Michigan State University White-Collar Crime Conference
2020 White-Collar Crime Conference, May 28th and 29th
The College of Social Science and the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University invite you to attend the 2020 White-Collar Crime Conference, to be held May 28th and 29th at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center in East Lansing, Michigan. This two-day conference will feature the diverse perspectives of speakers from academia, industry and law enforcement, as well as formerly incarcerated individuals.
A limited number of rooms have been reserved at the Kellogg Hotel for conference attendees at a special conference room rate. The conference website will be active in early January 2020 – conference registration and hotel bookings can be made through the site once active.
Parking for May 28th and 29th in the Kellogg Center parking garage
Morning and afternoon snacks on both days
Lunch both days
Speakers and further details will be posted as information becomes available.
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Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div.is an ordained minister with over three decades of experience in crisis management, business, law, reentry, recovery (clean & sober 17+ years), and executive & religious leadership. Sometimes referred to in the press as “The Minister to Hedge Funders,” he uses his experience and background to guide people faithfully forward in their lives, relationships, careers and business opportunities, and to help them to stop making the kinds of decisions that previously resulted in loss, suffering and shame.
After an addiction to prescription opioids and serving almost fourteen months in a Federal prison for a white-collar crime he committed when he was a lawyer, Jeff started his own reentry – earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York with a focus in Christian Social Ethics. He is Co-Founder of Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., the world’s first ministry supporting the white collar justice/economy exiled community. Jeff is the first person in the United States formerly incarcerated for a white collar crime to be appointed as CEO of a major criminal justice organization.
As an ordained minister, conversations and communications between Jeff and those he serves fall under clergy privilege laws. This is one reason that attorneys often allow and encourage their clients to maintain relationships with Jeff while in active prosecution or litigation situations.
Thef Prince George’s County, Maryland native earned a degree from Yale Law School, lives in New Haven, serves on the state’s Criminal Justice Commission, and is the author of the new book Felon. Betts said his career as a poet dates back to 1998.
He was still a teenager at the time. Betts had pleaded guilty to felony armed carjacking charges as a 16-year-old in 1996, was tried and convicted as an adult, and was at the beginning of what would turn out to be nine years bouncing between a handful of adult prisons throughout his late teens and early 20s.
The fateful literary encounter that propelled him on his journey to become a poet took place in the midst of a six-month stint in solitary confinement, he said, his third such isolation during his time behind bars thus far.
Someone slipped under his door a copy of The Black Poets, an anthology of African American poetry edited by the Detroit publisher and poet Dudley Randall.
Included in that collection were several poems by Etheridge Knight, an African American man and Korea War veteran who wrote poetry from behind bars in Indiana in the 1960s.
“I’m like, ‘Wait,’” Betts recalled upon first reading the anthology. “Etheridge Knight did time in prison. Then he became a poet. And he’s in this book. And I just told myself, I’m gonna be a poet. And that’s when I started writing poetry really seriously. That was 1998. And from that point on, I’ve been a poet.”
Thomas Breen photo, Betts (center) with WNHH hosts Jeff Grant and Babz Rawls-Ivy.
Betts said he was a big reader even before he went to prison.
After he was sent to prison, he devoured more short stories and essays by James Baldwin and read cover-to-cover Ernest Gaines’s A Lesson Before Dying.
“I told myself I would be a writer,” he remembered, “and that’s the thing that saved me. I was young enough and fool enough to not even know what that meant.”
The books he read before and during prison inspired in him a confidence in his literary talent and in his ability to succeed in the world that many teachers in high school missed, he said. He remembered one AP History teacher giving him the nickname “Smoky” after Betts was caught smoking a blunt before class one day. A better teacher would have asked why he was resorting to smoking so much weed as a teenager, he said, and what he was trying to hide from or suppress. This teacher only reinforced that negative sense of self, he said, if even in a small and seemingly trivial way.
Betts said he aspires through his own poetry to encourage readers to reflect critically upon the African American experience, the American criminal justice system, and the challenges formerly incarcerated people have in reintegrating into a society that often denies them work, housing, and rehabilitation.
He said his poetry also helps him come to terms with the very real trauma he likely inflicted on the victim of his crime, who was not injured during the carjacking but nevertheless had a gun waved in his face by a stranger.
“Prison and incarceration so saturate my understanding of the black experience that I haven’t figured out a way to write outside of that,” Betts said.
“You need stories to survive. You need stories that are able to inform where your steps might be, and where your steps shouldn’t be.” These stories, he said, should help point towards a better life.
See below for an excerpt from Felon. Click on the Facebook Live video at the bottom of this article to watch the full interview on “Criminal Justice Insider.”
ESSAY ON REENTRY
At two a.m., without enough spirits spilling into my liver to know to keep my mouth shut, my youngest learned of years I spent inside a box: a spell, a kind of incantation I was under; not whisky, but History: I robbed a man. This, months before he would drop bucket after bucket on opposing players, the entire bedraggled bunch fine & six & he leaping as if every lay-up erases something. That’s how I saw it, my screaming-coaching-sweating presence recompense for the pen. My father has never seen me play ball is part of this. My oldest knew, told of my crimes by a stranger. Tell me we aren’t running towards failure is what I want to ask my sons, but it is two in the a.m. The oldest has gone off to dream in the comfort of his room, the youngest despite him seeming more lucid than me, just reflects cartoons back from his eyes. So when he tells me, Daddy it’s okay, I know what’s happening is some straggling angel, lost from his pack finding a way to fulfill his duty, lending words to this kid who crawls into my arms, wanting, more than stories of my prison, the sleep that he fought while I held court at a bar with men who knew that when the drinking was done, the drinking wouldn’t make the stories we brought home any easier to tell.
“Criminal Justice Insider” is sponsored by The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.
The U.S. Small Business Administration invites you to learn from small business owners and state professionals who have found success by exploring new pools of talent in their communities. These innovative businesses now include employees with disabilities, re-entry program participants and foster youth who are transitioning into independence by working in collaboration with the State of Connecticut and other partner agencies.
Who: Hiring agents of employees w/ disabilities, formerly incarcerated individuals, and foster youth who are transitioning into independence.
What: Workforce Inclusivity / Workforce Development Seminar, consider untapped sources of talent in your community!
