up the river
(US, idiomatic) To prison.
The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty. The activist is the man who cleans up the river. Ross Perot
The ships have come up the river to their station again, a little below their lines. Several deserters from Paulus Hook have come over. They all report that General Howe is wounded, as did those from the fleet. It appears to be a prevailing opinion in the land and sea service. Nathanael Greene
Up the River of Death Sailed the Great Admiral! Henry Howard Brownell
All the way up the river she's been holding back somehow, waiting. Now you'll both have to wait. I'm not going to disappoint her, Kit. When I take you on board the Witch, it's going to be for keeps. Elizabeth George Speare
I mangle phrases constantly. The other day I was chatting with my boyfriend and I said to him, 'He really sold him under the bus.' And he said, 'I think you meant 'threw him under the bus,' or 'sold him up the river.' Cristin Milioti
We're building our own New Jerusalem up the river. It's a world made by hand, now, one stone at a time, one board at a time, one hope at a time, one soul at a time. James Howard Kunstler