Locked In with Ian Bick - Traffic Stop Escalates to Shots Fired, High-Speed Chase, and Attempted Murder Charges | Mike Ciriago

Episode Date: August 8, 2024

What began as a routine traffic stop quickly spiraled into chaos, leading to shots fired, a high-speed chase, and a dramatic confrontation ending in attempted murder charges. This gripping account takes you through the intense sequence of events, detailing the split-second decisions, the adrenaline-fueled pursuit, and the ultimate fallout. Experience the high-stakes drama from start to finish, and uncover the circumstances that turned a simple stop into a life-threatening ordeal. Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ Connect with Mike Ciriago: https://www.tiktok.com/@bigmike_official_?_t=8oPZtr5QOEw&_r=1 https://www.instagram.com/bigmike_official_?igsh=MTA4cm50bWo5bTF4Mg== Presented by Tyson 2.0 & Wooooo Energy: https://tyson20.com/ https://woooooenergy.com/ Powered by: Just Media House : https://www.justmediahouse.com/ Creative direction, design, assets, support by FWRD: https://www.fwrd.co Buy Merch: https://lockedinbrand.com Use code lockedin at checkout to get 20% off your order Timestamps: 00:00:00 - News of Arrest and Charges 00:05:33 - The Attraction to the Gangster Lifestyle 00:11:18 - Owning Your Story and Finding Purpose 00:16:50 - Trouble in West Virginia and Gainesville 00:22:10 - The Kidnapping Case 00:27:38 - The Consequences of Continued Drug Use 00:32:51 - The Conversation with My Cousin C 00:38:05 - A High-Speed Pursuit and Armed Encounter 00:43:47 - From Arrest to Conviction 00:49:29 - The Perception of Stereotypes and Image 00:55:00 - The Turning Point 01:00:50 - A Moment of Clarity and Change 01:06:29 - Introduction to Prison Life 01:11:46 - Violent Confrontations in Prison 01:16:58 - Moving to a New Dorm 01:22:17 - Becoming the Best Version of Yourself 01:27:31 - A Dope Conversation and an Incredible Story Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Mr. Seriago, 31 years old out of Hollywood, Florida, being arrested for, attempted on a law enforcement officer and likely to be set with a $900,000 bond. Mike, welcome to Locked in, straight from Florida here today. How was the trip up? Trip up was good. Trip up was good. You know, I took advantage. My daughter lives in Long Beach, Long Island.

So I took advantage of that, went over there for two days, and then slid over here today. Awesome, man. And before we get rolling, I want to plug you in. you have your own business, which I think will help people, the listeners tuning in because of the demographic. We have mostly males listening if you want to tell the audience just a little bit about what you do. So they can become familiar with who they're about to hear from. Yeah, absolutely. So one, I own a personal development coaching business.

you know so in that is personal development personal training and nutrition you know so i mean really any anything that anyone's ever been through as far as you know addiction mental health um you know in and out of trouble not as successful as they want to be it literally doesn't i'm so well-rounded because of all the things i've gone through in life and all the experience that i have and then all the work that i've done on myself you know with personal development and all that so You know, that's the main thing. The main thing is my personal development coaching business. It's called mind-body mastery.

You know, you can follow everything that I do as far as that on Big Mike underscore, official underscore, that's Instagram and TikTok. You know, and then outside of that, I am a co-owner in mental health and substance abuse treatment facilities. You know, so, you know, anybody who a lot of times when people reach out to me, someone that may want personal development coaching needs to start in treatment, you know. And if they're an alcoholic drinking every day, if they're, you know, addicted to heroin, you know, anything that's physically dependent, you know, get them in detox, get them properly detox,

medically, you know, someone watching them. And then, you know, when they come out from that, we can really get started at that point with, you know, the personal development and the training and whatnot. So now there's a lot of these like personal development type coaches out there. What makes you different from everyone else? You had to give like a little elevator pitch to someone. I would just say I would just say that everything that I've been through like what makes me different is everything that I've been through is is verifiable. You know, it's a lot of people talk about and tell stories.

Everything I've done, some of the stories you're going to hear today. You can pull right up on fucking Google. You know, so I just been through a lot and I keep it very real and something I learned along the way in which I feel not a lot of people take this approach is my approach is aggressive. You know, it's aggressive and it's very blunt because I've seen, you know, in helping people get sober and things of that nature, even when I was struggling, a coddling method is, I just feel like it's very rarely successful. I think, you know, coddling people who are struggling in any way really just ends up enabling them. You know, so my approach is aggressive, it's blunt, but I'm very real. And then, you know, like I said, everything that I have personally been through makes me a perfect candidate to help somebody who's going through anything even remotely close to what I went through. So let's get into that.

What exactly you went through? Did you grow up in Florida or did you grow up somewhere else? Born and raised Hollywood, Florida. I had two, you know, two loving parents that were together until my father's passing, which is coming up on four years, had everything I needed, almost everything I wanted, excelled in sports. You know, so athletics came very easy to me. School, not so much. Athletics came very easy to me.

You know, so it just to kind of run through that relatively, you know, quickly. Um, took off in athletics. They had me in private schools. You know, I'm not going to tell a story that, that's fake to where like, oh, I struggled so bad. It was so hard. Um, you know, and like blame circumstances and try and sound tough in that nature. No, like, I went to private school.

Um, I had great parents. I had a great education. I was, you know, I'm varsity football as a freshman. I even graduated, um, shamanade and went. to a Division II school in West Virginia on a football scholarship. You know, so that's what all that looked like. Now, with all that and why my story is kind of crazy

is because having all that right in front of me and this very almost easy and, like, perfect as you can get life laid in front of you, I can remember all the way back to literally probably eight years old just being so intrigued by the gangster lifestyle. where, you know, all my friends that were also athletes and I was playing sports with were idolizing football players and baseball players and I want to be a baseball player and a football player. And I literally had an obsession with this gangster lifestyle and the street life, you know,

and even though, you know, so even though I made it through school and I did all that, that part never left me. Literally, I think probably 10 years old. I was thinking about this on the way here that at 10 years old, I was, like I would periodically have thoughts that being shot and surviving, being shot would be like the coolest fucking story in the world. Like, I'm like, bro, if I got shot and was able to tell that story, that would be like the most gangster fucking story ever, you know, like surviving that.

And it's crazy, man, you know, one thing I do with everything that I do is I do become obsessive and compulsive, you know, and that's been a thing over the years. And I overly commit, you know. So in trying to become like this gangster and have this image, you know, I overly committed, which by the time I blew my fucking football scholarship and got kicked out of that school, you know, it was off to the races very fast. from there.

What do you think it was about that gangster lifestyle that attracted you? Because everyone watches these movies growing up and not everyone has that like connection to that lifestyle. Right. You know what? I can't, I can't really pinpoint other than like I personally for some reason just thought that shit was so cool.

You know, and to an extent that like my father realized that early on and he would watch gangster movies with me, but he would always tell me, pay attention to the end. The end of these fucking movies is the most important thing for you to watch. Because they all die or they go to jail. Like, it never ends well to where, you know, you're selling dope and a criminal for your whole life. And then you just settle on an island somewhere and life's great.

You know, he's like, that's not how the fuck it happens. So he always tried to get me to pay attention to that. But my dad ran drugs for a little bit, you know, back in the 80s. And around the time I was born in 82 is when they were like stopping. You know, so he did it. And honestly, I looked at it like, damn, if, you know, if he lived that life for quite some time, then I could live this life for a while and then clean it up myself. You know, like I always thought I had time to turn it around, you know.

