0:00

H everyone

0:04

then your prison go on. Like they had a lot of

0:06

struggles.

0:07

It's hard not to attack clear

0:10

in your life, especially when you have identity questions

0:12

or you're not we used to be, disassociate

0:15

yourself with so much of your pass

0:17

and then you know, for me, now

0:20

I'm here, but now I'm a home

0:22

new set of issues.

0:35

Hey, it's the Descent and I'm Charlie Webster.

0:39

This is Surviving ol chapter The Twins

0:41

who brought down a Dubord Season

0:43

two.

0:48

M h.

0:55

The Floor Is Twins spent eight months trying to

0:57

get out Chappo on tape while they were running drug

1:00

for him in Mexico. They

1:02

handed themselves into authorities and

1:04

then spent the next ten years cooperating

1:06

for the government in prison.

1:08

Then it was two long days on the witness

1:10

stand.

1:12

Finally El Chapel was sent to prison for

1:14

life plus thirty years.

1:17

Everything the twins had worked award for over a

1:19

decade trying to turn their lives around

1:22

culminated at this moment, and

1:24

it was finally over. For

1:27

the first time in their lives they could look forward

1:30

to. They're happily ever after and on

1:32

his life outside of the world of peddling,

1:34

kilos or the bars of a prison cell.

1:38

But what does that actually mean For two

1:40

people whose introduction to the drug life

1:42

began at seven years old? The

1:46

cooperation was over and at

1:48

thirty eight, the brothers only had

1:50

two years left until they would finally

1:52

be free.

1:54

The government no longer needed them, so

1:56

their protection as high profile witnesses was

1:58

over. After what they

2:00

had gone through over ten years. Another two

2:03

might see music, But there

2:05

was one challenge. None of us saw it coming.

2:08

COVID.

2:12

Who was the last two years any

2:15

different?

2:16

Fear miserable because

2:18

they continue to fight to go home, and

2:22

then COVID hit We're

2:25

in twenty four hours lockdown. We'reusually unlockdown

2:27

in death aspect, and we'll let your out when we

2:30

think it's safe, and

2:32

you're like, how could they do that? It

2:34

was kind of like the ridiculous to think that we've

2:36

been on segregated you know, you

2:39

know, it's set apart from the society for safety

2:41

reasons and that.

2:43

COVID hit right, But we're COVID

2:47

free.

2:47

We never been around anyone

2:50

exposed to coviche, So the only people that have been exposed

2:53

to go with are the cards and

2:57

that's the only way to get it in. Is that they're going

3:00

to bring it into us. So

3:02

they get to go home and every day and come

3:04

back, go home, come back. But where you're stuck in the cell

3:07

and you're back captive again.

3:09

You know, you're you're hungry,

3:13

you know, you're just in that stall, you know.

3:19

And I'll write letters to my wife

3:22

feeling miserable about what she was

3:24

dealing with on her home.

3:27

I can't explain to you what it's like to.

3:31

Do that, like to write letters, writing

3:34

so many letters. And if I didn't get

3:36

the mail, like didn't write, I

3:39

feel so sick. My

3:42

anxiety would be so horrible.

3:45

If I didn't hear from her,

3:48

they could least you know that she was okay, the

3:50

kids were okay. And then the

3:53

worst part is that these pieces of

3:55

shit he old us, like.

3:57

Do you have to write a book every day?

3:58

Like, man, do your fucking job, man, you know, pick

4:00

my fucking mail, put in the mailbax, Like we don't want to

4:02

read it, Like are you serious? We're

4:05

fucking log down in cord, we

4:07

have no access to the phone, we can't call that family.

4:10

You're gonna fucking talk shit about me

4:12

right in a letter? This is my fucking right to write a letter

4:16

for my children and or worried you

4:19

can't call home and check and learn my

4:21

mom and everyone. I

4:27

wasn't allowed to see them talk like octour

4:31

for one hour behind like

4:33

that plastic shower.

4:38

Prisoners nationwide was stopped from

4:41

seeing any visitors from March twenty

4:43

twenty, when COVID first hit the world.

4:47

When Pete was finally able to have his family

4:49

visit seven months later, it

4:51

had to be done through a plastic shower curtain,

4:54

and their time together was limited to

4:56

an hour on

4:59

the other side of the car. COVID

5:01

had hit Jay's prison early on, so

5:04

Viole applied for compassionate release,

5:06

hoping he would be allowed to serve his final

5:08

months under home confinement. The

5:11

compassionate release was denied.

5:14

The twins were not eligible for home

5:16

confinements for safety reasons.

5:19

The last few months were seen longer than then.

