Honor Among Thieves | True Crime & Crime Stories

What was Pooh Shiesty really like inside federal prison?

In Episode 76 of Honor Among Thieves Podcast, former USP Victorville correctional officer Gio Martini returns to give a firsthand account of Pooh Shiesty’s time at one of the most dangerous federal prisons in California.

Gio says he was working at USP Victorville while Pooh Shiesty was housed there and witnessed how the rapper carried himself around staff and inmates. He describes Pooh as quiet when he first entered the penitentiary and explains how celebrity status, prison politics and personal reputation can quickly change once someone enters a high-security federal prison.

Gio also makes several explosive claims about Pooh Shiesty’s incarceration, including that he pushed a wheelchair for a known BMF associate, which Gio interprets as evidence that Pooh was paying for protection. He explains how protection arrangements operate inside prison, why inmates may align themselves with powerful figures and what it means when someone refuses to return to the general population.

The conversation also covers:

Pooh Shiesty’s arrival at USP Victorville

His alleged connection to a BMF associate

Claims that he was paying for prison protection

A failed drug test and time spent in the SHU

Protective custody and “checking in”

Prison gangs, racial politics and inmate reputation

Gio disputing Pooh Shiesty’s reported story about a deadly race riot

Gucci Mane, the alleged robbery controversy and Pooh’s decisions after release

What celebrity rappers face inside a maximum-security federal prison

The difference between a public image and surviving inside the penitentiary

Gio also explains why he believes Pooh’s alleged race-riot story does not match what actually happened at Victorville. According to Gio, an incident involving multiple deaths at such a notorious federal prison would have generated immediate media attention and institutional fallout.

This episode offers a rare perspective from someone who says he interacted with Pooh Shiesty inside the federal prison system and understood the politics surrounding his incarceration.

Was Pooh Shiesty protected inside USP Victorville? Did he voluntarily remain in protective custody? And how much of his public prison story matches what staff and inmates reportedly witnessed?

Subscribe for more firsthand stories about federal prison, organized crime, drug trafficking, prison gangs, celebrity inmates and redemption.

Chapters

00:00 Former USP Victorville Guard Reveals What Pooh Shiesty Was Really Like

05:20 Pooh Shiesty’s Alleged BMF Protection and Protective Custody

10:40 Pooh Shiesty on the Prison Yard, Basketball and Suicide Watch

16:00 Federal Gun Charges and Why Rappers Keep Returning to Prison

21:30 Gio Disputes Pooh Shiesty’s Alleged USP Victorville Race Riot Story

27:00 Could Diddy and R. Kelly Survive at USP Victorville?

32:30 Sex Offenders, Prison Paperwork and Inmate Politics

38:00 Why Pooh Shiesty Refused to Return to General Population

43:30 Rap Culture, Snitching and the Criminals Young People Idolize

49:10 Why Society Romanticizes Gangsters, Outlaws and Street Legends

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Baltimore Carl grew up in East Baltimore’s Lafayette Projects, where violence, drug dealing and generational crime families were part of everyday life. Long before he understood the consequences, he was being exposed to the street economy—and he says his own great-grandmother became his first marijuana plug.

In this episode of Honor Among Thieves Podcast, Baltimore Carl reveals the real Baltimore streets behind HBO’s The Wire. He explains the differences between East and West Baltimore, how heroin was packaged and sold in gel caps, how project drug organizations operated, and how young men were pulled into the game before they were old enough to understand it.

Carl also discusses being mentored by Dante “Fat Tater” Barksdale, the nephew of the real-life Avon Barksdale, whose name and story helped inspire one of the most recognizable characters in The Wire. He breaks down Baltimore’s drug culture, the money generated from heroin, the rise of fentanyl, territorial conflicts, arrests, Baltimore Central Booking and the reality behind the television series.

But Carl’s story does not end in the streets. After surviving violence, incarceration and the consequences of the drug trade, he transformed his life and began helping others escape addiction, homelessness and the same criminal environment that shaped him.

This is the real-life story behind The Wire—told by someone who lived inside the world the show portrayed.

Subscribe to Honor Among Thieves Podcast for true crime interviews, federal prison stories, former drug dealers, organized crime, street legends, redemption stories and conversations with people who survived the criminal underworld.

