e of these guys doing this for 5, 10, 15 years at a time. I could not fathom spending all of those years in that fashion. The second thing that fueled this awakening was my seven-year-old son Eric. I found that not only was possible, but that I had the responsibility to influence my far off son in a positive way. And On March 20, 1992 I was convicted of five armed bank robberies, over a six-month crime spree when I was 28 years old. I was sentenced to 157 months, thirteen years and one month behind the razor wire of a Federal Correctional Institution in Florence, Colorado. The same complex that would later hold Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. Looking back at that time in my life, I can directly link my crimes and incarceration to the decision I made as a teenager, and in particular my decision to experiment with drugs. To sum it all up- drugs eventually became more important than anything or anyone else in my life, and bank robbery became a means in which I could feed my habit for another 30-60 days or the police were going to show up and I was going to make them doing something I did not have the guts to do myself- “suicide by police” is what they call that today.

During my five month trial period is where I first experienced an “awakening”, and this transformation was fueled by three things. The first being the “dead time” in prison, which literally hangs in the air. I would sit in the common areas and would watch guys play cards, play dominoes, and watch TV for 12, 14, sometimes 16 hours a day. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. Some of these guys doing this for 5, 10, 15 years at a time. I could not fathom spending all of those years in that fashion. The second thing that fueled this awakening was my seven-year-old son Eric. I found that not only was possible, but that I had the responsibility to influence my far off son in a positive way. And

erry Nichols. Looking back at that time in my life, I can directly link my crimes and incarceration to the decision I made as a teenager, and in particular my decision to experiment with drugs. To sum it all up- drugs eventually became more important than anything or anyone else in my life, and bank robbery became a means in which I could feed my habit for another 30-60 days or the police were going to show up and I was going to make them doing something I did not have the guts to do myself- “suicide by police” is what they call that today.

During my five month trial period is where I first experienced an “awakening”, and this transformation was fueled by three things. The first being the “dead time” in prison, which literally hangs in the air. I would sit in the common areas and would watch guys play cards, play dominoes, and watch TV for 12, 14, sometimes 16 hours a day. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. Some of these guys doing this for 5, 10, 15 years at a time. I could not fathom spending all of those years in that fashion. The second thing that fueled this awakening was my seven-year-old son Eric. I found that not only was possible, but that I had the responsibility to influence my far off son in a positive way. And

ns in which I could feed my habit for another 30-60 days or the police were going to show up and I was going to make them doing something I did not have the guts to do myself- “suicide by police” is what they call that today.

During my five month trial period is where I first experienced an “awakening”, and this transformation was fueled by three things. The first being the “dead time” in prison, which literally hangs in the air. I would sit in the common areas and would watch guys play cards, play dominoes, and watch TV for 12, 14, sometimes 16 hours a day. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. Some of these guys doing this for 5, 10, 15 years at a time. I could not fathom spending all of those years in that fashion. The second thing that fueled this awakening was my seven-year-old son Eric. I found that not only was possible, but that I had the responsibility to influence my far off son in a positive way. And

nsformation was fueled by three things. The first being the “dead time” in prison, which literally hangs in the air. I would sit in the common areas and would watch guys play cards, play dominoes, and watch TV for 12, 14, sometimes 16 hours a day. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. Some of these guys doing this for 5, 10, 15 years at a time. I could not fathom spending all of those years in that fashion. The second thing that fueled this awakening was my seven-year-old son Eric. I found that not only was possible, but that I had the responsibility to influence my far off son in a positive way. And e of these guys doing this for 5, 10, 15 years at a time. I could not fathom spending all of those years in that fashion. The second thing that fueled this awakening was my seven-year-old son Eric. I found that not only was possible, but that I had the responsibility to influence my far off son in a positive way. And the third thing that fueled my awakening was something my Dad used to say when I was a kid, something that I lost track of during my teens and early twenties, but something that I came to believe in and rely on during those years of incarceration. What my Dad used to say is this- “anything in this life that is worthwhile, really worthwhile, is never easy.” And you see I had always taken the easy road. The easy road is the drug use, the lying, the stealing, and the cheating. Anyone can take that road- it does not take a special individual to travel that path.

So I have this awakening. For me it is going to be education. Education is what I am going to use as a tool to make a very negative situation as positive as I possibly could. But first I have a decision to make as well as some obstacles that only prison can put before you. The time comes during my trial when I have to decide if I want to take the plea agreement that the prosecution has offered. My options are pleading to the 157 months or waiting for the outcome of a Supreme Court decision that would directly affect my sentence computation. My attorney tells me to wait for the Supreme Court outcome, that she has sources that say they are leaning towards a favorable outcome that would cut my time dramat