Prison Professors With Michael Santos

On today’s Prison Professors podcast we hear from Vincent McCrudden. Vincent built a career on Wall Street. He traded commodities and then built a hedge fund. Discrepancies with leaders at different regulatory agencies resulted in his voicing his opinion. His opinions led to investigations. And those investigations led to his imprisonment. You can read about Vincent’s experiences through a series of articles that Walter Pavlo published in Forbes, or you can listen to him tell the story on our podcast. If you’d like to read Vincent’s book, check out the following title: Leverage and Extortion: One Man’s Story of How the U.S. Government Operates

Jameson Rogers is CEO of an #ecig company. He discusses strategies he used to build his business. Jameson reveals strategies that led him to grow from startup to more than $1 million each month in revenues. Now he hires formerly incarcerated people to assist his efforts. We appreciate Jameson’s sponsorship of our #prisonreform efforts.

Rafael Gonzalez went said that he began using drugs when he was 10. His drug use led to gang activities and troubles with the law. Authorities locked him in a juvenile detention center when he was only 12, and he remained under the thumb of the criminal justice system until he was 21. Experiences in the military helped Rafael develop new skills. Now he in the technology industry and strives to give back by mentoring youth.

What Steps Can a Person Take to Prepare in Advance of Sentencing? People who face a sentencing hearing should prepare. It’s crucial to help the stakeholders understand how or why you’re worthy of mercy. Michael faced charges for having too many plants inside of a medical marijuana state. Today’s podcast discusses steps that a defendant can take to prepare for the best possible outcome. Michael hired an attorney to help him prepare, but the attorney did not get him ready for sentencing. As a result, Michael has had to prepare himself. He asked for our help and we gave him that help live, on the Prison Professors podcast. Visit www.prisonprofessors.com for more information.

Omar Ameli had a difficult childhood. His parents struggled with drug addictions and crime. His cousins were involved in crime. From childhood, Omar describes how he was groomed for a criminal lifestyle. By the time he reached his late teens, Omar realized that he had to make a change. Past decisions led him into prison for several years. While inside, he made a commitment to change. Those changes led Omar to earn an associate’s degree, a bachelor’s degree, and a master’s degree. He is the author of Transforming Society’s Failure, and you can read more by visiting his website at:   www.OmariAmili.com

Multiple Terms in Prison Leads to Career in Hollywood Eric Jensen began committing crimes when he was still a child. At 18, authorities arrested him for a robbery. He joined a group of friends to rob a convenience store. Eric went into the New York State Prison System for more than three years. While inside, he continued to live a street life. Eric didn’t think that he would return to prison. Yet decisions in prison led to more problems after his release. He struggled to break free from his criminal past. As a result, Eric had many more challenges with the law. He violated parole and also went to prison for new criminal behavior. During his third time back in prison, Eric chose to invest in himself. He began studying. He learned from reading and writing. Those skills put him on a path for a better life. After his release from the fourth prison term, Eric was doing well. He worked as a barber and he worked in construction. Then a prison escape led to national media coverage. He reached out to a reporter becaus

Kenneth Kennedy began struggling with drug addictions during his teen years. Those problems with drugs led him into New Jersey’s prison system. He served multiple terms as a result of challenges he faced with drugs and his choice of friends. It wasn’t until Ken began to align himself with positive role models that he changed his life. Now he is a college graduate, involved with his church, and striving to live as a contributing citizen. Kenneth expresses regret that he wasn’t able to turn his life around before sacrificing more than 30 years to addictions and the prison system. For more information, text PRISONPRO to 44222

Lawyer Goes to Prison and Becomes a Minister Jeff Grant tells his story in two episodes. He was a lawyer who made some bad decisions. After becoming addicted to opioids, he committed crimes. Those crimes led to a fraud conviction. While in prison he had to humble himself. He got in shape. He focused on developing himself. When he returned home, Jeff went back to school. After several years, he earned a doctorate degree in divinity. Then he started helping others with his nonprofit. Today Jeff devotes his life to leading the Family Reentry nonprofit. He talks about struggles for many people who leave prison. Prepare for success before prison, in prison, and after prison. Learn how by listening to Jeff’s story.

