The Federal Corrections Institute in Estill, South Carolina is about two hours from Augusta. Walker is being held in the satellite camp, which is a medium security facility. There are no murderers or child molesters in this part of the prison.

The 300 inmates, including Walker, don't stay in cells. Instead, there's four inmates assigned to a dorm room cubicle. The satellite camp has a building with a barber, counselors, library and commissary. The store according to Walker has "just about what a Kroger would have."

Beyond the first building, there's a dinning hall, an exercise room, and walking track.

Walker, dressed in a gray T-shirt with olive pants and sneakers, says he's had "no special treatment and no negative treatment during his time at the prison."

A typical day in prison for Walker starts with an inmate check at 5 a.m. Walker says he does his job in the dorm, keeping it in order. After work, he uses the exercise room doing aerobics and weight training from noon to 1:30 everyday. Walker's appearance reflected his fitness activities; he'd lost weight and looked healthy.

"The goal for every one day is to gain two days by maintaining a positive attitude," said Walker.

Walker will spend two to three hours in the afternoon in the library. He says he reads and writes. The first year at the facility, Walker told me he read various cases as relates to his situation. But sometimes, he'll read some fiction and non-fiction books.

During the late afternoon, he gets in more exercise by using the walking track.

Walker says a television is available for inmates, but he doesn't watch much. Instead he spends nights doing a lot of writing. Walker says he's received numerous letters every day.

"I'm so pleased I get letters from people in the community every day," said Walker. "Most letters say they're praying for me. They believe what occurred is unfair. That God is on my side."

Walker has no access to a computer, so he's also putting pen to paper for another reason. He told me he's writing a book called "32 Rules of Life." Walker says he's in the process of getting it edited by someone on the "outside." He plans to self-publish the book, which is 230 pages right now.

The night ends with bed check at 10 p.m. That leaves time for Walker to think about why he's in prison, "I assume there's a larger purpose for this, but I haven't figured out what it is," said Walker. "But I will."

Again, no murderers or child molesters are held in the satellite prison camp with Walker. But Walker says he has heard some stories from other inmates that have disturbed him, not because of the crime but the time.

"The thing that concerns me being here is the high number of young black men given so many years for minor infractions because they had a previous record," said Walker. "The white inmates, most have eight years, but black inmates, most have 15 years."

Walker referred to the other inmates as human beings, some who have made grave mistakes, and some who have made minor ones.

One of those fellow inmates is former Georgia representative Robin Williams from the Augusta area. A federal jury convicted Williams in May 2005 of health care fraud. He's also serving a ten year sentence and also had his appeal denied by the 11th Circuit court of Appeals earlier this year.

Walker acknowledged Williams is in the same facility, but only said they've had limited contact.

In August 2003, federal, state, and local officers went to Walker’s downtown Augusta office with a warrant and left with boxes of files and documents. In June 2004, a federal grand jury indicted Walker, his daughter and three companies on 142 counts of fraud.

Walker’s lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the case in July 2004. They called it “an imaginative narrative of theories, arguments and hypotheses.”

A judge denied that motion, and Walker pleaded not guilty to the charges. While waiting for a trial, Walker successfully ran a campaign and won back the District 22 Senate seat which he lost to Republican Randy Hall in 2002.

Walker’s trial started in May 2005. It took weeks as jurors listened to testimony from nearly 100 witnesses and hundreds of pages of evidence.

Then on June 3, 2005, the jury found Walker guilty of 127 counts. He was sentenced in November that year to ten years in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $860,000 in fines and restitution.

Walker resigned his Senate seat and left for the prison in Estill, South Carolina in December 2005.

Walker maintains to this day, he is innocent.

“I consider my sentence to be excessive. I want to make a very strong point on this. It’s cruel and inhumane,” said Walker.

In January 2002, the state ethics commission fined Walker $8,500 for failing to disclose he’d done business with two state-run hospitals, the Medical College of Georgia and Grady Hospital in Atlanta. Georgia’s attorney general decided not to prosecute Walker.

But those charges were included as fraud in his federal conviction.

“Even though no economic harm was found by the jury, I simply did not disclose my family owned Focus. Focus has been around for 25 years. I doubt no one didn’t know we owned it,” said Walker.

Walker says the core crime that was alleged against him involved the people who worked for him overstated who read the Focus and the economic harm from this.

“I am not aware of any newspaper in history of America that has been prosecuted for overstating its reach,” said Walker.

Walker says "every radio station, every television station, and every newspaper over estimate and use a multiplier to determine viewers, listeners and readers, that’s universal (practice)."

“I am in prison for that! What was the harm to people about number of readers?” said Walker.

As for the charges that he stole money form the charity the CSRA football classic, Walker says “I created a charity and funded it. And, I’m innocent.”

Several motions to dismiss the case based on jury selection by Walker’s lawyers have failed. The jury make-up for the trial was about 67% Caucasian. The defense has claimed that violated Walker’s right to Equal Protection under the 14th amendment.

Walker explained that his defense struck four white males off the jury for cause not for discrimination which is not allowed.

Judge Dudley Bowen and the prosecution claim the selection process was fair. Walker says prosecutors alleged the four white males were struck for racial reasons. So, they were allowed to be put on the jury pool.

“The judge said we discriminated when we struck all whites. But government struck all blacks, and the judge said they did not discriminate,” said Walker.

Walker says one of those jurors added back, an elected Republican official, became the jury foreman.

“I’m a liberal democrat. I did not want a Republican politician on my jury. I thought I had the right to do that,” said Walker.

According to Walker, another juror returned to the case was an accountant.

