Tony Mantor: Why Not Me ? - Cynthia Ray:: Autism, Incarceration, and a Sister's Fight for Compassionate Release"

Episode Date: August 6, 2025

Cynthia Ray shares the deeply moving story of her brother Philip's tumultuous journey. Diagnosed with autism later in life, Philip's association with a con artist led to his incarceration and a subsequent prostate cancer diagnosis that went untreated for a year. Cynthia recounts Philip's early challenges, his strong belief in his inventions, and the dire consequences of misplaced trust. She also discusses her ongoing advocacy for his compassionate release due to his severe health issues. This episode sheds light on the intersection of autism, criminal justice, and family resilience. A Brother's Journey Philip's Early Life and Autism Diagnosis The Invention and the Conman Legal Troubles and Incarceration Health Struggles in Prison Hopes for Compassionate Release INTRO Music; T.Wild Mantor Music BMI The content on Why Not Me: Embracing Autism amd Mental Health Worldwide, including discussions on mental health, autism, and related topics, is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views and opinions expressed by guests are their own and do not reflect those of the podcast, its hosts, or affiliates.Why Not Me is not a medical or mental health professional and does not endorse or verify the accuracy, efficacy, safety of any treatments, programs, or advice discussed.Listeners should consult qualified healthcare professionals, such as licensed therapists, psychologists, or physicians, before making decisions about mental health or autism- related care.Reliance on this podcast's contents is at the listener's own risk. Why Not Me is not liable for any outcomes, financial or otherwise, resulting from actions taken based on the information provided. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Tune in, be inspired, and join us in transforming the world one story at a time. Hi, I'm Tony Mantor. Welcome to Why Not Me, embracing autism and mental health worldwide. Why? Today, we're joined by Cynthia Ray, who shares the powerful and moving story of her brother's journey. From his autism diagnosis to his incarceration and a prostate cancer diagnosis that went untreated for a year, Cynthia sheds light on how these challenges unfolded and where he stands today. After my conversation with her, I had the privilege of speaking directly with her brother from jail, where his resilience and vibrant optimism for what lies ahead were truly

inspirational. So before we dive into our episode, we'll be back with an uninterrupted show right after a word from our sponsors. Thanks for coming on. Appreciate you having me. Oh, it's my pleasure. So if you would, give us a little background on your brother and what happened. Well, I would say in 2014 was our family's first indication that Philip was likely getting involved with the character that he should not be in contact with. And I tried to tell him right off the bat. I don't want to say any normal person, but anyone that would take just a moment to listen to this gentleman and do one simple search, I mean, to me, it was very obvious that this was not someone that he should be doing anything with. And unfortunately, he had worked for the, I don't know what we want to call him, the co-defendants family driving children to appointments.

So they had, I guess, a contract, right, with a transportation company to, you know, take families and their children to hospital visits, doctor visits, that sort of thing. And I told him in 2014, I told him specifically, I said, Philip, I said, if you get involved with this man, you will end up in prison. And here we are 10 years later, and he's been in prison now. I guess April 20th was three years. I understand he was diagnosed autistic, but later in life. Philip, you know, my whole life, I knew that he was different. It was way before we, I guess, knew the term of autism. and certainly, you know, the autism spectrum.

I think for a while, the Asperger's term was used. And for years, these later years, you know, I always knew that he likely was on the spectrum. You know, we never investigated it. He's 68 today. And we basically knew that he was, I guess what you called, mainstreamed through school. He'd be passed on to the next grade. We were a military family, so we were almost at a different school every year. But there was always these little incidents.

When my brother was in first grade, he walked away from school to head home because he thought our family was moving and that he was going to get left behind. And I believe he did that more than once. So we were two years apart in school and we're two years apart in age. And another thing is that my parents, when they would go somewhere when we were older, you know, pretty much left me in charge instead of my older brother. And then I have a vivid memory of a seventh grade journal. You know, I was required to keep a journal for a writing class. And I remember, I remember distinctly writing a sentence about, my brother is so strange. All he ever wants to do is listen to sirens. And then, of course, you know, I knew that he was very, very talented in music and art with no lessons whatsoever. And so we just kind of worked through our life in a normal fashion. Moved every year and, you know, went to a new base every year. And I guess, thank goodness we had a military life because that did kind of contain us. When we were growing up, we were always on base. place, pretty safe. We could bike anywhere we wanted to hang out at the community centers, which always had lots of activities. So all that being said, cut through to this 2014. And Philip had already been granted a patent for an invention. I think it was called IQ Vision. And he had worked at probably one of the longest jobs he ever had besides his military service. Was at the Southern Mississippi School of Optometry. He developed some program for the doctors to,

