Mark made millions of dollars during his 30-year stock market trading career. But it wasn't enough. Unmitigated greed derailed his career and sent his life into a downward spiral. In early 2010, he pled guilty to one count of racketeering under The Colorado Organized Crime Act, a Class Two Felony. Second degree murder is also a Class Two Felony in Colorado, underscoring the severity of his crime. On May 25, 2010 he was sentenced to a 15-year prison term in the Colorado Department of Corrections.
A mere six weeks into his prison sentence, Mark became afflicted with necrotizing fasciitis on his leg, a deadly flesh eating disease that kills or maims most of its victims. During his lengthy recovery, Mark made the best and most important decision of his life. Rather than wallow in anger and self-pity, he chose to embrace his sentence. He vowed to use his prison time not only to rehabilitate himself, but to improve the lives of his fellow inmates.
Mark became a prison tutor, helping over 100 inmates obtain their GED. He helped countless other inmates effectively deal with personal, legal, business and family issues.
While incarcerated, Mark memorialized his prison experiences by keeping and writing a journal. His 650 page work documents prison life in raw, uncensored terms. Interspersed throughout his journal are several chilling short stories that capture the tenuous relationships formed in prison. Most importantly, Mark's work reveals how he rose above the turmoil of prison society to reform and rehabilitate himself and simultaneously improve the lives of his fellow inmates. The edited version of his journal and short stories became his first published book, "Greed. Survival. Redemption: How Dying in Prison Saved My Life." It is available on Amazon.
Mark earned an early release from parole in 2019 after serving nearly five years in prison with some of Colorado's toughest and most notorious criminals. Through public speaking and his published book, Mark is inspiring people after hearing his story that anyone can change for the better to make a difference.