5:23

Some of the time I was like there, and you

5:25

know, with COVID, it's

5:28

just kind of like made some everything

5:30

a little bit harder, and

5:32

any other situation, I would have been home already. Like

5:35

because of my situation, I wasn't like

5:38

privilege to some of the

5:40

opportunities that regular inmates had like a

5:42

happy house or home confinement

5:44

or anything like that. So any

5:47

other time would have been home already worked.

5:49

But we filed for compassionate release just because

5:51

in the prison he was at, COVID was

5:53

already there and there was already

5:56

like inmates and staff that had it.

5:58

And this was you know, early on, right,

6:00

you don't know nothing about COVID.

6:01

Yeah, it was scary.

6:03

Around the same time, Jay started

6:05

to feel sick, but none of the prison

6:08

gods believed him. They thought

6:10

he was faking his illness because

6:12

his compassionate release had been denied.

6:15

It was hard, It was I

6:17

was so thankful for not being

6:19

sick, for being healthy most

6:21

of my time in prison.

6:23

It was probably one of the hardest times of

6:26

just not knowing, especially the

6:29

whole time that he was in prison.

6:31

It's like we were there every weekend, and.

6:35

Then when COVID hit,

6:38

we couldn't see him for the last year, and

6:42

he ended up getting sick during that time.

6:45

You know, for me to get to that point and then being

6:48

sick, especially during COVID, just

6:51

made everyth even harder.

6:53

They must have thought that

6:55

because it was around the same time

6:58

that we filed for compassion release that he

7:00

was like almost making it up until

7:03

like his whole face like blew up

7:05

and his throat, like his airwaves

7:08

ended up closing on him,

7:11

so he was almost incompatitated

7:14

by the time they took him out of the prison. That's

7:18

how the infection got so bad,

7:21

and then that's how he ended up getting acceptis.

7:25

I can imagine that must have been so horrific

7:27

for you. What was it like for you being in

7:29

a settle and struggling

7:32

to breathe and not being held.

7:34

I think just being like

7:36

helpless in the cell. I just like

7:40

it got to a point where I couldn't you know, like

7:43

I'm shaking, Like I

7:45

can't even tell you, like what that last

7:47

week was like, because you're

7:50

in pain, and I'm

7:52

just lost.

7:53

Jay called me one day he

7:55

couldn't like even speak because

7:58

his face and his like everything

8:00

was so swollen, like even when he was speaking,

8:03

like he I couldn't really understand him.

8:06

And I got into this whole rant that.

8:08

He needs to sign out of the program just

8:10

so that way they can take him to

8:13

a regular prison, so that way he had

8:15

the right to go to a hospital.

8:16

You know, I was in panet, desperate and

8:18

I was training everything, and I

8:21

guess it was getting to a point where I was like

8:24

not well, and you know, they mean

8:27

people around me are just trying to take care of me.

8:30

And I just don't even recall. I just

8:33

know that an officer doing

8:36

his rounds and night saw

8:39

me and I was unrecognizable at

8:41

this point. I was like he

8:44

saw me, and he saw me, and

8:47

were your face and that he saw me, He's

8:49

like, hey, like oh my something

8:52

that you know. I just couldn't even like I was

8:55

taking an oxygen. I don't recall.

8:57

I do know that they carried me out myself.

9:03

They put me in an ambulance, and

9:06

I remember the doctors being really upset,

9:10

like this doesn't happen in

9:13

a day, you know, just because

9:16

like what, why why wasn't he

9:18

here sooner? This doesn't happen a day or two

9:20

days. It's been going on for a long

9:22

period of time. This

9:24

is not acceptable, you

9:26

know. I'm just like at this point, just like listen, fix

9:29

me, you know, do whatever you have to do.

9:31

Transfer him to another hospital

9:34

for intensive care.

9:38

Yeah, another hospital,

9:41

And.

9:42

I guess they just they got lost the

9:44

first few days that those

9:47

hospital. But is just not being able to talk to my

9:49

family or know from them. You

9:52

can't communicate so and

9:54

they can't be there.

9:55

They didn't like even know what was going

9:57

on with him, like if he was okay,

10:00

if he was you know, alive.

10:05

We just knew that it was really

10:07

really bad because like in a prison

10:10

like that, when it comes to like security

10:12

purposes, they don't take

10:15

you out to the hospital unless.

10:16

You're like almost dying.

10:19

So for me to know that,

10:21

because Jay has to be moved with marshals

10:24

and it's like this big, it

10:27

takes a lot of work to move him to a hospital.

10:32

So it was devastating.

10:35

Not being able to know what was going on and

10:38

speaking to the attorneys and trying

10:40

to find out if my husband was okay,

10:42

because I'm like, just tell me that he's

10:45

not in a coma, tell me he's you

10:47

know stable, tell me something, and they

10:50

couldn't.

