Before his career as a wrestler, he was sentenced to 16 years in 1987 at the age of 18 to Boggo Road Gaol for eight armed robberies between 1985-1987, two of which occurred in Tasmania. During the robberies, he became one of Australia's most wanted and ended up serving seven years in a maximum-security prison. In 1994, Jones was given one year work release before being discharged at the age of 25. While in prison, he was introduced to the sport of power lifting.
