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🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00Before all the love, I'm just excited to start my new life with you.
00:07My love!
00:08I love you more than anything in the world.
00:09You mad at me?
00:10Yeah.
00:11And the drama.
00:12What have I done to you that was that ****?
00:13I got you running off with a married **** fan!
00:14Please don't make me go through with this.
00:15This is the story of our lives before prison.
00:16There was a point in life, I was losing myself.
00:17I guess I was a junkie.
00:19I really was committing crimes and doing things just to get high.
00:20I climbed the ladder in the drug game extremely quickly.
00:21I watched too much Breaking Bad.
00:22I thought if Walter White could do it, I could too.
00:23Meth, methamphetamine, crystal ice glass and other forms of methadone.
00:24That was my specialty.
00:25I was on top of the world.
00:26I'm the man.
00:27You got like a bum.
00:28I'm a man.
00:29I'm a man.
00:30I'm a man.
00:31I'm a man.
00:32I'm a man.
00:33I'm a man.
00:34I'm a man.
00:35I'm a man.
00:36I'm a man.
00:37I'm a man.
00:38I'm a man.
00:39I'm a man.
00:40I'm a man.
00:41I'm a man.
00:42I'm a man.
00:43I'm a man.
00:44I'm a man.
00:48I'm here.
00:49Did I really understand that I can die at any moment?
00:52No.
00:53My name is Garrett Tanner.
00:54My name is Lindsay Downs.
00:55And this is my crime story.
00:56And this is my crime story.
01:00Before I became a drug dealer.
01:14Before I started doing meth.
01:16and before I spent six years in prison,
01:19I was just an average country girl.
01:22I grew up in a small community.
01:23My graduating class was less than 30 people.
01:25I grew up in a chicken farm,
01:27so we were constantly outside with different animals
01:29and riding four-wheelers
01:31and just doing traditional country-style living.
01:34My biological parents weren't very active
01:36in my life growing up.
01:37I was raised by my step-grandmother.
01:40As far as I'm concerned, she's my mom.
01:42She'll always be my mom.
01:43In high school, I was super committed to my sports.
01:48Like, basketball was my life.
01:49It was the reason for everything.
01:50Basketball, cheerleading, softball,
01:51that was the entirety of what I wanted to do.
01:54I can't even dribble anymore.
01:58I can't see because of the hat.
02:04I was really good at basketball before I had Miley.
02:06I slowed down a little bit afterwards.
02:13You know, I met your dad when I was a freshman
02:16in high school, and I fell in love the first time
02:19because we were gonna be together forever.
02:21We weren't.
02:23And, you know, I had you when I was 16.
02:25Having Miley was honestly like a huge wake-up call for me.
02:29Like, it was a time when I had to grow up immediately,
02:31and it was suddenly like, wow,
02:32this little person now depends on me for, like, everything.
02:36So, for the next several years,
02:37my life was all about Miley in every single aspect.
02:41Honestly, between working three jobs and going to school,
02:44like, I was burnt out.
02:45I was exhausted.
02:46I was mentally and physically drained.
02:51When me and Miley's dad broke up, she had just turned four.
02:54We just, we were very different,
02:56and we wanted different things.
02:58The next relationship I was in, I got introduced to cocaine.
03:02That was the first real drug I had ever done.
03:04I was just like you.
03:06I was in all my sports.
03:07I had straight A's.
03:08Never would've thought I would've been on drugs, you know?
03:11It just didn't fit into who I was,
03:13and I didn't get into drugs
03:14because I was off partying and stuff.
03:15I was just tired, and I was busy all the time,
03:18and my grades were starting to drop.
03:20I did cocaine for the first time
03:22because somebody told me it would help me get my grades up.
03:26I had actually commented that I needed to stay up
03:30for midterms and finals, and I was working three jobs,
03:32and I was going to school, and I was exhausted,
03:34and he was like, hey, you can try, you know, coke,
03:36and I was like, no, I don't think so,
03:38and then he gave me a 20 sack
03:40and let me try coke for the first time for free,
03:42and I absolutely loved it.
03:44It was just instantly the spiral downward
03:47because all it took was that one time,
03:50and then it transitioned over to another drug,
03:52and then it became a full-fledged addiction just that quick.
03:57I just don't want to see you go down the same path.
03:59You have all my potential plus some.
04:02It was really about doing drugs.
04:04It was really just like recreational using,
04:06but my next boyfriend impacted my life dramatically
04:09and not in a great way.
04:11When I met B, I really got to experience
04:14like drug dealing firsthand.
04:19You gonna jump?
04:22What the police is?
04:23It's the police.
04:24Hi.
04:25I would watch him sell drugs all day,
04:28and I saw just massive amounts of drugs and money,
04:33and I just thought it was the coolest thing ever.
04:37So the whole time we're together,
04:39I'm watching and paying attention and listening
04:42to everything he does and says,
04:43and I was literally giving myself a crash course
04:47in how to be a drug dealer.
04:48Most of your drug dealers don't have a college education
04:52under their belt before they start dealing.
04:54I took everything that I had learned from B,
04:56and then I applied it into, well, a business style.
05:01I'm pretty.
05:02I'm aware that I'm pretty.
05:04They see a pretty face and they want to impress me.
05:06They want me to stay by their side.
05:08They'll do whatever to keep me there.
05:10I use that.
05:14At the height of my business, I had this idea in my mind.
05:19I wanted to create this picture perfect family
05:21for me and Miley.
05:22I bought us this quarter million dollar house,
05:23and at that time I had planned,
05:24like I was gonna get sober and that I was gonna,
05:26you know, be there for Miley more,
05:28and that's not how it ended up happening.
05:30This one on the left is your window,
05:32and this one is the window on the other side
05:34from the pool window, that one.
