I was born December 17th, 1974 in Witchtafalls Texas. My father was in the Air Force, so we moved around bases a lot the first 5 years of my life. When I was just shy of my 2nd birthday we were shipped overseas to the Philippines. While there at the age of 3, I was bit by a mosquito carrying the Malaria virus. I ended up catching a Malaria infection that almost cost me my life. I had a fever that reached deadly temperatures and damaged my hearing nerves causing me to become profoundly deaf in both ears.
Growing up was rough as a deaf child. My parents divorced when I was 5. After that, my mother married 2 more times that dragged me through a life that had me moving 26 times by my 18th birthday. This meant new schools and new neighborhoods always trying to make new friends. This was not an easy process being a deaf individual. I was mainly enrolled into mainstream schools in every grade except 5th grade and 6th grade years. This was not easy to be in a hearing school as a deaf individual. I always had to sit in the front row and never did well in school. I started using drugs when I was 11 years old smoking marijuana with my uncle. By the time I reached 15 years old I have tried almost every drug there is. I was very athletic and was part of the football, wrestling, and track team in school. I was using my athletic ability and drugs to fit in and get others to accept me as their peer.
I graduated high school from Gibsonburg High School in Gibsonburg, Ohio June 6th of 1993. That following fall I enrolled into Gallaudet University in Washington D.C. Which is a liberal arts college for the deaf. This is where my drug use and dealing really took off and got more serious. In December of 1995, I hooked one friend up with another friend to buy some LSD. The buyer was working with a narcotics detective and wore a wire and set up one controlled buy. I was indicted for trafficking in drugs and received a 2 and 1/2-year sentence. At this time this was the only time I have ever been in trouble. I have never been in court for anything more than a traffic ticket and one month after I turned 21 years old I was in jail for the first time in my life and on my way to prison. Prison was meant to rehabilitate me but it was the total opposite. It was a crime school. I learned how to become a better criminal. How to do drugs. How to cook and manufacture drugs. How to maximize profits and network to become a successful drug dealer.
I would go to prison 2 more times for Drug Possession and Drug Trafficking. In 2005 I received a one year Sentence and in 2009 i received a 7 year sentence. Numerous times throughout the years i have tried to battle my drug addiction and overcome the demons that has weighed me down throughout my life. I was never once completely successful. The longest period of sobriety i had between the time i started using drugs at 11 years old and my arrest by the Feds on March 17th, 2021 was around 9 months. I just never had the tools or the knowledge of how to battle a drug addiction so my chance for success was slim to none. On March 17th, 2021, me and my wife were arrested and a month later indicted for possession of drugs with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. (My wife Raven Haslinger had a sole charge of Possession of a firearm by an unlawful drug user)
While I was being held in the county jail being booked I was so induced under the influence of Meth that I slept for 3 days straight. When I finally woke up and realized where I was at and why. I fell to my knees and reached out to God praying for help. I simply asked and made a promise to God that if He could get me off of drugs I will give him a chance. Now I didn’t have no bright lights in the sky or some kind of voice echo throughout the jail cell or some other kind of supernatural moment. But I do know that ever since then I never had a desire to do drugs again and a thirst to want to know Him on a whole new level. I was able to reach out to my Pastor who after about 2 months was able to get in touch with me and my wife while we were being detained. He sent me a Bible with a plan and I kept pushing forward into this new desire I had to stay clean and willingness to help others around me.
After about 4 months I finally was able to be released on bond to go to the Zepf Center. This is a drug rehabilitation center in Toledo Ohio, where they offer inpatient rehab along with all the outpatient resources too. I successfully completed every single program the Zepf Center had to offer. One full month inpatient rehab, one year sober living home. While I was in the sober living home I completed IOP(intensive outpatient), OP(outpatient), Weekly Counseling, Fatherhood, and Attended AA/NA meetings 3 times a week. I became an active member of my Pastor Joseph Reidling’s church. King’s Church located in Arcadia Ohio. I was involved in the community outreach programs where I gave testimony with other drug addicts or troubled youths. I worked with parents or other concerned family members and friends of drug addicts to help them navigate issues that would arise during the rehabilitation process of an individual’s drug rehabilitation. I was part of Kairos which is a Christian Program where several churches participated in going into the Toledo Penitentiary in Toledo Ohio and shared my testimony with inmates there. Also while at the sober living home in May of 2022. I completed a CDL truck driving course at Owens Community College in Oregon, Ohio. In July of that same year, I obtained my Class A CDL driver’s license and began working with Casey’s Transportation. This company later closed down and reopened as GlassCity Transportation. I am still considered an employee at GlassCity and am part of the company. Up to about September of 2022, me and my wife had a no contact order while our case was pending. After the no contact order was lifted we got married on January 15th 2023. She received a sentence of time served and 3 years of supervised release on April 6th 2022. On March 22 2023 I was sentenced to 148 months and was allowed to self surrender my self to the BOP prisons. I received notice to surrender to Milan FCI in Milan Michigan on June 20th 2023. I continued my driving duties until June 16th and have been here at Milan since June 20th. While here at Milan I have kept a journal, read books, and wrote book reports. I have completed one class called Stress Management. I am on the waiting list for 5 other classes but now I am waiting for my transfer to Ashland Camp. When I arrive at the camp I will reenroll in all the classes that I can. My goal is to continue what I have been doing working towards getting home confinement so I can get back to my Church, my family, my job and become a productive member of society.