10:50

And I want to.

10:51

Direct access to his doctors. I

10:55

needed some type of line of communication just

10:57

to know he was okay. I didn't know need to know

10:59

what has what he was at. I just

11:01

needed to know that, you know, he was breathing.

11:06

You know.

11:06

He spent fifty six days in the hospital.

11:10

He had three surgeries. I

11:13

think Yeah, it was hard. Like you

11:15

know, you're alone, right, you're in the shoe like people

11:17

you spend time in the shoe and then

11:20

like solitaries like that's solitude

11:22

is is hard, but

11:26

being sick and kind of helpless,

11:29

helpless being in the hospital where you have no one

11:31

to like care for your nurture,

11:34

you.

11:34

Your shackle to a bad Yeah, I.

11:36

Have a shackle. Like that's hard. I

11:41

do remember like once I started

11:43

like feeling like a little bit better,

11:46

like I was being in I was in pain. I

11:48

had too going down like in

11:50

my throat and

11:53

so I couldn't speak, and

11:55

I remember that's when you really

11:58

feel that lone. It's like it's

12:00

you know, I was to have all these like thoughts about

12:03

wow, like when

12:05

you're like not conscious or when you're

12:07

in those situations, that's when you look for that nurturing

12:10

mom right as a baby, like I

12:13

remember just having those feeling like

12:17

like wow, this is why

12:20

marriage and family is so important. You're

12:23

supposed to have someone, you're

12:25

supposed to have each other. And I think

12:27

that it's just kind

12:29

of like to me was like again just

12:35

a reminder right of what it's

12:37

like to be alone, you

12:39

know, and when you when you're in those situations,

12:41

you wonder like this is gonna I'm gonna die alone,

12:44

Like this is what's gonna be like, so

12:46

kind of going back to those times. So just

12:48

going through all that and not

12:50

having my family, not having being able

12:53

to talk to them,

12:55

that was very hard cause I'm a very

12:58

like I dependent on my family, dependent

13:00

on my wife. I'm a social person, and just

13:03

not being able to talk and just be inter

13:05

paining, just kind of just keeping it to yourself,

13:08

which a lot of people might think, well, a lot

13:10

of people keep thesearch of I just thanks

13:14

to my wife and thanks for me having a

13:16

twin brother, I

13:19

never had to keep something to myself

13:22

that was foreign to me that I'm

13:26

kind of suffering alone in a way.

13:30

Jay got an infection which

13:32

led to sepsis. Because he was left

13:34

without treatment for so long, he

13:36

spent fifty six days in hospital

13:39

before he was eventually transferred back

13:41

to prison, but he

13:43

didn't stay there for long. By the

13:45

time he got back, he only had

13:47

a few weeks left until he was released.

14:08

The twins were able to get two years and

14:11

two months taken off their sentence

14:13

for good behavior, which is the maximum

14:15

a federal inmate can earn off their

14:18

sentence for staying out of trouble. It

14:20

was around fifteen percent. Because

14:23

they received the same sentence, they were released

14:25

on the same day.

14:28

When they first went to prison, they spent eight

14:31

months in the Shoe. Now

14:33

twelve years later they would go to

14:35

the Shoe for the last time. Because

14:38

of COVID, prisoners had to spend two weeks

14:40

quarantined in the Shoe before they left.

14:44

On November fifth, twenty twenty,

14:47

it was time to go home. Jay

14:50

was first out.

14:53

What was it like for you when you came out

14:55

of prison? What was that day? What

14:59

happened on that day? I

15:01

think it was so real. That was that was

15:03

like for sure, Like I couldn't even

15:06

course, I didn't sleep, And as soon as the doors

15:08

opened, everybody came to

15:10

my you know, they have been saying goodbye, and

15:13

you know, people came just give me letters

15:15

and

15:18

and I still couldn't believe. It

15:20

was emotional, believe or not. I

15:23

left a lot of good people behind that. I think that

15:27

you had a a lot of relationships, yeah, for sure.

