The Hankton’s, Louisiana Lockup and Camp 57

0:05 M hmm, I walked straight line shackle chain, oh gluesome girdie. It's calling my name. There is no mercy and it's been a tentery juice as the hill Stream game wrangled the three. I'm here, be.

0:46 By, here to die inside these walls, inside the wild. Haven't went more girls as I'm.

1:30 Hey everyone, and welcome back to Bloody Angola, a podcast one hundred and forty two years in the making, the complete story of America's bloodiest present. I'm Jim Chapman, and today we are going to talk about a resident at Angola who at one time was the most feared gangster in New Orleans. And his name was Telly Hankton. Now it was twenty eleven when Telly Hankton really got on the rail anywhere outside of New Orleans. Now, inside of New Orleans, he was very well known. But how he got to be a household name was when the then New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrew held a press conference after the murder of a bar manager at a dakery shop.

2:19 This was on South Claiborne Avenue in the French Quarter and it's called Jazz Dakri. Now, before we go any further, let me quickly explain something as it relates to how things work inside of New Orleans. The gang activity, the drug activity typically stay out of the French Quarter, and there's good reason for that. New Orleans economy is largely dependent on tourism. Nearly twenty million people traveled to the Crescent City each year. Super Bowls are played there. Taylor Swift toured there in twenty twenty four. Loan tourists over ten billion dollars with a B inside the city. So there's an understanding with the gangsters and the drug dealers.

3:10 They know don't fuck around in the French Quarter. And the reason for all of that is crime inside the French Quarter keeps the tourist out, and the powers of Bee they ain't having any of that inside the French Quarter. So when this bar manager was killed, the political powers they took notice big time and the first thing they wanted to figure out was what led to this public killing. Well, the victim in this case was a guy by the name of Curtis Matthews. Curtis Matthews had a brother, his name was John Matthews. Now John Matthews incidentally owned that bar on South Clayborne. He had been shot seventeen times while in his home prior to the murder of his brother, and the reason for that was John Matthews was set to testify against Telly Hankton in a murder trial in the death of a twenty three year old. His name was Darnell Stewart. He was shot three years prior to John Matthews's brother getting shot Curtis in front of the same bar. Now, miraculously, John Matthews, despite being shot seventeen times, he did survive.

4:29 But it wasn't hard. For NOPD to put together the pieces of the puzzle. They knew what time it was and when Curtis Matthews got killed, they instantly knew that Telly Hankton was behind it. Mitch Landrew actually said at that press conference quote, I'm sending this message to Telly Hankton and his family and anyone. Else associated with this. We are coming for you. So if you notice, Landry specifically said Telly Hanton and his family. And that's because Telly Hanton at this point he was head of a criminal organization where many of his direct family members were involved. Nakiah Hanton, Shirley Hanton, Thomas Hanton, Andre Hankton, Troy Hanton, and numerous others, most in their thirties. There were thirteen in all that would be indicted by the Feds using RICO just a year later.

5:36 So federal prosecutors would claim that Telly Hancton had built a criminal enterprise. Now, he took over this enterprise from a relative of his and kind of a mentor, and he went by the nickname Cup but for the prior six years. As a matter of fact, in two thousand and six, out of his house on Josephine Street in what's known as the Central City area of New Orleans, he built a forty three million dollar empire. So interesting side note, one of those names I just mentioned above as being indicted was Troy Hankton, and Troy was actually recruited and received a full scholarship to play football for arguably the best coach in college football history, Nick Saban at LSU.

6:29 He actually went. There, but it didn't work out for him. Because he had some medical issues. Ended up transferring to Southern and left Southern shortly thereafter. He returned to New Orleans. And you got to live up to the name, right, I actually watched an interview with Troy Hankton recently, and this guy, he's actually really put together and seems to be squared away, not what you would expect. So you may want to check that out if you get some time. Just so on YouTube. But back to it. According to federal prosecutors, starting in two thousand and six, a bona fide turf war was going down in the Josephine Street area in Telly Hankton and y'all, this is a year post Katrina, right, Telly is hanging out on Josephine Street and there's a dry by shooting and an attempt to kill him when he is shot at, And it was not long at all before Telly figured out who was behind it. I mean, the streets talk. All you got to do is ask questions, especially when you're Telly Hankton, and come to find out it was a rival by the name of Darvin Bessie. So a week later, Darvin Bessie is shot and killed allegedly by Telly on MLK.

