The Episode Summary
Today I have a great episode with my new friend Nallely Gamboa :), who is also a wife of a lifer. This is a prison wives chat! You gotta listen to her story, she married her childhood friend 7 months ago after a 5-year relationship while he was incarcerated for his first felony which landed him in prison with a life without parole sentence at the age of 20… sounds familiar, right? I applaud her drive and her passion to help him to be the best version of himself. “It is what it is” and be strong is her signature message. Strong Prison Wives! She asked me to let all of you know that you can reach her on Instagram if anyone wants to ever reach out and talk, she is in!, her Instagram handle is: nayyybaby.___
This was my first “prison wives” talk and it was definitely very touchy, so, I want to let know all the prison wives out there, please reach out I would love to have you in my show!.
Transcription
Introduction
Nallely: Hi. Can you hear me?
Cecilia: Yes, how are you good? Good Nallely
Nallely: yes.
Cecilia: Gamboa?
Nallely: Yes
Cecilia: Do you speak Spanish, by any chance?
Nallely: Yeah, I do.
Cecilia: Oh, well, Spanish is my first language,acually. So
Nallely: Really?
Cecilia: Yeah. I am actually from Mexico.
I moved to states like eight years ago. So exactly.
Anyway, so nice to meet you Nallely, so how are you doing today?
Nallely: I’m good. I’m [00:02:00] just going to get ready for work.
Cecilia: Tell me about your work. So you work at night, right?
Nallely: Yes. I work at Tesla.
Cecilia: Okay. It is fun, right?
Nallely: It’s hard. It’s hard, but it’s. That’s money. So,
yeah.
Cecilia: Anyways, if before
asking you about you, I would like to ask you about your relationship. So can you tell me a little bit about, because you are another wife of a life
Nallely: Yeah
Cecilia: That is interesting, so can you please tell me about it?
Nallely: Um, well, um, I’ve been married for like seven months already. I’ve been knowing my husband for about 15 or 16 years. Really we’ve been knowing each other since we were in the fourth grade.
Cecilia: Okay.
Nallely: Yeah.
Cecilia: And what happened? were you with him when that when the crime, occurred or ..
The Story
Nallely: No. So what had happened was, you know, we went to school [00:03:00] together.
We grew up. Together, but like, I wasn’t really interested in him, but I didn’t really like, necessarily like him. I wasn’t really a big fan of him. Cause he always used to like, try to like pick on me, like in a flirtatious land. I wasn’t with it. So I’m like, no, like I don’t like that. You know, we just grew up around each other and then probably like in the eighth grade he had switched school.
So that’s when we lost contact with each other. Well, it turns out that he actually lived down the street from me, like literally three minutes away from me the whole time. And I had no idea. Okay. Yeah. And I’ve seen him one time and he tried to get my attention yeah. Years later. And I’m like, Oh no. At the time I had a boyfriend, I’m like, Oh no, I can’t.
You know? And then next thing you know it a couple of months after that incident, His mugshot is all over the news. And I’m like, Oh my gosh. You know, like, let me be a friend, you know? Cause I reached out to him and the letter and I’m like, Hey, you know, I’ve seen it happen. [00:04:00] You know, like, I’m sorry, are you okay?
Whatever. And then from there, like he just started bringing in letters, letters, letters. And that’s just kind of how we rekindled.
Cecilia: Okay. Yeah. That’s really nice of you that you decided to be there for him because a lot of people, they say, no, I don’t, it’s good, then you’re sort of whatever. Okay. Well, okay.
So then I know, can you tell me a little bit more about him? What happened, what he’s doing with his time?
Nallely: he is life without parole. As of right now, he’s life without parole,
Cecilia: but he was 20 right?
Nallely: Yes, he was 20 years old.
But I guess, like we try to go down the checklist for the YOP ALC, the youth offender program or whatever, and I guess he doesn’t [00:05:00] qualify for it. Um, I think it’s because I’m, I think it’s because it was a murder or something like that.
I don’t really remember. So I don’t, I don’t know. Like we just like that and I was like, okay, I’ve been in contact with his. Um, the lady that’s been handling the appeal. So she even told me herself, she like, yeah, there’s nothing we can do. You know, we appealed it. There’s been some charges drops and there’s nothing I can do.
There’s nothing you can do nothing he can do. And I said, okay. She said, well, right now his case is at the Supreme court. So it’s just whenever they decide to pick it up, to look through it and see what we’re going to do. And I said, okay,
Cecilia: So, sorry I interrupted you, but see what happened?. So I don’t understand why he’s not getting this chance.
