July 29, 2026
I Was a Texas Meth Dealer — Then I Got 20 Years in Federal Prison | Tara Perry
Tara Perry grew up in Texas with her father out of the picture, raised by her mother and grandparents in a family where functioning addiction was just part of daily life — which is how she first got exposed to meth as a teenager and started using at just 13 years old. In this episode of Locked In with Ian Bick, she shares how she dropped out of school in ninth grade, had her first child at 16, spent six months in state prison before a five year sentence in the Texas Department of Corrections before she was even 20 years old, and stayed hooked on meth from age 13 all the way to 26 — always managing to get sober inside jail or prison before the cycle started again on the outside. She opens up about eventually starting to sell meth, getting connected to a major organization, having multiple children while in and out of addiction, and what happened when someone close to her snitched and the DEA came knocking. She was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison — and spent seven of those years inside a Texas federal facility before Donald Trump pardoned her on the last day of his first term. _____________________________________________ #prison #addictionrecovery #truecrimecommunity _____________________________________________ Connect with Tara Perry: https://www.instagram.com/princesstara.3313/ _____________________________________________ Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ _____________________________________________ Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction and Early Life 03:50 Childhood, Family & Identity 09:50 First Exposure to Drugs 16:00 Teenage Drug Use & Relationships 23:00 First Criminal Charges & Jail Experience 31:30 Life After First Incarceration 39:00 Motherhood and Continued Addiction 47:00 Second Prison Sentence & Having a Baby in Jail 55:30 Release, Relapse, and Escalating Drug Trade 01:03:30 DEA Bust and Facing Federal Charges 01:10:00 Sentencing and Time in Federal Prison 01:18:00 Life, Change, and Purpose in Prison 01:29:00 Clemency and Life After Prison 01:36:00 Growth, Healing, and Closing Reflections _____________________________________________ To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/LockedInWithIanBicka
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