in order for them to be able to assess a child's eyes easier. Yeah, I think he ended up, you know, either signing it over to them or he sold it to them for some, you know, small amount. When he came up with another invention, you know, we were just like, oh, okay, I'm sure it'll work someday. But, you know, we just basically, you know, Loved him, tolerated him, tried to understand him.

And actually, I have to say, the three years that he's been incarcerated in a Bureau of Prisons, you know, in a federal prison, I've gotten to know him so much better, whether it's because of the time. He and I talk every Wednesday, every Saturday, and he emails me, you know, depending on what's going on or how he's feeling. but he can email me up to six times a day sometimes. And then certainly if I don't hear from him for three days, I know something's up. Yes, that's very understandable. So what led to his incarceration? This gentleman, the co-defendant, lifetime con artist,

which is what I had figured out immediately when Phillips first started talking about what he was going to do with this co-defendant. Philip had what perceivably was a very viable invention. a new wind turbine system. And, you know, that's power, that's energy. It was the new and improved, I guess, windmill, but it was a wind turbine. Wouldn't have to have as high a tower. There wouldn't be the blades involved, you know, external blades that could fall off. And so this gentleman told Philip, I think we need to take this to market and I can get you all kinds of money to help you get this built. Of course, Nat was what Philip told us is

I was calling J.D. That J. was going to help him get this to. market. But the catch was that all of the funds that J.D. raised needed to go through Phillips Bank account. Well, I'm a lifetime auditor. I was like, well, that doesn't make sense. You know, that was my first clue that something was wrong. Why wouldn't you set up a corporate account and hire accountants and, you know, all this? But anyway, what it boiled down to, long story short, is J.D. went out and basically conned people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars and ran it all through Phillips checking account. And Philip would go wherever he told him to go and do whatever he told him to do.

He'd send him to Florida to meet with one of the companies that looked at his invention. Send him to Dallas. Had he move his family to Dallas so they could set up offices in Dallas. And all the while, J.D's out there getting money from these investors, having it deposited into Phillips' account. And then he would call Philip and say, hey, transfer. this amount, transfer so-and-so, that amount. And oh, by the way, you can keep the rest. So basically, I guess something happened and they had gotten a, actually the other gentleman, JD, got a cease and desist, you know, from the SEC, you know, naturally. You know, there's rules that have to be followed

for raising money from investors and, you know, things like that. And certainly none of that was happening. Philip, just 100%, and I'd say there's probably a small percentage today that he could easily be turned by this same gentleman because he is an expert con artist. So much so that he waited right down to the very last, I'd say, day of his supervised release before he even spoke to Philip about doing a deal with him. And I think the guy had his brother-in-law, his wife's brother involved in the whole thing. I guess the FBI approached that guy first. You know, we've all heard the saying, you know, the first one that squeals. gets the best deal, right? And sure enough, his brother-in-law, I think, got maybe 10 months,

and they're all liable. I think the amount ended up being like $1 million over many years, not just 14, 15, 16, 17, 17, 8, you know, several years. And Philip being in his mind, being a very trusting and kind person, not an evil bone in his body, once you get his loyalty, you've got it. I mean, it's just, you'd be hard pressed to lose it. As a matter of fact, I even remember him saying that, well, if he goes down, I'm going down with him, you know, because this works. He just couldn't see what was being done wrong, that there was anything wrong with it. How did it go that long with these people that was investing, these companies, didn't check it out to see what was going on? Yeah, very good question.

