Witsec

The United States Federal Witness Protection Program is a witness protection program administered by the United States Department of Justice and operated by the United States Marshal’s Service that is designed to keep the witnesses safe before, during and after a trial. The entire purpose of the witness protection program is to keep the witnesses safe so that they can testify at trials that can convict members of organized crime, drug traffickers, gangs, other major criminals or terrorist networks. When the feds want to make the big cases they need to have a way to protect their rats and the WITSEC program is it.

The Witness Security Program we know today is an evolution of the individual cases that began in the early 1960s and were investigated by the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section (OCRS) of the U.S. Department of Justice. This group was led by U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and included Gerald Shur, the man who would go on to create the federal program that has come to be known as WITSEC. Shur, who was a U.S. Attorney at the time, was involved in several cases in which the federal government protected witnesses who testified against organized crime. Among these witnesses were Joseph Valachi, Joseph Barboza and Larry Gallo, some of the first made men to betray the Mafia’s code of omerta. That is why being a rat nowadays is known as being a Valachi.

The WITSEC program was authorized by the federal government as part of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 and Title V: Protected Facilities for Housing Government Witnesses, outlined the basic tenets of what would become the federal witness protection program. Nearly 15 years later the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 provided for protection of certain relatives and associates of the testifying witnesses. Today the WITSEC program is essential to the prosecution of hundreds of cases. Without it many rats would never come forward or would be killed if they did. With the protection provided by the program snitches can testify and than disappear with their families when the trial is over. Since its inception in 1970 more than 7,500 witnesses and more than 9,500 witnesses’ family members have entered the program and have been protected, relocated and given new identities by the U.S. Marshals Service.

Most snitches are protected by the U.S. Marshals Service and relocated but protection of incarcerated witnesses is the duty of the federal Bureau of Prisons. At first this was a problem, how could the feds house their rats in the same prisons where the people they testified against resided? Working together, Shur and BOP director Norman Carlson came up with a solution. They decided to build a special prison exclusively for government witnesses. Carlson already had a location in mind. He had his architects reconfigure the third floor of the high rise Metropolitan Corrections Center the BOP was constructing in New York City, and when the prison opened in mid-1978, Shur moved twenty-one government witnesses into the new WITSEC prison unit.

Not everyone liked Shur and Carlson’s prison within a prison. Prosecutors in New Jersey and New York were afraid that putting witnesses in the same prison as the mobsters who wanted to kill them was foolhardy. But Shur felt confident. “I considered Norman Carlson one of the best administrators in the federal government. He was not going to let a witness be poisoned, stabbed or harmed.” Carlson used strict security guidelines to keep the third floor unit separate from the rest of the prison. It had its own secure entrance and every witness in the unit was given an alias to prevent other inmates in the prison from knowing who was being housed there. The only prison official who was told the inmate’s actual name was the warden.

Each witness was assigned a one man cell and if he wished, he could ask for his cell door to be locked when other witnesses were free to watch television or play pool in the unit’s common area. Before any visitors were permitted to enter the unit, they were required to stand in front of a two way mirror so the WITSEC inmate they were coming to see could verify that the visitor was actually who he said he was. To prevent witnesses from being poisoned, a BOP lieutenant selected trays of food at random from the prison’s mess hall and locked them inside a cart that was then taken into the WITSEC unit.

In most of the BOP prisons, Carlson tried to keep rival prison gangs and various hate groups separated from each other to prevent trouble, but that wasn’t possible inside the tiny WITSEC unit. “We had Ku Klux Klan members living in cells next to Black Panthers, the Aryan Brotherhood- with swastikas on their arms- sitting with Jews at the dinner table. All these groups who normally would not associate with each other were housed together in our unit,” Shur explained. “It worked because there was a common threat that kept them in line. They knew they’d be kicked out of the unit if they caused problems, and no one wanted to be sent into the main prison population because he’d have to check himself into an isolation cell to keep from being murdered.”

Carlson assigned his most senior correctional officers to work there. “I needed strong, experienced officers because these inmates were sophisticated and conniving,” he recalled. The Manhattan unit was so successful that within months Shur and Carlson had opened two more in federal prisons in San Diego and Chicago. Two years later, a fourth unit opened at FCI Otisville in New York. Together these four housed a total of four hundred WITSEC witnesses, some serving sentences as long as life. The program would grow as the feds introduced tougher RICO and drug laws that targeted organized crime groups and gangs. With the coming of the crack era and the War on Drugs the program grew even more.