05:35Yeah.
05:36I hired 24 hour nanny care for my daughter
05:38because I wanted someone who was sober
05:40to be with her at all times.
05:42My home was ran for me.
05:44My daughter was taken care of for me.
05:45I was like a ghost floating through their lives.
05:50Daytime and nighttime nannies would do like the,
05:53like things around the house, the cooking, the cleaning,
05:55the shopping, the laundry.
05:57I had daytime and nighttime nannies?
05:58Yes, so Hayden was your nighttime nanny,
06:00and Kelly was your daytime nanny.
06:02How much money were you making, like, in all?
06:07In 2015, we made $300,000.
06:10Jesus.
06:12Made more than a doctor.
06:13We sold to a doctor.
06:15I really hope he's not a silly doctor.
06:18I haven't checked.
06:20The more money that was coming in,
06:21the more that was going out.
06:22If you sold drugs for me and you went to jail,
06:24I would obviously bond you out, like hands down,
06:26immediately, because I don't want you telling on me.
06:28$400,000, $700,000.
06:30Cash, right?
06:33You know we gotta bond him out
06:33before Betty leaves at five, right?
06:34If I just had to take a guess,
06:36I would say I've paid around $50,000 in bonds.
06:39People do drugs until they run out of money
06:42or they run out of drugs,
06:43and then they go to sleep.
06:45I never done drugs.
06:46I never ran out of money, so I never went to sleep.
06:48Like, I never slowed down.
06:50It was just more, faster, higher, go.
06:53Yeah, I miss this house.
06:57This was a nice house.
06:58It was a nice house.
06:59I'm gonna buy this house back.
07:01Oh, are you?
07:02Yeah.
07:11This is it.
07:17I watched too much Breaking Bad.
07:19I thought if Walter White could do it, I could too.
07:21I wanted to smoke the purest meth available.
07:24I wanted pure D meth,
07:26and I didn't want to smoke it for myself.
07:28I wanted to say that I had had it and that it was mine.
07:32It really does look like the little RV I used to cook in.
07:37Did I take you out there?
07:39Yeah, one time, but you wasn't cooking.
07:42No, no, I wouldn't have taken you out there
07:43if I was cooking.
07:44Lindsey was, at the time, the biggest female drug queen.
07:49She was very sought after by men and women.
07:53Everybody wanted to run with us.
07:54Everybody wanted to hang with us.
07:56Everybody wanted our dope.
07:57I was just basically playing around
07:59I was just basically playing around with different recipes
08:01and seeing if I could break it down and recrystallize it.
08:04But unfortunately, I had no idea what I was doing.
08:06I mean, I bought a kid's science experiment kit offline
08:10and was just baking stuff and throwing stuff together.
08:13Cooking meth, when the flame hits that mixture,
08:16it's, man, you got like a bomb here, you know?
08:19Oh, no, it's just little fertilizers, you know?
08:22No, you got a bomb.
08:23I didn't realize the repercussions of what I was doing.
08:25Not fully, not really.
08:27Not really.
08:28Like, I knew it was dangerous, but did I really,
08:30really understand that I could die at any moment?
08:33No, I didn't care.
08:34I wasn't thinking about those consequences.
08:35I was high.
08:36I was just worried about making the next dollar.
08:38I said, boom, I looked over and it's fire
08:40and it was reaching up to the cabinets.
08:42And then I broke the thing down.
08:50Burglaries, stealing cars, credit card fraud.
08:53Noises went from one extreme to the next, to the next.
08:55We bump up the curve.
08:57We knock the light pole out the ground.
08:58The car was total.
08:59It was done smoking.
09:00I was a whole new level of bad.
09:02The vehicle started driving recklessly.
09:04This is the first time that I'm meeting one of the officers
09:06that arrested me then.
09:07I have like super blurry memories from that time.
09:10There was really no remorse there.
09:18Rolling.
09:20All right.
09:22I probably did about 3,000 days in jail total.
09:24Dealing stolen property, grand theft auto.
09:27And all those charges happened when I was 15 years old.
09:30I ended up ultimately getting eight years in prison
09:32and five years probation.
09:35I was born and raised in Tampa, Florida.
09:37My parents broke up when I was an infant.
09:40So me and my brother bounced back and forth a lot,
09:42you know, with my mom, with my dad.
09:44I was raised by my mom and my dad.
09:46I was raised by my mom and my dad.
09:48Me and my brother bounced back and forth a lot,
09:50you know, with my mom some of the week,
09:52with my dad some of the week.
09:53Growing up, my childhood, I say, started off kind of poor,
09:56but my dad made some good business moves.
09:59And eventually we moved into a way nicer house.
10:03Had a basketball court down the street.
10:07I'm a good friend.
10:08That's what I'm talking about, man.
10:09Okay, buddy.
10:11Hey, you remember when dad used to make us do layup drills?
10:13You used to play basketball all the time back then.
10:16Yeah, we did.
10:16Life was good.
10:17And then when I was about 10,
10:19my mom started dating this new guy
10:21and things kind of got rough.
10:24She thought he was cool and so did I.
10:26He had a cool car.
10:27He would drive fast.
10:29At the grocery store, he used to steal.
10:31And I picked up on it.
10:32I was like, damn, it's that easy, huh?
10:33Just take it, put it in your pocket, and you leave.
10:37And this is, why haven't I been doing this all along?
10:40I started stealing candy from Winn-Dixie
10:42down the street from my house.
10:43That started at probably 12.
10:45My mom's boyfriend, he really was a terrible influence
10:47on me.
10:49Walked down the hallway one day and he was in the bedroom.
10:51He pulled a big bag of weed out.
10:52He was like, yeah, I just got out.
