NEWSOK! COVER STORY: Teen Mom Amber Portwood — Fears For Her Life in Prison
June 18 2012, Published 11:00 a.m. ET
Teen Mom star Amber Portwood likes to act tough, but now that she's about to be moved to a maximum-security prison she fears that she'll die behind bars. The 22-year-old high school dropout from Anderson, Ind., is serving a five-year prison sentence for an illegal prescription drug charge and is afraid she'll find yourself the center of unwanted attention among a prison population of hardened criminals.
"When she made the decision to return to jail, she wasn't really thinking straight" says an insider.
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Amber is currently incarcerated at the Indiana Department of Corrections, where she's undergoing physical and mental evaluations to determine where she'll spend the next five years. A source tells OK! that she's likely to wind up at the Rockville Women's Prison, an hour outside of Indianapolis, because of its strong rehab program.
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"Now that Amber's in jail, she's realized what a mistake she's made," the insider says. "She knows she's a target for the other inmates and she really is scared for her life. She's been having panic attacks and is convinced she's going to die befor she gets out."
Her brother, Shawn Portwood, and her former fiancé, Gary Shirley, father of her 3-year-old daughter, Leah, are terrified for her, too.
"Amber was under the false impressions that prison will be easy, like it was in county jail. But she won't be in with girls blowing DUIs or minor crimes, she's in with criminals and murderers," Shawn tells OK!. "She's a marshmallow. She'll try to come off tough and the women in there will take her down."
OK! NEWS: TEEN MOM STAR AMBER PORTWOOD HEADED TO JAIL FOR FIVE YEARS
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