Earning Freedom with Michael Santos

Prison Consultant: Mindset Training on Success

As a prison consultant, I teach those who have been indicted steps they can take to succeed. A criminal indictment traumatizes some people, taking them out of their element. Through the Earning Freedom podcast I share the strategies that worked for me, but I also interview others. In today’s episode, I feature Gordon Wat of GordonWat.com. Gordon served a lengthy sentence in prisons of every security level. Rather than allowing his troubled past to define his future, he shifted his mindset. Now he teaches others how to do the same.

Gordon Wat’s Journey:

After serving more than a decade in federal prison, Gordon transitioned into a halfway house. While in the halfway house, he had the mindset to take any job that would pay him a wage. He earned minimum wage parking jobs. Then, through masterful networking skills, he opened an opportunity to work as a bellman in one of the most popular hotels in Las Vegas. That position allows him to hear more than $1,000 per week—part time.

When Gordon is not working at his hotel job, he stays busy and productive. He volunteers in his community to teach other formerly incarcerated individuals how to succeed, and he creates video courses that he sells through online marketing campaign. Gordon has been free from the Bureau of Prisons for less than three years. Yet his busy schedule has allowed him to built a thriving part time business where he helps others find or create strategies that lead to success.

You can reach Gordon at any of the following contact points: 

GordonWat.com

GoGetYourSuccess.com

Twitter: GordonWat

Facebook

[email protected]

702-277-8360

As a prison consultant, I’m sometimes confronted with questions about how an individual can move beyond a criminal conviction. This question comes from white-collar offenders or people who’ve been convicted of business-related crimes. They worry about what kind of life they’re going to lead after prison. They worry because search engines will always publicize their crime and those challenges may limit opportunities. They can learn something from former gang members who turned their life around. 

It’s my job to teach anyone how leading a life of relevance makes all the difference. In today’s podcast, Salvador “Pocho” Sanchez helps me to convey that message.

Homeboy Industries

Salvador “Pocho” Sanchez is the staff photographer for the famous Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles. Homeboy Industries is an incredible organization. It strives to help the formerly incarcerated and street-gang members transition into society as law-abiding citizens. Homeboy Industries offers full support, or wraparound services. It provides the formerly incarcerated and gang members with educational training, tattoo removal. The nonprofit organization also places them in sustainable employment. 

As the staff photographer for Homeboy Industries, Pocho helps to transform the self-images of former gang members. He provides high end photographs so they can see themselves in a more favorable light. Pocho is a source of inspiration, not only because of his work as a photographer, but because of his inspiring life story. He leads by way of example. 

At the age of 11, Pocho joined a street gang in Northern California. His father was Irish and his mother was Mexican. Pocho said that he felt both rejected and disparaged by Mexicans and whites alike. Searching for acceptance and love, he found it with street gangs.

Living as a gang member and trafficking in drugs led to his troubles with the law. Despite that background, he tells an inspiring story of attending college, earning a double major in Chicano studies and History from Cal State Fullerton. Pocho continued his education, earning a master’s degree from San Francisco State University and then a second master’s degree along with a teaching certificate from the University of Southern California. Wanting to contribute to the making of a better world, Pocho taught in East Oakland and then began using photography to teach.

Pocho is an amazing artist, capturing images of people to celebrate their individual beauty. He sees the good in everyone and inspires to reach their highest potential.

As a prison consultant, I strive to portray images of people who become more than past bad decisions. Pocho is a great example of an inspiring story. He shows that anyone can choose to live a life of relevance and contribution, regardless of past decisions. I am glad to share Pocho’s story on the Earning Freedom podcast and I encourage others to visit his incredible work at the following links:

Facebook Homeboy Industries

Pocho-one Fotography

Homeboy Industries Website

Homeboy Industries Twitter

Homeboy industry address:

130 West Bruno Street

Los Angeles, CA 90012

If you’ve been indicted, federal prison may be on your horizon, I can help. You may have a defense attorney. Yet a prison consultant should be a part of your team. Your defense attorney will assist you through the challenges of the guilt or innocence phase. Yet regardless of whether you’ve been convicted of a white-collar crime or any other type of crime, by understanding what happens after the conviction, you position yourself for the best possible outcome. If you want to learn about the presentence investigation, the residential drug abuse progam (RDAP), sentence mitigation strategies, I can help. Your due diligence on prison consultants will show you why.

