Photo: Ryan James Lindsey
A Mountain Home man facing a murder charge and already locked away in prison on earlier convictions appears to have gotten in trouble for adding tattoos to his face and neck while behind bars.
Twenty-nine-year-old Ryan James Lindsey has, for some time, sported a large number of tattoos on his body. He has said they make him look mean and just a little crazy — leaving people not sure exactly what to make of him.
Four booking photos from Lindsey’s arrests dating back to 2014
While Lindsey is currently facing charges in a number of cases, the most serious involves his alleged participation in the early December 2020 murder of then 35-year-old Cody Stradford.
In that case, the death penalty is being sought for Lindsey.
CLAIMS GANG MEMBERSHIP
When he was interviewed in the murder case, Lindsey told investigators that he “scares people” with his array of tattoos.
He claims membership in “The Gangster Disciples” and said he has been paid to “beat people up” for different reasons.
Lindsey said he was “a fighter” and tends to “freak people out” with his appearance.
CAN YOU GET TATTOOS IN PRISON?
His apparent ability to add tattoos while in prison has spurred inquiries to KTLO, Classic Hits and the Boot News as to how that could happen.
When comparing pictures of Lindsey’s face and neck area, anyone familiar with him can readily see he has acquired more “ink” since being locked up.
There have also been questions about whether the necklace Lindsey is wearing in his latest prison “mug shot” is permitted.
Is it against the rules for an inmate to acquire tattoos while in the Arkansas prison system? The answer is yes.
Can inmates manage to build tattoo guns and make their own ink? The answer is yes.
If inmate “artists” are caught doing homemade tattooing or inmates being tattooed, are they disciplined? The answer is yes.
Is it possible, despite all the rules, to be tattooed in prison? The answer is yes.
Can inmates wear jewelry? The answer is maybe. An inmate in the Arkansas prison system is only permitted to wear necklaces with religious medals or emblems approved by the unit chaplain, according to Cindy Murphy, communications director for the Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC).
Murphy says the strict prohibition on piercing and self-mutilation intended to change a person’s appearance applies to all ADC facilities.
But, it is no secret that inmates break the rules from time to time.
PICKED UP DISCIPLINARY VIOLATION
In a listing of disciplinary actions brought against Lindsey while in prison through the years, he is shown to have picked up a self-mutilation violation September 30 while an inmate at the East Arkansas Max Unit in Marianna.
Details are not provided on what led to the violation, but it does fall in the category that could involve adding tattoos.
A variety of disciplinary sanctions can be imposed for violating the rules.
HOMEMADE EQUIPMENT/INK
In jails and prisons all across the country, improvised tattoo guns have been made from a variety of items, including motors from CD and tape players and beard trimmers. A battery is also necessary to power the apparatus.
A needle can be crafted from a number of commonplace items, including the coil compression spring out of a lighter. The spring is heated over a candle, stretched and straightened out — and, you have a needle.
Sandpaper is used to keep the needle sharp.
Ink can also be made in various ways using a wide array of products, including melted plastic and soot mixed with shampoo.
An inmate can also put a wick in a tin of hair grease and then collect the soot on a piece of stiff paper.
HIDE AND SEEK
While inmates must display some ingenuity in producing a tattoo gun, needle and the ink that goes with it, they also must be careful where they hide the prohibited equipment and supplies.
And, inmates can be very inventive at finding ways to hide, disguise or bring contraband into the facilities where they are being held.
Some examples: A cellphone was found concealed in a hollowed out biscuit and regular looking lollipops were hidden in plain sight, but were found to be laced with methamphetamine.
Prisoners in an Oklahoma jail dug a hole in the wall and were hauling contraband up to the clandestine entry by way of a bed sheet rope.
A corrections officer sitting in a parking lot at the jail spotted the “rope” while in use and the operation was shut down.
Then, there was the massive shakedown at a Louisiana prison in early December. The search turned up 60 shanks or homemade knives, 100 cellphones, 60 cellphone chargers, 29 cigarette lighters, three gallons of homemade beer, a package of cigars and a sizable stash of drugs.
So, bringing contraband into prisons and jails is certainly not impossible, but people do get in trouble for trying.
The brother of one inmate at an out-of-state prison planned to fly a drone over the recreation yard of the facility where his relative was being held.
His piloting skills were not the best, resulting in a package of drugs and chewing tobacco being dropped in a schoolyard.
He was arrested.
Inmates at the Baxter County Detention Center have been caught trying to get friends or relatives outside to sneak contraband items to them inside.
In one case at the Baxter County Detention Center, an inmate, his brother and grandmother were all arrested and charged with involvement in a plot to smuggle contraband to the prisoner.
LINDSEY HAD SHANK IN DETENTION CENTER
Lindsey himself has been found with contraband in his Baxter County jail cell as recently as late March. He was being held at the time prior to being sent to the state prison system.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Lindsey had a “shank” or homemade knife that had been made out of a piece of broken Plexiglas.
When ordered to give up the weapon, Lindsey refused but allegedly said he was willing to strike a deal. He would surrender the shank if given a can of dipping tobacco.
The offer was turned down and jail staff entered the cell and removed Lindsey. The shank was found in the toilet.
A further search of Lindsey’s cell turned up a pen, screw and fishing line.
Around the time of the incident, an investigator at the sheriff’s department had listened to recorded telephone calls involving Lindsey.
The investigator reported Lindsey had said he “had no issues” with assaulting fellow inmates or jail staff.
In late April, a friend of an inmate in the Baxter County jail brought what appeared to be a Walmart photo envelop to the facility and asked that it be delivered to the prisoner.
Jailers were busy with other duties at the time and the man was asked to leave the envelop in the lobby of the building and it would be collected later.
A jailer eventually picked up the package and noticed it was “heavy and bulky.” On further examination, the package was found to contain a crystal like substance, loose tobacco and one dosage unit of a controlled substance.
The person who brought the contraband to the jail for delivery to his friend was easily identified when surveillance camera footage was reviewed, according to the probable cause affidavit in the case.
And, there was a letter in the package written and signed by the suspect smuggler.
TATTOOS GENERALLY COST
Payment for tattoos in prison is made in paper currency or “green,” as well as food, drugs, tobacco products, telephone time or items from the canteen or commissary.
According to various publications dealing with prison issues, some tattoo “artists” do their work in exchange for protection from other inmates.
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