10:54I'm like, trafficking.
10:55He's like, I'm back, you know, I'm back at it.
10:57Eventually, you know, I was smoking weed too.
11:00I don't know Garrett personally,
11:02but I do know that person.
11:04He's young.
11:05He has some bad role models.
11:07They introduce him to drugs,
11:09how to commit petty crimes,
11:11and those gradually escalate.
11:13I was about 13 when my mom and her boyfriend broke up
11:16and she moved to Oregon.
11:18I don't know, I was definitely upset about it.
11:19I lost interest in school.
11:21The drug use continued.
11:22I was getting so high.
11:23I went from doing mushrooms on the weekend
11:26to doing, you know, Xanax and Coke
11:28in the middle of the week.
11:29And then, you know, that's meth.
11:31You guys do that?
11:32Hmm.
11:34I'll try it.
11:34You know, it's cool.
11:40We are at my childhood home.
11:43There's a lot of hurt surrounding this house.
11:45My father, he put everything he had into this house.
11:48You know, when he got here,
11:49we were a whole family and life was good.
11:52And when he left this house,
11:53he was divorced and his son was in jail.
11:57It's like so many emotions right now
11:58because I know I made some poor choices
12:00and I know it affected people I love.
12:04This is my bedroom window.
12:05I would sneak out for all kinds of reasons.
12:06I'd sneak out to go hang out with the girls.
12:07I'd sneak out to go get high.
12:09A lot of times I would sneak out
12:10and I would break in cars.
12:11The underground world of trafficking stolen goods,
12:14it's a really hot market
12:15because it's easy cash for the criminals.
12:17Most criminals commit the crimes close to where they live.
12:20Well, what Garrett was doing
12:21was he was frequenting
12:22a lot of the upper-class neighborhoods
12:25relatively close to where he lives.
12:26In case there were trouble,
12:27he had an escape route to get back
12:29inside of his own residence.
12:31This is my brother's window.
12:32So I would always just come knock, doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo.
12:34And I'd just throw my backpack
12:36and then I'd jump in his window.
12:38Because my dad used to come lock my window.
12:39I used to work seven days a week.
12:40I used to be on the clock.
12:42You know, burglaries, stealing cars, credit card fraud.
12:45And I just went so fast.
12:47You know, I just went from one extreme
12:48to the next, to the next.
12:49I was a whole new level of bad.
12:52There was no fear.
12:53When you look at Garrett's case,
12:54you see classic escalation.
12:56I don't have the substance I'm addicted to.
12:59I need the substance I'm addicted to.
13:01I don't have spending money to get it.
13:04But I've got property all around me
13:06and there's a market out there for that.
13:08One day I had no money.
13:09I had no drugs.
13:11I had no weed.
13:12I had nothing.
13:13And I was stressed.
13:15My dad got two laptops.
13:17If I take one, he'll still have one.
13:20And he should be good.
13:22You know, he could work with one laptop.
13:24He probably won't even realize at first.
13:25So I convinced myself that it was okay.
13:30I don't know.
13:31I don't know how I convinced myself of that, honestly.
13:32To this day, I don't know how I came up
13:34with that being okay.
13:35I went and sold a laptop for some coal,
13:38some Xans, some weed, and a little bit of cash.
13:43When I finally came home,
13:46I knew I had to face the music,
13:47but I didn't want to face it that night.
13:51First, I walked around the house
13:52and I knocked on my brother's window.
13:54Lifted the blinds up and shook his head no,
13:56and then dropped the blinds on me.
13:58So I was at the front door
14:00and I knew it was my dad.
14:01He was coming to the door
14:02and my heart was beating fast.
14:04I felt, you know, I felt nauseous.
14:06I remember how upset he was
14:09and the tears in his eyes.
14:11And I remember,
14:13I mean, it was like,
14:14you stole my, like my son.
14:17You stole from your dad, you know,
14:19nothing but take care of you your whole life, you know?
14:22You could have stole from anybody,
14:24but me, he didn't turn me in or anything.
14:26But after that, all bets were off.
14:29I would steal anything.
14:30I would do anything.
14:32Like I lost myself.
14:36Hmm.
14:44First time I stole a truck on myself,
14:47I had been smoking, drinking,
14:48high on meth,
14:49walking through the, you know,
14:50alleys late at night,
14:51trying cars, you know,
14:53trying doors,
14:54doing my regular routine.
14:55And I popped the door to this blue truck.
14:57I don't really find anything too good,
14:59but I found the keys to the car.
15:01So I...
15:02Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
15:05I was so proud of myself.
15:07I did it.
15:08Today, I've become a man.
15:10I ended up meeting up with my homeboy
15:12and he jumped right in the driver's seat.
15:13He tries like fishtail
15:15and loses control and spins out and hits a wall.
15:18Unfortunately, a cop car was coming by.
15:21He busts a U-turn,
15:21immediately turns lights on.
15:23My homeboy just floors it.
15:24He pedal to the metal.
15:25He's flying.
15:28In his first experience,
15:29he was joy riding,
15:30which then turned into a car chase,
15:32running away from the police to the felony.
15:35The police were behind us
15:35and, you know, it's a small road,
15:36so we could see his lights in the rear view mirror.
15:39But I remember him being like hysterical,
15:40like, man, man.
15:42The kid, you know, going crazy.
15:44He was going a hundred miles per hour.
15:45He was going well over a hundred.
15:46And then when he got about right here,
15:49he tried to slow down,
15:50hit the brake a little bit.
15:51And when he did, he go,
15:52ah, and he drifted.
15:54We come in,
15:55we bump up the curb,
15:56we knock the light pole off the ground.
15:58The car was total.
15:58It was done smoking.
16:01We both jumped out.
