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Transcript

“Duke Got Life: Boxer Charles Duke Tanner’s Journey from Two Life Sentences to Freedom” · Nightmare Success In and Out

0:00
You know, you go one win, two wins, three wins.
0:02
You're in a professional. You get on ESPN, you're 19 and O
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like what? What was?
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What were you thinking? I'm just saying my family do
0:08
better, said My dad quit cold Turkey, no help.
0:11
Set the gym every day from that day that I saw him until I left
0:17
the. So that was a huge motivation
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for you. Oh yeah, I'm, I'm watching a lot
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of my family members besides my dad and then quit.
0:24
I'm watching some friends and their moms be able to stop.
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So my goal is to, you know, I have one thing, 1 mission, and
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that was to beat Roy Jones Junior and be the world
0:34
champion. So that was my motivation.
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So every fight that I trained, I trained.
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I didn't care who the guy was fighting.
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I trained to be Roy Jones Junior.
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So everything's going the way that you have envisioned it and
0:46
you're kind of leading the way in your community.
0:48
How in the world does this nightmare land on you?
0:53
What happens when your worst fear becomes your reality?
0:56
Hi, I'm Brent Cassidy, welcome to the Nightmare Success In and
0:59
Out podcast where we explore how to overcome your fears and
1:03
nightmares that set yourself free.
1:05
We're going to be exploring this topic with guys that was in
1:07
Leavenworth with and others who survived their own nightmare.
1:12
These stories can be inspiring, sometimes sad, there's some
1:16
humor, but hopefully you can come away with a nugget of
1:19
something that'll help you knock down some of the prisons you
1:22
built up in your own mind. All right, welcome back.
1:24
Now I'm our success and now listener, this is where you come
1:26
from. What happens when your worst
1:27
fear becomes your reality? How do you adapt, survive,
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overcome? Set yourself free, folks.
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Don't forget to share this thing out.
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Like it up. Subscribe.
1:37
It's all good stuff. I appreciate it really helps the
1:39
show. So who are we talking to today
1:42
on Nightmare Success? Well, I have been excited about
1:46
this guest for a while and Charles Duke Tanner has been all
1:50
over the news. So my guest is Charles Duke
1:53
Tanner and his story hits like a freight train.
1:56
Powerful, painful, inspiring. Charles Duke Tanner was a rising
2:01
star in the professional boxing world.
2:03
Undefeated at 19 O fast, charismatic, on the edge of
2:06
greatness. He was even.
2:08
He was being trained by Angelino Dundee.
2:11
If you remember, Angelina Dundee was Muhammad Ali's trainer.
2:14
So he was. He was in the thick of it.
2:16
At the height of his promise, life took a dark turn.
2:20
He was sentenced to two life sentences on his first time
2:25
offense nonviolent drug conspiracy. 2 life sentences for
2:31
first time offense. Nonviolent drug conspiracy.
2:37
Prison didn't take away his fight, it refined it.
2:39
Inside those walls, Charles rebuilt himself mentally,
2:42
spiritually, emotionally. He became a leader, a motivator,
2:45
a man of faith. And against all odds he made
2:47
history, receiving a presidential clemency in 2020
2:51
that brought him home after more than 16 years behind bars.
2:54
When he went away, his son was 2 years old.
2:56
When he got out of prison, his son was in college.
3:02
Then a full presidential pardon this year in 2025.
3:06
This story is unbelievable. I'm sure there's going to be a
3:08
movie about it today. He's back in the ring this time
3:11
fighting for people, purpose and redemption.
3:16
We're going to talk about the fall of the isolation, the
3:18
transformation and the comeback and what mission he's on now
3:23
with what he's doing with communities and and building
3:27
back better communities just because of what he's his
3:31
motivation and how he's able to do it.
3:33
I can't wait to jump into all that.
3:34
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story. All right, Charles Duke Tanner.
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How are you, my man? Man, I'm blessed man and highly
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favored by the one and only Jesus Christ.
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That's great. You are man.
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Your story, I mean, reads like a movie script.
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It's unreal. You know, I was thinking, I know
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you're from Gary IN Duke. What what was when you were
5:24
growing up as a kid? Because everybody kind of knows
5:27
Gary and it because that's like where Michael Jackson and his
5:30
family was from. And so it's a it's a town in
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Indiana, but it's, you know, people know it.
5:35
What What was life like for you growing up as a kid?
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You know what, me, it was different.
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Gary wasn't like it was when Michael Jackson was there.
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You know, I was born in 1980, so, you know, I come up in the
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town and in the era where Gary was crashing and a lot of black
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communities was crashing because that's when the crack of didn't
5:57
came and hit in the 80s, you know, it hit hard.
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So from the time that I can remember, you know, going from 6
6:06
to my teenage to the early 90s, you know, people was really
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going out, getting strung out, you know, on the drugs and, and
6:15
abusing them in a real bad way. So, you know, it was, it was
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turning into a lot of violence. It was turning into, you know,
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the different gang members just, you know, making their Marks
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and, and they wasn't organizations at the time, they
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was really gang members. So it was like these people
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don't like these people. And then, you know, the money's,
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you know, the money played a part in it because like I said,
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the crack was the cracker that McKay came.
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So it was a real, real violent situation.
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But, you know, I came up in the two family household to where my
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Mama and dad was there. I'm the youngest of 10, the
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youngest boy of 10. Yeah, that's a lot.
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Yeah, 10 and yeah yeah, 10 in a in a four bedroom, you know
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really 3 bedroom. We built the other room.
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So but you know, we made it and it was love, you know, and
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especially as an adult, as a kid, you know, I went through
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some things because, you know, I I was had to grow up like in the
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militant kind of stage because, you know, I had the older
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brothers and I was a little one. I want to be around the closest
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brother to me is six years older than me.
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So imagine I'm six, he 12. He don't want to hang out with
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me, you know, so I couldn't cry. I couldn't do this.
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I couldn't do that. Get your butt back up and go
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back out there it go fight him back or quit crying and you
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can't go. And and my parents is abusing
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the drugs and alcohol. So I felt the loss of love to
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some point because I was a kid and I didn't know.
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But as I got older, you know, I realized it was a disease and my
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parents loved me and they did the best to take to look at that
8:01
given time. And that's a message I get to a
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lot of people and we get to my story a little deeper.
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I'll explain to you why I feel like some things happen like how
8:11
they did. Yeah, well, I was, I was curious
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with all those things that were going on in your life and and
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then this big family, how in the world does a kid get into
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boxing? It was my love for my dad.
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My dad loved boxing. One of my older brothers used to
8:28
fight. And when my dad, when he stopped
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it like you know which I never asked and to this day I don't
8:36
even want to know. But in my heart I believe that
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my brother stopped boxing because my dad was abusing the
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drugs. So he was just like maybe he
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said maybe he think if he bagged up that he had quit.
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But it made me want to fight. So he had quit.
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So it was like the opposite, I believe.
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And, you know, my brother went into the streets as well, you
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know, that early at it, you know, at that age and, you know,
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it just turned things around. So I was using boxing and like
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made my dad come to the gym, make him pick him up and hug me,
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you know, do all these things and and it didn't work.