15:29

And I think, yeah, absolutely,

15:31

I think that I

15:35

guess I think I used to just

15:37

having me right as

15:39

a positive, like let me come to

15:41

you for advice or you

15:44

know, and just were

15:47

just like be there for them, and

15:49

and I did worry about somewhere like

15:51

them, what are they gonna do without me? And

15:56

you know, I made a really good friend and

16:00

I was with him for ten years. He was my selling

16:04

and I knew he needed me and

16:07

he was there for me too, Like I remember, I used to go through

16:09

them hard times and I went through

16:11

a hard situation with my family and

16:14

like we're in the cell and he just came and hug me, and I remember

16:17

like just being an emotional and

16:19

he was like one of those tough men like, oh, I'm

16:21

not gonna cry and I'm not gonna And then when

16:23

it was time for me to go, like that day, he was like

16:26

he cried. He was like, what am I gonna do without you? And

16:31

it's weird because this

16:33

individual is famous

16:35

for how many

16:37

brothers he has. And

16:39

I remember he said, I need

16:41

to tell you something, like I

16:44

never had the relationship with my own

16:46

brothers that I've had with you at and

16:49

I'm really gonna like I'm

16:52

really gonna miss you, and

16:54

I'm happy that you're going home. Man, you

16:57

deserve it.

16:59

It was emotional you

17:02

think about it. He was in

17:04

my life every day for ten years.

17:08

That was as long as my run. So

17:11

all those people that meant to meet something

17:14

in the street that I knew

17:17

for within those ten years or sometimes less,

17:19

that I felt close to. You just could imagine what

17:21

it was like for me to be with just you

17:24

know, with him for ten years.

17:26

And he did have

17:28

a day to come home at that time.

17:30

It was four years, and you know

17:32

there's people either that were not coming home

17:34

soon or not coming home at all. So

17:39

it didn't kind of weigh. I mean it's like bittersly, like you

17:41

know, I waited for this day for so long.

17:45

I'm more worried about them, like you're overdoing it.

17:47

You know.

17:48

He would like say that, like nah,

17:50

I said, you guys aren'ta be all right? You know, I just kind of give

17:52

him a those speech because I'm right hugged them and

17:55

did you give him a little speech? Yeah? What

17:57

did you say? I thank them for everything because I

17:59

think that you depend. That's your family, and

18:01

I'm a family man. We have our own little

18:04

group where it's like that you

18:07

kind of live with every day that you depend.

18:09

You formed this bond

18:13

and I had begged

18:15

the staff. They're like, please

18:17

come get me early. You

18:20

know, like, don't take your time. You know

18:22

you're gonna go home with you. We're gonna be here at eight. And

18:25

they said, your wife is not gonna be on time. We're

18:27

not doing that. I said, listen,

18:30

yes she is, I said, listen.

18:32

I waited a long time for this, please, And they

18:35

came from me early. They came probably a

18:37

little bit before six am,

18:46

and they let me say goodbite everybody,

18:49

and just walking down the hallway, I

18:51

just couldn't. That was emotional

18:53

for sure, like goose toumps

18:55

all on my body. Just even

18:58

when it was time for me to sign off paperwork,

19:00

I was like, wow, this is really gonna happen,

19:03

and uh, I'll

19:06

never forget. Like after I signed the paperwork, they're

19:08

like, go ahead, call your wife,

19:10

see if she's here. I

19:13

was like, excuse me, they call your

19:15

wife. Pick up

19:17

the phone and call your wife. I said

19:19

I could pick up the phone. He said, technically

19:22

you're not in prison anymore. And

19:26

I was like, oh shit, pick

19:33

up the phone. No

19:35

answer, no

19:38

answer, no answer. I don't

19:40

remember a lot of phone I'm I'm like calling

19:42

like hold on, no answer, no

19:44

one is answering my phone. I'm

19:47

like, no, this ain't happening.

19:51

And finally I called. She

19:54

answered, I'll

19:56

never forget. She was like, well,

19:58

Peter, in an hour, I

20:02

said, what I like,

20:04

listen. I was so hurt.

20:06

It hurt me.

20:07

I was sitting there like and

20:09

because of my

20:12

situation, they just didn't want

20:15

to like They're not just gonna put

20:17

me out the door. They

20:19

want to make sure that I

20:21

leave the premises safely. And

20:24

I was so embarrassed to you manager, she said,

20:26

Now, she said, I told you. I

20:29

was like, oh my god, and thinking

20:32

like this is not happening to me. And

20:38

I was like wow, just

20:42

sitting there and they're like, you

20:45

want to use the phone,

20:48

go ahead and just call your wife back, make

20:50

sure she gets hurt. And I was like

20:53

oh okay, and called her back.

20:55

I said I could talk to you like on the phone,

20:57

like wow, I don't have to use like

21:00

you know, the operators don't have to tell

21:02

me I'm being recorded. It was like wow, I'm

21:06

That was the first secum for like being

21:08

free that I felt, which was amazing. And

21:12

yeah, she got there a little bit like an hour and towns

21:14

later.

21:15

And I felt so bad because there's like a whole

21:17

entourage and everyone has to wait

21:19

in order to like release Jay,

21:22

to make sure that you know he's safe,

21:24

our family is safe.

