“Carlos Watson: Visionary Entrepreneur Railroaded By Injustice”
Carlos Watson of OZY Media was recently interviewed by Brent Cassitydays before Carlos’s upcoming sentencing in the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Brent and Carlos are members of our White Collar Support Group that meets on Zoom on Monday evenings.
On this episode of Nightmare Success with Brent Cassity, we uncover the shocking story of Carlos Watson, the Silicon Valley entrepreneur behind OZY Media. After rejecting acquisition offers from BuzzFeed’s Ben Smith, Watson faced a media smear campaign, a controversial trial, and a conviction overseen by a judge with undisclosed financial ties to his adversaries. Join us as Watson shares his fight for justice and resilience against systemic bias, as chronicled in the documentary Whose Son Is Next? and Duke Professor David Robinson’s analysis of his case. Don’t miss this powerful story of perseverance and the quest for fairness.
We highly recommend Brent Cassity’s podcast, Nightmare Success, in which he interviews justice-impacted people from all walks of life. He is a White Collar Support Group member with a mission to be of service to our community. Please check it out on Spotify at or on your favorite podcast platform.
Sponsored by Progressive Prison Ministries/White Collar Support Group™. Start Here™. https://prisonist.org
“Starting Over: Out of Isolation and Into Community”
For those of you who missed our White Collar Conference 2024 on Sat., Oct. 19th, the videos are now up on YouTube. It was the first-ever conference by and for people prosecuted for white collar crimes and their families, friends, colleagues, clients and anyone in need.
I just watched the whole conference and it absolutely blew me away! Again!
The theme of the conference was “Starting Over: Out of Isolation and Into Community”. It is divided into four videos (the opening keynote/fireside chat and then three incredible panels) plus a mini-video on Reputation Management.
Below is the link to the first video, with opening remarks by Craig Stanland and a welcome by Jeff Grant, that sets the tone for a morning of impactful conversations. Following the opening, Brent Cassity, host of the Nightmare Success podcast, dives into a powerful keynote fireside chat with David Israel, Founder and CEO of GOOD PLANeT Foods. Together, they explore resilience, entrepreneurship, and life after incarceration, offering invaluable insights into overcoming adversity and finding purpose.
I hope you will join in and watch the entire White Collar Conference 2024 for all of the heartfelt stories, thoughtful advice, and life-changing takeaways. And please leave your thoughts and comments, they are most welcome and appreciated.
We highly recommend Brent Cassity’s podcast, Nightmare Success, in which he interviews justice-impacted people from all walks of life. He is a White Collar Support Group member with a mission to be of service to our community. Please check it out on Spotify at or on your favorite podcast platform.
Sponsored by Progressive Prison Ministries/White Collar Support Group™. Start Here™. https://prisonist.org
Lawyer Reveals Why He Went to Federal Prison, Life Inside & How He Got His Law License Back
Jeff Grant, a former lawyer who served time in federal prison, shares his unique journey from a successful legal career to incarceration and back.
In this episode, Jeff opens up about the circumstances that led to his conviction, what life was like inside federal prison, and the challenges he faced while fighting to restore his law license. Jeff’s story sheds light on the realities of the legal system, the impact of incarceration, and the power of second chances.
We highly recommend Brent Cassity’s podcast, Nightmare Success, in which he interviews justice-impacted people from all walks of life. He is a White Collar Support Group member with a mission to be of service to our community. Please check it out on Spotify at or on your favorite podcast platform.
Sponsored by Progressive Prison Ministries/White Collar Support Group™. Start Here™. https://prisonist.org
It’s hard to imagine former executives, investment fraudsters, and insider traders gathering for weekly support meetings.
When I first heard about a support group for white-collar criminals, I was skeptical. It sounded like an SNL sketch: former hedge fund managers, insider traders, and embezzlers sitting in a circle, sharing their woes. However, Jeff Grant, the founder of the White Collar Support Group, doesn’t see it that way. After serving time for his crimes, Grant emerged with a mission—to help others like him rebuild their lives, one meeting at a time. “I was lost,” he admits.
After his release from prison, Grant realized there was no blueprint for people like him to re-enter society. That’s why he founded the White Collar Support Group, a space for those prosecuted for financial crimes to navigate life after prison.
We highly recommend Brent Cassity’s podcast, Nightmare Success, in which he interviews justice-impacted people from all walks of life. He is a White Collar Support Group member with a mission to be of service to our community. Please check it out on Spotify at or on your favorite podcast platform.
Sponsored by Progressive Prison Ministries/White Collar Support Group™. Start Here™. https://prisonist.org
After battling opioid addiction and serving 14 months in federal prison for a white-collar crime, Jeff Grant rebuilt his life from the ground up. With a Master of Divinity in Social Ethics from Union Theological Seminary, he went on to serve as a minister and co-founded Progressive Prison Ministries, the world’s first ministry supporting the white-collar justice community.