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It didn't work for a minute. But I used that, that anger and
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upsetness in the ring and to learn how to be better and not
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to be the vicious fighter to like go on and hurt people.
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I used it to craft the skill like what?
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Let me learn how to do this so I can come home, you know,
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fighting, of course. Yeah.
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You get in there, you knock the guy out, just look beautiful.
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But I want to come home like that.
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Look, I can slip this punch and I can do this and I can't look
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how fast I am or look at this. I could throw 2 left hooks, you
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know, and you know, to pick it up.
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And there's, you know, he acknowledged it, but it was
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like, it wasn't like with my brother, My brother every day my
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dad went to the gym. That's how I got to tag along
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with him. And when he stopped, it was just
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like the coach said that he saw it in my eyes from even a kid.
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They picked me up to hit the bags and stuff like that.
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He said he's going to be the one.
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And he had two sons fighting at the time, too.
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His name was Bill Murphy. And he used to tell everybody
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just just going to be the last guy trained.
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He going to be a world champion. Wow.
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And with all the other craziness that was going around you with
10:23
the streets, was it Was it like you were almost like living two
10:26
different lives? Duke with with.
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No, because that wasn't. Him and then going out and.
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No, because I wasn't in the streets.
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I was surrounded by everything based on my block.
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So I came home, I lived it and even my household.
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But that's the part that you're going to get to the case about.
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That's going to be, you know, so crazy.
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And I believe that's why the president dug into my case and
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did what he did because my whole life, man, you know, I was in
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the gym, so I used to go to all the tournaments I was winning.
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I end up joining the power program and they just, we was
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out fighting every weekend in the eighth grade.
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I end up I got into a physical altercation at school for this
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guy messing with my sister. And so I went to the high school
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and I met him, got into a fight and then I beat him up.
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And you know, I didn't supposed to be on high school grounds.
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I was in junior high that he had pushed my sister or what not.
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Damn. And I, you know, I told him, you
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know, like he shouldn't do that. He, you know, one thing led to
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another. He swaggered me and didn't know
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how to fight and I got in trouble for it.
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So I was suspended. So I ended up going to a boxing
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match with the older guys at the Power Club under John Taylor at
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this time. And I was just the bad boy
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taking the bag, the equipment for them because I was suspended
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and, you know, so I went and they were short of fight.
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And you have to be 17 years, me 18 years old, even be over here
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or whatnot. So I just, I just have to go
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really sit in the bat and lock around with the bag and
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everything or go somewhere and sit and I really move around or
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help the coach and, and you know, at the ring with the
12:10
buffet. But it was a fight short and the
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guy was like my weight. He's like 20 years old.
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I'm 13 and my coach, like my coach, like Duke, you want to
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take this fight? I said yeah, I'll fight him.
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Yeah. Hey, deny it How?
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I'm gonna go home and tell my dad I deny how to fight, right?
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I went in there. I stopped him in the second
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round with a body shot. He quit. 13 years old.
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I was 13 years old. Yeah, that was the next night.
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So it was at the at the Union League, downtown Chicago.
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I'll never forget, you know, Gentleman Cigar Club and all the
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guys was going crazy 'cause they could tell like this is a kid,
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you know, and to what? They didn't want me to take my
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hair gear off after the fight because, you know, I looked
13:00
young. No, no picture hearing on that.
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And one of these guys grabbed me after the fight and was just
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like, hey, how old are you? So you know, I don't know what
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to say. I lie seven.
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I'm 1817. Then he was just like, no,
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you're not because you know, I said 1870.
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I said 17 and 18. He was like, so I guess they
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went and said something to someone and they came back to
13:24
coach Taylor and said, hey man, everybody wants to see this kid
13:26
fight again, but be like, but at the moment we don't know.
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No young kid to bring what he fight another older guy.
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The next day they bring me back. I fight a 21 year old, same
13:38
thing, beat him. So the look, the guy name was
13:42
Robert Wiseman. He was a lawyer.
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He said, hey, you take my card and you tell your parents to
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call me because I know exactly how old you are.
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So I'm like, oh, I'm in trouble. So I come home.
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I tell my dad like, hey, I fought this guy.
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I fought this guy next day and I beat him there.
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But like this lawyer do want to come.
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So my dad eyes trickle, but he was more like you're not in
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trouble. They're probably trying to do
14:07
something with you far as money wise.
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So I'm saying to myself like, well, we don't need we need some
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money, but I don't need to give it to you is what I'm thinking.
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So I talked to my mom about it. At this time my mom had left the
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drugs alone and I said mom had nobody graduated, none of my
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brothers, none of my cousins, none of my uncles with the last
14:29
name turned. I said, mom, I won't walk the
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stage. I'm going to be the first one to
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get a diploma on my dad's side would make my granddad proud.
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You've got my word on this. So these guys offered me some
14:42
money, tell them to send me to this private school.
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It was a private school at the time, my son's mom.
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We was childhood boyfriend and girlfriend and she was going
14:52
off. She wanted to used to always say
14:55
like, you know, I want to go to this school, but it costs so
14:57
much. We can't afford it.
14:58
You know, we found the projects in in Section 8.
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So I'm like if I could pass this test, I can get into the school
15:07
by so if they offer me anything, I'm asking them to pay for that.
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It's like 4 KA year plus books and all of that.
15:14
So the guys came out there say hey, what do you want?
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And I shocked them stood up. So I want an education.
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They say you want a what? So what?
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What were you, 13 or 14? I was 13 years old getting ready
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to go to my first year and and they said you want an education.
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I say y'all want to go to this school right here.
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They said, well, if you pass the test, admission test, we'll pay
15:37
for it. They set up a phone call, the
15:39
friends at Duke Tanner and they set the phone up.
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Bam. I went to school and I graduated
15:44
C 98 and was set off to my professional career.
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Wow, that's quite a story. So when you got it, I mean you
15:57
were probably leaving your neighborhood and going to this
15:59
private school was how was your life in that school?
16:02
It changed everything. It changed everything.
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You know, you know, predominantly, you know, low
16:10
percent of black people there. But the people, all the people
16:14
of all races, they took me in, they helped me, they work with
16:18
me. Some of the teachers used
16:19
reverse psychology. Reverse psychology on me, told
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me are you ain't going to be now you don't want to.
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You're going to be a fighter because now I'm winning real big
16:27
in 96. I end up going to the Junior
16:30
Olympics, World Games to win the bronze medal.
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Should have won to go. I thought I'd beat the guy, but
16:36
you know, he went on, he won the gold.
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So they made me #3 in the world, it's amateur, you know, I was
16:41
picked to be on the 2000 Olympic team in Australia and that's
16:45
when they sent me to go see Angelo Nadi.
16:47
When I graduated high school. It was before I graduated.
16:50
That's such a big stuff. Yeah, man, but, and, and this is
16:56
the part that really changed my life.
16:59
When I came back from San Angelo 90, I was rushing to to see my
17:02
dad and I knew he used drugs, but I never saw him.
17:05
It's a whole difference. So I run to one of my friend's
17:09
house and he in the basement and he lightened the crack pipe.
17:11
So I ran it to him, knocked it down.
17:14
And the look that he looked at me with like he wanted to kill
17:17
me, I said, I said to myself, like, you know, I don't want to
17:21
hit him or not. My dad was tough too, though.