21:25

It's a process which you think it's like arm

21:27

guard. It's like taking you. Yeah, and they

21:30

waited, and you know, now she just has everyone waiting.

21:32

I felt really embarrassed, but when I got out

21:34

of the car, everyone was like, Okay,

21:37

I get it. I broke my foot

21:40

the night before. I

21:42

was trying to like run around the house and

21:45

make everything perfect.

21:47

That's like what I do.

21:48

I want to like lay everything out and

21:50

make sure everything.

21:51

You know what I would tell her, you're so worried about

21:54

everything else that you just focus on

21:56

what's important.

21:58

I just wanted to make sure, like what,

22:00

no matter I charged Jay's toothbrush,

22:02

I wanted to make sure.

22:04

He had his like everything he could

22:06

possibly be, like his slippers.

22:08

Like I was like, my mind just

22:10

goes to the most simplest things of

22:13

what he's going to need, and I just wanted to

22:15

make everything perfect for him, and

22:18

no.

22:18

Matter what it was special. I ended up.

22:20

Just running outside

22:22

and putting up all of the Christmas lights.

22:24

It was just barely November. I

22:27

had the landscapers out there,

22:29

just.

22:29

Trying to make everything so nice for him,

22:32

and I ended up tripping

22:36

over one of the cables outside

22:40

and I

22:42

completely broke my foot.

22:43

I was.

22:45

What is going on? And it was

22:48

it was hard, but you know, it didn't take away like

22:50

once I was there and once

22:52

I felt like like I still couln't believe

22:54

I felt free, like no shackles,

22:56

no, And of

22:59

course it was a more so all my kids were there

23:01

and we just stood there just

23:03

crying in.

23:04

Tears, crying. It was so sorrey.

23:07

You got to go, like be there, you have

23:09

to go. So I had to jump in the car and it

23:11

was like I still remember my son,

23:14

you know, just kind of quiet

23:16

looking at me. He was happy at a smile on his face,

23:19

and he can hug me, and I'm like,

23:21

I told you I was always going

23:23

to be there.

23:25

That's your youngest who had never actually

23:27

lived with you, he'd only ever known you in prison,

23:30

and.

23:30

He could not even like comprehend

23:34

that his dad one day was going to be able to

23:36

walk out that door. Like he didn't

23:38

even He's like, there's no way, are

23:41

you sure? He never

23:44

thought that he would be released from prison.

23:46

It twere. I was lost of words,

23:51

Like I was just like this feeling of fulfillment

23:55

just hard to describe. And

24:00

and they're just it was really emotional

24:03

and just me wanting to like touch

24:05

them and just you know, hug yeah,

24:08

hugging.

24:08

Yeah.

24:09

And you know,

24:11

I had advantage of being home alossom

24:13

than my brother because of the time different.

24:18

I would turn with my kids and eventually we

24:21

touched my two nieces and so I was like, hey,

24:23

oh my god, like and they're crying, and

24:25

they were on FaceTime.

24:27

They were so excited, they were so anxious, which.

24:29

Is I'm still getting

24:31

used to the like

24:34

I was facetiming. He could actually see them, and you

24:36

know, like that was different.

24:38

Dan was like, this is so weird.

24:39

This is so different, Like this is a weird, and I like,

24:42

this could have made my business so much easier.

24:46

Don't forget that. Jay and Pete went to prison

24:49

in two thousand and eight, two years

24:51

before FaceTime existed. Jay

24:53

had never seen FaceTime. In fact,

24:55

when they went to prison, the original

24:58

iPhone had.

24:58

Only been out for years.

25:00

Yeah, the twins started that business

25:02

back in the days of the Nokia thirty two to ten.

25:06

Jay settled in at home across

25:08

the country. Heat was preparing

25:10

to leave.

25:13

I can I can even imagine, like the thing

25:15

was really coming. I had

25:17

like a little homemade little calend

25:20

that I kept on me. This is a little

25:22

legal paper like that. I just wrote my own

25:24

own lines on the days, and.

25:25

I crossed my mind. So

25:28

when the day came, what happened?

25:31

I sleep. I

25:34

don't think anyone could leave.

25:35

I was like I had my room clean,

25:38

I cleaned my cell toil, everything

25:41

folded and everything to grab my own

25:43

blankets and folding my

25:46

mattress and left everything like WHI

25:48

should be.

25:50

And I think that every.

25:51

Person who's done a long time has that little

25:53

thought like is this really gonna.

25:54

Happen for me?

25:56

I remember that, like, yeah, it

25:59

was coming to you got your wife can't beard the

26:02

I think they were gonna take some re court whatever to

26:04

live beer.

26:05

At nine, I was like nine, you

26:07

know, I'm mad.