16:01When Garrett went ahead and bailed out
16:03along with his friend,
16:04law enforcement,
16:05their goal is to get him into custody.
16:07I'm in the passenger.
16:08He's in the driver's seat.
16:09We cross paths this way.
16:11I ran in the woods
16:12and I tried to like hide up under a bush.
16:14Keep in mind,
16:15with law enforcement,
16:16they have no idea still.
16:18This is a 15 year old juvenile.
16:20It's a stolen vehicle,
16:21felony.
16:22Car pursuit was extremely dangerous.
16:25Multiple felonies involved with that.
16:27All they know is they're chasing somebody
16:28that's really needing to get away.
16:30I'm praying to God that they just,
16:32they don't see me.
16:32They don't know where I'm at.
16:34I just wanted it to all be over.
16:35But this is just the beginning.
16:38The hunt is on.
16:45They hit their blue lights
16:46and the first thing I did was just hit the gas.
16:48This was the big moment when like,
16:51hey, this time I'm not getting out of it.
16:54Screaming like somebody's murdering me
16:56because that's what it felt like.
16:56It was so painful.
16:58And my sick twisted thinking,
16:59it almost,
17:00I felt like it gave me street cred.
17:09This is what you're more typically gonna see
17:11in like, you know,
17:12trap houses and stuff in the Mississippi.
17:13Like you don't really need like your basic necessities
17:15in your kitchen besides your fridge.
17:17Like you're not doing a whole lot of cooking.
17:18You're not eating no food.
17:20So the majority of your space is used to cook dope,
17:23smoke dope.
17:24Everything in your life is surrounded by dope.
17:25I had the idea of using a prescription methamphetamine
17:31to make crystal meth.
17:32And for the next month,
17:33I pretended to be a dope cook.
17:36So I had my little chemistry kit brought in
17:38and I had my tweaker kit.
17:40So I had tape.
17:41I had tubes,
17:42bowls to smoke out of,
17:43pipes, torches.
17:45I thought I knew what I was doing.
17:47I had the lid on the pot.
17:49It said, boom.
17:50I looked over and it's fire
17:51and it was reaching up to the cabinets.
17:54And I looked at it
17:55and I was like,
17:56nope.
17:57And I walked out
17:58and I drove off.
18:01I didn't go back.
18:03I burnt the thing down.
18:05Honestly, I could have ended so badly for me.
18:08Like I could have died.
18:08I could have been deformed for the rest of my life.
18:10Like I was lucky.
18:12It scared me straight on that front at least.
18:16There was no doubt in my mind
18:17that I was eventually gonna get caught.
18:18Like I know that in the dope game,
18:20you're gonna end up dead or in jail.
18:21The first time I ever got in any trouble was in 2015.
18:25I had been selling drugs for over a year at that point.
18:29And I had picked my dad and my stepmother up
18:33for his birthday.
18:34The police stopped us
18:35and they pulled us out
18:36and illegally searched the car
18:38with me telling them not to.
18:40And they found half of a gram
18:43and then went to jail for like one day
18:49before I got out on bond.
18:50And then it seemed from that point,
18:53things just began to spiral downwards for me.
18:56I got a grand larceny charge.
18:58I called an aggravated assault charge
19:01but then I would get out on bond
19:03and then I would get out on bond.
19:04I had no fear of consequences.
19:05They weren't a big deal at that time.
19:12Young and dumb.
19:14This was the night that I really hit the mainstream radar.
19:21Everything started on January the 25th, 2016,
19:25roughly around midnight.
19:27I really needed to go make a drop.
19:29This person was consistent.
19:31They wanted their pound each week
19:33and I really couldn't afford to like lose this person.
19:37I knew something was wrong.
19:38I knew that I was gonna get caught.
19:40I knew that I was gonna get caught.
19:42I knew something was wrong.
19:44I felt it in my bones like something was not right.
19:48As I pulled out,
19:49the South Tula police pulled out behind me
19:52and they followed me up the road.
19:54An officer encountered a car traveling 65
19:57and a 45 mile an hour zone.
19:59They hit their blue lights
20:01and the first thing I did was just hit the gas.
20:02The vehicle failed to stop
20:04and started driving recklessly
20:06at high rates of speed of 130 to 140 miles an hour.
20:10I had a personal lawyer for myself on retainer.
20:13I sat down and talked hypothetically
20:14about how a drug dealer is typically caught
20:16and the ways to avoid that.
20:18He told me that if I kept a safe
20:21and kept everything illegal inside that safe,
20:24that that safe could not be opened without a warrant.
20:27So even if they pulled you over,
20:28as long as the safe is locked, you're good.
20:33And that worked many, many, many, many, many times.
20:36This time things were different.
20:38I had the gut instinct that I needed to ditch the safes.
20:41I knew I had up this time.
20:44I rolled this window down.
20:45I grabbed the safe.
20:46I throw it out right here, right past the sign.
20:48So it should have hit right past that sign.
20:51That's the whole point of getting the high speed chase
20:52is if I can get away, great.
20:53At the very least I can get my drugs out of the car
20:55and not get charged with them.
20:56And I just get a felony fleeing, but no possession charge,
20:59which was my main concern.
21:04Pursuit ended up going through two different cities,
21:07ended up in Baldwin, Mississippi.
21:09During the high speed chase,
21:12I had taken my seatbelt off
21:12because I was throwing things out the window.
21:14I'm flying down these back roads
21:16on these little curbs and stuff.
21:17When I came at the Y, I came across that curb.
21:21And when I got around the curb, I drifted around the curb
21:23and then slid right into that embankment.
21:25And when I hit the embankment,
21:26it threw me to the passenger side
21:29and I hit my face against the dash.
21:32It knocked me out for a second.