17:23
But out of respect my dad, I was going to hit him.
17:26
I just he grabbed me and grabbed each other.
17:28
Then I we let each other go and I just ran home.
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And then he came home and he talked and he said I'm done.
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I said, if you quit today, I said, I'm turning pro.
17:39
I'm not going to the Olympics. I don't want to go to the
17:41
Olympics. I'm done.
17:44
You know I'm not fighting no more amateurs.
17:48
This was like more to 98. I graduated that June, so I
17:54
stopped fighting for the for the rest of that year, focused on
17:58
school graduated on the honor roll.
18:01
I walked across the stage and turned pro November 27th, 1998
18:06
that year by myself. No, I didn't get no big huge
18:10
contracts. The guys that paid for me to go
18:13
to school was upset because they wanted me to go to the Olympics,
18:16
but I didn't want to tell them what I was really going through
18:20
at home. So, you know, it was
18:23
embarrassing. So I just said, hey, listen man,
18:25
I got a fight. At the time, my childhood
18:28
girlfriend was pregnant with our first child, but she end up
18:31
having a miscarriage. She ended up going off to Clark
18:35
in Atlanta and I turned professional.
18:39
I stopped fighting, but during that time coming up, I was in
18:43
all these different neighborhoods and everybody
18:45
running through the streets, so everybody knowing me.
18:48
So now not only do I got my family on my back, I got my
18:51
friends and now I got the whole city of Gary.
18:54
Yeah, you're like and. We come out and and listen
18:58
though I come out. They couldn't even make me the
19:01
first fight because they were scared everybody would leave the
19:04
arena from over the over the main event.
19:07
They make me second to the last fight on the main event for a
19:11
four round fight. It was so bad they had to change
19:14
my fight from four to six round. So normally you do fours, you do
19:18
about 5 or 6, four rounders, then six, then eight, then 10:00
19:22
and 12:00 I start. I never did a four round.
19:24
I started off doing 6 rounders because I said I don't care, I'm
19:27
in shape. I could fight six man and it
19:30
ain't going that far. I think I stopped the guy in the
19:32
second or third round, stopped him in the third round.
19:35
I mean, did you, dude, you know, I, I've always watched boxing,
19:40
grew up, you know, I, I'm, I'm 58 years old.
19:42
So I grew up in the Muhammad Ali era and Sugar Ray Leonard and
19:46
all these, you know, fighters. They were so big when you when
19:49
you got into a ring, was there ever a time where it was like
19:52
you were scared to get in the ring?
19:54
Or was it always like, I know I'm going to, I'm I'm better,
19:56
I'm going to knock this guy out? Oh, that's the the hardest part
20:00
of the fight every time is walking to the ring.
20:02
To me, you get the same, I get the same feeling every time.
20:06
Like the feeling just hit me now just thinking about it.
20:09
It's that walk to the ring. And I could explain it, you
20:13
know, And I've done this walk so many times to it, even that walk
20:19
when I was walking to that federal prison through that yard
20:22
to the first time. Get the same feeling that the
20:27
butterflies, but once I come up under them ropes and I stand up
20:31
his do or die nice. Me and him, you know?
20:34
And that's the same feeling I had every time, you know?
20:36
So it's like either you gonna beat me, I'm gonna beat you.
20:38
Either I'm gonna knock you out or you're gonna knock me out.
20:41
Somebody gotta win somebody. 'S gotta win, and he won a lot
20:45
and he didn't lose. Right.
20:47
No. What?
20:49
Yeah, what was going through your mind?
20:50
You know, you go one win, two wins, three wins, you're in a
20:53
professional, you get on ESPN, you're 19 and O like what?
20:56
What was? What were you thinking?
20:59
I'm just saying my family do better, said my dad quit cold
21:04
Turkey, no help, shut the gym every day from that day that I
21:08
saw him until I left it. So that was a huge motivation
21:12
for you. Oh yeah, I'm, I'm watching a lot
21:15
of my family members besides my dad and then quit.
21:18
I'm watching some friends and their moms be able to stop.
21:21
I'm enjoying every day. So my goal is to, you know, I
21:25
have one thing 1 mission, and that was to beat Roy Jones
21:29
Junior and be the world champion.
21:32
So that was my motivation. So every fight that I trained, I
21:35
trained. I didn't care who the guy was
21:38
fighting. I trained to be Roy Jones
21:40
Junior. So everything's going the way
21:45
that you have envisioned it, and you're kind of leading the way
21:49
in your community. How in the world does this
21:51
nightmare land on you? I wasn't making enough money.
21:57
And you know, people without boxing bring so much, but they
22:00
don't, you know, I'm making $100 a round, you know, $200 a round.
22:05
I'm selling a lot of tickets, so I'm making a little extra money.
22:08
But you know, it wasn't coming. And then now I got a kid for
22:15
real. So by me being in the
22:18
neighborhoods, knowing all the tops, you know, all the top
22:21
people in the streets was coming once coming to the vice.
22:25
And it was bringing peace to the neighborhoods to where it's
22:28
like, well, you know, we're not going to disrespect Duke at this
22:31
event. He's going to be the key to the
22:33
city. And it really slowed the
22:37
violence down to where now people are coming to see me
22:41
fight. And now they're really getting
22:43
to know these dudes, like really ain't a bad guy.
22:48
Maybe we could do business. So maybe we could do this.
22:51
And I'm seeing this too, you know, I mean, I'm not dumb.
22:54
I'm not come from here. I know what's going on.
22:57
And I said, hey, man, listen, man, let me be the bridge
23:03
between that through the guy on her base release.
23:06
And he was the guy that was, you know, bringing all the drugs in.
23:09
I didn't want to go to the regular guys.
23:11
I went straight to the top. I said, man, just let me do some
23:14
drop offs for you. He was like, oh, man, yeah,
23:17
please. Because now I can go into every
23:20
neighborhood and he's not worried about it.
23:22
And I was just go drop the bags off.
23:24
And one day I opened it and I shouldn't have opened it.
23:27
And the opening the bag got me greedy.
23:30
And it's like I came back and I said something like, hey, man, I
23:36
was first taking the book bag. Now take your two gym bags.
23:41
You're trying to do the same amount.
23:42
I need more. And he realized that he couldn't
23:48
not stop now. And, you know, he pretty much
23:52
tripled my pay. And now I'm locked in.
23:55
Things are gone. And, you know, I want to get
23:58
out. And I was done.
23:59
I was like, man. And then he called me the last
24:02
he got in trouble. But something he did nothing to
24:06
dealing with none of the other people who was who he was making
24:09
me take the bags to or nothing. But you know, he cooperated and
24:13
he told on all those guys, but he got no dealing with those
24:18
guys. You know, he can't call them and
24:21
it'll look crazy to them if he called it took them a bag.
24:25
They only wanted to see me because they trusted me.
24:27
You really go between. Stole the federal government
24:32
needed me to say he gave it to him, him, him, him, him and I
24:37
was responsible. I said no.
24:39
I said I took the bag that I was here to pick up.
24:45
After I told him no one, he like pretty much tripled the price
24:48
again on me to really help him out and all this on the wiretaps
24:54
and I wouldn't do it. I said I'm responsible for that.