So what happened? Can you please,
Nallely: he got charged for two murders, one attempted murder and a bunch of [00:06:00] robberies. And he got charged for like, just a bunch of like, like anything they could throw at him. They charged him everything. They charged him. With the, um, felony, no felony murder. Fine. I think that’s what the felony murder rule or something.
They charged them with that too, because basically like he got charged. For all of the charges that his co-defendants, um, charged him with. Yeah.
Cecilia: His codefendant also got life and everything?. life without parole.
Nallely: Yeah. Like that’s what they, they told him that he got sentenced in August and July or August and they just told him, they were like, yeah.
We’re like, you know, it’s life without parole. That’s just what it is. Like you both are going in for [00:07:00] life without parole.
Cecilia: And it was two murders right two people died.
Nallely: It was two people, but I do understand that my husband did commit one. He come in at one and his codefendant come into the other one, but they, they tried them both together with the same exact charges
Cecilia: they put out as a bundle.
Nallely: Yeah.
Cecilia: Oh, I’m sorry. That happened.
Her Thoughts
Nallely: That’s okay. I mean, what they, nothing, you know, we could do, we can’t go back. We can’t change anything. You know what I mean? So, and it’s worse because there was a third co-defendant. And they told her, Hey, if you don’t open up your mouth, if you don’t say anything, then you know, you’re gonna get the same exact time.
You know, so she, she testified against both of them.
Yeah. Tha
Cecilia: is what happen with my husband in the crime scene. There were two people the only person that [00:08:00] they identified at the crime scene was the codefendant, but the codefendant got a deal. So the codefendant came with a story in which he was the angel and husband was the one that did everything.
So in the end, the angel got 20 years and my husband got life without parole. Do you thing that’s the thing is that it’s fair? I don’t think so.
Nallely: No, definitely not. No,
Cecilia: now it seems that you, you go on and say, whatever sudently you do is going to be any better.
Nallely: Yeah. I mean, I just learned how to, how to accept it, you know? And I’m, and he always tells me to, you know, like, don’t, don’t put your life on hold for me. You know, you do what you have to do, you know, Kate keep taking care of the baby, you know, take care of yourself and just. That’s it. I said, okay. So that’s all I do.
You know, all I did was work, be a mom, come home and sleep. That’s all I do. So [00:09:00] yeah. I just learned how to, how to cope with it. It took me a long time, but I learned, yeah, so.
Cecilia: Well, I am really admire you because you actually knew what happened. It was something really fresh, like just up in a month or two later.
And you wrote to him even included that, that the thing that happened, other people get scared like, Oh, this person is a monster. Like, what would you tell to people that are close friends or family of somebody that is just getting into prison, so what will be the advice that you give them?
Nallely: Stay strong, stay strong.
That’s like my number one thing is just stay strong is this is not an easy ride. This is my, not everybody can handle this. You know, like a bunch of people are so used to getting showered with attention and stuff like that. And. [00:10:00] I used to be like that too. So I went from receiving all this attention, me me me to one phone call every day for 15 minutes.
That’s it. Long drive. You know what I mean? Just got to stay strong.
Cecilia: Yeah, it becomes more about them than you kind of, when you are married with someone in prison, you are, you are, how can I, how I know that I have been married to my husband 5 years almost, so yeah. It’s
yeah. The entire situation switches.
Nallely: So it is what it is. That’s my, my thing, like that’s my little phrase. It is what it is like, that’s my answer to, to everything to this this problem, you know? So sometimes I have my day, sometimes I’m perfectly fine. Sometimes I’m just a wreck, but. There’s nothing I can do about it.
Cecilia: Okay. [00:11:00] Let me ask you something that you can respond or not.
So right now your mind is for you. It will be okay. if he stays in prison for all his life. You’re going to be, are you okay with that?
Nallely: Yeah.
Cecilia: Or are you, or are you trying to. fight it, or what is your plan from, from here in 10 years? How you like to see your relationship in 10 years?
Her Plans
Nallely: So my plans with him is like, I always tell him, get him to every program that you can get into, you know, fight, keep fighting, keep fighting, stay out of trouble, you know?
Cause that was our number one thing was. Him possibly getting in trouble. So I’m like, you know, they add them, stay off the way, you know that I want him to come home. I want him to at least get a parole date. That’s my goal. That’s our goal is to get him, um, at least the parole date. So he can go to a board because him not having a parole date, it’s just, it’s too harsh.