With the proliferation of snitching in the 1990s due to the government’s misguided War on Drugs only the most high profile rats are housed in the BOP’s WITSEC program. The BOP has several Protective Custody Units (PCUs) or cheese factories as they are called in the system. PCUs are located at FCI Fairton in New Jersey, FCI Phoenix in Arizona, FCI Sandstone in Minnesota, FCI El Tuna in Texas and FCI Marianna in Florida, in addition to the PCUs listed above. These cheese factories are totally separate compounds with one unit which houses the WITSEC prisoners. Each mini-compound is a replica of the prison it sets adjacent too with UNICOR factories, gyms, education buildings, chow halls and other facilities so that the PCU compound can function all on its own as a separate entity. Usually these compounds are shrouded in camouflage or some other visual deterrent so the prisoners on the mainline yard can’t see the protected inmates or communicate with them.

The BOP houses approximately 750 WITSEC inmates at the various PCU compounds around the country. Flying them in and out stealthily so they can go testify against their former comrades and make their families cry. The more notorious names in the program have included Sammy “the Bull” Gravano, Henry Hill, Nicky Barnes, Frank Lucas, Rayful Edmond, Alberto “Alpo” Martinez, Lorenzo “Fat Cat” Nichols, Carlos Lehder and a host of other high profile snitches and rats consisting of mobsters, Mexican Mafia and Aryan Brotherhood dropouts, Colombian and Mexican drug cartel turn coats and any other witnesses the feds have used to topple criminal empires with the means and ways to have the snitches against them killed. All the rats the feds have used in their big RICO and drug conspiracy trials are in the WITSEC program. It’s the only safe place for them in the BOP.

With their high profile status and well known snitching exploits these PCUs house the most infamous and notorious rats of our times. While the WITSEC inmates represent less than 1 percent of the BOPs overall inmate population, providing security for these inmates presents challenges. As with all federal inmates, the BOP must maintain secure custody of WITSEC inmates. In addition, the BOP must protect the WITSEC inmates from the risk of harm relating to their status as snitches in criminal prosecutions. Or in other words- they must hide and protect the rats of the lowest order. And the WITSEC program is good at their job as no incident of death by homicide has happened to any inmates as a result of their participation in the program for the last 26 years.

Being that we here at FEDS give it to you raw and we always bring you the truth we got with a former WITSEC inmate to give us the lowdown on the WITSEC program and a couple of high profile rats he was locked up with. Here is the first interview of its kind, an exclusive for FEDS, a look into the federal government’s WITSEC program for incarcerated witnesses. Our source was in the program for almost two decades and here he gives our readers the ins and outs of the program that houses the most notorious rats of the last 30 years.

What was the WITSEC compound like?

WITSEC inmate- A good place to do time, you could lay back if you wanted to or you could gamble, make sports bets or play in big money poker and pool games. A lot of dudes with a lot of money and nothing to do with it as well were there. Everyone got along for the most part, some fights here and there and a slice here and there.

How are inmates identified? We are told they don’t use their real names?

WI- They would use your initials, like Joe Blow would be JB and so on, but its all bull shit. Everyone basically knows who everyone is. Especially the high profile cases. Dudes call each other by their first names or nicknames. Some lawyers or cops/feds who are scared to death only use the initials like JB or whatever. All mail comes with say JB 35033-871 etc. No real names on the mail, but you get legal mail in your real name. Its ass backwards. No new inmate can come in the unit until everyone in the unit has viewed his picture and then you must sign your initials, JB or whatever, to let him in the unit. If one person won’t sign him in he can’t come in the unit until DC cleans it up.

How does visiting a protected inmate work? Where is visiting held? Are they group visits? Can you visit with family and friends, etc.?

WI- Visits are group visits, just like general population. But a smaller visiting room. Visiting room is always in the unit. Anyone can visit, family, friends, etc. All must be approved by the Department of Justice in Washington and your Sponsor/AUSA and visits are only on weekends and holidays. No weekdays.

Are you allowed to communicate with your family and friends?

WI- Yes, you can communicate with family and friends, write and call etc.

Describe what the WITSEC unit is like as far as accommodations and privileges?