Jeff Grant Was a Lawyer who Went to Federal Prison Anyone can make decisions that can lead them down the path to prison. In today’s Prison Professors podcast, we hear from Jeff Grant. Jeff built his career as a lawyer in New York City. During our podcast today, Jeff tells us how he built a career representing wealthy individuals and companies in real estate related transactions. He suffered an accident. While recuperating, he learned how to manipulate the medical profession to get more prescription medicine. He became addicted to opioids. As an addict, he began making bad decisions. Those bad decisions included commingling misappropriating funds. To cover up the crime, he looked for a loan. When filling out the paperwork for the loan, Jeff lied. Authorities began to investigate Jeff. In the podcast, he describes how he lived in denial. After a suicide attempt, he checked himself into a rehab center. And in time, he pleaded guilty to charges related to fraud. The guilty plea resulted in an 18-month federal pri

Ro Clausen has been living the prison experience for longer than 15 years. Her husband, Adam, is serving a sentence of more than 100 years in federal prison. Ro has been by his side, striving to support him in every way. To build support for all wives and family members who have loved ones in prison, she formed Strong Prison Wives and Families as a public Facebook Group. Through Strong Prison Wives and Families, Ro and her team provide a resource that anyone can use. People from across the United States publish information about their experiences with the criminal justice system. It’s a helpful resource for anyone going to visit a loved one in prison. It’s also a useful resource for people who are serving time in prison. They can direct family members to rely on the service. Besides the public Facebook page, Ro has built other social media channels. Altogether, the Strong Prison Wives and Families group has more than 60 thousand active members. Yet with more than two million people in American prisons, it can

Professor Aaron Thomas Kinzel had grew up in struggle. Members of his family were involved in criminal activity. They sold drugs. They were trapped in the criminal justice system. He grew up with anger problems, confrontational with authority. When Aaron was 18, police officers stopped him for a traffic violation. He resisted. A shootout followed. Later, authorities charged him with crimes that resulted in a 19-year prison term. Aaron served his sentence in the Maine State Prison System’s high-security penitentiary. During the first several years, Aaron adjusted in the ways of the penitentiary. He lashed out with violence and resisted mentoring. Later, while in his sixth year, Aaron found mentors in some of the long-term prisoners. They encouraged him to participate in academic programs. Aaron attended his first college course as he passed through his 9th year of imprisonment. That college course changed his life. When he concluded his prison term, after a decade inside, Aaron continued with education. He ear

Roger Galvin shares his story of how he prepared before going to federal prison.   On today’s Prison Professors podcast, we learn from Roger Galvin. He struggled with substance abuse and made some bad decisions. Roger learned of the synthetic drug market. Despite packaging labels that marked the products as being “Not fit for human consumption,” Roger said that he knew people purchased the products to get high.   The mislabeling resulted in Roger becoming a target of the Food and Drug Administration. Then the DEA got involved. He pleaded guilty to crimes that would result in his imprisonment.   A grand jury indicted Roger back in 2014. Longer than three years passed before a federal judge sentenced Roger to serve a 14 month sentence. During an episode that we recorded on Christmas Eve, 2017, Roger described the steps he took to prepare. He found hope in the work that our team at Prison Professors offers.   Roger created his own compass to guide him through his term in federal prison. His compass includes goal

Scott Tucker earned more than a $1 billion in profits from the payday loan industry he created. We heard his story through the past four episodes. He told us how prosecutors targeted him for prosecution. We heard about his experience on home confinement. In episode two, Scott told us that federal officials are asking a judge to sentence Scott to 180 years. Now the billionaire prepares for prison. In today’s episode, we learn about Scott’s passion. He built Level Motorsports. His automobile racing club won victories in some of the world’s most high-profile events. He traveled to Europe, to the Middle East, to Asia, and he raced his Ferraris all across the United States. Netflix filmed a movie that highlights Scott’s career. Those riches no longer matter. Government authorities have frozen all of Scott’s assets. They have levied a judgment in excess of $1 billion against him. They took his jet, his automobile collection, and his real estate. Now Scott awaits sentencing. What will he get? We’ll find out in early

Scott Tucker wanted to build a scalable business since he was young. This is the fourth episode in our series on Billionaire Preparing for Prison. In the first episode, we learned why authorities chose to prosecute Scott Tucker. He build the payday loan industry. The business he built grew to employ thousands of people. He generated billions in financial revenues and taxes. He created enormous wealth. But authorities didn’t like the model. Some people felt that he was earning too much money from people who could not afford to pay. Scott saw things differently. People in the marketplace were telling Scott that they needed liquidity. They just needed a bridge loan to help them get across the hump. They may have suffered from car trouble. They may have had an illness. They may need a short loan. Banks refused to lend to those people. Scott created a company that would fill the void. There was a lot of risk for that business. Many people chose to borrow money but they would not repay the loan. Scott didn’t sue th

