Participants: Pr. Marquis Johns (Host), Jeffrey Cobb
Series Code: TNJ
Program Code: TNJ000020
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00:09 Welcome to The New Journey, a program about real live people
00:13 with real life testimonies doing real life ministry for Jesus 00:16 Christ. I'm your host, Pastor Marquis Johns. Join us on The 00:20 New Journey. ¤ ¤ 00:52 Jesus tells us that he came to set the captives free and on 00:57 today's program we have just such a captive who is now free. 01:03 Jeffrey, how are you doing today? 01:04 I'm doing wonderful. 01:06 Fantastic, Fantastic. Why don't you go ahead and tell us your 01:08 name and tell us where you're from. 01:09 My name is Jeffrey Cobb. I live now in Gainesville, Florida, but 01:13 originally I'm from Miami, Florida. 01:15 OK that's all right with me. So now I need you to take us and 01:19 walk us through Jeffrey Cobb, Gainesville, Florida to the life 01:24 that you eventually led and have been liberated from. Just walk 01:29 us through the early phases and stages of that experience. 01:33 When I was about 15 years old I was in the church, living for 01:37 Christ and what happened, my older brother, he got involved 01:41 with drugs; selling drugs, running with the women. So I 01:45 wanted to get involved with that. So sooner or later he 01:49 introduced me the drug game. After that there, the enemy just 01:55 took me deeper and deeper into the drug game where I was with 02:01 organizations. I also robbed, kidnapped, shoot outs, down with 02:07 crooked judges, lawyer and police officers for 20 years 02:10 of my life. So you were in the drug game now 02:11 I have a little background in the drug game myself but help 02:16 us understand the extent that you were in the drug game. 02:20 I mean there are guys nowadays, now lets just keep it real, just 02:23 me and you talking. There are guys in the drug game now that 02:25 say they were in the drug game because they stood on the corner 02:28 and chopped down a quarter piece or something like that. When I 02:31 quarter I mean just a small portion of cocaine. Tell us the 02:34 extent that you were in the drug game. 02:36 I in to the extent our widow organization, we were really 02:41 making over $70,000 a night. 02:43 My lord, my lord, my lord. So $70,000 a night. Now you said 02:48 drug game which people think the requisite is kidnapping and 02:52 shoot outs. Tell us how much of that were you involved in? 02:55 Now again, you and I talked just briefly before the show. We want 02:59 to get deep today. We want to get deep so that our audience 03:01 and our viewers understand the extent that someone can have 03:04 been in something but then can be delivered from it. Go ahead. 03:07 All my friends that I used to hang with in my Miami days 03:12 are dead except one and he has life in prison. When he went to 03:17 court the judge gave him life because he said he thought he 03:22 had license to kill people. So when the other one just got 03:27 buried three weeks ago in Miami, they found him in the lake in 03:32 his car with a bullet in the back of his head. That's the 03:35 type of people, these were my close friends, that I hung out 03:38 with every day in my life. 03:41 OK so were you ever up close and personal with not just a drug 03:44 gang but some of the other things, the other things that 03:48 you're telling us, the shoot outs, the kidnappings, whatever, 03:51 up close and personal on that stuff? 03:53 Oh yes, yes. I was in the middle of it. You know that was my life 03:57 As a matter of fact, when we did drug houses, I was the one 04:01 that would go in and establish these houses in different parts 04:04 of Miami. Oh wow, oh wow. We have this 04:09 young man, Gainesville, Florida, 15 years old, his brother gets 04:12 into the drug gang. He decides of course, like most of do, to 04:16 follow our big brother's foot steps. So here we are following 04:19 our big brother's footsteps. We find ourself in a life of drugs 04:23 crime, kidnappings, shoot outs. What was this doing to you 04:25 internally and personally. I mean at 15 years of age 04:28 you get into this type of life style. I mean, are you just 04:34 enjoying the ride or is there some 04:36 inner turmoil that's taking place? 04:37 Oh it was just you know, I believe in what you do be the 04:41 best at it. So I wanted to be the best. I wanted to be known 04:47 for that. So I can imagine, because I 04:51 remember growing up and getting into selling drugs and stuff. 