4 People Who Wanted to Go to Jail

Ask most people, and they’ll tell you a trip to hell to come face to face with Satan himself is a better option than spending time locked up behind bars. Jail and prison are horrendous places designed to hold criminals who break the law and pose a threat to public safety. The food sucks,  it’s scary, you’re a million miles away from the real world. Yet, for various reasons, some people prefer three hots and a cot over their current situations. Whether they wanted to escape spouses, needed shelter from the streets, became institutionalized after spending years locked up, or didn’t earn enough money to survive, much less thrive, the people on this list all took drastic measures to score a spot behind bars.

Walter Unbehaun “I Just Want to go Home”

Walter Unbehaun, 73,  spent most of his adult life behind bars. His list of crimes ranged from petty theft to armed robbery.  

When the Department of Corrections released Unbehaun from prison, he fell into a deep depression. He lived alone in a studio apartment, was broke, and suffering from the early stages of dementia. He was scared, lonely, and needed the comfort he felt behind bars.

On February 9,  2013, Unbehaun walked into a bank and told the teller, “This is a holdup. I have nothing to lose.  I don’t want to hurt you.” He opened his jacket, showing a gun in his waistband. The teller gave him $4,178. He left the bank.

Police released photos of the bank robber. His probation officer recognized him and alerted the police. Officers confronted Unbehaun in a hotel parking lot. He dropped his walking cane to the ground, raised his hands in the air, and said he was happy. “I just want to go home,” he said. He told officers he had spent so much time in prison that he felt more comfortable behind bars.

Unbehaun received a 3 ½ year prison sentence.

Wanna-Be Drug Smuggler

In 2017, Lucy Boyer knew she had a court appearance, but failed to appear. The next morning, she went to the Sheriff’s Office to turn herself in, but the courts had not yet issued a warrant for her arrest. The officers wanted to help Boyer and offered to help her reset the court date since she had acted in good faith by coming down to jail.

Boyer objected to the offer and insisted she go to jail. Officers were skeptical; who the hell wants to go to jail?

Someone up to no good, that’s who.

Officers question Boyers, curious why she was so adamant about getting locked up. She admitted to having drugs and other contraband hidden inside her vainga. She removed the items, which included prescription pills, heroin, and manicure supplies. Her plan was to go to jail so she could deliver the items to inmates in exchange for cash.

She asked officers if they could still reschedule her court date to avoid jail time, but this time, they declined, and got her wish to go to jail on charges of trafficking a controlled substance.

Etta Mae Lopez

Etta tried to stop smoking a few times, but never found the willpower. She knew she needed to be somewhere where she could not smoke if she wanted to kick the habit. 

In 2013, the then 31-year-old woman parked outside the Sacramento County Jail and waited for Depuy matt Campoy to walk out of the building. Lopez walked up to Campoy and smacked him. She was promptly arrested, sentenced to 63 days in jail, and placed on probation.

John Work

On August 9, 2025, Colorado Springs (CO) man John Work walked into the Stetson Hills police substation in the eastern part of the city, screaming at and threatening officers, yelling profanities, and saying he wanted to go to jail. He even picked up a chair and threw it at the window separating the police department faculty from civilians. Work got his wish. He was arrested on charges of menacing and disrupting government operations. It’s unclear exactly why Work wanted to go to jail.