And then for a long time, too, like I didn't, I didn't even care. wanted it so bad, you know. I love the fully tatted look. And this is how crazy the commitment is and like how fucking intrigued I would be by. I remember being at a carnival one time at a very

young age, 10, 11, something like that. And an older dude, probably, you know, probably a teenager at the time for sure, 17, 18, something like that. Walk by me. He had like a hoodie on. Just

looked very gangster, but also looked scary. And I was like, like, I was a little scared. But I remember walking away from that thinking, like, that's the fucking persona that I want to give off, you know, like scary and gangster. And, you know, so, yeah, man, spent a lot of time trying to perfect that, you know, and in doing so, landed in a lot of situations that, you know, You know, when you're young and idolizing that, I guess you think you're not, you're not going to end up in. Was there anything you think, looking back on it now, your parents could have done differently raising you that would have, you know, kept you within those lines to not go down that path?

I don't think so. No. They were great. You know, they were great, super supportive, overly supportive, you know. Like, my parents were the type to pull up to, like, practices sometimes. I'd be like, what the fuck, man? No one else's parents are at practice, you know, but that's just how that's just the love that they had

and how supportive they were, you know. So when I, you know, when I did some personal development, I, when I started with that, I realized some things, you know, that were maybe, you know, like what you would consider minimally traumatic. And, but no, you know, to answer that question, absolutely not. There was actually no.

nothing that could have changed my mind and my perception on that lifestyle, except me becoming that and seeing what comes from that. And I feel like a lot of people kind of have to go through that. And some unfortunately end up in prison or... For a long time. Or pass away, dead. Yeah. On their journey of discovering that.

And I think it's up to the individuals that make it through the other side. who are successful now to share their story. We were talking about being true to ourselves before we started recording it and just owning your story. And that's just like such a big piece to the puzzle of, you know, figuring out your purpose in life. Absolutely. You know, and that's, and that was something that,

that was something that I honestly figured out pretty, you know, pretty young. It just took me a lot of years to really hone in on it. You know, like, so to answer a little bit of your question before, I was always, I was always kind-hearted. You know, like I've always been the type, I'll give somebody the shirt off my back, I'll spend my last money on somebody else.

You know, I mean, even today, my wife has more jewelry on her with more worth than I have. You know, so I've always been that type of person, always really kind, you know, and I guess maybe growing up, for whatever reason, you know, going through stages of having insecure,

and whatnot is why I wanted to build this tough, you know, this tough guy gangster persona. And I think what really led me into addiction, you know, so with my family, there's definitely, it's definitely genetic, you know, my, my pop struggled, my Uncle Joey passed away from alcoholism, my Aunt Nancy passed away from alcoholism, you know, his other brother is an alcoholic. So it's all through his side of the family. My mom's dad was an alcoholic. My dad's mom was an alcoholic, you know. So it's all through the family.

So the genetic part was there. But I think what I noticed is when I started doing drugs, being on dope made it way easier for me to do the things that it would be considered, you know, gangster and in that lifestyle. Like to actually be fucking bad in a criminal, being on drugs made that easier. You know, because I really, I had a good heart. You know, so in order for me to be this person, you know, I looked back years later like, damn, you know, that makes a lot of sense that that's the shit that, you know, being high is what really is what really gave me the courage to be robbing people, to be, you know, carrying around a gun being a convicted felon and to be a, you know, to be a, you know,

notorious fleer, you know, like in Broward County, I am a notorious fleer. What a name. Yeah, it's crazy. You know, the situations, I'll tell you one, you know, so like my boy, my boy Scott, there was a time where me and him both had silver grand marquises. So we had silver grand marquise cars, we both had them. mine was like jacked up on 23-inch rims and his was on 22s. And I was on, I was literally on house arrest fighting a kidnapping and aggravated battery charge.

So I'm on house arrest for this case. You know, I'm able to be out at certain times. And the night prior to, you know, on house arrest with this case hanging over my head, I was getting high. And the night prior to was texting this kid trying to get blue. and out of nowhere he got a fucking attitude and started talking shit. And I immediately was like, oh, he thinks, he thinks this is a good idea or he's safe doing this because I'm on house arrest.

Like maybe I got to wait for him to come here and serve me or whatever. So as soon as the time hit that I could leave, it was like eight in the morning. I flew right to this kid's house, had a friend with me, bring him out of his house, an altercation takes place. This kid gets his ass beat in an alley. in Hollywood, right, first thing in the morning, I don't even think he had shoes on. Definitely didn't have a chance to brush his teeth.

You know, and then haul ass out of there, and I guess his girlfriend called the cops and shit, which I knew was going to take place. So me and my boy jump on 95, and I go out to, like, Fort Lauderdale at the time where my son's mom was working at the time, switch cars with her so that my car would be, like, out in Fort Lauderdale most of the day

and not around Hollywood. my boy Scott who's like never committed a crime in his life he's a barber you know he's got some tattoos and shit but but not a bad kid you know um he's on his way to the barber shop that morning about an hour after this took place

and he gets fucking swarmed and they block him in from everywhere you know he has like he has legal you know legal firearms he's allowed to carry so they got his fire arms out on the trunk. They got them cuffed. You know, why they're literally trying to figure out because they're going off the car and the tattoos. You know, so my, my fleeing episodes and the shit that I've done have unfortunately brought, you know, like other people. Scott calls me that

day when they finally realized that he didn't have an ankle monitor on. All that they had was this guy's full of tattoos. His nickname is Sego and he has a fucking ankle monitor on and a silver grand marquis. So that's what they had to. go off. So when they realized that he was telling the truth and it wasn't, you know, it wasn't, it wasn't him. He called me. He was like, what the fuck did you do this morning? I just got fucking hemmed up by like six Hollywood cops. You know, they were, they were on. Great things come in pairs. Dr. Matthew Nykel brings you breasts by design. Custom natural looking results from breast augmentation tailored just for you. This summer, love the way you look.

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Well, I had it on. Okay. Because I was on a house arrest and mine wasn't GPS. It would just detect if I was not home. But I could put in for passes. So there's two kinds of like income monitors. Yeah, mine was definitely GPS. But I think what really saved me in that situation is that the guy who got his ass beat

first thing in the morning didn't know my real name. So he didn't even know who to report so that they could even check into it. All he knew was. the nickname, the tattoos, and the house arrest. So had they, he knew. Had he known. You would have been done. I would have been done. Yeah. It would have been, he was absolutely there. You know, no problem.

So you could just kept fleeing house arrest over and over again? Well, no, I actually, so with that case, I was on house arrest for a while. With the kidnapping and aggravated battery case, I was on, I was on house arrest for a while. I wasn't doing, you know, I was fucking up. I was getting high on house arrest. rest. I ended up violating my bond. The ankle monitor was a condition of the bond. It wasn't a sentence. You know, it was a condition of the bond. And I ended up fucking that up and went back in. That case, you know, that case ended up closing, which is a, you know, which is a crazy story in itself. How I even, you know, how I even got that case. But yeah, so I fucked up that

house arrest and went in and didn't come back out until that. that, you know, until that case was finalized. How old are you during this time period? During that time period. That was 2008, 2009, so I'm 41 now. Yeah, I was in, you know, I was in my 20s, early 20s then. Is that what, like, the start of your problems? Like, did you have a time period where you went to college,

everything was good, and then it went bad? Yeah, yeah. So there was always drugs through, like, through high school. we were weekend warriors. I smoked pot every day. It didn't really affect my athletic ability. You know, smoked pot every day. We were fucking popping beans on the weekend.

Shit like that. Zanex on the weekend. I went to that football scholarship. I blew that because I got in so much trouble in the first five months of being in that campus. And that was a fucking culture shock. Like I got a scholarship to a Division II school up a two-lane road on top of a head.

Hill in West Virginia. And the name of the school was the hilltoppers. So you take a Miami kid who's like, and I didn't even want to go. By the time I was going, it was more to appease my family. You know, they had this big dream for me to be an athlete and fucking marry a cheerleader and whatnot. So like I went for them more. But went up there, gotten a shit ton of trouble, literally got kicked out, lost the scholarship, came home, started fucking up for a while.

