Today on the podcast, I'm going to be talking to one of my dearest friends, Roberto Lascallo.

I met Roberto via his mother 22 years ago.

His mother was crying at the coffee shop, and when I approached her to ask her what was going on,

she told me that they had just lost the appeal in Roberto's sentence. Today, Roberto's

39 years old and he has been in prison for 24 years. For the last 22 years, Roberto and I have

spent 30 minutes on the phone every week in two or three visits a year in the meantime.

Roberto was very hesitant to do this podcast as he does not believe his story is worth sharing.

I had to implore him to tell his story because I believe we can all learn much from him.

The tone of the conversation is a bit more somber than others, But I cannot be more excited to bring to you one of the greatest human beings I've ever met, my friend Roberto.

An inmate at Danville Correctional Facility.

This call is subject to recording and monitoring.

You may start the conversation now.

Part one, The Path.

This is how Roberto was brought to America, how we first got involved with a gang.

And the one reason Roberto believes that prison saved his life.

Roberto, I would love to welcome you to the show and have you tell us about you and your background and your childhood.

Well, thank you. Thank you for having me. And I'm humbled that you and even asked me to be part of this.

I was born in Mexico, like many of the kids, they're out there right now.

I was brought over when I was eight years old to this country.

I went through, I guess you can say, a difficult transition.

I was a young kid trying to adapt to the environment.

You know, at the time, I was young.

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