I’m a former defendant in the district of Massachusetts, I was charged in 2014 with securities fraud wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit security fraud at the time of my guilty plea. I had sentencing guidelines of 78 to 97 months with my cooperation and sense mitigation strategy, I earned a sentence of one year of home confinement. I’m grateful that I did not have to serve time in prison for clients that we work with today at Whitehall a consult where probation home confinement is not an option we’d like to provide information that may be helpful as they prepare to serve the prison sentence
Recently, I had an opportunity to speak with one of our clients who is preparing to leave prison over the next 1 to 2 months and make his way to a federal halfway house. Our client was involved in a very high-profile case where the government recommended a sentence of over 200 months. He was ultimately sentenced to just over seven years. With the residential drug and alcohol program as well as the First Step Act our client will serve in total just over 36 months.
Our client is someone that had never had any legal issues in the past. He had never been arrested and had no criminal record. He certainly had no idea what to expect when he reported to federal prison. Initially, he served the start of his time at a medium facility and is now finishing at a camp. When he was ultimately sentenced to prison, he had heard stories about a camp, being an easy place to serve his prison sentence, and he assumed that he would be serving his prison sentence with other white-collar inmates when he worked his way down to a camp. He assumed he would be in prison with people who have been convicted of securities, fraud, healthcare, fraud, mortgage, fraud, or PPP fraud. At the start of his sentence, these were many of the types of inmates that he was serving his time with. As time has gone on many of those inmates have been released or transferred to other facilities. Many inmates that my client is serving his time with are now drug offenders or drug users who were caught up in conspiracies. He told me in a recent call that this has been a tremendous challenge for him during his time at the camp. He has not had to worry about his safety or well-being, but the adjustment to community living and social interaction with these types of inmates has been very challenging. It is important to understand if you’re a white-collar offender, you are likely going to be spending time living with other types of inmates, whom you do not have experience interacting with. There will be people of different races, social, and economic backgrounds. Some people may portray themselves as high-level drug dealers, gang members, or other types of exaggerated personalities. These people may try to take advantage of someone who does not have experience and is timid. There is a way to interact in prison. With other inmates, it’s important that you prepare yourself. Preparation for prison is essential to help you serve your time successfully and productively as possible
Our client also talked with me this week extensively about the unknown coming into prison Things like how will I find a job? How much money can I spend monthly? How can I contact my family? What programs can I engage in that will help me to reduce my sentence? Lastly one of the issues that often comes up in prison is the question of being a cooperator and being asked to show other inmates your paperwork. Many inmates have 5k1 letters but this can still be frowned upon in prison. The advantages may in some cases outweigh the benefits. If you or a loved one is facing a prison sentence the fear of the unknown can be scary. With the right preparation and mindset, you can survive the experience, and return home to be productive in your career and family life.
