By CHRIS FROST
Eagle Times News Editor
CLAREMONT, NH — Author Mett Melvin’s book, “Bullied Behind Bars: A Gay Christian Trump Supporter Goes to Prison,” chronicles his mistakes that took him to lows and eventually, inspiration and freedom.
Melvin was originally charged with stealing a car while he was working as a car salesman.
“I took the law into my own hands and tried to sell a car to a prospective buyer,” Melvin said.
He was convicted of grand larceny and served 18 months.
“I spent time at St. Alban’s, Northwest Prison and they moved me to Springfield, where I spent most of my time,” he said.
After being released, he had a “very hard time” finding employment.
“I couldn’t find a job to pay bills,” he said. “I was working with some folks doing merchandising, and I asked them for their IDs and used that information to pass background checks to get other work.
“The government did nothing to prosecute me at that time,” he added. “Instead, they went to five grand juries to get me indicted, and they finally indicted me in 2016 for identity theft.”
He pleaded to money laundering and spent another 18 months in prison, followed by time at a halfway house.
While in prison, Melvin said being a gay Christian Trump supporter made him a target.
“I was assaulted while I was in prison by a child molester, and I ended up going to Stratford to testify against him,” he said.
He called being a victim of a crime a unique experience.
“There were men who tried to sexually assault me in prison,” Melvin said. “As a gay man going into prison, you are susceptible to being raped. A lot of men in prison have nothing to lose. They are going to spend the rest of their life in prison, and raping a gay man means nothing to them.”
But being locked in a cell 23 hours a day was his toughest prison challenge.
“I was alone in a cell and listening to prisoners scream and yell all day long,” he said. “The guards hated me because I was writing grievances. A grievance is a written form for filing when something is going wrong in a facility and holding them accountable.”
Melvin felt daily stress because of being targeted and started praying and reading the Bible every day to find hope.
“I realized the Paul from the Bible, was put in far worse situations than I was,” he said. “Paul was tortured in prison and hit with all sorts of objects, and he looked to God and got through each day, got blessed, and didn’t get mad. Paul was my inspiration. Jesus was an inspiration as well. He went to the cross for our sins. He gave up his life for us.”
Melvin met Pastor Moe and Diane Wilbur while in prison and became part of their ministry.
“I’ve been going for three years,” he said. “I don’t want anybody to go through what I went through. Most prisoners don’t think they done something wrong, and they aren’t able to take ownership of why they put themselves in prison.”
He said step one is radical acceptance and realizing that they’ve broken the law and will suffer the consequences for their actions.
“Each decision we make has positive and negative consequences,” Melvin said. “Most prisoners never accept they’ve done anything wrong. They want you to help them get out as quickly as possible. They’ll tell you they accepted Jesus but just want to get out. They haven’t accepted that what they’ve done is wrong.”
His prison release sparked a feeling of freedom.
“I was finally able to breathe the clean air and not have to inhale cigarette and marijuana smoke,” he said. “I was able to put my old life behind me, accept Jesus, and become an inspiration to others.”
He decided to use his experiences and help others with a book and started writing journals, documenting experiences daily.
“Bullied Behind Bars: A Christian Trump Supporter Goes to Prison” is available on Amazon.
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