GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — James Hicks says he's one of the most hated inmates in the Michigan prison system.
It's because of all the help he's given to federal, state and local cops while he's been behind bars for the last 31 years. The list of his exploits is long and some lawmen he's worked with believe he's earned his freedom because of the risks he's taken and the value of what he's done.
According to letters written by top law enforcement officials, Hicks has helped convict a corrupt deputy warden for selling prison transfers to inmates. He helped make cases on other crooked prison employees — 22 of them, Hicks says. He helped save a phone company $5 million with the breakup of an inmate-run credit card scam. He has worked to bust a major car theft ring.
He has also helped solve a couple of murders. The most recent resulted in the 2010 conviction of another inmate, initially imprisoned for another crime, for killing his girlfriend in Flint.
"I don't think there would have been a conviction without his involvement in the case," said Reymundo Mascorro, a now-retired Michigan Department of Corrections inspector who worked with Hicks on that last murder case.
"He went above and beyond anything I've ever encountered in my 30 years."