WI- Every cell has a 13 inch color TV. The units are small, 80 guys or less. Bottom floor cells, double bunks. Top floor, single man cells. You work your way up to a single man cell. Any major ticket and you lose your spot and go back to the bottom of the list. You’re out from 6 AM to 10 PM or later. No real privileges. You don’t even get as much yard time as general population and there are no real big yards on the compounds except in Florida. The WITSEC there has a big yard with a softball field. Most though are very small, tightly run places for security reasons they say. They all have some type of UNICOR factory and other jobs. All general population inmates know that WITSEC is at that FCI, the guards have loose lips.

What type of dudes were you around?

WI- Mob guys were cool, always cooking good food, drug boys from South America like Carlos Lehder, Pablo Escobar’s partner who was released in 2005. The guy in the movie Blow was based on him. Tons of mob guys and high profile informants. Mob guys ran all the gambling and sports betting. There was big money in there. A lot of cartel guys. DC dudes are the worse.

What did the guys in there talk about and what type of stuff was going down?

WI- It was surreal, you had guys talking about murder like it was nothing. Guys had 20 to 30 murders and would have like five, seven or twelve years. I couldn’t believe it and wouldn’t if I wasn’t there. Dudes got busted for 5000 kilos, got two or three years and kept all their assets. Guys wives were flying in on private jets, the feds used to take Sammy the Bull to a hotel to fuck his wife. Shit a guy, Jimmy Chagra had a fucking federal judge murdered and got a parole. Just all types of cases the public would not believe and they’re all being released into the witness protection program. If the government really needs you, you can get away with anything. In Phoenix and Florida they caught a couple mob guys trying to get their wives whacked and covered it up, but when they’re done using you, they will throw you away like trash.

BOP staff assigned to PCUs are in daily contact with WITSEC inmates and have knowledge about the inmates, their families, their former associations, their crimes and the type of testimony they provided. WITSEC case files maintained at the PCUs contain very sensitive information, including the names and persons who have been determined to represent a threat to a WITSEC inmate, the nature of the inmates testimony, the names and addresses of visitors and the telephone numbers of family members and associates. Very dangerous information indeed if it fell into the wrong hands. With corrupt BOP staff the WITSEC inmates could be compromised and who is to say that a BOP employee is not above a bribe? But overall the staff is professional and treats the WITSEC inmates accordingly.

How do staff treat the WITSEC inmates there?

WI- Real good for the most part, some better than others, depending on who you were and how you carried yourself. They don’t want no problems with you or your sponsors (the U.S. Attorneys). There’s also a phone where you can call the Department of Justice whenever you want, so staff doesn’t want you telling on their asses. All inmates can call the BOP Director or the Department of Justice Monday thru Friday from the officer’s station for free. You have case agents who you can call about any complaints or just to bitch at them or say you’re being treated bad. The legal phone is also free for approved numbers. Your attorney, AUSA, agents etc. are all on the list. Get a cool guard and you can call whoever you want, your girl, your kids, mom etc. Guards don’t give a fuck, leave them alone and you can do what you want. Guys sometimes get in a fight over the legal phone because once your 300 minutes are gone you’re screwed, so everyone wants that free phone.

Did you ever see the guy Gerald Shur who created the WITSEC program?

WI- He used to come to the units twice a year. A real good guy. He would not bullshit you. When he left the program really went down hill.

What did dudes act like in there considering they all knew they were high profile snitches?

WI- There’s always the tough killer gangsters, you know in prison you can be whatever you want to be. In there those guys were just those guys. Although in Arizona, Sammy the Bull beat a Mexican Mafia guy so bad that his head swelled up and they kept that on the down low. That’s when he was the golden goose. They catch dudes doing shit all the time and if they need you still its swept away so no one ever knows and when they are done with you they’ll throw you away like yesterdays trash. Trust me on that.

Why did you cooperate? Do you regret it? Would you do that again?

WI- Why did I flip? Why does anyone flip? To try and save their own ass. Also there comes a point in your life where you just know it’s the right thing to do and it’s actually a relief to just be done with that life. I’ve spoke to many people in these units and trust me a lot of them are glad just to be alive and have a chance to start over. Do I regret it? No, the people I helped the government put in prison needed to be in prison. Especially the corrupt cops and politicians. When you take an oath to protect and serve and you break that oath you need to be stopped. Corruption is one of the things that’s ruining this county. Would I do it again? Yes, I would. I know I did it for the wrong reasons in the beginning, but as you grow up you realize what you were doing to society as a whole is just wrong. So you try and atone for your sins and move on. And that’s what I believe I did. Took some real bad people off the streets and made society a little safer and a little more honest. For a short time anyway.

