I’m a prison officer & married an inmate -it takes 12 hours to visit him but my pension’s so good it’ll pay for us both
A PRISON officer has hit back at trolls who have slammed her for being married to someone in prison.
Tameka, from the US, believes that she is the only prison officer to be proposed to from behind bars, and spends 12 hours every weekend travelling to visit her man.
The prison officer, from the US, met Jonathon when the pair were both children, as they grew up in the same neighbourhood.
“He was just a little boy that always had a crush on me,” she told Truly.
As the pair grew up, they went their separate ways, with Tameka achieving a career as a prison officer, and Jonathon being sentenced to 25 years in jail.
The duo finally reconnected after Jonathan wrote her a love letter, and sent it via a mutual friend.
“It was 14 years since I’d last seen or spoken to Jonathon,” she shared.
“After all these years he still remembered me and still loved me.”
Touched, Tameka responded to the letter, and the pair began a relationship.
During her first prison visit, Tameka found things strange, as she was used to “being mean” to inmates, but was now visiting one.
She revealed that prison officers are also often confused when she comes to visit Jonathon.
“They don’t know which side of the law I’m on,” she said.
“They’re like ‘oh she’s married to an inmate, but she’s also one of us’.”
She added that the couple never get any privacy during visits, but still manage to make their relationship work. T
Tameka decided to share details of her unique love story online, to show people that it’s OK to love whoever you want.
However, her videos have been subject to comments from online trolls, who have told Tameka that her husband is going to take her money and that she never should have been hired as a prison officer.
UK Prison Brides
- Tracey Bottomley married double murderer Ernest Otto Smith in the US after meeting through a prison pen pal initiative. Tracey, from West Yorks, knew he had been given a life sentence with no possibility of parole
- Rebecca Short, from Oxfordshire, told her family she was on holiday in the US in 2022. Little did they know she was marrying double murderer Manuel Ovate Jr, who was on death row
- Paula Williamson, an actress who appeared on Hollyoaks and Emmerdale, married the infamous Charles Bronson in 2017 after they became penpals
- Karen Charves married Kenny Richey while he was on death row in 2014. He had been convicted for starting a fire in 1986 that killed his ex-girlfriend’s daughter, aged two. Karen and Kenny’s union did not last and she claimed he was abusive.
- Naomi Wise, from Essex, married Victor Oquendo, nicknamed Animal, while he was serving a 24-year prison term in a US jail. They split up in 2022 but have now rekindled their romance
Tameka revealed that her relationship has left her feeling isolated, as she feels she can’t have any friends as they would just judge her and tell her not to be with Jonathan.
Not everyone is negative about the relationship though, with Tameka also receiving positive comments about how she has helped Jonathan, and is fighting for him to be released.
Although being proposed to from inside a jail isn’t everyone’s idea of a fairytale romance, Tameka is proud to be the only prison officer who has been proposed to in prison.
She didn’t always have this view however, and before her relationship with Jonathan, admitted that she thought that girls who dated men in prison were “stupid.”
“I thought their self-esteem was low,” she revealed.
Tameka worked as a prison officer for five and a half years, but has now decided to retire, and has been given a lifetime pension, which she said will support both her and her husband when he gets out of jail.
“Jonathan has changed my life for the better because he made me a wife,” Tameka said.
“I don’t take that for granted, he’s my greatest blessing.”