I was one of America's hottest college stars. Now I'm facing the death penalty... here's how my world imploded: JARRED SHAW

It was 2.45am near the western edge of Jakarta, where Jarred Shaw had taken refuge in his bathroom. Service was patchy - the phone line crackled with every word. 

Shaw would normally be in bed at this hour. But it'd been a long day, and the former college basketball star was busy explaining how he ended up in a 10-man prison cell in Indonesia, sleeping on a mat, battling disease, staring at a possible death sentence.

It is a spiral that - at times over recent months - has taken Shaw to the very edge. 

'I didn't care to wake up, honestly,' he told the Daily Mail. 'I felt like this is the end.'

Shaw was drafted into the NBA Development League in October 2015. The 35-year-old Dallas native had played for Oklahoma State and Utah State. 

But he never reached the NBA. 

Instead, his 11-year career has included pitstops in Argentina, Tunisia, Thailand, Japan, Uruguay, Lebanon and, finally, the Indonesian Basketball League.

Back in May, just hours after a game for Tangerang Hawks, Shaw collected a package from the lobby of his apartment block. Moments later, he was ambushed by undercover police. The 35-year-old was arrested and later paraded in front of the press.

The basketball star had illegally imported a batch of cannabis gummies from Thailand and - cops argue - intended to distribute them. The package contained 132 edibles with a street value of $400. But few countries have stricter drug laws than Indonesia. So among Shaw's possible punishments was death - or life in a prison like this.

'There are bugs, rats and cats everywhere,' Shaw told the Daily Mail. 'The biggest rats I've ever seen in my life. It's weird… the cats don't eat the rats here. They just hang out together.'

Shaw admitted he made a 'stupid mistake' and claimed he was blind to the risk, despite having played multiple seasons in Indonesia before - 'I had no idea. I didn't even think about the consequences.'

He insisted the edibles were for ongoing personal use - claiming they are his 'medicine.' A way to 'soothe the pain' in his daily battle with Crohn's, a bowel disease that causes chronic inflammation of the digestive system and is believed to affect up to one million Americans.

'I needed to keep my job,' Shaw said. 'I needed to feel good so I could perform good.'

The parallels with Brittney Griner are obvious: The WNBA star was jailed in Russia after being caught with a cannabis vape cartridge. After months of attention and political pressure, Griner was freed courtesy of a prisoner swap with a notorious arms dealer.

So far, Shaw has rotted in the shadows. But the US Embassy has at least fought for him to see a doctor about his Crohn's. In an extraordinary deal, also involving his defense team and the Indonesian legal system, Shaw has been granted a chance to visit the hospital on Monday for an examination. 

For the past six months, however, nothing has spared him from the grim reality of Indonesian jails. 

Back in 2021, a fire at Tangerang Prison killed 41 inmates. The jail was built to hold 900 prisoners but - at the time - was home to more than 2,000. The Asian country has long battled issues of overcrowding, corruption and riots. And many problems remain. 

'Everyone here is either infected or has rashes,' Shaw told the Daily Mail. 'All the rats are the same size as a possum... they freak me out.'

The toilet, he said, is a bowl in the ground - Shaw is nearly 7ft tall with dodgy knees. 'And with my Crohn's, I have to go often,' he said. 

As for the showers? 'Water in a bucket,' and a scoop. His cell does at least have clean water, which they have to pay for. But some privileges - including its temperature - remain off-limits. 'I haven't had a hot shower in so long.'

And yet, the conditions are markedly better than at his first lockup. 

'When I got arrested, I was basically just at the police station,' he explained. For months, Shaw slept on the floor of a smaller, windowless cell alongside 14 others. The doors were locked for 23 hours a day.

He first arrived in Indonesia three years ago, 'fell in love with this country' and won a national championship. But then, 'Everything just got stripped away.' 

He felt alone. Abandoned by his team, by the embassy, by everyone. The Hawks tore up his contract and his mind took him to a 'dark space.'

'I just hit rock bottom,' Shaw said. 'It was like nobody gives a s***.' 

