Jew World Order

The typical cell is 7 ½ feet by 10 feet. In cases where the attorney general finds that allowing a prisoner to communicate with others could result in “death or serious bodily injury,” the Bureau of Prisons imposes special administrative measures, or S.A.M.’s, limiting access to mail, calls and visitors, but at least leaving open the possibility of an inmate’s “stepping down,” that is someday earning an easing of restrictions. But in Mr. Rollock’s case, restrictions were imposed as part of the sentence itself, and he claims he was told he would never be allowed into the “step-down” program.

Prosecutors agreed last year to modify his deal, and have Mr. Rollock placed under S.A.M.’s instead, but his lawyers argue that his ability to earn his way out of solitary confinement could still take years to accomplish, if it ever occurred.

Mr. Rollock, after arriving at the Supermax in December 2000, threw himself into education, beginning his path toward redemption, his lawyers say. By the end of 2002, he had taken closed-circuit television courses in philosophy, political theory and economics, and he had earned his G.E.D., records show.

Reviews of his status were conducted, but prison officials found him not suitable to be moved in order “to prevent his contact with cooperating witnesses or former gang members,” as one memo said.

In 2006, Mr. Rollock appealed to prison officials: “I have clearly surpassed all program participation requirements and have maintained clear conduct for six years,” he wrote. He said he wanted to “begin the process of working my way out” of the Supermax and into a regular prison. The appeal was unsuccessful.

Novel

Meanwhile, he was also writing. In 2006, with the help of family members, his 150-page novel, “Trigga,” was published by a print-on-demand company in Alabama. In addition to several early bulk orders, the company said recently, the book had sold 116 copies through Amazon and other outlets. The cover says the book is written by “Team Rollock,” but his lawyers say Mr. Rollock was the author.

“Peter wrote the book ‘Trigga’ in longhand,” said Kevin M. McNally, another of Mr. Rollock’s lawyers. “It is indeed a cautionary tale for young gang members. Peter meant it to be.”

Supermax officials read the manuscript and allowed it to be sent to family members on his approved list, Mr. McNally said. After the book was published, he added, the prison refused to allow Mr. Rollock to receive a copy.

Prosecutors have made it clear that they believe the book glorifies Mr. Rollock’s criminal exploits.

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But Mr. Moskowitz, Mr. Rollock’s lawyer, countered that the book was a work of fiction, and had left the Supermax with full approval. “They knew about it, they read it, they let it out,” he said in court.

The Bureau of Prisons and prosecutors refused to comment on Mr. Rollock’s case or the book.

The cover features a photograph of a gun. The novel, written raw, features a character named Tyvon and a drug gang called Money Murder. The novel ends with Tyvon’s being shot; as he dies, he realizes that he has dedicated his life to the street, trying to increase his “money stacks.”

“But what did I accomplish?” he asks. “If all fast money does is hurt, can someone please explain what is its worth? The average street kid wont’ makes it out of his 20s before he is place in the dirt.”

By the end of 2006, Mr. Rollock had accumulated more than 1,400 hours of closed-circuit television courses, including Classical Mythology, the Joy of Science and History of Ancient Rome; he had also viewed a program in anger management.

“Other prisoners at ADX have gone insane under such conditions,” Mr. McNally said. “Peter has not. He continues to educate himself every day. He takes advantage of exercise when available.”

Team Rollock T-shirts

Nonetheless, prosecutors remained strongly opposed to easing the conditions of Mr. Rollock’s confinement; they have noted that his reputation from the street endures. In recent years, they say, “Pistol Pete” graffiti has been found in the Bronx, and during arrests and searches of Bloods members who had nothing to do with S.M.M., authorities have uncovered “Bloods literature and materials which talk all about Peter Rollock,” Mr. Rody, the prosecutor, told Judge Cedarbaum in 2010.

If Mr. Rollock were allowed to mix with other prisoners, he could pass messages through inmates who were not subject to communications restrictions, Mr. Rody said, adding, “He knows who cooperated against him and the rest of his organization.”

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A current prosecutor, Margaret M. Garnett, said last year in court that Mr. Rollock and his family had been discussing a business called Team Rollock, which would “monetize and capitalize” on his reputation on the street. She even cited talk of Team Rollock T-shirts, with a rifle sight as the “primary design element.”

“Mr. Rollock’s efforts to continue to capitalize on that, encourage it, foment it,” she said, “continue to give us security concerns.”

Mr. Moskowitz says that since Mr. Rollock’s “communications are strictly monitored, if the government had any objections to what he said or wrote, it would have prevented the communications.”

As for Mr. Rollock, his book seems to address the possibility his status may never change. “Freedom, prison or death,” Tyvon ruminates. “The two negatives were stacked up against the positive. But that was the life he chose. Of course he didn’t want to die or go to prison,” he added. “But he was prepared for it if it came to that.”

This story, “Pondering Solitary Future for Gangster Held in Isolation for Years,” originally appeared in The New York Times.

Copyright © 2012 The New York Times