When: Thursday, December 12, 2019 8:30am -12:00pm
Where: Fairfield University/ Dolan School of Business, Dolan Events Hall 1073 N Benson Rd. Fairfield, CT 06824
Register/Reasonable Accommodations: Please register to attend by December 9th, 2019 athttps://tinyurl.com/qodzq92. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least 5 days prior to the event. Contact[email protected]or call (860) 240-4654.
Program and speaker list to be announced shortly.
Criminal Justice Advocates Jacqueline Polverari & Jeff Grant
Please join us on Friday, Feb. 21, 2020, 9 am ET, when Larry Levine, Talk Show Host & Criminal Justice Consultant, will be our guest on Criminal Justice Insider with Babz Rawls Ivy & Jeff Grant – The Voice of CT Criminal Justice. Live on WNHH 103.5 FM New Haven, rebroadcast at 5 pm. Live-streamed and podcast everywhere, see below. Sponsored by the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven – Now More Than Ever.
Larry Levine is former 10-year Federal Inmate who is now Director of Wall Street Prison Consultants and Coaching, and has been a contributor to CNN, Fox, MSNBC, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and several major news organizations providing expert information on Federal Prison and what people experience when incarcerated. MUCH MORE MORE ON LARRY LEVINE BELOW! PLEASE SCROLL DOWN!
Listen on SoundCloud:
Watch on YouTube:
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The Criminal Justice Insider Podcast with Babz Rawls Ivy and Jeff Grant is broadcast live at 9 am ET on the first and third Friday of each month Sept. through June, from the WNHH 103.5 FM studios in New Haven. It is rebroadcast on WNHH at 5 pm ET the same day. Podcast and Archive available all the time, everywhere.
Fri., Sept. 6, 2019: Khalil Cumberbatch*, Chief Strategist at New Yorkers United for Justice
Fri., Sept. 20, 2019: Aaron T. Kinzel*, Lecturer in Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Michigan-Dearborn
Fri., Oct. 4, 2019: Charlie Grady, Outreach Specialist for the FBI CT Community Outreach Program
Fri., Oct. 18, 2019: Michael Kimelman*, Former Hedge Funder and Author of Confessions of a Wall Street Insider: A Cautionary Tale of Rats, Feds, and Banksters
Fri., Nov. 1, 2019: Corey Brinson*, Former Attorney Convicted for a White Collar Crime who is running for Hartford City Council
Fri., Nov. 15, 2019: Cathryn Lavery, Ph.D., Asst. Chair & Graduate Coordinator for the Iona College Criminal Justice Department
Fri., Dec. 6, 2019: “Free Prison Phone Calls” Show, Guests CT Rep. Josh Elliott & Tiheba Bain*
Fri. Dec. 20, 2019: John Hamilton, CEO, Liberation Programs
Fri., Jan. 3, 2020: Reginald Dwayne Betts*, Lawyer, Poet, Lecturer on Mass Incarceration
Fri., Jan. 17, 2020: Serena Ligouri*, Executive Director, New Hour for Women & Children — L.I.
Fri., Feb. 7, 2020: David Garlock*, Program Director, New Person Ministries, Lancaster, PA
Fri,. Feb. 20, 2020: Larry Levine*, Talk Show Host & Criminal Justice Consultant
Fri,. Mar. 6, 2020: Hans Hallundbaek, Interfaith Prison Partnership
Fri., Mar. 20, 2020: Tiheba Bain*, Women’s Incarceration Advocate
Fri., Apr. 3, 2020: Rev. Dr. Harold Dean Trulear*, Director, Healing Communities Prison Ministry
Thurs., Apr. 16, 2020, 6:30 pm: Live Onstage at Iona College, New Rochelle, NY, Special Guests to be Announced
Fri., Apr. 17, 2020: Inaugural Inductees* of the CT Hall of Change & Charlie Grady, Founder
Fri., May 1, 2020: Eilene Zimmerman, Author of the New Book, “Smacked: A Story of White Collar Ambition, Addiction & Tragedy”
Fri., May 15, 2020: Fran Pastore, CEO, Women’s Business Development Council
Fri., June 5, 2020: Children of Incarcerated Parents Show, Guests Aileen Keays & Melissa Tanis
Sponsored by the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven – Now More Than Ever.
How does anyone become the premier expert in the world in their chosen field? To accomplish so rare a feat, it helps to have relentless energy, an extraordinary work ethic, no fear of failure, and at least a decade of hands-on experience. Each of these attributes clearly apply to Larry Jay Levine – the world’s premier expert in federal prison consultation.
And just how would one gain ‘at least a decade of hands-on experience’ in the field of federal prisons? Simple – by spending 10 years as an inmate in 11 of them – from high security on down to medium, low, and finally, minimum security. “It could have been worse,” says Levine. “My ex-wife wrote a letter to the court with information on crimes even the prosecutors didn’t know about. Luckily, the statute of limitations had already passed.”
The Incarceration, A New Beginning
As described on one of Levine’s several websites, he was a Private Investigator in Los Angeles, California before entering federal custody in 1998. He also reveals that, in truth, he was working as an ‘efficiency expert’ for the mob when arrested by an FBI and Secret Service-led Task Force on charges of narcotics trafficking, securities fraud, racketeering, obstruction of justice and possession of a machine gun.
“On my day of sentencing,” he recalls, “the judge slammed down his gavel, had me chained and shackled, and sentenced me to two, 10-year concurrent terms in federal prison.” His first 21 months were spent at the high-rise Federal Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in downtown Los Angeles, and over the next decade, he was shuttled off to 10 more federal correctional institutions of multiple custody & security levels in 5 different states.
Oftentimes, incarceration is the sad end of a person’s story. For Levine though, it was the fortuitous beginning of his newly inspired life. “While incarcerated,” he says, “I experienced firsthand the confusion and dangers first time offender’s face when entering federal custody. I was in the same position prison-bound people face today: scared, confused and overwhelmed by a criminal justice system I knew little about. I had no idea what to expect, no one to turn to, and was completely on my own.”
The Inmate, the Student
“Most inmates spend their time watching TV, playing cards, and jerking off,” he brashly says. In other words, they fritter their time away. “Instead, I spent my time in the prison law library.”
As Levine studied the law, he learned how the system works, or was supposed to work. Staying close to his cell, and the library, he minded his own business, was respectful and cordial to others, listened a lot and spoke as little as possible. “I didn’t get caught up in the drama,” he says. “Instead, I flew under the radar, and in ten years I had zero physical altercations. Zero. That’s unheard of, no one bothered with me.”
