Welcome to Elevate with Elsner. Join us for inspiring conversations with individuals who have transformed their lives and are making a difference through the work that they do. And now, Most of us don't think about prison conditions, not because we don't care, but because we don't see them. Today's episode isn't about politics. It's not about defending crime. It's about human beings, because what happens behind prison walls says a lot about who we are as a society, even if we never step foot inside. Today, we're talking about prison reform and specifically what's being reported inside Potosi Correctional Center here in the home state of Missouri. What's up, everyone? This is Blake Elsner, and this is another episode of Elevate with Elsner. This podcast is usually about growth, mindset, business, and life, but sometimes elevation means shining a light where people would rather not look. Because growth without truth isn't growth at all. I want to be very clear upfront, this episode is not about excusing crime or anything about that. It's not anti-law enforcement. It's about accountability, transparency, and basic human dignity. I have a special guest today who's joining me for firsthand insight into what's happening inside Potosi and some of what she's describing as deeply troubling. So without further introduction, Katy , she's a faith-filled human. She's out on a mission to help people in prison. What's Hello, thank you so much for having me. I am so grateful for this opportunity. Let me first start with a prayer. Let me pray to the Lord. Lord, you are near to the brokenhearted. Lord, let my words shine light on this situation, not create any noise. Lord, let the doors be open that only you can open. And Lord, direct my words that they've reached the right people. In Jesus' mighty name, amen. Amen. Thank you. Okay, so hello, everyone. My name's Katy . I want to tell you a little bit about myself first, that I am a recovering alcoholic, over four years sober, and rehab worked for me. Inpatient is what saved my life. As I shed light on this situation in Potosi Prison, one person in particular, a loved one of mine, Macaulay Boshan, is incarcerated at a level five camp. So this prison is, Designed for very serious offenders and I am pushing for immediate and emergency RCA reclassification for Macaulay in particular and other men that are suffering in silence that. have a desire to seek treatment that are requesting medical attention and that are being denied even food. The things that I have heard going on in Potosi prison ignites this Honestly, this scared, afraidness and deep passion to use my voice to hopefully reach the right people and make a change in the delay that is happening in Potosi. I understand that there is people that are working. You know, maybe they don't have enough people or whatever it may be, but with the level of dangerousness at this prison, time just makes it more dangerous. The more time that passes, I'm worried that he won't even make it out alive, won't even make it home after the 12 years of his life that he spent behind bars. And that being said, it is a Missouri Department of Corrections, and I am not witnessing any correctional-type assistance happening with these men. I mean, we have basic needs as humans, right? To eat, to sleep, to recover, to commune with others and seek the Lord, hopefully, above all. Like the phrase that they say in prison is three hots and a cot is what they expect, right? Three meals are not even being delivered to them daily. There's even men in there without mattresses. And the level of deterioration, like mental deterioration happening inside these walls makes me really question the justice system in the sense of what are we doing with these men to come return to society and be a active member and contributor to the world? I'm not excusing any wrongdoing or any actions of the past of these inmates, but in particular Macaulay Boeschen, I am really pushing for treatment to be administered. And I'm sure there's so many other people that just want help and are And a quick a quick context for those unfamiliar with Potosi, some people might not know that that correctional center in the state of Missouri is probably the highest maximum security prison operated by the Missouri Department of Corrections. And obviously it houses some of the state's most, you would say, serious offenders, which I would say make conditions inside even more important, not less. Continue on, Katy . Yes. And that being said, first off, though, he is misclassified. POTOSI is not designed for someone with treatment and medical needs. It's designed for containment of the highest risk populations. So the environment in itself doesn't seem like an environment for rehabilitation. So if someone in that in that facility is seeking rehabilitation, I would think and hope and pray that the committee hearings are swaying these individuals to be in the right environment. That being said, Macaulay is planned to be released in April of 2027, and he's in the same cell as someone doing life. The type of envy that that creates of The other the person that is doing their whole life in behind bars is creates such a dangerous environment for him or the other person that's getting out in a smaller amount of time, like stabbing gangs going on and such. And this is such a life or death situation. And that is why the reclassification is so important. And but the most important, I think, is the medical neglect. So with this desire to get him into a treatment facility, he has been diagnosed with the chemical He's been diagnosed with the substance abuse, right? So he was prescribed Suboxone to treat this addiction, to get him on the path