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manda2283 · #1 07-08-2009, 07:44 AM

I've introduced myself here before but now I'm officially here. I woke up and was planning to go see Patrick (my man) today at county before work a nd checked the BOP since i hadn't heard from him since Sunday and he's offically In Beaumont now. I am mailing him a letter today, hopefully it will get to him quickly so he knows im thinking of him b/c I got a letter from him in the mail yesterday but didn't check till this morning and he was questioning our love since i sounded so pissy the other day...just another friendly visit from mother nature so I'm letting him know I'm with him for the long haul..

But I have a question cause I dont have any money to send him for phones right now and I still have money on my global tel account can he call out using that or no? I know the answer is probably no so I'll be without hearing from him for a few weeks but if anyone can answer it would still be appreciated.

Thanks,

Amanda

4real4real · #2 07-08-2009, 08:24 AM

As long as I've got money on GTL he can phone home. I don't understand why he wouldn't be able to call. you and your line has been approved. Good Luck!

manda2283 · #3 07-08-2009, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4real4real

As long as I've got money on GTL he can phone home. I don't understand why he wouldn't be able to call. you and your line has been approved. Good Luck!

oh maybe he's waitng for approval...how long does that take??

Stangloverswife · #4 07-09-2009, 08:59 PM

it varies depending on the counselor - i would suggest getting a beaumont phone number and it will only cost like 6 cents a minute

Spike9458 · #5 07-14-2009, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4real4real

As long as I've got money on GTL he can phone home. I don't understand why he wouldn't be able to call. you and your line has been approved. Good Luck!

Hi all,

I'm new to this site. My step-son just transferred in to Beaumont Medium. What is the GTL thing you mentioned? Is that a phone account you can keep active so your loved one doesn't have to spend comissary money on a calling card?

Also, every paperback book and magazine his mother and I have mailed to him have been returned marked refused or contents unknown. This was never a problem at Loretto, and I can't find the mail 'rules' for Beaumont. What's the scoop on sending mags and books ... right now it looks like we can't send any.

When he was in Loretto we thought it was a long way to visit (9-10 hour drive) from Maine ... but Beaumont is way so much further away.

Thanks,

--Jim

Stangloverswife · #6 07-15-2009, 12:55 AM

GTL is just a phone system used for a lot of county jails... you won't need it for here. Its expensive compared with BOP anyways.

Wow we have a guy in here lol. Ladies no more femme talk lol. What kind of magazines are you trying to send? The only ones I send are car mags and I've never had a problem. Books are hit or miss. Also you can only send three "things" at once. So I don't know if you tried to send more than that. Also there is a limit of 25 pics. Some guards go per day... some per envelope... kinda up to their interpretation. Hope that helps ....

MelissaTx · #7 07-15-2009, 02:13 PM

I have sent hunting and fishing mags and Esquire mag. Havent had problem. Are you sending books from home? I believe they have to come from Amazon or some place like that. In the Fed section there is a mail thread that you can look at and get an idea. You could also call the prison and see if they will give you info.

manda2283 · #8 07-15-2009, 03:31 PM

wow so my super exciting post didn't post last night! But Patrick called last night from his brother's phone card. His brother put me on his approved phone list and with the approval of their counselors he can use his phone and call me! awesome! So I'm excited! he also sent me a letter and I got that a few minutes ago, had the visitation approval thing in it so I'll send that in tomorrow! I'm so excited!

yay! and the only crappy part about the phone call is i was hearing him so good even with loud background noise and then 5 minutes into the call the phone sorta dropped that noise and he sounded like he was in a tunnel far far away! oh well i was just stoked to hear his voice finally after 9 days of silence! Are their calls always going to come up unknown #? I liked when it was in county cause i programmed the 1800 # to say MY BABY and have his pic, with this i can't! argh!

thenderson · #9 07-15-2009, 03:39 PM

Hay congrats for the calll. My honey just got home on monday, we are having a ball. I hope everything goes well. good luck, god bless

manda2283 · #10 07-15-2009, 03:43 PM

oh you are sooo lucky your honey came home! I'm a wee bit jealous...oh well I'm really jealous!

i have another quick question for anyone out there.... when sending this visitation paperwork back i know i send it to the address on there but do i need Patrick's counselor's name??

Spike9458 · #11 07-15-2009, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stangloverswife

GTL is just a phone system used for a lot of county jails... you won't need it for here. Its expensive compared with BOP anyways.