7:51 Boulevard in New Orleans. Now, word on the street was at the time, if you shoot at the King, don't miss, And the king at that time was Telly Hankton. Then two months later. In June of two thousand and six, Telly Hanton's name surfaced nationally when five teenagers were shot dead at the corner of Josephine Street in Daniel Street, and because this took place on the corner of Josephine, Telly's name would surface. He ran Josephine Street in New Orleans. He and his family now eventually an associate of the Hanktons. It was a guy named Mike, Mike Anderson. He would take the right for the killings. But the Feds, even to this day, they say that Telly was the one who fired a total of twenty one bullets into these teens. In two thousand and seven, a rival gang, they decide they want to make a run to what's known as a very popular snowball stand in that area of New Orleans, and it's known as a Red Rooster. Now, what they did not know at the time was that the Hantons were there.

9:04 As a matter of fact, Troy and Telly Hankton were there at the time, So they pull in. Telly Hankton spots them, He alerts Troy, and allegedly they ambushed the three men as they were leaving the Red Rooster. Now only one of the three, a man by the name of Kareem Peters, was hit by any gunfire. But this is the streets again, and this would not be the end of that. Now. Incidentally, again, Telly Hankton, former LSU football player, was allegedly involved in that. So about three months later, as you would expect, payback ensues when George cup Hanton, the guy who was the mentor for Telly, he was a cousin of his, He was washing his car at a car wash in that area and he was shot dead by the same three men that were shot at by the Hanktons outside of the Red Rooster snowball stand.

10:10 Jim, did you see what happened in Texas today? Wait before you tell me that, let me tell you what happened in New York. It cannot be as crazy as the case I told you about yesterday in Louisiana. You know what, we should do a podcast. About it, and with that we did. Crime War Weekly covers the crime news headlines that have dominated the week. We cover trending crimes from all over the country and even sprinkle in a few globally. Crime War Weekly is available now wherever you listen to your podcasts. Simply by searching Crime War Weekly or clicking the link in the description of this podcast. So all of that led to the killing in two thousand and eight at the Daker Bar. That led to the seventeen shots fired in to the owner of that Dakery bar years later when he was set to testify against Telly, and that led to Curtis Matthews getting killed in front of that Dakery Bar. And that led to Mayor Mitch Landrew calling out the Hanktons in twenty eleven, and that led to the indictments of thirteen members of the Hankton family and close assasiates in twenty.

11:28 Twelve of rico charges. Now, when they got indicted, Tilly had nine counts. Thomas Hankton also had nine counts. A guy by the name of Walter Porter who went by Arkle of all things. He was the lead assassin allegedly for the Hantons, and he had fourteen counts against him. Even Telly's mother, Shirley, was indicted for lying to a federal grand jury. So what happened. So we're gonna get into the indictments just quickly. I'm going to tell you what happened to these guys. Telly Hanton as head of the organization. He received a federal life sentence for convictions that included three counts of murder in aid of racketeering, and that was in addition to a separate state life sentence he was already serving for the two thousand and eight murder of Darnel Stewart.

12:24 Andre Hanton, who is Telly's cousin, he received a life sentence, though some of his convictions were later vacated on appeal. He had been found guilty of using a firearm to cause a death in connection with the murder of Darnel Stewart. Kevin Jackson got sentenced to life in prison. He was convicted for his role in the murder of Jesse Reid, who was another Hanton rival. Walter Erkele Porter, the hit man for the gang that I told you was kind of their go to guy. He was givenneral life sentences for his conviction on numerous charges, all fourteen that he was indicted, including multiple murders in aid of racketeering. Shirley Hanton, Telly Hanton's mother. She pleaded guilty to racketeering and was sentenced to sixty months five years in prison. Thomas Hanton, a key leader in the drug dealing operation. He pleaded guilty to racketeering and other charges, and he was sentenced to twenty five years in prison. Now that was later reduced to twenty years, and he had a lot of time served there. Troy Hankton, the former LSU player and the cousin of Telly Hankton that I've told you about.

13:42 He pleaded guilty to firearms conspiracy. He was sentenced to fourteen years in prison. He's now out of prison. Julius Hankton, in a separate case, was sentenced to forty years in prison for a twenty fourteen manslaughter charge. An an interesting side note on him, he was actually found dead in his cell in Hunt Correctional Center. I never could find out the exact cause of death, but I'll let you use your imagination on that. Nikiah Hanckton, she was sentenced to one hundred and thirty two months eleven years in prison for racketeering in drug conspiracy. Another associate by the name of Derek Smothers, he received a net sentence of fourteen years, and Terrell Smothers was sentenced to twelve years in prison for racketeering. And those were associates of the Hanktons.

