The Seventy-sevens had taken Scotty under their wing, which offered him a form of protection from people eager to recruit a guy that had killed someone with his fists.

Anthony Johnson visited him once every few days in order to collect information before they made a motion with the courts. Scotty began feeling like a journal that Anthony read—learning things about his activities that he had never shared with anyone. And there were times when talking about his past led the ...