Joe Loya

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Joe Loya Jr. (born 1961) is an American writer and former convicted bank robber. He grew up in Los Angeles, and from 1985 was robbing banks in Southern California until he began a seven-year prison sentence in Lompoc Federal Penitentiary. While in prison he was placed in solitary confinement for violent behavior. During this time he developed a friendship with the author Richard Rodriguez. After his release in 1996 he wrote about prison life for the Pacific News Service. He published his biography, The Man Who Outgrew His Prison Cell, in 2005.