14:36 So there you have that I wanted to bring you. I know it's a little bit short, Believe me. I could do a series a mile long on these guys, but I had somebody reach out and they just wanted information on who the Hanktons were, So I wanted to bring you that today. They were a very big deal in New Orleans as it relates to crime in the mid two thousands and early two thousand's, most now in prison or have served some serious prison time. And to move on to something else that somebody asked me to cover on Bloody and Gola, and that is the fact that Angola is being used as an ice facility as of right now. And I'm going to read you just a few breaking headlines that came out in September regarding this, because I haven't covered it. And the first one is from the Louisiana Eliminator. This was on September third of this year. It says a section of the Louisiana State Penitentiary undergoing emergency repairs is being used to house immigration and custom enforcement detainees that from Governor Jeff Landry. Jeff Landry said the facility will house the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens arrested by ICE. A complex at the state prison is already being used to house fifty one detainees and has a total capacity of four hundred and sixteen. Joining Landry at the present to make the announcement were US Attorney General Pam Bondy, Homeland Security Secretary

16:10 Christy Nome, and ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheehan, who previously served as Landry's Wildlife and Fishery Secretary. Quote, Louisiana, You're going to be an example for the rest of the country that from the age. Landry declared a state of emergency in late July to allow an expedited repair of Camp Jay at Angola. This four building complex has been closed permanently since twenty eighteen, with its only use as a quarantine site during COVID nineteen. And I've done an episode on Camp Jay's search back and that was a pretty wild place back. In the day. Neither the governor nor Nome shared whether the facility will be used as a post conviction facility or as another ICE detention center where detainees await charges. The detainees will join more than four thousand inmates at Louisiana State Penitentiary, which stands on the site of a former slave plantation that is a still working form today. It goes on to say the Camp Jay section of the prison where ice detainees are being held, was once known as the Dungeon.

17:18 It was designated as solitary confinement to segregate prisoners for disciplinary reasons. Prison officials closed it seven years ago after its cell locks malfunctioned, allowing inmates to evade security checks. Dozens of weapons were discovered after its closure, and more than eighty prison employees quit, retired, or refired related to misconduct at Camp Jay. Though it was rumored Camp Jay will be renamed Camp forty seven to honor President Donald Trump, it is still instead been renamed Camp fifty seven in honor of Landry, who is the fifty seventh governor of Louisiana. The governor also referred to the facility as Louisiana Lockup, a title that was featured prominently on an oversized license plate that adorned the electern he bonding them used at the press conference Landry's emergency order in late July suspended State Procurement Code and Public Bid Law to allow officials to secure any materials or mend any contracts needed to respond to emergencies. Despite being asked by multiple reporters, Landry would not disclose how much money the state spent on renovations or operations, or whether the federal government would reimburse the state for any cost. So that comes out and it looks like some detainees are going to be locked up there, and they were indeed locked up there, and it wasn't long before they determined they didn't like bloody Angola that much. And a headline came out it said nineteen detainees launch hunger strike at Angola Ice Facility and

18:52 that from an advocacy group. This was from WFB Baton Roriage. It said nineteen people detained at the Louisiana Ice Processing Center in Camp Jay at the Louisiana State Penitentiary have entered the fourth day of a hunger strike. This according to a press release from the Southeast Dignity Not Detention Coalition That's a Mouthful and the National Immigration Project. The group stated that the detainees are requesting medical and mental health care, access to prescription medication, and basic necessities including toilet paper, hygiene products, and clean water. They are also seeking visitation from ICE officers to address concerns about conditions inside of the facility. According to the release, detainees were recently moved into Camp Jay, a unit shut down in twenty eighteen, and advocates say the facility lacks essential services, including a law library in religious programming. Some detainees with chronic health conditions are reportedly not receiving medications. The organizations said the end Goala facility was reopened earlier this month as part of an expansion, and we got into all that, so I won't get into that again. You know, when you get these price releases and they're from advocacy groups, got to kind of take a lot of that with a grain of salt. I'm sure they maybe they were doing hunger strikes, but officials they jumped on it pretty

20:23 quick on these allegations of a hunger strike and especially the inhumane conditions, and they had a response. They said recent misleading reports about the detainee treatment at Louisiana Lockup in Camp fifty seven are unacceptable in creating a false narrative about the facility's operations. There was no hunger strike before the news outlets reported. One officials said on Sunday, after the reports emerged, seventeen detainees refused their meals, though only three continue to do so by Monday afternoon, according to the statement, So they thought that was a good idea to they really got hungry. This action appears to be sparked by false narratives in the media that put that idea in the detainees' heads, the statement said. Southeast Dignity Non Detention Coalition maintained that a hunger strike is ongoing.

