Cons Helping Cons | Convicts Helping Convicts

Cons Helping Cons | Convicts Helping Convicts

Convicts helping Convicts is an online support community for anyone who has left prison, jail, penitentiary, correctional facility, halfway house, or anyone dealing with the aftermath of a criminal past or criminal record. It is only for those who want to live a law abiding, honest lifestyle, of whom wish to seek help and understanding or assistance in dealing with the day-to-day obstacles we face. We welcome you to post comments and share your struggles and hardships. We also welcome victims of crime, parole, police or any other law enforcement agency to be part of this site as well.

Our goal is simply to reduce crime by assisting ex-offenders and helping them to live a normal, law abiding lifestyle, and thus obtaining a pardon if possible. We also have a twofold goal; if anyone is thinking of committing a crime or feeling there is some perverted glamour and celebrity status from it, we hope you read the information on this site, and learn what the real aftermath of crime produces.

There are many ex-offenders out there today who need help, but there are very little choices available to them. It is not like we can start a support group. Even if we did, with the stigma attached to it no one would show up. We may have a few close friends who understand, but for the most part we fight this struggle alone, misunderstood, and in shame. This site enables you to remain anonymous without fear of everyone finding out who you are.

Mission Statement

Cons Helping Cons is a web based community developed to offer practical suggestions to offenders attempting to remain crime free and move forward with their lives; educate people with no criminal past about the struggles and the challenges faced by people being released from prison and contribute to the safety of our communities

Click here to join our Social Community

From Crime to Prison to Ex-Con

You committed a crime, you did your time, and now you're out. Do you think that is the end of it? Well you're not even close to that being the end of it. A criminal record is something you are going to have to live with, deal with and play hide and seek around for the rest of your life. Some day if you are lucky enough to be eligible for a pardon-that will provide some relief, however what do you do in the meantime? What kind of life can someone have after prison? When your sentence is done, can you really move on with your life? I want to make this very clear: I am in no way endorsing any criminal activity on this website. This site is designed to help and motivate individuals with a criminal past to become functioning members of society, by sharing our experiences, hardships and ideas that may help us keep on track and live as close to a normal life as we can.

Who will benefit most from this site?

This is a self-help site for people who has been released from prison, or have a past criminal record that continues to haunt them.

It is also for family members of a loved one that is going through a prison sentence or has in the past. Or a friend of someone who knows a person who has a criminal past.

Chaplains, Organizations, community chaplaincy, psychologists, parole officers, or any other persons who offer services to ex-cons

It is also for someone who thinks that committing a crime might be somehow glamorous or make him or her famous. You really should read the real truth about a life of crime and what the real sentence will be, not just for you, but your family and friends, and the victims of your crime

It would be very hard to start a public support group, and all meet together about something like these topics; the press would have a field day with it. With this site you can remain anonymous on all the comment areas. We do not require your email; however, you can post one. All you have to enter is only a first name, whether it is yours or fictitious.

Why create a site for Cons Helping Cons?

Often one of the most misunderstood problems in society today, is crime and punishment, and ex-cons seeking a real chance. You do not have to go far to find some of the most outrageous view points on what should be done to people who commit crimes. There are convicts out there who genuinely know they made a bad choice or big mistake and want desperately to have as close to a normal, law-abiding lifestyle as possible. I want you to leave comments and share your experiences and view points. I want you to tell us about your struggles and real results of what a life of crime or just one bad mistake can make on the rest of your life. Our stories are often stories that go unheard and we are often looked at in society as negative, so we remain silent, with the exceptions of a few close friends and loved ones. You committed a crime therefore as far as society is concerned you deserve what you get. Why should society care? I have news for society; we live among you, we live next door to you, and we live in the same city as you. My hope for this site is that it will not only help people who committed crimes to walk the thin straight and narrow line, but also help others understand, and create a community of mutual support.