Chapters

00:00 Baltimore Carl and the Real Streets Behind The Wire

09:16 The Toll of Addiction On The Inner Cities of Baltimore

18:43 His Great-Grandmother Became His First Drug Plug

28:23 How Baltimore Drugs Were Cut, Branded and Sold

36:52 Joining a Violent Drug Crew and Becoming a Boss

45:51 O’Donnell Heights, Crime Families and Street Power

56:27 Hiding Drugs From Police and Enforcing the Crew

01:05:13 Ten Years as a Lieutenant in Baltimore’s Drug Trade

01:15:02 The Real-Life Hamsterdam and Baltimore Police Corruption

01:24:28 Police Raids, Central Booking and Dealing From a Podcast Studio

01:33:40 His Biggest Plug and the Raid That Ended Everything

01:43:05 Facing 16 Years, Drug Court and Finding Redemption

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🔗 Links

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Andy Polo grew up surrounded by organized crime, cocaine trafficking, fraud, violence, and the influence of an Argentine gangster family. Years later, he survived an attack so severe that doctors initially questioned whether he would live.

In this episode of the Honor Among Thieves Podcast, Andy opens up about growing up in South Florida around relatives connected to criminal activity and the impact that environment had on his childhood, relationships, and understanding of loyalty.

But the most shocking chapter of Andy’s life came inside his own home.

Andy describes how an argument with his former girlfriend escalated into a brutal boiling-water attack that burned approximately 37% of his body. He recounts the immediate pain, the desperate attempt to get help, the hospital treatment that followed, and the long physical and emotional recovery he endured.

His former girlfriend was eventually convicted and sent to Florida State Prison for the attack.

Andy also discusses domestic violence against men, the stigma male victims often face, the warning signs he missed, and what it took to rebuild his life after nearly losing everything.

This is a raw true-crime story about family crime, domestic violence, survival, prison, accountability, and the lasting consequences of one violent decision.

Watch the full episode and subscribe to Honor Among Thieves for more true-crime interviews, organized crime stories, prison experiences, redemption, and life after the criminal lifestyle.

Chapters

00:00 Raised by an Argentine Gangster Family in South Florida

05:16 Fitness, Steroids and the Lifestyle That Changed Everything

10:00 Marriage Problems and Reconnecting With a Woman From His Past

15:12 His Father Was a Gangster: Cocaine Trafficking and Federal Racketeering Case

20:31 The Affair Begins and a Hidden Family Secret Is Exposed

25:03 Tracking Devices, Jealousy and an Obsessive Relationship

30:41 When His Girlfriend Attacked His Wife

35:02 Steroids, Bodybuilding and the Early Warning Signs

41:18 Family Conflict and the Final Red Flags Before the Attack

45:36 Boiling Water Attack Burns 37% of His Body

50:01 The 911 Call, Trauma Response and Fight to Survive

55:03 His Ex’s Arrest, False Story and Domestic Violence Case

01:00:46 Three-Year Court Battle and Delayed Justice

01:05:21 Rejecting $500,000 and Demanding Prison Time

01:10:03 Florida State Prison, Early Release and Double Standards

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🔗 Links

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📸 Andy on Instagram

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Heat went from secretly selling weed while working at IHOP to making thousands of dollars a day and becoming one of the biggest marijuana traffickers in his part of North Florida.

In this episode of the Honor Among Thieves Podcast, Heat reveals how a teenage hustle grew into a sophisticated drug trafficking operation involving multiple suppliers, stash houses packed with marijuana, interstate transportation routes, and enormous amounts of cash. While many dealers around him focused on crack cocaine, Heat recognized the opportunity in marijuana and built a reputation that stretched from Lake City to Jacksonville, Gainesville, Orlando, Tallahassee, Atlanta, and beyond.

Heat explains how his organization became increasingly disciplined as the money grew. They studied law enforcement tactics, tracked police activity, created strict rules for transporting drugs, and used rural North Florida to operate differently from dealers in Miami and other major cities. At the height of the operation, nearly every cabinet inside the stash house was filled with weed, the refrigerator held the strongest product, and cash was hidden inside the stove.