“This case was about accounting. He was a white, conservative male. I felt his decision would not be favorable to be,” said Walker. “There was no way to get a fair trial when judge picked 40% of jury.”

On July 6th this year, a three judge ruling from the United States Court of Appeals 11th Circuit ruled that any errors made in Walker’s trial were harmless, and that his ten year sentence was appropriate.

“I was disappointed,” said Walker. “If the federal government indicts you, you are going to be convicted. The government has the judge on their side. They present to the grand jury. Grand jury is conviction. The trial is just a coronation.”

But Walker isn’t giving up. He told me his lawyers are drafting an appeal to present in the next couple weeks to the entire 11th circuit.

“I’m going to take my case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if I have to,” said Walker.

But Walker agreed the road will be tough to get out of prison and be found innocent.

“It’s very difficult to win a case on appeal. I think my chance is very difficult at best, but I will fight it until the day I die,” said Walker. “I will never surrender, because I believe somewhere along the line in our criminal justice system, I will seek and find justice.”

And until Walker’s appeals are exhausted, he told me he’s put collateral down to pay the fines. Nearly $700,000 of stock owned by Walker is frozen and being held by the court until a final decision is made.

“I think it’s sad that political prosecution takes place every day of the week, and the general public doesn’t have a clue,” said Walker.

Early 2004, Georgia Democrats wanted a congressional investigation into what they called abuses by state Republicans to conspire with federal prosecutors to target democratic leaders including Walker and former Georgia Governor Roy Barnes.

Columbia County’s Republican Chairman, Lee Muns, told NBC Augusta back then that the democrats are incorrectly connecting the dots using one alleged indiscretion to paint the wrong picture. He denied any wrong-doing.

But Walker still disagrees. He was elected to the Georgia House in 1982 where he served for eight years. He moved to the state Senate in 1990. In 1996, Walker became the first African-American majority leader in state history. He lost his seat in 2002, but was re-elected to District 22 in 2004.

“I knew the higher you went in politics, the more dangerous the turf became,” said Walker. “I never expected my adversaries to use the criminal justice system to defeat me.”

After facing numerous felony tax charges, Walker’s daughter, Monique Walker-Hill, pleaded guilty to a single count of misdemeanor tax evasion in federal court. During the July 2005 hearing, she admitted she didn’t report nearly $700 of income on her 1999 tax return. In December 2005, she avoided any jail time, and instead was given three years probation and $30,000 fine.

“That crushed me. For them to use my daughter as a pawn against me, to virtually almost wreck her life to get to me,” said Walker.

But Walker says it’s not just his daughter who’s had a difficult time during the years. He says his entire family is still trying to cope.

“The most difficult thing about this process is the impact on my family, my wife and children. They have suffered more than I have. I realized the risks when I was elected,” said Walker. “This has been a real negative impact on me emotionally, as well as financially, and drained my outlook towards the criminal justice system.”

Visiting hours at the FCI Estill Satellite Camp run from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays or 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

Walker says he sees his family on a regular basis. Every week a relative or friend will visit him. They spend time in the visitor’s room which is full of rows of chairs. There’s also a small patio with tables and chairs. Vending machines provide drinks.

“It’s a connection to my world. It’s the foundation of my strength,” said Walker.

But Walker’s family can’t bring him anything. He says if he needs anything he goes to the facility store, “you have a card, and put money on the account.” Walker says his family manages the funds for that account. But he’s not allowed to receive money in the mail, only some books, magazines or letters.

“Only thing I’m worried about now is getting out of here and restoring my relationship with family and friends,” said Walker.

Walker is allowed to use the phone for 15 minutes at a time. He’s given 300 minutes a month. Walker can only call those approved by the federal prison. Walker had planned to call NBC Augusta for a brief audio interview. But he decided to save the minutes for his family.

As for spending holidays behind barbed wire, Walker says he tries not to give it much thought.

“Do you think I got up any morning believing I’d be here!” said Walker. “I’m very independent. I am a reality based thinker. I don’t worry about Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas. Just another day.”

Since starting his career in Georgia politics in 1982, Walker was honored countless times. He’d been named NAACP’s Man of the Year, given the key to Keysville, and helped secure $20 million in funding for impoverished neighborhoods like Laney-Walker.

“I served Augusta with honor and dignity,” said Walker. “Many people tell me the level of influence is not the same.”

Even during Walker’s tough time, he had plenty of supporters. While going through the federal indictment, voters elected him to office.

“I want them to know I’m innocent and never surrender and appreciated support I’ve received over the years. And, they should be aware that our criminal justice system has run amuck.”

I also asked Walker what message he would send to those community members who may have doubts about him.

“To anyone disappointed, I sincerely apologize. But I maintain my innocence. Those upset with me, probably same group that sat back and watched it happen, and never said a word,” said Walker.

It’s the waiting game for Walker now. As appeals get written, filed and heard. But he’s uncertain about his future.

“I take it one week at time. I have no idea what future holds,” said Walker.

Walker described his mood as “hopeful, not bitter, not angry, but awfully disappointed.” He again stressed his search for reason or larger purpose for this happening, but he simply hasn’t found it.

Walker says he tries to keep low key when it comes to this case. He hasn’t spoken publicly about it since his 2005 conviction until now, but he gave me a hint that may be changing.

“This case is far from over, the fight is still on, and some big things could be ahead,” said Walker.

Walker says he wants “vindication.”

Walker left our interview of about an hour and an half with a smile on his face. It was Friday, and he expected to have visitors this weekend giving him another connection with the outside world.