What is the hardest thing you have had to endure since cooperating?

WI- The hardest thing to endure has been being moved across the country. Barely seeing your kids and family. The other thing has been having people saying things that are 100 percent false.

How did your decision affect your family? Was that a concern for you?

WI- Hell, yes it affected my family and was a big concern. You had dirty cops running around robbing and killing people, selling drugs and whatever else they could do to supplement their income. So it was not an easy decision to make or one to be taken lightly, so I was very glad when my family moved to a new city and was somewhat safe from the dirty cops and criminals.

What kind of outrageous promises does the government offer informants?

WI- If they really need you 99 percent of the time you’re good no matter what. Jimmy Chagra, the guy who had the judge murdered, Judge Woods, cooperated on a whole bunch of stuff and they let him out. A major player, Oscar Goodman (the mayor of Las Vegas) helped get him out. Jimmy Chagra was the first person ever to place a million dollar bet in Vegas. He was a big Arab pot dealer who had so much money the casinos used to borrow cash from him. He snitched on Woody Harrelson’s dad, the hitman who hired to kill Judge Woods.

Does the government live up to their end of the bargain?

WI- Ninety-nine percent of the time because its in writing. If the agents or AUSA really like you I have seen them get mass murderers rule 35’s and then help them get even more time cut plus give 25 percent of all seized assets up to $250,000 back. But you can get more if you give up some real money. I’ve heard of them letting drug dealers keep millions. Steve Kalish from Austin, Texas who was on the Noriega case for flying in 1,000’s of keys at a time got to keep $20 million in cash and assets. His father-in-law was DEA in Washington DC.

Have you ever heard of any times the government went back on their deal with an informant?

WI- It’s rare but it happens. Take the case of Richard “White Boy Rick” Wershe. He helped give the feds the biggest police corruption case in Detroit history and when the parole hearing came in 2003 the head U.S. Attorney at the time wrote the parole board saying they did not support his release. He was in since 1990. He got fucked over. The DEA came in and told outrageous lies as well as retired Detroit cops and a Wayne County prosecutor to keep him in prison. The DOJ official said you help us, we help you and it’s a shame that nothing happened in Wershe’s case, because he helped them a lot and received nothing for it, while the people who should be in prison were released long ago. All these were people who told him they would help him. You hardly ever see that in WITSEC. When all the protected witnesses found out that the Department of Justice went back on their word to White Boy Rick it set off a panic in the WITSEC units. You had guys thinking the same thing was going to happen to them. They were calling their lawyers, calling AUSA’s and calling the DOJ, all thinking that the same thing would happen to them. Some of these guys were really in a panic. DC was pissed. You had DOJ officials having to clean up a mess some idiot U.S. Attorney made in Detroit. Needless to say he wasn’t around long. Some FBI agents tried to help him, both active and retired but the head U.S. Attorney really screwed him over. He was a former lawyer for Young Boys, Inc. He was forced back to private practice (court records show that the U.S. Attorney on the case was Jeffrey Collins). As one Department of Justice official put it, “only in Detroit would you object to a first time non-violent drug dealer like Richard Wershe being released.” While the same office is supporting the release of mass murderers like Nate Craft, 30 murders and Charles Wilkes, 12 murders and 1,000 kilograms of coke. Both of them have been released from the WITSEC program. They were both recently on Gangland. They were part of the Best Friends gang from Detroit. Gangland named Nate Craft the baddest killer/gangster ever previewed on their show and he could be your neighbor.

“For years,” BOP director Carlson later explained, “I had been getting calls, mostly from FBI agents but sometimes from FBI headquarters or from U.S. Attorneys all across the country, asking me to do favors for their witnesses. They felt these witnesses had really helped them and deserved special privileges. Unfortunately, they would often make unrealistic promises to them and then expect us to carry them out. One prosecutor told me, ‘By the way, I told this witness he could have a conjugal visit with his wife every now and then. You don’t mind, do you?’ Conjugal visits were totally against our policies, and I was stuck being the bad guy because I’d be the one who had to tell the witnesses we were not going to follow through.”