Publishing from Federal Prison

As a prison consultant, I don’t only teach how to make it through prison. I teach people how to thrive through prison. One way people can succeed in prison is by developing writing skills. To the extent that an individual can learn how to string words into sentences, and sentences into paragraphs, that an individual can grow as an author. And publishing presents a magnificent way of passing time in prison. More than passing time, publishing from prison can lead to an income stream. More than income stream, publishing from prison can help an individual contribute to society and create opportunities that lead to a successful reentry after prison. 

When I began serving my federal prison system in 1987, I didn’t have a prison consultant to guide me. But I knew that I wanted to emerge successfully. Publishing became an integral part of my journey. I published seven books under my own name during the time that I served, and I published more than a dozen books for other prisoners. Why? Publishing empowered me to live of relevance and meaning and contribution. I teach others that they, too, can empower themselves through a prison journey by publishing.

For more information, visit PrisonProfessor.com

If you’ve been charged with a federal crime, you want to talk with a competent prison consultant. I served 26 years in prisons of every security level. While inside, I prepared for a successful return to society in easily verifiable ways. Don’t take my word for it. Check out what the national media has said about my work. You will come away with certainty that I can help you to position to serve the lowest amount of time possible in prison, to serve your sentence in the best possible prison, and to return to society with prospects to resume your life as a successful citizen who lives a meaningful life.

Supervised Release:

Success after prison doesn’t materialize by accident. In fact, for most people convicted of federal crime, the sanction continues with Supervised Release after prison. In today’s podcast on the Earning Freedom network, I offer insight with regard to what Supervised Release means.

Federal judges typically impose a term of between one year and five years of Supervised Release. That term begins as soon as the individual concludes an obligation to the Bureau of Prisons. Standard conditions apply, and in today’s podcast, I go through the 16 Standard Conditions with a little bit of insight into what they mean. In addition to the 16 Standard Conditions, the judge sometimes imposes specific conditions on individual defendants. If you’ve been sentenced to a federal crime, you can review your judgment order to ascertain the conditions that will apply to you after you conclude your obligation to the Bureau of Prisons.

For those who want more information on Supervised Release, I recommend that you visit PrisonProfessor.com. I offer guidance that will help. If you’d like to position yourself for early termination of Supervised release, as I experienced, then contact me for one-on-one consultations. I’m happy to provide insight to those who retain me as a prison consultant.

I wish you success through the journey.

If you’ve been indicted, you may value my work as a prison consultant. I show people how to overcome current challenges by making deliberate choices. Deliberate strategies empowered me through the 26 years that I lived in federal prison and I’m convinced that a deliberate strategy can help anyone who needs to overcome struggle.

Many people who contact me face charges for white-collar crime or for business-related crime. Defense attorneys help them with the judicial proceedings. In my role as a prison consultant, I help them focus on what steps they can take to prepare for success through the journey. Besides working with clients to position them for the lowest-possible sentence in the best possible environment, I help them understand how they can use their time wisely so they emerge from prison successfully.

BrandYourself.com

One strategy that worked well for me was to write my own narrative. In today’s podcast, I’m pleased to present Patrick Ambron. While in college, Patrick joined friends from Syracuse University to launch BrandYourself.com. The innovative company provides resources for people who want to contribute to the narrative of their life. This service can prove especially useful for anyone who has a criminal record.

As Patrick discussed during our podcast today, no one can escape the power of an Internet search engine like Google. When people want to learn about someone else, the search frequently begins with an inquiry on Google. Individuals who fail to take action allow others to control what Google will present. Those who want to influence the narrative will take a more deliberate approach.

Patrick suggested a multipronged strategy:

It doesn’t matter whether you’re in prison or you’re going to prison, you can find ways to stay relevant in the world. Through our MasterMind program, I showed the many ways that I was able to use my time in prison to prepare for success. You can and should do the same. Those strategies will help you mitigate the damage that articles about mortgage fraud, healthcare fraud, securities fraud, or tax fraud can cause. If you want to prepare for a better outcome from federal prison, then I urge you to use the guidance that Patrick provided on today’s podcast.

