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Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast

Insane Ways People Smuggle Things Into Prison

28 Nov 2025

Transcription

Chapter 1: What shocking tactics are used to smuggle contraband into prison?

0.031 - 22.526 Dereck Jackson

You wrap the cardboard around the tip and you go point first. So when you poop it out, you want the handle to come out first. So 14, I went to a high school, Stag High School. I was walking down the levee and this girl ran out of the bushes and her clothes were all torn up, her face was all beat up. And I was like, what the hell's going on?

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23.027 - 41.972 Dereck Jackson

And I looked and there's a river right there and some guy comes tearing out of the bushes. And they're both kids. They both go to my school. And he see me running down to help her and he jumped in a river and swam across. So I was like, are you okay? So we're on the north side of Stockton.

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42.052 - 58.387 Dereck Jackson

I had to carry her all the way from the north side of Stockton all the way to the east side of Stockton, because I'm from east side Okeville. And because he her bad. He beat her up, her bad, she could barely walk. So I had to carry her, put her down, carry her and put her down. Took all day to get her there.

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58.808 - 82.354 Dereck Jackson

So the next day I waited for that guy on the levee and I ended up beating him up pretty bad. Fucked him up. They said I paralyzed him or something, but I doubt it. So I ended up going to juvie for it, and they wanted to give me seven years, YA, CYA. So they told my parents, they gave my parents this little portfolio, like a little packet of this place called Rites of Passage.

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82.374 - 85.78 Dereck Jackson

It's like a boot camp for kids, really horrible place.

85.88 - 87.463 Matthew Cox

That doesn't sound good at all, right? It doesn't.

87.646 - 110.571 Dereck Jackson

Yeah, you got some of the guys that run it. We call them coaches instead of COs. They're like big steroid babies. One of them did 25 years in Carson City Prison and all that stuff, and they used to beat the shit out of me. So they painted a colorful picture for my mom, and she's like, you need to go there. You need to go there so you don't go to get locked up. Well, I am getting locked up.

110.691 - 135.623 Dereck Jackson

It's just getting locked up and going through boot camp. You know, it's just like the military. They would have the Marines go in there and grade our workouts and stuff like that. And if you get in trouble, they put you in like a little box outside, and it's in Nevada. So when it snows, you got snow falling on you when you're sleeping. You know, they call it specials, special specials. Okay.

135.643 - 144.464 Dereck Jackson

Yeah, for special kids. And it was just for just small infractions and stuff like that. I can't finish. I work out, stuff like that.

Chapter 2: What violent experiences did Dereck face before incarceration?

225.987 - 232.675 Dereck Jackson

So I was told that I would potentially go to prison, you know. So I didn't have anybody in my life.

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233.115 - 235.939 Matthew Cox

You mean you were being told that you were going to end up in prison?

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236.459 - 260.825 Dereck Jackson

Yeah, because I was running away, doing a bunch of dumb shit, you know, because I just didn't. I was in a situation where I'm trying now to help kids where you give your kid a safe space, you know what I mean, to talk about stuff, and maybe I would have told them what happened to me. I was never given that. So we didn't have, like, role models in our life. Nobody gave a fuck about us.

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261.606 - 278.708 Dereck Jackson

You know what I mean? So I started hanging out with him. I wasn't really doing any crimes or anything like that. And then one day, just a homeboy came up, and it was my birthday. And he was like, hey, want to go do something fun? I was like, yeah, sure, why not?

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Chapter 3: How does Dereck describe his early experiences in juvenile detention?

279.088 - 288.181 Dereck Jackson

So we get in the car. Didn't know it was stolen. You know, so we're getting this little beat up shitty car. And that's when I went and did my first my first robbery.

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289.062 - 293.348 Matthew Cox

And what was that like? I mean, did he already have a place picked out? Like, is that?

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293.508 - 317.511 Dereck Jackson

Yeah. Yeah. So he was giving me this long lecture, you know, about to stay calm. You know, you're going to be the getaway driver, all this stuff. This is one of my robberies that I got busted for. And he's like, it's got to be fast. Just don't panic and all this stuff. So he goes and does his thing. I take off. We get stuck in traffic.

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317.651 - 321.097 Dereck Jackson

I got a car behind me, a car in front of me, cars on the sides of me, right?

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321.818 - 327.328 Matthew Cox

When you say he, what did he does his thing? He went to like a convenience store or like?

327.348 - 335.1 Dereck Jackson

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So now the cops are flying by. You know, and he's losing his shit. He's freaking out.

335.12 - 337.142 Matthew Cox

I thought he said to be calm.