BOP policy requires PCUs to provide WITSEC inmates with access to adequate programs and services during their incarceration. This includes basic services such as health care, telephone and mail services as well as educational, vocational and counseling programs to help inmates make constructive use of their time in prison. But criminals will be criminals no matter where they are. Like they say tigers don’t change their stripes. The example of Lorenzo “Fat Cat” Nichols, who was in the WITSEC program since the late 1980s shows this. There has been some debate on Fat Cat’s honor or lack there of due to some distortions and outrageous claims made on the BET American Gangster episode on him and a King article that claimed Fat Cat wasn’t a snitch, but our source and several newspaper accounts set the story straight.

In 2006 Fat Cat was busted and pleaded guilty to racketeering charges for his role in an auto theft ring in South Florida. From his cushy cell in the WITSEC program Cat allegedly helped move over $8 million in cars stolen in South Florida between 1999 and 2005, and ship them north to 14 states. Mostly sports utility vehicles and luxury models. Cat and his accomplices on the street, namely his son, Lorenzo Nichols Jr. were supposedly in on the scheme. Detectives found photos of some of the fancier cars in Nichols WITSEC prison cell. For his role in the car theft ring Nichols was sentenced to 10 years in prison to be served after he completes his life sentence for drug trafficking. Fat Cat was also kicked out of the WITSEC program and shipped back to the New York state system where he is currently in lockdown. His son pleaded guilty and was sentenced to seven years suspended sentence. Our interviewee was with Fat Cat when all this went down.

What was the deal with running the car theft ring from WITSEC?

WI- It was a way to get rid of him. As one Florida law enforcement official said, “If anyone should have received any prison time it was Lorenzo Nichols, Jr.” But Cat wasn’t going for that. Fat Cat was used as a pawn to bring publicity to the case. The whole case was 100 percent false bullshit. His son bought six or eight cars and sold them to his street buddies. Next thing you know in 2004 the car guy in Miami gets arrested and in 2005, over a year later, Cat and others get arrested. The dude got busted and gave Fat Cat’s name, said he was running it, to get the feds interested and take the heat off his back. Cat wasn’t running no car theft ring and neither was his son.

What was Fat Cat like?

WI- No nonsense, cold, lacking of feeling for anyone other than his kids. He loved his sons. He took the beef for the car shit and he did nothing. Didn’t get one cent but he made sure his son got probation and in reality his son was running the cars to all his little street buddies. The BOP used the car thing to throw hit out of the program.

What was Fat Cat into?

WI- Cat was a serious guy. Not for any games that go on in prison and not real friendly. If you were cool with him you were alright. He had his own routine and was a workout nut. In better shape than most pro athletes but had skin that hangs off his body from being so fat at one time.

Did he interact with other dudes in the program?

WI- Interact with other dudes, not too much. Stayed in the cell when he wasn’t working out. Loved TV, soap opera nut. Would play some basketball every now and then but sucked and if he thought a guy fouled him too hard it was on. Rarely ate the kitchen food, hit the microwave and back to his cell. No meat, only fish, rice and beans.

What did he think of his notoriety?

WI- Talked about it from time to time, said he was blamed for a lot of stuff he had no part of and took a lot of the weight to keep his family out of prison. He knew he was a street legend in New York. The songs he was in, etc.

Did he talk about it?

WI- From time to time he would tell some stories, such as when he had his sons’ mother killed because he felt disrespected by her when he was in prison or when he made a crew member shoot himself in the leg while he was on the phone because the guy didn’t do what he was told about placing a large wager on a fight. He just loved the power he had, said that power and control became a drug for him. Talked about a lot of guys who were out there who snitched on the down low and were playing the keep it real shit. He despised them. You know his oldest son went to state prison in New York for shooting a dude for calling Cat a snitch. Also he spoke about the money he made. Still has money and properties, jewelry. Also about his connects at Murder Inc. Wished he was there for the real money that the suckers were getting.

Another infamous and high profile rat that has been profiled in numerous magazines, street documentaries and even a feature film that our interviewee was with in the WITSEC program was Alberto “Alpo” Martinez and he breaks down what the snitch Alpo was like for our readers. When they say “a legend in their own mind,” Alpo epitomizes that maxim. A cold, clown buster who portrayed himself as a real gangster and danced the deadly snake dance like only a true double crosser could. That was Alpo in the streets and in the WITSEC program he carried himself much the same. A man that stands for nothing will fall for anything.

What was Alpo like?

WI- Loud, a clown, played the slip game. Type of person you could never trust.

Did he act like he was a gangster?

