Today I read about the 18-year prison term a federal judge in North Carolina imposed on a real estate developer. Keith Arthur Vinson attempted to develop a 1,400-acre luxury golf-community in North Carolina. He retained legendary golfer Arnold Palmer as a designer and sold more than 125 lots in the range of $400k. A lot of glitz when into the marketing of the development, apparently. Unfortunately, the recession resulted in the dream turning into a failed land deal. Authorities charged Vinson with fraud.
A jury convicted Vinson and he has been in custody for several months. He appeared for sentencing on in late June, 2015. Yet instead of expressing remorse, Vinson made excuses. The judge cited Vinson’s statements during the sentencing hearing as being part of the reason for the 18-year sentence imposed.
If the federal government charges an individual with a crime, that individual had better do everything within his or her power to understand the system. No one wants to stand before a judge for sentencing. Yet if the federal government brings charges, the vast majority of times, a sentencing hearing will follow. Defendants should prepare themselves for that possible outcome. They can begin by educating themselves on the presentencing investigation report, and then on sentence-mitigation strategies.
If Keith Arthur Vinson would have known more about how the process operates, he could have invested the time and energy to prepare better. He should have known that any type of finger pointing or blaming of others would only exacerbate his problems. I suspect that Vinson’s statements during the sentencing hearing cost him several additional years in prison. Had he understood the essence of sentence-mitigation, he may have succeeded in persuading that judge to understand that he was something more than the criminal charge.
As a prison consultant, I help those who retain me to prepare. For those who choose to prepare themselves, I offer an abundance of free or inexpensive content on MichaelSantos.com and PrisonProfessor.com.
Scott became familiar with my work while I was in the final decade of my prison term. As a small business owner from Canada, Scott didn't have any problems or troubles with the criminal justice system. Somehow, he found writings that I published. He became a fan and followed me through the journey.
He reached out seeking guidance. Although he didn’t have any challenges from the criminal justice system, Scott said that he felt stuck. He didn’t have much direction for his life, didn’t know how to find fulfillment. While searching for help, or guidance, Scott returned to my work and he reached out.
During our conversation today on the Earning Freedom podcast, I spoke with Scott. While he described the course of his life, I questioned him. I wanted a better sense of Scott’s direction, or purpose.
Our discussion resulted in us talking about avatars and purpose. My success through prison differed from the journey that others had through adversity because I always had an intended outcome. I knew how to define success. As I told Scott, and as I tell those who retain me from prison consulting, we advance our journey to success when we define it. Without that clarity, we struggle. We’re always lost.
Scott asked if I would provide that type of guidance to people who don’t have any involvement with the criminal justice system. He found authenticity in my story and sensed that the story differed from others who marketed themselves as “life coaches” or “personal consultants.”
The challenge for me in providing that type of guidance is the time commitment. As a prison consultant, I explained, I help people prepare for the most challenging times of their lives. I need to figure out a way to package my products and services for the broader market, and I invited Scott to become a test case for me. We will conduct a series of podcasts to explore whether there is a need in the marketplace that I can fulfill.
I’m excited to share the final part of the story that describes Miguel Zaldivar’s amazing return to society. In part one of this series, listeners hear of Miguel’s background. He grew up in a family that earned its living through drug trafficking. After his arrest, a conviction followed. A judge sentenced Miguel to 30 years in prison. While incarcerated, Miguel learned strategies that would help him emerge successfully.
In part two, we learn about his initial adjustment to society. In part three, we learn how Miguel cultivated new relationships, how he established credit, and how he began to prepare a life of stability and contribution. In part four, Miguel and I discuss steps he can take to build his career going forward.
Today, I spoke with Miguel about the MasterMinds program and how he can utilize the skills and values from it moving forward. One of the things that’s been key to Miguel’s re-entry is his process of setting goals. In order to define success for himself, Miguel and I talked about accountability locks as part of taking incremental steps to accomplish one’s goals. I’m excited to collaborate and work with Miguel further. His experiences and outlook are positive examples of successful re-entry.
I invited him to become a part of the PrisonProfessor team, and I’m hopeful that others will find as much value in his positive message as I have found.
