How to Be a Felon

By Robert Bryant

"How to be a Felon" is the premier self-help chronicle for the felon in need. Follow along as this story takes you through his journey of turning over a new leaf and creating a successful life while contending with the trials and tribulations of being a convicted felon. The path from convicted felon to expunged record. Everything you need to know to reclaim your life and change your fate is included within this volume. If you are a felon, this book was written for you. It's time for you to do the knowledge. The power is yours.n.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jun 30, 2022
• ISBN: 9781667842851

Robert Bryant

Born in Royston (Franklin County), Georgia, Robert E. Bryant moved to Greenwood, South Carolina in 1958 and has called this quiet Southern town home ever since. He has been interested in aviation all of his life and began fl ying when he was just twentynine years old. Later, at age forty-one, he received his pilot’s license (the same month his daughter, Yvette, received hers). Th ough he is a welder and welding instructor by vocation, he is certainly a pilot by avocation. His experience with aviation has aff orded him to meet a number of interesting individuals, most notably Robert Morgan, pilot of the Memphis Belle; Charles Duke, Apollo 16; Charles Boland, Shuttle Commander; Jan Davis, Missions Specialist; Robert L. Scott, author of God Is My Copilot; the living members of the Tuskegee Airmen and the Black Sheep Squadron; and General Charles E.“Chuck” Yeager, fi rst to break the sound barrier. Another life-long passion, storytelling, has led him to publish this third book. Also in print are Bryant’s fi rst two novels: Choices (a collection of three short stories inspired by mothers who “make and live with diffi cult choices everyday”) and The Model, which takes a close look “ at the blessing of unexpected love.” His stories come to him with such powerful imagery and meaning that he believes they must be divinely inspired. His fi rst story, called “Just Believe Me,” was given to him over thirty years ago in a church meeting, and he has since recorded an astonishing thirty-seven more, each equally detailed and passionately told. When the stories come to him, he feels compelled to share them: “Th ey must come out,” he says. “Th ey must be told.” He truly hopes his readers will enjoy the stories and be blessed by them as much as he has been blessed of God with them.

Book preview

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DISCLAIMER: I am not an attorney, and I am in no way offering legal advice or making any type of guarantees. Your outcome in any scenario will be impacted by a number of factors unique to your situational and geographical circumstances. This book is intended only to provide an overview of my experiences in the hopes that you may benefit from the lessons I learned along the way.

HOW TO BE A FELON

Copyright © 2022 by ROBERT BRYANT

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the author.

ISBN 978-1-66784-284-4

eBook ISBN 978-1-66784-285-1

Dedication

A special thanks to my mother for her continued support through this process. Her continual willingness to help me on this journey provided value to my life and well-being that is and always will be unmatched.

I chose to write this book because I knew it would add value to the life of another person that has found themselves in the same position that I once found myself in, so ultimately this book was written for you, the reader.

Ask yourself at every moment, is this necessary?

Marcus Aurelius

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: Mindset

Chapter 2: Early Release Programs

Chapter 3: Surviving Parole

Chapter 4: Probation & Felon Status

Chapter 5: Ground Zero

Chapter 6: Expungement

Chapter 7: Employment & Business

Chapter 8: Housing

Chapter 9: Police Contact & Dressing For Success

Chapter 10: Post-Expungement Record Clearing

Chapter 11: Firearms & Other Weapons

Chapter 12: Resources

Notes:

Epilogue

Preface

fel·on¹

/ ‘felən/

noun

1. a person who has been convicted of a felony.

adjective

ARCHAIC

1. cruel; wicked.

The felon undermining hand of dark corruption

Middle English: from Old French, literally ‘wicked, a wicked person’ (oblique case of fel ‘evil’), from medieval Latin fello, fellon-, of unknown origin.

The term Felon is the most misunderstood and misinterpreted in the American language. People are taught that a felon is inherently evil or wicked. A person who commits atrocious crimes. People who rape, murder, kidnap, or rob another person.

However, in most cases you will find yourself a felon for much milder reasons.

Let’s look at some examples:

Let’s say you sit down at a friend’s computer, they’ve left their social media account logged in. You decide to pull a prank and post a picture of something silly or type up a silly status to publish jokingly. You’ve now committed Federal Wire Fraud (18 U.S. Code 1343). There has been more than one person jailed and charged with a federal felony for this same behavior.

