Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Insane True Stories of Betrayal, Criminal Code, & Life In Prison
25 Oct 2025
Chapter 1: What is discussed at the start of this section?
First time offender, nobody physically harmed. Judge starts going into a speech. You're hereby sentenced to 144 years. I went in at 19, and then I was 25, and I was 30. I went from little bro to big bro to OG. Like, I'm aging in there. I wrote two letters.
Chapter 2: How does Chris describe his transition to prison life?
Wrote one to the world and one to my wife, and I was getting ready to get up out of here. At first, it was good. We were in the cul-de-sac, you know, ranch-style house, but... With parents splitting up, dad being out of the household for months on end, finances going down, and them trying to figure out if they were going to be together, things declined.
And when they eventually got split up, I remember going from a house to a townhouse and a little basically to projects. Now, I'm in this small town in Virginia, and all I got is my older cousin, his friends, which... They're cool, but I'm not really into what they're into. I got my girlfriend, but that's it. So my social circle, that's all I was exposed to outside of work.
And I'd hang out with my cousin, his friends. I'd get off work, drink with them because he eventually ended up getting his own spot. And they were always over there plotting. Yeah, they always had a plan. They always... They were doing this. They were going to make a move. And I was never into it. I was a hustler. They were trying to stick shit up. Right.
Yeah, and I wasn't trying to hear that first. What were you doing for work? I was working at Walmart. Yeah, changing tires and, you know, just that. Trying. Trying. to I call it reacclimate to society. I just going from the military back to, and there's nothing wrong with that. Don't get me wrong, Walmart or a stocker's job or changing tires, but it was just, it was a shock to the system.
I wasn't happy and it was just. Unless you're up the chain pretty far in Walmart, that's not a sustainable career that you're going to retire at unless you're upper management of some kind. Right. You know, how do you get there? You know, and you're 19, you don't see it. You're like, Oh, you can't see, you can't see 10 years away at 19. You can't see a month and a half away. No, not at all.
So, um, So you're saying you're hustling and these guys are plotting robberies and shit. Is that what they're plotting? Are we talking about bank robberies or are we talking about just rob a local dealer? They're planning any type of robberies, whether it's dealer, store, bank. That was the conversation. My cousin used to be the type.
Every time I used to go to his apartment, they'd have an old mob flick. They'd have something on TV. That was the vibe they were in. That was just... But they weren't on shit. You know, I was a 19 year old kid and I'm listening. I'm talking to my cousin. They're older. I'm not around him all the time. Through the conversation, I'm really thinking they're out there doing some things.
And they weren't to the magnitude that they were, but I was feeding into the conversation little by little over time. At first, I was like, man, I'm not trying to hear that. But with your older cousin, you want to be loyal. You know your family. This is who you hang out with every day. So there come a point where the conversation, it went from me being outside of it
to little by little because i was over there and being exposed and now i'm in it maybe it's just two seconds uh you know some insight or something i'm giving you know hey wait what if y'all do this you know and that's that's really what got the ball rolling for real what so what what happened yeah so um man my cousin had came to me
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Chapter 3: What led Chris to get involved in criminal activities?
Ignored him that night. Walked out. I was like, cuz you're tripping. Told his homeboys. I said, y'all out of control. Maybe over the next couple of weeks, still going over there, you know, bringing my girlfriend over there, whatever. Conversation kept going and One day he just looks at me, says, look, I need you to go with me, little cuz. I don't got no ride. He didn't have a car at the time.
It broke down, whatever was going on. He's like, man, I'm late on rent. I owe such and such money. He's like, just go with me one time. Don't leave me hanging. He said, you don't even got to go in. It's a BB gun. He's breaking it all down to me. So I'm looking in my mind. In my mind, I'm calculating. I don't want to go. I'm like, oh, shit. I can feel it.
I'm like, this is not what I'm supposed to be doing. But I'm ignoring that feeling. I'm trying to justify it. He's talking about a BB gun. Okay, cool. Nobody's going to get shot. He just said nobody's going to get hurt. I don't have to get out the vehicle. To what? Are you driving? You're just driving? He asked me to be the driver. Yeah. Yeah. That's... Might as well go in the bank.
But in my mind, again, this is- Well, that's the problem. Listen, let me tell you something. I always thought, matter of fact, you might want to run with this at some point. I always thought you want to try and help curve crime sometime around eighth or ninth or 10th grade, teach the sentencing guidelines. We're doing it now. Oh, really? Because listen, you know what?
To me, the concept that you could get the kind of time that's available out there for it? You're like, for what? That's what we're doing now, educating people and their parents to that. Yeah. Oh, they're in shock. I'll bet they're in shock. And in denial, a lot of them. Oh, that can't happen. This is my son, that's not right. That's the defense.