Those who want more information from Miguel may contact him directly by email:
Mzaldivar051@gmail.com
I’m thrilled to present part four of the story that describes Miguel Zaldivar’s amazing return to society. In part one of the five part series, listeners hear of Miguel’s background. He grew up in a family that earned its living through drug trafficking. After his arrest, a conviction followed. A judge sentenced Miguel to 30 years in prison. While incarcerated, Miguel learned strategies that would help him emerge successfully.
In part two, we learn about his initial adjustment to society. In part three, we learn how Miguel cultivated new relationships, how he established credit, and how he began to prepare a life of stability and contribution.
In today’s podcast, Miguel and I discuss steps he can take to build his career going forward. I invited him to become a part of the PrisonProfessor team, and I’m hopeful that others will find as much value in his positive message as I have found.
Those who want more information from Miguel may contact him directly by email:
Mzaldivar051@gmail.com
As a prison consultant, I strive to help people through every phase of the prison journey. Individuals who must endure time in prison should learn about the process. They can learn great lessons from people who’ve gone through federal prison successfully.
Today I offer the third podcast that features Miguel Zaldivar. In the first podcast, Miguel provides insight into his background and the decisions that led to his 30-years in federal prison. He talks about advancing through high security federal prisons and moving his way down to low security federal prisons. Miguel describes his experiences with the residential drug abuse program (RDAP), sharing how his completion of that program resulted in his being released from prison one year earlier.
In the second episode, we learned about Miguel’s initial adjustment in society. Today’s podcast continues Miguel’s story. We learn about his success in security housing, nurturing relationships, building credit, and getting ready for the next phase of his life.
Those who want more information from Miguel may contact him directly by email:
Mzaldivar051@gmail.com
We learned about Miguel Zaldivar's conviction for drug trafficking that led to a 30 year prison term in yesterday's podcast. He helped us understand an initial adjustment that included an attempted escape attempt and his transfer to the high-security penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. While in the penitentiary, Miguel made a commitment to educate himself.
In today's podcast, Miguel continues with his story. He tell us what it felt like to transition from a federal prison to an open halfway house in Miami after decades of being locked up. The preparations that Miguel made led to his deliberate readjustment in society.
Those who listen to Miguel will learn how he positioned himself for a job. They will learn about his the initial challenges he faced and they will learn how he overcame those challlenges. Most importantly, they will learn that if a man can conquer decades in prison, an individual can conquer just about any hurdle.
For more information on Miguel, contact him directly:
Email: mzaldivar051@gmail.com
In the late 1980s, a federal judge sentenced Miguel Zaldivar to serve a 30-year prison term. Today's podcast is the first of five episodes. Miguel tells us how he felt to begin serving such a lengthy sentence when he was only 25. Initially, he made an escape attempt. Then, after authorities transferred him to the high-security penitentiary in Leavenworth, Miguel took a fresh look at life. He made the decision to transform his life.
From Miguel we learn that an individual who makes the choice can work toward becoming more than past bad decisions. While incarcerated, Miguel earned a university degree and he became a published author. Although he served multiple decades in prison, he emerged with his dignity intact, ready to begin living as a contributing, law-abiding citizen.
We'll hear more of Miguel's story tomorrow.
Those who would like to contact Miguel may connect through email:
Email: mzaldivar051@gmail.com
As a prison consultant, I speak with a lot of people when they’re in challenging times. People contact me when someone they know has been arrested and they worry that they, too, may face arrest. Other people contact me when they’re further along. They’ve been arrested, or they’ve been charged, or they’re preparing for trial, or they’re preparing for a sentencing hearing and imprisonment. In addition to working with those types of clients, I devote time speaking to students. It’s my hope that students will find some value in the message. If they grasp the relationship between the decisions they make today, and their prospects for success tomorrow, then I’m doing my job.
Our podcast today and tomorrow is specifically for students.
In today’s podcast, I send a message to students at the Central Youth Reporting Center, in Santa Ana, California. I visited the school yesterday to speak with them for an hour. I have a friendship with Keith Laszlo, a teacher at the school. He uses a program I designed to teach strategies that empowered me through 26 years in prison. Keith used that program while he taught inside of jails, prisons, and juvenile halls. He now uses it several schools across Orange County and I’m happy to support the work by visiting classes that he teaches.