With over 30 years of experience in crisis management, recovery, and leadership, Jeff helps individuals and families navigate white-collar prosecutions and rebuild meaningful lives. Known as “The Minister to Hedge Funders,” Jeff shares his journey of redemption, offering guidance to those seeking second chances and new purpose.
We highly recommend Brent Cassity’s podcast, Nightmare Success, in which he interviews justice-impacted people from all walks of life. He is a White Collar Support Group member with a mission to be of service to our community. Please check it out on Spotify at or on your favorite podcast platform.
Sponsored by Progressive Prison Ministries/White Collar Support Group™. Start Here™. https://prisonist.org
White Collar Week Tuesday Speaker Series: Jason Bowles, Esq., Criminal Defense Attorney for “Rust” Armorer Hannah Gutierrez on Zoom, Apr. 2, 2024, 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT. Start Here™.
We are honored to have Jason Bowles, Esq. as our special speaker in our White Collar Support Group™ Tuesday Speaker Series. Open to all!
Jason is the criminal defense attorney in Albuquerque NM who represented Hanna Gutierrez, the armorer in the Rust movie case. This should be fascinating and full of information about the criminal justice legal system!
He has been lead counsel in over 75 trials in federal, state and military courts, both criminal and civil trials. Most recently, Jason tried a medical malpractice case in state court in New Mexico, and achieved a multi-million dollar verdict for his client. Mr. Bowles has also handled over 40 appeals in state and federal courts in New Mexico, Texas and the District of Columbia.
Jason spent five years as a federal prosecutor and worked on complex fraud, smuggling and tax cases. Now as a private defense counsel for almost 20 years, he has represented individuals in some of the highest profile cases in the district of New Mexico, including prosecutions of the former Treasurer of the State of New Mexico, an individual charged in fraud in the building of the metropolitan courthouse, very significant and complex tax prosecutions, and several financial and banking cases, whether brought by individual U.S. Attorney’s Offices or the Department of Justice.
Jeff Grant’s Remarkable Recovery from Addiction and His Return from Federal Prison, to the Life of the Law
NEW YORK, NY, USA, February 23, 2024. After overcoming a personal battle with addiction to prescription opioids and serving nearly fourteen months in a Federal prison for a white-collar crime, Jeff Grant has emerged with a new purpose. He has founded GrantLaw, PLLC, a law firm in New York City that offers private general counsel services to clients facing or who have previously faced white-collar prosecutions and regulatory proceedings, as well as their companies and families.
Grant’s journey to founding GrantLaw, PLLC has been a long and challenging one. After struggling with addiction and serving time in prison, he has emerged with a new perspective and a desire to help others facing similar challenges. After earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in NYC, he co-founded Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. and the White Collar Support Group (Greenwich, CT), the world’s first support group devoted to people navigating the white collar criminal justice system. He was reinstated to the New York Bar in 2021. With his unique background and experience, Grant is able to provide a level of understanding and empathy that is often lacking in traditional law firms.
Grant recently was interviewed on the JustPod, the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Podcast hosted by lawyers Justin Danilewitz and Geonard Butler. “It takes about 3 hours to drive from Greenwich, Connecticut to the Federal Correctional Institution, Allenwood Low in Pennsylvania. Jeffrey D. Grant knows this because he took that drive on an Easter Sunday in 2006. A lawyer whose life has taken a wrong turn on the road to addiction, Jeff Grant left the upscale life he had cultivated in Connecticut to enter what would be his new home for the duration of his 18-month Federal criminal sentence,” stated Danilewitz. He added, ” Jeff was released from custody in 2007 and was able to recover from addiction, obtain a divinity degree, co-found the world’s first White Collar Support Group and found GrantLaw, PLLC, a law firm providing general counsel services to people navigation the white collar criminal justice system and their families and businesses…”
GrantLaw, PLLC is not your typical law firm. It offers a holistic approach to legal services, taking into account the personal and emotional toll that white-collar prosecutions and regulatory proceedings can have on individuals and their families. The firm also offers support and guidance for companies facing these types of legal challenges, recognizing the impact they can have on the entire organization.
According to New Yorker Staff Reporter Evan Osnos, “Jeff Grant is the real deal… I can’t imagine there is a lawyer in this country more qualified to consider the complex issues facing people prosecuted for white collar crimes and their families.”
Grant’s ultimate goal with GrantLaw, PLLC is to help individuals and companies navigate the complex legal landscape of white-collar crime and regulatory proceedings with compassion and understanding. He hopes to use his personal experience to not only provide legal counsel, but also to inspire and support others who may be going through similar struggles.
Grant is member of the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, the New York City Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Social Impact Entertainment Society. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Legal Action Center (NYC), is Co-Chair of the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section Reentry & Collateral Consequences Committee, and is a member of the American Bar Association Advisory Committee on Legal Assistance Programs.
For more information on GrantLaw, PLLC and the services they offer, please visit their website at www.grantlaw.com. Grant is also available for interviews and speaking engagements to share his story and discuss the unique approach of his law firm.