337.223 - 360.568 Dereck Jackson

Right, right. So the only thing I knew what to do is I hit it in reverse. I smashed into the car behind me. I hit it dry, smashed into the car in front of me. And then the cars on the side, I just wedged this car right in there and I just smoked them. And I got through the cars. And by the time the back end of the car got loose, I just took off like a rocket, almost crashed.

361.139 - 364.105 Dereck Jackson

and we got on the freeway and I thought I got away with it, you know?

Chapter 4: What led Dereck to commit armed robbery?

831.11 - 846.214 Dereck Jackson

Just keep going. Right. Because I didn't want them to get in trouble. You know, I was already done, you know. And so they're like, no, get in. So I got in and then I led to that house. So three days later, I can't find them. I get rid of the car.

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846.194 - 867.664 Matthew Cox

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868.004 - 895.48 Matthew Cox

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895.721 - 919.366 Matthew Cox

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920.187 - 942.155 Dereck Jackson

I don't think it was too much longer. I'm sitting there chilling at my girlfriend's house. I get a call from that girl that loaned me the car. And she's all, oh, the cops are here. They got your ID. They got your gun. I didn't know I left a gun there. I didn't know my ID was there. Nothing. You know, all my fingerprints, my sunglasses were there, my fingerprints. And I was like, it's okay.

942.175 - 962.595 Dereck Jackson

Just come pick me up and we'll talk about it and all that good stuff. So me and my girlfriend both got in the car. We're driving. And next thing you know, you see a cop car just sitting right around a corner. Which never happens. This is not an area where cops were hanging out. It's a really bad neighborhood. And I was like, that don't look good. So we keep driving.

962.655 - 983.98 Dereck Jackson

My girlfriend's in the backseat and she's like, holy shit. I was like, what? And I look back and the cops fall on us. And I was like, oh, this ain't good. I'm sure there are multiple cops on their way. Yeah, and you could tell she's nervous as hell, right? I'm like, something's off. Something's really off. And I said, look, if he hits his lights, take off. Get around the corner.

984.02 - 1007.667 Dereck Jackson

I'm going to get out and jump out so you guys don't get in trouble. And next thing you know, my girlfriend says, holy shit, because it's a really long road. She looks back. There's all kinds of cop cars, SWAT. The FBI was there, all kinds of shit. They had helicopters everywhere. The whole neighborhood was completely surrounded. They boxed me in. And I didn't have no gun on me.

1007.687 - 1021.663 Dereck Jackson

I had a backpack full of shotgun shells. And so I just told her, just pull over. And then, yeah, they took me into custody. So now I'm in county jail, you know, fainting.

Chapter 5: What challenges do guards face in monitoring inmates?

3304.066 - 3322.873 Matthew Cox

I can see him not making the round. Like, you know, if you've got, oh, no, somebody got in there. Nobody got into a prison like it's you would have to have so many people that would all have. I'm not saying it's not possible, but there would have to be so many people working together to get that to have that happen.

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3322.853 - 3332.945 Matthew Cox

I'm not saying it's not possible, but when people are like, oh, trust me, the camera, listen to the camera. A lot of cameras just don't work. What do they care?

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3333.866 - 3335.087 Dereck Jackson

Yeah, that's crazy.

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3335.288 - 3357.619 Matthew Cox

Yeah, the cameras are there, really. They're not there for the safety of the guards. They're there kind of to watch the inmates. And if it's not really a problem, what do they give a shit if the inmates are ripping each other off or causing problems? The guards at Coleman, they'd go in their little office, and they might not come out for hours and hours and hours. We were just on our own.

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3358.105 - 3360.448 Dereck Jackson

Yeah, that's a little dangerous.

3360.468 - 3361.129 Matthew Cox

Well, that's a low.

3362.43 - 3370.62 Dereck Jackson

Have you guys heard anything like when you're talking about the kites, like anything from California, you're like, no, that ain't true. Have you heard anything like that?

3370.7 - 3372.483 Matthew Cox

The kites now? What do you mean?

3372.523 - 3384.289 Dereck Jackson

You mean what Wes was saying about sneaking kites in and are hooping kites and are, I mean, hooping their paperwork and all that? You ever hear any California stories? You're like, no, that's not true. That can't be true.

Chapter 6: How do prison politics affect inmate safety?

3399.002 - 3418.977 Matthew Cox

But when a new guy would get there, these guys would step to him and say, hey, man, first of all, they don't expect you to have your paperwork. And so they'd be like, look, you got a couple weeks to get your paperwork in. And some of the guys would be like, oh, well, as soon as I get my stuff, I'll have it. And other ones are like, no, no, no, my family's already mailing it in. I can get it.

