I Spent 20 Years in Prison — I Watched a Man Get Set on Fire | Charles "Cadillac" Anderson

Locked In with Ian Bick

Ian Bick

Society & Culture

4.8 • 743 Ratings

🗓️ 7 May 2026

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Charles “Cadillac” Anderson joins Locked In with Ian Bick to share his story of spending over 20 years in the Arkansas and federal prison systems. Growing up in a rough neighborhood surrounded by gangs and violence, with his father in and out of his life, Charles was raised by a mother who did everything she could—but the streets pulled him in. Trying to fit in and be accepted led to a robbery charge that landed him 13 years in the Arkansas prison system, where he was sent to a max unit and exposed to extreme violence on a daily basis. In this episode, he talks about being stabbed in prison, witnessing brutal attacks, and what it takes to survive behind bars. After his release, he developed a drug addiction and began dealing, which ultimately led to a federal prison sentence. Charles opens up about hitting rock bottom, the cycle of crime and addiction, and how he finally turned his life around after serving decades behind bars. This is a raw, unfiltered look at prison life, violence, addiction, and redemption. _____________________________________________ #PrisonStory #ExInmate #TrueCrime #PrisonLife #BehindBars #LifeSentence #FederalPrison #lockedinpodcast _____________________________________________ Connect with Charles "Cadilac" Anderson: https://www.facebook.com/charles.cadillac.anderson _____________________________________________ 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 How He Lost 20 Years of His Life 00:19 Growing Up in Southwest Little Rock 01:19 His Childhood and Family Life 03:37 Trouble Started Early 04:46 First Crimes as a Kid 05:56 Addiction Took Over Fast 07:55 Dropping Out of School 09:49 Missed Chances That Changed Everything 11:07 First Robberies 13:11 Getting Caught 16:13 First Time in Jail 17:46 Learning How to Survive 19:19 Sentenced and Sent to Prison 21:26 Life in Maximum Security 23:33 Violence Inside Prison 26:34 Solitary Confinement 30:56 Getting Out and Starting Over 33:43 Relapse and Losing Everything Again 36:53 Second Arrest and Federal Charges 42:12 Back to Prison 50:33 Prison Politics and Survival 56:12 Finally Getting Out 01:03:43 Turning His Life Around 01:10:10 What He Would Tell His Younger Self _____________________________________________ To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/LockedInWithIanBicka Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	My guest today is Charles Cadillac Anderson, who spent over 20 years in Arkansas and federal prisons,
0:06.1	survived being stabbed, and witnessing extreme violence. Today, he shares what it was really like
0:10.8	behind bars and how he turned his life around after addiction. Where did you grow off, Cadillac?
0:20.7	Southwest Little Rock.
0:21.6	What was that like?
0:22.6	So right down the road from there.
0:24.6	That was kind of, I grew up during the gang era.
0:28.6	So in the early 90s and everybody was gang banging and it was rough, bro.
0:33.6	A lot of shootings.
0:34.6	They had the most murders, I believe, like like 94 95 that they've ever had going to school
0:40.2	was you know everybody's gang bang down and starter jackets and reblocks you know you had to really
0:47.5	watch yourself man what do you think was the first thing you saw as a kid oh i don't as far as bad stuff
0:53.8	yeah so that you knew you were in a bad area. Oh, bro, just, I mean, we already knew, you know what I mean? There was just the fights, probably. Like I said, the gang bang and the fights and the robbing and stealing, you know, and that's where I got into my little shuffle with the law. You know what I mean?
1:12.4	Were both your parents in the picture? Oh yes sir. Well, Daddy, he's in and out. You know, he was an
1:17.3	alcoholic. So he, yeah, he was in and out of my life. But mama, she tried all she could, but
1:22.5	she worked so much that my sister, I got an older sister, like 16 years old or 17 and uh she tried to raise me but
1:29.2	I was just searching for to find myself you know to fit in what do your mom do for work uh Walmart
1:35.3	she worked at Walmart my whole life a little odd jobs you know what do you say you guys grew up
1:41.1	lower class oh yeah yeah we made she made the bills barely, you know.
1:46.0	But, yeah, we didn't, it wasn't no fancy, you know, suburb type life.
1:51.7	You know, I lived off our street, so one in the R Street's real bad,
1:55.7	and our end got a little better, but it's still, you know, a little house.
	...

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