He didn't have access to a phone and he hadn't planned for a rainy day.

Guards wanted 'money for everything, even for me to eat,' he claimed. 'Everyone else is paying two bucks, they're looking at me as an American and I'm paying 12 bucks... they just gave me a little fish and some rice [and said]: 'Eat this s***.''

So how did he make it through those early days? 'I just surrendered, got on my knees and started praying.'

He said he 'reconnected' with God and pleaded for help, for forgiveness, 'for a sense of direction. Asking God to pull me through because I was dark. I didn't even want to wake up… I didn't know who else I could call on.'

Recently, more help has arrived. 

Donte West, an international criminal justice advocate and negotiator who was jailed on cannabis charges before having his own sentence vacated, is fighting in Shaw's corner alongside his legal team. 

A GoFundMe page has raised nearly $71,500 for medical expenses and legal fees. Last week, an anonymous donor gave $40,000, and Shaw's aging mother is doing her bit, too.

Johnetta Perry, a cancer survivor who battles chronic health issues of her own, has written to the White House and the US Embassy for help. Her prayer, she said recently, is 'to see and touch my son before I leave this world.'

'That's my queen,' Shaw told the Daily Mail. 'I call her every couple of days.' 

She urges her son not to lose faith, to 'Never go back into that dark place I was,' he explained. 'I felt alone and she is always preaching that I'm never alone because I have God. She helps me tremendously.'

Around 500 people are believed to be on death row in Indonesia, with the majority convicted of drug charges. In 2016, three foreigners were executed by firing squad. All had been sentenced to death for drug offenses.

Shaw's lawyers argue that he is being made an example of by the Indonesian government. His bank accounts have been frozen, while dodgy attorneys are said to have robbed the American of $30,000.

Shaw recently had a first court appearance as his case crawls toward trial. But the picture of what comes next remains murky. 

Inside the walls of Tangerang Prison, Shaw lives day by day.

'It's hard being a big guy like I am in a room with 10 people,' he said. 'They don't have beds... so I bought a memory foam [mat].'

The inmates have a TV inside their cell, but Shaw is heavily outnumbered and many of the locals don't speak any English. 'They mostly watch Indonesian movies,' he said. 'I get an hour a day to watch my stuff on Netflix, check the NBA highlights, watch some football.'

Shaw apologized for all the background noise as he talked to the Daily Mail on a visitation phone from the cell bathroom. Inmates are only allowed to roam between 7am and 7pm. They have a cafeteria, a punch bag, a gym where Shaw works out every morning. Even a basketball court. 'I broke the rim already,' he said.

Shaw has taken up boxing, too, but it's his exploits in the IBL that make him a celebrity inside. 'Some guards are fans,' Shaw claimed. 'And then some feel like, I'm an American, [and] they want to show me they're the boss.'

He was never likely to blend in as a foreigner. 

'Sometimes I want to be left alone,' Shaw said. 'The majority of time, I'm just under a tree by myself.' 

He enjoys meditating, reflecting and writing in his journal.

'I'm trying to write a book about my childhood up to this point,' he explained. 

Shaw is trying to manage his health, too. 'It's been pretty rough,' he said, as there is no known cure for Crohn's. '[And] it's one of those illnesses where nutrition matters a lot… I try to eat as clean as I can in my situation, but most days are pretty bad.'

He orders food into the prison - pasta, fish, steak, vegetables, salads, fruits - but can't afford to do it for every meal. 'You have to pay the delivery guy, you have to pay the officers to bring it in,' he explained. 'I'm trying to budget... because I don't know my future.'

Shaw hopes his story can serve as a warning to others. And over all those hours in that cell and under that tree, he has learned some harsh lessons.

'It's time to grow up - I wasted a lot of my years,' Shaw told the Daily Mail. 'Because of who I am or what I do, I [thought I] can get away with whatever. Sometimes you have to get humbled… I got humbled by God.

'Not to say I'm a bad person, but I like to have fun too much. And it caught up with me - that's it. I've come back down. God had to show me who is boss.' 

Unfortunately, he won't be judge or jury in this case.