reaching out, like not even threatening nobody. It's like, what the fuck? So that's going on. And they bring me downstairs. I'm in a bullpen. The judge is like, I'm going to hold them dangerous for whatever until the next court date. My next court date is two weeks. So now this time when I go back, I'm in the orange, obviously, and I'm not sentenced yet.
Or anything like that. And so I'm like, fuck. So I'm thinking about how to win this gun case. I'm like, they're not going to take this fucking... These violations serious or anything like that. Now it's, by the way, it's like up to like 13 violations of restraining order. And so...
When I'm there, luckily, my cousin, Fatia, was in the pod that I was in at the time. So he basically ran shit up there. So I was good. We had our own phone, stuff like that. I came up with it. Got all the cosmetics, got a whole sack of food. I knew a lot of guys up there. So we were good in there. I wasn't, like, uncomfortable in jail. Like, never, really. But it's...
The two weeks go by, I come out, the judge basically picked, said that it was an illegal search and seizure of the gun. Yeah, so I beat the gun case because when I was at the gas station that night, I actually basically got assaulted, but I've also assaulted other people. And when I was at the gas station, I knew that they were going to call a cop. So when I saw a cop and he was looking at me,
I went up to him. I was like, did you get a call about anything? And he's like, no, no, I haven't. I was like, all right, well, nevermind. So then I go. And then when I started walking back to my car, he's like, actually, I just got a call. Like, fuck. So I'm showing him. I'm like, yo, I got a cut on the back of my head. My shirt's ripped. My chain, I got a fucking $20,000 chain is ripped. My watch won't clasp back on. All this shit. I'm like, do I look like I did something? I'm like, I got beat up. I'm like, this is crazy. He's like, man, just sit tight. You should be fine.
they go to the person's house that the, the conflict was at and the door, when I left, I kicked the door. I kicked the door in. So the door fucking looks like it was forced in, but I was already in the fucking, in the house. They like basically fought me out of the house and I kicked the door in while, like when I was leaving. And, um,
So it looked like it was forced entry. So the cop was like trying to say, nah, he broke in and the cop that was up there. I'm joking around with these other cops down at the gas station stuff. I'm like, man, I just want to go home. All this shit. I don't give a fuck about none of that. Like whatever damage to I'll fix it. They can they can hit me up. I'll fix whatever damage it is. I'm like, but this is stupid. I got to go home.
And cop's like, yeah, man, we got to take you in. I was like, fuck. And so when they took me in, my car was at a gas pump. I was like, bro,
I just got fucking, you know, like last time I got arrested, they told my shit. It cost me like 500. I'm like, can I just park it here? He's like, yeah, I'll let you park it here. He's like, but you can't park it. We're going to park it. And he's like, but we got to ask the store manager. And he's like, you've been, you've been good. So, so this is a good thing. I wasn't on that 16 year old Zach shit where I would have been like, fuck you pig, all this shit. I was being respectful and stuff like that. So they was trying to help me out.
Um, they asked the store manager if they can, um, have the, uh, car stay there for the night. And, um,
The store manager said, yeah. So they went to move my car. When they moved my car, they said they were checking for any valuables because I had valuable jewelry on. He's like, all he kept talking about was this is what the cop said during the trial. He's like, all he kept talking about was his jewelry, his jewelry. And he's like, so I wanted to make sure he had nothing else valuable in the car if you're keeping it there that night. Then they found a gun in the center console. And so...
They fucking, that's why I got in trouble for the gun for it. But that by agreeing with the store manager to leave my car there, they had no right to search my car unless my car was getting towed. That's the only time they had the right to search it. So I ended up beating that case because of that. And, um,
All this shit is going on at once. And so I ended up getting put on a bracelet when I beat the gun case. They put me on a bracelet for the restraining order violations. As your sentence? Like house arrest? Yeah. No, it wasn't even a house arrest. It was just exclusion zones. I couldn't go anywhere by my baby mother's house or where she works. And...
