Ask The Inmate. Real answers from people who've been there.

Yes, I had a couple of pen pals who rode out my bid with me. One I met in the visiting room (she was visiting another inmate), where we had a physical attraction. That pen pal seemed more real to me, I made greater efforts to let myself be more open than the one who just started writing me (from a news account of my trial). Neither went beyond the intimate letters and occasional phone calls. They bought me magazines...

This is a situation InmateAid was designed to help with, and there is a workable solution even from South Korea. The fundamental rule does not change regardless of where you are stationed. Inmates initiate all calls; they cannot receive incoming calls. Your inmate dials out through the facility's phone system and the call routes to whatever number is on their approved list. The solution for overseas situations is to set up a local phone number near the facility that forwards to a...

Yes, it is possible in some cases, but international calling from federal prison is complicated and the rules vary by facility. Most federal facilities use a contracted phone provider, typically Securus or ICSolutions, and international calls are not automatically enabled on every account. The number you want to reach has to be on the inmate's approved call list first, and not all providers support international numbers in every country. Getting an international number approved requires submitting it through the proper channels...