If you’d like to learn more federal prison, then continue listening to the free podcasts at MichaelSantos.com, consult the resources available through PrisonProfessor.com, or contact me for one-on-one consultations.

Prison Consultant: Understanding the Pre-sentence Investigation (PSI)

In my role as a prison consultant, I work with many defendants when they’re at the lowest point of their lives. Authorities have indicted them for a federal crime. They don’t know where to turn for reliable information. Their defense attorneys focus on navigating the guilt-or-innocence phase of the judicial proceedings. Yet for a defendant, the entire process is incredibly personal. In many cases, the defendants don’t have any idea what awaits them after the finding of guilt.

As a service to defendants, I strive to provide as much insight as possible. As a prison consultant, I offer insight that I learned from personal experience. I served 26 years in federal prisons of every security level. Further, I’ve published extensively about the criminal justice process, and I gathered information from countless others who experienced the federal prison system. I offer that information in a number of ways: 

In today’s free podcast, I describe the importance of the presentence investigation. After a finding of guilt, the judge will order a federal probation officer to conduct the presentence investigation. That investigation will culminate with a report known to insiders as the PSI or PSIR or PSR. Either way, it’s an incredibly influential document that will factor in to where the defendant serves his time, and possibly, whether the defendant qualifies for programs that can result in time cut.

Those who are facing imprisonment should learn all they can about the Presentence investigation (PSI) long before they have the initial meeting with a federal probation officer. Regardless of whether the PSI influences the judge, the Bureau of Prisons will place enormous influence on the document. Defendants should invest the time and energy to prepare, and today’s podcast provides some free insight to consider.

For those who want more, I recommend the guide I make available at PrisonProfessor.com. Or contact me to inquire about one-on-one consulting.

Although I work with individuals and law firms as a prison consultant, I have other responsibilities. In today’s podcast, I provide insight on some of those responsibilities for a reason. I am determined to show individuals who’ve been traumatized by a criminal charge that they can rebrand themselves. It’s never too late and it’s never too early to begin sowing seeds for a better life. Those in search of a prison consultant do not have such optimism at the outset.

When the government indicts people for business-related crimes like fraud or tax-related offenses, the defendants can lose their sense of balance. They’ve built careers as law-abiding citizens and a criminal indictment totally derails them. The defendants hire a defense attorney to help them through the judicial process. When it becomes clear that prison can become a possibility, their research sometimes leads them to my work as a prison consultant.

In addition to assisting with their preparation for prison, I help them prepare for the presentence investigation report (PSI), I help them understand the Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP), and I help them understand sentence-mitigation strategies. Ultimately, the objective is to position the defendant for a successful journey. Defendants retain me to help them serve the lowest possible sentence in the best possible environment. Those who cannot afford to retain me for one-on-one consultations can always benefit from the lesson plans available through PrisonProfessor.com, or they may listen to the free podcasts available on Earning Freedom.

Through all of this work, defendants should see that there is life after a criminal indictment. The totality of my work should inspire anyone who faces time in prison. While serving multiple decades in prisons of every security level, I created opportunities to leave a meaningful, relevant life. Those strategies empowered me to continue a life of relevance upon my release. In today’s podcast, I provide some brief insight showing what I’m doing now. If a man can emerge successfully after serving 26 years in prison, just think what you can do!

Prison Consultant: Reading

People contact me when they anticipate that they may serve time. They’re looking for a prison consultant, someone who can provide guidance to help them through troubled times. Since I can only work with a few people on a one-on-one basis, I’ve created an abundance of content that is available at PrisonProfessor.com. The information I offer through that website helps defendants prepare for such issues as the Presentence Investigation Report (PSI), it helps them understand the Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP), Custody and Classification, the disciplinary code, and other matters. Through the Earning Freedom podcasts, each day I offer insight that also can help them through the prison journey.

Wade Danielson

Today I introduce readers to Wade Danielson. He doesn’t have any affiliation with the prison system. Rather, he is a successful entrepreneur. As a young man, he grew tired of working in corporate America and decided to launch his own venture. I spoke with him as he celebrated the anniversary of being in business for five years. During that short time, he built a business that advanced from startup to annual revenues in excess of $5 million.