04:55 And one of the reasons why I started selling drugs was 04:57 because my mother, who was on drugs, was constantly getting us 05:01 into debt. No lights, no ability to wash our clothes or anything 05:06 like that. So when the big homies put something in my hand 05:09 it wasn't for me to get cute and fly, it was to make sure that my 05:13 little brothers had something to eat. So now that did bring with 05:17 it a level of notoriety, if you will, because now I got on the 05:21 nice little, back when we wore Nike Cortez and khaki suits. 05:24 So now we got on the nice Nike Cortez, we've got on the Khaki 05:27 suits and the girls at the junior high school and the high 05:30 school were looking at us. Was there a certain amount of 05:33 notoriety that came, because you said you wanted to be the best 05:36 at it. So was you name just ringing throughout the city for 05:38 what you were doing and what you were known to be a part of? 05:43 Yes, the whole south end of Miami, like from about Universal 05:46 Miami all the way back down south. You know, we were known 05:51 where if anybody needed any drugs. I mean I have sold to 05:56 professional football players and all that stuff. We got high 05:59 together. Again, and I want to go deep 06:04 with you here, tell us, walk us through again, not just OK if 06:08 they wanted to get drugs, they knew this, they knew that, tell 06:11 us what was the word on the street about Jeffrey Cobb? I'm 06:14 sure that's not what they called your name. 06:16 No you never used your real name. So tell us what did 06:20 someone know about a Jeffrey Cobb, like at that stage and 06:24 how long did this take place, from 15 to what age? 06:27 To 35. So from 15 to 35 when the name, 06:31 or the name associated with, Jeffrey Cobb came up what was 06:35 the conversation like? What would people say? 06:38 It was the conversation was hey any kind of drugs you need you 06:43 can go to him and get it but he was dealing with his two best 06:47 friends who were two of the most dangerous guys in Miami. 06:51 So you knew, and everyone knew that if they ran across Jeffrey 06:55 Cobb that they could get any type of drug they wanted, but 06:59 also be careful because if it went there it could go bad. 07:04 It's the consequences. I remember an incident 07:07 of one of my friends, the one that got life in prison, me and 07:11 a guy got in an argument and I just left it alone and went on. 07:15 And then my guys called and said hey man you're partner done draw 07:18 the gun and finished shooting this guy and he didn't have 07:21 nothing to do with it. He just heard me and this guy got into 07:25 it. That's the way we were believed in one thing in Miami, 07:28 when you say you've got a person's back they mean they 07:32 have a person's back. 07:34 So now we're selling drugs and there's an age-old adage or 07:38 warning, don't get high off your own supply. Did you find 07:42 yourself dabbling in any of the drugs that you were now moving? 07:45 Yes, I became my best customer. 07:47 Tell us about that. 07:48 Most of the average people, two things happen to you. You 07:53 get killed or you become your own customer, best own customer 07:58 and I started dibbing and dabbing with the girls. But 08:03 what happened was my brother, the one that I looked up to as 08:07 my god, he got killed on a motorcycle. So enough of that. 08:10 I saw him. He was coming back to me. He got killed on a 08:14 motorcycle. So right then that was my god, that was everything. 08:18 And after that I started using my own products. 08:21 So now wait a minute. When you say that he got killed, did 08:23 someone kill him or did he have a motorcycle accident? 08:25 A motorcycle accident. 08:27 OK, did you start with marijuana or did you go straight into... 08:31 because they say that marijuana is a gateway drug, OK. So did 08:35 you start with marijuana and then move into doing cocaine 08:38 doing a little powder or then crack. I mean, was it a gradual 08:41 progression or after that happened you jumped right into 08:45 crack cocaine or snorting? 08:47 No, it was a gradual situation where I wasn't getting high at 08:52 the time. Matter of fact, I was in high school and I was the top 08:56 running back in football in Miami. After that I took the 09:00 drug game and after that I started doing the marijuana and 09:06 then after that because that was my all. So then I went to the 09:12 powder cocaine, then I went to the crack. 