GERSON: The comfort that I have here at home
is incredible, just because I can do whatever I want,
whenever I want it.
And now this is freedom.
My name is Gerson.
I'm an inspirational speaker.
And I mentor kids across the country
at middle schools, high schools, and colleges, and universities.
MAN: What are your greatest fears about going to jail?
Just dying.
My greatest fear is dying, you know.
Like I don't want to be the first person
on television history to poop their pants
when they're coming into jail.
That definitely doesn't seem cool.
There's nothing for me to stop them
from these people and these three
people getting in a fight over something
I've got nothing to do with.
And I'm just watching the no TV channels on TV.
So, you know, yeah, it's frightening.
Yo, this [BLEEP] is scary.
[LAUGHS]
I appreciate your honesty.
Everybody is like, oh, it's going to be all right.
Like, don't [BLEEP].
It isn't going to be all right.
If you're not scared right now, you should be.
Yeah, so I've been losing sleep since about
around training time.
There's certain hardened toughness that comes
from those streets in Atlanta.
The effect the jail has on everyone is negative.
And I don't want to take the psychological, emotional stress
to carry for forever.
This is not something that I want to do.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Hi, My name is Jacob.
I'm 45 minutes south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
And then what's your story?
I got arrested for embezzlement.
I didn't sleep too well last night, a lot of anxiety.
I'm a family man, I have a wife and three children.
Failing is not an option.
For me to tap out, it's going to take a shank to the body.
PRODUCER: Intake is the one place where you
can't give the distress signal.
Because there's no way we can pull you out when
you're not in the jail yet.
JACOB: Walking up in there, I do have
this feeling that this jail may be
worse than the other seasons.
Being alone inside this jail, it's really his only thing
I'm terrified of.
So the corrections officer followed me inside.
I have a hard time turning it off.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
I'm ready to go.
I'm just-- I'm done.
I can't.
I am done.
I'm sorry.
I want to go.
Yes.
Ten.
It's a ten.
I'm done.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
OFFICER: Miller.
Come out here.
JACOB: No.
JACOB: The longer I was in that small space,
I would get more anxiety.
And I felt nauseous the entire time.
I believe I was in a lot of denial
about being able to do this for 60 days.
I hate myself right now.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
My name is Matt from Tacoma Washington, Seattle area.
I was in the Marine Corps.
I decided to do this to see if my opinion's right on jail
or if it's wrong.
Why were you arrested?
MATT: I got a DUI.
We're now talking inmate talk.
I got a DUI.
OFFICER: DUI.
Where'd you get caught at?
Up in Huntsville at Redstone.
OFFICER: Yeah, OK.
Appreciate.
Thank you.
One of you is going to jail today.
And that person's going to be the one
that we feel is the most ready.
And right now we feel like that's you, Matt.
Not in a million years would I ever have thought I was going
to be on "60 Days In" at all.
In 2011, I joined the Marine Corps.
I was active duty for four years.
Been to Afghanistan one tour.
Got married shortly after that.
And I now have a three-year-old daughter.
Any situation that arises in my life, I can handle it.
If I could handle the Marine Corps,
I can handle going to jail.
I've accepted the mission.
And I have to perform and complete it.
Once I walked through the actual jail door
and I sat at that table, I'm trying
to sit there and remember my cover story
and remember everything I have to remember.
But the only think I can think about are my surroundings.
I was just like, I sacrificed everything
back home to do this?
Like what was I thinking?
Like, I'm not as mentally strong as I thought it was.
Because I thought I had it figured out and I don't.
MATT: Walking into the pod for the first time,
it literally looks like a zoo.
And I don't care what anybody says.
If you've never been to jail, you have no idea.
I didn't expect the anxiety and tension to be this high.
You're constantly doing this when people walk behind you,
you know what I mean?
And I get that it's jail and that's common,
but I cannot breathe in there.
I don't know if I can do this.
I don't feel safe at this point.
I have such a bad feeling of regret right now.
PRODUCER: What you want to do?
I don't know.
I mean, it's just like, I feel like I just
bit off more than I could chew.
This is the dumbest decision I've ever made.
People are going to watch this, and they're
going to see how weak I am.
And that scares the [BLEEP] out of me.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
CHRIS: My name is Chris and I live in Georgia.
The reason I've never been to jail
is because I'm terrified of it.
You hear all these horrible stories growing up.
And then that's where criminals and low lifes belong.
How have you been?
CHRIS: But my brother, Ryan, ended up spending
about four months in jail.
Probably the biggest thing I want to get out of this program
is seeing things from Ryan's perspective and kind
of understanding why, not only we fell apart, but kind of
why he can't seem to move on from it.
I want to get in his shoes and figure out a way to be
able to talk to him about it.
I'm scared that I don't know what I'm getting myself into.
My freedom being taken away from me is going to bother me.
It's getting a little intimidating,
because it's kind of starting to seem realer.
I've thought about that door closing moment a lot.
And every time I think about it, my stomach drops.
It's kind of like deer in headlights.
Like, I was just kind of like, what the hell is going on?
What are my next steps?
How do I blend in?
Who do I need to listen to?
CHRIS: This is reality right now.
This is happening.
This is-- I'm an inmate.
[VOMITING SOUNDS]
Like, all my food has been coming back up.
I'm starting to get hot.
I don't know.
I didn't think I was sick, but--
[MUSIC PLAYING]
I'm releasing Chris on a medical furlough.
Hopefully he can go back to the hotel with anyone knowing,
get better, and come back.
[PHONE RINGING]
I was just calling to tell you that I'm
getting ready to leave.
I want to keep going.
But in all honesty, I don't want to be here.
WOMAN (ON PHONE): Aw.
So I think my final decision on the whole thing
is I'm going to opt out of the program.
I'm disappointed that I didn't get the experience I
needed to relate to my brother.
Hm.
Mm-hmm.
[MUSIC PLAYING]