Marine remains imprisoned in Mexico

Lance Corporal Jon Hammar still being held in a Mexican prison based on bogus charges

This is a RUSH transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," December 17, 2012. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

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O'REILLY: "FACTOR Followup" segment tonight. Former U.S. Marine, Jon Hammar, has proudly served in Iraq and Afghanistan remains incarcerated in Mexico tonight.

His mother sent us this picture today showing Corporal Hammar chained to his prison bed in Matamoros, just across the border from Brownsville, Texas.

As we reported last week, Hammar is being held on a bogus gun charge. Last August, he registered an antique firearm with U.S. Customs then crossed the border to check in with Mexican officials carrying the paperwork.

They promptly arrested him and the Obama administration has not been able to get him released. By the way, the corporal was taking the gun to Costa Rica on a hunting trip.

Joining us now from California on the phone, Jeremy Khinoo, spent nearly three years in a Mexican prison on a drug charge. He was features in a National Geographic Channel special.

So, you were caught, Jeremy, with steroids, correct.

JEREMY KHINOO, SERVED TIME IN MEXICAN PRISON: Yes.

O'REILLY: And you knew that, being down there with this kind of a situation, you were putting yourself in big-time risk.

KHINOO: Absolutely. Yes, I was.

O'REILLY: And then when they caught you and you were sentenced to prison, what did you face in prison. What was it like there.

KHINOO: To sum it up for you, it was hell. The living conditions in there were barely unlivable.

The prison I was in was built for 400 people. There was actually 1200 people in there. I walked into the prison and they put me back into a room with 60 other Mexican prisoners.

And they don't give you no blanket. They don't give you no pillow. They don't give you any clothes. They don't give you no toothbrush, toilet paper, nothing.

You're absolutely given nothing. You're just basically thrown in there like an animal. That's how it was.

O'REILLY: What was the structure. Were there guards, a warden. Was there exercise, food. What was all that.

KHINOO: Never saw the warden. There were -- yes, there were guards there. The guards there were -- most of them were pretty corrupt. They would bring you anything that you basically wanted into the prison.

If you wanted money brought in or, for some people, drugs and stuff like that. Basically, what happened was, at 6:00 o'clock in the morning, they would open up the cells.

Everyone went on a big free-for-all all day long, running around the prison. You know, like I said, there was 11, 1200 people in there at a time. So, the statistics in there were 800 people, out of the 11 or 1200, were all drug addicts.

O'REILLY: All right. And the guard would sell the prisoners drugs, narcotics.

KHINOO: Absolutely.

O'REILLY: How about the violent level. What was the violence.

KHINOO: Oh, it's -- well, you know, on a daily basis, there were fights. I saw a couple murders. A couple guys stabbed to death. I, unfortunately, was in a couple of fights and was stabbed two different times there in the prison, just basically, you know, over money.

O'REILLY: Did you think you were going to die in there.

KHINOO: Oh, yes. You know, I honestly thought to myself and I prayed -- I couldn't tell you how many prayers I said while I was in there. It goes, "Lord, just get me out of here."

It wasn't an everyday prayer. It was an all-day long prayer. "God, please just get me out of here alive. That's all I wanted."

O'REILLY: How did they get you out. How did you finally get out.

KHINOO: Well, after three different lawyers and pain, these three different lawyers, 70 to $80,000 in American money, none of these -- I won't say none of them, but one of them actually got one of the charges dropped.

But I was still charged with, you know, with possession of controlled substance. And after 70, $80,000, they all took the money and ran.

I actually am thankful to my aunt. My aunt consistently called the United States Consulate. After a period of time of calling them and calling them and calling them, they told me I could put in for a transfer.

And I put in for a transfer. Two years, 2 1/2 years after I was in there. After I did put in the transfer, I got transferred out of there by the United States Consulate.

O'REILLY: So, they got you out of the country.

KHINOO: They got me out of the country.

O'REILLY: After all the pressure that your aunt put on them. Well, that's what's going to have to happen in the case of Corporal Hammar. And we're going to continue to put the pressure on. Jeremy, thanks very much. We appreciate it.

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