He observed prisoners being given the run-around and fed misinformation by predatory inmates and uncaring Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) staff members. “Like all federal bureaucracies,” he says, “the BOP operates with its own very complex set of rules called ‘Program Statements.’ The only problem is, prison staff routinely fail to follow them. The staff sets the tone in the prison, and when they make up their own rules at a whim, it creates additional chaos and confusion in the lives of inmates.”
As Levine traveled from one dysfunctional prison to another, he continued to read case studies and self-educate in criminal law. The more knowledge he gained, the more he learned how to fight back and win, always working within the rules.
“Absolutely, they will screw people in the prison system,” he says, “but not me. I knew the game better than they did. I put the staff on notice, this is between me and D.C., not you. Word soon got around, ‘do not engage this inmate, he knows policy better than you’.”Levine was never a troublemaker, which can only earn an inmate diminished privileges and even solitary confinement. Instead, he was a strategic thinker. Because of his knowledge of the system, he became a “management problem.” He would warn them to “follow your own policy,” while often informing staff members precisely what their policies were.
The Inmate, the Legal Adviser
With no formal background in the law, Levine began explaining criminal defense strategies to his fellow inmates and filing habeas corpus petitions on their behalf. As his successes built, so too did his confidence. He advised them on medical care and visitation rights, how to possibly reduce their federal sentences, request a transfer to a lower security center, secure a better job, and apply for extra halfway house time or a furlough.
Importantly, he also coached strategies for effective prisoner behavior. “The primary objective,” he told them, “is to think beyond your incarceration.” In the meantime, he taught methods for protecting themselves and surviving life behind bars. “To do that,” he’d say, “you need to know internal policies and how to effectively deal with BOP staff.”
In a March 2018 interview with Leslie Albrecht of the Wall Street Journal Market Watch, he described using the classic business school tool S.W.O.T. – an acronym for assessing your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and then acting accordingly. He advised using this technique to “take control of what seems like uncontrollable situations in prison by using your brain.”
While at FCI La Tuna, Texas, Levine single-handedly filed a Class Action Habeas Corpus petition in El Paso Federal Court against the Department of Justice and Bureau of Prisons, claiming they and violated their own administrative policies by sending the transferred inmates to higher custody. Due to his actions, the DOJ was forced to act, and transferred hundreds of prisoners from Texas back to the West Coast to conform with the claims in his lawsuit.
Levine is convinced that the help he was giving his fellow inmates was a main factor in his regular movement from prison to prison. After all, the less educated the prisoner, the less threatened the staff. But it didn’t stop him and he selflessly provided advice and guidance, while at the same time honing his future craft, until his final movement – from the suffocating inside to the invigorating breath of freedom.
Freedom, the Invigorating Rebirth
In 2007, like a prize thoroughbred biting his bit in anticipation of the gate finally opening, Levine burst through and onto the legitimate business world’s fast track, assimilating into society like never before. “I was prepared,” he says, “and I hit the ground running.” He immediately founded American Prison Consultants and put his extensive legal training and experiences to good use by educating and defending the previously unrepresented.
“If you’re afraid, and the thought of going to prison scares the hell out of you, you’re not alone,” began his case to prospective clients. “Prisons are dangerous places,” he continued, “and having knowledge about prison policies, prison gangs, and the politics of prison life, are the keys to surviving successfully on the inside and coming home safely.”
He focused on the federal corrections system because that’s what he knew best. “There are 123 federal prisons across the U.S. and their policies are the same everywhere. The indicted get bond, they have money, they need my help.”His services centered around the trademarked ‘Fed Time 101’ prison survival educational courses (called modules), include advising on how to cope, survive and thrive in such unfamiliar territory. “Expect a total loss of privacy, including strip searches,” he tells his clients, advising them to be “quiet, respectful and observant.” He coaches them to “learn prison guard personality types” and how best to avoid getting “beaten, stabbed or raped.”
In addition to online courses, he offers various levels of customized services (e.g. Bronze, Silver, Gold, etc.), which may include offering insight and advice to his client’s attorney, lobbying a judge for a lighter sentence or a lower level security prison, and negotiating RDAP – entry into a drug or alcohol rehabilitation program which can lower a sentence by up to 12 months.
Levine understands first-hand the needs and concerns of the newly sentenced and quickly becomes a trusted voice to many.
“As usual, the big winners are the lawyers,” he says without hiding his sneer. “Most of them representing the accused couldn’t care less about their client. They work their 10 hours, get them pled out and behind bars as soon as possible.” As for the newly incarcerated, he says, “Many of them don’t even know their rights, and are completely unprepared for what happens next. I try to help them avoid that. They trust me, not their lawyers.”
White Collar Crime, the Growing Epidemic
In his early years as a prison consultant, Levine typically advised those accused of non-violent, narcotics-related transgressions. It was a noble cause and made for a good living. At the turn of the century, however, the business opportunity multiplied exponentially. It was the tail end of a twenty year financial market expansion. Lax regulations and greed-related excesses saw fraudulent behavior running rampant, first in the ‘dot.com’ bust of 2000-02, and again five years later when historic mortgage and securities fraud caused the near-collapse of the global financial system.
“It’s 2008 and I’m driving on the LA Freeway, stuck in traffic, as usual,” starts Levine. “I’m listening to the business news on the radio. Wall Street in chaos, the market melting down, mortgage falsifications and collusion everywhere. Then the Bernie Madoff news breaks. By the end of the day, I had created Wall Street Prison Consultants.”The Wall Street shenanigans had created a whole new wave of white collar clientele seeking out his services. With new prison consulting competitors regularly joining the fray, Levine was getting more than his share. None of the rivals could match his unique combination of inside experience, knowledge of the criminal justice and prison systems, and outsized personality.
Other than marketing through his various websites and other social media outlets, he doesn’t solicit business. “It’s all word of mouth,” he says. “These people and their lawyers know where to find me. And if they’re not interested, best of luck to them. My phone is ringing off the hook with or without them.”
The Expert Witness
Whenever a high profile (e.g. celebrity) criminal trial or prison sentence is in the headlines, which seems to be regularly, the networks have one ‘expert witness’ in the front of their rolodex – Larry Levine. He appears regularly on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, Bloomberg, HLN, and other media outlets.
