Locked In with Ian Bick

Sabu Stanley grew up in Brooklyn and lost his father to cancer as a child. His mother kept him grounded and out of trouble — until she passed from cancer too. Without her the streets of Brooklyn became his family. His first run in with the law sent him to Rikers Island where he became a Blood. Gang life eventually led to a 16 year sentence in New York State prison. In this episode of Locked In with Ian Bick, Sabu tells the complete story — from losing both parents to the streets taking him in to Rikers Island in the 90s and early 2000s to becoming a Blood to rising as a major drug player in Brooklyn to the 16 year sentence that defined the next chapter of everything.

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#brooklyn #rikersisland #crime

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Thank you to FACTOR & GLD for sponsoring this episode:
Factor: Head to http://factormeals.com/lockedin50off and use code lockedin50off to get 50 percent off and free daily greens per box, with new subscription only, while supplies last until 09/27/2026. (See website for more details).

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GLD: New customers get 40% Off with code LOCKEDIN at https://www.gld.com/

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Connect with Sabu Stanley:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealflytye/?hl=en
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sabu.stanley.2025

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Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick:
https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en
https://ianbick.com/

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Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction & Early Life
03:39 Losing His Parents & Impact on Upbringing
07:03 Staying Out of Trouble & Influences
10:55 Financial Pressures and Turning Point
14:20 First Steps Into the Streets
18:31 Early Drug Dealing & Dropping Out
21:11 From Streets to Running With Marcy Projects Crew
24:47 Music, Hustling, and Getting Caught
27:26 First Arrests and Introduction to Bloods
30:28 Life in Rikers Island & Joining the Bloods
33:12 Return to the Streets After Jail
43:01 Running His Own Block & Conflicts
47:15 Brooklyn Hustler Lifestyle in His 20s
53:05 Getting Shot by Police & Arrest
01:03:52 Fighting His Legal Case & Jail Lessons
01:13:04 Serving 16 Years & Mental Transformation
01:21:01 Lessons From Prison & Pursuing a New Path
01:29:40 Final Reflections & Future Plans

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Julio Almanza grew up in Chicago after his father walked out — and that loss set everything in motion. The streets became his family the Satan Disciples became his identity and the Mexican cartel became his employer. At just 17 years old he was caught smuggling drugs on the Mexico side of the border and spent the next four years locked up in a Mexican prison before being transferred to federal custody in the United States. When he got out he went straight back. Ten more years in federal prison followed. He left the Satan Disciples and joined the Latin Kings — and his former gang immediately put hits out on him. He survived moved to Arizona to start over ended up back inside and finally turned his life around completely.

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#cartel #prison #truecrimestories

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Thank you to GLD & FACTOR for sponsoring this episode:
GLD: New customers get 40% Off with code LOCKEDIN at https://www.gld.com/

_____________________________________________

Factor: Head to http://factormeals.com/lockedin50off and use code lockedin50off to get 50 percent off and free daily greens per box, with new subscription only, while supplies last until 09/27/2026. (See website for more details).

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Connect with Julio Almanza:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wrongtostrong/?hl=en
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/wrongtostrong
Website: https://wrongtostrong.com/

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Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick:
https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en
https://ianbick.com/

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Timestamps:
00:00 Julio's Early Life and Family Pain
05:00 Surviving Abuse and Finding the Streets
10:00 Gang Life and Chicago's Dark Side
15:00 Early Cartel Ties & First Smuggling Runs
20:00 Inside the Drug Trade as a Teen
25:00 Getting Caught and Surviving Mexican Prison
35:00 Mental Health, Trauma & Hustling in Prison
42:00 Addiction, Rock Bottom and Hard Lessons
48:00 Transfer to US Prison & Early Federal Release
54:00 Life After Prison: Back in the Game
01:00:00 Cartel, Betrayal, and Escaping Chicago
01:07:00 Arizona: Trying to Go Straight & More Mistakes
01:12:00 Turning Point: Inside for the Last Time
01:18:00 Final Release and True Transformation
01:24:00 Reflections, Redemption & Helping Others

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To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/LockedInWithIanBicka
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Howard Robertson had every reason to go down the wrong path. His parents died. His siblings were in the streets. But instead of following them he chose corrections — and over a 22 year career from the late 1970s to the early 2000s he rose from correctional officer to captain to deputy warden to warden of Rikers Island — the largest and most violent jail in America. In this episode of Locked In with Ian Bick, Howard pulls back the curtain on everything — from his brutal upbringing to what made him choose corrections to what Rikers Island looked like from the inside during its most violent era to the notorious inmates he encountered to how programs reduced violence to how politicians destroyed what it could have been to the problems with closing it and what the future of Rikers Island really looks like.