Wow we have a guy in here lol. Ladies no more femme talk lol. What kind of magazines are you trying to send? The only ones I send are car mags and I've never had a problem. Books are hit or miss. Also you can only send three "things" at once. So I don't know if you tried to send more than that. Also there is a limit of 25 pics. Some guards go per day... some per envelope... kinda up to their interpretation. Hope that helps ....

Hey, keep up the girly talk, I get a kick out of it. I have had the same book returned 3 times. A single paperback book. I also had a soft package with 3 'People' magazines returned. Sometimes they are marked refused, other times it says 'Unknown Contents'. I thought they opened all packages anyway before giving it to the inmate. It just seems like power trip games to me.

But anyway thanks for the headsup. We got a call from Daniel today. They got a 40 minute break out of their cells to take a shower and make calls. He is hopeful that the lockdown will be over in the next day or two. In the mean time, it's bologna sandwiches ... that must get old ... bologna sandwiches 3 times a day ... but on the other hand, I guess it's better than bread and water, right?

--Jim

MelissaTx · #12 07-15-2009, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spike9458

Hey, keep up the girly talk, I get a kick out of it. I have had the same book returned 3 times. A single paperback book. I also had a soft package with 3 'People' magazines returned. Sometimes they are marked refused, other times it says 'Unknown Contents'. I thought they opened all packages anyway before giving it to the inmate. It just seems like power trip games to me.

But anyway thanks for the headsup. We got a call from Daniel today. They got a 40 minute break out of their cells to take a shower and make calls. He is hopeful that the lockdown will be over in the next day or two. In the mean time, it's bologna sandwiches ... that must get old ... bologna sandwiches 3 times a day ... but on the other hand, I guess it's better than bread and water, right?

--Jim

Wait Is your step son at the Medium or USP? I talked to DH about 2 hrs ago and he said nothing about a lockdown at the Medium.
Anyways, The mags have to come from the publisher. They can not be sent from home. Same goes with books.
If you are a Coke drinker, you can save your points and "buy" mags with your points to send to him. I have send DH 2 different mags this way. Didnt cost me a thing except the cokes that I drink anyways. lol

MelissaTx · #13 07-15-2009, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thenderson

Hay congrats for the calll. My honey just got home on monday, we are having a ball. I hope everything goes well. good luck, god bless

Congrats!

MelissaTx · #14 07-15-2009, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manda2283

wow so my super exciting post didn't post last night! But Patrick called last night from his brother's phone card. His brother put me on his approved phone list and with the approval of their counselors he can use his phone and call me! awesome! So I'm excited! he also sent me a letter and I got that a few minutes ago, had the visitation approval thing in it so I'll send that in tomorrow! I'm so excited!

yay! and the only crappy part about the phone call is i was hearing him so good even with loud background noise and then 5 minutes into the call the phone sorta dropped that noise and he sounded like he was in a tunnel far far away! oh well i was just stoked to hear his voice finally after 9 days of silence! Are their calls always going to come up unknown #? I liked when it was in county cause i programmed the 1800 # to say MY BABY and have his pic, with this i can't! argh!

Congrats on the call. Yes mine have always come unknown.
I wish DH could find a phone that wasnt staticie(sp) he has to hit the phone after a few mins, for the static to stop. LOL

Spike9458 · #15 07-15-2009, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MelissaTx

Wait Is your step son at the Medium or USP? I talked to DH about 2 hrs ago and he said nothing about a lockdown at the Medium.
Anyways, The mags have to come from the publisher. They can not be sent from home. Same goes with books.
If you are a Coke drinker, you can save your points and "buy" mags with your points to send to him. I have send DH 2 different mags this way. Didnt cost me a thing except the cokes that I drink anyways. lol

Well, I don't really know. I look him up on the bop inmate locator and all is says is USP Beaumont. He was at Loretto, PA which is low. Got in trouble 3 times since '05 so they transferred him out and up, to Medium. So as far as I know he is in Medium. He's fairly new there, so we don't know much about the place, but I think there are a couple of Medium wings (or whatever they are called) in the penitentiary. He was also told before he left Loretto that Beaumont used to be High but was downgraded. It don't sound like it. He has 1 celly, I'm not sure if the whole place is like that or not. In Loretto he always had 5 or 6 celly's.

Thanks for the info, I appreciate anything you can share with me.

