Between The Lines: The Pod' With Ivana Rojas

Tyler Corcoran was sentenced to two life sentences plus 89 years. He was arrested at 17 after becoming involved with the Crips in South Los Angeles. For years, Tyler believed he would never leave prison. But everything began to change when he made the decision to walk away from gang life and rebuild his identity. Through mentorship, art, accountability, and years of personal growth, Tyler found a...

Curtis Cummings is serving life without parole. He says the night that changed his life started with one wrong turn. After leaving a club, Curtis missed his turn, ended up near a gas station, and says a confrontation escalated into a decision that changed everything. Years later, Curtis says he is sober, grounded in his faith, working as a teacher’s assistant, helping others with their GED, and tr...

Shawn Espinoza is serving 32 years to life. In this episode of Between the Lines, Shawn opens up about growing up in Long Beach, feeling abandoned as a teenager, running away from home, joining a street gang, and searching for the love and validation he felt he was missing. For years, Shawn says that validation came from the streets, gangs, drugs, and prison. He was addicted to heroin for 25 years...

Raul Olvera has been incarcerated for 27 years. In this episode of Between the Lines, Raul opens up about growing up in Watts and Compton, being raised by his grandmother, and being exposed to drugs, crime, and instability at an age when most kids are still learning how to be children. Raul says his grandmother had him selling cocaine from a window when he was only six or seven years old. One day,...

Anthony Knowles grew up in Pasadena, California, with talent, support, and real opportunity. He played college football, became an All-American at Pasadena City College, went on to Troy University, earned a degree, and once dreamed of playing in the NFL. But Anthony says even while he was succeeding in sports, he was still holding onto the wrong crowd, drinking, gang life, and a mindset that event...

Dion King is serving 34 years to life. In this episode of Between the Lines, Dion opens up about growing up in Los Angeles, playing basketball, struggling with anger, spending time in juvenile hall and group homes, and eventually becoming involved in gang life. But the most emotional part of Dion’s story centers on his son. On Halloween night in 2016, Dion says he left his son’s birthday celebrati...

Jose Mendez was 19 years old when one decision changed everything. He says he was carrying years of pain from his father leaving, a deep wound around betrayal, and an obsession with disrespect that he did not know how to control. Today, Jose is serving 50 years to life. In this full interview, he opens up about growing up in the Bay Area, joining gang life at 13, taking accountability for the life...

Edward Roy was 21 years old when he was sentenced to 63 years to life. In this episode of Between the Lines, Edward opens up about growing up in Compton, playing football, getting pulled into the streets, and the choices that made him a familiar face in his neighborhood. But Edward says the case he is serving time for is different. He says he was not at the scene of the crime he was convicted for....

Timothy Cook has been incarcerated for 35 years. When asked about his tattoo that says, “Hell Awaits.” He says that at the time, that phrase represented the way he saw himself, his future, and the world around him. Growing up in Ventura, Timothy says he was exposed to poverty, domestic violence, racism, street life, addiction, and trauma from an early age. By his teenage years, he was already in t...

Born in San Diego, Brian grew up as a Navy brat and says he came from a decent home. He played baseball, played football, and had opportunities — but the pull of gang life, street culture, money, anger, and identity led him down a path that kept bringing him back to prison. In this episode of Between the Lines, Brian opens up about his seven prison terms, his struggle with authority, the lifestyle...

Frederick Bowden Jr. says he entered the streets at just 10 years old. Growing up in Los Angeles, Frederick carried deep resentment toward his father. He wanted him to be a better husband, a better father, and a better example of what a man should be. Instead, Frederick says he ran to the streets, learned the wrong version of manhood, and eventually wanted to become “worse” than his father. That p...

Alexis grew up in Union City in the East Bay Area, raised mostly by his mother. His father was alive, but not present in his life, and after losing a stepfather figure he had accepted, Alexis says he began drifting away from his family. At 14, he started running with a gang. At first, it felt like acceptance. It felt like belonging. But over time, what started small became more serious, and Alexis...

Luis Lopez grew up in South Central Los Angeles, where the streets seemed to offer the things he felt were missing at home: acceptance, attention, money, status, and belonging. By 14, Luis says he had dedicated his life to gang culture. What started as a search for love and identity eventually led him into years of destructive choices, a life sentence, and the painful realization that the path he...

