Tia has not provided an update about AJ since 2020, but if everything went to plan, he should have been released in May 2023.
If you have ever watched an episode of Animal Planet’s show, Pit Bulls and Parolees, you will know that the days at the Villalobos Rescue Center are often chocked-full caring for the abandoned animals who have been rescued.
Not to mention, the new animals who still have to be rescued, and the various adoptions that must be orchestrated between the center and the new owners, so there is little time to focus on the details of Tia Torres’s personal life.
However, now that things have slowed down again in the world of Pit Bulls and Parolees, various questions have emerged about Tia’s husband Aren Marcus Jackson, better known simply as ‘AJ’, and was featured very briefly earlier in the show.
AJ’s incarceration
It seems as though Tia’s life outside of the show may be just as busy as is shown on camera, as AJ was arrested again in 2007 (this time on 11 different felony charges) a few months after he and Tia tied the knot.
And while neither Tia nor AJ have since spoken much about his arrest, his appeal (which was filed a few years later) confirms that he was originally sentenced to 15 years and 8 months in prison.
So while we do not know the exact details of AJ’s release date (in fact, even Tia admitted that she did not know if the rumors about AJ’s early release were true back in 2020), the math suggests that he should have been released in May 2023 if everything went according to plan.
AJ and Tia’s relationship did not survive his long prison sentence
AJ and Tia officially got married just after his first round of parole began back in 2006.
Although Tia initially fought very diligently to help AJ with his appeals and even went as far as creating a blog in which she discussed everything from his arrest to the amazing work he did for animal conservation, she later confirmed via a 2018 Facebook post that they had been “divorced for years.”
All in all, their rollercoaster relationship can be outlined as follows:
| Date | Event |
| February, 2006 | AJ is released on parole |
| October 31, 2006 | Tia and AJ get married |
| September 11, 2007 | AJ and Tia’s home is involved in a parole search and AJ is arrested |
| March, 2010 | Tia starts her blog in support of AJ |
| October 18, 2011 | AJ files for appeal |
| Sometime between October 18, 2011 and July 8, 2018 | AJ and Tia’s divorce is finalized |
All about AJ’s appeal
Tia’s blog details her experience during AJ’s arrest at their home and tells the story of how she and her then-husband felt constantly harassed by the parole officers who were only interested in seeing him arrested again.
Moreover, it seems like Tia was not the only one who felt this way, as AJ ultimately filed for appeal in 2011 (B226383).
During this appeal, AJ’s lawyers argued that the evidence gathered in his (and Tia’s) home during the search in 2007 should have been excluded from the trial (as it would have been if the motion to suppress was granted).
This is because his parole had actually been suspended at the time that the search was conducted and the search was therefore done without a warrant.
Tia’s involvement in AJ’s appeal
Besides her blog, which has over 10 different articles detailing her experiences before, during and after AJ’s arrest, as well as several key details about the Three Strikes law. Tia also testified in AJ’s trial on his behalf.
However, it seemed like none of this support made any difference at the time, as the initial guilty judgment of AJ’s first trial ended up being affirmed at the end of his appeal.
Why Tia calls herself a professional prison wife
For a reality television star, Tia has always been particularly private about her personal life.
However, now that she has been trying to get her new platform, Rabid Reality off the ground after the rather sudden cancellation of Pit Bulls and Parolees, she has been sharing more and more details about her off-screen life.
This includes a brand-new web series, called “25 to Wife”, in which Tia discusses various prison-related topics with her co-host, Tony.
As it turns out, Tony is another inmate who Tia has been married to, and since she often jokingly refers to him as “husband number three”, it is not difficult to see why she would consider herself a self-reclaimed professional in the world of dating (or being married to) prisoners.