21:35And when I came to, the police were pulling me out
21:38by the waistband of my shorts.
21:41They said they would give us a thousand dollars per car
21:43and he'll buy as many cars as we can bring.
21:45Ooh, 15 and pulling up in a stolen car,
21:49pocket full of money.
21:49I had no idea that they would let you commit a crime
21:54and wait to come get you.
21:56I'm currently out on bond in the state of Mississippi.
21:59This is when it starts to get serious.
22:00I'm facing a maximum of 40 years.
22:11That night, I was terrified.
22:14It all seemed like a dream.
22:15High-speed chase and then foot pursuit.
22:18I run down in the woods.
22:19I'm praying to God that they just, they don't see me.
22:21They don't know where I'm at.
22:23Cop cars just keep piling up.
22:24They're piling up.
22:25There's a helicopter spinning around.
22:27I could see the light in the woods,
22:29and it crossed over me a couple times,
22:31and I tried to get deeper in the brush,
22:33and I could hear this dog, you know, coming,
22:35and I'm pretty sure it's gonna get me.
22:37The dog shredded my shoe up,
22:39continued to drag me by my foot.
22:41I'm screaming like somebody's murdering me,
22:43because that's what it felt like.
22:44It was so painful, and it's embarrassing to say.
22:47I was pissed.
22:48I couldn't even hold on to it.
22:50I still to this day have a fear of dogs,
22:52just from being bit like that.
22:53It was absolutely horrifying.
22:56They cuffed me up, threw me in the back of the cop car,
22:59took my ass to jail.
23:01I was on meth high, and I was scared, and it sucked.
23:05My dad picked me up the next morning.
23:06I was only 15.
23:07But I was put on probation for that.
23:10The fact that they let me out the next morning,
23:12it kind of, like, reinforced
23:13what all my older buddies were telling me,
23:15that I'm just a kid, so there's no consequences.
23:17But when I got released, I couldn't wait to tell that story.
23:21Now I did it.
23:22High-speed chase.
23:23None of my friends ever got bit by a canine dog,
23:25so I was like, you know, to me,
23:27in my sick, twisted thinking,
23:29it almost, I felt like it gave me street cred.
23:31Three or four days later, I was back at it, full-fledged.
23:35When I steal a car,
23:37I need a chop shop to buy stolen cars.
23:42It brings back memories.
23:43I feel like I kind of grew up in body shops and chop shops
23:46and kind of just all around this kind of stuff.
23:48What's up, baby?
23:49What's up, man?
23:50What's going on with you, dog?
23:52Me and Garrett, we went to middle school together.
23:54We in the streets every day.
23:55It was just me and him as the young boys on the block.
23:58Can't believe you're here, man.
23:59What brought you here, man?
24:00This gonna bring back memories?
24:01Yeah, it'll bring back a lot of memories.
24:03I'm over here seeing dollar signs.
24:04I'm over here, 50 for that, I get 1,000 for that.
24:07I thought you was going back into your old ways.
24:09No, he thought I was here selling something.
24:10He thought I was trying to make some money, huh?
24:11When Garrett was young, man, he was just the first runner-up
24:14when it comes to anything that needs to be done.
24:16He was just a crash dummy.
24:18I don't even know how you got this deep into it.
24:20Honestly, bro, my older homeboy used to be very terrible, bro.
24:24Yeah.
24:25He used to have me just doing anything.
24:26Hey, bro, I'm gonna drive you to the neighborhood,
24:28and I'm gonna let you out, and you break into s***,
24:30and I'm gonna pick you back up.
24:31Yeah.
24:32I got a ride.
24:33Yeah.
24:34But really, I was getting played, you know what I'm saying?
24:35Yeah, that was a whole thing.
24:36I always think, like, man, these my homeboys.
24:37It's cool.
24:3815 years old, I'm making money.
24:40I sold stolen cars to the Cuban.
24:42The Cuban was introduced to me by my friend.
24:46He looked like a cool dude.
24:47He had the big chains on and the pinky rings.
24:50So he said, give us $1,000 per car,
24:52and he'll buy as many cars as we can bring.
24:54I was on top of the world.
24:55I'm the man.
24:56Ooh, 15, pulling up in a stolen car,
24:59pocket full of money.
25:01I thought I was set.
25:02I thought I was winning.
25:03After, you know, stealing cars and stealing stuff
25:05for all those years, buying my first car,
25:07oh, man, that was a major moment for me.
25:10I got this car listed today at $13,500.
25:12Start it up.
25:13Very nice.
25:14And make sure you enjoy your freedom.
25:16Okay.
25:17Take it easy, bro. Thank you so much.
25:18Okay, thank you.
25:19All right.
25:20But as a kid, the mindset I had back then is so sick.
25:22I was stealing everything, you know, burglaries.
25:25It's just one more avenue to get some money.
25:27You know, we were selling stuff to the bar shops.
25:29The items that make the most money, jewelry, stones,
25:32lawn equipment, because it's mass-produced,
25:34it just looks like everybody else's,
25:36and they can get away with it no matter where they sell it.
25:39You know, I had, like, a little system going.
25:41To do a house burglary, you break in the car,
25:43you don't really find much,
25:44but you found a garage door opening.
25:46So you leave the car untouched.
25:47That way, when they jump in the car in the morning,
25:49it looks like, you know, everything's intact.
25:52And then we'll double back, make sure no one's home,
25:55and it will just enter through the garage.
25:58Now you have access to the garage and the house.
26:00We used to load up, load all the power tools up, golf clubs.
26:03They used to be sitting in the garage.
26:06I don't know how they got on to me,
26:08but one day out of the blue, a detective came to my house,
26:11and my dad's like, I'm gonna let you know,
26:13there's some stolen stuff in the garage.