Recently, he built a mini-broadcast studio in the back of his office. “If they want me on CNN at 8 a.m. eastern,” he says, “it’s 5 a.m. in LA. It was an easy decision.”
Why is he so popular a guest? “I’m someone who really knows the inside,” he says. “I don’t play favorites. I tell it like it is.”
Anyone who’s checked out his past network appearances on YouTube will easily concur. While he is clearly an expert relating to criminal justice and prison system issues, he’s also a bold and highly-entertaining guest, often leaving the host nearly speechless. When the camera starts rolling, there’s no pretense or political correctness about Levine. The only role he’s playing is his true self. As evidence, here are a few snippets of his comments on varying cases:
“The higher profile a prisoner is, especially celebrities or rich guys, the more at risk they are once they go in. They’re going to need protection, so they should try to make friends with the prison guards, but without being obvious.”
“Famous inmates will get the most demeaning jobs, like cleaning the trash cans and pots and pans. Cleaning the prison shower is the worst. It’s disgusting. In prison, just like the real world, it’s not only what you know, it’s who you know. You have to know someone who can direct you to the best jobs. Pushing paper in an air-conditioned office – that’s the prize.”
His take on notable Ponzi scheme criminal, Bernie Madoff, as relayed on several networks in 2009, gives us an intriguing view on what his life is like “on the inside.” “Stealing money from a bank or insurance company, that’s considered okay. But stealing money from regular people, especially that amount of money – no way. The guy is an economic terrorist and that’s unacceptable. I wouldn’t help him, and I don’t help people like him. He’s going from the penthouse to the big house, and I say good riddance.”
“Madoff should be in a minimum security prison, essentially a camp. But the amount he stole takes him off the sentencing charts. He’ll end up in medium security, living in a cell, and there will be a long line of dangerous people who would love to spend a few minutes alone with him. Many of them have no ‘out date,’ meaning they’re never getting out anyway, so there’s no risk for them.”
“Child molesters, referred to as ‘chomos,’ are the lowest of the low in prison. The other inmates hate them and will be trying to take them out. Guys like Jerry Sandusky, or Jared Fogle, you know, the Subway guy, had better be kept in solitary confinement, or they’ll find them dead one day, and it won’t be pretty. It’s called ‘escape by death’.”
“Rats (i.e. informants) are also hated, and there was no bigger rat than Boston mob boss, Whitey Bulger. He was a psychopath, a ruthless killer, incarcerated in 2013. It took a few years, but when they finally got to him, they gouged his eyes out and ripped his tongue out. The message was clear to anyone else who’s considering becoming an informant – if you do, you won’t have eyes to see anything, and you won’t have the tongue to be a rat.”
“This Chris Watts guy who killed his own family – pregnant wife, two young daughters – he’s even worse off, a dead man walking. He probably won’t last a year, and it won’t matter where they try to hide him.”
Facing Adversity and Winning Big
Levine learned self-reliance early on, including joining the military directly out of high school. “I was on my own,” he recalls. “I didn’t rely on anyone. I’ve never asked for help and I never will.”
“My criminal indictment is the high point of my life,” he says. “I was going to die out there. When I was inside, I had stents put in, got my head straight, and turned my life into a big ‘f…ing’ positive. I’m 57 years old – I have my whole life ahead of me. Now I’m helping people. I get paid well to be an asshole.”
Some family members are proud of what he’s accomplished, he says, while others are not. A few are even jealous, he says, and he has a theory as to why. “My success makes some people look at their own pitiful lives – their stagnant, unaccomplished lives – and they blame everyone but themselves, including the ex-con who’s doing great.”
Levine has advice for the nay-sayers: “Stop being so stupid. Stop with the whining and blaming. Instead, take a look directly in your mirror. There’s your problem. Use your brain, get to work, go out and change your life. I have no tolerance for stupidity.”
The Full Blown Entrepreneur
This fearless guy has been transforming rapidly into a full-blown entrepreneur. To his thriving consultancy business and expert witness role, you can add hosting a weekly radio program called ‘Street Justice,’ accessed on several internet radio sites. He also owns Moorpark Survival, a retail survival store, and a telephone company which offers inmates in some federal detention centers discounted telephone calls.
To the question, ‘Why the survival store?’ he retorts, “Have you noticed how dangerous it is out there lately?” Mea culpa. “Besides,” he explains, “whether you’re on the inside or out here, the theme’s the same, it’s about survival.”
As for the telephone company, it’s another way he’s helping inmates. “Every inmate gets a certain amount of phone minutes per month,” he says, “and they give some high profile guys, like Paul Manafort, unlimited calls. Why would they do that,” he queries, before quickly answering. “Because they charge a ridiculous fee per minute and make a fortune.” His company offers the same service to inmates for less than half the BOP rates.
In all, Levine has not only survived his time inside, the experience sparked an entrepreneurial drive that is growing hotter by the year. In a ‘bigger picture’ sense, his accomplishments needs to be examined more deeply to ascertain if they can be duplicated on a mass scale.
The Bigger ‘Big House’ Picture
Because the rate of recidivism in the U.S. (i.e. ex-cons who go back to a life of crime and incarceration) is said to be a staggering 76%, we think the benefits of Levine’s brand of prison consultancy should be studied by the BOP for a broader purpose. The simple question is, can a more effective rehabilitative process be developed to meaningfully improve this outcome?
By educating inmates to protect themselves and use their brains to make their time in detention more productive, could the general prison population be offered more hope – a brighter vision of what their new life on the outside could someday look like? Could they be taught new skills and a sense of purpose, something meaningful to strive for day-to-day?
If the answer to these questions is ‘yes,’ or even ‘maybe,’ then such a program should be offered to any inmate with an interest, including those unable to afford services such as Levine offers. By doing so, perhaps the horrendous rate of recidivism would begin to plummet in the same manner that Levine’s life has ascended. How brilliant and valuable would that be?
Recently, the ‘First Step Act’ was signed into law in bipartisan fashion in our tragically divided Congress. It’s been called ‘a major win in the effort to improve conditions in prisons and end mass incarceration.’Is this the criminal justice reform bill we’ve been waiting for, one that will begin to address the recidivism crisis and other system ailments? We asked the expert, and here is Levine’s considered reaction.
“For starters,” he said, “the bill is a ‘hand job’.” We asked him to please stop holding back and tell us how he really feels, which he did as follows:
“I get calls about the bill every day and here’s what I’m telling people. It has just been signed into law. Now, it must be codified and published in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Then, they have to create a ‘Program Statement,’ how the new law will apply to inmates.”