So that was basically my sentence. I got one year of that. So I beat a gun case. My fucking lawyer literally looks me in the eyes. He's like, buddy, you just fucking, you just beat this case. You should be going away for two and a half years. He's like, on top of the fucking restraining order stuff. He's like, do not contact a girl. Wait for the courts, all that shit. So,
I'm waiting for the courts. Every time the courts is coming around for family court, I don't even get to speak. And I'm the one taking her to court. I'm like, what the fuck is going on? I've taken hair follicle drug tests to like prove that I'm not on drugs or alcohol and all this shit that I'm being accused of and stuff like that. And I'm not saying I never did those things. I've definitely done all those things, but I wasn't at that moment. I'm like, I just want to be
in my daughter's life. I don't understand what's so hard about this. Like, it's crazy. So one day I really did it to myself. Two months after that, I'm on the little bracelet thing. I fucking at home looking at old, like I get the memory on Snapchat. It's me and my daughter and stuff like that. I'm like, oh my God.
so I fucking, I'm like, I can't contact this girl. So I sent a fucking edible arrangement to her house, a box of chocolates and thinking like, all right, she never gonna, she's not going to bring a box of chocolates to believe, you know what I mean? Like that'd be the craziest thing. So I sent the edible arrangement saying we need to talk. Sorry. Sorry about everything. Like I miss Ava so much. Miss you, but we need to talk. And, um,
She brought it to the police. Fucking literally, we had court for my daughter the day before. It was the 28th or 27th of December of that year. And so I beat my gun case in October. So it's two months literally went by.
And the 27th, we had court for family court. Nothing happened at court. It's whatever. We're going to have another date. Literally the next day, I guess there was a warrant for my arrest. So some detective was fucking went over the box of chocolates. They saw that was sent from my debit card. I didn't like try to hide it. I did it. You know what I mean? So yeah.
I violated the restraining order again. Now I'm on the fucking ankle bracelet. When the judge sees my face, the judge was like, is this real? So they ended up giving me fucking 18 months of fucking jail time direct for fucking a box of chocolates. You did 18 months? For a box of chocolates and a whole bunch of messages, not even, not even, um,
Not even a threat. Even the judge said it again. I don't even see a swear word in here. But you've been here in front of me like five times. You still insist on sending things. And it kind of pissed me off because it made me look like I was like stalking this girl or something. Like the whole time we were in contact, not the last time, but the whole time we were in contact with each other. It's not they just use that stuff against me. You know what I mean? So it just made no fucking sense. So now I'm fucking actually going to jail for.
extended period of time. Not no two weeks you're bailing out kind of shit.
when the guys from fucking, I was in a pod B6 when they saw me come back two months later, cause they thought when I left for court that day, you know what I mean? They're like, Oh, well good luck. But, uh, like a lot of guys were like, Oh, he'll be back because there's no way he got caught with a gun in his car. Like he got caught red handed. He's going to be back. And so when I never came back, my cousin, I guess he was talking bad shit up there. I thought, Oh yeah, my cousin got the lawyer. And, uh,
Shout out for Tia Manfrey for Tia, but uh he um I went back up there. They were like the fuck are you doing back? I was like, bro. I don't even want to talk It's almost like it's karma for the gun That's what my lawyer is like look at it like this You could have got two and a half years up to two and a half years with the gun But whatever time you would have got would probably would have been 18 months because your first offense, but it would have been mandatory
So now you got 18 months direct because of this dumb shit. He's like, so if you're on your best behavior, you'd be out in 10, 11 months. You know what I mean? Is that what happened? That's what happened. Yeah, man. And so that's why I'm in jail. I want to talk about that a little bit. So now I'm in jail, back in B6. So I'm still not sentenced yet. They're just holding me dangerous. Dangerous for a box of chocolates sounds crazy, but they're holding me dangerous for 120 days.
I'm calling my cousins, my brother, all this shit. I have my business. My cousin and my uncle weren't the most reliable people in the world. So I'm like trying to like get the guys who do the flips to let them keep working.
But he's like, bro, if you're not here to manage it, like, um, I can't trust them. Like I can't be driving to Springfield to make sure that they're waking up and come in and have gas money. He's like, that's what your job is here for, to be their boss. And that's not my job. He said, I can't really help you, bro. If I get like any small jobs, I'll let you know. But if they were making money, I would have been making money in jail. You know what I mean? So as long as they were getting jobs, I would have been having them give me money in jail. So I was like, fuck. And, um,
Now I'm in there. I'm calling my cousin. I'm like, get a hold of Dan. I fucking need to work another mural. I can't go to jail for 18 months. I didn't get to 18 months yet. So they held me dangerous for the 120. Now we have court in a month for the restraining order for the chocolates. But it's actually what I got the 18 months was violation of probation. It's because I was on probation with the bracelet. So I got 18 months for violation of probation, not for probation.
