Dispatches from a Hollywood halfway house

Jason Jones used to own ACME, the super-hip video game store on Melrose and La Brea that catered to celebrity clients ranging from Snoop Dogg to David Arquette. In 2005 he was pinched by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who raided his store wearing full body armor and brandishing shotguns because Jones was suspected of selling “modded” Microsoft Xboxes that played pirated games. Seriously.

Charged with felonies under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Jones faced up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines after pleading guilty to felony copyright crimes in May, 2006. Instead, he received six months of probation. His current home is The Vinewood, a Hollywood halfway house for federal cons about to transition back to civilian life. Jones, 35, sat down to chat about being the only video game gangsta among the bank robbers and real thugs.

How long have you been here?
I’m coming up on three months. I’ll be here for 16 more days. It’s a 90-day sentence total.

But didn’t you have probation?
Yeah. It was six months house arrest, but I got caught smokin’ weed. I’ve got a weed license, but since it was a federal crime, they didn’t recognize it, and they commuted my sentence to here.

Photo of Jones' "modded" ankle tracker by J. Jones

Tell me about this place. I had no idea it was here, just off Sunset.
We're a half block from Sunset and Western. It's a California federal halfway house, so it's basically a lot of bank robbers. There's 50 guys and five or six women, and about five staff people at any given time. It's eight guys to a room sharing one bathroom. Nasty.

Are you the only white collar guy in here?
There's one other white collar guy. He's in here for medical fraud. An Armenian dude. He drives a nice car. A Benz.

How did the other cons respond to you? I mean, your crime is pretty lightweight.
They all thought it was a joke. I'm the square. I like to think I'm a badass, but I'm not. You've got guys in here for heinous shit. Hate crimes, murder, kidnapping. I got shit from them when I first got here. Guys were like "what gang are you with?" and stuff like that. I was like, dude, I'm a guy who rides a skateboard.

Also, being half white and half-Japanese, what clique do you fit with?
None. The Mexicans, blacks and whites don't want to deal with me. I basically stand alone.

You don't fear for your safety?
It's pretty tense in here. Especially on the yard. It's predominantly black now. But for a lot of these guys, it's their last chance to be free. They're coming off 30 year bids. Some of these guys are old men. They don't wanna fuck up their last chance. If anybody fucks up, they just go back to jail, and that makes everybody more docile. I did get into it with one of my cellies last night. He got pissed because I sleep naked and I said "it's not my fault it gives you a boner." He jumped up in my face, but I backed down.

How much are you allowed to leave the house, and what's your schedule like?
You're allowed 10 hours out every day, but only to work. They get $1,200 a head from the state to house you, then they take 25 percent of your earnings and make you work. Then they call your job twice a day and you have to call them four times a day. They berate you. It's really wack. Imagine if you're a real con trying to get a job. What bullshit!

Where are you working?
I'm running an antique store on La Brea until I get out, then I'll go back to video games. I can't be involved in video games because that's my crime. Everyone in the house is allowed a television and a Playstation except me! They consider that a part of my crime, like I'm gonna be in a halfway house modding Playstations. I got 16 hours of hard labor because they found my cell phone. There's nobody in here trying to help you. There's no rehabilitation. It's about money.

Have you learned any major lessons being in here?
No, not really. I learned how one can rob a bank. I also learned not to fuck with homeland security.