This were all Michael Santos had dreamt of after being
sentenced to jail in 1987 for big scale cocaine distribution.
whilst Santos commenced his prison sentence, technology
turned into still a luxurious for the rich.
The Motorola “brick telephone” turned into becoming more
famous among touring commercial enterprise types, but nevertheless got here
with a hefty $4000 charge tag. meanwhile, computing device computer systems
were a long way from compact and retailed for about $7000.
but because the years exceeded, era turn out to be
inexpensive and greater with no trouble available.
at the same time as those at the outdoor world had been
experiencing the wave of recent technologies first-hand, Santos become left to
best able to dream approximately such stories primarily based on what he had
examine in era magazines.
He become the first to admit he deserved the punishment
exceeded out for his critical crimes, however it didn’t make missing the age of
the net any simpler.
“I perceived the web as a effective device,” he informed The
Kernel.
“The interactivity and capability to have interaction people
on an countless scale quickly convinced me that this generation could transform
the sector and i wanted to be a part of that evolution.”
in the long run, it might be 25 lengthy years of confinement
earlier than Santos might receive get entry to to all the technology the sector
had to provide.
And it didn’t take Santos long to get his arms on some new
age tech along with his first enjoy approaching the car trip home from jail.
“on the day that my wife, Carole, drove me faraway from prison,
she handed me an Apple iPhone,” he said.
With the destiny grasped tightly in his arms, Santos was
equipped to go away the beyond in the back of and become ready for a 2nd risk
on this loopy new global.
THE CRIME
It changed into 1981 and a 17-12 months-old boy from Seattle
had acquired stolen stereo equipment from certainly one of his high faculty
colleagues as fee for a playing debt.
365 days later, Santos observed himself inner a police
station giving a police officer a statement about how he got here into
ownership of that stereo equipment.
It became out the boy that gave Santos the stereo have been
picked up by the police and grassed with the intention to acquire a lighter
sentence.
“because I normal that stereo equipment, i was given a few
months of probation and that i paid $900 for the stolen assets that I
acquired,” he wrote on November.org.
For the next 3 years, Santos kept his nostril easy and
labored for his own family operated dual carriageway creation company, but past
due in 1985 the charm of crime got here knocking over again.
His pal Alex had approached him with an possibility to
participate in a moneymaking cocaine transaction.
As Santos had get entry to to huge sums of money due to his
function within the circle of relatives company, he become capable of finance a
big cocaine buy with out the information of his mother and father.
“We bought 3 kilograms of cocaine for the purposes of
reselling them to realize a profit,” he stated.
“The transaction lasted approximately 12 hours and after replacing
the cash I had inappropriately taken from my own family’s firm, Alex and i
break up a profit of $forty,000.”
by the use of the profits as capital for his or her mission,
Santos and Alex persisted to build their empire.
In 1986, Santos had relocated from Seattle to South Florida,
business turned into booming and he had set up connections for a inexpensive
wholesale rate of cocaine.
“i was buying cocaine from a source I met in Miami, and the
usage of every other pal whom I knew from high college to move that cocaine to
Seattle in order that Alex may want to oversee its local distribution,” he
said.
matters were going first-rate till his partner was arrested
following a DEA investigation overdue 1986.
“when the federal agents positioned handcuffs on his wrists
and seized the kilogram of cocaine that he changed into carrying on the time,
he realised he turned into in big hassle,” he said.
along with his again in opposition to the wall, Alex started
out cooperating with law enforcement to get hold of leniency at sentencing.
that is wherein matters began to get messy for Santos.
Unaware his partner became operating with the government,
Santos continued to function the business underneath the guise he become
supporting increase finances for Alex once he became launched.
For the following year, Santos operated till the DEA pounced
on August 11, 1987, arresting him for big scale cocaine distribution.
“through that time I estimate that the illegal organisation
i used to be instrumental in forming changed into liable for the distribution
of approximately 150kg of cocaine worth somewhere within the area of four
million greenbacks,” he said.
“My satisfactory estimate is that I personally made
approximately one million greenbacks in profits from those income.”
while Santos first went to court docket, he took to stand to
carry out a pre-rehearsed testimony wherein he claimed to be innocent.
“because the government had seized no cocaine from me,
intercepted no phone calls, and used only authorities informants to testify in
opposition to me, I chose to lie earlier than the court and jury, testifying
that I had nothing to do with the costs lodged against me,” he stated.
“really the individuals of the jury did now not trust me,
for they convicted me on every matter in that indictment.”
Following the preliminary fees, Santos was also indicted on
expenses for the distribution of cocaine while in prison.
not like his previous charges, he regularly occurring full
obligation and pleaded responsible.
As a result he became sentenced to a cumulative total of
forty five years in federal prison and changed into handed a high-quality of
$500,000 which accumulates hobby on the fee of 18 according to cent per annum.
THE TIME
when Santos began his jail sentence in 1987 he didn’t think
the outside international would be evolving in the sort of way that he would be
left at the back of.
Structural modifications had been one factor, but the
internet become a whole other world that turned into going to pass him through.
at the same time as the out of doors world embraced dial-up
modems and AltaVista, Santos became none the wiser.
The policies of jail have been so strict, Santos and
different inmates have been no longer best banned from the usage of the
internet, however they have been no longer even allowed to use electronic
typewriters.
With the only get entry to to the net coming from what he
study in era magazines, Santos should handiest dream of the net.
“I read drastically approximately how citizens from anywhere
were using the net to boost society, spreading information and wisdom. I looked
ahead to becoming a part of the net technology.”
The only hassle was his modern-day scenario wouldn’t allow
him to without delay get entry to the net, so Santos had to get crafty.
the use of his connections on the outdoor, he was capable of
set up a presence on the internet.
“It become simple, however it served the reason of allowing
me to use it as a tool to report my adventure through jail and to write
approximately the reviews of others,” he stated.
“for the duration of the very last decade of my
imprisonment, I posted lots of articles on my website to assist others
apprehend prisons, the human beings they keep, and strategies for growing
through confinement.”
whilst we took this as a right, Michael had no concept.
in spite of having a presence on line, Santos had in no way
without a doubt physically operated a laptop, not to mention a telephone.
whilst he changed into first imprisoned, he feared he may in
no way see freedom again given the character of his crime.
however with accurate behaviour, he was launched in 2013 and
was ultimately able to dive into the net and all it had to provide.
at the day of his release, he changed into greeted with the
aid of his spouse, surpassed an iPhone and so started the transition into
cutting-edge existence.
“After [my wife] showed me a way to use it, I touched the
Safari icon and commenced to get entry to the web for the first time. I used
Google to look my call,” he stated.
“I despatched my first email message, writing an open letter
that described my first hours of liberty for circle of relatives and that i
watched my first YouTube movies.”
It turned into a brief crash course for the launched inmate
due to the fact just days later he
changed into status in front of a MacBook seasoned.
“I’d by no means used a computer laptop earlier than,
however I loved using the Mac to familiarise myself greater with the net.
“I had a presence on fb and Twitter, but I didn’t know a lot
about the best practices of the use of social media.
“I realised that i would need to increase skills to reach my
target market in brief messages, frequently in one hundred forty characters or
much less. attention spans in society, it seemed, had shortened.”
This turned into just the beginning of what has been a steep
getting to know curve for Santos, however he couldn’t be happier and hasn’t
regarded lower back in view that.
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