I arrived at the school around 9:30 in the morning and I shared my story with six young people between the ages of 13 and 17. Each of them expressed an interest in returning to the traditional Orange County schools. They could do it, I explained. They simply needed to ask Keith for guidance and then follow the path that he would lay out for them.
They listened as I discussed the bad decisions I made as a young man and the consequences that followed. I was arrested at 23, but I began making bad decisions when I was much younger. I hope the students learn from the story. Perhaps when I return, they will share how they’re working to achieve their dreams.
I send special regards to Tony, Andrew, Alex, Andres, Samantha, and Brian. And I express gratitude to Keith Laszlo and his fellow educators in the Orange County school district.
Prison consultant teaches importance of values and goals
What does it take to succeed in prison? A lot?
As a prison consultant, I provide resources to people at every phase of the journey. Some people reach out for assistance before they’ve even been indicted. Others reach out for guidance after they’ve concluded their obligation to the prison system. I provide guidance to anyone, at any stage of the journey. It’s never too soon and it’s never too late to begin sowing seeds for a better life.
Today’s podcast features a message I recorded for men who serve time inside of Maine’s high security prison. They’re proceeding through a mastermind program that I designed specifically for people in custody. The mastermind course teaches strategies that empowered me through 26 years and that I continue adhering to today. They made all the difference for me. As I told the men in Maine’s state prison, I’m confident that anyone who uses values and goals to guide decisions will advance possibilities for emerging successfully from challenging times.
What do I mean when I say that an individual should use values and goals to guide decisions? I mean don’t allow current challenges or circumstances to limit your possibilities. Don’t outsource decisions to other people. Don’t allow a criminal indictment, an anticipated judicial proceeding, a presentence investigation, or a sentencing hearing to cripple your life. Seize the initiative by establishing clear values. By articulating the values that define your existence, an individual can take the next step toward earning liberty, freedom, and a better life.
We lead lives of relevance and meaning when we define our success. In my work as a prison consultant, I work with people every day to teach those strategies. This strategy of using values and goals strengthened me through 26 years in federal prisons of every security level. They can strengthen you, too. In today’s Earning Freedom podcast, I delivered that message of values and goals to men in Maine’s state prison.
As an example of someone else who did the same, I retold the inspiring story of Chris Polous. Chris was a former prisoner from Maine, but currently is in his final year of law school at the University of Maine. Chris told his story on episode 20 of the Earning Freedom podcast.
Going to inspire the students of Keth Laszlo in Santa Ana.
As a prison consultant, I teach and prepare individuals who’ve been indicted. When they face criminal charges, they need guidance on how to position themselves for the lowest possible sentence. I also help them strategize so they can serve their sentences in the best possible prison. In addition to those services, however, I strive to create opportunities for those who return to society after a prison term. The Earning Freedom podcast is one of the resources I use for both ends.
Through the Earning Freedom podcast, I offer interviews that follow one of three formats. I share strategies that empowered me through 26 years in prison and that I use to build a successful life in society. I also interview other formerly incarcerated individuals and teach them how to prepare for success. I also interview CEOs to get their views on leadership and their suggestions the formerly incarcerated can follow to transition into the job market.
Today’s podcast features Ben Pouladian, CEO of DECO Lighting. Ben founded DECO lighting in the mid 1990s. The company manufactures LED lighting components and fixtures. Over the past two decades, it has built the company into a market leader. DECO lighting employs more than 100 people and it generates revenues measured in the tens of millions.
When I asked Ben whether he would consider hiring formerly incarcerated individuals who advanced through our Earning Freedom program, he said that he would consider it. I’m very excited to expand our training program with anticipation that we can open jobs for 100 people over the next 12 months.
Opening jobs for the formerly incarcerated is one way that I can live as the change that I want to see in the world.
I earn a living by providing prison-consulting services to people who’ve been indicted. I prepare those people to position themselves for the lowest possible sentence, and to serve those sentences in the best possible environment. But my work is much more than serving as a prison consultant. I also work to improve outcomes of our nation’s criminal justice system.
