Send it inside

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Free to copy

Send it inside

Every page on this site is made to be printed and mailed to someone who has no internet. Here is how to print it, how to address it so it gets there, and how to send a book.

Print this. Copy it. Mail it to someone inside. That’s what it’s for. Just don’t sell it.

1 Print the page

Press the black “Print this and send it inside” button near the top of any page. The printout drops the menus, buttons and photos. It keeps every checklist box and every source, puts the page’s title, review date and short address at the top, and numbers each sheet: “Page 1 of 4”.

A list in a dashed box has its own “Print just this list” button. Use it when one sheet is all they need. The dashed box is how you can tell: on this site, a dashed border always means “this prints on its own”.

No printer? A public library or a copy shop can print it. On a phone, open the browser’s menu, choose Print, then Save as PDF, and take the file with you.

2 Find the right address

Before sentencing. Someone charged with a federal crime is held by the U.S. Marshals, usually in a county or private jail that holds federal prisoners under contract, sometimes in a federal detention center.¹ Ask him where he is on the next call, or ask his lawyer. Then look up that jail’s mailing address and its mail rules on its website, or call it.

His number. When the Marshals process someone at the courthouse, he gets a number. From the book: “That stands for United States Marshal Number which is the same number that you will use for everything while you are in the BOP.”² A county jail may give him its own booking number as well. Use the number the jail tells you to use, and put it on everything you send.

After sentencing. The Federal Bureau of Prisons’ inmate locator, at www.bop.gov/inmateloc, shows which federal prison he is in.³ Each prison’s page on bop.gov gives the mailing address to use. If you have no internet, ask him on a call, or ask his lawyer.

3 Before you seal the envelope

Prints on its own sheet, with its sources.

Every time you mail pages inside7 items

Check the facility’s mail rules first.Every jail and prison sets its own. Some take only postcards and scan letters in. Some limit how many pages fit in one envelope. Look on its website or call.
Print on plain white paper, one side, in black ink. Take out staples and paper clips.Staples, clips, tape, stickers and colored paper are common reasons mail gets sent back.
Put his full name and his number on the envelope, and your own full name and return address.Mail that is missing either one can be returned without being opened.
Don’t write “legal mail” or “special mail” on the envelope.That marking is for mail from a lawyer or a court. Your letter is regular mail, and staff open and inspect regular mail.⁴
Don’t write anything about the case in your letter.Staff can read it, and other people inside may see it. In federal custody, his letters out can be read before trial too.⁵ Rule Number 2 in my book: “Do not talk to anyone about your case.”
Keep the short address printed at the top of each page.If a page goes missing, he can ask for it by that address, like survivingthefeds.com/right-now.
Keep a copy of what you sent, and write down the day you mailed it.Mail gets lost and mail gets rejected. A copy lets you send it again the same day.

Print this. Copy it. Mail it to someone inside. That’s what it’s for. Just don’t sell it.

4 Send a book

Federal prison. In every federal prison, a hardcover book can only come from the publisher, a book club or a bookstore. At medium- and high-security prisons, paperbacks have to come from those places too. At minimum- and low-security prisons, a paperback can come from anyone.⁶

County and private jails set their own rules. Many accept only new paperbacks shipped straight from a bookstore or a seller such as Amazon. Check the facility’s mail rules before you order.

Put his full name and number on the shipping address, exactly as you would on a letter.

If you want to send one of my books: Surviving Pretrial is for a case that hasn’t been sentenced yet. The 2255 Motion Handbook is for after sentencing, when the question is whether the sentence can be challenged.

I wrote Surviving Pretrial and The 2255 Motion Handbook and earn royalties on them. — Bilal

5 Messages instead of mail

In federal prison, people inside send and receive messages through a system called TRULINCS. You can only message someone who has added you as a contact, and the messages are text only. You can paste the words of a page into a message. People inside can print from it: I used TRULINCS to type and print my own documents.⁷

A pasted message loses the checkboxes and the layout. For a checklist, paper is still better.

6 Copy it as many times as you like

You don’t need to ask. Print it for a cellmate, a church group or a whole housing unit. The only thing you can’t do is sell it.

This is educational information from a paralegal, not legal advice. Every case is different. Talk to a lawyer about yours.

§ Sources

18 U.S.C. § 4086 (U.S. Marshals keep people arrested under federal law until they are committed to an institution); 18 U.S.C. § 4013(a)(3) (paying state, local and private jails to hold them). Back
Surviving Pretrial, page 417. Back
Federal Bureau of Prisons, inmate locator, www.bop.gov/inmateloc. Back
28 C.F.R. § 540.14(a) (staff open and inspect all incoming general correspondence, and may read it); § 540.18 (mail is opened only in the person’s presence when the sender is identified and the envelope is marked “Special Mail—Open only in the presence of the inmate”). Back
28 C.F.R. § 540.14(b) (outgoing mail from a pretrial inmate may be read and inspected, except special mail). Back
28 C.F.R. § 540.71(a)(1)–(3). Back
The 2255 Motion Handbook, page 43 (“One technique I employ is using the TRULINCS messaging system to type and print my documents.”). Back

Surviving the Feds is not a law firm and never provides legal advice. Everything here is for educational purposes only, drawn from lived experience and years of paralegal work in federal criminal cases. Using this site or app does not create an attorney-client relationship. Bilal Khan is not a lawyer. Nothing in the legal world is guaranteed, so talk to a lawyer about your own case.