24:59
I want to take my time for whatever is in that bag, you
25:02
know, and what was it supposed to have been in the bag?
25:06
I should have got three to five years being the maximum and I
25:10
ended up with two life sentences.
25:12
OK, so let's talk about that because that's one of the things
25:15
that just blows my mind about this story is, is that it's it's
25:22
a conspiracy, it's a drug conspiracy, it's a first time
25:24
offense and you get 2 life sentences in Duke.
25:30
Was So what it it was powder cocaine?
25:33
OK, but I mean I get it but. It shouldn't happen.
25:38
It shouldn't happen period. Like we took five years.
25:41
How? How in the world did it happen?
25:43
Was it just the the craziness of the of not having the right
25:46
counsel or what? What?
25:47
What happened? Man, listen, I used to cry about
25:52
this and used to complain. But a lady I love fear.
25:57
I love her with all my heart. She called me her son.
26:00
It's Alice Marie Johnson. Yeah, Saranda Jones out of
26:06
Texas. Those women had the same amount
26:09
of time I did, but the same thing.
26:12
A word of mouth and based on a. Lot of time they call it ghost
26:17
dope. Ghost dope and how the system is
26:21
created. I want to use those two women
26:23
and it made me stop complaining in the inside about my time and
26:28
had me to learn to fight. Stay faithful, ask God to help
26:33
me get out of it because it's the system was broken, you know,
26:37
and that's just what it was. It was broken.
26:39
And I watched those women, you know, from a newspaper articles
26:44
and stuff and fighting. They were standing strong with
26:47
children and being women. I said how can I be in here
26:52
crying on top of them? The amount of men that have the
26:55
same thing and then everybody say, well do this is your very
26:58
first arrest. It was Miss Alice's first
27:00
arrest. It was Sharonda's first arrest,
27:02
you know, but. Duke Here's the thing though.
27:06
I mean, you get something like that, you go to trial, you get 2
27:09
life sentences. You're not going to a minimum
27:14
security federal prison. You're going to a maximum or a
27:18
medium that that that's like the jungle world of, of, you know,
27:23
gladiator. It's gladiator school.
27:26
I went straight to USP Terre Hut in Indiana where while we walk
27:31
into the walk to our unit, someone ran up on somebody in
27:35
the line, start butching in the right then and there.
27:38
Like telling everybody, you know, get out and get down.
27:40
I'm like, I'm not finna get down and somebody make a mistake and
27:43
stab me, but somebody is in the guy next to me, one of the guys
27:46
that knew who was on the yard that knew I didn't know, ran
27:49
over there and grabbed me like get down boy, because they're
27:52
going to start shooting in this tower in a minute thinking
27:54
you're part of it. So yeah, I went from never being
27:59
but I fought the case for four years.
28:04
Took 2 1/2 years ago to trial and it took them almost two
28:08
years to sentence me because the judge didn't want to let go my
28:11
case. Judge really Lozano.
28:12
I felt like it was more personal like with those guys.
28:15
But then I come back as as a today and I just said this was
28:19
all a part of my calling, you know, is this is bigger than all
28:23
of us. And that's why I don't complain
28:26
because he waited till he got both of his legs amputated, then
28:30
came back. I mean, not one leg both came
28:34
back where you could the bandage was still not right.
28:37
He's in there you is it was proven on record.
28:42
He's up there nodding off through key testimony in my
28:45
sentence after painkillers. Wow.
28:47
How could you come to citizen like that?
28:49
You guys hide it in they might they had in their mind and then
28:52
a citizen the week before I was get sentences.
28:54
They stopped my sentencing and a prosecutor said, hey, this day
29:01
when we came in, this was going to be the last day of witnesses.
29:04
And he came over to our table. He asked to speak to my attorney
29:07
and drilled. And you know, they went out to
29:09
talk before the judge came in. So when she came back, she just
29:13
said she grabbed my hand. I will never forget.
29:15
She said whatever God you are praying to, keep praying to him
29:19
because I never heard of this in my life.
29:21
So I'm like, what are you talking about?
29:22
She's like, hold on. So now the Jews come in, they
29:25
roll them in and the prosecutors time, but say, hey, we would
29:29
like to ask for a potential I mean, we would act.
29:31
We would like to approach the bench.
29:32
They go approach the bench him to my attorney.
29:34
They get to talking. He he tell me to stand up, but
29:39
no, he say first, Are you sure to the prosecutor excuse say,
29:43
yeah, I'm positive. You tell me to stand up.
29:45
And he said, well, today, young man, it's going to well, I'm
29:49
going to stop this sentence today and let you go speak with
29:52
your attorneys. So I'm like, what the hell is
29:53
going on? I go back, she say, hey, they
29:58
asked to talk to you. I said, come on.
30:00
What is it to talk about? You know, I lost trial.
30:05
I've been gone 4 1/2 years, almost five years.
30:07
What is it to talk about? I don't want to talk to them.
30:09
I'm not cooperating. She's like, dude, you don't have
30:11
to say anything. They want to talk to you.
30:13
I'm here now. I said, all right, I come in
30:16
there. He said, hey, we think we think
30:19
you know something about a police officer.
30:21
Now, at first they said if you say that, explain what we did to
30:27
your trial to say that it was the truth.
30:32
You walk out the door pretty much or we'll fight to get 10
30:37
years. I've been now fired.
30:39
They say, well, we think you know something about a police
30:43
officer. I said I don't know nothing
30:45
about Noah. Now I say something, I said,
30:47
man, I got found Getty already and I don't know nothing.
30:52
I don't know none of this. I just want to take
30:54
responsibility for what I did, he said.
30:57
Is you stupid or what? We're trying to help you?
31:01
He got up and walked out the door.
31:03
So now he go back and say he changed his mind.
31:07
At first he wanted to be able to give me a chance to reconsider
31:12
my sentence and not fight for life because he felt that the
31:15
judge was going to give me a life sentence.
31:16
He felt like I didn't deserve it and the new laws had came in
31:20
already while I was waiting and to give me the new laws.
31:23
But he could have done that because it's upon the judge
31:26
discretion. But instead he wanted me to come
31:29
and lie and say some things and do some things to get 10 years.
31:32
And depending on how I could have lied, the lawyer said I
31:35
probably could have walked out the door.
31:37
So I said I don't know. So instead he went back to try
31:41
to make it look different and I could show it I was to have my.
31:44
Sister point people that would have done that.
31:47
No. So one thing about it is, you
31:51
know, at the beginning I tried to take full responsibility and
31:55
they used that to try to make it seem like I cooperated.
31:58
I wanted to cooperate and I want to take my responsibility while
32:04
saying nobody name. This is what I can't.
32:07
This is me, me and my people. I'm doing this for my people.
32:11
They got nothing to do with this.
32:13
So they got so upset about that because they thought that I'm
32:18
the one that got the career, I got money and this and the
32:22
other. I'll just make it easy.
32:24
You know, you got the wrong one on.
32:26
So then when they come and do it the second time five years later
32:29
when I'm knowing I'm going to go ahead and get life, you know,
32:33
that's the pressure that they put on me.
32:34
And I said, well, no. And I told the my lawyer I'm
32:38
going to stand up and say something about this.
