Mario Hernandez’s 

Backstory: 

Born in California, Mario trained in Mexico City to be a singer and actor. He appeared in Mexican productions of Phantom of the Opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Man of La Mancha. Mario also toured the United States with Miss Saigon. After a few years on tour, Mario moved back to Tijuana to be with his family. He took a job at a car dealership in San Diego near the Mexican border. Mario received a SENTRI card which allowed him to cross the border more easily to get to work. Unfortunately, Mario abused that privilege. He agreed to drive illegal drugs across the border to make extra money. Then, one day, federal agents stopped him and discovered contraband in his vehicle.

Case Study:

“I spent nine days in the country jail,” Mario recalled. “I saw kids coming back after sentencing. They looked destroyed after getting five years or seven years when they were expecting so much less time. I realized they wasted their chance to influence their probation officer or Judge. Then, they spent their time blaming their lawyer, the judge, and everyone else. I wanted to go down a different path. As soon as I got out on bail, I found Justin Paperny online. I read his book Lessons From Prison and hired them. White Collar Advice gave me a plan I implemented nine months before sentencing. I did everything they told me to do. I also did a lot of soul searching for the narrative.”

At first, Mario’s lawyer resisted the idea of submitting a personal narrative. Justin helped Mario communicate with his lawyer. Mario explained the importance of telling the whole story (he sent the lawyer our videos with Federal Judges), and his lawyer bought into the strategy. Mario also developed a life plan for the future. “Not only did I prepare for sentencing, I also prepared for my life after prison. My life was spinning out of control completely before my arrest. Thanks to my work with White Collar Advice, I realized I still had a lot to live for.”

Outcome:

Mario’s Pre-Sentence Report recommended a five-year sentence. At the hearing, the judge held up Mario’s narrative and said, “I read it and it has impacted me.” The judge acknowledged Mario’s personal struggles and then sentenced Mario to twenty-four months. Mario qualified for the Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP), so he served eleven months in prison plus four months in a halfway house.

Mario remembered: “I was already on the right track before surrendering to prison. I took all of Justin and Michael’s advice about how to use my time in prison. I studied, I wrote. I stayed away from trouble. I exercised. I weighed 230 pounds on my first day in prison. When I left eleven months later, I weighed 187 pounds. It really helped to have a release plan before I got there. I gave the plan to my case manager at Sheridan and she was impressed. She can see I was doing the work and not just talking about it.”

Analysis:

Today, Mario is earning a bachelor’s degree while singing on the Praise and Worship Team at Shadow Mountain En Espanol in El Cajon, California. He restarted his musical theater career with an upcoming leading role in Mexico. He has also been cast in a musical movie to be filmed in Mexico City. His older daughter recently graduated from New York University with a concentration in theater. His son will soon begin the music program at Bureau of Manhattan Community College. Mario hopes to relocate to New York City to pursue his lifelong dreams alongside his children.

“My bad choices in this case were totally out of character for me. I learned my lesson and will never make the same mistakes,” Mario said. “The work I did with Justin’s team is still getting me through problems today. If you do the work consciously, it will help you get back on track in every way. I had a miraculous transformation in my life, so I want to share that message of hope with others.”