There are many ex-offenders out there today who need help, but there are very little choices, and we need to change that. We need to work together to build a bridge between ex-cons and society in general the gap at preset is still too large. Agencies like chaplaincy, John Howard Society, Elizabeth Fry, NPB (National Parole Board), independent Psychologist, NA (Narcotics Anonymous) AA (Alcoholic Anonymous), and other groups and individuals are there to help. These groups have been helping and providing assistance to offenders, families of offenders, and the victims of crime, and they do a wonderful job at it as well. However the one thing that lacks in all this is the understanding of the general public, a society that views us as less than human, and that we should be locked up and the key should be thrown away.

We are always looking for volunteers to help out with the site. If you are just out of prison or a person with a criminal record, we prefer that you have at least 2 years crime free, non-active by your local police department, and have been on the outside for a minimum of 2 years. However if you are just fresh out of prison you can still take a very active part by posting questions and comments to the blog or comments area. We are here to help you as much as we can. We really want to hear your story.

If you are a volunteer already in any prison or support group of some sort or in a related area please contact us. Perhaps you're just someone looking for more understanding and want to work with people, or just like to help out. We would like to hear from you no matter what your profession is.

What qualifies me to create this Site?

What qualifies me to host a site like this or how do I know any thing about this topic? I have been out of prison for over 11 years now. I was convicted and charged with manslaughter, and before that I was petty thief in an out of trouble most of my teen years. I was sentenced to 8 years in prison. To read more about me please click here.

While you are in prison, a halfway house or on parole most things are provided and in some cases done for you, it may not be the choices you want, however people will help you even if you are not putting forth the effort. That all changes when you are on your own, as you will have to learn how to take care of yourself before that point. Anyone who knows what it is like to have a criminal record knows the obstacles we go through every time there is an interview for a new job, when you looking for a girlfriend or boyfriend, or when you want to cross the border. Most of us with criminal records cannot cross the border, and while on parole you have a 25-mile invisible fence. Most employers will not hire us, and most women/men would not date us if we told them upfront. This is not a lifestyle for the weak at heart, and you will need more strength and perseverance than you ever thought possible. You will take and received rejection on every level, and instead of letting it consume you and destroy you, use it and turn it into a positive. You are going to have to find a way to do this and most people fall short in this area. This is often the reason why the recidivism rate is very high. I know this from personal experience, my struggles and rejections by many employers, and sometimes getting fired after I had the job for a while once they were made aware of my past. I have not had a long-term relationship since my release; it seems that once I tell someone about my past it only lasts about a month after that. It does not matter what I did in the last 11 years or more, only what I did in a moment that seems to define who I am for most people. Despite all of that, I will walk straight and very narrow and will live a life that is not dominated by crime. I made up my mind that no matter what, I would not go back to prison, simply because I will not commit any more crime. For over 11 years I have lived a crime free life. It is very important to me, not only for my own life but also for the person's life who I took. I have a responsibility to him not to live a life where this could ever be repeated by me again and to never put another family through what I have done to them.

Rates of Recidivism & Types of Offenders

If you look at government related sites or the Correctional Services of Canada sites for statistics on this matter, you will find no easy way of looking at this. They have more of a problem of defining what recidivism is, and cannot put a number on it based upon that. I guess as long as there is confusion based upon what it is, they never have to show you hard facts of how dreadful they are really doing with the attempts to reintegrate convicts back into society. When I was in prison for over 6 years, I would often see the same people returning over and over again and it seemed like population in there never really changed (These figures are my own and taken from the time when I was in prison and what I observed, they are not from any official study). However, it was more like 20-30% would make up the 'merry go round' of repeated stays with corrections and returns. What I am about to say is based upon my own observations at the time while I was incarcerated. This 20-30% didn't all re-offend (commit new offences) however, they would all have something in common and return within a short time after granted parole, which was less then 4-6 months. They seemed to come back every time they were released for breaking the conditions of their parole. When they were getting close to the end of their sentence they would commit another offence. They seemed to be caught in a loop and just repeated that style of life over and over again. These offenders are what keep Corrections Services Canada in business. Often they are not very serious or extreme violent offences, so they just keep getting parole granted over and over again.