But success in the drug game brought paranoia, betrayal, police surveillance, controlled buys, informants, robberies, and violence. Heat recalls being arrested while already fighting another criminal case, realizing someone close to the operation was cooperating, and believing he was finally headed to prison. He also describes being kidnapped, driven into rural Georgia, and listening as his captors argued over whether they should shoot him.

This is the true story of how ambition, money, loyalty, and street politics transformed a North Florida teenager into a marijuana kingpin—and how quickly the life he built began to collapse.

Subscribe to Honor Among Thieves for more true crime interviews, drug trafficking stories, prison stories, organized crime, street legends, redemption, and life after the criminal lifestyle.

Chapters
00:00 From High School Hustler to North Florida Pot Kingpin
09:54 Growing Up With a Law Enforcement Father and Learning Gang Politics
19:52 Selling Weed in High School and Finding His First Drug Plug
31:30 Dropping Out, Chasing Money and Entering the Drug Business
40:01 Buying 10 Pounds and Becoming a Wholesaler
50:01 Tracking Down the Orlando Drug Plug and Cutting Out the Middleman
01:00:08 Building a Multi-City Network
01:10:02 50-Pound Shipments and a Stash House Filled With Weed
01:20:00 The OxyContin Supplier Who Had More Pills Than He Had Money
01:30:03 Studying Police Tactics and Getting Caught With Drugs
01:40:07 Selling Pills While Fighting a Criminal Case
01:50:00 Police Informants, Being Kidnapped in Georgia, Redemption

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🔗 Links
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📸 Heat on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/heatmorgan/

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Former correctional officer Gio Martini returns to Honor Among Thieves Podcast for Part 2 of his story, giving a raw inside look at life inside Victorville Federal Penitentiary.

Gio spent 8 years working at USP Victorville, one of the most dangerous high-security federal prisons in the country. In this episode, he breaks down what it was like walking into a prison filled with gang members, killers, knives, drugs, shot callers, racial politics, and inmates serving serious time.

Before corrections, Gio served in the Army during the Iraq War era. He talks about how the military shaped the way he handled chaos, danger, and survival — and why that mindset followed him into the federal prison system.

Gio explains how correctional officers respond when violence breaks out, how inmates test officers, how prison politics really work, and why the farther west you go in the federal system, the more gang-controlled the yards can become.

This conversation also gets into the realities most people never hear about: officer-inmate violence, inmates attacking staff, stabbings, inmates being stomped out, protective custody, sex offenders in prison, female officers getting involved with inmates, cartel members inside federal custody, and how high-profile prisoners like El Chapo or El Mayo would be handled in the system.

Gio also opens up about life after the military, substance abuse, getting discharged, finding corrections, working immigration detention, and eventually landing in the Bureau of Prisons.

This episode is not about glorifying prison violence.

It is about showing the reality of what happens inside a maximum-security federal penitentiary from someone who lived it every day as a correctional officer.

In this episode, we cover:

Gio Martini’s 8 years at USP Victorville

Working inside a maximum-security federal prison

Prison gangs, shot callers, and racial politics

How correctional officers respond to violence

Stabbings, lockdowns, weapons, and inmate attacks

Officer-inmate relationships and corruption

Protective custody and prison politics

Cartel members inside federal prison

Why street power does not always transfer behind the wall

Life after corrections

Chapters

0:00 — Gio Martini Returns: Victorville Federal Prison, Gangs & CO Survival

7:05 — From War Stories to the Infantry: Why Gio Joined the Army

14:42 — Iraq Deployment, Brotherhood & Surviving Combat

22:36 — Rules of Engagement, RKG Grenades & Combat Injuries in Iraq

31:06 — From Substance Abuse to Corrections: Rehab, Discharge & Finding GEO

38:31 — Becoming a Correctional Officer: Fights, Control & Inmate Respect

45:00 — Victorville Violence: Stabbings, Hospital Runs & Prison Chaos

52:18 — Female COs, Inmate Manipulation & Sex Offenders in Federal Prison

1:00:05 — Protective Custody, Bad Paperwork & Prison Housing Politics

1:06:03 — Cartel Inmates, El Chapo, El Mayo & Life After Corrections

📌 Have an unbelievable story? Apply to be a guest:

👉 https://www.honoramongthievespodcast.com/guest

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🔗 Links

📸 Nelson on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/montanatheprophet/

📸 Gio on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/giothelegend89/

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