Are Americans still actually scared of personal use busts?

[BoloYang2023]

I see more state busts these days. It used to be our Community would see 95% Federal Cases when it came to busts. Obviously because we use the USPS to purchase from our UGL's and distributors.
Western Union and Money Gram used to be the way most paid for products. That was the Feds again; Wire Fraud.

Out here in CA I hear people saying "They're closing all the jails!". That's true, on the state level. However, the Feds are building prisons. If there is a firearm involved or a gang, the case could start out in the state but the Feds can and will come through and pick up the case at any time.

A guy can be serving time in the state for a case. When he's a few months out from going home, the inmates counselor checks to see if there are any warrants or "HOLD" on that particular inmate. If the feds are coming for him there will be a Hold. The day he's set to walk out of the State facility the Feds will be there to pick him up(In the form of US Marshals) and transport him to the state and district where the feds filed on him.

I can't tell you how many wild eyed men I met who served time in the State and were picked up and were now under indictment for crimes that were part of the case they had just served time in State prison for. They yell "Double Jeopardy" and about it being unconstitutional. I agree its not right but it happens every day here in the USA.

@B Ware , you mentioned TGI not being charged by the Feds. They will let him serve his State time first. The reason being becaiuse if he served his Federal Sentence first the State will not charge him again. Conversely, the Feds will put a hold on an individual and let them serve out their time in State prison and then pick them up before they see a single day of freedom and unseal their indictment to start the Federal process. It really is a nightmare.

I know he is serving time for killing his wife in that unfortunate accident which has nothing to do with the lab, etc. But if I was betting man, my money is going on the feds grabbing him at the end of his State term. The locals called in the DEA when they discovered his in-house laboratory. He had at least 20x the raws that Liska had when they picked him up. I don't see him skating on that or any of the other felonies they have on him. They're just patient. They do things in their time.

its always chess not checkers

 

[DECLAN]

At the beginning of the movement to legalize pot sales at the State level, a lot of people were hopeful that just maybe it would be a trend that led to the legalization of other drugs like AAS that had no business being on the Controlled Substance list.

At the time, I said that pot wasn't being legalized based on some strongly held principle against prohibition. It was due to the fact that a literal majority of Americans had used marijuana at some point in their lives and knew the anti-drug hysteria was bullshit.

This didn't apply to AAS use at the time, since AAS users are a very small minority. Further, the widely used AAS are injectable and by virtue of being an injectable drug were stigmatized. As such, it was placed in the same category of other harder injectable CS.

Well, today maybe there are more AAS users as a percent of the general population but it is still a relatively small minority. However, keep on a close eye of the stigma associated with injectable drugs.

Injectable drugs like peptides and particularly GLP-1/GIP agonists are becoming more mainstream. It is conceivable that at some point, the majority of Americans will use some type of injectable drug that will lead to improvements in physical appearance. It won't necessarily be AAS but still.

Furthermore, we've seen a lot of people outside the bodybuilding community flooding internet forums in search of black market semaglutide, tirzepatide, etc. So this crossover and unusual alliance could change attitudes towards AAS users overall.

Exactly, anything to normalize injecting will skew the public’s view on aas. However, as long as athletes are viewed as role models and judged on staying drug free, PEDs will be frowned upon by sports enthusiasts generally.

I just hope there will be public dissemination of information regarding trt and it’s benefits..

 

[biggerben69]

its always chess not checkers

I learned my way around a chess board in prison. Pinochle as well. Prior to my stay I thought I was limited to checkers and spades. I didn't believe I had the patience or ability to become proficient at either.

While its not always a positive thing, a prison term opens onesself to himself. I learned more about myself and about what I could endure and what I would and would not put up with in that 60 month sentence.

 

[laclark89]

I learned my way around a chess board in prison. Pinochle as well. Prior to my stay I thought I was limited to checkers and spades. I didn't believe I had the patience or ability to become proficient at either.

While its not always a positive thing, a prison term opens onesself to himself. I learned more about myself and about what I could endure and what I would and would not put up with in that 60 month sentence.

How about cribbage? I did 50 months, 5 with 85 in a couple of ca's finest resorts.
It felt like 10 years but it saved my life.

 

[ShredSeason]

And our Supreme Court is now controlled by very right wing fundamentalist judges they’ll outlaw birth control before they legalize steroids

Not saying that’s good or bad btw, but you get what you get. You’re not getting cheaper healthcare with a republican Supreme Court, and you’re not paying less taxes with a democrat one. It is what it is.

