The Feds Busted Me For A Drug Ring — Then Sent Me To Prison For 5 Years | Leo Leonardo

Locked In with Ian Bick

Ian Bick

Society & Culture

4.8 • 743 Ratings

🗓️ 5 January 2026

⏱️ 83 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Leo Leonardo is a Rhode Island native who got caught up in the system at a young age, facing repeated arrests that pushed him out of school and into the workforce—before turning to selling drugs when legitimate options fell apart. His path led to a federal drug case, time in both state and federal prison, and some of the harshest consequences behind the walls, including segregation (SEG) and maximum-security prison after continued trouble inside. After his release, Leo struggled to stay straight and was hit with additional gun charges, showing how hard it is to break cycles once the system has its grip. In this raw true-crime interview, Leo breaks down how the feds built their case, what life is really like in max prison and SEG, and the long-term consequences of early choices—an unfiltered look at crime, punishment, and life after prison. _____________________________________________ #PrisonStory #DrugRing #TrueCrimePodcast #FederalPrison #LifeAfterPrison #CrimeStory #ExCon #redemptionstory _____________________________________________ Thank you to PRIZEPICKS for sponsoring this episode: Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/IANBICK and use code IANBICK and get $50 in lineups when you play your first $5 lineup! _____________________________________________ 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 From Rhode Island Streets to Federal Prison 00:53 Growing Up in Rhode Island: Meet Splurge 02:42 Family, Childhood & the Environment That Shaped Him 05:16 Troubled Youth, Violence & Early Arrests 08:26 Juvenile Detention and Growing Up in the System 13:02 School Struggles, Dropping Out & Getting a GED 15:34 Trying to Go Straight: Trade School & Real Life 18:59 Back to the Streets: Drug Dealing & Survival 22:41 The Raid: Arrest, Indictment & Federal Charges 26:05 Facing the Judge: Court, Sentencing & Reality 28:08 State Jail vs Federal Prison: The Real Difference 31:57 Federal Transfer & Learning Prison Politics 37:20 Life Inside FCI Berlin: Isolation, Alliances & Trust 41:43 Prison Hooch, Contraband & Survival Tactics 43:00 Constant Transfers: Brooklyn, Oklahoma & More 47:08 Oxford Medium: Programs, Pressure & Prison Fights 51:12 Assaults, Box Time & Prison Discipline 56:41 COVID Lockdowns: Isolation & Mental Breakdown 01:03:04 Max Security at Kanan: Violence & Daily Routine 01:06:48 Prison Politics, Gangs & Loyalty Tests 01:13:00 Release, Relapse & Going Back to Prison 01:16:46 Education, Self-Improvement & a Decision to Change 01:18:39 Tattoos, Identity & Prison Regret 01:20:22 Making Amends & Breaking the Cycle 01:21:27 Final Advice & Hard Lessons Learned Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to a world of infinite worlds, a world of adventure, possibility and happily ever afters.
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0:29.6	And he's sitting at the back of the cell.
0:31.6	I get my cost off first.
0:33.6	As soon as he goes to walk by, oh my God, I just set it on them. Give us an example of one of these issues with the CEO is how they treat you. I really actually caught my first charge in sixth grade. Now, when you get to the FCI, who approaches you, who comes up to you that first day? You see other people that don't really look like me, like little scrawny dude that you don't even know. Dude's crazy. He might put a knife in you.
0:55.5	What was the worst thing you saw there?
0:56.9	By the time he was still a teenager, the cops already knew his name.
1:00.4	He dropped out of school, tried to go straight.
1:02.8	And then when that failed, he built a drug operation that caught the attention of the feds.
1:07.8	What followed was state prison, federal prison, time in Sagan, Max, and even after
1:12.9	getting out, more gun charges. This is Leo Leonardo, and this is how one bad turn turned into a
1:18.8	life of consequences. Flurge, welcome to Locked In, man. Thanks for coming on the show.
1:26.4	Thank you for having me. Dude, every time someone comes and gives me like one of their rap names to call them by, I always feel weird, you know, saying like splurge, but that's what you go by. You're just telling me the story about that. Oh, yeah. Yeah, so my name is Splurge, a kid, splurge bolla, I'm saying. Yeah, been through some shit.
1:44.7	I'm saying.
1:46.2	Another Rhode Island story.
2:03.5	I didn't realize how small the Rhode Island prison system is. Like, everyone that DMs me now that comes for Rhode Island says, oh, I saw so and so on. I knew him in the joint, this and that, you know? Yeah, it's too small. It's crazy. Every time I go back and say, I go into a unit and everyone, oh shit, what up?
2:03.8	What out?
	...

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