--Jim

MelissaTx · #16 07-15-2009, 08:08 PM

Oh ok now Im understanding better lol.
So if the BOP inmate locater says USP then hes either at the USP or Camp under the RDAP program. Since you say hes been in trouble Im leaning more towards USP. The USP is the only prison that is on lockdown. Medium is not. Also since he says there is 1 cellie that also leads me to believe hes at the USP. At the medium and others, its a dorm type setting. Someone else may know for sure tho'.There are 4 bop prisons in Beaumont, they are on the same "lot" of land. There is USP, Medium, Low and Camp. The USP was suppose to be done away with from what I understood, but it wasnt. There is a thread in the Beaumont section, that explains it or tries to.
Hope that helped a little. If you have anyother questions feel free to ask. Melissa

Heres the link to the thread http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=319120

Spike9458 · #17 07-15-2009, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MelissaTx

Oh ok now Im understanding better lol.
So if the BOP inmate locater says USP then hes either at the USP or Camp under the RDAP program. Since you say hes been in trouble Im leaning more towards USP. The USP is the only prison that is on lockdown. Medium is not. Also since he says there is 1 cellie that also leads me to believe hes at the USP. At the medium and others, its a dorm type setting. Someone else may know for sure tho'.There are 4 bop prisons in Beaumont, they are on the same "lot" of land. There is USP, Medium, Low and Camp. The USP was suppose to be done away with from what I understood, but it wasnt. There is a thread in the Beaumont section, that explains it or tries to.
Hope that helped a little. If you have anyother questions feel free to ask. Melissa

I believe you but some stories are not matching. His mail goes to PO Box 26030, which is the USP. So I guess I don't know why he thinks he's in medium when he's not. I also don't know why he was told he was going to medium when it doesn't look like it went that way. Thing is, I don't know who or how to question it without causing more trouble for him. Where he was, of the 3 'incident's, he was the agressor once. 2nd incident, a fng picked a fight with him, even after being 'advised' by other inmates not to. My son defended himself, and still got 60 days in the hole. When he was working in prison industries, somebody signed him up for overtime unbeknownst to him. Because he didn't show up for OT, he lost the job and got time in the hole. His crime was classified as non-violent, so I am having a hard time with the 'system' if he got bumped up 2 level instead of by bop policy, 'one level at a time'.

Thanks for reading, listening and responding,

--Jim

MelissaTx · #18 07-15-2009, 08:35 PM

There is no telling, noone understands the BOP, not even the BOP lol. Maybe hes waiting on a bed at the medium? I dont know who you could contact to find out which prison hes at for sure, except his case worker. I would not do that unless your son oks it. DH's letters come from po box 26040(medium). He may be there waiting to go to medium. I have no idea. Maybe he doesnt want you guys to worry about him being at the USP? That would be hard to hide though, especialy if you plan on visiting. Im sorry I cant be more help! Melissa

Spike9458 · #19 07-15-2009, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MelissaTx

There is no telling, noone understands the BOP, not even the BOP lol. Maybe hes waiting on a bed at the medium? I dont know who you could contact to find out which prison hes at for sure, except his case worker. I would not do that unless your son oks it. DH's letters come from po box 26040(medium). He may be there waiting to go to medium. I have no idea. Maybe he doesnt want you guys to worry about him being at the USP? That would be hard to hide though, especialy if you plan on visiting. Im sorry I cant be more help! Melissa

Well, what you say makes sense. Maybe he's waiting on a bed in the Medium ... does your dh have a sense on how full the medium is? My son is very protective of his mother, but on the other hand he does tell her everything. He tones things down so she won't be upset, but I don't think he's covering up. He can have visitors starting at the end of September, she used to go every 6-8 weeks (10 hour drive from Maine to Loretto, PA). Now we have to save and fly to visit him, which is not negotiable with his mother. Why in he** they sent him to Beaumont is beyond me. I'm still looking for the silver lining to this dark cloud ...

--Jim
I call him my son, but I'm not his father, so he's my step-son. To me he is as much my son as my own son is.

Stangloverswife · #20 07-15-2009, 08:50 PM

He probably is referring to comments that the USP had "become at medium" for a period of time ... to which it is "back to a max" *eye roll* anywho Melissa is correct if it says USP he is either at the penn or the camp... the camps not on LD, so definately sounds like the penn. Also have a question for you - in sending your packages, do you send them in boxes? they are only acceptable in manilla mailing envelopes - is that what you are sending them in. And when you say you send 3 people mags, is that all you send? Because they count crosswords etc as one of the three items as well.
As for him being sent to the penn vs medium, they don't do it on a "step up" basis. They have a formula to which they take into account age, criminal history, etc. It might be that this time his points scored him high enough to get into the penn. Also even though his crime was non-violent, being the aggressor in the incident, probably put him in the violent category in the BOP's eyes.