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3419.227 - 3426.721 Matthew Cox

But you're not supposed to have it. You're not allowed to have it. So if they catch it in the mailroom, they're going to send it back to your family or whoever.

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3427.182 - 3442.551 Dereck Jackson

Prisons from the 90s all the way until now is completely different. Now they're putting protective custody, which we call MSNY, they're putting them in yards with actives now. They call them 50-50 yards. Now they're all killing each other.

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3443.071 - 3457.552 Dereck Jackson

So basically, if you're a sex offender or you told on somebody or informant or anything like that, now they're putting you on yards with the guys that are politic and that are supposedly good.

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3457.712 - 3457.912 Unknown

Right.

3458.513 - 3461.738 Dereck Jackson

Everybody's telling on each other in there. You know what I mean? I never did, but.

Chapter 7: What are the misconceptions about prison life?

3462.157 - 3488.145 Dereck Jackson

There's people in there, you know, telling. And I just don't understand that. The only thing that I think that makes sense is it makes them more money, you know, CDCR, because the way it's rising with the violence, more COs are getting hit now, stuff like that. But I just never understood why they would do that. You know, guys come and say, look, I'm in danger, and you need to help me out.

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3488.846 - 3494.847 Dereck Jackson

You know, and they do that, and they end up sending them to, a yard with a bunch of actives.

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3495.738 - 3519.059 Matthew Cox

Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I know that after COVID, everything I heard about the low at Coleman, and just Coleman in general, was like half the guards quit because COVID was just rampant inside the prison. And guards start, your buddies start getting it, and one or two guys die, and you just go, I'm done. I'm not staying here. Like everybody here is getting COVID.

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3519.439 - 3521.021 Matthew Cox

And they couldn't stop it, right?

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3521.121 - 3522.862 Dereck Jackson

Yeah, I got out right when COVID hit.

3522.882 - 3544.771 Matthew Cox

So what happens when all those guards quit, In a way, you'd think, oh, well, they just hired more guards. The problem with them hiring more guards is the new guards, one, aren't making nearly as much money as the guy that has been there for 20 years. He's making $100,000 a year or $80,000 a year. The new guard's getting hired at $35,000.

3544.791 - 3575.697 Matthew Cox

And maybe if he works overtime, he could make, whatever, $40,000 or $45,000, maybe. It's not a lot of money. Second problem is he doesn't know all the tricks, right? that the inmates know. He doesn't know if he sees something in the cell or if he sees a... an inmate with something or he's looking for something. Like he doesn't realize that the hooch is up in the, you know what I'm saying?

3575.718 - 3594.694 Matthew Cox

Like, oh no, you gotta unscrew this and put your arm back here and feel around. He doesn't realize that, you know, where are these guys making the hooch? Well, in the bathroom, like they got a small vent. No, there's screws on that vent. They can get the screws off. Like, you see what I'm saying? Or those screws are actually false screws. They're not even screws.

3595.175 - 3604.5 Matthew Cox

They're just completely, they only look like screws. Right. So trust me, these guys, they've got it rigged so they can barely pull it and they can remove it, reach their hand up and...

Chapter 8: How does the justice system handle crimes against children?

3647.694 - 3668.043 Matthew Cox

It'd take a while. And they'd be like, They're like, why didn't you just go buy gold? Why didn't you go buy diamonds? They had all these ways to remove money. And I was like, I didn't know that. Why didn't you go and buy this and do this? And you immediately can sell it and make this much. It may only charge you 3%. And you're like, fuck, I didn't even consider that. You're right.

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3668.063 - 3670.026 Matthew Cox

You could have drained an account in a day or two.

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3670.158 - 3683.654 Dereck Jackson

I don't know that. The fucked up thing is these guys are so brilliant at breaking the law. They can't reverse it and be just a normal person out here. That's what I'm trying to do. Try to use those skills, but do it in a good way. You know what I mean?

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3684.215 - 3708.729 Matthew Cox

It's hard. It is very hard. It's hard because when your back's against the wall, most people's go-to to make money is what they know. The easy way. Yeah. You know you can grab... a weapon and go into a Circle K and get a few hundred bucks, or, you know, you can go to a grocery store and walk out with a few thousand dollars. You know what I'm saying? Like, you know, it's immediate.

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3708.789 - 3716.702 Matthew Cox

I know I can do this and make this, you know, make this it's quick money. But yeah, you're right. It just eventually comes back on you.

3716.733 - 3718.676 Dereck Jackson

And you feel much better when you earn it the right way.

3718.996 - 3719.217 Matthew Cox

Right.

3719.237 - 3721.3 Dereck Jackson

You know, I feel much better.

3721.32 - 3724.564 Matthew Cox

You don't blow it easy. It has a lot more meaning.

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