There are also a small percentage of convicts who come to prison with the feeling they left something unfinished on the outside. These are typically persons convicted of attempted murder, threats and aggravated assault, and domestic related offences. There are cases of where prisoners were released from prison only to kill their spouse very soon after their release. It seemed to me about 10% came into the prison like this and only about 1% of them leave with the vindictive plans they came in with, and only some of the prisoners carry these plans out after their release. However, if it was my loved one who was the victim of this, I do not think I would feel better, just because it is not that common.

Violent offenders, with the exclusion of persons doing a life sentence, make up a large percentage of the prison population. These offenders have a fair bit of range, however, they usually have a much harder time getting parole and things just do not fall in their laps like the non-violent offenders. So when they are released they usually stay out longer, however some of them do return. This is the group that the government will use when quoting studies of recidivism, when and only if they are forced to come up with some numbers. They chose this group because it has the lowest rate of new offences of convicts released in a period of two years.

Now we come to the "lifers" as called in prison, convicts who are often referred to as doing letters, not time. Regardless of what the public may think, someone doing life has no release date. I have often heard people tell me that someone with a life sentence only has to serve 25 years and then they are free. That is simply not true. If you are convicted of a life sentence in Canada, it means you are in prison till the day you die. If you die tomorrow the sentence is served, or if you die 50 years later, you will die at the very minimum on parole or prison of some sort if you have not been released. If you're sentenced to life, with eligibility for parole in 25 years, and that is all it is -a chance to get parole. You do however, get a review if you are doing well and have the full support of the case management team on the inside after 15 years. There are no guarantees that the National Parole Board will let you out after you are eligible for parole. I just want to explain that misconception. If a lifer is released from prison they are on parole for the rest of their life. They often do not commit new offences; however some of them break their parole conditions and return to prison. I have seen a good number of them commit suicide after a return during my 6-year stay. They seem to be the group that goes through the worst and has the hardest time as far as getting released from prison.

I will also include convicts who get the "BITCH", which is the habitual offender's conviction. These are persons who have numerous violent offences and were deemed too dangerous to be in society. I have only met one person with this conviction the whole time I was there. It is rare. However they can also go before the National Parole Board for a release and in most cases it is near impossible for this individual to get out of prison.

Sexual offences and the number of people convicted of these offences seem to be growing, however, I feel it is just that more people are willing to talk about it and report the crime in society today. A lot of them were from years ago and I really do feel over time that the rate of sexual offences will be reduced. I found that the ones who were charged with rape against another adult seemed to re-offend more or had more than one act of this crime. However someone charged of a sexual offence against a child seemed to have little or no return to prison if the person was older. However there were a few who just enjoyed it and really didn't see any problem with it. I once met a 20-year-old male who told me he could not wait to get out so he could do it again. I found that a little hard to take. I know wrong is wrong, but there is just something that tears my heart when it comes to crimes against children. However, we cannot let that feeling get in the way of helping them, as they must be helped. The more people with a criminal past that we help, less crime will happen in the future.

Terms & Prison lingo

To the average person who has never been in prison or any correctional related facility, I am going to give you a crash course in what some terms and prison lingo mean. As you read through this site it may be helpful to you, however, I often put a short meaning in brackets.

The term prison, penitentiary, or correctional facility is a place in which individuals are confined and usually deprived of a range of personal freedoms. I think most of us have heard and understand those terms, however within that is a broad range of terms and often-misunderstood terminology.

The term 'jail' is often considered synonymous with prison. However there are some important differences. Jail in Canada is where people convicted of a crime will serve their sentence if it is less then two years, often called 2 years less a day, which means they go to a provincially run jail and not a federally run prison. Jails will also typically hold people who are not found guilty of crime that have been what they refer to as "remanded to custody", often called remand. That is when they have not yet been granted bail or have been denied bail before they are found guilty. It is also referred to as "Dead Time" quite often as it is up to the sitting judge to decide if he/she will count the time towards their sentence if convicted. If they are not convicted then the time cannot be used, thus the term "Dead Time". Jails are typically smaller than prisons and do not have as many programs and are not equipped with as many tools to help the offender. If you are sentenced to a crime in one province you are most likely to serve that sentence out in a jail that is located in that province.

