There is an old saying that a liar, a cheat and a thief are all one in the same. In all fairness there are some things that some people just will not do. A shoplifter may steal, but afterwards have a guilty conscious and confess when confronted about the discretion. A habitual liar may be delusional to the truth but could never steal any item, not even a grape from a grocery store.
Barry Bonds, cousin to stand out baseball player Reggie Jackson, and dominating player in the NBL currently holding the record for most home runs, is on trial for lying about steroid use, cheating baseball fans out of true history making events, and stealing the thunder of all of the players who came before him who played the game fairly.
“The need to be successful has been the motive for many prisoners to cheat and steal. Bank robbers long for a life of ease and have visions of grandeur for getting the big payoff. They plot and plan, some for months, on how to cheat the system. Prisoners who have committed white-collar crimes, like embezzlement, fraud, money laundering and racketeering, also spent months plotting and planning their crimes. We receive over 500 pieces of mail weekly with explanations from prisoners as to their incarceration. What is apparent is that the cheaters and thieves are not liars. They gladly tell you what they did and if you really want to know they will tell you how they did it.” says Jenny Triplett, co-editor-in-chief of Prisonworld Magazine.
Bernie Madoff, the notorious mastermind behind the largest Ponzi Scheme in history, defrauded investors out of millions of dollars. Did he lie regarding his company? Yes. Did he cheat numerous people out of their life savings? Yes. Did he steal monies that did not belong to him? Yes, he did. He is a high profile prisoner specimen of a liar, a cheater and a thief.
“There are exceptions to every rule. It is a consensus that once you are convicted of something that the benefit of doubt goes out the door. If Barry Bonds gets convicted, anything he does after that will come into question. Some prisoners get stigmatized and some do not. Prisoners do whatever they can to get by. Lying, cheating and stealing is expected from prisoners. It is thrust upon your character and it is hard to change that impression.” says Jenny.
Pete Rose, Jayson Williams and Jamal Lewis are three athletes who played professionally that have had to deal with a less than honest stigmatism due to their criminal decisions. Their life decisions are suspect because of the negative choices that caused them to fall. Rebuilding character is a hard hill to climb.
Rufus and Jenny Triplett are co-Editors-in-Chief of Prisonworld Magazine, which is published by Dawah International, LLC, a multimedia company. The magazine is printed on a bi-monthly basis and has a yearly readership of 350,000. They are co-hosts and co-producers of the weekly radio show the Prisonworld Radio Hour. Jenny is a requested speaker for correctional facilities, non-profit organizations, schools, radio and TV shows and print magazines. Rufus is a member of the group, Likely Suspect, which provides acapella entertainment for the speaking presentations. For more information about the magazine log onto www.prisonworldmagazine.com. For more information on interviews and the Positive Choices Presentation, contact Jenny Triplett 678-233-8286 or [email protected]