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#rikersisland #jail #truecrimestories

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Thank you to FACTOR & GLD for sponsoring this episode:
Factor: Head to http://factormeals.com/lockedin50off and use code lockedin50off to get 50 percent off and free daily greens per box, with new subscription only, while supplies last until 09/27/2026. (See website for more details).

_____________________________________________

GLD: New customers get 40% Off with code LOCKEDIN at https://www.gld.com/

_____________________________________________

Connect with Howard Robertson:
https://www.amazon.com/Student-Game-Become-Unstoppable-Smarts/dp/1977283896

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Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick:
https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en
https://ianbick.com/

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Timestamps:
00:00 Howard Robertson's Unlikely Journey
01:12 Overcoming Tragedy and Choices
02:29 Early Mindset: Learning from Role Models
03:53 Shooting for the Moon: Mentorship & Goals
05:02 Rising Above Average Through Hard Work
07:01 Is Drive Innate or Learned?
07:42 Family, Bad Paths, and Purpose
08:03 Helping Inmates and Preventing Recidivism
09:36 From Speaking to Writing: Reaching Youth
10:16 Authenticity in Storytelling: Why the Book Matters
11:01 Personal Stories: Bullying, Friendship, and Impact
13:02 How the Past Shapes Leadership Style
14:47 Navigating Street Ties Inside Rikers
18:00 Inmate Politics and Safe Resolutions
21:22 Respect, Boundaries & Saying No
23:40 Life Lessons and Staying Clean
24:43 Sponsor Segment: Factor Meals
27:40 Entering Corrections: Career Choice
29:34 Knowing the Community: Double-Edged Sword
30:14 Respect, Fairness, and Avoiding Violence
32:00 Overcrowding, Programs, and Jail Services
34:49 Correctional Culture: Then and Now
36:32 Political Changes & Rikers' Decline
41:13 Burough Jails, Funding, and Flawed Solutions
44:43 Sponsor Segment: GLD Chains
45:56 Corrections Leadership & Barriers to Progression
47:13 Mass Incarceration, Bad Policy, and Population Issues
51:01 Physical Conditions & Racial Makeup
54:35 Bail, Releases, and Systemic Injustice
56:39 Promotions, Process & Rules of the System
01:00:31 Programs: Entertainment and Violence Reduction
01:03:35 The Winner's Dorm: Transforming Inmates
01:04:41 Solitary Confinement: Problems & Alternatives
01:08:06 Expanding Special Housing and Culture Change
01:10:44 Medical, Mental Health, and Malingering
01:13:36 Mental Health, Career Impact and Life After
01:14:50 Defining Real Success for Youth
01:15:55 Numbers that Shock: Mass Incarceration
01:17:00 Notorious and Celebrity Inmates
01:18:36 Retirement, New Mission, and Legacy
01:18:56 Biggest Takeaways: Excuse-Free Success
01:19:56 Book Recommendation & Final Thoughts

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To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/LockedInWithIanBicka
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Pasquale Sementilli was born to Italian immigrants who built their life in America — and he became an American citizen himself in his late teens after passing the test. What nobody knew was that as a child he had been sexually abused by a neighbor — something he carried completely alone for years while navigating construction work womanizing and alcohol abuse after high school. Then he lost two close friends on 9/11. And that loss pushed him toward something bigger — the NYPD. In this episode of Locked In with Ian Bick, Pasquale shares the complete story — from his Italian immigrant upbringing to the childhood abuse nobody knew about to his years in construction to losing friends on 9/11 to becoming an NYPD officer in 2003 to working some of the worst precincts in New York City to responding to child abuse cases as a victim himself to the calls that still haunt him to his medical retirement after a line of duty injury in 2011 and what he carries from all of it today.