26:07

That my brother's gonna be out earlier cause

26:09

he's you know, he was in at different

26:11

times on and

26:16

they called me to the office that I could your wife

26:18

be here any earlier? I was like, yes,

26:22

she can't, And then she was an answerment

26:24

caller. What m.

26:35

Anyways?

26:36

But like walking out on a beautiful sunnay

26:38

day and early and

26:41

not feeling good. I was down like

26:43

twenty pounds. I was downtime one thirty.

26:46

I had a osama up, been lot and beard.

26:50

You know, we weren't allowed to get haircut to. My

26:52

hair was articulately long, and

26:56

I remember like pulling the cart out like

26:58

I had a couple of boxes.

26:59

With my belonging. I

27:04

don't know what to tell you.

27:05

The joy for uh to see my family

27:07

then, cause she liked me made

27:10

it like I can't

27:12

tell you what it was, might cancer, you know,

27:15

no, yeah, well she

27:17

looked more beautiful than ever.

27:21

That's a I couldn't like. I wanted to leave,

27:23

like let it go and find me.

27:25

I closing the door, and I was like, I

27:27

ain't jump to the back, see cause

27:30

my sister wasn't the front, and

27:33

the kids their own shit just.

27:34

Looking at me. Ag. I didn't want

27:36

to say. I was speechless, like really

27:38

speechless. That says a lot

27:40

for someone like me who talks a lot. It

27:43

must have been so surreal.

27:45

It was so not really like to think that I

27:47

would be free in America. I

27:51

would be free in the USA, and like back in the States

27:53

and.

27:54

Free cause

27:56

the last time you were free in America was

27:59

when you were like twenty two, twenty

28:01

three, right, I was twenty two.

28:03

Se you've not really.

28:04

Been free in America in your adulthood.

28:06

Yeah, I wanted to say, I can't tell you what

28:08

it felt like, like I

28:10

wanted to hold my kids, hold everyone.

28:12

And I remember my kids

28:15

being around like that, like you're really here,

28:17

like you're not in khakis.

28:20

Yeah, I'm really here.

28:23

I could see in their eyes that there like a million

28:25

questions, like it's just

28:27

like what's next for us? Like I

28:30

remember just something, just just don't

28:32

knok back, man, Let's

28:35

look forward to our future. And

28:38

I say that we could forget that past. But it's

28:40

just change of view a little bit because

28:43

it was such a.

28:43

Long time.

28:47

And I didn't want them to literally look

28:49

behind.

28:52

That's twelve years. It's a long time.

28:54

My kids never seen me outside that present

28:57

to that day, never.

29:00

See me I eat like a normal food.

29:03

They never really got to see how I smell,

29:07

see me in my without my shirt on, and

29:11

there were like normal kids to see their father or

29:14

like do something for them.

29:17

My wife just know that what she

29:19

felt to see you, to

29:22

see him with their father what it meant to her,

29:25

you know.

29:26

M hmm.

29:42

Yeah.

29:45

I see Peter.

29:46

He's coming out and

29:49

he has is like a cart with

29:52

the prison guards. So he has a cart like

29:55

a book cart, and

29:57

he has like boxes, and we

30:00

were just just looking at him. My god, oh

30:02

my god. But it was like almost silence in the

30:04

car, silence, like just

30:06

watching him.

30:09

He opened the drunk and

30:11

he puts his things in there, and then he gets in the

30:13

car and it

30:16

was really surreal to see him, like just

30:18

see his presence, just be in his presence,

30:21

and

30:23

the kids were there and

30:25

he got in the backseat and the kids

30:27

were just he was just holding the kids he didn't

30:30

know, like touching their

30:32

hair, and I don't know.

30:34

They were crying

30:36

and the happy and they were just

30:39

overjoyed, like just to see just

30:41

to finally have them mirror. I

30:45

was nervous, and

30:48

I mean, I haven't been this close to him in

30:50

twelve years, almost thirteen years.

30:54

It was really it was really

30:56

difficult for me.

30:59

When he hugged me, I almost felt like I

31:01

was trembling, like

31:03

my body was a little trembling, a little nervous.

31:08

I kind of avoided him, like I was like, oh,

31:10

I'm gonna do this.

31:10

I want to wash the dishes.

31:11

And I was like, but

31:16

after a while, you know, the kids wanted to have a movie

31:19

night. So we lay blankets on the

31:21

floor and we put a movie

31:23

on and they were just everyone was just

31:25

so happy and and still

31:28

they couldn't take their eyes off of

31:30

him.

31:31

Come on, get to the funny part.

31:34

Oh, so

31:36

you know they're young.

31:37

I mean, they're old enough they're going

31:40

to do something. It's

31:42

funny.