to sobriety, and it's just taken away. It's not administered at the right times. required that they swish water around in their mouth after it's administered. And this is the type of medicine that is supposed to dissolve under the tongue to be effective. the inconsistency of the medical attention when there's a human being that is diagnosed with hepatitis C and not getting treatment, when that is not getting treatment, that leads to such chronic disease, liver, lung, I don't know exactly, but disease that can kill you. I mean, this, the neglect that's happening in this prison is not right for the, the neglect is not a reason for death, right? And it seems like there is so much neglect going on for people that are seeking change and seeking healing. And, you know, healing can't even happen when you're in a fight or flight survival mode at all times. Like, that is why it is so important for people that are seeking treatment to get Yeah, and I think that's one of the biggest things that, you know, why you come on here is, you know, we have an individual who is like you said, he's what, 13, 14 months from being free. And when you have him inside of a cell or inside of a prison with people that are serving life and numerous serving life without parole and they're going to be envious and clearly go after that individual who has freedom at the end of the tunnel. And the problem about that is now he's put into what's called the hole. most most call it solitary confinement because of his safety. So not only is he having to jeopardize his health, but it's his mental health. And he's so close to being out. It's it's almost like sending him back to the beginning before pushing him out. And that's that's the biggest thing is the is the reform about, hey, we have to figure out how to classify these individuals way better. And that comes from a you know, it comes from a national to a state level of funding. We We need better funding for our prisons and we don't have it. We need better staffing for our prisons. We need to pay our correctional officers way more. So that way there's professional humans that are inside these prisons doing the right things because all they care about. is the security of the place. They don't care about truly administering that medicine. They care about, hey, how can we safely give this? And it's completely ass backwards. And that's a problem. And why you've come out here and decided to kind of go and tell this story. So and there are numerous credible reports. I went back and looked. Actually, there was an inmate that died in January of twenty six at that prison. There's been multiple inmates at that facility that have died in custody in recent years. Just actually, there's been two in 2026. There's credible reports circulating on social media from current former residents alleging raw sewage and flooding inside these cells, along with unsanitary conditions. Past legal records have shown violent incidents in at least one federal case arising from alleged mistreatment or excessive force involving staff, indicating longstanding tensions around how prisoners are clearly managed at I agree. And when people hear protective custody or solitary confinement, these you think that is safer, but it is. deteriorating to the mental health. And when he told me he hadn't showered since November 7th, my heart literally broke. Like he is too scared to even put his self in that vulnerable position because it will lead to stabbing and death that he is washing out of a sink just to clean his body off. That is Like, imagine being so afraid that you stop doing your human basic functions. That is the opposite of stability. That is a true crisis. And two months, three months, going on three months in solitary confinement with no movement in the courts, in the committees. I spoke with his caseworker last week about reclassification he said that just doesn't happen unless the committee pushes for it and the committee didn't happen the day after like he had said it still hasn't happened so now we're four days after when this committee should have been happened so he can plea for himself for the treatment transfer and the committee's not even seeing them so just absolute neglect basic needs not being And clearly, this is a yeah, this is a problem in the state of Missouri, because if you look at the statistics, solitary confinement or, you know, restrictive housing, whatever you want to call it, is actually a lot higher than the national average, which then relates to this point that, hey, we must be classifying people wrong because an individual like this should not be in restrictive housing. And that clearly is affecting our national average or state average. Right. And the conditions like you mentioned, I hear them firsthand, like suspicious gas coming through the vents and who knows what this smell is. He's like, I was literally prepared to die, Katy . Like the gas smell, the chemical toxins just flowing in these vents and it is just, I can't sit here and just pray and hope for the best without getting my voice heard so that the right people, the right attorneys, the right public figures can hear this story and influence change and reclassification for What keeps sticking with me is, you know, regardless of why someone is incarcerated, right, the sentence handed down by a judge does not include neglect, does not include abuse, and it certainly doesn't include dehumanization. So, you know, obviously, prison is a punishment. Inhumane conditions are not Right. And I believe that healing is possible. I believe that rehabilitation saves lives. And for someone seeking it, it is our duty to provide it so that they can come home and be an active member