Levine made it crystal clear that he is skeptical and reserving judgment until he sees what the law really says, and especially, what it means in the daily lives of inmates. More to come on this in the years ahead, we’re certain.
The Entrepreneur’s Bigger Picture
In the meantime, the ‘bigger picture’ for Levine includes some leisure time away from his various businesses, believe it or not. We asked him what he does to relax, to get away from the fray. His initial response was “I don’t even know if I can do that.”
But with further prompting, he acknowledged that he enjoys time at the racetrack, watching movies (90 just last year), and he visits Vegas on occasion, for both business and pleasure.
He doesn’t travel often though, saying, “I don’t like to fly.” Afraid of flying, we asked with surprise. “Oh no, I’m not afraid,” he shot back. “I’m never afraid of anything. But I do get concerned.” Concerned about what, we asked. “For the safety of the others on the plane, especially the women and kids,” he responded. In what way, we asked. “I’m concerned that just by being on board, I’ll bring the plane down.” We made a note never to fly with him.
Speaking of kids, when he’s not working, his true love is spending time with his family – his wife of three years, his three kids and his three grandkids. This sounded so normal, so heartwarming, we thought it was a good place to close the article.
We expect to see and hear a lot more from this charismatic prison consultant and entrepreneur in the years to come, and believe me, we will be watching. Especially as relates to the critical issue of prison reform and the assimilation of ex-convicts back into productive roles in society.
On Friday, Dec. 6, 2019, CT Rep. Josh Elliott & Tiheba Bain were our guests to discuss Free Prison Calls on the Criminal Justice Insider Podcast with Babz Rawls Ivy & Jeff Grant – The Voice of CT Criminal Justice. Live on WNHH 103.5 FM New Haven, rebroadcast at 5 pm. Live-streamed and podcast everywhere, see below. Sponsored by the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven – Now More Than Ever.
Listen on SoundCloud:
State Representative Josh Elliott
Since winning the 88th District House seat in the Connecticut General Assembly in 2016, State Representative Josh Elliott has advocated for implementing progressive policies that will help improve Connecticut’s economy and allow it to remain competitive with surrounding states.
Elliott, who grew up in Connecticut and attended high school in Hamden, graduated with a B.A. in Sociology from Ithaca College. He later went on to obtain his J.D. at Quinnipiac School of Law. As co-owner of Shelton’s The Common Bond Market and Thyme & Season in Hamden, which he also manages– two family-run natural food stores – Elliott recognizes the importance of investing in working families and businesses, both large and small.
As a member of the Progressive Caucus, Elliott continues to support efforts to establish a paid family and medical leave system that would be funded by employees at a 0.5 percent payroll tax. He is also fighting to increase Connecticut’s minimum wage.
Elliott is working to ensure that Connecticut employs quality public health standards by pushing for a requirement that all children in the public education system receive proper immunizations. Elliott is also dedicated to improving the treatment of Connecticut’s incarcerated population. He is an active advocate of banning the use of solitary confinement and has independently championed a bill that would provide certain telecommunication services to incarcerated people at no cost.
Elliott deeply believes the right to vote is a fundamental feature of government and has resultantly sponsored several bills aimed at efficiently reforming Connecticut’s electoral system. Among these are a bill that would restore voting privileges of formerly incarcerated individuals on parole and a bill that would implement a ranked-choice voting system, which would allow a voter to rank candidates by their preference. He has spearheaded efforts to legalize the use of recreational marijuana, sought to equalize property tax rates, and consistently supported establishing a more equitable tax structure.
Elliott currently serves as Assistant Majority Leader and vice chair of the Commerce Committee. He is also a member of the Finance, Revenue & Bonding Committee and Energy & Technology Committee.
Tiheba Bain, Executive Director, Women Against Mass Incarceration & Director of Coalitions, National Council of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls
As the Director of Coalitions for The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, Tiheba Bain works with various organizations around the country building out coalitions surrounding criminal justice reform. She also founded Women Against Mass Incarceration, a grassroots nonprofit organization, empowering the justice activism of women and girls.
She graduated with a dual Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Women and Criminal Justice from CUNY Baccalaureate Interdisciplinary and Unique Studies Program. She is a contributing published author to Race Education and Reintegration and she assisted with the legislation of Senate Bill 13 in Connecticut, which concerned the fair treatment of incarcerated persons.
Whether she’s advocating for policy changes or providing direct services to women and girls, Tiheba has dedicated her life to making change within the criminal injustice system.
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The Criminal Justice Insider Podcast with Babz Rawls Ivy and Jeff Grant is broadcast live at 9 am ET on the first and third Friday of each month Sept. through June, from the WNHH 103.5 FM studios in New Haven. It is rebroadcast on WNHH at 5 pm ET the same day. Podcast and Archive available all the time, everywhere.
Fri., Sept. 6, 2019: Khalil Cumberbatch, Chief Strategist at New Yorkers United for Justice Fri., Sept. 20, 2019: Aaron T. Kinzel, Lecturer in Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Michigan-Dearborn Fri., Oct. 4, 2019: Charlie Grady, Outreach Specialist for the FBI CT Community Outreach Program Fri., Oct. 18, 2019: Michael Kimelman, Former Hedge Funder and Author of Confessions of a Wall Street Insider: A Cautionary Tale of Rats, Feds, and Banksters Fri., Nov. 1, 2019: Corey Brinson, Former Attorney Convicted for a White Collar Crime who is running for Hartford City Council Fri., Nov. 15, 2019: Cathryn Lavery, Ph.D., Asst. Chair & Graduate Coordinator for the Iona College Criminal Justice Department Fri., Dec. 6, 2019: Rep. Josh Elliott, Tiheba Bain & James Jeter, Free Prison Calls Show Fri. Dec. 20, 2019: John Hamilton, CEO, Liberation Programs Fri., Jan. 3, 2020: Reginald Dwayne Betts, Lawyer, Poet, Lecturer on Mass Incarceration Fri., Jan. 17, 2019: Serena Ligouri, Executive Director, New Hour for Women & Children – L.I. Fri., Feb. 7, 2020: David Garlock, Program Director, New Person Ministries, Lancaster, PA Fri., Mar. 20, 2020: Tiheba Bain, Women’s Incarceration Advocate
Gary U.S. Bonds had been a big deal in the early sixties. Thanks to a new tour produced by Bruce Springsteen and a hit called Dedication, he was enjoying a major comeback when I saw his name up on the marquee of The Paradise. Some friends and I had just finished a basketball game on the Mount. As usual, I’d played center like an animal, high on an assortment of pills I’d found in the glove compartment of Jeffri Schwartz’s 1969 Ford Mustang that we’d driven up to Boston to celebrate Richie Gold’s birthday. It had been a rough, physical game and my face and sweatshirt were a holy mess of dirt and bloodstains. I felt like a million bucks. A kind of raw, visceral power coursed through my veins as the Mustang coasted down the hill towards Commonwealth Avenue. We had just turned the corner when I spotted the marquee.