09:14 So now that we're using the crack cocaine... One thing I 09:19 noted growing up in L.A. you know you have a bunch of guys 09:24 that are from a certain hood, I hung around my uncle who was 09:28 one of the Crypts and I was an east coast Crip. Now my uncle 09:32 was from the Over Crypts. They had stripes. I'm talking hard 09:36 core stripes, well known for putting hands on you, well known 09:40 for shooting the cat down, but then when the crack hit the 09:43 streets and they became crack heads, the guys that used to 09:47 look up to them now saw them as weak and enfeebled and preyed 09:51 on them. Did any of that happen with you where the guys who were 09:54 once feared you, now they see that Jeff is now using his own 09:58 stuff and he's out there as a dope fiend. Did anybody say you 10:01 know what we can take him now. Did you have guys lose the 10:05 respect they one had? Did that aura get dimmed, that invincible 10:09 aura, was it dimmed at all? 10:11 Absolutely. Once I got to that state they was like OK. Because 10:16 once you start getting high on your drugs, you lose all respect 10:21 You know you're not sharp as you used to be. And you're getting 10:27 older and you've got the younger cats coming and they 10:31 want that spot. They want to be known because we hold that down 10:35 for a long time, a long time. 10:37 Again, and I like to paint a picture. So we have this young 10:42 man, Gainesville, Florida, his brother gets into the drug game, 10:46 15 years old, even though he's well on his way to being one of 10:50 the top running backs in the area, he gets into the drug 10:53 game. There's an air of invincibility that accompanies 10:57 him and his crew that he's running with. He's dabbling in 11:01 the drug game, selling a number of different drugs and 11:04 eventually succumbs to an addiction himself. That air of 11:09 invincibility is now tainted. How did you keep up with your 11:14 addiction and your habit if now you're not the top dog anymore? 11:19 What happened, you know, the enemy opened up after that it 11:25 was the older guy that kind of took me under his wings and 11:29 I'm talking about he was in an organization like I said before 11:34 with police officers. We used to go to clubs and get high. 11:38 So once he opened the door I was like OK. Because these that boat 11:45 loads. They don't want that bringing in. So right then it 11:49 was like OK I aren't got to pay for nothing. You know it's free. 11:53 I want to go back to something. I hadn't just skipped over this 11:57 on purpose. I wanted to come back to this. So you're telling 12:00 me you're in an organization where you're getting drugs from 12:04 police officers. It was rumored around my way. I went to a 12:07 school called Hyde Park Elementary, well known hangout 12:11 spot for the Rollin 60s and Crypts. My cousin was a Rollin 12:14 60 Crip. He's now resting in peace, he's now dead. In the 12:18 height of the 80s, I'm an 80s baby myself, well born and lived 12:22 through the 80s, in the height of the 80s it was said that some 12:26 of the drug dealers around the area could have, if necessary, 12:30 gotten a fighter plane for someone. This is how well 12:34 connected they were through the government who were bringing 12:37 these, like you said, boatloads of cocaine into the states. 12:40 So you're telling me you were rubbing shoulders with some of 12:43 these very same guys. 12:44 Same guys. Same guys. Like you say 1980, if you look back 12:50 that's whenever the drugs were coming in so plenty into Miami 12:56 and it was taken to Atlanta. And they had others who in Atlanta 13:02 were saying we want the guys from Miami out of Atlanta 13:05 because of the killing, the murder rate, all that went up. 13:09 And so whenever anybody needed those articles, whether through 13:13 one, two, three, or four degrees of separation are related to a 13:17 Jeffrey Cobb. Yes, yes. 13:19 OK. So now the drug game, the killing, the kidnapping 13:25 eventually leads to one place. We always say this, there are no 13:29 retired drug dealers. Right. You end up one place dead or in 13:33 jail. You're alive, so I'm assuming that you're passage 13:36 here led through jail. Tell us about that. 13:38 Yes, it was one thing when I was out there when I came into my 13:42 addiction, I knew there was a better life but I couldn't put 13:46 my hands on it. I couldn't put my hand on it and then you know 13:50 as I kept going and what happened on my last episode, I 13:57 sold to undercover. But what I did, I robbed undercover. I sold 14:01 him the dope and took the dope and the money. So I was on the 14:05 run and what happened there, I had a daughter that was 10 years 14:10 and she walked up to me. I just give her money, hey Babe. She was 14:15 like Daddy you going to always leave me, keep leaving me. Then 14:20 right then something hit me that said, I'm supposed to be telling 14:24 her but like she's got more sense than me. Then right then 14:28 registered to me and what I did, I went and turned myself in to 14:33 the police department. 