I'm watching a kid right now, but I'm watching a kid, he's being led to slaughter right now. He just turned down a plea, public defender, co-defendant snitched, and mama's screaming.
he's gonna be that they're not gonna do that and i'm telling you that's you're in denial yeah they're probably well they're probably offering five or ten and he's she's not gonna he's not gonna take it and he's gonna end up with 30 begging for that ten they offered him ten and he's facing ten's like six now it's robbery charges with you know what i'm saying and well i mean i don't know whether it's state or whatever but yeah in federal now
10, you used to be eight and a half, right? Now it's like six because you can get so much time on an ankle monitor, halfway house, all that. Yeah, yeah. But this is what we're doing, yeah. I didn't know. So he's justifying it. He's telling me, in my mind, I'm doing the calculations. I'm not going to get out the car or the truck. So if we do get caught, they're not going to tell on me. Right?
This is my cousin. This is his homeboys. And if we do get caught, I can't get that much time. Right? It's a BB gun. I'm driving. You know what I'm saying? The nobody's going to tell on me part. The nobody. He's my cousin. Yeah. Doesn't mean anything. When you're facing 20 or 30 years, I'll miss you.
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Chapter 4: What was the outcome of Chris's sentencing?
He's like, I don't want to tell you because I don't want, if you're just the driver, the less you know if something, this is what he tells me. I know so much more now. He said, I don't want to tell you. He said, because if you're the driver and you know more than what you should, you can't get in more trouble. He's trying to break down all this. He's trying to protect me in the scenario. Yeah.
You're basing this on your vast experience, what, being a dishwasher at, you know. At best. You know what I'm saying? He was working at Hardee's. Right. Flipping burgers, the fry shaft. You know what I'm saying? That gives you the, that lets you know the mentality. Right. Um, so I got into a little bit back and forth, but I, it was just at that point again, you know what? Fuck it.
Let's get it over with. Like, I'm tired of having these conversations. I said yesterday, I'm gonna go. I don't want to be looked like a, you know, like a punk. I'm just driving. I'm going back down the list again. And every, all the bullshit he had told me. He said, be back because it was like four o'clock in the afternoon, you know, still daylight. He said, come back.
He said, just be back around like eight. You know, he said, we're going to have us a drink, smoke, get ready to go. Went, came back that night, went to the apartment. He had a bottle on the table. It was two homeboys that would become my co-defendants that night. And we sat down. We had a drink. And I felt so out of place in that moment. They were so hyped up and amped. Two BB guns now, right?
Handkerchiefs or bandanas, whatever. It was not well planned. It was – they hadn't have been doing – there's no way they could have been doing anything outside of this at the time. Right. Looking back. But had a drink, smoked, went and got in a truck. Yeah. And it was a cold October night. Went and got a truck like you guys – stole a truck? No, no. I had a truck. Oh, you had your truck.
Oh, okay. Yeah, I remember that. It was Suzu Rodeo with the crash bar. It was my thing. But got in the truck, and like I said, it was October. It was just one of those cold, rainy nights. And on the way there, I remember the song playing. I remember everything. I remember me inside my head trying to muster up enough courage to tell my cousins, and I'm like, fuck that. We're turning around.
I'm not going. And before I know, he had told me to take the last left because he had never told me where we were going. But he's like, yo, just park here. We'll be back. was it, like I didn't take the out. I didn't muster up enough courage to say, nah. So we pull up, boom, I parked and they're out. Where was it? They had me park off the distance, but they ran into a restaurant that initial time.
It was just a mom and pops. Allegedly they had got some information or something that there was going to be some decent money there, but no, no, it just, My thoughts are they just seen as an opportune spot and they didn't think it out well. And went, when I pulled up, they hopped out. They were gone probably for about two, three minutes. I couldn't see them. It was dark by then.
I could hear them when they were coming back. And those two, three minutes felt like two, three hours. I swear, I was looking through every window. I'm rear view and I'm checking. I hear him running back to the truck. They open the door, you know how the light pops on. I can see money falling out my cousin's hand. I pull off one of my co-defendants at the time, will eventually become one.
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Chapter 5: What experiences shape the perception of prison life?
What are you doing? Like that. He's.
like yeah one you know these guys are i go bro we're in a fucking low system shot yeah it's not they're in a low they're not that door opens he ain't gonna do nothing he's yeah he's going home oh my god oh my god you know so they're opening up we used to fuck with them too oh yeah but then the next day when they pop the doors we all go out we all stand there we get our little tray we sit down nobody does it just like yeah these guys are terrified the whole night
I'm like, you're fine. You're fine. It's part of the fun of it, though, after a while, though, watching. I mean, not that I wanted to see somebody in prison, but, you know. But think about it. After you've been locked up seven years, you know it's complicated. You're like, stop it, bro. You know what's going on. They're fucking with you. Stop looking so fucking scared. Stop. You're the one.
You're okay. It's okay, man. Yeah. I said this, I think yesterday, where I always joke around with guys.
Chapter 6: How does prison culture influence behavior and survival?