Many people who’ve been charged with a criminal offense struggle with reentry once they return to society. I admire Katherine Katcher, a graduate from UC Berkeley Law School. After earning her law degree and becoming a lawyer, Katherine founded Root and Rebound, a non-profit organization that strives to prepare the formerly incarcerated for success.
Katherine has put together a team of other professionals. Together, they developed the Roadmap to Reentry, a comprehensive guide for those who are returning to society. She and her colleagues train facilitators how to use the 1,200+ page manual. It includes training in nine separate areas of the law. Those who use the resource effectively arm themselves to triumph over many of the challenges that complicate adjustments for the majority of 750,000+ people who return to society each year from America’s jails and prisons.
Katherine spoke with the Earning Freedom audience today, telling us about her inspiring work and the challenges Root and Rebound faces. Next month I’ll travel to Oakland to contribute as a speaker for the group’s annual fund raising event. I’m hopeful that Root and Rebound succeeds in generating the resources it needs to combat the consequences that follow our nation’s commitment to mass incarceration.
Links:
Beth is a married, 45-year old woman who built her career working for a technology company. She worked with senior executives at Fortune 500 companies. Complications in her personal life led to her crossing a line that brought severe consequences. Prosecutors targeted her. She pleaded guilty to wire fraud. Now, she prepares for a sentencing hearing and her eventual time in federal prison.
Hiring a Prison Consultant
Beth tried to gather information from her defense attorney about what she could expect from the journey ahead. When her defense attorney couldn’t respond to her questions, Beth began doing some research. She found Federal Prison Advice. After several conversations with Justin Paperny, Beth hired him to serve as her prison consultant.
Beth said that Justin succeeded in providing her with precisely what she needed. She was emotional, traumatized by the entire process of being charged with a serious crime. She didn’t understand what was ahead. The unknowing caused enormous amounts of stress.
Like many defense attorneys, the man who represented Beth was remiss in preparing her. She didn’t know anything about the all-important presentence investigation report (PSI). The PSI, sometimes known as the PSR, has enormous implications. Few defense attorneys understand the influence this document has on the prison experience.
When Beth retained Justin to work with her, they began preparing a strategy to amend the initial PSI. Fortunately, they succeeded in making the necessary changes and Beth is in a much better position as she waits for her sentencing date.
Beth said that she participates in regularly scheduled phone calls with Justin. She is determined to position herself to serve the lowest possible sentence, and together they’re working on a sentencing narrative. Beth understands that more complications await her after the sentencing hearing. But as a consequence of working with a trustworthy prison consultant, she feels as if she is in a much better position to succeed through prison.
Today’s Earning Freedom podcast features an interview with Julie Stewart, founder of FAMM—Families Against Mandatory Minimum Sentences. I first heard about FAMM in 1991. At the time, our nation was ramping up prison population levels with the War on Drugs. I already had served the first four years of my prison term and I was scheduled for 22 more years of confinement. In FAMM’s work, I found inspiration.
Like many Americans, Julie Stewart didn’t give much thought to criminal justice issues until the subject matter became personal. A judge sentenced her brother to a five-year mandatory minimum sentence for growing marijuana on his property. Julie became concerned when she heard of the judge’s reservations about imposing such a lengthy sentence on a nonviolent, first-time offender. Mandatory-sentencing laws required the term. At the time, she didn’t know the meaning or influence of a mandatory-minimum sentence.
At the time, our nation was ramping up its War on Drugs and embarking upon a prison-building binge. Congress passed mandatory-minimum sentences that exposed offenders to minimum sentences of five years, ten years, or longer if the crime crossed a specific threshold of drugs. Many judges opposed those mandatory-minimum sentences.
Judges were in the courtroom. Since they considered the evidence and the defendant’s personal characteristics, judges believed they were in a better position to determine an appropriate sanction. The mandatory-minimum sentencing scheme limited their ability, however. Even when they wanted to impose a lower sentence, they couldn’t if the crime required a mandatory-minimum sentence.