The other shit supposedly, but that whole time, this is, it's all weird too. My lawyer calls me. So I'm trying to get ahold of him for almost a month. And my dad finally called or when I get ahold of my dad, he's like, I talked to Dan. He's gonna, he's got a different court case. He put in for a motion for continuance. So you got 120 days. You got to be there no matter what. You got to be there for 120 days. So yeah.
when that 120 days, uh, he's like, you'll, you'll have court within that time. And they could probably smack this out of park. It's stupid. It's fucking box of chocolates. And, um, and he's like, but you gotta be held 120. And so they go for the continuous. So I go to court the next day. I'm in the bullpen. Some lady comes down, Mr. Lyons, uh,
Your lawyer called. You're going to be getting a different court date upstairs today. That's it. So I'm like, all right, cool. I feel like a little more relaxed now. I'm like, all right. And so now I can actually talk to my lawyer, tell him what happened, try to fucking beat this stupid ass case. And when we go up there, the judge denied the continuance. It made me fucking go through court that day with a court appointed lawyer, a lady that didn't say anything. My family's there like,
Like, it was the most ridiculous thing. They brought out a fucking TV. They fucking had the body cam footage of the box of chocolates. And fucking, I'm like, am I really watching this right now? And so the ladies like, Mr. Lyons, I don't know what to tell you. You got so many violations. You violate our probation after you got basically blessed. Right.
with the, what do you call it, with the gun thing. So it was the same judge too and the same DA. I'm like, so my Lord, oh my God. That's when I got the 18 months. But that time in Orange, when you're in the unsentenced pod, that was like a little bit of a jungle up there. But luckily my cousin Fatia was up there and I knew a few of the guys up there. There was a lot of like,
A lot of fights and shit up there. But there's a lot of people like looking at murder charges, shit like that. It was a jungle up in that pod, man. It was like two different worlds between that pod and the sentence pod. So then I go to court that day, get sentenced to 18 months. I didn't even bring my box of shit down to go to court. Like I thought I was getting a new court date. So they fucking, they switched me to green. I'm like, fuck.
And, uh, uh, fucking all my shit's still upstairs. My, my bunkie that was upstairs took all my pictures of girls I had and shit like that. And, um, they bring my box back down. Now I'm in, um, now I'm in green, man. And it was kind of more of a, like a laid back feel in there and stuff like that. But, um, I'm sitting there like, fuck, what am I going to do to get money and stuff like that? You know what I mean? So, um,
i had to think of the different ways of getting money and like that and um i ran it there's a few people in um a few people from like the mardi gras scene i don't know if you heard of mardi gras springfield of cheeky and then talked about it um me and damien mardi gras a lot it was a big strip club in springfield i think it was one of the biggest ones in new england or some like that and um
There was like four people in this pod that I knew from Mardi Gras. So it was kind of like comfortable in there and stuff like that. And my boy had a store. I'm like, all right. So there can be multiple stores, you know, in a fucking pod or shit like that. But I'm like, what the fuck can I do to actually...
Get some money in here, but I got to be on my best behavior. I don't want to be selling fucking K2 and shit. And the K2, as you know, but fucking in Lolo jail, it was fucking crazy, man. Like, I got some stories of that, man. So fucking, you know how much you can make off a sheet of paper of K2? A lot. It's fucking crazy, man. I've heard some people get like eight to ten grand off of one sheet of paper, bro.
And so I'm like, I got to get in on this. You know what I mean? And so there is that. But a few people I knew kept getting fucking busted for having it because they do the random searches and shit like that. I'm like, damn, do I want to do that? My boy, Nico, in jail, he worked. I knew him from B6 too. And then he got sentenced as well. And he did time in the feds, this and that.
He's funny. This dude, he's like a little Spanish Kevin Hart kind of, like the way he acts and stuff. And he's little and loud, but he's like Z. This is what I came in with. Shows me his converse series slip. He had like 200 bucks, right? Like this is what I got right now. He had like seven, $8,000 in there. I'm like, how the fuck you got that? He worked in the kitchen, not in the kitchen, staff dining.
Right. And so you get like after you complete like fucking I think it's like six months of work in there, you get basically full pay, which would be like 400 a month from staff time, basically 100 a week. But they work every day, mad hours. But he would come back. He would have people on contract and fucking come back with food, food.
And fucking... And you'd be like, yeah, if you send me $50 cash app a week, I'll come back with like two, three meals for you a week or three burritos and three fucking whatever he could fit in his shit. He could have chicken. They had chicken wings fucking wrapped up. Staff dining had some good shit. So I'm like, well, I got to get into staff dining and do that. Then I got to wait six months. I don't even plan on staying here that long. Like I'm going to be on my fucking best behavior. I'm doing all these programs. I'm going to get all the good time I can get. And so...