Then I said, you know, for me it was let's keep, and even my family at the time, let's keep, let's keep changing like demographics, you know. So it was like, West Virginia came home fucking up. Then it was like, I'll go to Gainesville and go to Santa Fe, community college. You know, so I went up and did that. That was short-lived, you know, found the drugs and started robbing kids on campus there, you know, kids that were just had no business selling weed, you know, selling weed. So I was, you know, robbing people up there and caused a bunch of shit in Gainesville. And when I came home from Gainesville is when it was, you know, that's when it was nonstop, in and out of county jail, you know, yeah, man, you know, in and out of county jail, prison twice.

When I came out of prison the first time in 2004. This was after, oh, this was before the kidnapping. Before the kidnapping. Okay. So this was like your first official criminal charges? Yeah. So the very first, so the very first, very first charge was a felony weed charge. And then my second charge and the one that sticked it and the one that stuck and sent me to prison in 2004 was an aggravated fleeing and alluding.

First time offender. First time offender. Wow. But I got put on probation for it. And you violated it. And I violated three times in the first four months I was on. probation. So when I went when I was in court for the third violation, at that point, my, my people were like, we're not even getting them a lawyer. Like, fuck that. My pops is like, you got to

like deal what you got to deal with. Well, the first, the first court date I went to, they were talking about prison. Now my parents want to kind of backpedal and say, okay, maybe, you know, maybe we should get them an attorney and see how that goes. Yeah. How did your parents feel about this? Like, they, they, they were trying to raise you the best they could. It didn't just sound like your dad was in part of anything illegal while you were growing up and they wanted the best for you. Yeah, he literally put it all down to lead by example. You know, when I was three years old, my mom told him, if you don't get clean, you are fucking out of his life, period. And I'll do whatever it takes to make that happen.

So, you know, he made his mind up, man, and he got clean and he stayed clean, you know, damn near my entire life until his health got really bad. you know, to a point to where, like, he had to take pain medication and shit like that. Now, do you feel like you have, like, a violent side to you or did back then an angry violent side? Because we're hearing kidnapping, assault, you know, that doesn't sound the best. No, I'm not, if you ask anyone that truly knows me, they wouldn't say he's a violent person. Could I absolutely react when pushed? You know, absolutely. But these things that were taking place were, dude, they were,

Honestly, this is the craziest part on paper. I look like a fucking maniac. Which is how most felony charges appear to be. Right. Like a maniac. But, you know, my serious charges all happen. Like, I would have never thought in the moment of them happening that, you know, other than like running from the cops. Okay, I know that's fleeing and eluding.

You know, but like the kidnapping, and we'll get into that. And then the attempt to murder, my last case on a law enforcement officer. what transpired I would have never thought this felony could be like this could be the charge like what I was doing I would have never thought you know that could ever be the charge

you know so I'll tell you the kidnapping case um long story short there was a group of friends that were at my townhouse that day um um We all left, so only those four people knew that my sliding glass door was going to be open.

Later on, I go back that day. I got a, you know, I got a pistol grip pump shotgun that's missing. And someone had, like, went through my top drawer where I would, like, keep dope or money. But I had two big-ass TVs that were not taken. Nothing else was gone through. You know, so what does that tell you? A fucking stranger would have took any and everything. everything. Someone that knew me was only trying to take the gun and the dope, you know, and,

um, and, uh, yeah. So when we got back there, um, you know, things that, things that supposedly transpired, um, you know, like the victim, the victim's statement was that he was held in my house against his will, you know, getting beat and stomped and, and, um, questioned, you know, And I always thought kidnapping, like you got to go pull up on somebody, snatch them up, throw them in a car. You know, that's what I thought kidnapping was. But come to find out, you know, there's different statues for, you know, different charges. So the first statute for kidnapping is if you hold someone against their will, it's false imprisonment. You hold someone against their will and commit a felony against them while holding them against their will for statute for kidnapping.

You know, so the way things transpired in my townhouse that day, it met the statute for kidnapping. Now, is this an innocent bystander or is this someone that's involved in the life with you? No, this is someone that's involved in the life with me. This is someone that I was taking care of for like four years. You know, I was always buying the weed. I always had the car. You know, like I carried this motherfucker for four years. I think a lot of people don't realize, too, when you see a lot of charges of like attempted murders or, you know, violence or things in your situation, that other person was somehow, it wasn't like an innocent person off the street.

Granted, that does happen. But these are a lot of people that were equally involved and have done the same things that have never been caught for them and then play the victim card and say, hey, this is what happened only because that individual got caught and needed to get out of it. Right. And that's, you know, and that's, that was, that was the fucked up part about that. It's like, buddy, you got your ass beat because you fucking robbed me. You didn't just get your ass beat by strangers that thought, hey, let's beat it. Like, you robbed me. And you got your ass beat for it.

And is that why you won the charge? No, no. I didn't win the charge. That's the thing, you know. So he kind of threw the case himself. When I violated that house arrest and went back in, he had went and changed his statement. And he changed his statement from me having zero involvement and literally trying to stop my two homeboys that were involved. And that he was so mad that it even went on that that's the reason he lied about my involvement.

Okay. You know, they had me as like principle of the situation to where like I was running the situation. and they were doing what I said. And you were already a felon at that point. And I was already a felon at that point. How much time would you have gotten if you got convicted on that kidnapping? So when I was at my bond hearing, the prosecutor dug into how long it had been since I got out of prison.

And I was two months shy of three years. So that kidnapping charge being violent in a capital offense, punishable by life. Now the two years being shy from three years made me fall under the PR. which is prison release reoffender. So with the kidnapping charge, the frigging judge looks at me and he's like, Mr. Syriaga, are you aware that with the PRR,

if you take kidnapping a child and lose, I have to give you a mandatory life sentence? And I was just like, holy shit. You know? And my family started crying in the courtroom. It was insane to hear. You know, and this is something that I wish, maybe in that case I would have learned how like minimizing situations because we all do it you know human nature we minimize situations so often and you have no idea what the fuck it could turn into yeah why do you think that case after getting off wasn't enough for you like we look at a lot of cases where someone is proven innocent at trial or whatever just to wind back up in the system like you look at the oj simpson case right not guilty of murder

and then he got jammed up for that other thing, which he ended up doing eight years for. Right. So I don't know if that's karma or how the world works in that or if it's our stubbornness. But what do you think it was for you? It's definitely stubbornness. But for me, for me 100%,

the reason I continued to get in trouble is because I continued to use. When that case happened, I didn't stop using. You know, like when I was fighting that case and I was out on house arrest, I was drinking, you know, bottles of henny on the back porch at night. Like, for me, if I was getting high or drunk, that is when all the trouble came. What was your drug of choice?

My drug of choice was opiates, you know. I did, you know, I did damn near everything. But, you know, when I came out of prison in 2005 after that first fleeing and a looting charge and I went, I did a year and a day at South Florida reception center, stayed permanent there. Um, when I came home in 05 is when, is when the, the, the Roxy epidemic, like, had taken off. In that year that I was doing, it was happening. So I came out and I even had some homeboys that were, you know, on, you know, everyone's like, blues, blues.

I'm like, what the fuck is blues? You know, I had done, like, perks and stuff before, but I didn't, I didn't know anything about this. And had a homeboy that was bad on him, you know, and I even tried to do an intervention on him to get him sober, prior to me getting on him. And then one day finally was with him and was like, man, give me one of them things. He's like, nah,

trust me. I know you, you don't want this. I said, no, if you know me and you know that I want to give it to me. Like, because I'm going to, that's it. You know, you're either going to give it to me,

I'm going to get it. And the first time I did, 30 Roxy was, like that, I found my love right there. say those reception centers are pretty brutal in Florida. Yeah, to be honest with you, South Florida Seption Center was not bad.