Julie began working to change those injustices. She and her team at FAMM have had many successes. Through her skillful leadership, FAMM has become a useful force. She has influenced legislators on the state level, on the national level, and in the sentencing commission. Some clear FAMM victories include the introduction of the Safety Valve, which allowed judges to depart from the mandatory-minimum sentences. FAMM also was instrumental in changing laws that required lengthy sentences for specific offices.
Tens of thousands of people have benefited because FAMM does such a remarkable of advocacy. The incarcerated and the formerly incarcerated owe the team of FAMM a great deal. They’re in the forefront of helping more Americans understand why our nation’s commitment to mass incarceration is one of the greatest social injustices of our time. As a consequence of their hard work, we’re not seeing more people interested in sentence and prison reform.
Our nation’s commitment to mass incarceration has had devastating consequences. We incarcerate more people per capita than any other place on earth. According to Emily Baxter, our guest on today’s Earning Freedom podcast, the system doesn’t treat everyone fairly.
Emily served as a public defender in Minnesota. She became frustrated because her work revealed that poor people of color were more likely to be charged, convicted, and exposed to time in custody. They were not necessarily more likely to commit crime, just more likely to experience complications from the criminal justice system.
Wanting to change, Emily began working to influence legislation and policy. Wanting to do more, she launched her own initiative called “We Are All Criminals.”
Through this innovative program, Emily interviews people who admit to having committed crimes. Authorities never caught them, so they never had to suffer the harsh consequences that follow for those who’ve been convicted of a crime, or even charged with a crime.
As a prison consultant, I strive to educate people who have the unfortunate experience of having to answer to the criminal justice system. I work with people at all stages of the proceedings. I work with people who have been charged with crimes. I work with people who’ve been convicted of crimes. I work with people who’re being proceeding through supervised release. And I work with people who are striving to position themselves for success upon release, despite having a history of problems with the criminal justice system.
Many people believe that problems with the criminal justice system don’t have any influence on their lives. That’s inaccurate. As Martin Luther King said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” I’m working hard to spread awareness on what steps we can take to improve outcomes of America’s prison system. And I am impressed with leaders like Emily Baxter. She is doing her part to end the greatest social injustice of our time—which I consider our nation’s misguided commitment to mass incarceration.
On August 11, 1987, DEA agents pointed guns at my head and arrested. A grand jury had indicted me for trafficking in cocaine. I was 23. At the time, the only thought I had was to get out of jail. The charges I faced carried a possible sentence of life without parole.
I proceeded through trial and perjured myself on the witness stand. The jury saw through the lies that I told and convicted me on every count. During the awkward transition between my conviction and sentencing, I began to see the world from a different perspective.
Prayers for strength led me to a book, and I found that strength when I read the story of Socrates. In the story, he was locked in a jail cell awaiting his execution. When given an opportunity to escape, Socrates chose to remain. When I read his reason for wanting to stay, I felt a surge of hope. The response to a question of why he would choose death to life, a surge of inspiration ran through me. Like Socrates, I wanted to live with my dignity intact.
I began to think of how I could serve my sentence with dignity. In today’s podcast, I describe the process that led to an adjustment that would carry me through multiple decades in prison. I thought of my “avatars,” the people I wanted to will into my corner. Rather than trying to fit in with the culture of negativity, I thought about people in the society I wanted to join. Those people lived as law-abiding, contributing citizens. Although I didn’t know those people, and they didn’t know me, I thought about steps that I could take while in custody to prove worthy of their support.
Those thoughts led to my three-part plan. Each day of my journey through prison, I’d focus on working:
Such focus would guide my every thought, my every action, my every spoken word through the lengthy prison term I would serve.
In today’s Earning Freedom podcast, I describe those initial stages of my journey.
Today I spoke with Douglas James Forte, criminologist and expert witness in drug, urban, and gang culture. Although Douglas has the academic credentials that lawyers and law enforcement respect, he also has the street credibility that allow to serve urban communities across America. Douglas tells a story of growing up in East Palo Alto, a community that has been rife with violence, drug trafficking, and inner city crime. Douglas grew up in that community. As a young man, he ran the streets, selling drugs and hustling.
Douglas said that he recognized God had a higher calling for his life. Once he received that message, Douglas made a 100% commitment to leave the street life and begin repairing the damage that his criminal activities had caused. He started focusing on his education. He didn’t only graduate high school, Douglas continued with his education, eventually earning a bachelor’s degree from Jackson State University.