Nico's like, you know how else I make my food? Off of commissary. I'm like, what do you do with the commissary? He's like, I fucking double on cash app. So some people, family, I don't know why they want to just buy commissary, but some people will pay double for commissary. So $60 sack, I'll sell my fucking full sack of food
for fucking my $60 sack for fucking $120. Well, they use it to gamble with and everything like that. Yeah, there's different things with it. But people be coming like every week. So I would normally do like $230 sacks for $60, bam, bam, like that. That's how I'm paying my child support from jail. Shit like that was off of that. And my family's putting money in my commissary and I would just keep recycling that money and then keeping the other money so I had some money when I came out.
And I literally...
raying it up off of straight food and then the people that like you know the crack heads and shit that come in there I would literally be like yo I see you never get commissary can I use your account I had my family put money on their account now I got two sacks of food now that's $240 I had like four or five sacks of food at one point you know what I mean I'm making selling it double all that shit like I was making pretty good money off of fucking commissary food how much did you make total
uh my whole time there i came out with like four thousand three hundred dollars or something like that and that's with paying child support during the whole time it's pretty good how many guys pay child support when they're locked up well i gotta drop the twelve dollars oh i gotta drop the twelve dollars while i was in jail but i paid i owed so i would pay fifty dollars a week or a hundred dollars depending on how many sacks i got i was rid of so my cousin took care of my child support shout out will that's really the
only person that I stayed in contact with too. I was in jail, you know, fucking everybody forgets about you when you're in there. And, um, well, my cousin will, he was my voice to the streets. Uh, he also worked for me, but they, like I said, they guys stopped giving them him and my uncle work when I went to jail. So he basically just ran my phone for me. And then, um,
I had a couple like good mentor guys that I met, a couple of real estate guys, my friend Max, my friend Paul. And they're helping me out too now. But they were the ones like saying, buddy, man, I'll be here for you when you get out. You got to just, you got to want to change for yourself. You know what I mean? We can't change for you. You know what I mean? You got to fucking...
buckle down and do what you got to do. And when you get out, I'll be here to help you kind of thing. So them guys having them guys to talk to, especially Max, um,
And my cousin, Will, they definitely held it down. I didn't talk to like a lot of girls. I talked to some girls on the phone, but it was like here and there kind of thing. You didn't try to violate any more restraining orders? No, hell no. That, no more. Absolutely not. That was one thing they said to do not call her. I was like, I don't even know her phone number. I'm never going to talk to her again. Do you still have a restraining order with her?
Yeah. To this day? Yeah. How long you been out for? I've been out for four months. Okay. And then you've been clean on restraining orders so far? Yeah, yeah. I'm staying clean, man. I'm staying off of that. And that's kind of why, to be honest, I wanted to come on here to talk about, even though you might think you're not, until that shit's settled by the court, you need to...
You need to follow that thing. And even the judge said something to me along the lines of like, you have, she has a restraining order on you. You don't have one on her. If she hits contacts you, you can file a restraining order on her. I'm like, I'm not going to do that. Like, that's weird. I just didn't think any of this would ever come to that. But like I said, to be 100% honest with you, I was a piece of shit boyfriend.
I guess it all came back full circle on me, kind of. Are you allowed to talk to your daughter? Nah, I'm still going through family stuff, the family court now, but I'm doing it the right way this time. Yeah. When you look back on it now, do you realize that you kind of went about it the wrong way? Yeah, absolutely. A hundred percent. And then also in jail, I did a lot of programs in jail and shout out this guy, Nick, man, he like runs a part of the program building. Yeah.
I did like some classes where you're in there fucking... There's one called Life is Messy. And...