Like, my, I didn't even get a real taste of real prison on my first bid. Like I saw some shit, you know, I saw a couple people get hit with a lock in the sock. I definitely saw some fights. Definitely saw some people get extorted. But it wasn't like in your face fucking crazy. Just normal prison stuff that you hear about. Yeah, you know, the reception center really wasn't bad. So, like, I didn't get a full taste until I went back.

So you get through the kidnapping charge, what happens next? Yeah, get through the kidnapping charge. You're in your mid-20s at this point, late 20s. Yep, I'm in my mid-20s. I end up catching, after the kidnapping conviction, I end up catching possession of oxycodone. I finagle getting sentenced to a halfway house And instead of going back to prison

So I get sentenced to a halfway house for a year First Steps overhouse Did the year there Drink on the weekends I still hadn't let go of You know let go of everything While I was there You know drank on the weekends

Got certified to be a personal trainer Um graduated from there And um started you know started with the personal training thing, took off really quick with that, but relapsed, you know, shortly into that.

I would see, here's the thing, and I'm going to share this for anyone who's struggling, letting go of everything. This was a very important conversation that I always share with people that I'm trying to get clean.

When I left that halfway house, and I was only drinking on the weekend, I had a conversation with my cousin, Kook, and I'm, bro, I'm not that dude they talk about because I was full-blown, you know, snorting 15, 20 roxies a day at that time and now was getting drunk on the weekend, was a personal trainer, was going to the club popping bottles and not even thinking about roxies or drugs.

It wasn't even a thought that I had to fight. It just wasn't even a thought. So I remember telling him like, yo, I'm not that dude they talk about in the rooms that like you can't do nothing. Like I don't even think about roxies. I drink all the time. and he was like listen I hope that's true for you I really do but I have a feeling we're going to be having a much different conversation you know down the road and I'm like I whatever you know and and sure enough I absolutely you know I absolutely relapsed and I share that moment because so many people so many people in addiction stay in addiction for so long because they think they can just switch one for the other I'll stop doing this and I'll only do this.

I'll only do a little bit of this, you know, and it's bullshit. And what finally worked for me and what I realized is, is even if I could smoke weed today, I wouldn't. One, I love being completely clean and clear, but when you are completely clean, you have an accountability to a clean date. And, you know, let's just say I start smoking weed, that accountability to that date is gone.

You know, so now if something transpires, and I'm like, fuck it, I want to drink some lean today. I feel like doing a shot of heroin out of the blue. I don't have the accountability to the clean date, so it becomes that much easier to just make the decision and take the action and do it. So once you got out of that, you did the year of the sober house.

Did the year of the sober house, got certified to be a trainer, started doing that for a while, relapsed, lost that job. Why did you relapse? I was drinking all the time. You know, I was drinking on the weekends. I wasn't completely clean and went through some turmoil.

And when I got fire from the job and broke up with somebody, like literally one day was losing the job, next day was breaking up, getting kicked out of this chick's house. Feeling like I was starting from a square one, I wanted to numb that shit. And the last thing on my mind was alcohol because that wasn't my choice. That wasn't my drug of choice. I barely even liked drinking. It was more for the social aspect. So now, going through some turmoil, you know, the last thing I'm on mind was that. And I went to somebody's house and asked them about blues.

They were like, dude, blues are like $30 a piece now. And the guy's like, well, we can go down to Miami and get a bundle of heroin for $100, $120. I'm like, fuck it. All right, let's go. You know, I was a little scared. But we went and did that. And that's where the heroin, you know, that's where the heroin kicked in. So now we're like, you know, now we're like 2000, almost 12.

And it's just on and off, on and off heroin, in treatment, you know, for a very little bit. Or, you know, in treatment, come out, clean for a little bit, fuck up, back in treatment. You know, I just did this thing with shooting heroin for a couple years. and then when I caught this last case, I had just gone to treatment. I had like 90 days clean. I bought a street bike. You know, my first flea...

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Foot, everything. but bought a street bike 90 days clean was heading to a job site and the only thing I didn't do like the bike was legit I just didn't put a tag on it or register yet so in my mind I'm like if I get pulled over if I'll just stop

like I thought I was done with running you know I'm like if they pull me over because they see I don't have a tag I'll just stop so it's 9.30 in the morning I'm on my way to a job site working for, you know, a flooring company and a flooring t-shirt, jeans, construction boots, and I'm on this Jixon 1,000. And I get off on Royal Palm and Weston Road.

I'm getting ready to make a left onto there. And what I didn't know is that when I'm sitting at that light, now I didn't buck and go up to the front, you know, cut everybody. I stayed back. I'm like three cars back. what I didn't know at the time, and I found out later through the CAD reports, is that there was an officer standing on the sidewalk posing as a panhandler. So if you pull up to that light and you're not wearing your seatbelt, you know, he'll look in your car, you're not wearing a seatbelt, you don't think nothing of it.

You know, then he kind of turns radios to them. You know, hey, we got a guy on a white shark coming, no seatbelt. You make that left on the Western Road, and they fucking pull you over and give you a ticket. So when I pull up to the light, and I'm a few cars back, this guy gets crazy out of nowhere. And he's like, hey, hey, hey, hey. You know, like, you just hear them talking, bullshitting all of a sudden. He's like, hey, hey, hey, hey, we got a guy in a great motorcycle, great t-shirt, full of tattoos. This dude looks like a runner.

And this is fucking description of me. Now, ironically, I did end up running. and I like so he wasn't his judgment wasn't very off at all you know but I had no idea that transpired you know so I make the left I turn on the Western Road and two cops are in the middle of the road on on foot motorcycle cops they got the boots up to their knees I'm like what the fuck is this you know so I'm like all right but when I you know the only thing wrong is I don't have the tag on. So when I pass them,

they'll be looking at other cars. It'll be good. I'm going to be fine. So I got a full face helmet on. There's really no reason for them to even fucking fuck with me, but I have no idea that this guy already gave that description. So a car changes lanes in front of me, and this fucking BSO screams at me from about 60,

I don't know, maybe 60, 70 feet in front of me. Pull over. I'm like, what the fuck is this guy's problem? you know so I start pulling over and as I'm pulling over to the left now that that other you know that other part of my brain is like run run and then you know and then I'm like coached I'm like talking to myself trying to coach myself into not doing it I'm like just pull over just pull over just take the ticket just pull over so as I'm as I'm going as I'm going towards the median over here, he's walking from out in front of me

to basically meet me at the median. Right when I get by the median, I'm like, man, fuck this cracker. I wasn't even doing nothing wrong. And I get down and I go to hit it. And when I do that, he takes two quick steps, boom, boom, and tries to close

line me off the motorcycle. So he ran to me and then tried to close line me off the motorcycle. When he did that, I did like a little, you know, like a little jug, moved away from him. little bit of room I had, this dude's hand tapped my shoulder and I kept riding. Now, as soon as that transpired, another cop that was sitting at somebody's window,

writing them a ticket for a seatbelt, dropped his ticket book, pulled his firearm, and dumped a clip at me at 9.30 in the morning in the middle of Weston for taking off. That's what I did. I took off. I didn't run the fucking cop over. He came and tried to tackle me off. the bike. But this cop dumps a clip at 9.30 in the morning. So one bullet went through my gas tank. One bullet hit me in the arm right here, shattered my arm. But the adrenaline was pumping so hard.

Like I almost wrecked out. My feet are wobbling on the like wobbling backwards. My chest is on the gas tank like came so fucking close to crashing and didn't. But still here. Pop, pop, pop. And I'm like, what the fuck so like I gained control and I start running um you know I'm riding away and in my head I'm like there is no fucking way this cop just shot me with a real gun like there's no way like I knew he did but for what you know for taking off so yeah so this um this turned into a friggin this turned into a 30 minute pursuit all through Broward

County into Dade County onto 75 into Miami. A chopper picked me up. I finally end up wrecking into a Metro Dade cop car. Thank God I didn't die on that entire chase because those 30 minutes were fucking bizarre. So many

close calls. One cop, like once I went on 75 and then ended up doing a U-turn and going back, one house, One cop came across the median, hit my leg, tried to knock me off the motorcycle. I didn't fall. You know, I kept going and then finally, you know, finally wrecked into this Metro Day cop car. And I was honestly happy it was over at that point, you know. But they airlifted me to Jackson Memorial after roughing me up and shit with a shot arm.

