weelittledrummer,
"joepass.de" tells me that "His first guitar, a Harmony for 17$, was given to him by his father Mariano on his 9th birthday, after Mariano's wife had said: "We ought to give him something useful".

Neverteless, you're right that the age of 9 years could be a little bit too early for lessons in prison. Even in the USA. But who knows, haha??