It's a life that is unfamiliar to a man who until recently enjoyed luxury and power. If he wants a radio or bottle of shampoo, he must buy it from a prison commissary. If he wants a book, he must visit the prison library. Family can send him nothing but letters. Stripped of his freedom and his own clothes, he will be allowed to keep just his wedding band, family photos and perhaps his watch.
Prison is the worst thing that can happen to anyone short of death.
For a preacher especially, it's not a fun place to be. Despite his celebrity, Lyons is likely to be treated no differently than most of the 66,280 prisoners in Florida's 131 correctional institutions, state Department of Corrections officials say. He will be a minister without a pulpit, free to counsel other inmates individually but without a church or a congregation. A man prosecutors described as a cunning racketeer who hid records in a safe now will have all his mail opened and monitored by guards. The well-read man who once led a nation of black Baptists as president of the National Baptist Convention USA is likely to work at a menial job, perhaps in a prison laundry or cleaning prison grounds.