So what had happened, I guess the straw that broke the camel's back was when they went to, I guess the brother-in-law of JD went in. I mean, as a bank finance auditor, I don't even know how, but he got a couple million dollar loan from a bank in the state of Arkansas for, I believe it was 231 acres. You know, we'd all love to only have to spend $2 million for 231 acres, right? So that was pretty fishy to me as well. But anyway, the brother-in-law got a loan for some land. And then, of course, in a small town, well, in any town, right, before you go into a huge project, right? got to go to the town. They've got to agree to do this and agree to do that. From what I understand,

they had requested that the town incorporate the 200-something acres into the city limit. And then that's when a state representative, you know, that's when other people started investigating the company. And sure enough, you know, someone easily, just like I did, looked up the guy and saw he had served a lengthy sentence for mortgage fraud in the state of Oklahoma. Of course, I had told Philip that. He's like, well, he's done his time. He's turned his life around. I'm like, well, you might think so, but no. But once the cities and town got involved, well, then naturally, you know, you've got your counsel looking at this company, and they were all very excited at first until, I believe there was a state representative who got wind of the cease

and desist against the gentleman and dug into his history. and saw that what I already knew is that the man was nothing but a crook. They just went after the both of them, and Philip was standing his ground. He had invented this wind turbine many, many years prior to the con man getting involved. And of course, in his very, what's the term for when you're on the autism spectrum, you have a very strong mindset of what you know and what you know to be true. And so that's really what basically took him down with the guy is because he, just couldn't believe the guy was taking advantage of him. And of course, he had a very strong belief

in his invention. Sure. I can understand that. Now, the companies, I would assume that they looked into the invention to make sure that it was okay. Yes, and this is what absolutely astonishes me, okay, because I'm a retired CPA. I've audited all kinds of companies throughout my career, where other car dealerships, oil and gas, you know, very complicated. Urquot, the Electric and Liability Council of Texas. Then get much bigger than that. You know, we're the only state that has a council or electric grid is within our state. All the rest of them cross-state. But anyway, so these gentlemen, very smart gentlemen, I never could understand how in the world they bought into this. You know, you're talking like 10,000 here or 30,000 there.

I mean, they were begging, J.D., please let us be part of your company. And they set up their own company because they wanted to, you know, if they brought in more investors, they would get paid percentages. And some of them did. Apparently, that didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. But I mean, they even went to equity firms. Wow. Right. I mean, my brother asked me to be his CPA and I refused. I was like, nope, I don't think so. That's the thing that really puzzled me is that these seemingly very smart financial people who saw the financials on a monthly basis, and they did their due diligence. But yet somehow, I guess the greed. So once this thing all started falling apart and it started working with the legal system, what happened next?

Philip, with his very strong mindset and belief in his invention, he was indigent from the beginning. I mean, the only money he had was what J.D. was saying, oh, and you keep the rest, right? And you're talking like maybe $50,000 a year max, you know, year over year, just barely enough to pay rent and utilities and buy food, right? So then what was the next step after that? So they appointed him a public defender. And immediately, Philip thought he was the smartest man in the room, right? And he felt very strongly that just any public defender is not going to understand my wind turbine. And so he decided to represent himself, which of course, we all know who you're representing when you represent yourself, right? I mean, a couple of years went by before it even went to court because they had gotten the cease and desist in 2016. I think by 2018, Philip had gotten a full-time job. job at an auto dealership in Little Rock, Arkansas. And basically, you know, he was minding his peas and cues. He was working, paying his bills. I believe at that point, he may have started drawing his Social Security, you know, so he basically was money in, money out for food, clothing, and shelter, right? And I think that went on for about four years before it went to court. Well,

we had no idea that it was headed to court. And I mean, we just found it by flute. My dad went online and looked to the guy up and we saw, oh my goodness, he's been indicted. We didn't even know that. Because again, because of his autism, it was not unusual for us not to hear from him from like two years at a time. That's quite a long time to go. Did you have any idea that something was going wrong? Oddly enough, while we yearned to know where he was and what was happening, it never occurred to us that something horrible could be happening. So in 2020, is when we discovered that he was about to go to court. Thankfully, because of COVID, it got delayed, delayed, delayed.

And so I was able to basically get him to understand, you can't do this all by yourself. And the co-defendant did get an attorney, very well-known attorney in Little Rock. I met with that attorney. He wanted to know, where's Philip going with it? And I explained Philip's situation to them. So the other guy paid Bukubu Buckew.

for this very well-known attorney, and Philip represented himself. They could not get it separated for it to be two separate cases. So then fast forward to September, I guess what, three years ago, September of 2021, the conviction came through. I mean, the trial, I believe, if it was not four weeks, it was at least three weeks long, which I thought was crazy, you know, in and of itself. And really, the money that from the investors was only, and I don't mean only, But as far as it being a portion of the $1.1 million, money from investors was totaled like $500,000. And again, that was over several years of these different investors, you know, putting in $10,000 or putting in $30,000. And there, again, there was one investor that put in $300,000 because guess what?

