Open Letter to Probation Officer

September 1, 2011

Dear Future Probation Officer:

My name is Michael G. Santos. I write this open letter to you as I advance through my 25th year of continuous imprisonment. It is my hope to provide you with some insight for you to consider. I understand that you will make efforts to learn about me prior to our first meeting. I expect that you will review the Presentence Investigation Report that a probation officer prepared for me back in the late 1980s after I was convicted. Further, you likely will consider the record that prison administrators have written about me over the decades. This open letter provides you with additional insight that you may consider. I’m hopeful that you will find it helpful as you contemplate who I am as an individual.

My prison term began when I was 23-years- old. As I began serving my sentence, I made a decision to work toward earning freedom. In my mind, such a goal meant that I would have to pursue a principled prison adjustment. The adjustment pattern I designed would have three components, including:

1) education and preparation for a career;

2) contributions to society inside and beyond prison boundaries; and

3) building a support network that would help my transition into society as a law-abiding, contributing citizen.

Those principles have guided my decisions through my entire length of imprisonment.

The record that I’ve built in prison shows how hard I have worked to transform my life from prisoner to productive citizen. Now I am climbing through the final months of my imprisonment. I expect to build a career around all that I have learned, observed, and experienced as a long-term prisoner.

Through my personal website at MichaelSantos.net, you may see how I’ve worked to document the journey. A newer website that I’ve been instrumental in launching at straight-a-guide.com will show efforts I’m making to help other prisoners embrace a similar strategy. To the extent that individuals commit, I’m convinced that they will emerge with values, skills, and resources that translate into success upon release.

I am blessed with being in my ninth year of marriage to Carole Santos. She is the center of my life and intimately involved with all of my projects. Our work together has been one of mutual commitment. Resources that our work has generated enabled Carole to return to school and she graduated as a registered nurse in 2010. We carefully chose that career for her with expectations that it would provide our family with stability, enabling me to launch my career writing, teaching, and consulting on matters related to conquering adversity. Although my adversity came through the context of a lengthy prison term, I’m convinced that adversity is a factor that unites us all as human beings. Lessons I have learned may prove helpful to others as they climb through the struggles of life.

I intend to support myself by sharing what I have learned through a career that includes, speaking, writing, teaching, publishing, and consulting. Certainly, I know that I must comply with your expectations. The preparations that I have made over the years ensures that I will walk out of prison strong. I define strong as having the following resources to draw upon: a strong marriage; a good education; solid values; financial resources; no debt; a strong support network; no substance abuse issues; and a 100 percent commitment to live as a law-abiding, productive citizen.

When we meet, I invite you to hold me accountable. Indeed, I am determined to earn your support through the deliberate actions I take over a sustained period of time. I look forward to our first meeting.

Sincerely,

Michael G. Santos

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