Joe Moore has been incarcerated for 23 years and is serving life without parole. For years, he says anger, trauma, and violence shaped the way he saw himself and the world around him. But after years in prison, Joe says one prayer changed the direction of his life. Today, he has earned multiple degrees, found purpose through mentorship, and now works with young men entering prison so they do not h...

Before prison, Donel was filming interviews, building a YouTube channel, and chasing a dream. Then one night changed the course of his life forever. In this conversation, he shares the story behind the 72-years-to-life sentence and the perspective he's gained since. Interviewee: Donel Poston Host: Ivana Rojas (@ivanareds) Interview Date: April 16, 2026 About The Program: Between The Lines is a non...

Teiquon Lewis is serving 150 years to life with five separate life sentences for second-degree robberies and attempted robbery as a third-strike case. In this episode of Between the Lines, Teiquon opens up about growing up in Vallejo, California during the crack era. After losing his father at a young age and growing up around poverty, drugs, and street life, Tyquann says he became known in his to...

Michael Montes is currently incarcerated for two counts of second-degree robbery and two counts of intimidating a witness from reporting a crime with gang enhancements. He has been locked up since 2009. In this episode of Between the Lines, Michael opens up about growing up in Colton, California, surrounded by gang life, domestic violence, and chaotic environments that shaped what he thought was n...

Saahdi Coleman is serving 84 years, eight months to life for murder, arson, and discharge of a firearm. In this episode of Between the Lines, Saahdi opens up about the childhood trauma that shaped him, including the moment he walked in on his father attempting suicide while on drugs when he was just 11 years old. After his parents became addicted to crack cocaine, his life changed overnight. He be...

Daniel Nunez is serving life without parole for aiding and abetting murder. In this episode of Between the Lines, Daniel opens up about growing up without his father, being surrounded by gang life at a young age, and how he started believing prison was simply the life he was meant to live. After nearly 20 years in prison, Daniel reflects on regret, accountability, fatherhood, and the moment he rea...

Roderick Cooley, also known as Chosen, grew up in Los Angeles and says he was one of the founding members of the Rolling 40 Crips. As a teenager, he became known in the streets as C. Capone, or Crazy Capone, and eventually fell deeper into gang life, hustling, pimping, drugs, robberies, and repeated prison sentences. In this episode of Between the Lines, Chosen opens up about the life he once glor...

Sonny Bui is serving life without the possibility of parole after being convicted of six murders and eight attempted murders. In this episode of Between the Lines, he opens up about coming to the United States from Vietnam, growing up in California, joining the Asian Boys gang at 14, and how violence became part of his identity. But after decades in prison, Sonny reflects on the pain he caused, th...

Give Butter: https://givebutter.com/btlpod Interviewer: Ivana Rojas (@ivanareds) Interviewee: Jonathan Moore Interview Date: February 27, 2026 About The Program: Between The Lines is a nonprofit organization focused on reducing recidivism through mentorship, educational programming, and sports as a form of therapy. Additionally, we provide a platform for incarcerated individuals to share their uni...

Give Butter: https://givebutter.com/BTLPOD Interviewee: Reuel Hulbert Interview Date: February 27, 2026 About The Program: Between The Lines is a nonprofit organization focused on reducing recidivism through mentorship, educational programming, and sports as a form of therapy. Additionally, we provide a platform for incarcerated individuals to share their unique stories, connecting them with the o...

Interview Date: October 15, 2025 About The Program: Between The Lines is a nonprofit organization focused on reducing recidivism through mentorship, educational programming, and sports as a form of therapy. Additionally, we provide a platform for incarcerated individuals to share their unique stories, connecting them with the outside world and offering a deeper understanding of their experiences....

Interviewee: Aaron Campbell Interview Date: October 15, 2025 About The Program: Between The Lines is a nonprofit organization focused on reducing recidivism through mentorship, educational programming, and sports as a form of therapy. Additionally, we provide a platform for incarcerated individuals to share their unique stories, connecting them with the outside world and offering a deeper understa...