He wanted to build it all, right? He wanted to be the one managing the construction of it all. So finally, when the conviction came down, you know, they go through, I think the government had 51 witness. or, you know, for the prosecution, which was crazy. They even brought in this lady from Florida that had taken Philip around to look at some apartments, you know, whenever J.D. said, hey, you need to go to Florida because we need you sitting down there speaking to the company that's going to analyze your invention. But, of course, I mean, they weren't out, I don't know, maybe an hour, hour and a half, two hours. I think they got it late in the afternoon and pretty much the next morning

it was settled. And so at that point, in my mind, I guess I always thought Philip knew that he was autistic, and I don't know why I thought that he knew that, but that day I asked him, and it was hard for me to ask him. I said, have you ever considered you're on the autism spectrum? He's like, no, why would I do that? I said, let's run over a few characteristics. And I just went down this list, you know, that you can pull up, right? Google. So once you got this all done, did you actually get him diagnosed? Yes. I told him he was just in total shot when he's like, well, yes, yes, yes, I have all of that. And I said, well, I said, I think the best thing you can do is go to the Veterans Hospital right here in Little Rock and you need to go talk to someone and you need to find this

out. If they agree or disagree, you know, sure, he and I could sit there and Google the questions and just like the IQ tests, right? You can pull one up, right? So he agreed and he went and he was evaluated by a psychologist at the VA hospital in Little Rock. And sure enough, he meets every criteria. He is, you know, A, B, C, D, yes. And so I also used that to help Philip understand you cannot go through sentencing and you be your own attorney again. You've got to let them appoint an attorney for you. So if nothing else, we got him to allow an attorney then to be appointed for him through the sentencing phase. But even then, I mean, too little too late, right? And not that an appointed attorney was the reason that it was too little, too late, but still, you know, you've got what, two months, maybe three between the guilty verdict and when you're coming back for sentencing.

As a matter of fact, I think the guilty verdict was in September. and the sentencing date was in February or March, and then, of course, he had to report in April. It's taken me the three years that he's been in there to get him to understand what really happened. Yeah, that can definitely be tough. So how many years was he sentenced for? He was sentenced to eight years.

So this is retired military. He actually worked for the Judge Advocate General's Office in the military, helping inmates in Leavenworth, filing claims, you know, about their property or whatever. And of course, as you can imagine, even that stint, you know, and I think he worked for the Judge Advocate General in several different classes or levels throughout his eight-year career. And so naturally he thinks that he knows as much as any attorney. Sure, I can understand that. But yes, they sentenced him to eight years.

He did get sentenced to a camp, and that went along smooth. He had a rough adjustment of period, because then he was like, how come they don't follow their own rules? Right. Because he reads a lot, and he read the rules, and he's like, wait a minute, they're not following the rules. So he went in in 22. In July of 2023, he started having prostate issues, and then it took from July of 2023 to August of 2020, for for them to even get him to a urologist. Wow, that's unbelievable.

And sure enough, by October 11th, he was diagnosed with a very aggressive prostate cancer. I mean, on the scale of 1 to 10, he's a 9. The percentages, the amount of coverage, I guess for all intents and purposes, in a layman's terms, the cells, right? The amount of damaged cells, cancerous cells. My fight for him was to get him out because of the whole. thing just being wrong to begin with. But now my fight is, my brother's going to die in prison. He basically has a death sentence. I mean, Talladega, where he was, they even, by November 1st, so he got the diagnosis confirmed, the scale, the seriousness by October 11th. On November 1st,

they said, please transfer this man to a federal medical center. We can't deal with this, which obviously took him a year just to get him seen. you know, a consultation. So then he gets transferred. And of course, they don't tell them anything. So finally one night in December, December 17, just this past December, they said, pack up your stuff. You're leaving at 5 o'clock in the morning. He's been at the Federal Medical Center at Butner since then. Okay. So what's the next step? Are you trying to get him a compassionate release? Yes, filed compassionate release. And I think you may know the attorneys I've been working with, Doug Passon.

