3-Strike Stories: Nathaniel Milton

NATHANIEL MILTON D-01346
CSP-SAC-FB-6129
P.O. BOX 290066
REPRESA, CA. 95671-0066

My story is very interesting. They arrested me for Auto burglary and possession of a crack pipe. I was sentence to Two years in prison. The State of California had diagnosed me as disabled, due to my drugs and alcoholism. I was placed in a prison that they call R.T.C. that means return to custody. Nevertheless, before my placement I had been clean and sober for two months. R.T.C. is a place where the department of corrections runs a recycling center. They recycle all the cities of Folsom trash. I discovered in the uh-open containers of alcohol and found thrown away drugs, pipes, pills, and all kinds of other drugs. I asked to be removed from the program because it was to tempting, they would not do it because my custody met the criteria and they needed me to meet their obligations. Well one week after working there, they discovered me in a garbage and drinking and drunk. I was supposed to have been fired. Nevertheless, they felt that my presence was more important than my alcoholism, so I stayed and became a full-fledged alcoholic and drug abuser. In the month I worked we also found Knives and guns. I and Raymond Delgado. I am black and Raymond is Mexican. Raymond found a gun one day and did not know what to do with it. I took it and turned it in. The Mexican gang members got mad at Raymond for giving me the gun and threatened him. Raymond had found some diet pills and he kept taking them because the Mexican gang warned him not to sleep. We lived in a Dormitory setting. Raymond had two months left on his sentence and I had nine months left. Raymond became very paranoid and feared for his life because of taking so many pills and not sleeping. I had a half gallon of wine and we drank it hoping it would relax him. After drinking they called me to clean up, I left and when I came back I discovered Raymond on the other side of the prison fence. It was only one fence and no guard tower. He went under the fence. I chased him, trying to convince him to return, but before I could catch him, he had made it to the city streets and was almost hit by a truck. The truck driver gave us a ride to the prison entrance, once there, a prison official saw us getting out of the truck. Nevertheless, Raymond decided he wanted still to run and ran into the neighborhood and tried to steal a bike and was caught at that point. I felt they would kill him, so I stopped another vehicle and asked for a ride to the police station, but before we made it there Folsom police pulled us over. They charged us with escape and Kidnapping. The jury was hung on the Kidnapping but found us guilty of escape. I got twenty-five to life and Raymond got eight years. I have five serious felonies: four robberies and burglary 1975-459, 1978-211, 1985 2-211, 1989-211. Though my case had mitigating circumstances, every word I said is true and recorded on court documents and there is more, but this is enough for now.

This is how I got my twenty-five to life. Two of my robberies I simply ran in the store and grabbed money out of the registers. One of my robbery a pack of cigarettes I stole and ran but they said because I broke away from the store security that is a robbery and the 1978 robbery, they said I used a weapon that was never found. I have a history of drug abuse since age twelve.

P.S. The Judge said that I had five strikes against me. I went back for reconsideration because I caught my case September 11. 1994. I thought that they could only use two of them along with any other felony, she said that in order for it to do me any good, she would have to strike three priors at least and was not going to do that.