Douglas’s undergraduate de4gree is in criminal justice and urban affairs. He used that education to begin organizing community events in an effort to provide alternatives for those who were wrapped up in the street violence. When a police officer mislabeled Doug as a gang member, Doug took action, lodging formal complaints against the police officer. He shows how easily a mislabeling can derail a man’s future.
Rather than allowing such an experience to anger him, Doug used it to help others. He launched “The Gang Expert” as a service for defendants and law firms that defend people who can be charged with gang enhancement. In California, when an individual is charged with a crime, and authorities impose a “gang enhancement,” the defendant can have the prison term extended by decades. The Gang Expert helps defendants and defense attorneys argue against such sentencing enhancements.
In addition to his work with defense counsel, The Gang Expert provides community service by helping the formerly incarcerated transition into sustainable, law-abiding lives. He teaches soft-skills that the formerly incarcerated need and he opens doors with employers. Listen to his inspiring story on today’s Earning Freedom podcast.
For more information on The Gang Expert, contact Douglas Fort at the following locations:
Website: The Gang Expert Website
Twitter: @thegangexpert
Ever wonder about the anxiety of surrendering to prison? In today’s Earning Freedom podcast I speak with David Foley. David was convicted of a white-collar crime for decisions related to his business. Unfortunately, those decisions resulted in prosecutors charging David with federal crimes. After prolonged litigation, David began preparing for prison. He hired Justin Paperny, of Federal Prison Consulting, to prepare him for the challenges ahead. David spoke with me today on the Earning Freedom podcast to talk about how the process has been going.
David said that he wished he had hired a prison consultant much earlier in the process. There was too much that he didn’t know. It wasn’t until he began searching through the Internet that he learned about the work that Justin and I did to prepare offenders for prison. We work with them to prepare for the lowest possible sentence and to help them serve their sentence in the best possible environment.
Like other white-collar offenders who have faced charges for business-related crimes, David didn’t know anything about how a criminal charge would influence his life. A defense attorney helped him navigate the judicial process. Yet white-collar offenders need more. They need to learn about:
· The presentence investigation to understand how the PSI will influence their time in federal prison.
· Some need to learn about the Residential Drug Awareness Program (RDAP) and understand how it can lead to a lower sentence.
· Others need to know about sentence-mitigation strategies, or steps they can take to position themselves for law-abiding lives upon release.
Preparing for life in federal prison requires a commitment of time, energy, and resources. Through my author page at on Amazon I offer a wide selection of inexpensive literature that can help any individual who wants to learn how to prepare for a successful journey through federal prison. Through the Earning Freedom podcast, I offer free material. For those who want personal consulting or sentence-mitigation work, I am available on retainer. Others can learn through our MasterMind program.
David Foley describes how valuable he found working with a Prison Consultant. If you’re facing charges that could expose you to prison time, you should ask yourself whether you want to prepare.
Michael Patrick several prison terms in a white-collar prison in Canada. He shared his story on the Earning Freedom podcast. Until he learned his lesson, Michael said that he routinely engaged in both credit card fraud and identity theft. He said that he wasn’t a sophisticated criminal, but he had a lifestyle that required a big expense account. Since he couldn’t afford to pay those expenses on his own, Michael engaged in white-collar crimes. Over the course of 20 years, he served many separate prison terms in Canada.
Michael described the prisons of Canada, at least the ones where he served time. Since he served sentences for white-collar crimes, authorities always held him in minimum-security prisons. They differed from federal prisons in the United States. In Canada, Michael said the prisons didn’t hold more than 250 people. The people served their time in cottages. They wore their own clothing, rather than prison uniforms. The men could cook their own food. They also could enjoy weekends with family visits. The family would stay with the prisoner inside one of the cottages. During count time, the officers would make a phone call and let the prisoner know that he should show himself at the window. Once the guard saw the offender’s face, the officer would move on to the next cottage.
Canadian prisons, it would appear, have a far more “humanistic” approach than federal or state prisons in the United States. In the US, we design our prisons to punish. As a consequence of the way administrators manage our nation’s prisons, offenders should prepare themselves for the challenges ahead.
