Exposing The Most Brutal State Prisons In West Virginia

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In this raw episode of Honor Among Thieves, Nelson Rodriguez Jr. sits down with D, a former West Virginia stick-up kid whose criminal path began shockingly early in a place few expect. Growing up surrounded by addiction in West Virginia—one of the most drug-ravaged states in the country—D explains how environment and desperation pushed him into the streets. At just 15 years old, with nothing left at home, he ran away and survived under the alias “Conner White,” convincing people he was 18 so he could find work and make it day to day.

That life unraveled shortly after his 16th birthday in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, when D sold heroin to an undercover cop. He was illegally booked as an adult and placed in adult jail, forcing him to call his grandmother—who exposed the mistake to authorities. D was transferred into West Virginia’s juvenile system and sentenced to what’s known as “juvy life,” confinement until age 21. He exposes the violent reality of juvenile prisons, where inmates aged 18–21 are set up to fail, charged as adults for fights involving minors, and subjected to inhumane guard abuse, forced fights, and torture-like punishment.

Released at 18, D briefly stayed clean before believing he’d found his big break: robbing drug dealers. What started as fast money spiraled after a robbery went wrong, leaving him facing life in prison and serving five years in the West Virginia state prison system. He breaks down WV prison gangs, the internal power structure, and why drug dealers from across the country flood the state. After his release, D received money from a lawsuit against prison guards who had beaten him—and invested it into what he thought was a major drug deal, only to discover he was buying from a federal informant responsible for over 160 indictments, landing him back in prison.

Episode Highlights
-Growing up in West Virginia’s hidden drug economy
-Running away at 15 and living under a false identity
-Arrested at 16 and illegally jailed as an adult
-Inside West Virginia’s “juvy life” prison sentences
-Violence, guard abuse, and systemic failure in juvenile prisons
-Becoming a stick-up kid robbing drug dealers
-Facing life in prison after a robbery gone wrong
-West Virginia state prison gangs and out-of-state drug trade
-Getting indicted again through a federal informant

D’s story is a brutal look at how early exposure, systemic abuse, and desperation can lock someone into a cycle before adulthood even begins. This episode of Honor Among Thieves exposes the dark realities of juvenile life sentences, West Virginia’s prison system, and the thin line between survival and destruction. A powerful, cautionary true-crime story about how fast opportunity can turn into another prison number.

Episode Chapters
0:00 Intro
2:20 Running Away From Home
9:33 Adult Prison As A Juvenile
13:46 West Virginia Juvenile Prison26:30 Robbing Drug Dealers35:25 Facing Life At 19
40:15 Gangs In West Virginia State Prison
52:12 Solitary Confinement & Punks
1:03:40 Getting Out From Prison… Again
1:13:21 Redemption