How I Survived 15+ Years in Michigan State Prisons | Sonny Von Cleveland

Locked In with Ian Bick

Ian Bick

Society & Culture

4.8 • 743 Ratings

🗓️ 27 January 2026

⏱️ 88 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sonny Von Cleveland opens up about serving nearly two decades in prison and the harsh realities of being young, white, and unprepared for prison life. Pulled into violence and survival politics at an early age, Sonny breaks down what it really takes to make it through long prison sentences, the fear, the mistakes, and the lessons learned the hard way behind bars. He speaks candidly about navigating race, identity, and power inside prison, how incarceration forced him to confront his past, and the mindset shift that ultimately saved his life. Today, Sonny has transformed his story into purpose as a speaker, mentor, and community leader, proving that even the darkest chapters don’t have to define how the story ends. _____________________________________________ #PrisonSurvival #MichiganPrison #PrisonLife #TrueCrime #LifeInPrison #PrisonStories #SurvivingPrison #incarceration _____________________________________________ Connect with Sonny Von Cleveland: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sonnyvonclevelandofficial/ Website: https://www.sonnyvoncleveland.com/ _____________________________________________ Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ _____________________________________________ Shop Locked In Merch: http://www.ianbick.com/shop _____________________________________________ Timestamps: 00:00 First Days in Prison: Shock, Fear, and Survival 02:00 Growing Up in the Midwest Before Prison 06:40 Family Trauma, Abuse, and a Broken Childhood 12:00 Surviving Abuse and Learning to Cope 17:00 Running Away, Street Life, and Early Crime 21:00 The Road to Prison: Charges, Conviction, and Sentencing 24:40 Entering Adult Prison for the First Time 26:00 Prison Violence, Gangs, and Losing Innocence 31:30 Regret, Lost Youth, and Missed Chances 35:40 Solitary Confinement, System Failures, and Mental Survival 41:00 Release, Reoffending, and a Second Prison Sentence 46:00 Life After Release: Family Conflict, Crime, and Betrayal 52:00 Solitary Confinement, Transformation, and Forgiveness 59:00 Self-Reflection, Growth, and Mental Survival in Prison 01:03:00 Teaching Others, Service, and Finding Purpose Behind Bars 01:09:00 Leaving Gang Life and Choosing a Different Path 01:14:00 Reentry After Prison: Starting Over From Nothing 01:19:00 Using His Story to Help Others Avoid Prison 01:22:00 Final Advice, Redemption, and Life’s True Purpose Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	It was the first week I was in prison by two guys.
0:02.7	What do you think 10-year-old Sonny would have thought of you in that moment?
0:06.0	You gotta imagine, I'm this skinny white kid with long hair from the country.
0:10.0	And you send me to prison, and it's all these black guys and Mexicans from Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, all the big city.
0:19.5	I've never seen this in my life. Absolute shock to me. And what part in your mind would you ever be like, I want to go back or do anything to go back? And it was a war zone from that moment forward. Within 30 days of this facility being open, it was the most violent prison in Michigan. The most stabbings, rape, assaults, assaults on staffs. What was it like getting out of protective custody and going back
0:41.2	to general population and facing your gang head on? Sunny von Cleveland spent nearly two
0:46.4	decades in prison after going in young, white, and unprepared for the reality of prison life.
0:51.5	In this episode, he breaks down the fear, the violence, the racial politics, and the mindset
0:56.1	it took to survive and how that experience ultimately changed his life.
1:04.0	Sunny, welcome to Lockton.
1:05.3	Thanks so much for coming out here today with Jim and Bear in the Cold right before
1:10.0	major snowstorm in Connecticut.
1:11.4	It's been snowing nonstop, but thanks for coming, man.
1:14.5	Dude, thank you so much for having me.
1:16.0	You know, I'm a Midwest guy.
1:17.2	I was born and raised in the Midwest, and I moved to California five years ago and kind of thawed out.
1:23.3	And I come back, it's like, holy crap.
1:26.9	What do you think is worse?
1:28.9	L.A. traffic or the cold here?
1:30.6	L.A. traffic.
1:32.3	There's not many things.
1:33.8	You know, I just recently did a two-month tour around the United States.
	...

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