In March of 2017, Mike Rodgers was released from the Rufe Jordan State Prison in Pampa, Texas. Rodgers, who was serving a 10-year prison sentence for felony position of narcotics, was let out 3-years early due to overcrowding and his good behavior while behind bars. After leaving prison, he was put on parole for 5 years. Rodgers lost his wife while in jail had no real place to call home, so he moved in with a friend in Houston, Texas.

Things seemed to be going well for Rodgers who was able to find a job after only a week of being set free. While the job didn’t pay the best for a felon, he felt quite lucky to have it. Working as a landscaper was something he really liked doing and it allowed him to save up enough money to move out of his friend’s house.

Things Are Looking Up for Rodgers

The Ex-Convict Is Doing Well in Society

After a few months on the job, Rodgers put down a deposit on an apartment located just a few miles from his friend’s house. This made moving really easy and it only took a few hours for him to move his belongings to his new apartment. After settling into his new home, he got a strange knock on the door. When he opened it, he was shocked to see another old friend that he used to hang around before he went to prison. The guy’s name was Steve Jones and Rodgers was not really that excited to see him.

An Old Friend Comes Calling

Former Convicts Should Avoid the Criminal Element

Jones greeted Mike with a smile and a case of beer and invited himself inside. Rodgers not wanting to cause any trouble for himself allowed Jones to come inside his apartment. The two old friends hung out for a few hours and thankfully Jones left.

After Jones left Mike’s apartment, Rodgers was very curious about how Jones knew where he now lived. This really concerned Rodgers because he knew just how bad Jones had been in the past. While Jones never got caught or in much trouble with law enforcement, he did very bad things to people and committed a lot of crimes. Hopefully, this was the last time Mike was going to see his old friend.

Things Take A Turn For The Worst

It Was a Normal Blistering Summer Day in Houston

The next day, Mike went to work as he normally did and tried to put his meeting with Jones out of his mind. It was an extremely hot day and there was not much work so Rodger’s boss sent him home. Returning to his apartment early, Mike took a cool shower and laid down on the sofa and started to watch a movie.

A few hours Mike started to doze off when he heard a loud knock on the door. Rodgers opened it to once again find Jones standing and smiling. But that smile soon turned to a frown when he started talking. Jones told Mike that he really needed a ride to his girlfriend’s house because his wife had kicked him out for cheating. Jones had a few items in boxes with him and apparently, his wife had dropped him off at Mike’s apartment.

Hesitantly, Mike agreed to take him to his girlfriend’s house just to get him out of his apartment. They loaded the boxes into Mike’s car and hit the road. After about 10 minutes of driving, blue light appeared in the rearview mirror and a Houston Police Department patrol-car pulled the two over. Just so happened, the officer was a member of the Houston Drug Task Force.

Rodgers Returns to Prison

As the officer came to Mike’s window, he asked him to step outside the car and informed him that he was going to search the vehicle. Rodgers agreed to the search and the officer called for backup. When the second officer arrived a k-9 was used to search for drugs. After popping the trunk, the dog alerted to the boxes that Jones was carrying to his girlfriend’s house. When the police looked in one of the boxes, they found a handgun and a large bag of cocaine.

When questioned, Jones insisted that the boxes were not his and in fact Rodger’s items. Since Rodgers was the legal owner of the car and a convicted felon, he was charged with possession of narcotics and felon in possession of a firearm. This really made Mike upset, and he started to cry begging the officer to believe him.

Mike’s was not granted bail due to the nature of his crime and the fact that he was still on parole. After 6-months of being in jail for possession of narcotics and felon in possession of a firearm, his trail did not end well. He was found guilty on both charges and was given 10-years for a crime that he did not commit. On top of those charges, he violated his parole and had to serve an additional 3 years.