I Spent 25 Years In Prison — This Is How It Turned Me Into An Animal

Ben McChesney stole several pallets of firearms in what became one of the largest gun heists in his state's history — then fled to Mexico for two years before being captured extradited and sentenced to what became a 25 year odyssey through more than 14 state and federal prisons across America. In this episode of Locked In with Ian Bick, Ben tells the complete story — and it is genuinely unlike anything we have ever covered on this show. He walked into court as his own attorney beat a federal kidnapping charge ran underground poker tables inside prison fought predators survived solitary confinement negotiated with wardens and lived by his own code through 25 years and 14 different federal facilities. This is one of the most raw unfiltered and brutally honest conversations about long term prison survival corruption and defiance we have ever recorded. #LockedInWithIanBick #PrisonStories #TrueCrime #LifeInPrison #RedemptionStory #RealStories #PrisonLife #SurvivingPrison Thank you to BLUECHEW for sponsoring this episode: Visit https://bluechew.com/ and use promo code LOCKEDIN at checkout to get your first month of BlueChew & pay five bucks for shipping. Connect with Ben McChesney: Youtube: @allamericanconvict Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allamerican... Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@allamericanco... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5DoYIui... Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?h... https://ianbick.com/ Timestamps: 00:00 Biggest Gun Heist in State History — Mexico — 25 Years in Federal Prison — Ben's Full Story 02:40 Growing Up in Montana and Florida and the Early Chaos That Started Everything 06:00 Family Life Childhood Trauma and the First Trouble That Set His Path 12:00 Getting Institutionalized Young — Juvenile Facilities and Reform Schools 19:00 The Early Criminal Mindset Manipulation Hustling and Survival That Defined Him 25:00 Wild Behavior Theft and the Road That Led to His First Adult Prison Sentence 32:00 His First Adult Sentence Inside Wyoming State Prison 39:00 Maximum Security Life — Violence Chaos and the Brutal Prison Reality Nobody Talks About 46:00 Solitary Confinement Instigating and the Survival Tactics That Kept Him Alive 55:00 Negotiating With the Warden and How He Gained Prison Status Nobody Expected 01:00:00 Getting Released From Wyoming and Going Straight Back to the Streets 01:08:00 The Federal Conspiracy Charges That Started the Next Chapter 01:15:00 His Federal Prison Journey From Medium Security to Camp 01:19:00 The Smuggling Schemes and Controversy That Defined Camp Life 01:25:00 Fights Transfers and the Federal Prison Politics That Governed Everything 01:32:00 Sex Offenders Prison Justice and the Yard Rules That Defined His World 01:41:00 Books Mindset and the Moment He Started Actually Turning Things Around 01:46:00 Beating a Case and the Marriage Problems That Followed Release 01:54:00 The Financial Trouble That Led to Planning One of the Biggest Gun Heists in State History 02:03:00 The Gun Heist Fallout Relationship Chaos and Going on the Run 02:13:00 Two Years Hiding in Mexico and What That Fugitive Life Really Looked Like 02:27:00 Getting Captured in Mexico and Extradited Back to the United States 02:55:00 The Legal Battles Including Beating a Federal Kidnapping Charge as His Own Attorney 03:03:00 His Federal Trial Sentencing and the Wild Prison Stories That Defined Those Years 03:17:00 Reentry Parole and Learning to Live Free After 25 Years Inside 03:24:00 Staying Out for Good — The Lessons Redemption and What Moving Forward Really Requires