Mail from Samuel Lazar, Political Prisoner

 

To my fellow Americans,

I want to wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS! I am a jan6th defendant Samuel Lazar #56948509. I can’t speak about my case but I would like to let you know a little about me and the struggles I’ve had since my incarceration on July 26th 2021. I have never been in a situation like this. As you can imagine it’s not simple to go from a civilized world and thrown into the complete chaos of prison life where you never have a moment of peace. I am a father of two beautiful smart loving children. A 13-year-old son and a 14-year-old daughter and they’re my life Everything I do is for them. As any father/parent I want the best future possible for my children and so I work everyday of my life sun up to sun down to make sure I can provide a great life and future for my children. Back in 2009/10 I fell off a roof about 2 stories high and injured my spine. I have 3 herniated disks, the doctor said I would never or should never lift more than 60 pounds again. Being a carpenter by trade which involves heavy lifting and back breaking work I felt crushed and concerned for my future, my children future how was I going to support them and give them a great life? After cortisol injections in my spine which helped, I began to get the idea that nothing is impossible and that no matter what was thrown my way I refuse to listen to the limitations the doctors put on me. I found myself unemployed after my fall as I was discarded for my now damaged spine and was left to figure out what to do to get myself on my feet and take care of my family. I decided to become and entrepreneur through gig work. fast forward to 2018 I had purchased a property and spent 3 years gutting it and did a complete renovation. Just as I finished, I was arrested and one month later while in prison I sold it. All my profits and hard work went out the window directly to money hungry lawyers who saw someone in need of help and robbed me blind! I never got to enjoy the fruits of my labor; they took my profits in the blink of an eye. 18 months in prison and now I’m in dire straits, Christmas is 10 days away as of this letter and I’m forced between going without future commissary and getting my children something for Christmas be it cash or presents. I was lucky to have friends to help with some commissary a little while back but they to are struggling and so I am left to plead my case to American in people in hopes that folks have the means to help. Prison has taken a toll on my mental health, my family, my children. I am a happy go lucky person who loves to laugh and surround myself with positive people who think likewise. I am a Christian who enjoys attending church every Sunday morning to praise the Lord and rejuvenate my soul, something I miss dearly! I haven’t been able to get that spiritual healing in over 18 months, Instead I’ve been in slow torment in my head. I do my best to show a positive outside and act as if I’m not bothered but this experience has left me bearing what feels like the weight of the world on my shoulders. I feel like I am slowly suffocating and in need of help, finical help would help alleviate the anxiety I have from bills, commissary needs and to help with my children. I never asked anyone for help in my life and feel very awkward asking but I see no other option than to appeal to my fellow Americans in my time of need. Some of the struggles of prison life include being locked down23/7 or even 24hrs a day for up to 3 days straight a time throughout the covid lockdowns in prison.

At times only allowed for a shower 2-3 times a week, fed through a porthole like an animal, kept in dimly lit cell with poor ventilation in solitary for “my health” I caught covid in prison at Warsaw in Virginia last Christmas, when I ask for help/doctor they ignored me. I had a high fever that would keep me up at night sweating and shivering, I felt like 100 knives were stabbing my lungs and making it hard to breath, I had many unpleasant things go along with the virus bathroom wise, I was so dizzy I felt like falling at times. I lost 20lbs in 2 weeks, I lost my ability to taste for one month and all throughout this time I was begging to get some medication or see a doctor and they refused me. I sent 7-8 “cop-outs” which are forms requesting a doctor to see me, they kept sending them back denying me medical. For the first time in my life, I felt I was going to die from lack of medical attention! Since my incarceration I have been in solitary lock downs combined somewhere around three months or so. Solitary confinement is detrimental to a person’s metal health, it’s cruel and unusual. At one point I was put in a cell in a jail in Philly for 3 months that had no running faucet water. They had an Ice machine on the block which is where I got my water to use for brushing my teeth. Washing my face and hands in the morning. I would use milk cartons, fill them with ice which would melt and provide me clean water in the cell. At Warsaw in Virginia, they do not provide proper hygiene. When you get there, they don’t give you a shower slipper, boxers, shirts, cups etc. All these things need to be purchased off commissary which could take up to 1-2 weeks from arriving depending on if you missed commissary or didn’t get your money in time. While you wait with the same underwear, shirt and no shower shoes for 1-2 weeks, you are forced to live in filth basically.
Showers are filthy and shoes are necessary for enter the shower, I had to dig in the trash for some Styrofoam food boxes to stand on in the shower. When I was thirsty, I had to cup my hands together to drink form the faucet which is filthy from being shared with 80 other men in an open dorm setting. 5 toilets shared between 80 men which were filthy at all times including feces on the ground. The food at Warsaw was not more than 5-600 calories a day by my estimation. They gave us one piece od nasty slime baloney multiple times a day and extremely small portions, the portions should be ok for toddlers not a grown man.

Every man that leaves Lewisburg and goes to Warsaw that comes back after 2-4 weeks looks emaciated like they lost 10-20 pounds easily! Here at Lewisburg I must say has been better of all the other however even here until last month or so when a new warden took over we were kept inside for the last year, the outside which was not everyday consisted of going into cages like animals for one hour, again image looking up to the sky through a cage… Luckily the new warden decided that was inhumane and let us out on the open yard and for that I am grateful. Now I can look up at the sky one hour a day without anything between me and the blue skies, run around a track, work out and release some pressure. When I did quarantine which is lockdowns 24 hours a day except 15 min shower every other day, I would have to bend over backwards push my hands out of the food port and be handcuffed, taken in handcuffs to the shower locked in a cage and again push my hands out the shower port to have cuffs taken off, treated like I’m some kind of murder. All dignity is stripped, you can begin to feel it in every possible way. When visit time comes, I’m subject to a complete strip search both before and after visit and during visit you are separated by plexiglass even now after the cares act was lifted. As you can image this takes a toll on a person’s metal and emotional state. Luckily, I am strong minded man but even I crack at times, another time while at Warsaw I had a legal visit and when I came back my bin of food and commissary was stolen which left me hungry til new commissary week because the food wasn’t enough to hold me over. If I was lucky, I would get an extra piece of bread off someone else’s discarded tray. These are just some of the horrors I’ve been subject to and on top of all that being ripped off by money hungry lawyers who treat me like crap just so they can hurry up and finish with you instead of actually caring about your case. Missing my children, my family and my sweetheart is further torment. Losing my ability to earn a living for myself and my family, going in debt for over 45k at this point. I now have my credit messed up due to defaulted credit cards, unpaid bills, rent and struggling to survive in prison has beaten me down………………………..

……………….Thankfully, God has kept me sane and strong for the most part. This Christmas is even harder than last Christmas, which was the first Christmas I was ever separated from my children. I haven’t seen my daughter since I was incarcerated and I’ve only seen my son once. My daughter is afraid to come and see me in prison and my wife has only brought my son once, me and their mother parted ways back in 2018, she claims to be busy all the time. There is nothing better than to see the smiles on your children’s faces on Christmas morning and their eyes light up with joy……this will be the second Christmas I am denied my children and my family and my children denied their loving Father. It hurts as a father not to see your children on a regular basis, never mind on Christmas, which means a lot to me and my family. Here is a webpage that was created for me, xenabeauty1208.wixsite.com . I will end this here. THANK YOU for taking the time to read my story and my plea for help. God Bless you all, I wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas. GOD BLESS AMERICA.