32:40
And I told the judge it's on court record and my citizens
32:43
transcripts. And I said, hey, your honor,
32:45
this guy told me at the beginning that they wanted to
32:48
talk to me and they asked you that they want to do a joint
32:51
motion to help me get sentenced under the new guidelines.
32:56
And then he get back there and tell me what I had to lie about.
32:59
And I'm not gonna lie to you and hurt nobody else to help myself.
33:02
And what did I say that for? Oh my God, that pissed at
33:05
yourself heats when he sent his me.
33:10
I know it were braid of words for words.
33:13
You show no remorse, Mr. Tanner. My office fried several times
33:22
for you to help yourself and you chose not to.
33:28
And my lawyer like she's subjecting on what do you mean
33:32
no remorse? That's not being he is no
33:34
victims here. It's nobody hurt here.
33:37
He he wasn't. And please don't do this.
33:41
He said if you say anything else, I'm gonna hold you a
33:43
contempt the court. Wow can be life on both counts.
33:48
Man. And send me to a massive.
33:52
Security picture Duke What? What goes through a man's mind
33:56
when something like that happens?
33:59
The paper said. I turned around and told my
34:02
family to calm down. I got it.
34:04
I'll see you guys soon. That's what happened.
34:07
You know I went to prison. What were you thinking about?
34:12
Like how old were you when you went to prison?
34:15
24. 24 so a 24 year old walks into maxim security prison like
34:20
what was your mind what was your mindset like walking in there
34:25
that. Time.
34:26
Up that time. Plus you're kind of known too,
34:29
you know, That's yeah when you have but, but that's different.
34:34
A lot of people walk in Anonymous.
34:37
Yeah, but it was all designed bro, like you know, and ain't a
34:45
coincidence it was designed, you know, as I look back every day,
34:48
it was just desire I had gotta I learn how to pray like the three
34:54
to four years that I was waiting.
34:58
You always had hope, nevertheless hope.
35:01
I'll never lose it. I was thinking about that 2 year
35:04
old boy I had left out there. And you know, I'm.
35:07
I'm watching myself lose everything.
35:10
Losing friends loses help family members and you know, I had to
35:15
really learn how to pray and talk to God and saying like, I'm
35:17
not going to get it. I'm going to get out of here.
35:19
So I start focusing on helping people because that's why I feel
35:23
that I'm good at. So I'm like, bro, you gotta get
35:25
up. You can't.
35:26
You know, I'm walking around here like these dudes, like some
35:30
of these dudes, like some legends that I've heard of they
35:33
walking around here, they miserable.
35:35
They angry. I say, bro, you know, people
35:39
scared of it. I'm playing with him, joking
35:41
with him. I I brought life to them.
35:44
And guess what? Half of them are home there.
35:48
Yeah, I brought that life. 'S old saying in the movie
35:51
Shawshank and get busy living, get busy dying.
35:53
I've I've watched that thing, that movie so many times, but
35:55
it's so many words in it that they talk about.
35:58
And one of the things that they talk about, if you follow the
36:01
movie all the way through, Red doesn't have hope until he gets
36:06
out and follows his friend's advice and he goes, he rides the
36:11
bus, he goes under the tree. And everything that he's talking
36:14
about is I hope, I hope. And then one that ends, it's
36:17
about I hope. And you know that, that that
36:21
thing in prison, you can tell the guys it's a binary choice of
36:25
people who have hope and people who don't.
36:27
But I, I think one of the things that really was inspired,
36:31
because I read a lot of stuff about your story, Duke, I
36:35
thought it was really incredible how you were able to keep in
36:40
your son's life while you were in prison.
36:42
And you're, you're in this dark place.
36:45
You know, it looks like there's no hope for you to get out and
36:48
you keep hope. But but you keep, you keep in
36:50
his life, you, you find ways to be a dad.
36:55
And you know, this, this show goes into 1200 prisons.
36:58
So it's it's how did you do that?
37:02
Listen, I wasn't going to allow the system to make me be a
37:08
pitcher on the wall or voice on the other side of the phone.
37:11
Instead, I was going to use every tool that they had to
37:16
communicate with my son. Was it easy?
37:19
No. But that was another thing that
37:21
I prayed and I asked God wholeheartedly and more than
37:24
once, please allow, no matter what's coming to me, let me have
37:30
a relationship with my son. He's my best friend.
37:33
He's the best man of my wedding. He got his masters at 22.
37:37
Right now he's running an Amazon company where he took him from 2
37:40
trucks to 60 trucks within four months, working seven days a
37:45
week, driving an hour and 15 minutes to work every morning
37:49
and getting up at 5:30. This is my best friend.
37:54
I talk, I go to him back and forth.
37:56
He's my hero. And it was all designed and
37:59
built inside a maximum security prison where I went almost one
38:05
whole year without seeing them or touching them up, you know,
38:09
things of that nature. And then and the Max, it got so
38:11
bad you can only get a brief hug at the beginning.
38:14
They didn't even sit next to you no more, they said across from
38:17
you. So you got to like, scream to
38:18
have a conversation. But we're together now and they,
38:23
you know, I tell me and all the time and the inside listen, if
38:27
the mom not letting a child write back or even if the child
38:31
not write back, still send a letter once a month, every two
38:35
weeks, whatever you expect, as long as you got access to do it.
38:39
And you know, it's no, you know, I can't get in trouble for
38:42
reaching out to them and nothing but continue to write those
38:45
letters. And I found out when I got home,
38:48
my son said was made him feel a lot like how he felt was my
38:54
letters, the pictures, I was in them, you know, and he would try
38:58
to run game on his mom and try to say like, well, you know, I
39:02
got in trouble because my dad ain't here.
39:03
I miss my dad. And then she'll go to him like,
39:07
look what your daddy wrote you. And he tell you don't use this
39:10
as a scapegoat. So you're not doing it.
39:11
You're being punished. And I'll send the e-mail you
39:13
there And now, so he'll be like, damn, you know, he told me he
39:17
should try to play the game. But he said a lot of times he
39:19
should go read my letters. And, you know, I'm giving him,
39:22
I'm teaching him how to be a man from a jail through the mail
39:25
because that's all we had at times.
39:27
We're going on those lockdowns and things.
39:29
And that's what to go into our business now.
39:34
And with a great friend of mine, now by name Adam Clawson, I
39:38
created a program called the Core 4.
39:41
Which I want to give a shout out to Adam.
39:42
He's the one that connected me to you.
39:44
And, and he was, he was a guest on this show about three seasons
39:49
ago. He's got he He was sentenced to
39:51
213 years in prison. 10 toes down, such a small community.
39:55
The good men know about the good men no matter what.
39:58
And a guy who was in Adam program came to me and to the
40:02
prison that I was at. He didn't get to finish it and
40:05
he told me about, he said he's seeing what I'm doing and he
40:09
like, man, Adam will love you. He would love that, you know,
40:13
you just fired at you out of working out.
40:16
You're doing this and then you mentoring these guys young and
40:19
old, making them get their GDS, filing for the clemency form,
40:23
getting people to go home. And he like man.
