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A Taste of Cold Steel

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A Taste of Cold Steel

When I was 10 my mother moved?to the McDonough Housing Projects in St. Paul, Mn. I was already drinking and using cigarettes. Soon, I was?engaged in petty thefts-breaking into cars, stealing from stores. My first contact with the St. Paul Police Dept. occurred when I was 7; it made its way into my juvenile criminal history.

The next nine years? was a burst of crime for me, going repeatedly to a juvenile?jail (Woodview Detention Center), three extended six-month stays at a? Ramsey County (St. Paul) juvenile home (Boys Totem Town), to the Minnesota Youth Conservation Commission at Lino Lakes, MN., (Lino Lakes Diagnostic and Reception Center), the Minnesota State Training School for Boys (Red Wing Training School for Boys), the St. Paul City Jail and then? St. Cloud Reformatory for Men at St. Cloud, Mn.

During this time I progressed from alcohol and cigarettes to marijuana, hallucinigens, speed and barbituates to shoot-dope, including cocaine and morphine. I entered St. Cloud Reformatory addicted to shoot-dope and?afflicted with?hepatitus C from a dirty needle. I continued to shoot drugs in prison, resulting in a fight with guards and spending 30 days in segregation.

While in segregation I finally confronted my demons and planned my road to recovery. Over the next nine months I enrolled in group therapy, began college-courses through St. Cloud State University and?was paroled to the U. of M. on the Minneapolis campus. I continued my therapy?at Project Newgate where I eventually became a counselor and then?a group leader. After obtaining my B.A. degree in political science,?I took the law school admission test?and was admitted to law school. While attending law school I processed, and received, a pardon, graduated?and was admitted as an attorney.

Over the past 35 years I have been a criminal defense attorney, handling cases ranging from drugs to white-collar crime?and murder in and outside Minnesota.?Now, I speak to?various groups?about what motivated me to embrace?irresponsible and destructive behavior and what I discovered in a?prison cell that-ultimately-saved my life.

Live one day at a time, while viewing the future by building?on small, incremental accomplishments. It may?not be easy, but neither is the alternative.



Partners for Hope raise critical funds on behalf Partnership to End Addiction – the nation’s leading organization dedicated to addiction prevention, treatment and recovery. Every dollar raised on behalf of the Partnership* will help ensure free, personalized family support resources, including our national helpline, peer-to-peer parent coaching, customized online tools and community education programs, can reach those who need them most. Please consider donating to this fundraiser and sharing this page.

*Donations made to Partnership to End Addiction are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. All contributions are fully tax-deductible, as no goods or services are provided in consideration in whole, or in part, of any contribution to this nonprofit organization.  EIN: 52-1736502

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