Stangloverswife · #21 07-15-2009, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manda2283

oh you are sooo lucky your honey came home! I'm a wee bit jealous...oh well I'm really jealous!

i have another quick question for anyone out there.... when sending this visitation paperwork back i know i send it to the address on there but do i need Patrick's counselor's name??

YES!! Address it to your honey's counselor - if not the counselor can be a jerk and decline if he so choses.

I'm confused as to how you said he got his brothers phone card??

Spike9458 · #22 07-15-2009, 09:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stangloverswife

He probably is referring to comments that the USP had "become at medium" for a period of time ... to which it is "back to a max" *eye roll* anywho Melissa is correct if it says USP he is either at the penn or the camp... the camps not on LD, so definately sounds like the penn. Also have a question for you - in sending your packages, do you send them in boxes? they are only acceptable in manilla mailing envelopes - is that what you are sending them in. And when you say you send 3 people mags, is that all you send? Because they count crosswords etc as one of the three items as well.
As for him being sent to the penn vs medium, they don't do it on a "step up" basis. They have a formula to which they take into account age, criminal history, etc. It might be that this time his points scored him high enough to get into the penn. Also even though his crime was non-violent, being the aggressor in the incident, probably put him in the violent category in the BOP's eyes.

Well, the envelope that contained the 3 magazines also had a letter in it, and was in a white envelope purchased at the Post Office. So, they have to be manilla. Okay. I don't get it but I'll play the game. He's been in since just after his 18th birthday. The c.o.'s didn't like him because of all the family support he receives. He gets a lot of mail, and grandparents/aunts/uncles send money to his account so he can have a phone card and commissary.

He's a good kid, and will be out in a couple of years. Until I learn "the rest of the story" from him, I have to hang my hat on the hope that he is waiting for a bed in medium. Besides, why would they tell him he's going to medium if he was being sent to max?

Thanks,

--Jim

MelissaTx · #23 07-15-2009, 09:04 PM

"I call him my son, but I'm not his father, so he's my step-son. To me he is as much my son as my own son is."

I completely understand that.
The BOP says they have a 500 mile rule, but they hardly ever use it.
I just dont understand why he thinks hes in the medium. How long has he been at Beaumont? Maybe hes just in the hole waiting to be moved to medium. But I *think* there is a SHU or "hole" at the medium. I just dont know. I wish I knew what to tell you. If he really thinks hes at medium he needs to ask someone where hes at. Why cant he have visitors until September? That tells me hes in the hole.
I hear you about not having the money to visit! Im only 3.5hrs away from DH and havent been able to visit since March. I quit my job (I worked for his mother, if that tells you anything lol). And havent been able to find another.
You can get cheaper flights,rentals and hotels thru priceline.com I got a room at Marriott Courtyard reg price was $159, for $53! Theres also the Shepards Inn thats for inmates familys. I will find the link and post it. You have to ask for a room well in advance, cuz they fill up quick. but if you chose to stay there, you will need a rental car.

Spike9458 · #24 07-15-2009, 09:13 PM

Well, it was my understanding his 60 days shu were completed before he left Loretto, so he shouldn't be there now. Part of the punishment for his last bit of trouble included 60 days shu, no commissary for a period of time, and 6 months of no visitors.

This is simply frustrating, and there's not a gd thing I can do about it except just deal with it.

Thanks for your words,

--Jim

Stangloverswife · #25 07-15-2009, 09:19 PM

When my hubby xfered from 3rivers the put him in the hole at the low until "his paperwork was processed" so maybe he is in the hole at the medium awaiting "paperwork." I would like to give you positive hope, but I would assume that with the locator saying "USP" that he is in the penn. Sorry

As for the envelope I don't think the color per-say matters, I just meant that type of enelope - the flappy kinda that is just paper.. is that what you are using, just a white version of it??? I'd call the USP and ask them what you have done wrong in the packages. A letter wouldn't matter if it's sent with the mags.. i've sent letters pics and mags together. Just can't be more that 3 "booklet" types.
As for why they would tell him he's going to a medium...they could have been misinformed...or they could have been playing games with them. who knows.