40:26
So he gave me the paperwork he had on the program and I took it
40:30
and I remixed it and I start using it and it start working,
40:34
but I reuse it on myself as well and created myself to be
40:37
classified as a certified coach. And it led me to, you know,
40:43
getting to the two things done. And it led me to where when I
40:46
came out, you know, by the grace of God, you know, I got clemency
40:50
by President Trump. And I used to call for to use
40:53
it. And I said, you know, I didn't
40:54
have lawyer money. Obama had denied me on the
40:57
clemency. I said I'm gonna get out of
40:59
here. So I picked five of the top
41:01
advocates and do foundation buried that all these people are
41:05
writing them. They don't work together.
41:06
But I said I'm writing each other one of them and I will
41:08
send them the same letter every Sunday.
41:10
Sunday when the mail go out, I will send out seven letters and
41:15
I started in 18 and it's and. It's to the White House, too.
41:20
I sent one to the white to the party attorney, one to President
41:23
Trump and five to the different advocates.
41:26
And I've noted it. I made a note on this song.
41:29
It's on my Facebook post, Go back and looking like 2018.
41:32
Anybody don't believe me, You can't back date to date.
41:35
I had a dream. I had scripture that bagged it
41:39
and I said the President Trump was going to let me out and I
41:42
said that I'm going to do amazing things when I get out.
41:44
I'm gifted to do that. God told me to write down
41:47
everything and the lack of faith, I didn't write let me out
41:50
immediately. Everything that I said get done
41:52
immediately. It just flipped like that.
41:55
But I did say let me get out. So it came and I wrote these
41:59
letters and bam, hi, October 21st, 2020.
42:04
I was allowed to get released by clemency.
42:06
I didn't know what was going on. You know, I'm thinking I'm gonna
42:09
go to the hole. It's like 10 police.
42:12
'Cause they never tell you anything when you're in prison.
42:14
It just, it just happens immediately, like you don't know
42:16
what the next move is. Yeah.
42:18
So I'm gonna lock down so we don't lock down.
42:20
So I hear the keys coming. I'm like, I tell them myself,
42:23
man. I said, man, somebody can go to
42:24
the hole. We laughing about it and the
42:26
keys gets closed by my door. So I'm like, whoa.
42:28
They like hey China, we need to talk to you.
42:31
I say I know y'all know the rules with me come on Sally go
42:34
with me. I don't talk I don't talk to the
42:36
police without nobody. So they they say Nah, you're
42:41
going by yourself. So I'm like OK, I know what this
42:43
is I'm going to go to the hole. So when I get to the back I'm
42:46
taking my shirt off get ready for a script search.
42:49
They say calm down, calm down. We got to get you out of there.
42:52
So one of the cops say that so I said Get Me Out of here.
42:56
Then the phone ring, phone ring, they and shit, they like, huh,
43:01
I'm like, what the hell? I get the phone.
43:04
It's my son. He said, Pops, they did it.
43:08
They're headed to the airport. You coming home?
43:14
Yeah. An hour later, bro, I was, I was
43:17
at the airport, man, you know, hugging my boy for the first
43:21
time on the outside. I thank the president, man.
43:24
And it went viral. And I came home pushing that
43:27
fatherhood initiative, reaching out to all those advocates that
43:32
did help me to check. What was it?
43:34
What was it like? I mean, that that immediacy of
43:37
knowing that you're getting out. I mean, usually you, you have a,
43:40
you know, some people get this kind of freakish thing where
43:43
they know they're getting out in like 6 months and they try to
43:45
start. Getting and it wasn't meant.
43:48
It wasn't meant for me to know nothing.
43:51
And it was just a feeling like it's just like.
43:53
Walking out of there after 16 years.
43:58
I can't explain it to this day. I can't are you can't explain
44:00
it. It's just a it's a God-given
44:02
feel. I tell people, man, that.
44:04
Feeling either 2020. I tell people that feeling will
44:10
probably be it may have us for sure.
44:15
It's the second, the first best thing to me that I know that I
44:19
got a free gift, you know, from Jesus to be able to be forgiven
44:22
of my sins and go to heaven. The second best gift to man to
44:26
me in my life, I think was to be released that day and again, my
44:31
freedom back to be able to go home to my son and my family and
44:35
to do the things that I'm doing now.
44:37
That's why I'm dedicated and I partnered with Adam that we
44:40
create a legacy impact group to give back to people to make them
44:44
feel like I, I want to chase that feeling to people.
44:47
I think if someone can get it a glimpse of what I felt that day,
44:51
Yeah, yeah. Check.
44:52
Day life change. Life yeah well, let's take a
44:55
break there cuz I want to when we get back, I want to talk
44:57
about all the stuff that you're doing now cuz it's not easy.
45:01
It's not easy to get out of prison.
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46:10
So Duke, you get out and I mean, it's, it's 16 years, your life,
46:16
you know, there's as a span of life there.
46:18
You were you, you did a lot while you were in.
46:21
You helped a lot of people out. A lot of people are home because
46:23
of what you did. You make a connection with Adam
46:27
Clausen. How does your world start once
46:31
you get back into society? I was in now three days and I
46:35
was picked up by. I get a call from a lady named
46:42
GAIL Wilson. She's working for the blacks for
46:47
Trump or something, something Dillon in America First Policy
46:50
Institute and Jack Brewer of the Jack Brewer Foundation, one of
46:54
the biggest foundations for fatherhood things.
46:57
He watched my relationship with my son and saw the video that
47:01
had went viral. He called me and wanted me to
47:03
come and speak about fatherhood. And I was, I took off from there
47:06
speaking and and I ended up at Liberty University.
47:10
That's where I saw Adam at. They had me speaking on the
47:12
panel for entrepreneurships for felons, for Second Chance, and I
47:16
was telling those millionaires, billionaires that was in the
47:19
room. Hey, listen, I pay my debt to
47:22
society times 10 for what I want to.
47:25
So why shouldn't I be able to go to certain banks and create my
47:29
ideas and do things, But they going to look at me as a felon
47:33
and not support me. And I was leaving out and of
47:38
course, I had saw Adam for the first time.
47:40
We only knew of each other. He said, man, you the guy that
47:41
was stealing my program. I said, man, you the guy that
47:44
made it like, you know, let's go together.
47:46
I tweaked it a little bit. Let's, let's let's put something
47:48
together on that day. We we locked in, made a company
47:51
within 30 days. But I get another interest.
47:55
Interesting person. He's the tax ghoul.
48:00
He just did the beautiful bill. He's the CEO, owner of Engineer
48:06
Tax Services, Julio Gonzalez. I mean, he walks up to me.
48:11
He said, hey, you keep your head up.
48:15
You should post to be in this room.
48:17
You're 100% right. I come from nothing.
48:21
The baby boy of 18. I didn't go to prison.
48:25
All my family did. But I understand it.
48:27
Go Google me. I don't even know what Google
48:30
is. Google me, but you give me your
48:33
phone number and don't never change this phone number.
48:37
And you know, of course I had said something about my son.
48:40
He said you give me your son phone number too because
48:42
evidently he ain't going to change his.
48:44
And a year later he called me hard Johnny on the spot.
48:47
So you're going to work your way up my company.
48:49
You don't got no job. You ain't got no work my way up.
