Character Overview

Prisoner 97P528. Convicted May 7, 1997. Criminally negligent homicide. Sentence: 17 years, up for parole in nine.

Greg Penders is in Oz for accidentally shooting a man he was initially going to threaten. Mostly harmless, Penders is an inmate who's always trying to take advantage of situations. He's first introduced at Season 4, in solitary.

Season 4, part II

After killing John Basil in Unit J, Clayton Hughes

Clayton Hughes

Clayton Hughes is a character played by Seth Gilliam on the HBO dramatic series Oz, which takes place in an experimental prison unit.He started out as a corrections officer. Warden Glynn did not want Clayton to work in Oz. The main reason was that Clayton's father, Samuel Hughes, was murdered in Oz...

 is transferred to solitary. Hughes eventually goes crazy and attacks CO Travis Smith

Travis Smith (Oz)

Travis Smith is one of the correctional officers on the HBO drama Oz, played by Jerome Preston Bates.Smith first appears as the Head CO of Emerald City under the management of Martin Querns. Querns and Smith both work together with inmate Simon Adebisi to build a virtually all-Black correctional...

 and takes over solitary, declaring it the Republic of Huru. Penders suggested that Hughes should use Smith as a human-shield. Hughes agrees and releases Penders from his cell. Leo Glynn comes to solitary and convinces Hughes to stop. While they hug, Hughes pulls a knife. Penders attacked Hughes, saving Glynn's life, but killing Hughes.

Season 5

When the problem with the air ducts was discovered, all of the inmates in solitary had been sent to Emerald City. Penders, along with fellow inmates Miguel Alvarez

Miguel Alvarez

Miguel Alvarez is a fictional character played by American actor Kirk Acevedo on the television show Oz. He is the main Latino inmate in the series. He is a gang member of El Norte and of Cuban descent.-Character overview:...

 and Augustus Hill

Augustus Hill

Augustus Hill is a fictional character, played by Harold Perrineau on the American television show Oz, serving as the show's narrator.-Character overview:...

 were assigned to Alicia Hinden's dog training program. He was assigned to a dog named Chester. While in Emerald City, Chester defecated on the floor. CO Len Lopresti

Len Lopresti

Len Lopresti is a fictional character on the HBO drama Oz, played by Carl DiMaggio.-Character overview:A corrections cfficer in the prison, Lopresti is a mean-spirited, racist bully who terrorizes non-white inmates...

 ordered Penders to clean it up, but he refused. Angered, Lopresti threw Penders on the floor, shoving his face in the dog poop. Angry, Penders ordered Chester to attack Lopresti. The dog bit Lopresti, tearing his throat. Penders was again thrown in solitary.

Season 6

At the beginning of the season, Penders is still in solitary. When Officer Howell opens his shutter, he thinks that breakfast is here. A couple minutes later, he sees Howell and Martinez having sex. "Martinez is fucking Howell" Penders yells to his fellow inmates in solitary. When Penders is interviewed during a solitary evaluation, Penders says that he should be free because Lopresti is fine, not a scratch on him. Glynn kept him in solitary because he attacked a CO. Some time later, Claire Howell

Claire Howell

Claire Howell is a fictional character on the HBO drama Oz portrayed by Kristin Rohde.-Character overview:A sexual predator serving as a guard in the eponymous prison, she preys on all the men in her orbit, prisoners and guards alike, as human sex toys who exist for her to dominate...

 found Penders really sick in his cell along with Carlos Martinez. In the hospital, Penders discovers that he and Omar White

Omar White

Omar White is a fictional character on the HBO drama Oz played by Michael Wright.-Character overview:Prisoner 01W711. Convicted January 4, 2001 - Murder in the first degree...

 were sick because of the toxic fumes in the solitary air ducts. White and Penders were released quickly and sent back to solitary. Penders asks how White is doing and that if he knows what is wrong with them and Martinez who is still in the hospital. Officer Howell later walks in, tells them that she doesn't what is wrong with them, tells them to be quiet, and shuts their shutters. Later, Howell comes back and tells Penders and White that their pal Martinez bought the farm (he died) and that they should take out their insurance policies. A couple minutes later, Penders and White see Officers Brass, Howell, and Murphy, bring Morales to solitary where they hear him scream in agony while they cut both of Morales' tendons. Both White and Penders are starting to freak out. Due to Martinez's death, Penders decides to sue the State claiming that Oz is endangering his life. He tries to get the Martinez family and White to join in on the lawsuit.

In deleted scenes from season six, it is revealed that Penders went ahead with his plan to sue the state without White. Governor Devlin settled out of court with Penders, who won $500,000. Glynn finds out about this and is mad because Penders doesn't have a case (White dropped out and Martinez didn't even die from poison). In solitary still, Penders sings Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye

Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye

"Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" is a song written and recorded by Paul Leka, Gary DeCarlo and Dale Frashuer, attributed to a then-fictitious band they named "Steam". It was released under the Mercury subsidiary label Fontana and became a number one pop single on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1969,...

to a guard and taunting him saying that he is now rich. As he was singing and taunting, Penders started to cough heavily and was coughing up blood. He was then rushed to the hospital where he cursed Dr. Nathan for letting him out too soon and that he was going to spend every penny he has to try to get her fired. In the series finale, Dr. Nathan appeared on the local news begging to government representatives that Penders desperately needs an organ transplant. Luckily, a state senator took up the cause and agreed to pay for Penders's organ transplant. Excited, Penders apologizes to Dr. Nathan for a calling her a bad doctor and tells her that she really is a good doctor. When asked on what the next step is, Nathan tells him that he will be transferred to Benchley Memorial, get a blood test, and wait for a person who has the same blood type as Penders to die.