 

[ShredSeason]

I learned my way around a chess board in prison. Pinochle as well. Prior to my stay I thought I was limited to checkers and spades. I didn't believe I had the patience or ability to become proficient at either.

While its not always a positive thing, a prison term opens onesself to himself. I learned more about myself and about what I could endure and what I would and would not put up with in that 60 month sentence.

Good shit bro, not many use that time to better themselves, really easy to just slip into a deeper hole. Were you into training yet at that time?

 

[buck]

After about 25 years of ordering for myself i won't say i am worried but i still take some precautions. But i order quantiles, domestically, of powder which could seem large to the government. I don't treat it like amazon. I check the tracking to see if there are delays. And may even take it immediately to my vehicle upon delivery if i think something is up. As i can say i was taking to authorities and didn't want it in my house, just to muddy the water.

 

[BoloYang2023]

I learned my way around a chess board in prison. Pinochle as well. Prior to my stay I thought I was limited to checkers and spades. I didn't believe I had the patience or ability to become proficient at either.

While its not always a positive thing, a prison term opens onesself to himself. I learned more about myself and about what I could endure and what I would and would not put up with in that 60 month sentence.

the thing i never understand is people get locked up and come out snitching its insane to me. i've never liked a rat mfer. and i dig it but i prefer chess and chinese chess

 

[BoloYang2023]

the thing i never understand is people get locked up and come out snitching its insane to me. i've never liked a rat mfer. and i dig it but i prefer chess and chinese chess

as well as go

 

[Zebedee]

It's amazing and impressive how the UK continually completely resisted pressure from the US, WADA, USADA, etc. to criminalize personal possession of AAS. Most other countries gave in to some degree. Respect.

UK governments of both main parties tend to listen to the recommendations of independent experts on advisory committees (eg ACMD - Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs, who believe criminalisation of AAS would negatively impact harm-reduction) most of the time, as long as it doesn’t totally fly in the face of their values & ideology - that is the whole point of having such committees after all.

Main point is our approach to & laws concerning AAS is based around what’s best for harm-reduction, not grabbing headlines & political ideology & conveniences, as per the US.

Add into that there’s fuck all evidence that AAS use leads to either social problems or crime, so UK LE aren’t pushing for criminalisation.

Neither independent advisory committees nor UK LE are political in anyway, unlike in the US. Eg from top to bottom, UK LE consists entirely of professionals & not political appointees.

UK mainstream society is also far less prone to moral panics than the US - eg Prohibition, McCarthyism, “reefer madness”, Elvis’s pelvis & his “black music”, Cultural-Marxism etc.

Bottom line is the above why AAS possession is UK legal & isn’t in the US.

 

[Zebedee]

And our Supreme Court is now controlled by very right wing fundamentalist judges they’ll outlaw birth control before they legalize steroids

Suspect you’re probably right about that mate.

It’s fucking ridiculous, isn’t it?

Talking about right-wing fundamentalism, I think one of the craziest laws I’ve come across in the US is Ted Cruz implementing laws limiting the number of fucking dildos someone can own in Texas …. Land of the free my arse!

 

[Amgiji]

Suspect you’re probably right about that mate.

It’s fucking ridiculous, isn’t it?

Talking about right-wing fundamentalism, I think one of the craziest laws I’ve come across in the US is Ted Cruz implementing laws limiting the number of fucking dildos someone can own in Texas …. Land of the free my arse!

you would think they would have the opposite stance given the whole "testosterone crisis" thing.

you would assume they'd be trying to pump aas in to as many men as possible to combat the "moral decay" of """weak effeminate men""".

 

[Zebedee]

you would think they would have the opposite stance given the whole "testosterone crisis" thing.

you would assume they'd be trying to pump aas in to as many men as possible to combat the "moral decay" of """weak effeminate men""".

In some ways yeah …. But if they did that, they’d not be able to moan about & demonise “libtards” etc being “soy boys” blah blah blah.

 

[marsupial]

you would think they would have the opposite stance given the whole "testosterone crisis" thing.

you would assume they'd be trying to pump aas in to as many men as possible to combat the "moral decay" of """weak effeminate men""".

Not that that would be the ultimate cure, but this goes to show that “rightwingism” isn’t inherently “masculine” and is just as cucked as leftism. In ways it’s more cucked. Do you really think most right wingers are able to give a middle finger to societal expectations like most steroid users do?

 

[biggerben69]

How about cribbage? I did 50 months, 5 with 85 in a couple of ca's finest resorts.
It felt like 10 years but it saved my life.

85% you did fed time then, correct? I began my road trip at MCC San Diego, 10th floor. I fell victim to ORD. Mid 2008. Diesel therapy had me going through 7 different holding facilities in a little more than a year. Con Air is real. The final leg was a 14hr bus ride belly chained, ankle chained, black boxed tied to 5 men, I believe. That black box makes putting mustard on that bologna sandwich impossible. Was so dehydrated and shell shocked I didn't have to piss once.

The 14hr ride was from Dublin, CA(womens prison with a mens holding) to FCI Sheridan, OR. I had gone to to the border in AZ(Otay?) then Florence, AZ.....the livliest place was a tie between Florence, AZ where a riot between the blacks and Pisas, and the SHU in USP Victorville.

Had no idea when I would be leaving any of those 7 places or where I was going to end up. Lots of opinions and sure things from guys.

Good shit bro, not many use that time to better themselves, really easy to just slip into a deeper hole. Were you into training yet at that time?

Funny you say that. Believe me, I was a very angry man back then. I swore to myself that I wasn't going to give in and program and better myself in any way. I hated any inmate that did their time taking classes and doing anything positive. Letting them win was something I wasn't prepared to do.

I spent a lot of years wishing and praying that disease and death would visit every corrections officer I had contact with. Most of them surely felt the same about me.

I had 5 years of supervised release(probation) when I got home in 2012. If you follow my postings here during that time I fell off the face of the earth 3 times. I was violated 3 times and each time I refused to go to my court date and made the US Marshals find me. By my 3rd violation I got really good at living off the grid, so to speak. Took the Marshals 16 months to find my wife and I for that 3rd violation.

You don't get extra time for not showing up to court. Time stops running but that was ok with me. I got married which cost me the 2nd violation. The 1st was being in the company of my codefendant. My wife and I werent married when we fell. US Probation wouldn't approve us cohabitating. My wifes son was diagnosed with Leukemia a couple of months before that 1st violation. My wife drove herself and 2 of her childhood friends an hour away to visit her son at Loma Linda Childrens Hospital. They were forced off the highway by another vehicle and hit a tree doing 65 plus MPH. Her 2 friends were killed instantly. She was trapped in the wreckage and had to be cut out of the car. She was critical for the first 36hrs. I spent the first week going back and forth between the 2 hospitals.

The trick is to not catch any new charges while on the run. If I was eating out of dumpsters and homeless I would've just turned myself in. I made posts on meso from Resorts and hotels around So Cal and parts of AZ. The same Marshal has your case file until you discharge. This pos harrassed my children and ex wife. I had poisoned my childrens minds. They hate LE to this day. Its not something I'm proud of. But I hated a lot of people.

The chess and pinochle was to help pass the time with a man I met and still talk with at least once a week today. I wanted to hang out with him and thats how he did his time. He tought me about the markets etc. I did burpees and body weight exercises. I posted a prison pic or 2 over the years here.

One of the violations I did at Terminal Island, CA. That place has the biggest weight pile I've ever seen. Other places have no weights. TI is made up of 60% pedos and sexual offenders. The vibe is horrible. The regular inmates have to live amongst that filth. Signs are posted everywhere reminding guys that assaulting other inmates for reasons such as their reason for being incarcerated would get you an additional 5 yrs.

In all I served an additional 21 months total over those 3 violations. The sentencing guidelines for the 3 Class C violations was 4 to 10 months. The 3rd violation I was given 10 months inside and after that I was discharged from Federal Probation in June 2019. My indictment was unsealed and I was picked up in October 2008.

 

[laclark89]

85% you did fed time then, correct? I began my road trip at MCC San Diego, 10th floor. I fell victim to ORD. Mid 2008. Diesel therapy had me going through 7 different holding facilities in a little more than a year. Con Air is real. The final leg was a 14hr bus ride belly chained, ankle chained, black boxed tied to 5 men, I believe. That black box makes putting mustard on that bologna sandwich impossible. Was so dehydrated and shell shocked I didn't have to piss once.

No sir state but ur suspicions are 100% correct, it's been over 10 years I've been off parole. I've forgot alot of this bs, you got me wondering y i did 85 I remember state was 80 or feds was 85. But ur right state ca is usually 50% or 80% and feds are 85? I'll attach a link below why, its I do not miss those cold ass bullpen sandwiches wheat bread and seran wrapped. I cant believe I usto Barter for extra bologna milk and boiled eggs.