Prisons are federally ran institutions. Only people who are serving a sentence of 2 years or more will be incarcerated there. It is possible to have a convict serving a sentence and be awaiting an outcome on another charge. When they are required to go before the court they will be transported to a local jail by the Sheriff department in the area of the court. Prisons usually hold a lot more prisoners as compared to jails. There are different types of prisons as well- super maximum-security prisons (super max), maximum-security prisons, medium security prisons and minimum-security prisons. At first it is hard to understand the differences. Just think of it this way- the higher the security; the more rules and precautions taken, and these are lesser as you move to lowered levels.

Prisons have more programs and assistance to help the offender and more money to work with than the provincial jails. They usually have some trades and education that you can acquire while you are there, such as more self-help groups, access to chaplaincy, counseling, etc. However, before you sign up, they also have more violent offenders and more crime. Often in provincial jails you may have a few fights and some minor problems (most of the time), however you have that on daily basis in a prison system. Quite often in prisons, people are assaulted more severely, possibly with pipes or sticks, stabbings, etc. The degree of survival from one to the other is very different.

ETA is an Escorted Temporary Absence, and it is just as it says 'escorted'. ETA is usually done by a prison guard regardless of jail or prison. However there are people or volunteers that may be cleared to be able to act as an escort for prisoners. Typically you only go for the day or a short period of time before returning back to the facility.

UTA (Unescorted Temporary Absence), often called TA for short, is simply a pass that you are given in which you can leave by yourself. This could be for family, medical, or other reasons. They typically are granted for 3 days at a time, but they can run longer or shorter. If you are in jail, the warden has more discretion over granting a UTA, where as if you are in prison you need the NPB (National Parole Board) to grant them for you. It is a much harder process in the federal prison system.

Statutory Release is when you completed 2/3 of your sentence, often called "Stat Release". Normally you will be released after this and the remainder is served on parole. However, if you are in prison you could be forced to a halfway house or it possible some convicts could be "Gated". Gated is a term for when Correction Services Canada and the Parole Board deem the person likely to re-offend and force him/her to serve the full sentence imposed by the court. It does happen on occasion.

Day parole from a jail is usually controlled by the provincial jail. Depending on the terms you could go out for 1 day a week or every day. You typically leave in the morning and come back later that evening. In some cases you might be sent to a local provincial halfway house, which I will talk more about later. Most times it is not necessary as these sentences are shorter in nature and take more time to do the paper work, and by that time you may be on full parole. However in a federal prison you are sent to a halfway house, and you guessed it, there are federal halfway houses and provincially ran ones as well. If you are a violent offender or the Parole board just wants to keep a closer eye on you till you prove yourself, you are going to have to go to federal one. If the fear of you re-offending is minimal, even if you have a violent offence, you could go to a provincial one if all works out for you.

There are two ways you can get full parole. If there is no intervention by NPB (National Parole Board), you will automatically receive this at your statutory release, or you go before the NPB and are granted it before your stat release. Either case you still have rules to follow and conditions will be imposed depending on your needs and situation.

Expiration date means when the sentence is over. If someone was sentenced to 8 years, once 8 years arrives the sentence is complete and you have full rights and freedoms like anyone else. If someone was sentenced to life in prison, regardless of what it was, 2nd degree murder, 1st degree murder, or manslaughter, the judge can sentence that person to life in prison if convicted of manslaughter or other charges as well. They would be given a parole eligibility date, minimum with 2nd degree murder is 10 years and goes up from there, depending on a number of factors. However the expiration date for a convict in this type of sentence is when they die. Life means life and this is often why this sentence is called "letters". Sometimes you will hear lifer's say, "I am doing letters". If you are doing the "BITCH", declared "habitual offender" your expiration date is also when you pass away.

