Becoming Someone Different

I was born June 16, 1971, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and raised in Chicago, Illinois, most of my life. Before I became the man I am today, I was known as Thick-G—a nickname that began because of my thick eyebrows.

At ten years old, I was allowed to help at the neighborhood corner store. The owner, Jon Nate, let me sweep, stock shelves, and run deliveries. It was Nate who gave me that nickname. Fourteenth and Kedvale was where my friends and I spent our time. We fought, drank, and smoked weed. By twelve or thirteen, my mother had taken me to see a mental health professional because of the things I was doing.

Drawn Into the Streets

At fourteen, I became involved in gang life and began running the streets. By sixteen, I was selling heroin on that same corner. The money changed my thinking, and I became more aggressive about protecting the block and the people around me. That was also when I got my first gun.

My first trouble with law enforcement came at sixteen for joyriding in a stolen car. I pleaded guilty and received one year of probation. At eighteen, I was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to thirteen years. I had also been shot before beginning that sentence, and I entered prison angry. I continued gang activity inside and received more time after a knife-related case. My greatest struggle was walking away from that way of life.

Returning Without a Changed Mind

I left prison in 1998, worked construction, and joined Laborers' Local 6. But although I was working, I still carried the same mindset. In 1999, after shots were fired in a park and police found guns, my parole status led to another plea and a three-year sentence.

I returned home in 2000 and went back to work. Thirty days later, I attended a party with a friend. After an altercation at the door, I gave him my truck keys and fell asleep. I woke up in Zion, Illinois, in the middle of events that became a national headline and resulted in another three-year plea for attempted burglary.

Pressure, Consequences, and More Time

In 2002, I came home, met my wife, married, and worked construction and at a hardware store while helping support four children. My wife struggled with heroin addiction and repeated relapse. I carried pressure that I did not know how to address. One night, after hearing she was seeking drugs, I reacted by taking drugs from the dealers, and shots were fired. I found myself back in Cook County Jail facing four armed robbery charges.

After hearing that my wife had been beaten and hospitalized, I reacted again. Following a court appearance, I fled and took a vehicle belonging to the state's attorney who had presented my indictment that day. It became another national headline. The judge offered me twenty-two years, which I accepted. Before returning to prison, I spent nearly three years in the county jail getting into more trouble—setting fires, fighting staff, and continuing the same destructive behavior.

Another Case and a Fifty-Year Sentence

Two years after returning to prison, the state's attorney's office asked me about a woman who reported that she had been sexually assaulted in 1999. In 2007, I was indicted on eighteen counts of aggravated sexual assault. I maintained that our encounter had been consensual and went to trial in 2010.

I was found not guilty on four counts and guilty on the remaining four. The judge later dismissed a count that failed to state an offense, while two charges were determined to have been void because they did not exist in 1999. I was sentenced to fifty years. I continue to litigate that sentence.

Transforming Mind, Spirit, and Life

Today, I am who I am because I had to wake up and become someone different—a man who can lead by example and help others. I renounced gang life and committed myself to transforming my mind, spirit, and life.

Throughout my incarceration, I earned my GED, an Associate in Liberal Studies, a Computer Technology Certificate, an Advanced Computer Technology Certificate, and numerous other certificates. I completed clinical services mentorship training and personal growth, leadership, community-building, and professional development programs.

As of today, I serve as a mentor with the T.R.I.P. program—the Resident Investment Project. Some now know me as Preacher Mountain. I am still litigating my fifty-year sentence, but I continue to lead, learn, and help others move toward change.