The feds bounce u around so much ur head will spin state not much. Ca they use white cargo Van's no windows or the armored car looking ones I call meat wagons or Swanson trucks lol probably 8 inmayes max thats the 1 I was always in. I started in my local county over a year fighting then off to reception san quinten i think oldest prison in us the real hell on earth thats a spot u spear roaches for ur spare time then off to Delano another highly active place, with the little size and reputation i had I never had to fight once enless I wanted too at 6'3 210ish I was no slouch 1000+ push a day ups with burpies navy seals ect 357's. + dips and pullups when ever I could hitt the yard. I could do 20+ then an pushups for reps with a man my size laying on my back,an waterbags.
I gota take gear to get in that kinda shape now.

I got out with level 4 points from that shit hole an never looked back,it helped though got my GED read hundreds of books art of war atraction rich dad poor dad all that bs .

i was built to program but I'm more so built to be there for and support my family. I watched my kids grow behind bars.

 

[Zebedee]

You don't get extra time for not showing up to court. Time stops running but that was ok with me. I got married which cost me the 2nd violation. The 1st was being in the company of my codefendant. My wife and I werent married when we fell. US Probation wouldn't approve us cohabitating. .

If you don’t mind me asking mate -why did probation object? Seems awfully harsh & cruel of them.

 

[biggerben69]

If you don’t mind me asking mate -why did probation object? Seems awfully harsh & cruel of them.

We were living together when the indictment was unsealed. Had been for about a year. We weren't married though.

The state does a PSI(pre-sentencing investigation) but the PSI the Feds do is used as a tool for a lot of things. Calculating each defendants Criminal Category and the Offense Level of the crime(s) we find ourselves indicted for is the most popular.

The feds go back as far as possible to find out what a guy has been charged with and most importantly what you have been convicted of. Were you on probation when you were convicted of that Felony or Misdemeanor? Were you sentence to jail/prison for any conviction?

Convictions that are counted have to have happened within the l5 yrs going back from the day you are taken into custody. Each misdemeanor conviction counts as 1 point. Every felony conviction is 2 points. If you were on probation when you were arrested for the offense in the past add 1 point. If you were sentence to 1 year or more of incarceration for add another point.

There are 6 criminal categories. Cat #1 is 0 to 1 point. Cat #2 is 2 to 4 points and so on.

The offense level, if it’s a drug case, starts with a base offense level. 1 - 43 and then the total amount of whatever drug is involved can add or subtract points.

If it’s a drug case with a conspiracy attached you add points if you are the leader of the conspiracy and subtract points if you had a minor role.

If a computer was involved your are enhanced points. US Probation prepares the PSI. You either have a video conference or meet in person with your attorney and the rep from US Probation to go over the PSI. If no agreement can be reached a judge will decide on your Offense Level and Criminal Category. You plug the 2 into the chart which is the sentencing guidelines and come up with the guidelines you can be sentenced to.

That PSI has your life story. Once your are sentenced to your time and if you have been in custody since your indictment was unsealed(I got no bond. (I was considered a flight risk) you will be moving from the holding facility to the institution you will be designated to. You are not allowed to carry your PSI out of that facility. It is considered extreme contraband anywhere else the BOP will take you. Reason being is that in contains a death warrant for a large % of inmates. If you cooperated with the feds to receive downward departures from your guidelines it’s in there.

There are other ways we check paperwork. For those not skilled the PSI is the easiest. We have them mailed in 1 page at a time with regular inmate mail.

 

[biggerben69]

If you don’t mind me asking mate -why did probation object? Seems awfully harsh & cruel of them.

I started to answer you then got side tracked. Had my PSI discussed our relationship at all...if I had said we were engaged or that we had planned on my adopting her 2 kids at some point US Probation may have approved us being together. Maybe.

As it was she was my co-defendant/co-conspirator and a conficted felon. She received the same 60 mandatory minimum prison term. Its a fair amount of time. I wasn't certain what I was going to do once I released. I have family back East where I spent the first 35 yrs of my life.

My case was out of San Diego which is in the Southern District of CA. I live and at the time was living in the Central District. Before I released I had to move my case and Probation to the Central District. I was sentenced by my sentencing judge in San Diego.

I released to a halfway house in the Central District(Rubidoux, CA) and my ex-wife asked me to move in to her home in Palm Springs. We gave it another go. Was nice for a week or 2 but then quickly remembered why we split.

I started to calling my co-defendant and we hit it off and had to sneak around. Got married in Laughlin(SP?), NV.

 

[the-hollow]

I'll just leave this here.

View attachment 273511

Exactly. They would be more than happy to add another one. People get locked up for the dumbest shit but LE loves it because it's all about the numbers.