basically you had to read a chapter of this fucking thing and then come back. And they had, it has a book where it's a chapter and then a book of journals. So then you write what you learned from the chapter and stuff like that. And we would come back to the class and we would all talk. And I never talked in a group full of dudes about like my past traumas and stuff like that. My mom passing away, um, dad being in jail, um,
been shot at you know what i mean fights stuff like that that's all trauma you know what i mean stuff even stuff you see in jail and um never really talked in a group full of men but you never really really realize how much you have in common with other guys how many other guys had baby mama drama you know what i mean and stuff like that and like it's kind of it was just crazy but man nick uh
He was a good dude at the jail that actually I felt like cared about the inmates. You know what I mean? Like he didn't, he wasn't just clocking in the work to get a paycheck. He was trying to fucking help us. He stayed in contact with me. He got me in a CDL program I did in jail and basically do all like laptop stuff that helps you get prepared to take a permit test when you get out. And then,
when you get out you take the permit test of jail paid for everything and that's what you do now drive trucks no I don't do it yet I just completed the school um so I did the CDL school when I got released um
And, uh, yeah, I did the CDL school and I got released, uh, the merge career program was called and, um, they pay for everything. They pay for the school, which is like $7,000. They even help you, um, get, um, gas money and stuff. So you get to work and back every day. It was, uh,
It was like, I got to say, like, if they did that more for people, people that actually use the resources that we can get in jail, it could be helpful, man. Even the talking to people, stuff like that. I did a lot of legal resources shit. Um,
For my daughter, for the family court and stuff. So I was writing, like I was learning a lot of stuff. So I was trying to get all my stuff together. So when I get out, I'll be ready to go to court and just get all I want is visitation with my daughter. Like it's not even, it shouldn't even really be a crazy fight, but I was doing all that stuff while I had time in jail, you know what I mean?
And that's that. But the CDL program is definitely, I think that the jails should do more than just the CDL or that merge program. And I think they are, I'm hearing that they are going to be doing something with like HVAC,
plumbing, electrical, like those kinds of trades help you learn in jail. And then when you get out, you can go to one of those kinds of schools or something like that. Yeah. So people aren't just sitting there doing nothing. Right. Doing nothing all day. So that's the other thing.
I'm 34, but a lot of the like guys in the cell, I mean, in jail are like, like in the early twenties and stuff. And a lot of, a lot of the kids I know they're older brothers or cousins and shit like that. And they might even know me or whatever and stuff like that. So I'm, they kind of call me big bro kind of shit. And I never thought I'd be a big bro. Cause I got the big pros, you know what I mean? Like,
I got people that I looked up to and stuff like that. And they, I guess I'm at the big bro stage now. And I'd be preaching to these guys all day. Like, man, what are you going to do when you get back out there? You're going to get back in the streets. Like, what's the most money you ever made? Because I thought I was making, I made decent money in the streets.
And I don't make nothing compared to my friend who's an electrician, my boy Fernando. He owns an electrical company. He started as an apprentice, went to school, became an electrician, started doing side jobs. Now he owns his own million-dollar company. My friend Paul is of real estate, owns his own real estate business. My friend Max owns his own real estate business. My friend Tommy owns his own roofing business. Those are millionaires that I know. You know how many millionaires I know from the streets? Yeah.
So I've tried to like preach this to like these guys and they're like, you're better off while you're still young, being able to do something, uh,
with your life, like get a trade, do something, bro. It's CDL, plumbing, electrical, HVAC. And I guarantee you, you're going to make more money. You're going to have more peace because you don't have to look over your shoulder. If you're going to get robbed, you don't have to look over your shoulder. If you're going to go to jail, you don't have to ride around with a gun on you or anything like that. Like,
You just got to buckle up, buckle up and go to work every day. That's it. So that's what that's what I really be preaching to a lot of the guys, man. And I still stay in contact with a lot of guys I was in there with. And I told him, I was like, bro, my boy Dallas, I talk to all the time, at least two, three times a week. Little brother Ethan. I said, bro, if I don't come out.
do what I'm preaching you guys then I'm just I'm just a sucker I could talk to you all the time but I gotta put my own fucking foot forward and put action to what I'm doing so I signed up for the CDL school I did it I've completed the course now I'm just waiting for the on-road test hopefully I'll pass that but you put your mind to it you'll get there exactly so that's what that's what my mind's on then I want to get my real estate license and
And then I want to get back into the, well, I kind of still doing the contracting a little bit because I got to get some money. I'm not working right now. So I'll paint like a room or something for somebody. I've done a couple of accent walls for some people, stuff like that, just to make a couple of dollars here and there. But I told the guys, man, fucking really think about what you want to do, man, what you could see yourself doing. You know what I mean? Not everybody does what they want to do, but yeah.
You know, HVAC is a pretty simple job. You know what I mean? Those guys, they're not getting too dirty. They might have to crawl in an attic every once in a while, but that's a lot better than working construction or doing all that stuff like where you're working hard all day in the heat and stuff like that.
So it's just something for guys to think about. Absolutely. Well, Zach, thanks so much for coming on the show today, brother. You know that, man. Yeah, definitely a new perspective on, you know, restraining orders. We've never covered that topic before. Yeah, man. That's definitely something, man. I hope I raised some awareness on that and it's nothing to joke around about. Absolutely. Well, thank you, brother. You know that.