If you’re facing prison time, you may want to download a free ebook I offer that will prepare you for the journey ahead. Those who adhere to strategies that I teach will go in with their eyes wide open. The books and lesson plans I offer do a lot. Those who want more personal guidance should contact me for personal prison consulting.
If you want to learn more about Michael, contact him at Michaelsmail@rogers.com
086 Felony Friday
John Odermatt is a community leader. He works together with Marc Clair in spreading news about how we can improve our nation’s democracy. They produce the top rated “Lions of Liberty” podcast. In addition, John hosts Felony Friday, a show that he dedicates to helping more Americans understand the injustices associated with mass incarceration.
John wasn’t always interested in spreading news about the consequences of imprisonment. He spoke on Earning Freedom about the start of his career, when he worked in the Human Resources department for a steel fabricator. While sifting through applications for employment, he describes how he filtered applications indicating the candidate had been convicted of a felony. John’s supervisor instructed him not to disqualify people simply because of the felony conviction. That admonishment led John to look at people with felonies with a different lens.
Later, he saw the consequences that followed for a family friend was convicted of distributing marijuana. Although he was selling only small amounts, an informant made repeated purchases in order to charge the individual with a felony. John witnessed all of the ancillary consequences that followed. The individual served a year in prison and he also served time in a halfway house. He struggled to find employment and build stability. Despite their not being a victim in the case, John’s friend struggled through a series of ongoing challenges becomes of the felony.
Those experiences opened John’s eyes to the injustices that followed our nation’s commitment to mass incarceration. Through his Felony Friday podcast, John helps others know what is going on. Recently, he profiled the case of Ronald Hammond, a Baltiomore man who was sentenced to serve 20 years in jail because he distributed 5.4 grams of marijuana. He also brings awareness to complications people face if they want to exercise their right to carry a firearm.
Leaders like John Odermatt and Marc Clair serve our nation. Through their influential podcasts, they help listeners grasp why mass incarceration influences the lives of every American, threatening liberty for all.
To contact John, visit him at @JohnOdermatt
Subscribe to the following podcasts:
Lions of Liberty
Lions of Liberty.com/Felonyfriday
085 Sex Offender
When an individual is convicted of a sex offense, he will face an ongoing series of problems. In today’s Earning Freedom podcast, Steve tells his story. He contacted me after his release from federal prison. With 12 years of Supervised Release hanging over his head, Steve said that he continues to face many challenges in establishing his life.
Steve said that authorities targeted him after he downloaded three songs from an online service. Those songs, he said, were transmitted with images that authorities determined to be child pornography. Steve said that he erased the images within a few minutes of seeing them. Yet as a consequence of his downloading the images, authorities were on to Steve. They stormed his house, seized his computer, and eventually charged him with three counts of being in possession of child pornography. Each count carried a five-year term.
After he was convicted, authorities locked Steve in a detention center. He described being targeted by other prisoners and staff for abuse. Other prisoners pressured him to produce legal paperwork that would show the nature of his charge. He lied and said that he was in prison for fraud. A shot caller from the prison ordered Steve to write a letter to the clerk of the court, requesting a docket sheet. The docket sheet would reveal the nature of Steve’s charges. The shot caller required Steve to provide that “paperwork” in exchange for his being able to live in the general population.
Steve panicked and pleaded for assistance from staff. The staff member required Steve to roll himself up and check himself in to protective custody. Then Steve transferred to a prison in Texas that was reserved for people who had been convicted of sex offenses. With the onslaught of people being convicted of sex offenses, the BOP has had to reserve specific prisons for individuals who were convicted of sex offenses. But prisoners who were convicted of sex offenses don’t always get transferred to sex-offender friendly institutions.
Since Steve’s case involved the downloading of images, rather than human interactions, he said that he was not required to register on the public registry. Still, he said that the nature of his conviction makes his life difficult. He lied in order to qualify for employment, and his probation officer requires that Steve participate in sex-offender treatment programs. He feels isolated and alone, without a plan for building stability.
Steve provided the following email address for those who want to contact him: soinlongbeach@gmail.com.
