I am a 29 year old father of two wonderful boys both under age three and a beautiful girl. Growing up I was a straight-A student. In college, I was a NCAA Division 1 athlete who graduated with my bachelor’s with double majors in accounting and finance. While in college my father passed away and I worked two jobs, met my obligations as a student-athlete, worked a full-time job, and graduated with athletic honors. Many doors opened up for me upon my graduation where I accepted a position at an investment bank in Chicago. I quickly rose the corporate ladder and within a few years started my own trading company. Within the first year of launching my trading company, I was winning awards for successful trading but when the stock market crashed during the COVID-19 pandemic I found myself on the verge of bankruptcy. I went back to school where I earned an MBA. While doing my MBA my girlfriend informed me she was pregnant. I then made the horrible mistake of aligning myself with a cryptocurrency-based hedge fund. In the months after my firstborn’s birth I traveled the world promoting an algorithm that ultimately financially harmed tens of thousands as we raised over 100 million. After realizing my mistake and criminal exposure, I tried to help law enforcement, financial authorities, and a related class action lawsuit in an attempt to recover money for the victims. While awaiting sentencing I was accepted into a PhD program and I completed a software engineering boot camp. Over the last 10 months I’ve been incarcerated I’ve spent nearly every day trying to better myself despite the many limitations prison entails. I’m currently in RDAP where I’m learning to better myself and stay away from the drugs that clouded my thinking and aided in my path towards a prison cell. Every day I focus on how I’m going to be a better member of society upon my release and how I’m going to set an example for my children and be a committed husband.