Strategies Wade used to build a successful business can prove helpful to anyone. He describes reading as being essential to his success. Wade always reads with a pencil in hand, ready to take notes that will help him memorialize essential information. Wade loved reading so much that he decided to start a podcast. He calls his podcast the Entrepreneur’s Library. Through his podcast, Wade interviews authors of business and self-help books. Those conversations with authors serve his audience, but the interviews also empower Wade to make better business decisions.

If you’re embarking upon a prison term, I urge you to listen to Wade’s inspiring story. By exposing himself to great business literature, Wade says that he learns new techniques. They bring fulfillment to his life and keep him on track to achieving a higher potential. The secret to overcoming any challenge, whether it’s building a great business or overcoming a personal struggle, is to live deliberately. Wade’s commitment to reading sharpens his focus and contributes to his success. If you embrace reading, you’ll find that you too can become more successful—even if you must take a detour that includes prison.

The Entrepreneur Library Website

The Entrepreneur’s Library

Prison Consultant: Inspire Prisoners to Prepare

An effective prison consultant must inspire prisoners to prepare. Preparing for a prison journey requires much more than understanding the fact-finding process that takes place in the judicial system. Defense attorneys will navigate the guilt or innocence process. Defendants also must understand the presentence investigation report (PSI), which will have an enormous influence on the prison journey. In addition, defendants should understand the Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP)—the only program that can advance a release date. People who’ve been indicted should understand custody and classification systems. They should understand the disciplinary code, visiting, and every other aspect of the labyrinth known as the Bureau of Prisons. The more defendants know, the better they can prepare for a successful journey and return.

Prison Consultant: Income Opportunities

Statistics show that formerly incarcerated individuals face enormous challenges after they conclude their obligation to the Bureau of Prisons. In an effort to inspire them to prepare, I present ideas for them to consider. Today’s guest on the Earning Freedom podcast teaches strategies to build an independent income online. His name is Patrick Conlon.

Patrick hosts the popular podcast “Selling Online Today.” It’s a show devoted to small business owners who sell products online. Patrick has built a career in Ireland working with small business owners. He teaches those people how to supplement their income by understanding big platforms that include Amazon and Ebay. In today’s podcast, I interviewed Patrick to learn more about how members of our audience could incorporate techniques he teaches in their preparations for success.

We all would like to believe that we pay our debt to society and then we’re allowed to move forward. But people who emerge from prison face ongoing challenges. Employers may refuse to hire them. Lenders may refuse to extend credit. Prospective partners may resist doing business with someone who was convicted of a felony. That’s okay. Embrace the new reality. Listen to leaders like Patrick Conlon and learn how to succeed anyway. 

If you’ve been charged with a felony and anticipate that prison may become a part of your journey, then please listen and learn from the free Earning Freedom podcasts. Visit PrisonProfessor.com and learn from the inexpensive guides that will help you prepare. Or if you’d like one-on-one guidance, contact me. I have an unmatched depth and breadth of experience that will prove invaluable during these challenging times of your life.

Prison Consultant: Prepare Defendants for Lives of Relevance 

As a prison consultant, I strive to prepare defendants for relevance. With the one-on-one consulting, I teach clients strategies that lead to the lowest possible sanction and prepare them to serve time in the best possible environment. They learn crucial techniques to influence the presentence investigation report (PSI or PSR) and they learn how the Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP) can advance release dates for some defendants, even people convicted of white-collar crimes. But the depth and breadth of my experience allows me to do more. I also strive to prepare defendants for lives of relevance.

Keith Laszlo: Orange County Office of Education

With that end in mind, I invited Keith Laszlo to participate on today’s podcast. He is a true community leader, devoting his career to preparing youth for leadership. Since many people in prison aspire to improve opportunities for youth when they return to their communities, I wanted them to hear from Keith. In today’s podcast, Keith talks about the satisfaction he derives in working with youth who are vulnerable to challenges from the criminal justice system.

If you’ve been charged with a federal crime, and you anticipate that federal prison may be a possibility, then you owe it to yourself to learn everything you can about the journey ahead. Listen to free podcasts on Earning Freedom. Read the guides available through PrisonProfessor.com. Or if you want more personal assistance, reach out for your personal prison consultant. In your due diligence, you’ll find value in the depth and breadth of my experience. You can navigate your way through the challenges ahead and back to a life of relevance.