I was a big Springsteen fan. Big. I’d seen him play when he wasn’t so well known. Darlene Blatt, a girl I’d met at college orientation, had dated Bruce’s first drummer, Vinny “Mad Dog” Lopez. Or maybe a friend of hers had dated him; it’s hard to remember it all now. She told us all about Springsteen and his band when I met her up at Brockport those first few days of orientation. During the summer of ’74, when Bruce’s second album came out, The Wild, The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle, I picked Arlene up from her folks’ apartment in Brooklyn and a bunch of us went down to Red Bank, New Jersey to see Bruce and the band play. Thirty minutes into the three-hour show, we were all hooked.
Red Bank was Springsteen country; he and the band were all from the Asbury Park area, just a few miles up and down the Garden State Parkway. So Bruce knew a lot of people in the audience. He called out to them from the stage and they called out back to him. It was like a revival meeting, or maybe an all-night fraternity kegger. Bruce and the band played so long that at one point he walked up the aisle of the auditorium, opened the back door out to the sidewalk and personally assured the people waiting for the second show that he’d give them a full set too. I heard that the second show lasted until after 3 a.m. that night. But there are so many stories now about Bruce that they have become legend. I knew that Bruce was behind Gary U.S. Bond’s comeback. And on this particular afternoon, I was just high, or stupid, enough to decide that we had to add Gary’s show to our collection of Springsteen stories.
We pulled the car over and piled out looking pretty ragged and smelling awfully rancid. Looking just perfect for a sketch. I went up to the ticket window and introduced myself as Freddy Bastiglione, the son of Phil Bastiglione, owner of Concerts West in New York City.
Now I am not, nor have I ever been, Freddy Bastiglione. But Freddy did go to my high school. And his family did live in Merrick, the Long Island neighborhood in which I was raised. So I did know at least that Freddy’s dad owned one of the largest, if not the largest, concert promotion companies in New York. I knew that my grungy get-up was more than perfect to help me pass off as Freddy Bastiglione. Who else but the son of a huge rock promoter would show up at a rock concert venue in sweaty gym clothes? Demanding, no less, tickets to that night’s Gary U.S. Bonds show? It seemed insane, and perfect. With my stock brand of over-in-bred Long Island charisma (one part overly gregarious and one part dismissively arrogant) I told the ticket clerk that there should be four complimentary passes waiting for me. Long Islanders are not short on balls.
“I’m on the EMI/Thorn list,” I stated.
Direct. To the point. I was a Springsteen fan; I knew his label. The ticket clerk looked the guest list over. He turned back to me and apologized. I wasn’t on the list. I steeled myself and asked him if he knew who my father was.
“I’m meeting important industry people tonight,” I insisted. “If I’m embarrassed, Gary U.S. Bonds will never play New York again.”
The clerk gave me the look. I didn’t blink. He ran to get Gary’s road manager.
About five minutes later, the front door of the Paradise opened. Gary’s road manager Anne greeted us with a smile and a handshake. There was no turning back then. I explained how my friends, my basketball and I were standing there without our tickets for that night’s show. And how very disappointed I was. And how when I was disappointed, I explained, my father, Phil Bastiglione, was disappointed too. Anne apologized and put us down for a table up front.
“Why don’t you came back an hour before the show,” she offered, “and you can have dinner with the band?”
Wow. We climbed back into the Mustang and headed over to Richie’s apartment on Beacon Street to shower, change, and get started. We weren’t sure if we were in for the night of our lives or if we were going to end up in jail. Or both.
We arrived at the Paradise at about seven, ready to party. I knocked on the front door and Anne led us immediately to a room in the back. There was a huge spread of food, liquor and beer. On the far side of the room Gary and the band were snorting lines of coke off a glass cocktail table. He motioned us over, shook our hands, and offered us some. We spent the next hour talking, laughing, and partying with the band. At about five minutes to eight, Anne came out and showed us to our table. We were seated right in front, maybe five feet from the stage. As Gary and the band played their set, a spray of Gary’s sweat flew into our faces. We were so high we could barely make out the words.
Somehow I got inspired and scrawled a note on a piece of paper. In between songs, I stood up and handed it up to Gary up on stage. He looked kind of startled as if that sort of thing wasn’t supposed to happen. As he read the note he laughed and then announced to the crowd that it had been twenty years, or more, since he had taken any dedications during a show. But, on this special night, in honor of his good friend Richie Gold, the band was going to sing Happy Birthday. And then they did. Gary U.S. Bonds and his band sang Happy Birthday to my friend, Richie Gold. And then they went into their Number One Hit, Dedication.
“Larry” – Husband, father, and formerly incarcerated.
Chion Wolf / Connecticut Public Radio
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Jeffrey Grant – former lawyer, minister, co-founder prisonist.org, co-host of Criminal Justice Insider podcast on WNHH FM in New Haven, and formerly incarcerated.
Chion Wolf / Connecticut Public Radio
View Slideshow4 of 4
Da’ee McKnight – Program Manager, Young Fathers ReEntry Project, for Family ReEntry, and formerly incarcerated.
Chion Wolf / Connecticut Public Radio
Connecticut’s “Second Chance Society” has reduced the number of people going into prison and better prepared offenders for a meaningful life when they get out.
We’ve closed prisons, repealed the death penalty, and raised the age at which young people can be tried as adults. We’ve added reentry programs modeled loosely on the German prison system, where incarcerated men and women raise and cook their own food, wear their own clothes, and participate in longterm therapy.
Yet, too many men and women don’t benefit from the changes: discrimination, inconsistent funding, and ineligibility from programs make it harder for some to succeed after prison.
Today, we talk about the challenges that remain with those who know best – the formerly incarcerated.
