I was an asshole, yes, and I did illegal shit, no doubt.
But I was never violent- ever- and I always prided myself on a rigorous level of self-discipline. I was also a Catholic school boy and a college graduate. Yet, my ass still wound up in prison. For shit that could’ve easily been avoided.
But even the best plans, the tightest control, can fail.
Things fall apart.
No matter- my time was almost up. I was hitting the five-year mark and it made no sense to keep running through it all, like a movie on endless loop. What happened, happened and all I could do was move forward.
And I did try to use my time as best I could. Luckily, I was in Federal prison, and they stepped me down to Minimum Security after I completed the first year of my sentence, which meant I could enroll in a secondary education program.
I was going to walk out of that piece with a master’s degree from the best accredited university they offered- paid for by someone who owed me a huge debt.
My release date was right around the corner- January 2007.
