You’re a Target—Now What?
Advice: Do not wait for your lawyer to drive strategy. Begin documenting your story now—dates, decisions, and documents—because the government already has theirs.
Takeaway: If you can’t clearly explain what happened and why in your own words, someone else will—and you won’t like their version.
2. The First Call With a Lawyer: What to Say and What to Avoid
Advice: Avoid emotional overshares or misleading optimism. Stick to facts, ask how the lawyer prepares clients beyond the courtroom, and confirm how often they communicate post-retainer.
Takeaway: The tone and content of that first call often sets the strategy—don’t wing it.
3. The Personal Narrative: It’s Not Optional
Advice: A strong narrative should not sound like a sob story or resume. It must show self-awareness, take readers inside your mindset at the time of the offense, and demonstrate change with receipts.
Takeaway: The judge isn’t sentencing who you are—they’re sentencing who they believe you are. The narrative controls that belief.
4. The Presentence Interview (PSI): Why It’s More Dangerous Than Court
Advice: The PSI sets the tone for your entire prison experience, from custody level to programming eligibility. Role-play it. Don’t guess. Prepare like your sentence depends on it—because it does.
Takeaway: Bad answers in a PSI can extend your sentence, raise your security level, or kill RDAP eligibility.
5. How Most Defendants Screw Up Their Community Service and Letters
Advice: Judges read for patterns. Letters must be specific, credible, and not sound like carbon copies. Community service should show consistency, not just quantity.
Takeaway: If it feels rushed, it reads rushed—and rushed equals fake.
6. Choosing the Right Prison Is Overrated—Here’s What Actually Matters
Advice: Most defendants obsess over prison placement. Instead, focus on what the BOP and halfway house will evaluate: documented growth, programming participation, and public safety readiness.
Takeaway: Where you serve matters less than how you serve—and how you document it.
7. RDAP Eligibility: What Nobody Tells You
Advice: Saying “I drink socially” in a PSI can disqualify you. You must have a diagnosed, documented substance use issue in the year before arrest or plea. Not vague admissions—real records.
Takeaway: Eligibility isn’t about how much you drank—it’s about what’s on record.
8. Your First Day in Prison: What to Actually Expect
Advice: Don’t pack like you’re going to summer camp. Know the intake process, what paperwork to bring, what not to say, and how to listen before talking.
Takeaway: First impressions inside matter just as much as they did with the judge.
9. Reentry Starts While You’re Still Inside
Advice: Use your time to build a record of consistent effort—release plan, education, certifications, community service, financial planning, even business ideas. Get it in writing. Build a portfolio.
Takeaway: If you wait to reenter society until you’re released, you’re already behind.
10. The Halfway House Trap
Advice: Most people fail here. Jobs get denied, relationships blow up, and liberties are lost. Know the rules before you arrive. Keep documentation tight, submit job leads early, and avoid gray areas.
Takeaway: Freedom doesn’t return all at once—it comes in inches. Don’t lose them.
Justin Paperny