26:15And I'm like, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
26:17And I'm like, please don't go in my room.
26:18Please don't go in my room.
26:19But he distracted them unintentionally.
26:21He brought them to the garage.
26:22He's like, there's nothing in there.
26:23He's got all that stuff out here.
26:24Because this is the big stuff, the bulky stuff.
26:26You know, power tools, lawn tools, blowers, edgers.
26:30But I had guns in my bedroom.
26:32So he kind of saved me in a way, but unintentionally.
26:36When you're on probation, it's like contact with the police
26:38is a violation of probation.
26:40So they took me to the county jail.
26:42I got released from that.
26:43I went right back to jail, violated my probation,
26:46drug use, dirty urine.
26:48I had violation after violation after violation.
26:53And it was all really the same thing.
26:54I either violated probation with a new charge
26:56from doing the same thing I was put on probation for.
26:58I violated for dirty urine.
27:00I guess I was a junkie, because I really
27:02was committing crimes and doing things just to get high.
27:05The judge was basically like, I'm
27:07going to hold you in jail until the drug program is ready
27:10for you, because I don't trust the fact that you're
27:12going to get out and keep clean and stay clean.
27:16That was tough.
27:17That was a tough break.
27:18I'm about to go from, you know, doing short sentences
27:20to doing a long stretch.
27:22I didn't know how I was going to be able to handle everything.
27:24And I kind of realized that the system had a lot more power
27:27than I imagined.
27:29That was just the beginning of the end.
27:36I got to prison, and I bucked the system the whole time.
27:39I got in fights.
27:40I sold drugs.
27:41I got kicked out of compound after compound after compound.
27:50I'm lucky and blessed that I didn't die.
27:51Running from the police and getting shot,
27:53I didn't die in a hospital chasing a crash.
27:55I was a dumb kid and made a million mistakes.
28:02I probably sat in county jail for like three months.
28:05Juvenile PAR was my alternative to prison.
28:08It was basically go to prison and go to PAR.
28:10Of course, you know, it was a no-brainer for me, PAR.
28:15This drug treatment facility, from the moment I got there,
28:18you know, I felt that that is a place where
28:20I could get some help.
28:21I've had so many chances in life, you know,
28:23but I took them all for granted.
28:25I missed them all.
28:26I got to PAR when I was 17.
28:30This is where you first come when you get here.
28:32I remember feeling like I had a little bit of hope.
28:34I didn't feel like I was a target
28:36or like somebody was going to do something to me.
28:38You know, stuff you feel when you're in jail or prison,
28:41you never know who's going to do something to you
28:43or try to harm you or hurt you.
28:45Juvenile PAR is really a rehabilitation facility.
28:48They really are there to help people.
28:49What's up, Garrett?
28:50Hello. Long time no see.
28:52I know, I know.
28:53It's really good to see Garrett
28:54because to have gone through an experience
28:56like what he went through,
28:57a situation like that can break somebody.
28:59But it's good to see on the other side
29:01because the challenges are what a lot of our clients face.
29:04You know, you got hurt people are hurting people.
29:06And he worked a lot with his counselor
29:08to look at some of those deeper hurts that was going on
29:10that has happened in his life.
29:13I haven't heard Miss Jessie's voice in a long time.
29:17Hello?
29:18Guess who's here.
29:19I have no idea.
29:21Miss Jessie.
29:23Oh, my God!
29:24How are you?
29:25I'm fluent.
29:27I ended up getting a counselor, Miss Jessie.
29:29She's the best person I ever talked to in my life.
29:32I've never spoken to somebody and felt so heard.
29:34You look just the same as I remember you.
29:36It's so good to see you.
29:37It's very emotional.
29:38It's a lot to take in.
29:39I remember so many times when we were just here
29:41and I was crying and you were crying with me
29:43and then we would laugh
29:45and you would baby me.
29:48Yes.
29:49You were so patient with me.
29:50I hope you know what an impact you had on my life
29:52because you did.
29:55I know you did.
29:56You showed me.
29:57You showed me in many ways.
29:58The way she would nurture me and listen to my problems,
30:01she's like my mom, you know,
30:02and she, like, took special care with me.
30:04But I didn't realize that my mom not being around,
30:07I was missing that nurturing.
30:09I was trying to be better.
30:11I was really trying to get on the right track.
30:13And then I actually had detectives come arrest me
30:16for new charges.
30:20I had no knowledge of a sting operation.
30:23I had no idea that they would let you commit a crime
30:28and wait to come get you.
30:30Sting operations, they take quite some time.
30:33Law enforcement has to go through the intelligence
30:35that they have and see what it points out to.
30:38Is there more of an organized crime that's involved with this?
30:40So there's a very big picture involved,
30:42and you have to let it play out for months.
30:44So when you take it down,
30:45you're taking down everything from the top down.
30:48I saw the two different undercover cops.
30:50The Cuban I was selling the stolen cars to
30:52was actually part of an undercover operation.
30:54And I really thought I hit the jackpot
30:57when I found a pawn shop that didn't need I.V.s.
31:00Now I realize he was trying to get us
31:02to sell him as much stolen s*** as possible.
31:04I didn't think hard enough into it
31:06to think if they were building a file on me, you know?
31:08When I did something wrong and I left the scene and got away,
31:11I thought I got away.
31:12The sting operation, it wasn't like all based on me.
31:15It was much bigger.
31:16I think they ended up taking down like 150 people
31:19facing adult charges and might go to prison.
31:21It was all very tough.
31:22You came and saw me right before I went to prison.
31:24That was, that was, that was very touching, too.
31:26That was, I needed you in that moment.
31:28That was tough.
31:29That was hard sitting on my side, too.
31:32I didn't want to see that happen to you.