Airlifting me to Jackson. And they let my mom see me there. a minute. Like she, this shit was all over in the news. This shit's on Channel 10 news right now if anybody wants to look it up. But they let her, she made it down there. They let her see me somehow. And the way I found out what I was

being charged with was when I woke up after surgery, I was in like a recovery room before my actual room and I'm like coming to, I'm groggy, you know, I've been all types of medication and shit. So I look up at the TV and I'm on

on the news and they're saying that, you know, Mr. Syriago, 31 years old out of Hollywood, Florida, being arrested for attempted murder on a law enforcement officer and likely to be set with a $900,000 bond. Holy cow. How do they even come up with attempted murder from that? And I can't believe the cop shot at you. Yeah. Like that sounds like lawsuit all over it. Right. Which I would have had.

Like if I would have took it to trial and won. I would have hit BSO with a massive lawsuit. I'm guessing they offered you a deal to make this all go away. Correct. That makes sense. Correct. You know, so they had to cover up for an unjustifiable shooting. So their story was I angled my bike directly at the cop, hit him,

picked him up with my front tire, threw him over me in the motorcycle, where he landed on his head, and then took off. So how'd they... That was their story. How did you guys debunk that then? So, you know, luckily, luckily I had a top 10 lawyer in Brower County, you know, shout out Mitch Palais, fucking amazing, kept me out of prison twice, two life sentences. You know, luckily I had him and we, first of all, when I, so I got put on house arrest.

I got lucky enough to get the bond dropped from 900,000 to 150,000. got out ankle monitor level one can't go anywhere can't work can't do anything but go to like a doctor's appointment and provide notes and shit like that um so he told me in the very beginning of the case what we have to do is put as much time in between this and your sentencing as possible because now I'm at rock court now so remember how I was two months shy of three years and caught the PR on the kidnapping. Now I'm three months shy of five years of being out of prison

or I mean five years of catching the conviction on the kidnapping. Even though I didn't go to prison for that, I got convicted of that. I was three months shy of five years since that conviction. So now with the attempt

to murder on a Leo, they habitualized me. They put me in a rock court. You know, so now I'm in Rock Court, they get put on house arrest and did level one house arrest for four and a half years. We brought accident specialists in. We did everything. Like, honestly, if I would have took him the trial, it was probably 60, 40 my way. But, you know, once again, you know, even with an amazing attorney and a factual kind of proven case,

it's still me verse fucking six or seven BSO deputies You know and if I would have blue trial When you are in rock court If you take them to trial If you don't take a plea and you take them to trial Whatever the max on the charges They double it So for this case

I had attempted murder second degree on a Leo Punishable by 15 I had aggravated Aggravated fleeing and eluding again Punishable by 15 So if I would have lost trial they could have hit me with fucking 60

It's a big risk And it's always favored against you Right and if they wanted to be nice Okay, we'll put them together And give you a fresh 30 At 30 You know, 35 years old Or whatever it was at the time

Now that I was actually, you know, going to prison So what do they end up offering you? How does this get resolved? So Because of the possible lawsuit Like they didn't want to go to child Just as bad as me So finally after four and a half years on the level one house arrest, my lawyer hits me up one day.

And he's like, listen, because they started at 20, 17, 15, stayed at 15 for a while, 10. You know, like, he finally hits me up one day after four and a half years and says, Michael, they'll give you a year and a day. But you got to take the convictions as is. And this is the exact same thing to happen in the fucking kidnapping case. You got to take the convictions as is they're not lessened in the charges whatsoever. year and a day, you go to prison, you get your two and a half months credit for time served. You come home clean, no probation, no nothing, but you will be convicted of the attempt to murder second degree on a Leo and the aggravated fleet of.

Wait, so you have an attempted murder charge on your record? Convictions are aggravated battery, great bodily harm and kidnapping from that case. this conviction is attempt to murder second degree on a Leo and aggravated fleeing eluding. I have another aggravated fleeing and alluding. I have a possession of oxycodone also conviction. Holy cow. How is this?

And then I have like possession of firearm arrest, but not convictions and burglary arrest and not convictions. How is all like these kind of like violent type of charges on paper affect your life now? So initially if, I mean, I try to get a job. at a landscape company when I just had the kidnapping conviction. And this guy wanted me to be a foreman. He needed like an American guy to be a foreman to run things. And he literally was like, dude, I can't hire you.

I can't put you in these neighborhoods with that charge because God forbid something else happens. And I allowed this. You know what I mean? So that was how it got spun. But honestly, you know, I haven't let it hold me back, you know. And how much are you stereotyped with the way you look and seeing those charges together?

Oh, forget about it. Because you have the look match with those charges and I feel like that's a recipe for disaster. Yeah. When cops never, ever initially approach me kindly. You know, it never starts out like that. But I will tell you what's ironic is since I'm home from prison the last time with the kidnapping charge.

I get pulled over and cops are aggressive initially and then they go back to the car with my license. This has happened three different times. They go back to the car with my license and see that my very last conviction was attempted murder on a law enforcement officer and they don't know what that case looks like, but they see that and they come back fucking 10 times nicer

instead of the opposite. When it happened, I'm like, what the fuck? Maybe kill him with kindness or something? Yeah, and my wife was like, they're doing that because he just went back there and saw that you have attempted murder on a Leo. He's probably thinking it's his head, not me, not today. I'm just going to give this guy a warning, and that's how it's been.

It was like a warning, like speeding and a warning. Having not switched the tag yet, you know, it was like stupid shit I was getting pulled over for, but coming back, way nicer and a warning. How hard was it to explain these charges to date individuals you are dating, women you are dating, new women in your life, anything like that? So for me, not that hard. I've always been an open book to a fault, you know. So for me, not that hard. And to be honest with you, women are fucking crazy.

Like they hear house arrest, they hear prison, they see this look, like, they don't even mind it. majority won't mind it and find it attractive. There would be some, you know, that I'm sure they're like, oh my God, no, you know, but I figured out a long time ago that women want the bad boy image, but they don't want the guy that's fucking in and out of jail and doing all this shit, you know, so. Yeah, they don't want the perks or the negative stuff that comes. Right. Yeah. they want the image, they want the tough guy, but they want you to be fucking reformed. You know, so.

Reformed criminals. So as long as you're reformed, you know, it's like, oh, wow, you know, so this is cool. He's been through all that. He's fucking changed. Still has the look and all that, you know, so that's, yeah. In that department, it's never really been like a, you know, like an issue. So that year and a day sentence, why was that the change for you? This last one?

the last one. Why was that compared to the other one? So, I relapsed. My last relapse was on house arrest, fighting this last case. It was about a year in. I went in for my second surgery on this gunshot wound. The metal that they put in my arm initially snapped from working out really hard on my mom's back porch where I was doing this house arrest. So I was going back in for a second surgery. They had me on a Diladden drip for a couple days in there. At this point, I had like

15 months. You know, I was like 15 months because 90 days, you know, remember 90 days prior to catching the case. And now since this case. So I got about 14, 15 months. I'm on the Deladen drip for a couple of days. I go home.

I let them, you know, I let them prescribe perks because they fucking, they had to graft bone from my hip to put in my elbow because the bullet tore up so much of that bone that it wouldn't rejuvenate on its own. You know, so the second surgery, they were like, that's why the plate snap because it's not rejuvenated. It's not growing back. So they grab bone from my hip. They put it in my arm. I took the perks home. I was in pain,

but when those percissettes ran out, that year, that first year that I was fighting this case, I was not in a good headspace, you know. I was looking at, you know, 20, You're a cop out and 60 years if I blow trial. I was just stressed. I was not in a good headspace. So I went into that surgery, came home, took the perks as needed, and then, you know, called somebody and had them deliver some heroin. Wow. And I shot heroin for almost a week on house arrest until, you know, I violated and went back in.