14:35 Wow, turn yourself in is a big thing. I remember having a 14:39 little case hanging over my head they said you got to turn 14:44 yourself in. I waited as long as I could. So did you do one 14:49 prison stint or multiple. Tell us about that. 14:53 All right. They have seven detention centers in Miami. 14:58 I did time in six of six months or better and I have been to 15:01 prison four times. 15:03 OK, so now you've been to prison four times. What was the longest 15:05 time that you were in there? Five years. 15:07 Five year. So was this during, after or before the drug 15:13 addiction? It was in the middle. 15:17 So did you ever do any time while you were at the height of 15:20 your trafficking? No because when you're with this 15:25 type of organization, you know, police officers, they let you 15:28 know what's happening, what time of day, you know it is. 15:32 As a matter of fact, most of the officers that were in the 15:35 organization, they got busted and went to prison. They turned 15:39 into users too. Wow, wow. In California when you 15:44 go to jail, there's an understanding, if you will, that 15:50 Bloods and Crypts and in Southern California there's what we call 15:53 the South Siders. Then the South Siders, when you're going to 15:56 jail, you have an understanding that the blacks, until you get 15:59 to state where's there a BGF, Black Family and all of that 16:02 when you're in county, man, there's the Bloods, there's the 16:05 Crypts, there's the South Siders, there's the Poisons, there's the 16:10 White Boys and each person they kind of click with one another. 16:14 So when we get in jail Bloods and Crypts know we're out 16:17 numbered by the Hispanics about four or five to one. So we click 16:21 up. Irrespective of if I didn't like you on the street, you may 16:24 have been a Blood on the street, I'm a Crip on the street, when 16:27 we get to the county, boy, we got to click up because we know 16:30 we're outnumbered by the Hispanics. Now I don't know in 16:33 your day if the Bloods and Crypts had spread to Miami, but was 16:36 there a similar feel in jail? 16:38 Right, it was similar because there were certain cells that 16:43 the officers wouldn't put you in. They'd say no don't put him 16:48 in there because they have certain floors that certain guys 16:52 were in. You know when I went in there it was a cell called B4 16:57 That was all the big drug dealers. So I went right in 17:02 there. When I went in there and one of the guys that was real up 17:08 there, he was like hey man, I always wanted to hire you but 17:12 you was too crazy man. You was too loose, man you didn't fear 17:16 nothing. So I went in that cell with them. 17:19 OK because what I'm alluding to and what I'm trying to draw out 17:23 of you here is how was it surviving having been at the top 17:28 falling from the top in prison. Sometimes when you go in prison 17:31 the cats knew you on the streets for certain things, you got a 17:34 target on you. Other times, because you did click with the 17:37 right people you have a protection around you. 17:40 In your four or five different prison stents, which did you 17:44 experience more of, the target on your back or the protection. 17:49 This really wasn't protection, because you got to understand, 17:53 I don't care where you go all over the world, if you say 17:57 you're from Miami, you all automatic bond. So most of the 18:02 prison system in Florida was from Miami. So wherever you went 18:06 you know it was like hey there was a lot who knew me. When I 18:10 got there it was like hey man you all right? You now this and 18:13 that. It was the protection. 18:16 OK so here's who you are, Jeffrey Cobb, Gainesville, 18:21 Florida, selling drugs in Miami, drug game, following your 18:25 brother, selling drugs, killing, murder, kidnap, I mean just the 18:29 whole gamut, in and out of 18:30 jail. You get high on your own supply, develop an addiction. 