Halfway house is a place where offenders can stay upon conditional release of day parole, statutory release, or other restrictions imposed by the NPB. It is as close to being in normal society as possible and yet still being in a correctional facility. In Canada there are two types as with types of incarceration. Provincial Halfway houses are more common and they typically house less violent offenders or lower risk to re-offend. A prisoner must submit a request to go to one of these halfway houses, and has to be granted the request. Federal halfway houses, while there are not as many, typically are larger and house more convicts coming out of prison. One of the major differences between the two is that the federal ran halfway houses can be ordered by the National Parole Board to accept a prisoner upon release, whereas the provincial one requires acceptance within the in-house staff. I also find that provincial halfway houses tend to pamper an offender way to much by making meals and providing too many normal things a person is required to do everyday of normal life. The whole point of a halfway house is to prepare you for the real world.

CSC - Correctional Service of Canada

POI's - Parole officer Institution (Used to be called CMO - Case Management Officer)

PO - Parole Officer (Parole officers in parole offices dealing with offenders on release)

NPB - National Parole Board

Prison lingo | Prison Slang

I do not want to get to deep into this topic I only want to state enough so that you can understand. Some of the terms used are often used on a day to day basis through the prison system.

The term "rat, fur back, informant, squealer", etc, all mean that you told on someone, divulged information about a crime to the authorities or you told on another prison within the correctional facility.

"Goof", that is a term that you probably do not take to serious, however in prison it means something quite different than on the street. It could vary from being a rat, sex offender, or both.

The term "Piece of Shit" means you are viewed as the lowest from of life; you could be a rat, goof, or sex offender (usually someone who is child sexual predator would have this distinction right away). This term is often used way too much in the prison system and often results in a lot of fights, beatings and negative behavior.

Prison Code | Honor among Thieves

The prison code and honor among thieves is not always followed in today's prisons like it used to be years ago, and is often interrupted by greed and personal agenda. It is often used to justify the most abhorrent violent acts or crimes commited by offenders. I am not a psychologist or doctor writing this, I am an ex-con. It is nothing less then an oxymoron in a society of criminally perverted minds in which you are forced to follow or pay the price. It could be described as doing the right thing when only the wrong choices are provided. You think that sounds confusing? Try to live in a world that promotes this thought and practice.

In simple terms, it means you do not rat (tell what someone did) on anyone or give up your co- accused of a crime, or other offenders, even if you were the victim of the crime. Yes that is right! Even if you were almost beat to death or raped, you are supposed to rise up and strike them down in your own form of vigilante justice. The code prohibits you from stealing from one inmate to another (that one always made me laugh) -a paradox of terms at a best. Let me put it into context; if you see someone murdered in front of your eyes you are not to help or assist the police or authorities in any way. It would be one thing on the outside but in prison you really are better off not to say anything. I know that may be difficult for someone to grasp, however if you were in prison for a while you know what I am talking about. It can keep you alive and well inside prison; however this line of thinking will destroy you on the outside of prison.

Disobeying this code inside prison can result in very malicious actions. It could be anything in the from of ostracism, to sexual assault, aggravated assault, a string of brutal assaults, and in some cases murder. If you get labeled a rat in prison it will follow you forever, even if you do not get physically hurt you will never live it down. If you get beat with sticks or pipes or stabbed, by several convicts and survive, you are better off not saying anything. Why? Because when you get better they are only going to put you right back out there with the people who did it, and if you say anything and they do ship the other guys to another prison, their friends will take care of you the first chance they get. Not only that, often you go back out when you are not even fully healed and can't defend yourself as well as before the attack. Your other option is going to PC (Protective Custody). Sounds great? NOT! You are locked in a cell 23 ½ hours a day. Sure you are physically safer then you were, however you more likely to commit suicide after a period of time.