The transfer to federal prison happened three days after sentencing. Ral sat handcuffed in transport van watching Washington suburbs disappear into rural Maryland landscape where high-security facility waited like concrete tomb for next eighteen years of his life.
"FCI Cumberland," guard announced as facility appeared through morning fog. "Your new home. Follow rules, keep your head down, maybe you survive your sentence."
The intake process was deliberately dehumanizing—strip search, cavity search, delousing shower, prison uniform that erased individual identity. Ral became prisoner 47829-016, federal inmate serving eighteen years for conspiracy and terrorism-related charges.
"You're going to C-Block," classification officer informed him. "Medium security wing. High-profile inmates like