18:34 It clicks in your head one day when your 10-year-old daughter 18:37 is like man are you going to always leave me. So that's where 18:41 you've been. How did you get here? I see it on you, I see it 18:45 on you, but there is still a calm, a peace about you, that 18:49 I'm sure you didn't have then. How did you get here? When did 18:52 Christ intervene in your life? 18:54 It was only Christ because you know when I made up my mind that 18:59 was it, when my daughter spoke that, I went to God just like I 19:03 approached somebody that owed me for my drugs. I said Lord I want 19:08 to know the truth and nothing but the truth. At that time, I 19:12 went into court and the judge said he didn't even want to see 19:17 my face for another year. They were saying what are you facing? 19:23 I said 30 to life and I was like whoa. I said Lord I'm done. I 19:30 want to know you just to be straight up, I talked to the 19:33 Lord. I want to be straight up. I want to know you. I said, you 19:36 get me out of this one, I will serve you for the rest of my 19:40 life. Listen, now what are you doing? 19:43 How long ago was that? 19:46 That was 15 years ago. 19:48 Fifteen years ago. So what you been doing for 15 years.? 19:52 After 15 years, man, God has called me to do a ministry, 19:55 Shelter From the Storm. Housing men and women released from jail 20:00 and prison. So is that a half-way house? 20:04 A transition house. A transition house. So tell us 20:07 about a transition house. What does that mean? 20:11 In a transition house, you have men and women that were in 20:15 prison. A lot of them accept the message and when they get out 20:19 they don't want to go back to their old environment. Because 20:23 if I would have went back to Miami, I wouldn't have 20:25 been here talking to you. So what that do allow them to come 20:29 somewhere where they can strengthen their relationship 20:33 with Christ. And also with someone as myself and others 20:37 have been through what they've been through and as we go into 20:41 the prison and preach, once they get out we receive them and 20:44 help them walk through this new life style. 20:47 So not only are you housing them but you're also going back into 20:51 the prisons and ministering. Amen. So what is the response? 20:56 Have you run into someone who knew you then who sees you now. 21:02 Oh yes. A prison wanted me to come and preach in that prison 21:08 where I first did my time. As a matter of fact, my 21:12 brother-in-law that was dating my sister, he got life in prison 21:15 so when I came to preach he looked at me and some of the 21:19 guys that had life; they were like no man. Is that you? I said 21:24 yes it's me. My lord, my lord. So all of that 21:29 leads to the last 15 years you reaching back to people like 21:34 yourself, people who have addictions, people who were once 21:37 caught up in the drug game, people who looked like they had 21:41 no hope in prison. The Lord is now using you to preach and 21:44 minister to them both in prison and when released from prison. 21:48 Here's what I need you to do. I need you right now to look... 21:53 Because here's the thing, a lot of times when we get out of 21:58 those situations because we have nowhere else to go, the easiest 22:05 thing for us to do is to go right back. 22:08 Go back to what you know. 22:09 Yeah, and people call it being institutionalized. My little 22:12 brother, who's now serving time in Arizona, every time he would 22:16 get out, man, every time he would get out, I would say 22:18 listen, just come with me, just come with me. I started doing 22:22 the rap music thing and there was something in him that he 22:27 could be with me for so long before he went back. Before you 22:32 speak to them, have you experienced that where you give 22:34 these people this opportunity. You give them the opportunity 22:37 to come out and then they still feel the lure of the street and 22:41 they end up going back, like the Bible says, a dog returning 22:44 to its vomit. Oh yes. I experienced that 22:47 through this ministry. God has been using me to do this 22:51 ministry 10 years. And it hurts because you see them right on 22:55 the brink of breaking but nothing you can do but present 23:00 Christ to them. And you see them go back and it's heart wrenching 23:04 to see them go back. 23:06 OK then what I need you to do, I want you to take the next 23:09 couple of minutes and there's a camera right over my shoulder. 