But really quick, the first thing was. in NAA and A, they say that one's too many and a thousand's never enough. I don't know if you've ever heard that. But they say that one is too many for an addict and a thousand is never enough. There's all these cliches and things that are said in there, you know, and I always just looked at that as like a cliche or whatever, you know, and on house arrest with all this hanging over my head, relapsing in that predicament.

So the dope got dropped off the very first day. I shot up in my room. I walked into my parents' living room and started looking around and thinking, what am I going to pawn of theirs in these next couple days when the little bit of money I have right now runs out? And for whatever reason,

finally after fucking 11 years in addiction, that cliche, smack me in the face that like as soon as you as soon as a true addict does dope they're immediately thinking about I'm thinking four days away when I no longer have money I'm thinking all right I'm not even enjoying my first eye and I'm and I'm thinking about what am I going to pawn of my parents when when this little bit of money runs out so I had you know I had that you know spiritual awakening if you will enlightening moment where it's like I can't. I can't do one.

You know? It became very clear in that moment. And then a few days later, I started getting tired of waiting for this kid to bring my dope. So I would ride with him. So I'd take a ride with him to go get the dope, lied to my preach officer, told her I had a doctor's appointment to get out. Ride with him to get the dope. him and his drug addict girlfriend at the time picked me up in a silver Ford tourist

one red door the fucking headliners hanging way down there's shit everywhere dry blood from them shooting up and bleeding and like the car is a fucking mess now we're heading to East Hollywood

to get dope and I'm thinking like what the fuck are you doing like what are you doing you're lucky enough to be out on bond for an attempted murder on a Leo and you're getting high and now you're riding the fucking East Hollywood

and then just that quick I'm like damn what are you going to do if these fucking if they get pulled over I said man if they get pulled over as soon as that fucking cop gets out of his car I'm going to fucking take off I'm going to cut this ankle monitor I'm going to beg my fucking parents

to shit to fucking somehow shit me on a private whatever to a fucking non-extre tradition. Like in this, so think about the mind state that I was in to be in this predicament for running, being shot for running, and here I am ready to run again. The notorious fleer. The notorious fleer. And I was just like, Jesus Christ. So those were those were the, those were the two moments right there that were like, I'm done. I'm fucking. I mean, I didn't stop right there.

I got violated. I was able to make it look like it was miscommunication. I did 14 days in before coming back home. Who does that? Like, this is also when it was really showing me that God had me in his favor. You know what I mean? Because who gets a bond for attempt to murder on a law enforcement officer? With a hefty criminal record.

With a hefty criminal record. who gets their bond reinstated for that charge with a hefty criminal record. You know, so boom, then my bond gets reinstated. So when I got home from then, I stayed clean. You know, so I actually, by the time I got to prison, I had three and a half years clean. And that, I realized in that moment, and I had a friend, you know, a friend who's actually a business partner now. We go back to kindergarten, my homeboy. He was like, sponsor me for a little bit.

We're business partners now in mental health and substance abuse treatment facilities. He came to my house when I got home from that, when I got home from that violation and we're standing in my garage because I couldn't even go past my garage. I could like open it up and smoke cigarettes at the time. We're standing there. He's like, why the fuck do you keep getting high? And I go to shoot out and answer. He's like, no, think about this.

Why the fuck do you keep getting high when you know you'll never be successful at it? You know that 100%. Really think about that for a minute and then answer me. So I think about it and I go to shoot out some answers that are really just excuses. He's like, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. He goes, listen, bro, we grew up together. I know that you are not a pussy. but what I'm telling you right now is you sound pussy.

You're blaming everything but your fucking conscious decision to pick up on why your life's like this and why you're continuing to do this. He was like, what you need to do from this fucking moment forward is embed in your head that drugs and alcohol are no longer an option for you, no matter what. Take it off the fucking table.

It's not an option. period. And he's like, I don't give a fuck what you go through. I don't give a fuck if you sell dope, if you rob banks, if you fucking, you know, he's like, I don't care what you do.

You just don't get high no matter motherfucking what. And I promise if you do that, if you're doing any of that other shit, you'll eventually stop it. But the one single thing you need to do perfect the rest of your life

is never fucking pick up again. He's, I don't give a fuck if you walk in and see your girlfriend giving your dad head. He's like, dude, if your son dies, I don't care what you go through. You don't pick up no matter what. You know, and then he just dapped me up.

He's like, aren't you sick of being fucking, aren't you sick of starting over, being at your mom's on house arrest, in and out of prison, in and out of county jail? Aren't you sick all that shit? It's time to man the fuck up, dog. Stop acting like a little boy. And I was like, wow. So he dapped me up and he just walked off. I was like, that shit hit me, you know?

I went out in the backyard. I smoked like three Newport's back to back. And it just so, so from that relapse and the moments of clarity there, and now this conversation, and then when I went to sit in the backyard and really think about everything that he just said, it really hit me.

And that was also a moment and why I take the approach that I take with, being aggressive, with being blunt. Like, he gave me the business in that moment. And that's what made me listen to it. You know, if he was like, Mike, aren't you sick of this?

You know, like you're at your mom's like, nah, bitch, like you sound pussy. Tighten up. Don't you want to boss up? You know, like the way he presented that was the way that worked for me, you know, and I went in my backyard and I'm like, bro, everything he's saying is true. And from that moment since, I have not fucking...

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Congratulations. You know, and then that last bid was a totally different story. That was the icing on the cake of changing my fucking life, you know. Do you think that you were given more opportunities in the criminal justice system because of your family having some money and being able to hire a real criminal defense attorney? Absolutely. Because there are a lot of people that are in your shoes that never get that opportunity and would have been railroaded.

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. In my last case, something that my attorney said at one point was, you know, my mom was there was, I'm going to, you know, prosecutors are going to look out for me and then I'll owe him one. My mom's like, this shit really happens. And yes, yes, it does. You know, public defenders, you know, and it's a very shitty thing, but a public defender is going to get you a long trip. You know, and having a private attorney who has all those relationships, who golfs with these people, who fucking goes to parties at their houses. Like, all that shit matters, you know? So I definitely, definitely caught breaks because of the representation I had. 1,000%. Now, you getting clean is a big part because you got into this last case, essentially. So would you take it back fleeing from the cops that day?

No. that's it you know no because everything that transpired after that brought me to sitting in your chair and everything i have going on success wise and business wise and so like i wouldn't um i just wish and i try and share with with more of like the youth like the wasted time you know like instead of instead of turning your you know starting your life completely over it at fucking you know, like 31, 34 years old is fucking crazy, man. You know, that's the only bad part. But no, I wouldn't. You know, I really wouldn't. You wasted about 10 years. Literally.

If not more. Yeah. But, you know, with everything, like I said, that transpired from that, I couldn't even avoid or ignore my calling and my purpose and the fact that I had to stop. You know, like, brother, This cop dumped a clip. A whole clip only caught me once. And in a limb versus, you know, my fucking lungs or, you know, my body or something like that.

You know what I mean? Like a whole clip caught me once. Then I end up with the attempted murder in Rock Court, you know, make it through that. Only get, you know, only get a year and a day. You know, God finally sat me down long. enough like like after that last relapse with that house arrest and shit and when I made my mind up that I was done that solitude of that house arrest and that isolation is what is what really started to boss me up you know I was training hard every day I was doing like step work I was

reading you know positive um mindset books and shit like that like that's where the work started for me and then I took it into prison but he Even after all that, you know, he saw fit for me to go to prison after four and a half years of house arrest with three and a half years clean. It was another test to see if you can make it through. Right. And if you could make it through that, then everything that is supposed to come to you is able to work out. Right. And then saw fit for me not to stay at South Florida reception center again, even though I tried.