31:43

Yeah, they're really well where they're you

31:45

know, they're really market and

31:47

they're.

31:48

Like, you left us.

31:49

You didn't even finish the movie.

31:53

But they're understand you know, they're understanding,

31:56

and they're funny. They're really funny kids.

31:58

Yeah, really

32:01

mature for their age.

32:05

Because it's weird that

32:07

they made it so awkward for us.

32:10

And then my sister

32:12

in law was there and she was like, leave your mom and dad alone.

32:16

Yes, they're talking about the S word

32:18

sex. The last time Pete and viv

32:20

were intimate in that way was black when

32:22

they were cooperating in the government offices

32:24

in Chicago. Remember the three bees,

32:27

the first bee, the baby. Whilst

32:30

I was talking to Pete, he called his

32:32

youngest daughter to chat about the day he came

32:34

home from prison.

32:36

Hello, how are you?

32:39

How good are you? I'm good, thank you.

32:42

I was telling Charlie about the day I came home.

32:46

Yeah, and I was telling you how you We were

32:48

just staring at using the whole time, and

32:50

Mom was avoiding me.

32:53

Yeah.

32:53

I think that we were all like so like shocked.

32:56

It was like, oh my gosh,

32:59

he's out of prison.

33:02

And it's funny because like I remember every

33:04

little like every little

33:07

sentence he said that day. Well,

33:11

when he first got in a car, like he didn't say

33:13

anything, but he told me specifically,

33:16

like he put me in the link. He was

33:18

from my ear, don't look back,

33:21

just keep your eyes on like on the road. And

33:24

then when he got home, he was

33:27

just like mesmerized, like

33:29

by the house, you know, having

33:31

a home. So then like when

33:33

he he went into the room and he

33:35

was like he laid on the bedding and

33:38

then like just like tour in the house. And remember

33:40

he finally ate no

33:43

good warm meal because of COVID

33:45

he couldn't have warm meals, so like he

33:48

was focusing on his food

33:50

and we didn't really eat. We were

33:52

just like looking at him.

33:53

Whole time, just like was

33:55

that eating funny.

33:58

Yeah, yeah, you were eating You're you're

34:01

eating good. I think, yeah.

34:04

I just really be like, oh my god, this is my friends

34:07

mual. So

34:11

my sister and I really really excited, like we had

34:13

like a whole night turned out or really watch

34:15

watch of like our favorite movies or whatever really

34:18

series. And you know, my sister

34:21

got already and I

34:23

was like, Dad like, mom, lets let's

34:25

go. And so my sister and I were waiting on

34:27

the cash for them for like five hours.

34:33

I was like, oh, Okay, let's

34:35

just gonna end. I'm tired. He's

34:37

like, yeah, it's a pretty cool.

34:39

After spending so much time with the Flora's

34:41

family, I felt like I'd gotten to know them

34:44

pretty well. We'd spoken about

34:46

so much and delved into their deepest

34:48

emotions together. Some of the

34:50

things we got into and have shared on this podcast

34:53

they've never talked about before. By

34:56

this point, I got to know the children quite

34:58

well too. I was struck why the

35:00

fact that despite everything, they

35:02

were also close, and the way the kids

35:04

were with their fathers and vice versa.

35:07

You'd never really have known that they've been in prison

35:09

the majority of their children's lives.

35:12

I would take the children and go see Peter at

35:14

least twice a year over the years,

35:17

just so that way he was always a part

35:19

of our children's lives and

35:21

vice versa when it comes to Peter's children,

35:23

because I think Jay and Peter had this connection

35:26

to where they almost feel like these

35:29

are all of their kids, all of their children

35:31

together, one family. And when

35:34

I would see Peter, it was

35:36

like almost shocking

35:39

to me because I'd sit there and watch him

35:41

with Viv and watch him with the kids,

35:44

and I felt like I

35:46

was almost looking in from

35:49

a lens.

35:50

Which was so.

35:53

Weird because I was just seeing me and

35:55

Jay and the way that Jay would interact

35:57

with me, and the way he would interact with our

36:00

children, and it was everything when

36:02

it comes to body gestures, when it comes to body

36:05

language, when it comes to body and movement, when it comes

36:07

to conversations, when it came to everything.

36:09

And I used to come back and tell Jay like, oh my god,

36:12

this is so crazy. I feel like I'm looking

36:15

at our family like watching from

36:17

a camera, and it

36:20

was just like unreal to see.

36:23

Over the twelve years that Pete and Jay were in prison,

36:26

the family, including the kids, spent nearly

36:28

every weekend visiting them. With the

36:30

exception of COVID, and that's only because

36:32

they weren't physically allowed to visit and

36:35

of course a few months in a safe.