31:34It was just like this, too.
31:35It was just on a little screen.
31:37The screen popped up and I was holding the phone.
31:39I'm like, I don't know who the hell is coming to see me.
31:41There was no other person that I'd rather see
31:43than across that screen.
31:44I remember feeling so guilty that I cried.
31:49But when I saw you,
31:51that you spent most of your time trying to make me feel better.
31:54In that moment, your tears were comforting, though,
31:56because it took me away from what I was going through.
31:59So me comforting you in that moment,
32:02it helped me to deal, you know,
32:04take me away from what I was going through.
32:06I feel like it was so much,
32:08but it brought me back to an old time
32:10where I was safe in your office.
32:12You were like my rock a lot of times in life.
32:16Thank you very much, Miss Jessie, for everything.
32:18Oh, man, I'm so glad to see you.
32:20I'm glad to see you, too.
32:22That was a point in my life where I realized
32:24that there are good people that really just want to help you, you know?
32:27And I wish I would have realized how much that meant in the moment.
32:32It would have saved me a lot of pain later on in life.
32:37They gave me eight years in prison for burglaries,
32:40violation of probation, possession, grand theft.
32:44I definitely look back and realize that I was a dumb kid
32:48and made a million mistakes, you know?
32:50I'm lucky and blessed that I ended up going to prison for a long time.
32:53I didn't die in a high-speed chase in a crash.
32:55I didn't die, you know, running from the police and getting shot.
32:58I didn't die, you know, overdosing.
33:01When I was released, I was on probation.
33:04I had to do drug treatment.
33:06I handled my business. I stayed away from the bull----.
33:08I got it taken care of.
33:10It's been a long, long road.
33:12I'm grateful for forgiveness.
33:14I'm grateful for second chances.
33:20A little nervous, a little excited.
33:22It's going to go great.
33:23My dad, you know, he's a great man,
33:25and he always did everything he could for me and my brother and my family.
33:28So I planned this gathering for my dad.
33:30His birthday's coming up.
33:31We'll get everybody together for that.
33:33I want to thank everyone for coming out today.
33:35I appreciate my dad for everything you've done.
33:38A lot of times in life where I know I made bad choices,
33:40and it didn't make you proud, you know?
33:42And I know you still love me as a son,
33:45but I know that you're disappointed, you know?
33:49There was one time when I did something,
33:52and I was like, I'll never do that again.
33:54But I never had a chance to kind of make it right.
33:57And I know it's forgiven a long time ago,
33:59but it's your birthday, and what we do.
34:01So I'll let you open it up.
34:03Oh, damn, a laptop.
34:05Right, right.
34:08I always told myself I want to make it right.
34:11Forgive and forgive.
34:13Tonight I feel like I have closure.
34:15These are no longer tears of sadness.
34:17These are tears of gratefulness.
34:19It might be the first time I've ever cried and laughed at the same time.
34:22Today, I'm a free man.
34:24It's a good feeling.
34:37During the high-speed chase,
34:39when I hit the embankment, it threw me to the passenger side,
34:43and I hit my face against the dash.
34:46It knocked me out for a second.
34:49And when I came to, the police were pulling me out
34:52by the waistband of my shorts.
34:56Lindsay Downs was charged with felony fleeing
34:59and possession of a controlled substance
35:01and possession of a stolen firearm.
35:05When I was in the back of the cop car,
35:07I, like, pulled out of my handcuffs,
35:09and he had a 24-pack of waters
35:11in the floorboard of the back seat of the cop car,
35:13and I, like, took one and, like, washed my face and my hands.
35:16He's like, what are you doing? What are you doing?
35:18I was like, I'm cleaning up.
35:19Like, I didn't know I was legally going to jail, bro.
35:22I'm trying to look good for my mug shot.
35:27I don't think I will ever be able to go through a roadblock
35:31or see blue flashing lights
35:33without having that, like, anxiety come up.
35:37Oh, s***.
35:39S***.
35:41Don't panic.
35:42Police, I'm probably going to pay you.
35:44S***.
35:46Lights in the rear-view mirror is not what I want to see
35:48ever again in life.
35:51Driving back to the scene of the crash is just kind of, like, surreal.
35:54I'm kind of, like, anxious about it.
35:56This is when everything kind of fell apart.
35:59Like, this was the big moment when, like,
36:03hey, this time I'm not getting out of it.
36:05This is the first time that I'm meeting face-to-face
36:07one of the officers that arrested me then.
36:09Hi.
36:10Hi.
36:11Nice to meet you.
36:12Nice to meet you again.
36:13Right, again.
36:14Yeah, so, um,
36:16y'all, honestly, I have, like, super blurry memories
36:19from that time, so I don't actually remember you.
36:22But I'm sure that, um,
36:24that I probably wasn't the best me at the time,
36:27so I apologize for any unruly, mean, rude behavior.
36:32We gladly accept your apology.
36:35And I appreciate you for that.
36:36At the time of our incident, we didn't really know Lindsey.
36:39As the months went by, she really,
36:41her name really started popping up in other counties
36:44where she was being arrested for trafficking and everything.
36:47So, um, Lindsey's name really became
36:50a very popular name in our area.
36:53When we picked you up and took you in front of the judge
36:55the next morning, it was really amazing to see
36:59how there was really no remorse or no,
37:02it seemed to be no fear there.
37:04I just, I didn't really have any remorse at that time.
37:06It took me several, several years to kind of get that remorse
37:10and, like, really understand, because when I was in that place,
37:13I really didn't see what I was doing as wrong.
37:15To be able to come back and stand here today in front of me
37:19and see how happy you are
37:21and how you've really turned your life around,
37:23it's amazing, and it makes, it just really makes me happy to see it.