48:52
And now I'm the vice president of community affairs for his
48:55
company. I'm one of the I'm the face of
48:57
the grant department for him. We have created based on his
49:04
love and passion for what I want to do with the people.
49:09
He want me to be able to do it in a chest way and use his
49:12
platform to do so on top of he come from the struggle and he
49:16
have helped so many Fortune 500 companies do certain things.
49:20
So like just today, May, yesterday, I got my full print
49:24
out on how I'm helping to get grant readiness and funding this
49:28
for the small businesses in the upstart and companies for the
49:33
women and the men that's in these poverty neighborhoods and
49:37
men and women coming home from prison, which is basically being
49:41
in the pipeline of what men, Adam, are doing in the inside to
49:45
help the men and women come home.
49:47
But it's one thing to help these guys come home and these women
49:50
to come home, but it's another thing to get them a pipeline to
49:53
the workforce development, a pipeline to home ownership.
49:57
And by doing that, we're able to also use this new initiative
50:02
that Julio Engineered Tax Services gave us and based on to
50:07
get them ready. You know, we're going to have
50:09
the business information, the founders and the teams, the
50:11
business overview, the financial information and support
50:15
materials, as well as to the project funded.
50:18
I broke all these down the category.
50:20
So therefore I can give these to my people that's getting in
50:24
contact with me. Get grant ready.
50:26
I'll give you a free incentive report that for my company to
50:30
show you the grants that's available for you.
50:32
If you're not ready even and you want to start a nonprofit, you
50:36
click another link and we'll make a nonprofit for you and get
50:39
you Great. So that's granted quality.
50:43
And Julio opened the company up just for me to get this.
50:48
Not me. He doing it for the people, of
50:50
course, but he's saying, Duke, this is your way to get back.
50:54
Yeah, you know what I mean. And.
50:56
Everything you're doing, everything you're doing, Duke is
50:58
giving back. And you've had a big week.
51:02
I mean, you, you were recognized in a big room with a whole bunch
51:06
of people that make change happen.
51:09
And they were talking about you, Eric Trump, you know, on stage,
51:14
giving a huge shout out to you and your life and what you've
51:17
done and what you've met to their family man, you've just
51:22
you. You've you've not wasted any
51:24
time you have And everything that you've done, you've used
51:28
your life experience to help exactly fill in the gaps of what
51:33
are needed. It's like talking.
51:34
It's a peek of Sam a few times. She's on a couple months ago.
51:40
Great woman, I know that's my. People, but she said the same
51:43
things that you're talking about.
51:44
You guys are finding the gaps and filling them.
51:47
Find the gaps and fill them. And there's so many gaps that
51:49
need to be filled because you know, we have a broken system.
51:53
I also know you, you put a lot of work into the Safer
51:55
Supervision Act, which, you know, both you and I were on
51:59
federal supervision. I read that thing about you
52:01
being so, which is about, you know, having to plan 5 days
52:06
ahead to go see your kids. I had to do the exact same
52:08
thing. Guess what?
52:10
Saint Louis was not in Columbia, MO, so I was just absolutely my
52:14
teeth would grit when I want to go see my daughters.
52:17
You want to speak of that? I was just texting by the way.
52:21
Formalized my people. They created this.
52:26
This is how broken this system is.
52:29
I get a full presidential partner in May.
52:32
I get this when I come home from my trip just so you can see that
52:36
date on there, No December 4th. I'm just not getting my papers
52:41
to say that I'm off paper. Wow.
52:43
And that was in May. I got the I was I was clear in
52:47
May, though, when he signed the ink, I was clear.
52:50
It killed my whole record. But she didn't get the paperwork
52:52
until December 4th. December 4th is right here.
52:56
Congratulations. It was in the mail when I came
52:58
home. Me and Jessica was talking about
53:00
this last night. So this right here stamps the
53:03
surface Supervision Act. So whoever listened to this
53:06
that's in any type of power or any type of big major following,
53:12
follow the safer Supervision Act, Go check it out, support
53:17
it, vote for it. It's going to help so many
53:21
people become better. Because I won't lie, by the
53:28
grace of God, once again, I know I'm highly favored and covered
53:32
by probation officer. I reached to her and said, you
53:35
know, I never got my my, my paper.
53:37
She said, Duke, I'm on top of it.
53:38
Damn. Two days later, I see I got it
53:41
in the mail. But she also was the one who
53:44
said, Duke, I know you changed. I know you're doing better.
53:48
And she knew that the type of supervision was hurting me
53:51
because Julio, this type of guy, Duke, I need you here today.
53:55
Go fly. I will.
53:56
I'm flying here today. You need to go speak in front of
53:58
these people. I need you to come and learn
54:00
this and do this training. I have to wait until I get past.
54:05
I miss some opportunities. That's missing opportunities,
54:07
creating opportunities, missing opportunities for.
54:10
Exactly, opportunities that's putting me on the platform to be
54:15
great. Like the situation where Eric
54:17
the other day and technically I would still be on supervised
54:20
release because they gave me 10 years.
54:22
If I don't get the pardon, Julio called me like about 3 days
54:26
before and said, hey, I'm sponsoring this event for Eric.
54:29
I think you should be here, you know, I want you here.
54:34
I probably would have missed that opportunity.
54:36
And not only did I get to speak and share my story, but Air got
54:40
to release some feelings that he felt about what he went through
54:45
his dad as a family member. And I understand him because
54:49
this is what my son said to me. So for him to release that, I
54:54
was more happy for that than anything that had to do with me.
54:58
My situation is one thing. My future is what I'm worried,
55:02
not worried about is what I'm keen to and what's kind of make
55:06
the big difference in the world. Yeah, we can say, yeah, Duke
55:09
went through this and I don't know, but Duke came home and he
55:12
created a pipeline for the people that don't even believe
55:17
in a self. I believe in them and I'm going
55:20
to give them a God to our every relationship that I have.
55:24
And. He did it in supervision on the
55:30
walls, and I don't wanna forget. You've got a book out there.
55:36
Duke got life, and he's gonna grab it right there.
55:41
Yeah, I grab it. Go ahead, tennis.
55:44
But anyway, it's I was just reading little bits and pieces
55:48
of, I haven't read the whole thing, but there we go.
55:50
There it is. Duke got life.
55:51
I love the name of that too. Duke got life.
55:54
That's going to be the name of the movie also that will.
55:56
Be it's going to be the name of the movie This is this thing
56:01
works itself Duke. I mean, I love your story.
56:07
I love what you're doing. It's an inspiration to all of us
56:10
that have been through this and, and, and are trying to get
56:14
through all the bears for, you know, that's the second
56:18
opportunity in life and you're doing it.
56:20
You're also helping them bring in a lot of people with you.
56:24
What do you think is your biggest take away through all
56:26
this that you've been through? Our biggest take away, man,
56:33
listen, man, I'm thankful for so many things, you know, I don't,
56:41
you know it. It's just continued to grow, you
56:45
know, like my life could. You know, someone just asked me
56:50
like man, did you think this will ever happen?
56:53
And you know, I put some things down like I said that I wrote
56:55
when I had that dream but it didn't.
56:58
Like it's so steel Royce, bro, man.
57:05
Be able to find a wife, you know, and to get 2 bonus
57:11
daughters and a granddaughter to be able to help.