I tried to pull a string and get made permanent. No. I got shipped up to the fucking panhandle You know my introduction was like I leave South Florida Seption Center I jump on a bus we go to Orlando We just change buses And then we then we head up and Stay at Washington one night

And and the night that I stayed there the morning I wake up They're bringing somebody into my cell And he had probably just moved from one dorm to another He wasn't like fresh in the prison you know But my door starts clicking, this kid comes in, he starts undoing his shit, I'm sitting up, and out of his stuff, he pulls a, he pulls a fucking knife out like this long. I'm like, how do fuck did you did, I'm thinking in my head, like, how did he just get

transported anywhere around this fucking, this compound with this shit on him? You know, and right there, I'm like, fuck. Like, this is a whole new reality right now. Like, where's this going to go? You know, but he just put it up and then like we actually talked a little bit. But that initial thing, like just pulling that shit out like it was like he was pulling out his fucking canteen or something was crazy to me. Very casually. Very casually.

I was like, what the fuck? So then I leave there and then I end up going and staying at Lake Butler for a day, you know, on my way up to the panhandle. And that was a totally different scenario where Lake Butler, which used to be one of the most vicious, you know, can't. like in the 80s and shit. My uncle told me about was a very vicious camp. Has now become just a fucking dope head camp.

Like they walk me into my dorm and this shit looked like a shooting gallery. Like people just nodded out against each other against bunks, standing up, like knotted out all the way leaning over, standing up. It was crazy, man.

And I was like, God damn. Like, oh, this this isn't where I'm staying now, you know? And then, you know, finally get up to my actual camp. And because of the attempt of murder on a Leo, I had a high custody, you know, so they put me in a straight HO4 dorm, which the only people in straight HO4 dorms are people with violent charges and dudes that are in and out the box the whole time they're in prison, you know?

And I had a great introduction there. Literally, I come in, I come in in in the morning shortly after breakfast. Really didn't chop it up with anybody. It was kind of just peeping the scene. And we get in the, they start calling for chow. And we get in line, you know, by the door for chow. And some dude walks by me about 22 years old, good bill. I could tell he's a young kid, but a good bill walks by me.

And as he's passing me, he's like, he's like, cracker get there. And I'm like, what? I'm like confused, you know, for a minute. I'm like, we and this kid haven't even talked. Like, I didn't think he was talking to me because I'm like, we don't even have a problem, you know? And then the dude behind me was like, bro, you got to go to the bathroom and fade that dude. I'm like, what? He was like, yeah, when he just walked by and said, Cracker, get there, he wants you to go to the bathroom and fight, dog.

You can't buck that call out. This is like a, this is a T-O-8. This is a test of heart right now. You bucked that call out. and you're going to be marked the whole time you're in here. I just didn't even know he was calling me out, you know? So I'm like, what about the cops? They're standing right there in the fucking thing.

We're all lined up to go to lunch. And he's like, man, these cops bet on our fights. They literally take bets on fights in the bathroom. I'm like, all right, fuck it. So I go in the bathroom, I square up with this dude. He fucking painted me. Like my first fight, my first fight on that bid, I had others in the county. my first fight on that bid that day, this kid painting me.

Come to find out he was boxing since he was like fucking seven years old or something. But I got there, you know, I got there. We faded. You know, we got up. He'd dab me up and, you know, that was it. And you earned their respect. And I earned the respect, you know, and that was literally the first fucking three hours I was in the dorm, you know.

And I could just tell the energy in this dorm was like off the chain. I knew I was in like a dorm where shit was going to be constantly fucking going on and chaotic, you know? And that was the introduction, man. And that was the least of it, you know. I plan on minding my own business in this last bit and stick it to myself.

But when you get up in the panhandle, that's almost impossible to do. You know, like you've got to either rock with your race or rock with a gang. You know? And, yeah, I tried to, you know, I tried to rock solo for a little while. But, you know, the more I was seeing and realizing, it just couldn't, man. Like in this dorm, people were getting, every single day, it was something.

Every single day, there was a fight. Someone was getting their head cracked open with a lock and a sock. Somebody was getting stabbed. People were getting robbed and extorted every day in that dorm for sure. You come in that dorm, you don't stand up for yourself. You will get extorted, be in there 10 minutes. They'll just come take all your shit. you know and um i could they were the cops were so crooked in this facility you can't you like

you can't even talk about this shit over the phone because they record it so they hear it they'll come like yo this fucking dude's talking about the shit that's popping off in the dorm and then you'll get you know and then you'll get fucked up for that like the cops will tell the you know tell the inmates to fuck you up for that you know this dude's talking about all this shit on the phone you know so it's like you don't even have anybody to vent to you know and um but then my home boy Gizi came in. Chico, he's the one that he's the one that did a lot of my tats. Like I had a lot of tat work

prior to going but me and him clicked he started, you know, he started going over my shit, darkening it, adding some shit and I ended up catching beef with a Muslim and and it was his fault I didn't start this, you know, I didn't

start this altercation but it was his fault and and I ended up painting this dude in the bathroom fucked him up decent drug him in that bitch because of how disrespectfully was and um the way he told the story to the rest of the Muslims on the compound at that time were that it was all me you know that it was all that that I started it that I sucker punched him that you know he turned it into this whole thing and um and what happened from that was now they're now they're all

saying they're going to wet me up they're going to stab me they're going to get me up off that compound a lot of people were hating on me because i had like i had money and i had food and i would like pay people to do certain shit um when when really it all stem from you know being a good dude like you know got nothing okay you do this and i'll you know i'll pay you that but anyways um so now they're talking about you know stabbing me up and getting me up out of this compound and um my boy jizi that was tattooing me man he um he was head of the g's on the compound head of the gangster disciples on the compound and he went to you know the head muslim at the time and was like listen when it comes to mike all the GDs are going behind them and uh he did that

shit without me knowing you know i feel it was a little strategic too to like add another you know soldier to your team in the dorm and shit because like obviously if you do that i'm not going to expect you to have my back and not have yours you know what i mean so could have been a little strategic but that's what he did bro and what that did was that that caused the highest tension in the dorm i had seen the entire time there you know there's you know he's got chico sitting on the sitting in between our bunks every day fucking sharpening metal making knives um you know the muslims that are in our dorm are walking around trying to see what's going on we got fucking we're literally rotating who's sleeping because you got to i didn't even

tell you that, I'm in an open bay dorm. I'm in a straight H-O-4 dorm with motherfuckers with life in 15 and 20 years and real-deal born violent fucking psychos in an open bay dorm. You know, so we were, we were sleeping in rotation, you know, like two people were always up while the other, you know, the other people, the other brothers in the dorm were, we're sleeping, man. Yeah, 1090, Jake was on sharing that. you guys were in that prison, they would wrap their face with t-shirts and sweatshirts while they were sleeping to prevent getting stabbed in the face. Yeah.