Yes. Mark Allenball. I mean, he used to be on the Federal Sentencing Commission Board or Council or, you know, whatever they call it. Both just brilliant men. I appreciate them so much. So we filed compassionate release and it went nowhere for months and months. And all along, Philip was not even being treated. Finally, so he got to the Federal Medical Center on December 18th.

He saw a doctor on December 18th. January 7th that said, yep, we know we need to treat you, and then nothing. And because I truly believe only because I was already fighting for this compassionate release is the only reason that he is actually being treated today. He just finished, I think his first treatment was on April 14th, and his last treatment will be July, no, June, June 11. And then they have to wait 30 days for them to even do another test. It's almost a daily question. Did you get your treatment? Did you get your treatment? Because the machines are old and breakdown and, you know, maybe you're going to get treated and maybe not. So far so good. They've been holding up. So what are the next steps?

Well, so right now I'm kind of in a holding period because the judge finally responded to the motion, prosecution, you know, they get to pick up the phone and call the federal medical center and say, hey, what are you going to do and when? And they may or may not have planned that, but once it goes into a court record. So really, as bad as it sounds, I'm really lucky that I was already trying to get him released since August of 2023, 2024, you know, that when we finally got it confirmed, because I guarantee you that the only reason he's being treated is because because I was already asking for him to be released so that the VA, you know, that he could be treated properly, immediately, without the delays. I mean, I can't even imagine what it's been

like for him to sit there day after day after day and year after year with no treatment. Yeah, that is just unbelievable, really. Yes, very. Well, that particular location has one-fourth of the deaths. And, you know, this is nothing that I'm just inflating. Right. So where is he located now? He's at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina. Oh, okay. As a matter of fact, I just emailed Philip today, you know, it's his birthday and hoping he's had a good day, hoping he got his treatment, and reminded him, don't forget to request a transfer to go back to a camp. We have officially changed his home location to my address in Texas. So basically, as soon as he finishes treatment and he gets a clean bill of health, and I don't even know that it has to be a

clean bill of health, but when his treatment is done at the federal medical center, then we want to get him back in a camp environment where he belongs, where he should be, because it's a much more tolerable and understandable situation for him. You know, right now at a federal medical center, you're with all types. It's not just your white-collar criminals. It's the drugs and the murderers and all of that. So are there any hopes that you might get him released? I really hope that, so, you know, in the system, are you familiar with their good time credits?

Yes. So, you know, if you have an eight-year span, so I think originally he was, the eight years would have gotten him out in 20, 32. So, for example, after he served the first two years, within two years came off the back, right? So that brought him down to six years. And so I'm hoping that now that, and of course I have no idea when it'll show up in their system,

now that he's completed another year, I expect another year to come off the back. And if that is the case, then he should be able to come out on supervised release next year. So April of next year, he should be eligible. They say that you can be out on supervised release a year prior to the end of your sentence. So if that's the case, at the farthest out point, I'm looking at 2026, but it could be 2027, but still, I guess best case scenario immediately would be once he completes his sessions, treatments, that he can

come to Texas. You know, he's been so, so far away. As a matter of fact, I got to visit him for the first time in April in three years. I mean, my parents are 88 and 90, about to be 89 and 91. You know, and they can't make that kind of trip. The very next thing is we're hoping that he at least gets moved back to a camp and then either next year and certainly by 2027, if nothing else, that he can come out on supervised release. So that's where we are today. Well, it's been a crazy journey for sure, but hopefully he can get his health back and then get out on supervised release. Oh, yeah. Hopefully, it's not that death sentence like they thought. Right, right. I just can't, you know, it was obviously, you know, it was bad enough looking at eight years and, you know, my parents could likely be gone

before he ever gets out. But that's kind of my goal is to get him at, you know, I've got this window, right? I need to get him healthy and out while my parents are still healthy and here. And I'm hoping that those two points meet quickly. Yeah, me too. Let's hope. Well, I really appreciate you taking the time to come on and tell the story. Thank you so much, Tony. I appreciate your time. Oh, it's been my pleasure. Thanks again. Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to listen to our show today. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you. If you know someone who has a story to share, tell them to contact us at why not me.world.

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