I remember the arresting officer on 8/28/2022 stating to me as they booked me in “So you had to wait till you were 65 to ever be arrested”. He thought of it as a joke, I thought of it as my worse nightmare. I had never been in prison, never been arrested before, and never had really ever been in trouble. I was petrified and scared to death of what I had in front of me. It has been the hardest mountain I have ever had to climb. And I’ve climbed some big ones (including Machu Picchu). To make matters worse my best friend and roommate of 10 years was arrested right alongside of me and is serving her own sentence twice that of mine. We had been almost inseparable during these 10 years and now can’t even talk to each other. Needless to say, it is all really hard. We got caught up in a real rough and tough Texas-style roundup, where there was more “ghost dope” than real dope. Thrown the book at and faced several conspiracy charges and were told to plead to one to save our necks. I just wished my attorney would have advised me that the one I would ultimately plead to would make me ineligible for FSA. If I had known that I would have never pleaded to that charge, in that I had six others I could have chosen from. As Mr. Santos goes about his advocacy work, maybe he can include that attorneys or Judges have a responsibility to defendants that their charge will preclude them from FSA and any chance of an early release. For time’s sake (literally) I will conclude my into by saying if it wasn’t for Mr. Santos’s book “Earning Freedom – Conquering a 45-year Prison Term” I’d still be lying in my bunk feeling sorry for myself, instead of responding to your request. And now had a little hope when I felt so hopeless. Thank You, Mr. Santos. BTW I hope by now you’ve received my handwritten letter.
Although somewhat bitter over my arrest, I choose not to dwell on it, take full responsibility for it and have already started preparing for the future where I will never have to be faced with something like this again. This whole thing has been a nightmare for me. I am a well educated man, have two Masters Degrees, one in Public Administration from California State University (with distinction) and one in Pastoral Studies from Loyola University in New Orleans. I had a very successful career in Public Service and than in Public Education. Retiring comfortably from both in early 2000. I am well traveled, having traveled to over 15 different countries and every State within the United States. So I am a better person than what this arrest reflects and I will strive to get back to the man I once was. A decent, good man with lots to still offer. I am working on writing a book that encapsulates all that has happened to me and what prison is like for a 66 year old man that has never been there before. Watch for it.
