You have to love a person who has spent 43 years in a career and when asked ‘When are you retiring’ their response is, ‘When I don’t have anything else to learn’. Sheriff Karl Leonard of Chesterfield, Virginia, is that person.  For his entire career, he’s been a public servant; from a military career to the Chesterfield Police Department to the Pentagon and now the Sheriff of Chesterfield County, and despite all he’s experienced, he continues to understand the human condition and find ways to be progressive to help those under his watch.  His transparency in taking over the Sheriff’s office is refreshing, as he’s the first to admit that there was no Sheriff's instruction book. When his jail was inundated, daily, with locals, addicted to Heroin he trusted his instincts and felt that a higher power was guiding him.  This led to the creation of the HARP program, a peer mentor-run program that over the last eight years has successfully helped 3500 people, overcome not just Heroin but other drug or alcohol addictions. As Sheriff Leonard says, ‘There’s a lot of good people behind bars, and there are bad people too, that deserve to spend their lives there, but that’s a small percentage of incarcerated people, and when you learn about (the good people) and their life and the challenges they grew up in, since birth, these are good people with bad circumstances presented to them…’

The Hustler Files Ep 89 - Believing There Are Good People Behind Bars

Sadly domestic violence is a 365-day-a-year issue, but the more survivors step forward, ask for help, and share their stories, the more aware society becomes of this ongoing epidemic.  Liz Dineen, CEO of the Western Massachusetts YWCA, has been one of many organizations across the country to take up the protection sword to help women and men, of domestic violence. In conjunction with the Hampden County Sheriff’s Office, a recent media campaign drew hundreds of calls and walk-ins, to her YWCA facility. Every story of domestic violence is unacceptable, and many survivors wish to keep their stories secret out of fear of retaliation, but also out of embarrassment and shame. This was the case with Stephanie of Idaho. Her story is one of beatings, kidnapping, starvation, broken bones, and being stabbed repeatedly with a chisel, to within a literal fraction of her femoral artery.  Stephanie’s story is chilling, but her bravery in sharing her abuse is to be applauded! For 13 1/2 years she has rebuilt her life while her abuser has been serving a 15-year prison sentence. But despite her new lease on life, and a 100-year protection order from the courts, Stephanie is terrified of what might lie ahead.

The Hustler Files Ep 88 - Fear Has No End Date

In Episode 89 we became acquainted with Sheriff Karl Leonard of Chesterfield County, Virginia.  We circled back with the Sheriff to meet his Behavioral and Mental Health Division Director, Kerri Rhodes.  Kerri is no stranger to the tragedy of addiction, but in looking for a way to heal herself, she found a pathway at the Sheriff’s HARP program by helping incarcerated individuals with addictions and introducing a coping and healing mechanism called Trauma Tapping.  According to Kerri, Trauma Tapping is based on acupuncture and works with the 12 energy meridians in the body.  As a clinician, Kerri is the first to admit that she was highly skeptical of how Trauma Tapping could help people to break free from long-standing addiction, and emotional and psychological barriers.  With training and consistent effort, Kerri started to see the positive results of this untraditional treatment not just with the incarcerated individuals, but even the correction officers and other members of the Sheriffs’ staff.  Standing by their, ‘we do crazy’ mantra, Kerri launched a series of Trauma Tapping videos for Tik Tok Tuesdays. It wasn’t long before these videos garnered millions more views, but also attracted the attention of Bunnie, wife of country music artist, Jelly Roll.  Once Jelly Roll started following the Trauma Tapping videos that were posted, weekly, millions more opted in to watch this unique and evidence-based treatment.  In 2023 Jelly Roll made his first in-person visit to the Chesterfield County jail, asking to ‘meet the tapping lady’.   He returned again in the Fall of 2024, while touring, and made a one-of-a-kind grand gesture, that impacted more than the men behind the wall.

The Hustler Files Ep 90 - We Do Crazy

In April of 2023, Episode #11, we first chatted with Economist and Author Jeff Korzenik. His book, Untapped Talent, had been recently released, and we were excited to hear about how a well-known, National U.S. Economist, became involved in the fair chance hiring movement.  Since then, Jeff has been crisscrossing the U.S. making a case for hiring justice-impacted individuals, one speaking engagement at a time. From well-known business schools such as MIT and Wharton to large-scale organizations such as Goodwill, Jeff brings factual and concerning information about the current state of the labor shortage.  He also shares the compelling stories of employers and employees who have succeeded in the fair chance hiring model.  As Jeff says, ‘the structural labor shortage is an “all hands on deck” problem with no single solution’, and as such, he will continue to spread the fair chance hiring message to overcome the workforce issues plaguing U.S. employers.