57:16
You know, my son graduated college and you know through my
57:20
work with Engineered Tax Service and Julio, I was able to promise
57:26
by McCourt and it guided him to say he didn't even tell nobody.
57:32
He didn't ever stop going to school.
57:35
He went right back so he can make sure you get his masters at
57:38
22 years old. And he just brought me to plaque
57:43
the other day and he said, Papa, I want you to have this.
57:47
So that let alone stuck to me. Adam got going down that we
57:52
we're going inside the Bureau of prison.
57:55
But that's where we came from to help Josh Smith make it better.
57:58
And for those that don't know, Josh Smith is the deputy
58:01
director of Bureau of Prisons, and he's a formerly incarcerated
58:05
federal inmate. So yes, that's the first time it
58:09
happens. He's doing amazing things for
58:12
the Bureau. He's not being soft on crime,
58:16
but he's being fair or firm is the best way I can explain it.
58:20
And he's cleaning it up. But it takes all of us to work
58:24
with them to make it better so these guys can really, really
58:28
build, rehabilitate themselves and come home and show
58:32
redemption. Adam was labeled as the most
58:35
improved prisoner in the BOP history.
58:38
That's my partner. That's who I own the company
58:41
with every day off. And he's got an incredible
58:46
partner, Roe, which if I don't know, if Adam didn't have Roe,
58:49
he wouldn't have gotten out of prison.
58:52
Everything's lined up, Yeah. And then now we're working
58:56
together to do this. And once again, I'm always thank
58:59
Julio because he has been the support to me and Adam, you
59:03
know, in every way far as knowledge, far as you know,
59:08
putting us in the right rooms and and it's all and then, you
59:11
know, just teaching me things to where he'll call and tell me,
59:14
hey, come and see me for two days.
59:16
You go on a boot camp. He's sitting me in and teach me
59:19
the company. He said, yeah, you your
59:21
department is the grants, but I want you to learn this side too,
59:25
so you can have it. And he's willing.
59:28
He we just talked out to him, me speaking in front of air to him.
59:32
He said I need another Duke to sign to my company.
59:37
So for him to say that he wants to help more people in prison
59:42
and he said I'm so into this to where Duke, you know, I'm I'm
59:48
quoting Julio Gonzalez. He said, Duke, I want hundreds
59:54
of thousands of you. That's what's going to make this
59:57
world better coming from inside the system.
1:00:00
And if they could test a certain level on my company with the
1:00:05
things that my company do. I'm willing to hire you and I'm
1:00:09
willing to fight to get him out of prison early.
1:00:11
And he stamped in and put it in. He said, I'll put it in writing
1:00:14
for you. But he say, you know, my word is
1:00:16
everything. That was our last conversation
1:00:18
with me leaving him yesterday. Wow, that's powerful.
1:00:22
I want to say that again because it's powerful, he said.
1:00:25
Duke, if they I need a hundreds of thousands of Duke in this
1:00:28
country and if they can test at a certain level that any
1:00:33
initiatives that's in my company, I'm willing to harm to
1:00:36
my company the day that they get out of jail.
1:00:38
But I'm also willing if they are super above average, I'm willing
1:00:43
to fight to help them get out the clemency to the first step
1:00:45
back earlier and give them a job.
1:00:48
And he said that he made every word of it.
1:00:50
Wow, that's huge. So to me, we're going to show
1:00:54
that's an out this that's a blessing out this world to be
1:00:57
able to be around. Great.
1:00:58
And listen, this ain't just not a regular guy.
1:01:01
He's a billionaire. Yeah, one, yeah, he helped do
1:01:04
the tax bill. He's for the, the, the, the, the
1:01:11
Parvat communities. He's for the small businesses.
1:01:14
He want to get grant and tax equality in America, he said.
1:01:20
That's his legacy, that's what he want to do.
1:01:22
His mom told him to do that and to help people.
1:01:25
If I, if I was going to say what your, your take away is your,
1:01:30
your resilience of and and discipline of, of not giving up.
1:01:36
You know what it takes to do something with boxing and become
1:01:40
great at that, What it takes to do to write letters every week
1:01:45
and stick to it until you get something.
1:01:47
That what it does to reach out to organizations, to make
1:01:50
connections with those organizations so you become part
1:01:53
of them knowing your story, and then when you get out, you
1:01:56
connect with them. Those are the things that make
1:01:58
things happen. Those are the things that things
1:02:01
don't just happen on their own. You have to stick with it.
1:02:04
The discipline of it and the resilience combined can really
1:02:09
make. But action is the thing and
1:02:11
that's what I see out of your story.
1:02:14
Duke is just you. You didn't quit and quit on
1:02:17
yourself and you and you always took action to, to keep yourself
1:02:20
forward. And when people told you it
1:02:22
wasn't going to happen, you still made it happen.
1:02:25
And it's just, it's just one hell of a story.
1:02:28
I'm, I'm so happy that you came on the show to be able to share
1:02:31
this because so many people are going to get inspired by being
1:02:33
able to listen to what you're talking about.
1:02:35
Don't forget folks, to go out and get his book.
1:02:38
Duke. Duke got life.
1:02:41
Amazon. On Amazon and when you're out
1:02:44
there, go get my book Nightmare success, loyal to betrayal, life
1:02:47
behind bars, adapting, finally breaking free.
1:02:49
Wanted to give a shout out to Homestead Financial who lets me
1:02:52
use this podcast studio. If you got home mortgage needs,
1:02:57
Greg, Aftia knows all that stuff.
1:03:00
If you want to know more about what I'm doing, go to
1:03:02
brickcassidy.com. I spell it wrong.
1:03:04
I spell it with ATY, not a DY. Also, go to nightmaresuccess.com
1:03:08
to see every anything and everything of all the shows,
1:03:11
along with all the other podcast platforms.
1:03:13
As I used to say to my people when I was writing my emails
1:03:16
back and forth from Leavenworth, stay strong.
1:03:18
I'll do the same. Duke Tanner, man, keep doing
1:03:22
everything you're doing. Just do more.
1:03:24
Do more, man. Please and please guys go to
1:03:27
Duke Got Life on Instagram. If anybody out here hearing this
1:03:33
that want to start a nonprofit, that want to get grant ready,
1:03:38
please contact me. Let me fight for you.
1:03:40
Let me help you unlock this free money.
1:03:42
If you can't get to me there, look up Engineer Tax Services by
1:03:46
Julio Gonzalez and just say, hey, where's Duke at?
1:03:50
They'll contact me there, you know, and let's, let's make this
1:03:55
country better, man. And thank you so much, brother,
1:03:57
for having us. Adam, man, we love you, Adam.
1:04:01
Together. Adam Clausen, man, you know,
1:04:04
he's a great man. You know, I'll take my hat out
1:04:07
to him. That's my Big Brother.
1:04:08
And I love him, you know, And we come in, we come up for you
1:04:12
guys, we fight for you guys on our level.
1:04:14
So, you know, and we ain't quit. We get knocked down.
1:04:16
We're going to get right back up.
1:04:19
Real champions. Thank you brother.
1:04:21
Man, it was an honor umm, being on the show.
1:04:24
Appreciate it Duke. Name your success in and out.