Kyle LeBlanc is an American working overseas in Magnitogorsk, Russia. When he hears his wife being attacked over the phone, Kyle rushes home, but is too late to save her. Sergio Kovic, the man who raped and murdered his wife, buys the judge and is found not guilty due to lack of evidence. Enraged, Kyle steals a gun from a Bailiff and shoots Sergio multiple times in front of the entire court house, killing him. For this, he is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He soon befriends fellow American, Billy Cooper, a 21-year-old inmate who is subjected to constant rape and beatings by prison fighter, Andrei, a member of the Russian Mafia with the assistance of the guards, and Malakai, another American prisoner who uses a wheelchair and claims to know the ins and outs of prison life.