Well, this is my first post in several months due to circumstances that were out of my control. Let me tell you, trying to maintain a blog from inside a prison is not easy. Unfortunately, my ex-Father in-Law could not continue to facilitate my blog for me so it took several months to find someone who was willing to take over. Through the help of a friend I now have someone who will be taking over the responsibilities of maintaining my blog.

So, let me get everyone caught up on the last several months. There is a lot to talk about so I figure it may take a few posts. I suppose it will depend on how condensed I can make my personal story which I am not exactly known for…haha.

Here we go!!
I’ll start back in November: As I have mentioned before I was working as a Supportive Living Services (SLS) mentor. Well, that changed when a particular CO (Corrections Officer) started having a negative affect on my life. Making everyone around her as miserable as she is seems to be her created mission. Not only does she involve inmates but other CO’s as well. Other CO’s have mentioned that she is difficult to work with. Some have even asked to be assigned to a new post because of this. Unfortunately, as inmate’s, we don’t have that option. So, I have as a result had several confrontations with her about her behavior and treatment of other inmates before I was hired as an SLS mentor. When she discovered that I had been interviewed for the job she attempted to influence the other 2 inmates (that were already SLS mentors) into telling their boss that I should not get the job. Let me point out that for a CO to use their authority in an unethical way which results in negatively affecting that inmate is highly unethical is just plain wrong. Instead of telling their boss this they let me know and after I was hired I told them what she had tried to do. This was just the first abuse of power and her manipulations.

As time went on she made several false/untrue reports about my behavior. The problem I believe she kept running into is that these reports didn’t line up with what other CO’s were experiencing with me. Nor did my record of discipline show these reports because I had no existing record of discipline, not even minor discipline and the things I was being accused of should have resulted in at least minor discipline. My bosses suggested I try to avoid her. However, this was impossible! Myself and other mentors (SLS) made ongoing reports to our bosses about her trying to manipulate us into getting other SLS participants in trouble so she could get them kicked out of the unit. It seemed as though she didn’t want to have to deal with them. She really crossed the line when she starting reading off another participants mental health record in front of inmates and making jokes about how crazy he was. This is supposed to be confidential information and extremely private, personal information. Joking about such an issue as mental health is very unprofessional and offensive. Myself, as a mentor, should not have known the things she was reading and the fact that I heard and knew the things she read off out loud while other inmates were present to witness this was unbelievable. This should be enough proof to take some form of disciplinarian action against her but nothing happened and instead she continued her inappropriate behavior.

Then the day came when she decided she wasn’t getting anywhere with my supervisors so she went to higher level bosses above their heads and reported that I was consistently wandering down different wings without permission (keep in mind, the building I was living in was 2 stories with 4 wings and you were only allowed to be in the wing you lived in and had to ask permission to enter other wings) and she said I had written a disrespectful “Kite” to her. A “Kite” is an internal way for us as inmates to communicate with anyone who works here. It also allows for a traceable paper trail. When the head boss received the complaint she fired me with no questions asked, so of course, I asked questions! I wanted to know where this supposed Kite letter I wrote was and if I had been wandering down different wings then why didn’t my disciplinary record reflect it. Doing this is at the very least a minor infraction and could go as far as being taken to “segregation” for being in an unauthorized area. To this day no one has ever seen this supposed Kite I wrote and I still have no discipline but she manipulated the system because I’m an inmate and her word is gold with or without proof. As a result of her lies and manipulations not only did I get fired but because I was fired the loss of my job is dealt with by being moved to a unit called the Restrictive Living Unit (RLU) where I am locked in my room for 22 hours a day. This happens to people who quit jobs also. I have experienced many devastating losses when I was only trying to help others and rehabilitate myself. I lost my place on the Restorative Justice Council. I lost my place on the Bio Hazard Crew and so much more, all because a CO can’t be held accountable for fireable behavior. 5 years of doing everything right and the great and powerful “OZ” can take it all away with lies. I sat in RLU trying to fight it while CO after CO told me how sorry they were that this happened, how it’s bullshit and they knew it, but they weren’t willing to go against another CO. In the end I was told, and I quote, “you need to let this one go or things are going to get harder for you!!!” This is the system that is sending people back out there to society to live next door to you! I was so infuriated by this situation that I almost became violent. Instead I turned it inwardly and things got dark.
I will cover the effect all this had on my mental health and the people around me in my next post.
Thanks for reading!

Greg Andreotti
OID #247877
Faribault prison
Faribault Mn.