I’m Jason Penney. I’m a devoted husband, a father of three beautiful children, and a man learning—sometimes the hard way—how to live with more truth than ego. I grew up in Cleveland in a home where survival came before innocence, and that shaped me more than I knew. By eighteen, I was on my own, selling cars to stay off the street, and chasing a kind of success that felt like safety. Over the years, I built businesses in lending and finance, but I also crossed ethical lines. I take full responsibility for that. What started as ambition turned into rationalization. I stopped asking the hard questions, and people got hurt. That’s on me.
But that’s not where the story ends. Since my indictment, I’ve taken every step I can to face the damage honestly and rebuild from a place of integrity. I’ve started writing, mentoring, and showing up with transparency for my wife and kids, who, by the way, are my greatest gift/teachers. My wife of 24 Beautiful years has been my rock, my heart, and my biggest supporter. She gives me peace, wisdom, and encouragement. My son, whom I am so proud of, has his criminal justice degree and is now in the Army as a Ranger. My oldest daughter, who is astonishing and full of ambition, is in the Air Force working towards pursuing “international intelligence”. My youngest daughter, who thrives in school, is also a firecracker volleyball player with more grit than I had at her age. If I can use my experience to help just one person avoid the mistakes I made, I’ll do it gladly. I don’t want applause. I just want to be useful.
I’m using this profile as a place to show my work—not polished, not perfect, but honest. I’ve started journaling regularly, not because I think I’m some great writer, but because it helps me stay accountable. It keeps me focused on growth, on learning, on doing the hard internal work I avoided for too long. I know that documenting this journey—my goals, my progress, my missteps—can help others see that I’m not just serving time, I’m using it to become better.