of society, contribute to society in a positive way, use the things they've gone through to help change other people. And I'm worried that he'll even make it home alive. Like this is such a life or death situation. And the We, yeah, we need to somehow be able to look at files, have, you know, hopefully we can reach out to the appropriate lawyer and push this episode out to people that can hear it because the odds of, hey, we're not trying to get this individual out of prison early. We're trying to get him moved to a facility to where he can start his last 12 months. of trying to enter back into society. Because we got to remember the reality is most incarcerated people eventually come home, right? And the conditions we allow shape the people we get back, right? So we So yeah, it's a tough thing because prison reform is not soft. We all know that. It's got to be smart. It's got to be preventative. And let me tell you, it's a lot cheaper than the cost of ignoring it. That's for sure. So we need to definitely push this out. Katy herself has a pretty cool story. I got to hear that or learn about it myself. So she's been down Yeah, there you go. So, you know, you know, and you've been there and to see how this came about. A lot of things, you know, there's messages from God that you get and you get put in certain positions that, hey, I have a purpose now and this is apparently my purpose. And you figure that out as you progress in life. And obviously you figured that out. So anything else for us about Just if you are an attorney listening or a reform organization listening, a medical advocate or a journalist, even celebrities, I've reached out to like Jelly Roll and Bunny and Brantley Gilbert and other people that have a passion for the rehab. Anyone that can escalate this process and move the behind the scenes paperwork to get him into the right treatment facility, I would so greatly appreciate it. The basic needs are not being met. I mean, this is a medical, this is food, this is cleanliness and hygiene. I mean, these are the basic human needs and rights of civilians, whether you are incarcerated or not. So pushing for that is Yeah, and some of this obviously is, you know, it's long prison reform, but the thing that we're really pushing for is to try to get Macaulay reclassified, to get him into a non-maximum security prison, because that just does not make sense for somebody to be 13 months from freedom. and have to sit in solitary confinement to just be able to get to freedom. That doesn't make sense. It shouldn't. And Katy 's obviously got a mission and a purpose to change this. So I know people This this podcast has been in 15 countries. This podcast has been in every single state. I have numerous people that listen to this, these episodes on a weekly basis or a monthly basis. So I know you're hearing this. I know that you have a connection. You just have to think who can Right, and he is in this Potosi prison because of drug write-ups. So you would see these write-ups being drug-related, right? Someone is seeking help, failing, whatever it is, and they move him to a level five prison. So they don't do RCAs until every year. So now he's in protective custody to stay alive, and his RCA is scheduled for May 18th of 2026. So once a year they get RCA'd. So he was RCA'd last year to a level five. Wouldn't you think that the committee would see, oh, this is drug, drug, drug. He needs help. He is a drug addict. Let's get him into help. Instead, they send him to Potosi prison. Well, let's just. see if he makes it out alive. Like that's the heartbreaking part of it is someone is seeking treatment and failing and seeking treatment and not Yeah. And these are different. This is a different situation than your, your, you know. long prison reform or somebody that's serving life or that shouldn't be, you know, like this is, this is true. Freedom is very close. Um, right. This guy that's been in prison So, and he's same age as I am at 33 and, uh, can't imagine, um, you know, missing all that and clearly like You know, if you if we went case by case and actually had proper caseworkers out there that could look at these files, we would be able to advance our prison system a lot better. But unfortunately, we don't we don't have the money. We don't have the appropriate budget. And I think part of that is needed to be reformed as And it's up to the loved ones that are having their back to speak up and make change. And we have, his mother and I have both called the caseworker, spoken to him directly. Please change this. Please, he's seeking treatment. Nothing is done. Oh, my hands are tied. I can't do anything. We've called Jefferson City. It's like the, at the state level, nothing is moving. That's why I need to get this story out so that someone even higher maybe can make something happen. Absolutely, I love that. And if this episode made you uncomfortable, I say good, right? Because that's where change starts. You don't have to agree with every detail to agree on this one thing, and that's human dignity shouldn't stop at prison walls. We can believe in accountability and reform. We can believe in law and humanity. We can believe in safety and transparency. So if you found this conversation kind of dove into your heart, maybe share it with someone who you might think that could be out there that can help us get this reform started. So not to stir outrage. We're not on here doing that. We truly are from the heart, but Thank you so much. God bless you. Absolutely, Katy . Again, this has been Elevate with Elsner. Sometimes elevation means going higher, And sometimes it means going deeper until next time. 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