Watch Our New Start Here™ Video. White Collar Support Group™ 400th Meeting, Mon., Feb. 19, 2024, 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT
Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., the world’s first ministry devoted to serving people prosecuted for white collar crimes and their families, will hold its 400th weekly White Collar Support Group™ meeting online on Zoom this Monday, February 19, 2024, 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT. It is open to those directly justice-impacted only. Newcomers should register at prisonist.org/contact.
WEST PALM BEACH, FL, February 13th: Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., the world’s first ministry devoted to serving people prosecuted for white collar crimes and their families, will hold its 400th weekly White Collar Support Group™ meeting online on Zoom this Monday, February 19, 2024, 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT. It is open to those directly justice-impacted only. Newcomers should register at prisonist.org/contact.
Co-founded by husband and wife, ordained minister and white collar attorney, Jeff Grant (Jeffrey D. Grant, Esq.) and Lynn Springer in Greenwich, CT, the White Collar Support Group™ held its first meeting online in 2016. Since then, over the past 8 years, the support group has had over 900 participants from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Israel, South America and the Caribbean.
Progressive Prison Ministries’ goal is to provide practical information, and spiritual and emotional support, to those who are feeling alone, isolated, and hopeless while navigating the white collar criminal justice system. Its objective is to provide guidance in finding a path to a healthy, reinvented life on the other side of what may seem like insurmountable problems.
Meetings are held online weekly on Mondays on Zoom beginning at 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT and last approximately 75 minutes. Each meeting is centered on a relevant topic such as preparing for prison, family issues, finances, careers after prison, conquering fear, mental health and substance abuse, etc. Members are given the opportunity to reflect on and share their experiences, to ask questions, and are encouraged to embrace group newcomers. The support group continues to grow with each weekly gathering.
“The White Collar Support Group™ ’s purpose is bring people out of the isolation that is destroying them, and into a supportive community that provides solutions. At the end of the day, if we can help people untangle themselves from their myriad problems and find a clear path to a successful, productive and joyous life, that’s a success story,” said Grant. “We have found that things go much easier, and better outcomes can be reached, when people with white collar criminal justice issues reach out to us early in their journeys – when they make us their first call – before they’ve made too many mistakes and used up too much of their precious resources. It’s the reason why, to celebrate our 400th meeting and the beginning of our ninth year, our new outreach initiative is called, ‘Start Here™’,” Grant added.
White Collar Support Group™ Deputy Director William Livolsi (Bill) agrees. Livolsi pointed out, “we don’t give advice; we share our collective experience. We have hundreds of support group members who give of themselves freely and share their time and resources with each other. It’s a beautiful, and extremely helpful, way to learn, grow, and get through the most difficult times of families’ lives.”
The support group and community have been featured in many national and regional media, including the New Yorker, Entrepreneur,Reuters, Forbes and Greenwich Magazine, as well as major podcasts such as The Rich Roll Podcast. Grant has also been a Main Stage presenter at prestigious conferences such as The Nantucket Project. In addition to being a popular interviewee, Grant has helped thousands of his community members navigate their past and push towards re-establishing themselves as productive contributors to society.
With both Law and Master of Divinity degrees, Grant provides a unique perspective of understanding about what community members are coping with and facing ahead of them. Grant himself spent almost 14 months in a Federal prison for a white collar crime he committed in 2001. In 2021, Grant’s law license was reinstated by the New York Supreme Court (GrantLaw.com).
According to Evan Osnos, writer/reporter for The New Yorker, “Jeff Grant is the real deal… I can’t imagine there is a lawyer in this country more qualified to consider the complex issues facing people prosecuted for white collar crimes and their families.”
Former Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams, who served time in a Federal prison and is a member of the White Collar Support Group™ , said, “the group is a network of welcoming, non-judgmental, and understanding men and women who share their similar experiences in an open and nurturing environment.”
Complementing the weekly meetings is a blog on the ministry’s widely regarded site, prisonist.org, where materials are published for community members to learn more about white collar criminal justice issues. Its White Collar Week podcast has also become a critical source for this community, providing a platform for sector experts and for those that have gone through the journey. Guests have included current and former politicians, financial executives, white collar criminal defense attorneys, federal agents, judges, Hollywood producers and more.
About Progressive Prison Ministries: Established in 2013 in Greenwich, CT, Progressive Prison Ministries is the world’s first ministry devoted to serving people prosecuted for white collar crimes and their families. More information is available on its website at prisonist.org. Start Here™.
White Collar Support Group™ 400th Meeting Video Reflection, Lynn Springer. Start Here.
400th Meeting, Online on Zoom, Monday, Feb. 19th, 7 pm ET, 6 pm CT, 5 pm MT, 4 pm PT. Open to those directly justice impacted only. Please join us for the reunion and feel free to share with clients, colleagues, friends, family members or anyone in need.