GUESTS:
“Larry” – Husband, father, and formerly incarcerated
Da’ee McKnight – Program Manager, Young Fathers ReEntry Project, for Family ReEntry, and formerly incarcerated
Jeffrey Grant – former lawyer, minister, co-founder prisonist.org, co-host of Criminal Justice Insider podcast on WNHH FM in New Haven, and formerly incarcerated
An FBI community outreach worker and a local youth worker have teamed up to write, direct, and produce a play about the challenges women face after leaving prison.
Her Time is scheduled to have a three-show run at the Klein Memorial Auditorium in Bridgeport on Nov. 16 and Nov. 17.
The subject of the play, Grady and Driffin explained on a recent episode of WNHH’s “Criminal Justice Insider with Babz Rawls-Ivy and Jeff Grant,” is Kim Williams, a woman who has spent 25 years in federal prison for transporting a gun and drugs for a boyfriend suspected of murder.
Grady and Driffin co-wrote the script, with Driffin serving as the director and Grady as the executive producer.
In that movie, Williams received a 40-year sentence at just 18 years old for actions done in allegiance to her boyfriend, Grady said. Once the police caught up with her, though, her “boo” abandoned her to stay out of legal trouble himself.
The play picks up with Williams over two decades later. She has gotten out of prison on appeal, and returns home to find that her mom has died, her children are now adults, and everything and everyone in her pre-incarceration life have changed beyond recognition.
While Williams herself is a fictional character, “it was all based on reality,” Grady said about the stories of post-incarceration hardship featured in this play. “This is the real deal.”
“We want to tell the real story of post-incarceration,” Driffin said. “Your neighborhood has changed. Everything has changed. You’re in this time vacuum, and you have to try to catch up—and real quick.”
Over 70 percent of women prisoners in this country are incarcerated for something they’ve done for a man, Grady said. He said he hears former female prisoners’ stories all the time through a program he founded in Bridgeport called Her Time, which is geared specifically towards providing a place for such women to meet, talk, share, and break bread with other former prisoners trying to re-acclimate to life outside the bars.
Thomas Breen file photo. Steve Driffin (left) with Gov. Ned Lamont at ConnCAT.
That program is an outgrowth of another venture Grady founded, called Hang Time Real Talk, which has chapters in New Haven, Bridgeport, Hartford, and Waterbury.
“It’s all about tapping into the after effects,” Grady said about the reentry group sessions, “and emotion, and how do you move forward with that level of pain?” Members of Her Time and Hang Time talk about both history and current events, he said, go on field trips together to everywhere from Washington D.C. to Newport, Rhode Island, and learn how to talk about the difficulties of life in and after prison.
“When you treat people like human beings and fairly,” he said, “great things happen.”
Click hereto learn more about the play Her Time at the Klein Memorial Auditorium in Bridgeport.
“Criminal Justice Insider” is sponsored by The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.
Are you, a friend, family member, colleague or client looking for a community service opportunity? As the only 501(c)(3) nonprofit supporting the White Collar/Economy Exiled Community, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. has service opportunities throughout the United States. Please contact us for more information.
“Jeff is a true inspiration to anyone coming home from prison to face the many trials and tribulations that life throws at you. I made a very bad choice in 2009 which led me to a federal indictment and 7 months in Danbury Federal Prison Camp for women and then three months in a halfway house. I had gut wrenching guilt and remorse, and immersed myself in every program available in Danbury. I was seeking self-awareness of who I was and why I veered off my path of good decision making. It was not until I came home and met Jeff Grant that I truly started my journey to redemption and forgiveness. His amazing attitude, coupled with immense experience, brought such clarity to my very foggy existence. Jeff founded a White Collar Support Group and invited me to join in. Finding that group was such a turning point for me as I was lost. The group helped me with my immense feelings of guilt and how to overcome adversities that I never knew would exist for me. I am grateful to Jeff and all the men and women in that group and feel so fortunate to know I am not alone in my journey. Due to Jeff, I am able to give back to the women I now work with within the criminal justice system by utilizing my strengths, experience and educational background. “ – Jacqueline Polverari, MSW, Advocate Women’s Incarceration Issues, Connecticut
“Upon returning home from long-term incarceration I felt motivated to do the things necessary in order to bring some semblance of order back into my life. But as equipped as I was, there were certain things that I couldn’t have anticipated or prepared for. My emotional and mental health suffered from my inability to find someone – anyone – who understood. I felt afraid and impotent. But in my search for answers I came upon Jeff Grant. After reading his story, I reached out to him and found a kind and compassionate ear. He took the time to hear me out, listen to my fears, concerns, and hopes, and invited me to network with him and others in a way that helped me be conscious of the fact that my struggles are shared by others. He helped me appreciate that I could contribute to others lives in a way that helped them, and that being of service would help me as well. I credit Jeff not merely with being a helping hand, but with being a clearing house of resources and knowledge that I couldn’t have hoped for. He is attentive, humorous, giving of himself, and quick to work to develop meaningful solutions to problems that can have a lasting impact on the lives of the people around him. I’m grateful to Jeff for his friendship, advice, and leadership; I encourage anyone dealing with any life transition – especially, but not only, where the criminal justice and correctional systems are at play – to reach out to Jeff to ask for help.” – Joshua C. Cagney, M.A., Virginia
“Shortly after my release in September 2015, I was guided to Jeff’s door by complete chance and little did I know that I had just hit the proverbial “reentry” lottery that would help shape and change my life. I asked for his guidance about how I could possibly return to society as a once respected trial lawyer who was now branded a convicted felon. After words of support, Jeff suggested that I join the White Collar Support Group which met each week via the Internet. Not sure that I could even log in, as I was still living in a halfway house. I managed to find a library or satellite to check in, and can honestly say that it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. This support group has given me an opportunity to share my thoughts, concerns and emotional trauma with a compassionate and understanding group of people who all traveled a similar journey and who all have now become good friends. There is no question that those who have experienced the criminal justice system all face common problems, barriers and trauma as we begin our reintegration into society. I am proud to say that I am associated with this fine group of people and hope and pray that some day we can share the lessons and benefits of the peer support and mentoring that has helped me to find my passion and purpose in life. Thank you!” – Jeffrey Abramowitz, Pennsylvania
