Being in prison requires one to make sure they stay out of trouble and get out as soon as possible. At least that is my thinking, especially since my case along with hundreds of others should not be locked up in prison. They should have been handled in civil court. One way I stay out of trouble is by hanging with like minded people.
Shawn is a person I have started to hang with more since we are like minded. We both are here on real estate fraud charges. We both have young kids. We both try to show love to God and people. We both work in the same office. (BTW I got a finance job super fast here because I have been very blessed with numbers. Typically it takes a year to get this job. It allows me to stay out of trouble a good bit too. Plus it helps me get our sooner.) Shawn and I also are in a Bible study together everyday just before dinner.
Shawn has been instrumental in coaching me how best to navigate the system here with the case manager and unit manager assigned to me. Today I had my first meeting with these 2 people together. These 2 people have the ability to help me get released earlier. A lot of the inmates do not like these 2 because typically the case and unit managers are overworked and unfortunately do not try to go out of their way to help as much as we all would like.
However, if you befriend people like Shawn who knows the ropes, you will get great advice. In fact, Shawn knows his stuff so well here that he gets to go home in a few weeks and he will have only served half of his sentence. Shawn told me exactly what to ask and what to look out for. For example, a huge factor used in prison is called a “Pattern Score”. You want a low Pattern Score because that will help determine if you get out sooner or not. The case and unit manager had my score wrong. Because of Shawn’s great advice, I knew exactly what to say to get it corrected. They are correcting it so it will show my score as a “1” instead of a “12”.
Other consultants out there who have not lived in the facility would not know what to do in this situation. This facility is run more backwards than most other federal prisons, so you need to know the specifics here. Shawn did just that for me. Now hopefully it translates to me getting out much much sooner.
Because Shawn likes to help others, he shared with me his wisdom all for free. It truly is better to give than receive. I paid it forward by helping my new bunkmate with the same tips Shawn gave me. Hopefully my new bunkmate will get out soon too.
Try going out of your way to help someone get more of what they want without expecting anything in return. Giving is better than receiving.