21:19 Quote. These men detained in Camp Jay are bravely and with great thought in intention, putting their lives on the line to advocate for the rights, the group said in a statement, using the former name of the prison wing being used to house ice detainees. So Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin also denied the advocacy group's allegations. In a statement that she released, she said, here are the facts. There is no hunger strike at Louisiana Lockup. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time, nor will it be the last, that the media repeats unsubstantiated false allegations peddled by a criminal illegal alias millions about detention facilities. By the way, this facility is housing d and it's all in caps worst of the worst, including murderers, pedophiles, and rapists. Last week, before news and the hunger strike e merged, the Department of Public Public Safety referred inquiries about Camp fifty seven to ICE. Though Camp fifty seven is located in Gola, which is operated by the state, officials have said it is being run by ICE contractors, though they have not publicly identified what company is doing so. Lesile Corrections, a company that runs multiple ICE facilities in Louisiana, recently published job postings in Saint Francisville, nearing Gola. An executive for that firm did not return requests for comments. Officials, including Jeff Landry, have promised the facility is only for the

22:53 worst of the worst. Fifty one detainees were moved at the facility upon its opening. That according to the Department of Homeland Security, which over sea ICE, and the agency said the detainees have been convicted of serious crimes such as homicide, rape, and sexual abuse of children. Federal and state officials have not answered recent questions about who else have been moved to the facility over the past several weeks. So there you have that, and to that person that reached out to me, now you have your update on the Ice situation as it relates to Bloody and Gola. Quickly, big time shit coming up on a podcast. I know a lot of you out there also listen to Unspeakable, a true crime podcast by Kelly Jennings. We got something big dropping the first week in November, and that is a multiple part series. I believe it's twenty episodes.

23:55 It is already done. All we're doing is the back end stuff on that right now. It is called d TL. Of course, it covers the life and crimes of maybe Louisiana State Penitentiary in Gola's most infamous inmate, or definitely one of the most and that is Derek Todd Lee, also known as the Louisiana serial Killer, the Batinary serial Killer. He's about as. Evil a human being as you would ever come across. His crimes absolutely horrific, and no one can tell that story better than Kelly Jennings. So I'm going to play you quickly. The trailer for this This series drops every Monday on Unspeakable, a true crime podcasts by Kelly Jennings, and it starts November three.

24:55 And here's that trailer. In the sultry heat of Louisiana, where the Bayous whisper secrets and the air hangs heavy with the scent of magnolias, a darkness lurked beneath the surface. Dereck Todd Lee was a man whose charm masked a sinister reality. He was a monster. Lee, a seemingly ordinary man with a disarming smile, led a double life that would unravel in a series of murders in the capital city of Baton Rouge and the surrounding areas. As the first reports of disappearances and murders began to surface, South Louisiana was thrust into a nightmare, igniting a frantic search for answers. The true horror was just beginning, and the hunt for a serial killer eventually known by just three letters, would reveal not only the depths of Derreck Todd Lee's depravity, but also the resilience of those most affected by his evil acts, the families and the survivors. This is DTL.

26:06 Now, as you noticed, you heard that music behind it. The way I describe this is like listening to a Netflix documentary. It's very highly produced. We spared no expense on this one. Some of these things do to my time constraints. I actually hired out some of the production of these episodes. They're very highly produced, professionally produced, and they're coming your way. First time we've ever done this with this large of a series, and I'm telling you it is absolute fire. You're gonna want to hear it. Unspeakable of True Crime podcast by Kelly Jennings brings you DTL November third, and that's all I got for you today.

26:50 Thank you so much for listening to Bloody and Gola. If you are a Patreon supporter, I can't tell you how much I love and appreciate you. Show would not exist, would not without your continued support. Thank you so much for allowing me to do what I do with Bloody in Goa. And until next time for Bloody and Gola, a podcast one forty two years in the making, the complete story of America's bloodiest prison. I'm Jim Chapman, Peace.

27:38 A Wall Street line, shackle chain. Who's some gurdy it's calling my name? There is no. Mercy and this been a tentery juice sastly hugestream game Rango three. I'm here, Bef. I'm me to die. Inside these walls, inside the wild. And when the walks as I know, it's olbody angle, ohbody angle,