WI- Yes, he really thought he was like that. He bragged about what he did, what he took from cats, real scumbag. Was always trying to work shit to get a time cut. He still had many followers in the streets trying to build cases to help him.

How did he act and interact with others in the program?

WI- Depended on who you were. Clowns he would clown. The respected ones he gave them respect but he stayed in dumb shit. I think he was kicked out of every witness unit for all types of dumb shit. Doing interviews, smuggling shit it, talking about other inmates on the phone, a real no, no. But he knew just what not to do to get kicked all the way out of the program, so he just bounced from unit to unit. Last I heard he was in FCI Otisville, New York.

What words would you use to describe Alpo?

WI- An idiot with no remorse for anything. Cold blooded, too dumb to hustle, con man, class clown sometimes, just all over the board. Loved to talk about what he took from dudes more than anything. He’s not a little dude, about 6-foot-1 or so and 220 lbs. A great basketball player, could have easily played college ball.

How did others act around him or who hung out with him?

WI- No one really did all the time, he just hung out and talked shit. Played ball etc. Stayed on the phone when he could. Some C/Os would let you make social calls on the legal phone, guys would ride for three or four hours. Not just him. These places were wide open. One C/O for 80 to 100 guys, so you could do whatever really.

What did Alpo talk about?

WI- All types of shit. He loved pussy to a fault. He was always telling a story about this DC dude whose girl he wanted so they caught the dude playing ball and while Alpo was shaking the dude’s hand he had his boy shoot him in the head just so Po could fuck his girl, which he did. Loved to talk about the boat he had or whatever else he had or what he took from dudes, the control he had over dudes who would do whatever he said. The guy Wayne Perry was like his attack dog according to him. He talked about how dumb dudes were to do what he said all the time. You know he was a real tool. Loved to talk about his infamy. Just couldn’t shut up. Always had his folder full of articles, mags about him. Anything he didn’t like was of course not true. He always spoke about the Rich Porter stuff and how AZ fucked him over with Rockafella, Jay-Z and Dame Dash with the movie thing. I guess AZ took less money for the Paid in Full movie so they quit talking to Po. He didn’t like that.

Did you ever run into Rayful Edmonds?

WI- I never ran into him. He was in FCI Sandstone in Minnesota. People would transfer in talking about him and his crew of young trouble makers. Always some bull shit about him.

How much time did Alpo, Rayful and Fat Cat really get? Are they coming home anytime soon?

WI- Rayful, they say he got all day. Cat, 30 years feds, 25 to life in New York state. They say that Cat will never see the streets because of New York and his past record of violence. Alpo should be out soon. I think he had 26 years and was trying to get that cut.

Did any of them ever express regret for cooperating and setting people up? Or would they do it all over again?

WI- Express regret, hell no bro. Alpo was always trying to build cases to get that time cut. Real hater and would do anything for freedom. He had people in the streets passing him info that he would pass to agents and AUSA’s. This was very common in there. A lot of guys in the WITSEC program are still working on time cuts. Cat accepted his fate and took a lot of blame for others but never said anything about regret. I know they wanted him to speak on Supreme and he told them to kick rocks, never. They were pissed. That was another reason he was kicked out of the program. They were done with him and mad about him not helping with Supreme’s Murder Inc. case.

What reasons did they give for telling?

WI- Alpo was only out to save himself and he had an intense hate for Wayne Perry for some reason. Cat always said he wanted to save his family- his mom, sisters, niece, etc.

A snitch will always justify his actions trying to make it seem like he did the right thing. But when you betray your comrades just because you got jammed up that’s dead wrong. Keep your mouth shut, pull your own weight and keep it moving. Don’t bring somebody else into your predicament in an attempt to get out of it. That is self serving and selfish. If you’re going to play the game then play it right or don’t play it at all.

That concludes our interview and our look into the federal WITSEC program for incarcerated inmates. If you break the code and rat the feds will protect you but you can see that after they suck you dry they will leave you hanging out like the sucker you are. Gerald Shur, the U.S. Attorney who is credited with creating the program sums it up. “Time was frozen for them. They were stuck in the same WITSEC unit year after year, and a lot of them were filled with self-loathing because they had testified against their former friends.” Like they say if you can’t do the time than don’t do the crime because if you break weak and rat out your comrades you’re the one who will have to look in the mirror for the rest of your life and face the truth of what you are. Enough said.