Less than a year ago, he lived in a half-million dollar condo and drove a Mazerati as he allegedly masterminded B.C.'s thriving illegal drug trade at the helm of the notorious U.N. Gang.
Now, as he spends 23 hours a day in solitary confinement in an American prison, using a meagre $600 prison account to purchase items like trail mix and Lady Speed Stick deodorant, even his lawyer admits this hard time for Clay Roueche is taking its toll.
"I am concerned that Mr. Roueche's mental state will rapidly deteriorate if the conditions of his detention are not modified," said his lawyer, Todd Maybrown, in U.S. court documents uncovered by CTV News.
But the warden at the Federal Detention Centre in Seattle said that alleged U.N. Gang leader Clay Roueche -- now prisoner #36994-177 -- is too dangerous even to be exposed to other inmates.
"Due to his position of leadership in the U.N. Gang, placing Inmate Roueche in General Population creates an unreasonable burden on staff to prevent further criminal conduct," says Warden Robert Palmquist in a declaration.
"It would be irresponsible at this juncture to allow Inmate Roueche to have unmonitored access to other inmates who may be easily intimidated into assisting him in the furtherance of criminal activity," he said.
Roueche is being held on charges relating to the importation of cocaine allegedly under the auspices of the U.N. Gang, a group whose members are said to be part of a vicious and deadly gang war in B.C. and who has been brazen enough to stamp their logo on the cocaine that it ships.
Roueche was arrested in May when he was refused entry to Mexico and put on a plane to Canada that stopped in Dallas. He now faces a number of charges, including conspiracy to possess cocaine, conspiracy to import marijuana, and conspiracy to engage in money laundering.
In June, he entered a plea of not guilty to all charges.
For much of the time since, he has been held in the Special Housing Unit in the Federal Detention Center, which is usually used to discipline other inmates. He stays in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, and has to request a telephone call two to four days in advance, according to the documents.
Now he is under such a microscope that even his purchases at the prison store are monitored. CTV News has learned that the once-mighty alleged leader has some $600 in his prison account and spends the money on items like Columbian Coffee ($3.15), Head & Shoulders Shampoo ($7), and Lady Speed Stick deodorant ($2.40).
On June 18, he broke the phone rules with an unauthorized call to a Chilliwack number, saying to the recipient, "I don't have much time." His phone privileges were suspended for 90 days.
After a meeting about his conditions with the warden, Roueche was told that he would be on "three-man hold" -- one of the most restrictive conditions at the prison -- where the prison guards Roueche with three men each time he moves about the facility.
These are the kind of conditions that break the United States constitution's fifth amendment, said Roueche's lawyer, Todd Maybrown.
"To say that the visiting module...is an inadequate location for an attorney conference would be a gross understatement," he said in his declaration, describing a thick glass partition separating the lawyer and the prisoner, with communication through a speaker.
"I suspect that communication would be better if the speaker was made inactive and each participant was permitted to scream to the other through the glass," he wrote.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Jon Woodward