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#nypd #survivor #truecrimecommunity #cops

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Connect with Pasquale Sementilli:
https://www.instagram.com/pasqny757575?igsh=MW5iOThiYWZkcno1dw==

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Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick:
https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en
https://ianbick.com/

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Timestamps:
00:00 Son of Italian Immigrants Who Became an NYPD Officer — Pasquale's Full Story
04:41 Growing Up in an Immigrant Family and the Values That Shaped Everything
07:20 The Childhood Experience He Carried Completely Alone and What That Did to Him
13:01 The Impact of That Trauma and the Self Destruction That Followed
22:00 Choosing Construction and Trucking and What That Career Path Really Looked Like
25:53 Becoming a US Citizen and What Joining the NYPD Really Required
33:34 His NYPD Application Journey and What That Process Really Involved
40:00 Starting as a Police Officer in New York City and What Those First Days Required
47:42 Responding to the Hardest Cases on the Job and What That Personally Triggered in Him
54:00 Coping With Difficult Calls and the Emotional Impact That Followed
01:01:12 Street Policing — the Lessons the Risks and the Stories That Defined His Career
01:10:06 Handling Pressure Pranks and What Working the Street Really Looked Like
01:16:40 The Policing Culture Shift and What Discretion Really Means in Practice
01:20:20 Discretion Humanity and the Challenges That Define Modern Policing
01:27:04 The Memorable Cases That Still Stay With Him Today
01:31:00 Child Neglect and the Reality of City Life That Most People Never See
01:34:39 Community Family Structures and the Cycles That Define Generational Struggle
01:36:12 His Retirement His Injury and What Moving On Really Required
01:40:07 Finding Closure Healing and What Life After the Job Really Looks Like
01:46:01 Finding Meaning Support and the New Purpose That Followed Everything He Survived

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To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/LockedInWithIanBicka
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Frankie Rosario grew up in Florida after being born in Connecticut — raised by a good family with strong morals and an exceptional mind that made him stand out academically from an early age. He was headed toward a career in medicine. Then his cousin made him an offer that changed the entire direction of his life — $15000 a week to get involved in a drug operation shortly after graduating college in his early twenties. What followed was not street level dealing. Frankie operated in an administrative capacity — handling logistics organizing shipments and laundering money for an operation that moved kilos of heroin and generated thirty to forty million dollars a year. They used his father's flooring business as a front. And when federal investigators finally caught up with the operation Frankie was sentenced to ten years in federal prison — starting in the penitentiaries and working his way down. In this episode of Locked In with Ian Bick, Frankie tells the complete story — from his exceptional childhood and academic success to the cousin's offer that changed everything to building and running a logistics and money laundering operation inside a massive heroin empire to federal charges and sentencing to what ten years inside the federal prison system really looked like and what it finally took to walk away and rebuild his life.

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#drugs #prison #truecrimecommunity

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Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick:
https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en
https://ianbick.com/

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Timestamps:
00:00 Honor Student Who Moved Kilos of Heroin for $30 Million a Year — Then Got 10 Years Federal — Frankie's Full Story
03:00 His Childhood and Upbringing in Florida and the Good Family That Raised Him
07:00 Excelling in School Gifted Programs and the Early Influences That Shaped Everything
13:00 His Academic Success His Family Values and the Medical Career He Was Heading Toward
17:00 His Teenage Years — the Fun the Trouble and His Early Attitude Toward Money
23:00 The Moment Everything Changed — His Transition From College to Criminal Activity
29:00 Running the Heroin Operation and Laundering Money — What That World Really Looked Like
36:00 Everyday Life Inside a Drug Organization and What Operating at That Level Required
45:00 The Federal Bust — How Investigators Caught Up and What That Moment Really Felt Like
54:00 Navigating the Legal System and What Facing a Federal Prison Sentence Really Looked Like
01:00:00 Life Inside Federal Prison — the Politics the Violence and What Survival Really Required
01:10:00 Prison Rules Culture Shocks and What Adapting to the Federal System Really Involved
01:18:00 The Family Impact the Reentry Struggles and What Building a New Life Really Required
01:26:00 Rehabilitation Recidivism and What Reintegrating Into Society After Federal Prison Looks Like
01:36:00 His Reflections His Regrets and the Lessons He Wants Everyone to Take Away

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To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/LockedInWithIanBicka
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices