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->''"Of course he can get out of there whenever he wishes. He can even be declared innocent if he wanted. But he doesn't do that, because he has no need to leave the building."''
-->-- '''Bruno Bucciarati''' (in regard to Polpo, a mafia ''caporegime''), ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure: [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind Golden Wind]]''

Sometimes the BigBad is such a ManipulativeBastard that throwing them into prison isn't much of a hindrance to them. It's not necessarily that they're in a CardboardPrison from which they [[PlayAlongPrisoner can get out at any time]], or that they're in a LuxuryPrisonSuite and thus might not even notice their circumstances. Rather, it's that while they're in prison, they are still capable of leading their organization and moving their schemes against the good guys forward. Prison is just a change of location for them, and won't slow down their evil plot to TakeOverTheWorld for one nanosecond. Even better, the villain is now in a secure location protected by high walls and armed men, and surrounded by fellow criminals who are easily manipulated thanks to their own lack of opportunities. It's like a made-to-order SupervillainLair provided by the taxpayer!

In fact, the greatest of [[TheChessmaster chessmasters]] actually plan for their eventual imprisonment and make getting caught a part of their overall EvilPlan from the beginning. This way [[XanatosGambit they benefit regardless of their plan's success or failure.]]

Often combines with a LuxuryPrisonSuite in the worst cases. Compare LeakingCanOfEvil for similar effects with supernatural evils. Compare DesiresPrisonLife, if they just don't want to live outside of prison.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Advertising]]
* "Advertising/VictoryByComputer": Luthor declares he will force Superman to break him out of jail, but he has already contacted and hired a criminal gang and has had them to retrieve, assemble and activate one of his devices at the right moment to capture ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} without even leaving his cell.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': [[spoiler: Eren is imprisoned for his insubordination during his attack on Marley, but he outright tells Hange that keeping him here in prison is useless. Granted, waits for a bit before using the newly-acquired War Hammer Titan to tunnel his way out en route to rendezvous with the Yeagerists]].
* Polpo, the high-ranking mafia operative from ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind]]'', stays in his cell for a couple of reasons. Partly, it's because he can still give orders to his men, he can get anything he wants in his LuxuryPrisonSuite and his [[FightingSpirit Stand]], Music/BlackSabbath, is automatic and has nearly infinite range, so it can be summoned to pursue his enemies while he stays comfortably in his prison cell. However, the main reason for Polpo staying in prison is because [[FatBastard he's so massive]] that getting him out would be a pain. Indeed, after Giorno Giovanna kills him and [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident makes it look like a suicide]], it is said that the coroner had trouble moving his corpse out of his cell.
* In ''Manga/PsychicSquad'', Kyosuke is the world's most powerful psychic. He is kept in a cell that is supposed to block all psychic powers. He has no difficulty leading his esper organization PANDRA from there (even going as far as having some of the members in the same cell without anyone knowing).
* In ''Manga/GunsmithCats'', Gray is able to keep control of his gang and even orchestrate his own escape from inside prison.
* In ''Manga/BakiTheGrappler'' Biscuit Oliva aka Mr. Unchain has a personal library, is allowed to drink, smoke, and indulge in five-course meals on prison grounds. He basically treats the prison as a personal manor in exchange for capturing criminals for the police.
* ''Literature/PrisonLifeIsEasyForAVillainess'': Rachel, a young noble woman is accused of crimes she has never done, by her own fiance the prince, and now her engagement is broken and she is sent to a cell in the castle dungeon. All exactly as she expected. Much to the prince's dismay, Rachel has already transported all of her daily needs into the cell beforehand, and she treats her imprisonment more like a leisurely holiday. A more comedic take on the RebornAsVillainessStory, as the focus is Rachel's outrageous behaviors and the prince's comedic failures in harassing her.
* ''Manga/SleepyPrincessInTheDemonCastle'': Princess Syalis is technically the demon's prisoner, but she breaks out of her cell so easily and regularly that it's implied that they stopped locking the door after a while, because they know that she only leaves to seek entertainment for the day or something she can use for her latest sleep aid project, and will return voluntarily when she's done.
* ''Manga/TisTimeForTorturePrincess'': The only thing the Princess isn't allowed to do as a prisoner of the Hell-Horde is leave the palace unescorted. The "tortures" quickly devolve into [[PokeThePoodle ways to have fun with her]]. They don't even ''lock her cell''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''Franchise/TheDCU'':
** In one issue of ''ComicBook/Batgirl2000'', David Cain easily escapes from prison (where he'd been ever since the conclusion of ''ComicBook/BruceWayneFugitive'') to deliver his daughter a knife as a birthday present, and then casually waltzes right back in during the middle of the investigation into how he did it.
** ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'':
*** In TheSeventies, when the Joker had his own bi-monthly comic book, the writers had a conundrum. On one hand, the Comics Code Authority at the time required that villains never get away at the end of a story, to show that JusticeWillPrevail. On the other hand, showing a new elaborate escape at the beginning of every issue would get tedious and take precious pages away from the story they wanted to tell. Their solution? Give the Joker a SupervillainLair located directly beneath Arkham Asylum, called the "Ha-Hacienda". He even had a SecretUndergroundPassage in his cell. Apparently, nobody at the CCA tripped to the FridgeLogic of "punishing" someone by imprisoning him in a place he can walk out of at any time.
*** Warren White, a.k.a. the Great White Shark, runs a profitable criminal empire (mostly catering to fellow members of Batman's RoguesGallery) from inside Arkham Asylum. White was originally just a white-collar criminal who very stupidly used the InsanityDefense to avoid going to prison for committing the biggest fraud in U.S history -- the judge chose to send him to Arkham, which was a hundred times worse. White only became a psychopathic crime boss ''after'' he was sent to Arkham and endured all the abuse and trauma and mutilation that came with it (with half the staff turning blind eye since White's crime touched them too) -- he didn't even ''have'' a criminal empire before he went in!
*** The Ratcatcher can control the massive number of rats in Gotham from inside of his prison cell.
** ''ComicBook/TheFlash'' rogue Dr. Alchemy is in possession of a potent PhilosophersStone, and police can never get it off of his person whenever he gets arrested. With the Stone, he can escape containment at any leisure; he just chooses to ''stay'' anyway because it's one place he can get peace and quiet for his reading.
** ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'': Telepathic arch-villain Hector Hammond's body is imprisoned (he's serving multiple life sentences) and is supposedly under the effects of a psionic inhibitor... but Hammond's mind is so powerful that he can still telepathically control people hundreds or even thousands of miles away from the prison without ever leaving his cell.
** ''ComicBook/SupergirlCosmicAdventuresInThe8thGrade'': When Superman visits Luthor's cell to inform him that his scheme to blackmail the warden into letting him out has been busted, Lex smugly gloats he remains in prison because he is choosing to do so, and he will get out whenever he wants.
** ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'':
*** Pre-ComicBook/{{Crisis|OnInfiniteEarths}}, Lex Luthor regularly ran his criminal enterprises from the inside of his prison cell. Of course, it was basically understood, if not ever explicitly admitted, that Luthor was in prison only as long as Luthor wanted to be in prison. Post-Crisis, that is still true, but this time he'll usually just [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney wait for his lawyers to get him out instead]].
*** In his first appearances in ''ComicBook/New52'' books, though he is kept in an unconscious state and monitored 24/7, Hector Hammond (see above) is able to exert his power enough to mess with Superman, and ultimately even take over his mind.
** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'': During [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 the Golden Age]] prior to her reformation, Paula has a SupervillainLair right underneath her cell after she's caught by Wondy and Steve Trevor the first time, and has bribed the enough of the guards that she can leave anytime she pleases.
* Ethan Harrow in ''ComicBook/HardTime'' has the power to leave his body as an invisible force that can manipulate objects and people. He doesn't use this to commit crimes, but being able to more or less leave the prison freely at night goes a long way towards keeping him sane. He's serving 50 to life, he needs something to hold onto to keep him from losing his spirit.
* ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse'':
** The Kingpin [[ZigZaggingTrope zig-zags this trope]]. On the one hand, he is still fully capable of running a criminal enterprise from inside prison and once even tricked ComicBook/IronMan into eliminating a competitor on the outside for him, able to do so because he still had enough information on the wider criminal underworld to make deals and manipulate the authorities. In a one-shot, an ex-con who had been in prison for years remarks that the Kingpin is still the number 1 crime boss in the city after all that time, despite Fisk being behind bars at that point. On the ''other'' hand, he's only in prison ''after'' Daredevil managed to bring down most of his ''old'' criminal empire so what he had was just a shadow of his former glory, and while in prison he had made enough enemies that a lot of guys -- even some of his own men -- made repeated attempts to kill him. It's blatantly clear from his numerous failed deals and escape attempts that he didn't ''want'' to be in prison, and Daredevil as well as the Feds took twisted pleasure in making sure he ''stayed'' there every time he thought he was about to get out. Eventually, he only does because his wife convinces Matt to be his lawyer and gets all charges dropped.
** At the end of Marvel's ''ComicBook/{{Damnation}}'' miniseries, Mephisto is dethroned from Hell and imprisoned in a cell of the Hotel Inferno he raised in Las Vegas. Aside from the loss of his throne and thus the blow to his ego, no visitors are actually barred from visiting him by mystical means, so he's still entirely free to cut deals with mortals as much as he likes. He's shown in multiple other titles after his imprisonment negotiating with clients with the only indication he's still imprisoned being one wall of the room being cell bars.
** The ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'' villain [[spoiler:Mr. Fear at the end of the "Hell to Pay" storyline]], in addition to the above-mentioned Kingpin. Hell, most of Daredevil's higher-tier villains...
** An unusual version in ''ComicBook/FantasticFour''. The Mad Thinker spent several years of real time in an ordinary prison cell -- but his brain implant enabled him to project his mind into android duplicates, enabling him to enjoy life and go on the occasional crime spree.
** ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'''s higher-up criminals often do this in high-security prisons (given the CrapsackWorld nature of the legal system here), leading to Frank occasionally getting deliberately arrested and sent to the same prison so he can do some cleaning. One of the most notable examples is ''The Cell'', which is set in the ''Punisher MAX'' continuity - in the depths of Rikers Island, there are five prisoners. A mob enforcer, a pair of twin hitmen, a high-ranking mob lieutenant and the former TheDon himself, all who share a large, fairly luxurious cell. Sure, they still have to wear prison overalls, and it's still a prison cell rather than an apartment with iron bars, but they have comfortable furniture, TV's, alcohol, decent food, and conjugal visits (albeit by toothless, effeminate male prisoners), not to mention the prison guards are all on their payroll, so why would they ''want'' to leave? [[spoiler: They sure as hell do when the Punisher comes after them, as they are the men responsible, directly and indirectly, for the death of his family.]]
** In ''ComicBook/XMenNoir'', Warden Halloway gives the prisoners at the Welfare Island Penitentiary free rein to do whatever they want -- because crime lord inmate Sean Cassidy is running a heroin trade out of the joint and bought him off with the proceeds.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Acción Mutante'': Terrorist leader Ramón Yarritu organizes his next heist from jail, and even records his ransom note, as a home movie, there - so that the background cannot reveal where he is when he sends it.
* ''Film/TheAppleDumplingGang'': In the sequel, several prison inmates use a series of natural tunnels below their cells to make a LuxuryPrisonSuite and commit robberies while having a perfect alibi.
-->'''Theodore:''' Are you gentlemen prisoners?\\
'''Big Mac:''' When we feel like it.
* Mr. Bridger from ''Film/TheItalianJob1969'' runs his gangland empire from his LuxuryPrisonSuite, to the point that when ex-con Charlie breaks back into prison to get his permission for a job, he ''complains to the governor'' about the lapse in security.
* In ''Film/LawAbidingCitizen'', Clyde Shelton is a grieving husband and father whose RoaringRampageOfRevenge against everyone involved in the Philadelphia criminal justice system is not even slowed by incarceration in solitary confinement. Eventually, it's revealed that [[spoiler:he has spent the past decade digging tunnels and installing secret doors into every solitary confinement cell in the prison. Getting sent to jail and solitary was all part of his EvilPlan]].
* Corsican mob leader César in Jacques Audiard's ''[[Film/AProphet Un prophète]]''. His gang and the prison administration obey him; he helps the protagonist, Malik, get day leave so he can run his errands for him. (Well, for most of the film anyway...)
* In ''Film/AmericanMe'', la Eme gradually takes control over the drug trade on the streets of East L.A. by leveraging their control over prison into influence out in the free world. Granted, this is TruthInTelevision, as the real la Eme did the same thing...
* An OlderThanTelevision example, albeit an asylum variant, is ''Film/TheTestamentOfDrMabuse''. EvilGenius Mabuse writes his plans for spreading chaos ForTheEvulz, and his entranced supervisor passes them on to the outside. So powerful is the will of Mabuse that he commits GrandTheftMe upon death to keep up the work.
* Theoretical comedy ''Buy & Cell'' is pretty much all about this. A whole prison full of convicts carry on an extensive and successful stock trading operation, as "Con Inc.", from inside the prison, even installing a whole room full of trading screens and consoles which instantly reverts to bare concrete at the touch of a button, all without the warden ever getting the slightest clue that anything out of the ordinary is happening.
* ''Film/MechanicResurrection''. [[ProfessionalKiller Arthur Bishop]]'s first job involves the GetIntoJailFree trope, as his target is an African warlord incarcerated (along with several of his men as bodyguards) in a maximum-security prison in Malaysia, on an island with shark-infested waters. He runs his arms-dealing business from there, secure in the knowledge that none of his enemies can get in to kill him. Until now.
* In ''Film/TheCriminal'', Frank Saffrion is regarded as the king of Cellblock A. He is in touch with various criminal bigwigs on the outside and is able to obtain almost any kind of contraband--for a price. Late in the movie, he orchestrates a PrisonRiot, a transfer for Johnny, and for [[VulnerableConvoy the prison van to get ambushed while it is on the road]].
* ''Film/ShotCaller'': Even with being in prison and kept isolated, the heads of the AB chapter still run their operations outside, with guards on the payroll. Very much TruthInTelevision.
* In ''Film/FrankensteinAndTheMonsterFromHell'', Baron Frankenstein takes over the asylum for the criminally insane to which he has been committed and uses it as a base from which to continue his fiendish experiments.
* ''Film/IdentityThief'': Julian and Marisol's boss Paolo is a prisoner who openly talks on a cell phone with them while a guard's watching (no doubt bribed to aid him), running his criminal business from behind bars apparently with impunity.
* In ''Film/NoTimeToDie'', Ernst Stavro Blofeld has managed to run Spectre from his cell in the high-security prison of Belmarsh (where he was put after his arrest at the end of ''Film/{{Spectre}}'') using his {{electronic eye|s}} transmitting to another bionic eye worn by his henchman Cyclops, ruining Film/JamesBond's relationship with Madeleine Swann in Italy for five years and organizing his own special birthday party in Cuba among other things.
* ''Film/FireWithFire'': David Hagan mentions this, warning Jeremy that even if he's sent to prison, he'll still be the head of his gang from the inside and send assassins after him. Not only him, but also his loved ones. Indeed, he even started as a prison gang leader first.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/TwentySixSixtySix'': [[spoiler: Klaus gains so much power and media attention in prison that he takes a few steps in solving the investigation himself. He even has a cell phone to communicate to the outside world whenever he wants.]]
* In the massive Creator/NealStephenson trilogy, ''Literature/TheBaroqueCycle'', Newgate and the Tower of London can look like this: visitors freely come and go and some prisoners have a kind of parole. Humorously, high class is another kind of prison: in the Tower, you are allowed to live on the publicly accessible grounds on the entirely reasonable assumption that leaving is tantamount to an admission of guilt and the forfeiture of rank, which latter is tantamount to death.
* ''Literature/HelpIAmBeingHeldPrisoner'': Obviously, the tunnel that everyone goes in and out of at will serves to this effect for the prisoners to sneak out to pull off crimes or just enjoy freedom.
* ''Literature/MaulLockdown:'' Incarcerated arms dealer Iram Radique builds his [=WMDs=] inside the prison itself and has an unspecified number of guards on his payroll.
* In the Creator/DaleBrown novel ''Wings of Fire'' it eventually comes to light that [[spoiler:Pavel Kazakov]] is still a real threat despite having been arrested at the end of the previous book in the series and subsequently imprisoned.
* In ''Literature/ChroniclesOfNick'', Nick's [[spoiler:father, Adarian Malachai is the ultimate evil. He was arrested for killing a multitude of people that he claimed were demons (which is later speculated to be true) and sentenced to multiple life sentences. He can break out at any point, and is virtually unbeatable to the point of guards shooting him with bullets didn't even phase him, but prefers to stay inside jail because human hate and malice power him up. of course while in jail he sets up as much as he can to get to his son.]]
* Averted in ''Literature/SoonIWillBeInvincible'', where Doctor Impossible notes the great lengths they go to to keep him from getting out or doing anything. Yet, it doesn't stop the heroes from ''thinking'' this trope is in play, such that even though he's been locked up for a year he's still the prime suspect in the disappearance of his ArchNemesis Core Fire.
* ''Literature/TeenPowerInc'': The returning villain of ''Dead End'' makes a plan to get doubles of the gang to commit crimes and then pretend to be runaways so no one will notice the kids are being are kidnapped. And that plan is prepared from inside a prison cell which the villain ultimately escapes from in order to watch the culmination of their revenge up close.
* ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'': A heroic, or at least antiheroic, version occurs in the third series, ''Genesis Testament''. Accelerator takes over Academy City as General Superintendant... and immediately has himself thrown into prison as a way to atone for previously committed crimes, as well as send a message to the rest of Academy City's leadership that they are now going to be held accountable for their actions; no more sweeping things under the rug. Worth noting, Accelerator could break out of prison any time he wanted, and everyone knows it. He still runs Academy City from inside his cell, working to clean up the city's "dark side" as best he can.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Angelus in two episodes of Season 4 of ''Series/{{Angel}}''. He was stuck in a cage but was still able to pit the team members against each other and manipulate his way out.
* Dumont, the recurring sociopath hacker from ''Series/Jake20'', could manipulate events, hack computers, and even order hits from behind bars.
* Avon Barksdale during Season 2 of ''Series/TheWire''. While locked up in prison, he still manages to maintain control of his business through outside correspondence with Stringer, take over the supply of drugs flowing into the prison, and spend his free time playing video games and eating KFC.
* ''Series/HogansHeroes'': The main characters are operating an underground resistance movement out of a German POW camp. They also pretty much run that prison camp in everything but the official paperwork. They also have a habit of leaving whenever they feel like it.
* In a variant on ''Series/{{Hustle}}'', Albert Stroller is kept hostage in a holding cell by a publicity-seeking detective, who forces his fellow con-artists to lure a bank robber into a trap. While he doesn't stay inside long enough to run a criminal empire, Albert quickly befriends the guards by (deliberately) losing poker games to them, then commits a series of crimes ''inside'' the gaol to dispose of the false evidence against his crew.
* "Genial" Harry Grout from ''Series/{{Porridge}}'' wasn't necessarily shown to be running any business outside the prison, but he certainly was more in control of the prison itself than the governor was.
--> '''Fletcher''': That was Harry Grout, he runs this nick.
--> '''Rudge''': I thought that was the governor's job.
--> '''Fletcher''': Only officially. Next time you meet him, bow, curtsy, or lick his boots if that's what he wants, OK?
* In ''Series/TheShield'' Antoine Mitchell taunts Vic with this fact after Vic accuses him of having [[spoiler:Lem]] murdered. He didn't; [[spoiler:Shane killed him.]] He says he could have, but what would be the point, since he has practically everything he had on the outside in prison and killing a cop would blow all that. He punctuates this by giving orders to a nearby prison guard, who calls him "Mr. Mitchell" in response.
* The Season 2 StoryArc of ''Series/{{Bugs}}'' has BigBad Jean-Daniel casually manipulating events from his prison cell to make enough money to pull off possibly the most audacious escape plan in history: he buys the prison and lets himself out.
* Megalomaniac Dale Biderbeck is sent to prison in his first appearance in season one of ''Series/{{Monk}}'', but he still manages to orchestrate quite a bit of mayhem from behind bars, including [[spoiler:an assassination attempt on the governor of California, which very nearly succeeds]]. In a post-show novel, ''Mr. Monk Gets Even'', he even orchestrates an attempted escape using accomplices at a time when he's subject to bypass surgery to get himself down to a more normal weight.
* Seemed to be the case in an episode of ''Series/{{Psych}}'', [[spoiler:until the "boss" in question turned up as the next victim and it was revealed that he was never really running things at all.]]
* David Robert Jones of ''Series/{{Fringe}}'' leads ZFT from prison and also [[spoiler:orchestrates his own escape.]]
* In the ''Series/WhiteCollar'' episode "Payback", Matthew Keller arranges the kidnapping of an FBI agent from his prison cell. He then uses the proceeds of his crime to escape before he can be transferred to a more effective prison.
* On ''Series/OnceUponATime'', Literature/{{Rumpelstiltskin}} is being kept by Snow White and Prince Charming in a magical prison inside a repurposed dwarven mine, but still manages to pull the strings anyway. (Admittedly, he's aided by the prison's SwissCheeseSecurity, which allows the Evil Queen to just stroll up to his cell for advice whenever she likes.) It's also later revealed that [[spoiler:he could have walked out anytime he wanted, but he stayed because of his XanatosGambit.]]
* A ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' episode featured people buying strategic places in Metropolis in order to buy the city's natural water supply. Winslow Schott (the Toyman) masterminded the whole operation from inside his prison cell.
* In an episode of ''Series/TheWestWing'', some DEA agents are captured by a Colombian drug cartel, which demands that a [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Pablo Escobar stand-in]] be released from prison in exchange for their return. The Colombian government is willing to do it, leaving the White House to debate whether to give in to a terrorist demand, with Sam arguing (unsuccessfully) that because the guy has been able to order kidnappings and murders from his cell, it doesn't make any difference whether he's in prison or not.
* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'': Season 4 BigBad and former Mark [[spoiler:Victor Dubenich]], masterminds the entire eighteen episode arc from inside his prison cell, only escaping in the finale. He may not want to be in prison, but with some help from corrupt investor Jack Latimer, he doesn't let it hinder him at all.
* An episode of ''Series/{{Bones}}'' has one man have someone murdered while in prison.
* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'': The good news is that Carl Elias has been put in prison. The bad news is that his control over organized crime has not been affected. Subverted in a later season when his enemies have regained enough power that they can arrange for a prison transfer that will result in Elias being killed 'while escaping'. Suddenly prison is no longer so safe for him.
** This also could zigzag from good to bad. As on the good side, he is indebted to Team Machine and is always willing to use his underground connections to keep the various criminal organizations off their backs.
* Jimmy In And Out from ''Series/BreakingBad'' is a variation. Prison is nothing to him, not because of his capacity for scheming, but simply because he's been in and out of prison his whole life and is so institutionalized that it barely matters to him whether he's in prison or not. For this reason, he makes money by confessing to crimes committed by people who have more to fear from a prison stretch.
* ''Series/MacGyver1985'': Jack Dalton is moving around relatively freely in his barrack in prison in "Jack in the Box", is plotting his schemes, and is eating decent food.
* Substitute "Insane Asylum" for "Prison" and you have Mona Vanderwaal's situation during the first part of Season 3 of ''Series/PrettyLittleLiars'': Even while kept in Radley Sanitorium, she was able to freely issue instructions to the A-team and receive instructions from the leader. To hammer home just how little it matters whether or not she's in the asylum, she sneaks out during the Season 3 HalloweenEpisode, then promptly returns to her room at the end of it.
* ''Series/MissionImpossible'': In "Reprisal", an inmate masterminds a scheme to take revenge on Jim Phelps from inside a maximum-security hospital for the criminally insane.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'', River Song, aka [[spoiler:Melody Pond]] spent her days in Stormcage Containment Facility (her nights, well, that's between her and the Doctor). She even lampshades it while returning one morning, telling the staff to shut off the alarm because, "I'm breaking in, not out!" and that she'll take breakfast "at the usual hour".
* ''Series/Daredevil2015'':
** Wilson Fisk is arrested at the end of season 1 after his criminal enterprise is brought down. During season 2, he still has people working for him while he is behind bars and begins plotting to take over the prison's underground economy. After [[ComicBook/ThePunisher Frank Castle]] is arrested, Fisk arranges for Frank to be brought to him, then sets Frank up to murder the prison's current kingpin so Fisk can take his place as the prison's top dog.
** Shortly before the start of season 3, Fisk secretly buys a Midtown Manhattan hotel and plans to convert the penthouse suite into [[LuxuryPrisonSuite a new residence]] where he can better control his criminal empire with ease. To get himself transferred there, he performs a long-term manipulation con on [[FBIAgent Ray Nadeem]]. From "house arrest", Fisk creates a massive extortion racket that collects protection money from other gangs, directs a riot back at the prison in an overly complex scheme to get rid of Matt, and turns [[TheSociopath Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter]] into his personal assassin.
--->'''Karen Page:''' I suppose this qualifies as hard time?\\
'''Wilson Fisk:''' Yes, I'm sure all of this is offensive to you, given our personal history.\\
'''Karen Page:''' You mean the times you tried to have me killed.\\
'''Wilson Fisk:''' [[BlatantLies Crimes for which I'm still paying.]]
* ''Series/{{Elementary}}'': Midway through Season 3, a cartel boss that Watson helped take down in the season premiere manages to arrange an attempted revenge hit on Watson from her prison cell. [[spoiler:Afterwards, the cartel boss is assassinated on the order of [[ArchEnemy Moriarty]], who is herself still in federal custody, for [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou daring to go after one of her]] {{Worthy Opponent}}s.]]
* In the mini-series ''Red Fox'' (based on the novel by Gerald Seymour), a terrorist orders an assassination from her prison cell via a lawyer, despite their entire conversation being videotaped. As they're speaking in TroubleEntendre, no one understands what is really being said until after attack.
* ''Series/Batwoman2019'': In the back half of Season 1, [[BigBad Alice]] and [[TheDragon Mouse]] are arrested and locked up in Arkham Asylum. By the end of the following episode, they've taken over the facility (thanks to Mouse pulling a KillAndReplace on the chief doctor with one of his [[LatexPerfection flesh masks]]), and rather than escaping decide to shelter there from their enemies, consolidate their power and strike after everyone has forgotten them.
* ''Series/ForLife'': Cassius manages to contact his goons on the outside to do his dirty work, such as tying up and threatening the family of a guard.
* ''Series/GangRelated'': The boss of the Metas Cartel, El Muzo, still runs them from inside of a maximum security California prison, attended there by guards who even serve him fine food like waiters.
* ''Series/{{Hightown}}'': Frankie Sr. Guards allow him time to use contraband cellphones to order hits, to meet with drug dealers, and have sex with Renee all in private rooms that they are guarding.
* Happens a lot in ''Series/{{Oz}}'':
** Many prisoners have abundant connections on the outside, which they use for everything from smuggling drugs to having others prisoners' family members killed.
** Discussed by the Governor during the riot as he reads over the prisoners' long list of demands. "Why don't they just ask to go free?" [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Warden Glynn]] counters that most of their demands are actually pretty reasonable.
* ''Series/LineOfDuty'': Ian Buckels, who's revealed to be a high-level {{dirty cop}} working with an organized crime group, continues ordering hits and other crimes out of prison, since they also have guards in their employ giving him electronic devices to do this using them. It's also then revealed another crime boss ordered a murder while in prison too.
* ''Series/TheGentlemen'': Bobby Glass is in prison, where he not only enjoys [[LuxuryPrisonSuite gourmet meals made by a Japanese chef by the swimming lake with a sauna]], but is also allowed unmonitored meetings with her daughter that still runs the family drug business on the outside, and even her new associate, and has access to an InstantMessengerPigeon coop.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Monopoly}}'', a late-game tactic is to stay in jail for as long as possible. While in jail, you're still free to conduct business as usual - collecting rent from, bidding on, or selling properties. Moving around the board has only two major advantages - collecting $200 for passing "Go" and having right of first refusal for landing on an unsold property. But since there are very few unsold properties in the late game and the $200 for passing "Go" is a pittance compared to landing on another player's developed property, Jail is actually the ''best'' place to be. For this reason, some players enact their own rules that rent on a jailed player's property is either free or goes towards that other popular House Rule, the "Free Parking" kitty.
* A rare heroic version in ''TabletopGame/PrincessTheHopeful'': when the [[BigGood Radiant Queens]] and their Courts were defeated by minions of the Darkness centuries ago, the latter tried to bypass their BornAgainImmortality by [[SealedGoodInACan trapping their souls]] in the Dreamlands, a LotusEaterMachine realm where supernatural Wardens would use illusions to fool them into thinking they were still being active while the real world was being corrupted. This worked for centuries (long enough to make Earth a CrapsackWorld), but backfired spectacularly when the Queens ''did'' realize what was going on, as they [[CurbStompBattle promptly defeated the Wardens]] and took over a huge portion of the Dreamlands, essentially turning it into ''their'' home realm. Nowadays, they stay here by choice, as reincarnating would weaken them by forcing them to start back as Princesses- while staying allows them to support their Courts, who ''do'' reincarnate to take back the real world. And, because the Darkness doesn't have any means to travel to the Dreamlands, the Queens are now out of their reach.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Radio]]
* The first episode of ''Radio/TheWhistler'' features a prisoner who escapes with the intention of recovering his hidden loot. One of his fellow prisoners, [[spoiler:his supposedly reformed cellmate]], orchestrates a grab for that same loot, by getting two of his agents on the outside to [[spoiler:pull off a ScoobyDooHoax]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'', ComicBook/TheJoker discovered that one of the doctors had plans to create a Venom-variant using Arkham inmates as test subjects with support from the Warden. Interested in the idea, he started using one of his many fake identities to fund her project. However, the doctor ended up backing out of the deal and Joker thus initiated a plan to get the formula by force. First by causing a fire that destroyed Blackgate prison so that his cronies will be temporarily transferred to Arkham, and then getting himself caught by ComicBook/{{Batman}} on purpose to infiltrate the Asylum, escape, and take over.
* ''VideoGame/BioShock2'': The prequel novel ''Literature/BioShockRapture'' shows that Sofia Lamb was prepared for the possibility that Andrew Ryan would have declared her enough of a political and ideological threat to have her arrested for dissent, deeming it a necessary risk in the pursuit of a compassionate, unified Rapture. Once she was jailed, the warden, a "miserable" man became a member of her group; she later tells Simon Wales that he basically asked questions about himself during her interrogation, as if he wanted her to psychoanalyze and console his apparent pain. She spent her time strengthening her movement from the inside and biding time for a jailbreak that would not only release her, but all of the other prisoners as well, several of whom were on her side, whose overwhelming numbers would then overpower the guards and ensure that the prison was effectively hers. That time came when her anxiety about the wellbeing of her daughter Eleanor reached a point where it was unbearable since she had little way of making sure that whoever was taking care of her wasn't plying her with authoritarian propaganda.
* ''VideoGame/InfiniteSpace'': The Krieos pirates are seemingly unaffected by the imprisonment of their leader. [[spoiler:Turns out the warden murdered and impersonated him.]]
* Played with in ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'', [[spoiler:Kristoph Gavin manages to poison two different people from behind bars, without seeing any of them for seven years... by complete coincidence, as he intended for the trap he set to kill them seven years prior. And, of course, he has LuxuryPrisonSuite.]]
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
** In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'', the master trainer for Security, J'Baana, is currently locked up in the Imperial City's Legion compound. He still regularly participates in ThievesGuild business, however, and a quick check of his inventory reveals that he holds the keys to every door in the compound, as well as thirty lockpicks, making the reason he even bothers to stay in the prison a mystery.
** In ''Videogame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', within Cidhna Mines, Madanach not only has a [[LuxuryPrisonSuite private cell with various accommodations]] but still holds power as the leader of the Forsworn, which Thonar Silver-Blood uses to get him to use them as his personal assassins.
* In ''VideoGame/FallenLondon'', if you grind up 40 renown with the Criminals, and then manage to be sent to prison with 7 favors, you can spend the favors to meet the One Who Pulls The Strings. From then on, they can serve as your companion, boosting your Shadowy and Dreaded stats -- despite not actually ''leaving'' the cell at any point.
-->They reside in the deepest cell in New Newgate. It does not disadvantage them.
* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' subverts this with [[spoiler:Gerald [=McReary=]]]. At one point, he gets sent to jail, something which he was counting on after his latest heist, and he still sends the main protagonist to do some jobs for him while on the inside, confident that he is getting out soon. [[spoiler:However, a number of [[SpannerInTheWorks unfortunate factors beyond anyone's control completely derails McReary's plans]] as his plan to sell the diamonds is ruined by a Russian mook who spitefully throws them on the trash so that no one can get it. Gerald realizes that he is going to stay under as more evidence turns up to ensure his jailing, so he is pretty much resigned to his situation by the time you last meet him]].
* ''VideoGame/SpiderManPS4'' has the Kingpin arrested at the end of the very first mission, but it's eventually revealed that he's still able to communicate with his men on the outside and have them continue his operations. However, this gets shut down by Miles in ''VideoGame/SpiderManMilesMorales''.
* Creator/{{Nintendo}} will ban users from using their online services if they are caught pirating. However, this does not prevent Nintendo systems from connecting to the internet or functioning at all, meaning the banned pirate is still allowed to pirate as many Nintendo games as they please.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/EpithetErased'': Ramsey's "imprisonment" in Redwood Run is so flagrant an attempt to use LoopholeAbuse to get rid of his bounty that his prison outfit is a Hawaiian shirt. Gorou, the sheriff, is a [[SuperLoser legitimately useless idiot]] who keeps bringing him pinecones to drink and has no qualms about ushering in random visiting criminals trying to take advantage of Ramsey's appraisal services.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'': The King of All Devils, a creature known only as Himself, sits in the deepest pit in the darkest Hell, trapped in an iron box riddled with spears. While He insists on calling the Heretics Court His "captors", the truth is that He is still the ultimate authority on all devils, and [[TheOmniscient knows absolutely everything they are doing at all times]].
* ''Webcomic/StalkerXStalker'': Junko's dad tells Yukio that he got this treatment in prison: He only got 10 years for murdering two entire families (possibly thanks to Yuno’s ties to the police), and what little we see of the prison staff implies that he was TheDreaded inside the walls. Even the warden outright says that he misses him being there, implying that he did something in prison to warrant such careful and lavish treatment. [[spoiler: With the reveal that he’s actually a former assassin who worked for a corrupt politician, it’s likely that some bribes may have been taken to ensure that he was treated well.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'': A plot point in the episode "[[Recap/TheBatmanS4E6StrangeNewWorld Strange New World]]". Hugo Strange calls Batman to his cell and announces that, despite the minor inconvenience of being in prison, he's managed to [[ZombieApocalypse release a zombie virus throughout Gotham]]; it's up to Batman to find where Strange's antidote is hidden and save the city. [[spoiler:If you think this is far-fetched, you're right: Strange can only affect the area inside and immediately around his cell; when Batman shows up Strange exposes him to a hallucinogen that makes him see Gotham in ruins and its people as zombies, and the "antidote" Batman's seeking to spread is this same drug.]]
* Willy Watt in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' is fully capable of exerting his telekinetic abilities to do whatever he wants wherever he pleases while still being in juvenile hall, though he admits that he does this on purpose because in a short time he will be let out legally and with all this power that no one is aware of. [[spoiler:That all ends after his powers are exposed and Terry recaptures him. He's last seen shackled and wearing a PowerLimiter helmet that negates his telekinesis... and he ''still'' doesn't get any visitors]].
* The ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'' episode "It Was Them" has Rook mention a case where an alien criminal did this. We have yet to actually see said criminal, however.
* The pilot episode of ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' has its major villain, Taurus Bulba, running his operation from prison. He could escape at any time and choses to remain in prison because he feels that it's the perfect hideout for him, despite constantly having to deal with an annoying warden. He even had his cell converted into an ''office'', complete with an outside phone line, and he can press a button to transform it back into a prison cell whenever the warden comes along. This culminates in an epic jailbreak, as he reveals he had the entire cell ''block'' he was in converted into a flying fortress, which launches, leaving behind the rest of the prison.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'':
** David Xanatos spends a few of the early post-pilot episodes in prison for a Possession of Stolen Goods charge. It doesn't stop him from having the Manhattan Clan repeatedly attacked while he sits tight to run out his jail term for that relatively minor charge. As an added bonus, when he got out of prison, whenever someone brought up his criminal record, he would just respond that he paid his debt to society legally; and do they believe in the judicial/correctional system or not?
** Towards the end of the second season, Tony Dracon turns out to be just as good at running his crime syndicate from his prison cell as from his mansion. It's even implied that he could have ordered a breakout.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueS1E8And9InjusticeForAll Injustice for All]]", Batman allows himself to be captured by the Injustice Gang; he feigns helplessness in order to manipulate one of the Gang's members. He later reveals that he could have escaped at any time, but if he did, he wouldn't have had a resource "on the inside". In fact, the Joker is the only member to flat-out state they should just shoot him while they have the chance.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', [[spoiler:Varrick]] is arrested. However, his prison cell is spacious with two desks, a king-sized bed, and chair and table. [[spoiler:His assistant, Zhu Li, is also with him in the cell.]] He explains that since his company had built the prison, he designed the cell for himself, expecting to need it one day.
* In ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries'', although the authorities ''think'' that Hämsterviel is perpetually trapped in the ceiling of his holding cell unable to do anything destructive, he's actually somehow managed to trick out the dungeon cell with various gadgets, contacts Gantu frequently, and even has objects teleported between his cell and Gantu's ship... all while the prison guards aren't looking.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In the episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E9RealtyBites Realty Bites]]", Snake is in the prison yard and sees Homer driving by in his old car. Snake says "screw the honor system" and walks out through a door wait a "No Escaping Please" sign on it. Kearney shouts after him that he's ruining it for everybody else.
* Most of the villains of ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' are like this. Doctor Octopus fakes a return to his old, harmless self and by pretending to have been insane[[note]] well, he is insane, but he faked being legally insane/treatable[[/note]] is able to get himself into a psychiatric treatment center that's a lot less stringent than prison would be, and he starts running a criminal empire from there. Most of the other villains do their time in a maximum-security CardboardPrison and go in knowing they only have to bide their time before their underworld connections break them out. Mysterio has a robot double doing time for him, so he literally isn't in prison at all.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/StreetFighter'', Bison is captured by a British team of super-agents (Cammy was a former member) and sent to prison. This turned out to be a ''distraction'' on Bison's part that allowed his agents to enact a scheme that threatened ''all of England''. Bison then forces the British government to hand over a ransom of one billion pounds sterling -- all while chilling in his cell and sipping tea.
* In the very first episode of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'', the villains Captain Cold, Icicle Jr., Killer Frost, and Mister Freeze are captured by different heroes and their sidekicks in separate incidents on the same day. Batman doubts that this was a coincidence, and thought they all went down too easily, but they are all carted off to Belle Reve prison. A few episodes later, it turned out Icicle Sr., who was already in Belle Reve, arranged the whole thing and wanted them to get caught so they could help him and the other incarcerated villains stage a mass breakout, but this is foiled. Then in TheStinger, it was revealed the whole thing was an EvilPlan orchestrated by [[BigBad The Light]] to get Warden Amanda Waller fired and replaced by their man Hugo Strange, the prison psychiatrist, so that they could control the prison. Over the rest of the season, various prisoners such as MadScientist Professor Ivo are secretly broken out and returned to their cells, or simply asked for advice in other crimes, in order to help out the Light with their various criminal schemes, and they all seem comfortable there knowing that they secretly run the place and can leave when needed. By the penultimate episode, Batman has the proof he needs to shut the operation down, but if the matter is resolved it happens off-screen as we are never shown it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* There are, unfortunately, a number of Real Life examples of this; mafia dons and drug kingpins who continue to run their organization with unabated effect while behind bars, often through crooked lawyers who can pass on orders under the cover of "Client Confidentiality", or "bought" cops who can turn a deaf ear.
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Escobar Pablo Escobar]], then Colombia's richest man, had a plea deal that meant he hired the contractors to build his own prison, "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Catedral La Catedral]]." Rather than be a punishment, being imprisoned basically just meant he had to change his drug business' headquarters to the prison, where he was protected from his enemies and had a staff of people (that is, the guards) waiting on him hand and foot. He allegedly even used the prison to execute members of his crime syndicate who had betrayed him. There were rumors that he was seen outside this prison, visiting and shopping in local towns and cities. Suffice to say, when he decided to "escape", all he did was walk out the door, bribe the "guards" outside, and disappear into the countryside.
** Warren Jeffs, the leader and self-proclaimed "prophet" of the FLDS Church. He's currently serving [[LongerThanLifeSentence life, plus twenty years]] for felony child sexual assault. Unfortunately, this hasn't damaged his followers' faith in him in the slightest, and while in prison he has continued to pass edicts down to his believers through intermediaries, and written what he claims to be a new gospel, that for some reason revolves around how God would really like it if he would be allowed out of prison. Although he doesn't exactly live in luxury, a large part of sending Jeffs to prison was because it was supposed to behead the FLDS, but they just keep on going as if he was still with them.
** According to WOLA (the Washington Office on Latin America), this is commonplace in corrupt Mexican prisons where drug cartel bosses often continue their business dealings in relative safety. Likewise in Brazil, where imprisoned gang leaders from the favelas of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have the money and influence to run their operations from inside and establish quite lavish conditions for themselves.
** [[https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernandinho_Beira-Mar Fernandinho Beira-Mar]] is the leader of the Brazilian criminal organization Red Command, who's been in prison since 2002 but still keeps his position as the leader to this day and gives orders to his peers through a scheme of notes, and he still had to face trial for crimes he committed inside prison which greatly extended his sentence, which is [[LongerThanLifeSentence currently 309 years and 2 months]].