36:36

House leading up to their sentencing.

36:39

That are fathers that aren't in prison that

36:41

see their children less. All

36:44

that being said, I could tell how much of an

36:46

impact what they've been through had on the children.

36:50

Because the twins were moved around the country so

36:52

much, their families also had

36:54

to move to be with them. This

36:56

meant the kids were constantly changing schools.

36:59

It wasn't like they were able to have close friends

37:01

anyway. The kids had

37:03

to hide their own identities. They

37:05

were never allowed to talk about their family,

37:08

where they were from, or reveal anything

37:10

about their backgrounds. Their

37:12

kids had to be as hypervigilant as

37:15

their parents. Even

37:17

now that Jay and Peter are out of prison, the

37:20

children are still hypervigilant about

37:22

their own identities being revealed and

37:24

wake up every morning wondering if their

37:26

fathers are going to get taken away from

37:28

them again. I sat

37:30

down with all the children to understand what it

37:32

was like for them. This is Pete's

37:34

daughter again, who you just heard on the phone.

37:39

It was like every single holiday,

37:42

a birthday, that's all I wanted. It's

37:44

friend death, come home. My

37:48

dad would always like

37:50

he always try to be honest with us. I

37:54

remember when we were like I was I

37:56

think.

37:57

Four years old.

37:58

I was school and

38:01

I had a friend and I told her that

38:03

my dad.

38:03

Was in a cage.

38:06

I was like really curious

38:08

about everything because as much as like

38:10

my dad tried to explain everything

38:12

to us and what he did, I

38:14

still couldn't understand it. So

38:17

I remember like googling stuff and

38:20

me just like reading it. It just all came

38:22

together, you know, about

38:24

his whole life. I

38:28

think I was like scared to like no,

38:31

because you know, I

38:33

did one thousand and one

38:35

hundred and fifty two days with.

38:37

Him, fifty

38:39

two days.

38:41

Yes, when he told me, I think

38:44

I like started to think more.

38:46

And I was like, you know,

38:49

why would you like do that you

38:51

didn't think about us.

38:54

I think I became more like

38:57

I was so upset.

39:01

And then having to go home, and

39:04

then going home to have

39:07

to like put on this like.

39:10

Costume, you know where

39:12

your home life is.

39:13

Like no one knew anything

39:15

about my home life, like at

39:17

school, like no one that knew always just.

39:19

My mom and my brother in at all.

39:21

So it was just like having to do with keeping

39:24

that secret from

39:26

like everybody.

39:28

It's not just their fathers that the kids are worried

39:31

about, it's their mothers

39:33

too. Within six

39:35

months of Pete and Jay getting out of prison,

39:38

SWAT teams surrounded each of their houses

39:40

in the early hours of the morning, and I

39:42

WestEd Val and viv on money laundering

39:45

charges.

39:46

My Van and I did a me and

39:49

Viviana. I felt

39:51

like.

39:52

We knew what was coming.

39:55

We told our children

39:58

that the Feds would come one day and they'd come

40:00

into the house and

40:03

they would possibly take us and

40:06

arrest us and put us in prison.

40:09

That was the hardest thing I think we ever had to deal.

40:12

The kids were all home when their mothers

40:14

were arrested. We'll get to how it all

40:16

unfolded in the next episode.

40:19

I remember just like waking up in the morning, my

40:21

dad feel like try to get up, and

40:24

then they put in their haircuffs

40:26

and they went in the car and then I

40:28

just remember so

40:32

I was like kind of like I didn't

40:34

comprehend it yet. I was

40:37

just I think I was like

40:40

I was in shock because I didn't think that it would

40:42

happen. And I

40:44

remember my dad was like breaking

40:46

down, and so

40:48

my mom told me before she left, just like stay

40:51

strong. I got

40:53

up and I was like, I woke my brother up, and

40:55

I just told them, and then I walked out of the

40:57

room and I just started cleaning and

41:00

cooking china, trying

41:03

to make everything as normal as possible.

41:14

Surviving l Chapo. The Twins Who Brought

41:16

Down a Drug Lord Season two is

41:19

hosted by Curtis fifty cent Jackson

41:21

and me Charlie Webster, produced

41:23

by myself and Jackson mcclennan, Assistant

41:26

producer and research support by Casey

41:28

Hurtz. Edit and sound designed

41:30

by Nico Kalella. Theme

41:32

music and original score by Ryan Sorenson.

41:36

It's executive produced by Curtis fifty

41:39

cent Jackson and Me Charlie Webster.

41:42

Curtis fifty cent Jackson presents a Lionsgate

41:45

Sound and G Unit audio production exclusively

41:48

for iHeart Podcasts.