Bay Area man who appeared in TV show Lockup as one of CA’s ‘most dangerous inmates’ has turned over a new leaf
"After that term of incarceration, on top of the time he served in state custody, Hymes will have a chance to start over and show that he can make good on his promise of turning around his life"
SAN FRANCISCO — In 2015, Bay Area resident Scanvinski Hymes was dubbed one of the state’s “most dangerous inmates” by the MSNBC documentary-style show Lockup, which conducted interviews inside of prisons. He bragged to the camera crew that he racked up roughly 100x more demerits than the average California prisoner.
His reputation for violence in jails and prisons eventually got him sent to the notorious Pelican Bay State Prison’s segregated housing unit, made up of solitary modules that many who’ve experienced it call a torturous existence. But today — though facing five years in federal prison in a mandatory minimum drug trafficking case — Hymes’ violent streak is a thing of the past, according to sources on both sides of the law.
“He is clearly a very intelligent, motivated man, and he has a wealth of followers and supporters,” Hymes’ lawyer, Robert Waggener, wrote in a federal sentencing memo. “Now almost 20 years out of Pelican Bay, Mr. Hymes is taking college courses, mentoring college students and young people caught up in the criminal justice system, and has realistic aspirations to get his college degree.”
The driving force behind Hymes’ “tremendous progress” is his young son, Waggener wrote.
Hymes was sentenced this week to five years in prison, the minimum he faced under state law. Based upon his rap sheet, prosecutors could have easily asked for double that; he faced at least 10 years under the U.S. District Court’s sentencing guidelines. But the prosecutor, Philip Kopczynski, wrote that there were “unique factors” that justified giving Hymes the minimum, “including the strong commitment Hymes has shown to his son and the uncommon support he has from family and friends.”
“Hymes has the capacity to succeed and live a law-abiding life. The problem, of course, is his nearly unbroken record of doing the opposite. Balancing the many factors, the government believes five years is an appropriate resolution of this case,” Kopczynski wrote. “After that term of incarceration, on top of the time he served in state custody, Hymes will have a chance to start over and show that he can make good on his promise of turning around his life.”
The charges stem from a 2013 federal indictment, where Hymes was arrested while taking roughly two ounces of meth to a meeting in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood, to complete a deal between the buyer and another man. Since 2014, he has been incarcerated on state charges.
In 2015, Hymes appeared on a Lockup episode about San Quentin State Prison, where he was housed at the time. The narrator refers to him as one of the state’s “most dangerous inmates” as Hymes gives a profanity-laced interview accusing guards of harassment.
“His favorite form of mayhem, inciting cell extractions,” the narrator says at the close of Hymes’ segment.
In a letter to the court, Hymes acknowledged his criminal history but asked the judge to “put it in context.” He has had no violent incidents nor serious rule violations in six years, he wrote.
“I want to spend the rest of my life doing something meaningful,” Hymes wrote. “(My son) is my reason for wanting to get out and get my criminal justice degree and work on criminal justice reform and prison reform.”