Our nation confines more people per capita than any other nation on the planet. What adjustment strategies work best for women who must endure years—or decades—in prison?
In today’s episode of the Earning Freedom podcast, I spoke with Dana Cheatum. Dana tells her story of growing up with numerous challenges. While still in her teens, she began abusing drugs. Her drug abuse led her into a vortex of crime. When she was 18, authorities arrested Dana for second-degree murder. After Dana’s conviction, a judge sentenced her to a term that could’ve kept her in prison for life.
Like many people in prison, Dana entered the system without a plan to emerge successfully. Instead, she focused on time inside. That meant she stopped thinking about the world beyond prison boundaries and focused her attention instead on the culture of confinement. Such a strategy resulted in her associating with other hardcore prisoners. She fought a great deal, she sold drugs, she received hundreds of disciplinary infractions and she lost years of her life to administrative segregation.
While she passed through her first 16 years of imprisonment, Dana’s mother and her grandmother passed away. She received inspiration from a friend and made a decision to transform her life. For the first time, Dana began to reject the criminal lifestyle and those who belonged to it. Instead, she began working to educate herself. That change led to hear earning a college degree. She also earned credentials as a substance-abuse counselor, empowering herself by empowering others. Once Dana’s dream became bigger than her current reality, she found the strength to begin preparing for success. After 26 years of confinement, the parole board granted her release.
She now lives in Fresno and works fulltime as a substance abuse counselor. She dreams of providing programs to help other formerly incarcerated individuals so that they can transition into society successfully.
CEO of New Relic Offers Hope and Guidance to Formerly Incarcerated
Some may find it strange that the CEO of a publicly traded company would speak with a man who served 26 years in federal prison. But Lew Cirne, founder and Chief Executive Officer of New Relic, took time out of a busy Friday to meet with me in his office. He shared perspectives on leadership, citing the Book of Matthew, verse 25. As a corporate leader, Lew wanted to improve society in every way, including offering guidance to those in struggle.
While listening to Lew, I learned a great deal. Strategies for building world-class technology companies were similar to strategies necessary for emerging from prison successfully. I present stories like Lew’s on the Earning Freedom podcast because I want to inspire people in prison or those who’ve been released from prison.
On some episodes of the Earning Freedom podcast, I describe steps I took to maintain a high level of energy and discipline while climbing through decades in prison. On other episodes, I interview formerly incarcerated individuals who emerged successfully. And on others, I interview leaders like Lew. Taken together, the daily episodes on Earning Freedom show that we can triumph over the challenges that follow imprisonment. Business leaders like Lew teach us a great deal. They did not reach their high levels of success without overcoming challenges along the way.
Lew credits his start in technology to a gift. When he was 12, his parents gave him a computer. While other boys used their computers to play games, Lew taught himself to write computer codes. The harder he worked, the better he became at coding and he began to write his own computer games. His ingenuity and persistence resulted in others taking notice of him. Officials at Dartmouth recognized his brilliance. Lew earned his degree in computer science from the Ivy League university, becoming the first university graduate in his family.
Lew started his career at Apple, where he worked on operating systems for a few years. Wanting more, he persuaded people to believe in him. They offered capital for Lew to launch his first venture, Wily Technology, a company that he sold a few years later for more than $300 million. Then Lew started New Relic, a company that now employs 700 people. One of his greatest accomplishments, Lew said, was inviting his parents to the New York Stock Exchange on the day of the company’s IPO. The stock market now values his company at more than $1.5 billion.
Lew has enjoyed enormous success in his life and career. In listening to his story, we see that each success followed a pattern. It began with him looking at a challenge, a problem, or pain point. He figured out ways to solve the problem. Then he put a plan in place and took incremental action steps. He built teams around him, then he established accountability systems to measure progress every step of the way. That methodical approach to problem solving led Lew to find opportunities in the marketplace. The more Lew and his teams delivered, the more opportunities opened for them to contribute.
We all can learn from leaders like Lew Cirne. His strategy of visualize, plan, execute doesn’t only lead to building world-class technology companies. It also leads to building a better life—even for those who must overcome challenges with the criminal justice system. For strategies to overcome challenges, emulate those who lead.