23:13 I want you to look into that camera. There's someone out 23:15 there. There's a couple of people I want you to address. 23:18 Number one, the person who feels like there is no hope. There is 23:21 no hope. Some people who would rather stay in prison because 23:25 they know once they get on the streets they got nobody. Those 23:28 who feel there is no hope, number one. Those who are on the 23:32 brink of breaking from the life style but don't know that it's 23:35 possible, but there's a Jeffrey Cobb here who can tell I them 23:38 that it is. I want you to speak to those two groups of people 23:40 right over my shoulder. 23:42 I just want to let someone know that your only hope is in Christ 23:47 Christ can break that addiction and someone that don't have 23:52 nowhere to go, just pray and the Lord will open up a door. And if 23:59 you call me and we have space in the house then I'll be glad to 24:06 take you. I understand. And one thing just don't give up. 24:10 I never gave up. Even in my addiction I knew there was a 24:14 better life and I'm letting you know now it's a better life in 24:18 Jesus. A better life, but what you said 24:22 was a better life in Jesus. I mean, I understand the mentoring 24:26 you're doing. Tell us more about your better life just quickly, 24:30 about your better life in Jesus. 24:32 No words can explain. I could sit here all day and no words 24:38 can explain the peace and the calm and the beauty of a 24:43 changed life in walking with Christ. 24:46 So that daughter of yours, what's your relationship right 24:50 now. We have a wonderful relationship 24:53 How does she feel about the change and the ministry that 24:55 you're undertaking? Oh she always says, Dad, you 24:58 know she calls me Daddy. She be calling me and checking on me. 25:03 Our relationship is so good she told me I need to stay single 25:07 because if I get married I'm going to be taking some of her 25:12 time. So again, this is such a 25:17 beautiful story of a 15-year-old young boy, if we be honest, who 25:24 gets lost in the drug game, begins to keep company with 25:28 murderers, drug dealers, thieves drug addicts. I mean, it's known 25:34 around the city for being cut throat, known around the city 25:39 for being someone who they say you can get it for cheap. He 25:42 eventually succumbs to a crack addition after losing his 25:46 brother, the guy who you said was a god. He was taking the 25:49 place of Jesus in your life. Yes. 25:51 He loses his brother, gets addicted to the product that 25:54 he's selling. This product causes him to go in and out of 25:57 prison, in and out of prison and then there's a break when his 26:01 10-year-old daughter says dad are you going to keep leaving 26:06 me? From there the Lord begins to speak to you. You then find 26:12 yourself for the last 15 years ministering to people who feel 26:16 like they have no hope, who feel that they're lost in the life 26:21 style that you escaped from. And experiencing a joy in Jesus that 26:25 to use your words, is indescribable and unspeakable, 26:29 enjoying not only that but enjoying a mended relationship 26:33 with your daughter, a relationship with your daughter. 26:37 She doesn't even want you to be with anyone else because then 26:40 it would interfere with what you're able to do and give to 26:44 her. Yes. Praise God, Praise God. I mean if we were somewhere 26:48 else Jeff we might have a praise break right now. 26:50 Amen, amen. I just want to praise God for 26:54 your story. Do you have a web site for your ministry? 26:58 No, not at the time. Is there an address? 27:02 The address is: 27:11 One more time: 27:19 This has been surely a story of God fulfilling the mission that 27:27 he first proposed in Isaiah, that Jesus came, in Luke 27:30 chapter four, stood up and he rolled open a scroll. Then it 27:33 wasn't a Bible, where you flip pages. You roll the scroll, you 27:37 go here and there, here a little there a little and Jesus opened 27:40 up the scroll and what he said in the book of Luke is that he 27:45 sent here to set the captives free, to liberate the oppressed, 27:50 to take the yoke of bondage off the downtrodden and on today's 27:55 program we have heard firsthand from Jeffrey Cobb what it is 27:59 like when you dare to dream and embark upon a new journey. 28:04 God bless you. |
Revised 2017-03-30