You know what I mean? And he was only 20 years old. Like he had no criminal record, but [00:12:00] like nothing. This was his first time incarcerated. So here comes this little 20 year old kid. He just turned 20 years old. You know what I mean? So it’s just like, it’s mind blowing. It’s like, dang, you guys couldn’t even say, Hey, you know, you’re 20 years old.
You’re still very, very young. You obviously, your brain is not developed all the way. You know what I mean? That’s, that’s our goal. Our goal is just to push and push and push for a parole date.
Cecilia: I agree. I, I tell the same, my husband also doesn’t have a parole day, so we are still fighting. So I am with you, and I really admire you specially, because as I said I met Taylor when he had been already in prison for 10 years.
So he was, he had already gone through the first years of prison when he had to try to find himself, so he was really a grown man. But in your case, you actually helping him to become that better version of him. Oh, f to stay [00:13:00] focuss and really admire you a lot. And I won’t, and I really cannot believe that for some reason, your husband is not a candidate for the juvenale thing
now it’s like, I told Taylor about it. Hey, you know, you’re going to talk to this lady from California. He was 20. You know, we have certain things in common. And He said, you know, in California they have, they passed a law. So in his mind, your husband already have the parole thing, but I really cannot believe that
Nallely: nothing, nothing.
I, I really cannot put my finger on what exactly disqualified him. But I seen it a couple of times where I’m like, damn, I’m like he doesn’t, he doesn’t qualify. You know? And, and that’s why I, even, when I spoke to the appeal person, the lady she messaged told me to show that there’s another thing we can do about it.
Like we just have to wait
Cecilia: Did you ask her to write it down in simple words what is the reason?
[00:14:00] Nallely: I actually didn’t because it just happened so fast and it was my first time actually talking to her. And like I did tell my husband, I’m like, Hey, you know what? Like, let me reach out to her. And when I have time and I’m going to ask her like, Hey, what’s going on?
Does he, or does he not? Qualify for the youth offender. Yeah. Cause he was 20. So
Cecilia: he needs to, he deserves that, because my hope is that the Washington passes a similar law and then my husband can also get a parole day because it’s just the logic way of doing it. There’s the, uh, the insurance company is charging more money when you are younger of 25.
So why in hell if you got prison you end up being treated as an adult is not fair.
Nallely: Right? I think, I think it’s because they, well, I don’t know how it is over there, but over here instead of California, you do have to serve at least 15 years in prison. And my husband’s only been incarcerated like in prison for like two years.
[00:15:00] Like we I’m telling you, like we’ve been through it all. We’ve been through County days behind the glass to reception behind the glass, straight to. The state prison.
Cecilia: Wow.
Nallely: Yeah. So like we’re barely getting started. Like this is just the beginning, so.
Cecilia: Okay. So anything else that you’d like to say about your husband or to other prison wives, why you feel like or family that you would like to share?
Conclusions
Nallely: Stay strong like all the fellow prison wives who are in our situation, just stay strong, stay strong, reach out to other other women who are going through this, you know, the same things. Do your research, like do your research, um, you know, laws, you know, and look into everything and then just, just be there for one another.
I think because we were all in this together, nobody’s better than anybody. Like we’re all in this [00:16:00] situation, like from one another and just stay strong, you know, keep, keep pushing. That’s my only antibiotic. Cause it’s so hard. It is sometimes don’t give up either. Like don’t give up. I know it’s so hard.
It’s easier said than done, but don’t give up.
Cecilia: Yes, we need to so strong. Even when they, sometimes they are all the stress out and they’re just trying to push and everything in us and they get all stress, but they need us to be there
for them.
Nallely: Exactly.
Cecilia: And I think you also touched something very important is to research.
That’s what I was asking about the attorney. Like whenever there’s somebody tells you something, don’t just believe that’s first thing that they tell you
right. It’s really good to actually do your own research.
Nallely: Yes. Yeah, it is. So, yeah, that’s pretty much my advice. Let’s stay strong is the number one thing on my list.
Stay strong do your research.
Cecilia: Oh, you’re awesome
you’re. So am I really [00:17:00] admire you
Nallely: thank you. Thank you.
Cecilia: And I want to thank you for your time, um, stay in touch, um, thank you for everything.
Okay. Okay.
Nallely: Thank you for reaching out. I appreciate it.
I really apreciate you too.
Cecilia: Bye bye. Okay, bye .