Famous Comedian Recounts Stays at Colorado Jails as “Paradise”

Comedian and actor Joey Diaz is known for his tough guy attitude and thick New Jersey accent, so it may come as a surprise that not only did the famous celebrity attend school in Colorado, but he also spent time in multiple of the state’s jails, including two that he refers to as “paradise.”

Joey Diaz + The Colorado Jails He Considered "Paradise"

On an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, Joey Diaz recounted spending time in numerous Colorado jails, including the Department of Corrections in Cañon City, Summit County Jail, and Boulder County Jail, the latter two of which were, as Diaz described on the episode, “paradise.”

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Diaz recounted that, at the time, Boulder County Jail had such a nice reputation that homeless people in the area would commit misdemeanors that carried a 60-day sentence to avoid the harsh winter temperatures.

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Diaz said that during his time in Boulder County Jail, inmates were given tobacco and were permitted to wear their own clothes. To boot, the luxuries were even offered to the violent offenders that were incarcerated there, as, depending on the severity of the crime, these inmates were allowed to stay up watching cable TV until 10 p.m., 11 p.m., or 1 a.m.

After serving time in Boulder County, Diaz was transferred to Summit County Jail, another institution he described as “paradise.” It was in Summit County that Diaz recalls jail cells with cable TV that inmates could watch until 2 a.m., as well as the ability to play handball outside all day.

The actor also recalled that in Summit County Jail, inmates were given the option to sleep through breakfast, and if that’s what they decided to do, the inmates who decided to eat breakfast that morning would eat the food of anyone who opted out of it.

However, since first being incarcerated in Boulder County Jail in 1991, Diaz says that word of the jail’s easy-going reputation spread to the extent that it was eventually closed and replaced with a new facility with a much harsher environment.