“Jeff is a gift to anyone facing time in prison, as well as to anyone coming home from prison and trying to readjust to their new reality. I made a terrible choice at a critical time in my life and as a result was sentenced to 27 months in prison at FPC Alderson in West Virginia; I report next week. Unfortunately, I did not meet Jeff until a few hours after my sentencing, and I joined the White Collar Support Group the next Monday night. I wish I had had him with me throughout my entire journey. It’s such a relief to know I have someone in my corner to guide me through critical decisions and can just simply relate to every emotion and thought that pops into my head and all hours of the day (and night). He is realistic in his advice, sympathetic when he needs to be, and has brought me clarity and helped me put one foot in front of the other when I didn’t think I could muster up the strength to even get out of bed. I am so grateful to Jeff and all of the men and women in the group to know that I am not alone and have a confidant and friend I can talk to. In fact, one a of the women in the group is flying in to be with me when I self-surrender to prison. I hope to someday be able to give back to people in my position the way Jeff and this group has given to me.” Ashley Cole Furst, Colorado (currently serving in a Federal prison)
“Three months or so into dealing with a federal indictment for conspiracy (and wire fraud) in my wife’s Ponzi scheme, I was confused at what I was facing, and scared at the thought of what this would do to my family, especially my youngest children then aged 9 and 11 who were soon to lose both their parents to prison. I remember the first time I spoke to Jeff, I had just dropped off my two at school and was sitting in my car in the Walmart parking lot where I wouldn’t be disturbed. Jeff answered my call and I nervously introduced myself. I realized fairly quickly that this would be someone who could help me find some of the answers I was seeking. We talked for at least 90 minutes that morning, and never once did he rush me off or make me feel I was an inconvenience or my issues were not important. Jeff has helped me in so many ways since that first call. Whether it was discussing how best to talk to my children about our situation, setting up a support system for them both in school and in private counseling, or talking thru the various aspects of dealing with the justice system and what to expect before, during and after. In fact, it was Jeff who suggested that my wife and I should request staggered sentences which the judge’s approved. Since then we’ve talked about life in prison and starting over afterwards, maintaining a marriage while incarcerated, and forgiveness, just to name a few. I value Jeff’s advice because he always gives you a straight answer, you may not always like what he has to say but you can always count on it being true to his experience. And I have found that in the end this is most valuable. Like many people, I fear the unknown, and Jeff helped take away my fear by giving me knowledge. I was, and am, able to make better informed decisions because of it. I am also greatly relieved to know that Jeff and his ministry will be there for me when I am released from prison.” – Bill L., Oklahoma (currently serving in a Federal prison)
According to my friends over at The Sentencing Project,“Between 1980 and 2017, the number of incarcerated women increased by more than 750%, rising from a total of 26,378 in 1980 to 225,060 in 2017.” More than 60% of women in state prison have a child under the age of 18. While there are challenges that differ for women while they are incarcerated, there are also different challenges when they get home. One of them was Jacqueline Polverari and now she’s seeking to make that transition home easier.
Polverari, MSW a Connecticut Social Worker has been working with women who have experienced incarceration, particularly white-collar crime for the past four years. She spent seven months in the Danbury (Connecticut) Federal Prison for Women for charges related to a mortgage fraud case from 2015. Her experience in prison and her transition back home led her to researching women who commit white-collar crime and correlations to underlying mental health issues.
After working with several different criminal justice organizations, she founded Evolution Reentry Services out of Branford, CT. In an interview, I asked Polverari what her goals for Evolution were, “To help women returning from prison put their broken lives back together.” Polverari said many of these women were once pillars of their communities, bread winners of the family, who are dealing with isolation, embarrassment and shame when they return home. At the same time, they are trying to keep their families together.
The women she has seen over the past several years displayed very similar characteristics of “low self-esteem, lack of self-confidence, being the caretaker or “fixer” with the inability to say ‘no’.” Realizing that there were few resources for women returning from prison, she started helping as many people as she could.
“People have little empathy or sympathy for this group of women,” Polverari said, “typically seeing them as privileged women who were greedy or taking advantage of others but in reality, that is rarely the case. One can see that with the ‘Varsity Blues’ cases that involve Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin. Women are currently being incarcerated at a higher than ever before, yet there is little statistical information and resources dedicated to guiding these women to a productive life beyond prison.
Polverari decided that there needed to be more focus on these women in order to help change the stigma related to their crime and why they committed those crimes in the first place. Jacqueline has been speaking all over the country creating some noise as to the lack of resources available for this group. “These are women who are very educated, had been in positions of upper management and made some poor choices within the workplace,” Polverari said. “In fact, I have found that their actions that led to criminal acts initiated as a result of trying to fix a problem, which created a new problem, and so on.” Now, even though they served their time for the mistake, they are labeled a felon for life.
Of the 120+ federal prison camps, only 27 are for women, usually creating situations where they are far from home (financial burden of family travel and fewer visits). In Danbury, Polverari said there were about 157 inmates but she rarely saw more than two guards at the prison. “For the most part, women live a life of isolation in prison that carries over when they are home,” Polverari said. Like many male white collar offenders who go to prison, they are allowed to self-surrender. There were no locks or bars and most women have never even been handcuffed. However, the real issues are when they come home where they have lost their husbands, homes, and respect from their communities.
One powerful therapy for these women, according to Polverari, is to talk with other women who have gone through it. But there is a problem, conditions of supervised release post prison prohibit speaking with another felon whether that other person is on supervised release or not. “It poses a problem because how can these women find someone who can relate to their situation?” Polverari said. She’s trying to change this.
Polverari and her group at Evolution are hosting a mental health retreat where women who have been convicted of a non-violent crime can gather under the guidance of a social worker. The retreat is available to all women regardless of ability to pay. It is the weekend of October 4-6th for a day of bonding, communicating about employment opportunities, housing solutions, finances and gratitude. It is a mental health retreat to help women understand that one poor choice does not define the rest of their lives, even with a felony that follows them their entire lives.
At a time when our society has focused on issues regarding mental health, it is good to see that there is help for this group of unique individuals who in the past have led a life of isolation.
I established 500 Pearl Street as a strategic consulting firm for attorneys and their clients as an advisor on federal criminal cases. I write here on criminal justice matters, particularly related to white collar crime, and speak nationally on the topic. In 2007, I released the book “Stolen Without A Gun” with Neil Weinberg, former Executive Editor Forbes Magazine (now a Reporter for Bloomberg). Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website or some of my other work here.
