Rikers Island

Sentencing

Interview with Blunt, Charles, Patrick, Ryan and TJ


JM: How long was your sentencing for?
Blunt: My sentence was for six months
Charles: I was charged but never sentenced
Patrick: four months
Ryan: 6 Months
TJ: n/a

JM: Did you spend time in a holding cell after your sentencing? If so, what was that like?
Blunt: Yes! The process was very quick. Compared to when they discharge you the process of going into jail was very quick.
Charles: I was arrested on Dec 19 2006 for assaulting my wife and I was arrested again on Dec 21 2006 for breaking up 3 stores with a sledgehammer. I was charged with a class E felony. Both times I was arrested I was placed in a tiny holding cell in Brooklyn's 63 precinct. The holding cell was maybe 6 feet by 6 feet with a small steel bench. The cops would take their sweet time taking you to a bathroom if you needed to go. After the holding cells we were taken to Central Booking. Central Booking was a nightmare. It was located way down below street level of the Courthouse, it was very , very crowded here and many prisoners were pissing and shitting in toilets that were clogged and overflowing. There weren't any windows down there. We ate peanut butter or cheese sandwiches with warm milk. It was disgusting having to eat with shit and piss all over the place. Prisoners slept on the floor on top of each other. I spent the entire night in these cells before I saw the judge. I was very delusional and paranoid then and got into 3 fights so the guards put me in leg shackels and took me to a nearby hospital for observation. The leg shackels are very very painful.
Patrick: yes and it was horrible i had to sit there for another six hours and waited and waited
Ryan: boring and stressful because you know you are not going home.
TJ: n/a