Michael G. Santos

Upon my release, my wife passed me an iPhone 4S. It was far smaller than the Motorola cellphone that I used back in 1987, when my journey through America’s prison system began.

Helping ex-offenders successfully reenter society as law-abiding, tax-paying citizens is a win for everyone.

Rather than focusing on living as a model inmate, more than 15 years ago I started thinking about what I would need to emerge as a law-abiding, contributing citizen.

As I expressed in my initial blog entries, a commitment to prepare for a law-abiding, contributing life upon release drove my adjustment throughout the quarter century that I served. Had I not made that commitment to prepare for reentry early in my term, I’d now be living a life of complication and struggle.

In the second installment of the series, Michael G. Santos discusses his journey through prison and how he focused all of his time on reconciling with society and using his vantage point on the inside to learn more about the criminal justice system.

Twenty five years ago, Michael G. Santos was convicted for trafficking cocaine. He reformed himself in prison and because of realignment, is able to spend the final year of his sentence in a halfway house in San Francisco. Here is the start of his story.