The Hustler Files Ep. 91 - Take Up One Idea, Make That One Idea Your Life

Throughout this 2nd full season, one of the go-to themes has been to chat with various Sheriffs about their jails and the communities they have watch over. In case you’re not aware, there are approximately 3100 Sheriffs’ across the United States and a similar amount of jails. Also if you’re not aware, the various tiers of incarceration are Jail, State/Private, & Federal. While each Sheriff runs his or her jail slightly differently, they all answer to their communities, the people who elected them. Note:  This is not the case in the State and Federal carceral system.  In this, Episode #92, and the last episode of 2024, we revisit both Sheriff Nick Cocchi of Hampden County, Massachusetts, and Sheriff Patrick Cahillane of Hampshire County, Massachusetts. Both are avid supporters of The Hustler Files show, but more importantly, innovative and forward-thinking when it comes to not only rehabilitating their jail population but doing the right thing for their fellow citizens.  Episode #93 will be the first episode of 2025!

The Hustler Files Ep. 92 - Trust the Process of Your Path

As Joe Biden started winding down his Presidency, and Donald Trump started accelerating his, Joe Biden took advantage, like all Presidents, to commute 37 men sitting on death row.  These commutations reduce their sentences from the death penalty to life without parole. These 37 (out of 40) are in federal prisons vs. the thousands that sit on death row, in the State prison systems and can only be commuted by the individual state Governors.  The 3 men who did not receive commutations and will stay on death row are those involved with terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder. Trump has never been quiet about his support of the death penalty and his call to expand federal executions, once he takes office for the 2nd time.  It was during his last presidency that he restarted federal executions, after a 20-year pause, and 13 were executed.  Since 1973 at least 200 people in the United States who were convicted and sentenced to the death penalty have been exonerated! If you want more information on the Death Penalty, visit the Death Penalty Information Center.

The Hustler Files Ep. 93 - The Death Penalty Can Be Weedy

The title of this episode is aptly named for guest Aron Roy.  Like many justice-impacted individuals, Aron's journey means digging down deep to find the grit to transform and not return to their past life.  But Aron also has the courage to share what sent him to prison for almost a decade and the transformation that took place during those years.  Aron’s story is semi-unique in that he entered prison with a Bachelor’s Degree.  As Aron fully admits, he was a functioning addict, until he wasn’t.  His experience in the California prison system is eye-opening to hear about, but even more so was his realization that his future job prospects would be, at best, minimal.  Aron’s ‘ah-ha’ moment was profound, and a guiding light on his road to reentry.

The Hustler Files Ep. 94 - It Requires Courage to Transform

According to the Responsible Business Initiative for Justice or, in short, RBIJ, everyone is entitled to respect, equality, fairness, and dignity under the law.  It is this mission that drives Maha Jweied and her team to work with companies and bring solutions that promote public safety, deliver justice, and strengthen communities.  But RBIJ doesn’t stop there.  They are dedicated to changing the legal structures and systems that have been used to harm Black and Brown communities in the United States, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere around the globe. From the Clean Slate legislation, currently passed in twelve states, to the most recent Clean Slate legislation submitted in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to Business Leaders Against the Death Penalty, with 450+ executives from around the world, Maha Jweied and her team are speaking up and stepping up to create a more humane approach to the justice system.

The Hustler Files Ep. 95 - A Champion Amongst Companies

In the movie E.T., the alien builds a way to communicate with his planet. Inside the jails and prisons in the US, communication between an incarcerated individual and their family and friends, was for many decades, strictly by mail but technology waits for no one.   Today, many behind the wall have access to tablets, kiosks, and wall-mounted phones, with tablets being the most popular. Of course, not ALL incarcerated people have access to tablets, and for many, there is a hefty charge, not just for calls but also for SMS Texting.  In recent years, States like California and Massachusetts have eliminated charging those incarcerated for their calls, but text messaging is still a pretty penny.  The two largest telecom companies providing the tablets and kiosks are funded by private equity investors, people who see the usage from behind the wall as a recession-proof model. Whether the incarcerated population pays out of their commissary account, or in some cases the State pays for the calls, communication from inside has become a billion-dollar industry.  In those States where the calls have become ‘free’, the States negotiate a contract with the jail or prison and then cover the costs of the phone and video calls, just not the texts. While the FCC has placed regulatory action to bring the costs down, it is still mostly low-income people who are providing the funds to stay in touch with their incarcerated loved ones.

The Hustler Files Ep. 96 - Phone Home

Malcolm X's family demands FBI, CIA, and NYPD release unredacted files on his 1965 assassination, seeking truth and justice through a $100M wrongful death lawsuit as his 100th birthday approaches.

Demand Truth Malcolm X 100th Secret Files

Podcasts from all of the local show on WHMP Radio in Northampton, MA. including Talk the Talk with Bill Newman and Buz Eisenberg, The Hustler Files, The Western Mass Business Show, and Panorama.

New tracks tagged #files,