** Explicitly {{defied}} in Italy with the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_41-bis_prison_regime 41-bis prison regime]]: a convict sentenced to this suffers from various communications bans intended to cut him off from contact with his former criminal associates. This was originally devised to deal with terrorists, but was later extended to Mafia members, members of child pornography/prostitution rings, kidnappers for ransom or robbery, slavers, human traffickers, gang rapists, drug traffickers [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and cigarette smugglers]].
** To the surprise of absolutely no one familiar with him and his M.O. James "Whitey" Bulger [[http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/02/07/whitey-bulger-sparks-prison-probe/RFvMmEERrraVI0t32SFVpN/story.html took full advantage of his celebrity]] in prison despite being in his 80s and in failing health. He allegedly formed an improper relationship with a female psychologist who did favors for him a la Harley Quinn and managed to still make money off of autographed merchandise and other memorabilia that'd been smuggled out.
** In [[UsefulNotes/TheMafia the American Mafia]], the boss of a crime family stays in power until they either retire or die. As such, they often set up acting bosses to whom they relay orders and run the family on their behalf while they serve their sentences. The acting boss position is typically held by a high-ranking member such as the underboss or consigliere. Possibly the crowning example of this is Carmine "the Snake" Persico, who was boss of the Colombo family for nearly 50 years, most of which was spent behind bars. When first sent to prison, his initial fill-in was his son Alphonse (aka "Little Allie Boy"), but Alphonse got convicted in a separate prison sentence. So Persico then put Vic Orena (who was also a relative of Persico) as a fill-in until Alphonse got out, but this led to more problems as Orena tried to seize power for himself, triggering an internal MobWar. After this, Persico understandably distrusted anyone outside his blood family anymore, so when Alphonse was jailed again for a longer sentence, Persico decided to forego an acting boss and just led the family personally from jail until his death in 2019. In general, while the passage of tougher anti-racketeering laws in recent years has made it harder for bosses to operate openly, they still find workarounds to evade the law.
*** After its family namesake died in 1969, the Genovese family set up a power-sharing arrangement where a high-ranking capo served as a "dummy" boss to fool law enforcement and muddy the hierarchy. While the front bosses had broad discretion in their decisions, they still had to notify the panel beforehand. This worked until mob soldier Vincent "Fish" Cafaro blew the lid on the ruse in 1987.
** When [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Epstein Jeffrey Epstein]] was sentenced to prison in 2008, his time in prison was almost farcical. He was allowed to freely leave during the day on "work release" six days a week and went about his business as usual, only going back to jail to sleep at night. When his imprisonment was changed to house arrest, he was allowed to fly back and forth from Florida to New York in his private jet and got to go on shopping trips and wander around Palm Beach for "exercise". This backfired on him as he was given such a sweetheart deal from one prosecutor that the agreement didn't prevent [[LoopholeAbuse literally any other federal prosecutor from charging him again with the charges that were dropped]].
* Prison gangs often make this trope play out in real life. Career criminals on the street have to consider what will happen if they or their friends or loved ones serve time in prison, which, given their activities and lifestyles, is very likely to eventually happen sooner or later. Prison gangs can very often become the most powerful criminal organizations outside of prison, as well as inside, by relying on this fact and promising retaliation against people who have crossed them on the outside.
** The best example of this would probably be the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Mafia Mexican Mafia ("La Eme)"]], which was formed in a California prison in 1957. Eventually, they spread to other penitentiaries, and as their members were released and their influence spread beyond prison walls, they had the clout and numbers to dictate terms to gangs ''on the streets'' with the same authority as if they were in the same room. Their leaders are all imprisoned for multiple life sentences, and yet their word is still law for thousands of gangsters across California and beyond.
* Minimum-security prisons, or "country clubs" as they are often known, are barely prisons at all. They rarely have fences and aren't always guarded. The prisons themselves are fairly comfortable places (if not as lavish as the convicts are probably used to, more on that later.) The main incentive to stay inside them is that if a convict is caught outside them, they will have to go to a medium-security prison. Given that minimum security convicts are generally white-collar criminals, who would have real trouble surviving a medium-security prison, this is a fairly scary thought for them.
* General Malet plotted his coup d'état of 1812 from his prison cell; the security was so relaxed that he and his accomplice Lafon managed to set up a "recruiting bureau" of sorts without drawing any attention.[[note]]Of course, concealing the conspiracy was made easier by the fact that Malet and Lafon kept all their recruits in the dark about the true extent of their plans.[[/note]]
* The Aryan Brotherhood's leaders, despite all serving multiple life sentences and being held in the ADX Supermax (the most secure US prison that exists) while kept on lockdown 23 hours per day inside their solitary cells, ''still'' run the gang from there. In fact, they were discovered to be ordering hits by making invisible ink to write out messages between lines using letters they sent out.
* The country of Venezuela has an ongoing massive problem with prisons, such as [[https://www.visapourlimage.com/en/festival/exhibitions/de-l-autre-cote-du-mur-d-enceinte-une-prison-du-venezuela-aux-mains-des-detenus Vista Hermosa]] or [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maracaibo_National_Prison_(Sabaneta_Prison)#:~:text=The%20prison%20was%20run%20by,far%20exceeded%20its%20intended%20population Maracaibo National Prison]] literally being run by the inmates as organized crime groups/"pranatos"/"pran" are running a criminal system out of prisons and taking advantage of overcrowding prison populations and lack of security personnel to bolster their influence. Approximately 80% of Venezuelan prisons are run by their prisoners. Some prisons even established a tax system where prisoners paid taxes to the pran each week. Failure to do so resulted in beatings or death and prisoners could even pay more to the pran for a nicer cell or a flat-screen TV.
* American murderer Cordelia Botkin was able to leave prison regularly in return for having sex with the guards. An investigation by the judge who sentenced her failed to put a stop to this, but she was eventually transferred to San Quentin due to prison overcrowding.
* The time UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler spent in prison following his failed attempt to take over Germany in 1923 via the Beer Hall Putsch was more like a vacation than a punishment. He had a nice cell, was visited frequently by sympathizers, was allowed to have a birthday party for himself with numerous guests, and spent most of his time dictating his book/manifesto ''Literature/MeinKampf'' to his friend Rudolph Hess. His control of the Nazi party continued unabated throughout his sentence.
[[/folder]]
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