we're locked down 23-1. gives us the opportunity to get out of this cell. that what makes the job so good. >> while serving a 22-year sentence, gates was sent to the brushy mountain max unit for committing armed robbery at another facility. >> we was out in the pods. we needed the weed. they didn't want to give us weed. so we went in and took the weed. we went in with butcher knives and stuck it to their necks and took their weed. that's how we do it. >> the inmates at brushy mountain's max unit have exhibited extreme violence before or after arriving in prison. >> they just don't care. they would rather try to cut you as soon as look at you. because they just -- they don't care and they have nothing to live for. >> i never killed anyone without warning, even my mother. i had warned her and warned her and tried to avoid the situation. >> it was the cold-blooded killing of his own mother that first landed stephen hughley in