9. The Interview

Isolation, aka "the hole", is the most brutal of all confinements. A place in every prison usually reserved for the most heinous inmates. Either as a form of punishment or for inmates that can't be placed in general population because they are a danger to others. In Leslie Todd Jones' case, others were a danger to him.

There are no windows in the hole. No TV's, no chairs upon which to sit, no table for your meals. No visitors, no magazines, no books to read. No contact with any other human being nor any other inmate. You are only allowed out 3 times a week, shackled and handcuffed, for a 3 minute shower. No exercise, no trips outside to the yard.

Due to his cooperation with the State of Florida in the Nelson Ivan Serrano mass murder trial, Todd would spend nearly 60 days in this prison within the prison. It would even be many more weeks before he was able to see the light of day or the dark of night. On November 5, 2006 Todd wrote that he had finally been moved out of isolation. This would only be a temporary move as Todd continued to work for law enforcement, therefore, he would be returned to "The Hole" on a regular basis.

(excerpts from the original letter)

Sunday 10:00 a.m. November 5, 2006

I've been moved out of isolation into a 15 man unit. Each person is still "locked down" but I now have a desk, a normal height bed and a TV in the day room that I can see from my cell. Last night I got to watch "Con Air", no jokes please. It feels so strange to be sitting up writing at a desk, it's going to take a few days to get used to.

As for my cell I have a window, 2 ft. x 6 ft., with bars. But it has a cover on the outside blocking any real kind of view. All I can tell is if it's day or night. Better than where I was in isolation.

I'm still separated from the other 15 guys, but we all get about 45 minutes each day, one at a time, and get to float around and talk and trade things. I don't get to go outside. I would love to just be able to talk a walk outside in the cold, drink a soda, read the newspaper.

I'm in here again because of the Serrano case - and trust me - it's big news in here. All the CO's admire me for it but most of the slime ball inmates don't. Ironically, only one inmate (in here) knows about the Serrano case and he's very cool. Don't worry, I can fight.

Yes, I do get very cold sometimes. There's nothing I can do about that. Better than being hot I suppose.

As for a counselor, you're it! I put in to talk to the one here but he's never come by.

My lawyer was here last Wednesday and I have a court date next month. Please pray for me.

Yours truly,

Todd

Along with his usual requests for names, addresses and documents; he made an unusual request for an old Abbott and Costello skit called "Who's on First". I thought maybe the inmates were going to put on a Christmas play or something. I found the skit and sent it to him.

He also told me that he had an interview with a New York news station at the end of the month and that he really needed those papers he had left in the boiler room at Lighthouse Ministries. I didn't know why that box of documents was so important or why a New York news reporter would need them at the time. Todd asked me to call Tony at Lighthouse Ministries back and find out Billy's last name so that he could send him the money to ship the box of papers to his family in Long Island. I telephoned Tony the next day, only to learn that vital box of papers had been turned over to the director and subsequently destroyed. I wrote to Todd and told him the bad news. He took it all in stride saying, "We'll just have to get them back then". Something that would take us months to do.

It was about this time that Todd began trying to call me on the phone, collect. But as luck would have it, I hadn't had the money to pay the phone bill and my phone had been shut off. He would continue to try on a weekly basis. It would take longer to receive that first phone call from Todd than it had been to smuggle a thumb sized picture of me into the jail.

The New York news reporter did come to see Todd and as the interview was taking place, Nelson Serrano himself walked up behind Todd and a scuffle ensued. The reporter would later write:

The visitation room is an open space with individual stalls divided by sound proof plexi-glass with a phone installed in each booth for communication. Despite that Jones was under protective custody due to his participation with the State in the Serrano trial, Nelson Serrano was brought into the room directly behind where Jones was sitting, thus making him vulnerable to a potential attack. When Serrano saw that Jones was speaking to me, a person Serrano knew to be with the media, he became visibly upset. Due to the sound-proofing, I could not hear what was being said, but there were threats made and pushing and shoving. Guards had to separate the two of them. A female guard later came up and apologized to Mr. Jones for putting him at risk, for the two inmates are supposed to be kept separate at all times. She later explained to me that to make sure this problem did not reoccur that Mr. Jones’ visitation schedule would be held on different days then Mr. Serrano.

This reporter also asked the facility for an on camera interview, but the facility denied that request.

........Later, I approached the Polk County Sheriff’s department about conducting an on-camera interview with Mr. Jones so I could talk to him about his knowledge of the case. I spoke with Chief Steven Lester who is in charge of the jail facilities. Despite that Jones himself wanted to participate and the prosecuting attorney and investigators had given their okay, Lester told me that my request was denied. Lester indicated to me that he was worried about Jones’ safety. He went on to explain that it is his job to protect inmates even when they do not see it as in their best interest and he believed that Jones would be further opening himself up to retribution for being a “jail house snitch” if he participated. The problem is, however, that this is a very high-profile case in Polk County and the trial was held live on Court-TV, covered e news stations, Dateline NBC, as well as by area newspapers. The inmates in the jail are already aware of Jones’ participation in the case, which is why he is already in protective custody. Mr. Jones is not safe in his current surroundings.

This would be the first time Todd was attacked within the prison walls. The first of many. The Florida Department of Corrections did not give Todd very much protection after his cooperation with the State. And there would be many more attacks to come. Todd was on his own. Locked behind bars with people who wanted to kill him and handicapped by a prison system that couldn't figure out how to protect him.