If you think that’s a little extreme let’s talk about some more examples. Vandalizing your neighbors’ mailbox is also a Federal Felony because a mail receptacle is considered federal property.

The most common felony in most states, however, is driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. In many states, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of prescription, or nonprescription drugs, or alcohol is a felony. What makes matters even worse is that the sobriety test for prescription drugs and marijuana is a blood test that will also reveal any use of a substance in the past 3-30 days. Unfortunately, the courts consider the presence of the substance in your blood proof of the police officer’s claim that you were impaired at the time of the traffic stop.

A plethora of other commonly violated laws that may result in felony charges including disorderly conduct, illegally downloading music or movies, loitering, public drunkenness, vandalism, providing alcohol or cigarettes to minors. In fact, even calling in sick to work and accepting sick pay when you are not sick can be charged as a felony in states with tough anti-racketeering laws because they see that behavior as the acceptance of a work-related bribe.

Our society has allowed politicians to change the classification of many laws to include them as felonious violations without changing societies’ view on what a felon is. This leaves felons to fall victim to circumstances outside their control. One day, you’re a successful working-class citizen. Suddenly, after a routine traffic stop you find yourself unable to put a roof over your family’s head or secure employment.

You’re permanently handicapped because you had a couple beers and decided to drive, or maybe you forgot a couple of prescription pills in your car that a friend gave you when you threw out your back.

Now you too are a felon.

In this book I am going to relay my experience as a felon, as well as a series of Tips & Tricks I picked up along the way. I will explain how to find work and negotiate a salary without ever disclosing your felon status. I will provide avenues for housing, and when they are most beneficial. I will outline how to locate and utilize early release programs. I will provide valuable tactics for navigating parole and probation. I will offer outlooks and mindsets that will aid you in your trajectory, and I will also outline the process to have your felonies removed from your record.

My goal is to cram as much knowledge about navigating life as a felon as I possibly can into this volume, and I will do my best to add a bit of humor so that the book doesn’t run too dry. If you find yourself wondering about a certain aspect or wanting to ask me a question, I will include my email later in the book so that you may contact me with your questions.

I’m not one to fill a book with useless bullshit or filler words, so everything I cover is something I found valuable in traversing the American landscape as a felon. I hope you too find this information useful and leverage it to its fullest potential to help you in moving forward on your unique journey as a felon and beyond.

"The man who does not read, has no advantage over the

man who cannot read." – Mark Twain

Introduction

No man is free who is not master of himself.

-Epictetus

To start this story right, I feel I must first cover how I ended up a felon, and my successes thereafter.

I was born in a small town in Arizona, on the border of Mexico and the United States. That border creates a much different experience than your average small-town life. The economy is driven by the drug trade and the subsequent government agencies put in place to combat that marketplace. Growing up on the border is growing up in an impoverished desert ravaged by the War on Drugs. If you aren’t the son of a cartel member or the child of a police officer, then a life of poverty is the most common reality.

I had a solid family life in my early years, and I was taught a strict code of honor and respect. I could be a loudmouth little tyrant but was generally a good kid. I was homeschooled by my parents and their colleagues and friends. I spent a lot of time around computer repair shops, music stores, and art galleries.

The dark twist came when my father passed away of lung cancer when I was 13. I did what any teenager who loses a parent would do. I fell into a deep dark depression fueled by drugs and unsavory characters. Unfortunately, the border town life amplified these effects and I ended up in a host of trouble fleeing Cochise County to move to the Phoenix area at age 18.

The stock market crashed on September 29, 2008. Just a month after my 18th birthday. I was attempting to enter the workforce as it turned into a barren wasteland. I eventually traveled to California and pursued a short career as a cultivator in the medicinal cannabis industry and did well before the bubble burst and the whole-sale prices tanked. It seemed no matter which direction I turned there was no good answer to supporting myself independently.

In summer 2010 I got what I thought at the time was my first real break, though I would later learn the ramifications. A friend was going to be leaving Arizona but before he did, he wanted to put me and my friends in contact with his sources for things like psilocybin mushrooms, ecstasy, and LSD.

I moved into a house with several other guys my age. I had already gained