How one inmate turned the prison library into a profitable business.

Jermaine wasn’t the biggest or the toughest, but he was the smartest. When he got to prison, he realized knowledge was a currency just like cigarettes or stamps. He started offering legal research, resume writing, and even love letters for those who needed them. For a price, of course. His biggest hustle? Teaching illiterate inmates how to read in exchange for favors. Soon, he had the most powerful men on the block in his debt—not with muscle, but with words. When a riot broke out, it was Jermaine who brokered peace, using the trust he had built. ‘Books saved my life,’ he later wrote in a letter to his mother. And in a way, they really had.

How one inmate turned books into power, influence, and survival. A fascinating story of intellect over violence.