Shaun Attwood
Attwood grew up in England, but moved to Arizona with the intent of becoming rich working as a stockbroker. However in Arizona, having a stressful job, and having had prior experience with the English rave scene, he began to use, and later distribute ecstasy, which eventually became his primary source of income. He eventually gave up dealing after numerous attacks and threats by rival gangsters convinced him that the danger was too great, and retired to his then-girlfriend's apartment. However evidence had already been collected against him from his years as a major Ecstasy dealer, and on May 16 2002 he was arrested at the apartment. After serving two years in prison prior to sentencing, and with a maximum two-hundred-year sentence on the table, Attwood eventually struck a plea deal for nine and a half years.
While imprisoned, Attwood began documenting the conditions and smuggling his accounts out of the prison in legal correspondence, which he passed to a relative. These accounts were posted online, on a blog titled Jon's Jail Journal to preserve his anonymity; this began to draw attention to the conditions that prevail under Sheriff Arpaio. In 2007 Attwood was released and deported to the UK, where he continues to maintain his blog, now under his own name, where he publishes letters and accounts sent to him by other prisoners. He has also written and published so far two books about his experiences, Hard Time , about prison life, and Party Time about his time as an ecstasy kingpin. Besides these, Attwood has published two ebooks: Jon's Jail Journal and T-Bone, and his sister Karen has published an ebook about the effect of his incarceration on the family, English Shaun.
Attwood now gives talks to schoolchildren and other groups about the negative consequences of drugs and crime, and advocates against Sheriff Arpaio and his methods. He has also appeared on the BBC and Sky News to talk about issues affecting prisoners' rights.
While imprisoned, Attwood began documenting the conditions and smuggling his accounts out of the prison in legal correspondence, which he passed to a relative. These accounts were posted online, on a blog titled Jon's Jail Journal to preserve his anonymity; this began to draw attention to the conditions that prevail under Sheriff Arpaio. In 2007 Attwood was released and deported to the UK, where he continues to maintain his blog, now under his own name, where he publishes letters and accounts sent to him by other prisoners. He has also written and published so far two books about his experiences, Hard Time , about prison life, and Party Time about his time as an ecstasy kingpin. Besides these, Attwood has published two ebooks: Jon's Jail Journal and T-Bone, and his sister Karen has published an ebook about the effect of his incarceration on the family, English Shaun.
Attwood now gives talks to schoolchildren and other groups about the negative consequences of drugs and crime, and advocates against Sheriff Arpaio and his methods. He has also appeared on the BBC and Sky News to talk about issues affecting prisoners' rights.