Sixteen years ago today, I was in a halfway house, serving my first full day after leaving federal prison. One thing I never did while incarcerated was give unsolicited advice. If someone asked for my opinion, I gave it. But I never walked around preaching. That carried over to the halfway house.
On that first day, I met a pharmacist. Not exactly someone people warmed up to. He walked the halls with philosophy books—Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Sartre—quoting things most people didn’t understand. I listened politely. Then he asked me a question that changed everything.
“Tell Me Your Story…”
I had just gotten out of prison. I wasn’t in the mood to unpack my life for someone who’d clearly rather debate existentialism than own his mistakes. I told him, “I’m not ready to share it.” But he kept going.
Eventually, after telling me all about his life and asking for my take, I gave it to him straight:
“You love to quote dead philosophers about truth, but you’ve done everything but embrace it. You’ve wasted your federal prison experience.”
That didn’t go over well.
Wasting Time in Prison by Refusing to Accept the Truth
This guy saw himself as some misunderstood thinker, spouting ideas about “evident self-truths” while refusing to acknowledge the very real choices that landed him in prison.
I told him: “This could have been a meaningful experience for you—an opportunity to reflect and reset. Instead, it became another stage for more excuses and empty words.”
He fired back: “That’s easy for you to say. I didn’t do a damn thing wrong.”
That line stopped me.
It’s the same line I hear today on the phone with people who claim they were railroaded, mistreated, or somehow caught in a web of injustice.
Sound familiar?
“If you hate Trump, you’ll say he should have gone to prison for Trump University. If you hate Nancy Pelosi, you’ll scream insider trading.”
The guy in the halfway house? He was caught up in that same mindset: deflect, distract, blame. Everyone else is worse, so why am I the one doing time?
Here’s the truth no one wants to hear: Whatever someone else did—or got away with—doesn’t excuse what you did.
That mindset is poison if you’re trying to rebuild your life.
The Outcome? Predictable.
We didn’t talk again after that conversation. He didn’t like what I had to say. He asked for the truth, but didn’t want to hear it.
Eventually, he violated his probation. Traveled outside the district without permission. Got caught because he used a credit card in San Diego instead of paying cash. Naturally, it wasn’t his fault. Nothing ever was.
Some people never get it. They think their case is special, their circumstances unique, their punishment unfair. They quote philosophers, blame politicians, point fingers at the “two-tiered justice system.”
The government isn’t perfect. Neither are judges or prosecutors. But if you want to move forward, none of that helps.
What helps?
Owning your part. Full stop.
Stop Pointing Fingers—Start Owning Your Story
Here’s what I’ve learned after speaking with thousands of defendants:
- The ones who do best after prison are the ones who accept they made a mistake.
- They don’t spend their time listing what others got away with.
- They focus on what they can do—today—to start rebuilding their credibility and purpose.
No amount of Nietzsche quotes or political rage is going to rewrite your present circumstances. If you pled guilty, your energy should be spent making that plea mean something—not trying to rewrite history or pretend you didn’t deserve the sentence.
The pharmacist didn’t get that. Most don’t. But you can.
Because you’re not in a philosophy debate—you’re in a legal battle with real stakes, real timelines, and real consequences.
If you waste the experience like he did, you won’t get it back. And the courts don’t hand out do-overs.
✅ Final Thought
You can spend your sentence blaming the judge, your co-defendants, your lawyer, or the government—or you can start building a record that shows who you are now, not just who you were when the crime happened.
That choice is yours.
Justin Paperny
P. S. If this resonates, join our team this Tuesday at 11a.m. Pacific, 2 p.m. Eastern. We host a free webinar to answer questions, share lessons from real cases, and help you avoid the most costly mistakes people make during a government investigation. Bring questions. Come ready to learn.