They're like, what's the difference between going to the medium and going to the low? And I was like, the simplest explanation is you go to the medium and you walk in your cell and someone stuck a Snickers bar on your pillow, don't touch it. I go, you go to the low, someone put a Snickers bar on your, you can eat it. They might leave a cup of coffee for you.
a shot of coffee for you up there or something. It's different. I enjoyed my time when I finally made it. It just took me a while. Right. But yeah, I'm back on Sussex. And I remember this time, what you were just talking about, I had got comfortable. I'm back on the compound. It's round two. The shock's not there. I know what this is. I've been in one building, four buildings, been on the yard.
And you know everybody now, right? You got to know still. If you said 70% are lifers, even if they're moving down, I don't know if they do at that point. You know at least 50% of the guys. Yeah. Easily. Because prior to me leaving the compound, like after the first two, I got the job as an inmate advisor. Oh, so you have to talk to everybody. I'm talking to everybody.
I'm walking around defending their, you know, if they catch an institutional charge. And, you know, I had that job. So, yeah. Got in trouble back up here. At this time, they separated the camp. They put all the lifers in one building. No, excuse me, three and four building. And they moved. Everybody was non-life. 25 and less, whatever, and then 10 and less.
And I was put in a building with 20 and less, and it was still kind of mixed. And the second time around, I was happy. I ended up getting put in a cell with my buddy, Anthony. And I was good to go. I was back in my bed.
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Chapter 7: What challenges do ex-prisoners face when reintegrating into society?
I had a job in the kitchen. Me and him worked in the trade room. We were locked in. We kind of had a routine with the sale. You know, he'd have it a couple hours, I'd be out and it's good to go. And he was getting short on his time. And that was the first time in my bed I had seen somebody getting ready to go home from Sussex where I was at. Hadn't seen anybody getting ready to go home.
And I always tell this part, cause it's kind of like where my mindset shifted with prison. My buddy, and you know, we're working in a dish room, me and Tony, and he's got 10 days left and they're getting ready to move him to basically like the re-entering pod, re-entry pod.
And I remember him telling me that last time we're washing dishes, you know how it is, if you ever had a kitchen job, you're busting dishes, you're talking trash, we're in there 12 hours a day by ourselves. We're bidding, we're rapping, you know, singing songs or whatever. And the last shift he worked with me before they moved him, he had already packed his stuff during the day.
And he's like, bro, I'm gonna miss you. He's like, man, I just got to make it out the door. I said, why you say it like that? He's like, I don't know, man. He's like, it's not over till it's over. I said, bro, you about to go home, bro. You tripping, like go over there.
Chapter 8: How can mental health impact the transition from prison to freedom?
And we'll see you later. Like, call me or let me call you. Give me your number. Let me call you when you go home. And man, he moved on. That was the last day he worked in the kitchen because, you know, they end your job. You're about to go home. And Saturday, like the same week, Saturday, getting ready to go to rec. And they locked the whole camp down, the whole prison down.
And some of the pods were already out. Some of us weren't. We were on our way out into the rec yard. We had made it onto the small yard. By the time I made it onto the small yard, they were moving us back out. All the COs, everybody was rushing to the yard. It was right across from us. Each pod was isolated or segregated into a fenced-in portion of the yard. And
What happened was, and I didn't know it was my homeboy, you know, until, you know, towards the end of us getting back into the building. Tony had owed a couple of people money, nothing too major. One guy in specific owed him a TV. The TVs at the time were five inches, five inch Magnavox, but a five inch Magnavox color TV is the prize possession in prison. And I don't know why the debt.
I don't know the reason. I don't remember him really being in anything. But he had promised this guy his TV. And maybe it took some money for it. I don't know. Maybe he sold it to him on the way out. At the last second, for whatever reason, not for whatever reason, his cousin ended up getting transferred there.
And he decided to give the TV to his cousin instead of the individual he promised it to. Right. In prison, that's a no-no. Yeah. That's a problem. That's a problem. The other issue or the other mistake that my friend made that day, he went to the rec yard. He was two days out at this time from going home. So it was a Saturday. He was supposed to go home Monday. Okay.
And essentially what happened, one of the guards, crooked guards out there, let him on the yard. Some guys that had owed him money, weren't in the dorm with him, let him on. And the guy that he owed the TV to and about three other guys, they jumped him. And this is the part I don't understand, because brother Anthony had people on the yard. He had people with him that could have did anything.
He stopped, grabbed them, did anything. And as the story got back, they beat him the first time. And he had got up. And if you ever seen somebody get knocked out on their feet but still be walking around, like, you know, they're not coherent. Yeah, they're wobbly. They got rocked. Yeah. Punch drunk. They're punch drunk, right? And they fucked him up pretty bad.
And at that point, he started following them. But he's not really knowing what's going on. He's literally asking them, why did y'all jump me? He's not even registering the reason at the time as we're getting the story. And the guy that he owed the TV to, he told him, he said, man, stop following me. He told him once, told him twice. Brother Anthony, punch drunk, was following him.
The guy turned around, hit him twice with a blade. Brother Anthony went to the fence, took a knee, crouched. The only reason they knew he was out there, because you got to keep in mind one of the guards let those other guys on. The main reason they knew he was out there is because they started calling him for visitation. Another CO came out and they were checking the yard to look for him.
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