37:29On February the 13th, 2016,
37:32she was given four years of prison time
37:35and was fined $31,000.
37:41I initially got arrested in Mississippi.
37:44And then when I was sentenced,
37:46they sent me to Carswell F.C.I.,
37:49which is in Fort Worth, Texas.
37:51And I was there for my first seven months.
37:54And in seven months, I got eight incident reports
37:57because I'm really bad at being good.
38:02I got to prison, and I bucked the system the whole time.
38:05I got in fights. I sold drugs.
38:07I got kicked out of compound after compound after compound.
38:11I was moved to four different prisons in the four years,
38:14and I spent a year and seven months in the hole, total.
38:22Hi, Mommy.
38:23Hi, Pumpkin.
38:24Do you know I'm coming home in the morning?
38:26Really?
38:27Yes.
38:29That's great.
38:31In 2020, I was released from prison after four and a half years,
38:35and it felt surreal.
38:39I love you, Pumpkin.
38:40I was released during COVID,
38:42so absolutely nothing was the way I remembered it.
38:45And I relapsed within 30 days of being out.
38:50I didn't have any money.
38:51So when I knew nothing else, I knew how to sell dope.
38:57I had been out of FBOP custody for six weeks
39:00when the marshals picked me back up.
39:04I am currently incarcerated at Lafayette County Detention Center.
39:08I was test-driving a car when the county police pulled up,
39:13and when they searched the vehicle,
39:15they found frozen adrenaline in the vehicle.
39:18I was ashamed to be back in there.
39:19That was the first time I really felt that deep sense of shame in myself.
39:23Because I had caught new state charges,
39:25it instantly violated my federal probation.
39:27So I was sent back for 18 months.
39:30In 2020, I was arrested for possession of methamphetamine,
39:34felon in possession of a weapon,
39:36and introduction of contraband to a correctional facility.
39:39I'm currently out on bond in the state of Mississippi.
39:54I want to go home.
39:55I want to go home.
39:57We're going to be in and out.
39:58I'll get you in and out in about less than 10 minutes, okay?
40:03Okay.
40:04Today, I'm going to court to be arraigned for my 2020 state charges.
40:08We'll be put on the docket, and then we'll go from there, okay?
40:11And I'll keep you informed of your next court date and all that good jazz, okay?
40:16Okay.
40:17Every penny that I made from dealing drugs is gone.
40:20Since my release in 2022,
40:22I have gone to extreme lengths to follow all the rules.
40:26I have been sober for over two years.
40:28I work a full-time job.
40:30I'm in college full-time.
40:31I have a house.
40:33I have a mortgage.
40:34I have full custody of my daughter.
40:36I'm finally doing everything right.
40:38Do you like living here?
40:40Yeah, I like it here.
40:41Coming as far as I have and gaining so much back after losing it,
40:48it would really damage me.
40:53I don't know how I would manage it, actually.
40:55I don't know how I could work this hard and then accept losing it all.
41:01I can't imagine being separated from my mom and my daughter again when I am doing well.
41:06I'm tired of being away from my family.
41:08I just want to be home.
41:09I want to be with my kid.
41:18Well, you're right.
41:19That was a lot of nerve-wrackingness for nothing.
41:22With these three charges, I'm facing a maximum of 40 years.
41:26Now that I've been charged and gone to my arraignment,
41:29it's up to my lawyer to get the best deal possible for me.
41:32This is when it starts to get serious,
41:34so we're still a long ways away from getting a resolution in this case.
41:38All right?
41:39We'll be back several more times, okay?
41:42Okay.
41:45I spent years taking away from people.
41:51I profited off of other people's sicknesses.
41:54I hurt people.
41:55I damaged families.
41:57And it took me a long time to accept that and to understand it,
42:02but now I want to repair some of those damages that I did.
42:07I want to be a productive member of society.
42:09I want to help people now.
42:10I want to make up for some of those damages.
42:13And I'll probably try for the rest of my life.
42:15I don't know if I ever will.
42:17I started forging checks.
42:18It was like signing autographs.
42:20I became a pro.
42:21I drank and drank and drank.
42:22I got drunk and got drunk.
42:23I got drunk and got drunk.
42:24I got drunk and got drunk.
42:25I got drunk and got drunk.
42:26I got drunk and got drunk.
42:27I got drunk and got drunk.
42:28I got drunk and got drunk.
42:29I got drunk and got drunk.
42:30I got drunk and got drunk.
42:31I got drunk and got drunk.
42:32I got drunk and got drunk.
42:33I got drunk and got drunk.
42:34I got drunk and got drunk.
42:35I got drunk and got drunk.
42:36I got drunk and got drunk.
42:37I got drunk and got drunk.
42:38I got drunk and got drunk.
42:39I got drunk and got drunk.
42:40I got drunk and got drunk.
42:41I got drunk and got drunk.
42:42I got drunk and got drunk.
42:47Ms. Gomez offered me $10,000.
42:49I also offer some sexual favors as well.
42:52I was 13 when I started burglarizing houses.
42:55In my family, cooking meth seemed to be the thing.
42:58And we were damn good at it.
43:00The problem with being on top, everybody wants that spot.
43:04Find a screwdriver and lay in there.
43:06Take it and just bam.
43:08I really started just spiraling out of control.
43:10Just stabbing like this.
43:12I never thought I was ever going to get caught.
43:14All of a sudden we heard boom, boom, boom.
43:16FBI.
43:17FBI.
43:18I took off running.
43:20I went into survival mode.
43:22I didn't give a ****.
43:23Freeze.
43:24Get on the ground, DEA.
43:25I had no idea what the **** really was going to happen.
43:28It's going to catch up to you eventually.
43:31Truthfully, like, I'm haunted.