Yeah, man, it was crazy. I saw a white dude get hit with a lock and a sock so many times in the bathroom. He got hit so many times in his forehead and his head that blood was hitting the fucking ceiling, which was probably 50 feet. This was like this wasn't like a short little, like blood was. all over the ceiling that he was just leaking everywhere, man. Like this was such a violent dorm. And it was crazy

to be there with at this point like eight and a half months left to do. And that's the difference between county jail and prison. Is in county jail, there's pretty much 100% chance you're going home. In prison, there is not a guarantee

that you're going home, especially depending on, you know, where you end up, what you got going on. You know, there's not. And I just remember thinking like, damn, dog, am I going to make it home from this shit? You know? The tension got so crazy. It was like, at what day is this just going to pop off and be an all-out war in this dorm

between Muslims and GDs? And, you know, luckily, luckily, you know, the man stepped in again. That's just what it is, man. He stepped in again. And, you know, it's crazy. I got moved on like Like somebody else One of my boys from another dorm

Just asked like this officer like Hey my dog's over there can we get them over here Like I had no idea that shit was going on man And this shit happened When uh They just came in and told me to pack it up one day And and literally it was the day It was the day after all like almost all the GDs

And the Chico's got taken out of that dorm they were like splitting them up because they were starting to dominate that dorm you know and that's how shit goes man it's all politics so uh got rid of all the chicos got rid of a good amount of the GDs so now here I am dolo again in this dorm you know with the Muslims and the people that have been talking about fucking wetting me up and getting me up out of there but yeah perfect timing my boy just just asked um one of the officers he was cool with the dude went and pulled some strings came and pulled me out I'm like where we going. He's like, oh, no, I got you moved over to another

dorm. Your boy was like, yo, get my dog over here. We want to work out together and shit. And just, wham, literally, like, you know, went and did the last, I think my last, like, two and a half months over there, you know. Wow. Yeah. So, you know, it was crazy. I went through a lot there, and it was just like, man, this shit ain't cool. This shit is not, you know, I went in clean. I went in older, you know, than the first

time, just a fucking waste of time, you know, and going in clean and having done so much work on myself prior to going this last time is, I think, what really, what really made a lot of that shit clear, too. Like, I was, I started my mission and my purpose in prison. Like, my boy Anthony, they got me moved over to another dorm. I got him clean. A lot of, a lot of these guys were smoking at Tunchy, you know, the spice that fucks them up all in there.

A K2. Right. Yeah. The K2. And then they even like, the shit gets like sprayed. I mean, you would think these guys were on heroin and it's K2. Like, fucked up. I saw an entire dorm.

Everyone in that dorm that smokes, I saw an entire dorm one time projectile throwing up from a bad batch of dope. An entire dorm. It was fucking nuts. But yeah, I carried, you know, my purpose started in there. I was talking to dudes and just letting them know, like, listen, man, if you think you can do dope all the way to the gate and then get out and change your life, you're dead ass wrong. You're going to get out. You're going to do what you've always done. It never even stopped in here.

You're going to do what you always done. You're going to come right back. That is how this is going to go. You know? So I started, you know, I started getting guys, you know, into working out. That was something I did, you know, religiously in there was work out. and read and honestly that's where my mission started and that's where I made my mind up that I was going to I didn't even know it was going to turn into like a personal development coaching business

my mindset was like I'm just going to motivate and inspire I'll go talk to schools high schools you know I'll try and like grab the youth because hopefully I can stop them from going through it That was my thought initially, you know, before coming out and then seeing that, you know, people were doing this and, like, personal development coaching was a thing. Yeah. How is someone like yourself who has a hefty criminal record that's also violent on the record who's been in and out of prison, struggled with addiction able to become a, you know, self-made entrepreneur?

Because I think a lot of guys coming out of prison and women, you know, they want that. They don't want to just come out and work for someone else and get a job. Tires matter. They're the only part of your vehicle that touches the road. Tread confidently with new tires from Tire Rack. Whether you're looking for expert recommendations or know exactly what you want, tire rack makes it easy. Fast free shipping, free road hazard protection,

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What advice would you give to someone that's looking for that? Well, and you also had, and they have the doubt. Like, everyone thinks, and then even people get out and use the excuse, like, oh, I'm a convicted felon. Oh, no one's going to hire me. And that is right in a lot of ways, you know, so there's this doubt and there's all that. But you have to be, the thing, the thing is that when somebody becomes, the very first thing that needs to happen

So what I would say to someone coming out of prison That wants to be an entrepreneur Is that if they didn't start Becoming the best version of themselves in prison Then they need to start it immediately right now They need to become the best version of themselves Their experience Gives them something to offer

It has value There's a demand for people that would want help By somebody like that and who has made the transition. Doing it right out of prison immediately, you know, would be a little hard, but that's why,

you know, mastering self is the first part. You know, so I would tell somebody coming out, you want to be an entrepreneur, you want to, you know, start your own business,

then you need to fucking, you need to become a leader, you need to become a boss, you need to become everything that you truly desire. And that's, and the way you're going to do that is by getting in the best shape of your life, fucking eating right, you know, training hard, taking yourself through self-inflicted adversities every day that are going to continue

to level you up, you know, and that would be it, you know, because until you're doing that, you're not even going to know your purpose. Look at all the people that don't struggle in the world who have never been to prison, who have never struggled with drugs, who, you know, you're born and you're, and you go, you watch your parents and, you develop all these unconscious behaviors and habits and, you know,

these people just go through life, do-to-do, you know, making fucking $47, $52,000 a year and just going through the motions. Someone like that, like, you're not really going to find your true purpose. until one, you maybe go through something and then, but two, definitely becoming the best version of yourself and doing whatever it's going to take to gain the most clarity, you know, and by becoming the best version of yourself is when you gain the most clarity, you know,

and then it becomes clear. You know, I actually made a post about this the other day that, you know, the people might say, like, you know, when I'm talking about working out and get to the, fucking gym and eat right and da-da-da you know people could be looking at me doing these stories like yeah real easy for you to say all you do is work out and talk at your phone all day but it my business is online you could have that too but you lack the fucking you lack the desire and motivation to even figure out what you would do we all have a purpose here so if you can just find your purpose like you did with this you went through something you're like yo i could fucking i could really do this you

and you did it and look where you're at today with it. You know, so we all have a purpose. You need to find what that purpose is. And then you today with online and the way things work, you start an online coaching business. You know, a woman could be coaching people how to do lashes, you know. I mean, like coaching is endless. There's always going to be some form of the man.

You're always going to have higher demands or, you know, lower demands. But there's going to be some form of demand for, I think whatever anyone's true purpose is. What advice would you give your teenage self, the teenage self that wanted to become, you know, a gangster? If you could sit across from him today, what would you say to him? It's exactly what I say to my teenage son, you know, so I have a 14-year-old son. And I say to him what I would say to myself, which is, bro, listen to me. Get decent grades.

I don't expect them to make straight A's. Get decent grades. figure out what you want to do. Really figure out what you want to do and fucking go after it. Like all this hanging out and bullshit and the shit that you think is cool. Right now, I promise you when you're 40,

you're not going to think is cool. All this, all this, you have no time for anything but riding around with your friends and this and that. And, you know, it's all, it's all going to be fucking irrelevant at some point, you know. So it would just be not to waste time. figure out what you're going to fucking do. Go after it.

You know, be successful. Like, own your first home. Be successful by 30 years old instead of starting your life completely over in your mid or late 30s. You know? And then another huge thing is, too, is like, because it was so big for me is how often I minimized situations. You know, and that's something I stress to him all the time. when you're in this situation, you need to think about everything,

everything that can transpire. You think, out of all the times I ran from cops, which we can't even count, you think I ever thought just from fleeing an officer, I'd be shot, and that then being shot would turn into them having to cover up for an unjustifiable shooting. You know what I mean?

And it'd be this fucking monstrous thing. Absolutely not. You think a fight in, my house, which is really what that was, I would have ever thought would turn into a kidnapping charge? Absolutely not. You know? So, yeah, you know, the points would be focus, you know, become the best version of yourself now. I try and get him to train and I try and get him to do shit, you know, and I'm not too, too hard on him.

But, you know, it's become the best version of yourself. Get mentally souped up now. Understand all this shit now. So you are way ahead of the game and can take off as soon as you're out of high school and ready. Absolutely. Well, Mike, thank you so much for coming on Locked in today. Shout out to Nelson for connecting us. Absolutely.

That was dope. It was a pleasure talking with you. And incredible story, man, so much to offer. And I'm sure a lot of people are going to want you on their podcast after listening to this. Yeah, I can't wait. Which is what you want to do anyways to get your name. out there and continue to build that brand. Get my name out there. Give it back. Absolutely. Well, safe travels back to Florida, Mike. Thank you, brother.