Scott Tucker built a billion dollar business. He started with a single storefront. In this episode, the third episode in a multi-part series, we learn how. Despite his not being a good student, Scott Tucker always had ambition. Like many young entrepreneurs, he started with lawn mowing businesses that he launched as a child. While in college, Scott found an opportunity to get involved in real estate. Scouring the classified ads, he secured an opportunity that netted him more than $100,000 for six months work. Then he invested those resources to build other businesses. After a brief period in the car business, Scott discovered a new market. People were asking if they could provide him with a post dated check for a deposit. They needed a bit of liquidity until they received a paycheck. Scott decided to start a company. People could write a post-dated check for $120. It would not be good until the person’s payday. Scott would give the person $100 in exchange for that post dated check. That was how the payday loa

Billionaire Prepares for Prison, Episode 2   Scott Tucker is well known for building the Payday Loan industry. In the previous episode, we learned how Scott started this industry from scratch. Through hard work and building great teams, he built his company into mega organization. It employed thousands of people. His business generated billions in annual revenues. He earned hundreds of millions of dollars every year. Despite that success in business, Scott told us in episode 1 about his problems. He lost a case to the Federal Trade Commission. That case resulted in a judgment against him of more than $1 billion. Then a judge froze his assets. Without financial assets, Scott didn’t have resources to pay for his attorneys at trial. A jury convicted him of violating the Truth in Lending Act. Since his conviction, Scott has been on home confinement. Living on home confinement has been a struggle for Scott. He spoke about the ways that he has been preparing for the journey ahead. He exercises relentlessly. Sometim

Billionaire Going to Prison Scott Tucker Built the Payday Lending Industry. He started in this industry back in the mid 1990s. From scratch, he put a team together that resulted in his generating billions of dollars in revenues. Despite his efforts to live as a legitimate businessman, the authorities went after Scott. He has been battled in courts for decades. But in 2016, decisions started to go against him. He found big financial troubles when the Federal Trade Commission levied a fine of more than $1 billion. The troubles didn’t stop there. In early 2017, the federal government indicted Scott for violating a series of federal crimes. Those crimes included fraud and violations of the truth in lending act. As a result of his losing the judgment against the FTC, a judge froze all of Scott’s assets. They even seized more than $30 million that he put in trust accounts to pay his legal fees. Without financial resources, the court appointed a team of attorneys from the public defenders panel t represent him. Afte

Nicholas Mitsakos Prepares for Federal Prison   Authorities charged Nicholas Mitsakos with a crime related to securities fraud. He graduated from USC and he earned an MBA from Harvard. Despite those impressive credentials, he now must prepare to serve a 30-month sentence in federal prison. In today’s episode, Nicholas describes the dark feelings that accompanied his experience with the criminal justice system. For decades, he worked in the financial services industry with colleagues like Michael Milken. Nick said that his lawyer did not prepare him for the challenges ahead. Instead, he had to do his own research that would help his search for information. Nick’s lawyer recommended that he contact Justin Paperny. They began working on a strategy that would get him ready for the journey ahead. On January 5, Nicholas must surrender to the federal prison camp in Sheridan, Oregon. While there, he will work to prepare for the successful life he wants to lead upon release. In today’s podcast, we discuss strategies t

    If you’ve been listening to the past four episodes, you know that we’ve been offering a series to help those who want to prepare for prison. Learn how to master it quickly by following the guidance we offered. The first episode in the series explained the process of going in. In the second episode, we offered insight on how to influence the right decision makers. In the third episode, we covered custody and classification. In our fourth episode in the series, we spoke about the importance of preparing. Today brings our fifth and final episode in the series. We continue the theme of preparing, but this time by emphasizing how a personal narrative can help. Instead of complaining, start writing the next chapter of your life.   According to the Department of Justice, grand juries or prosecutors bring charges against more than 80,000 people every year. Statements made from our current Attorney General, suggest that those numbers will rise during the Trump administration. Documentation published on the Departm

We’re now into episode four of Prison Professors’ five-part series on How to Master Prison. Those who aren’t going into the prison system may find more interest in our interviews. Our team works with people from all types of backgrounds. Some face charges or served time for white-collar crimes. Others served time for drug offenses, or even violent crimes. Our interviews with those people show that regardless of what bad decisions a person has made in the past, it’s never too early and it’s never too late to begin sowing seeds for a better life.   In this series, we’re offering content that will help people before they go into the criminal justice system. We know there’s a lot of fear and anxiety about prison. Our team knows how to overcome it. And it’s a bit thing to overcome the fear of prison, especially for those who don’t know anything about it.   Howard Phillips Lovecraft, an American fiction writer, wrote a line that brought is often quoted:   “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear,” he wr