“There’s no such thing as a roadblock”

Julio Briones never thought he’d see daylight again.

After his trial in 2002, Julio resigned to the fact that he would never see his wife, daughter, friends, or family — except behind a glass wall. At 27, Julio’s 44-year prison sentence, with no early release, meant that he wouldn’t be released until he was a withered old man — assuming he survived that long.

Essentially, it was a death wish.

For years, Julio dwelled on the unfortunate night that he wishes he could’ve had back. His charges were serious: robbery, carjacking, and illegal possession of a weapon. Those two years spent in New Jersey State Prison — the only true maximum security prison in the state — were marked by isolation from family, anger against co-defendants who turned on him in court, and resignation to a life behind bars.

“It takes a very long time for someone to accept that fate,” Julio said. “I compare it to accepting a diagnosis of terminal cancer.”

He cut off his family, not wanting them to worry about him or even think about his situation. He was surrounded by “high risk” inmates, constantly watching his back and living in an eternal state of paranoia. The first few years of imprisonment were undoubtedly the darkest time in Julio’s life.

“I had shut off communication with everyone. I didn’t want to talk to anyone because, as far as I was concerned, my life was over,” he said.

As time passed, Julio’s initial anger and guilt subsided a bit. He realized that brooding over his situation was not going to get him anywhere. Despite the bleak future that his lengthy sentence afforded him, he began to work hard to do everything he could to try to improve himself, and hopefully get it shortened in the process.

Julio began to study the law. He was inspired by certain people he saw on TV who had managed to reduce their sentences through diligent understanding of the law. Over the course of the next year, Julio took the steps that enabled him to gain a paralegal certification.

With a high school diploma to his name and experience with Army intelligence prior to his incarceration, Julio acquired his paralegal certification behind bars over the course of a year. This meticulous studying of law was deliberate. Julio was hoping to get his sentence shortened, and have a course of action if he was to be released early.

Julio’s good behavior didn’t go unnoticed. The courts ended up shortening his sentence to 12 years, which meant that he had to complete 10 more years and also be under five years of mandatory supervision.

“I got the news that my sentence was reduced on my birthday, so it was pretty exciting for me,” he said.

Julio realized that he wanted to try to help improve the prison system and people filtering in and out of it once he got released. He began to take part in volunteer work and mentorship programs, which made him realize that his true calling in life was helping others. He wanted to assist people who were going through the same things as he had to go through.

With his paralegal certification and understanding of the law, he began to take the early steps of forming his current company — AnswerMan Specialty Services — while he was locked up. His company helps families that are dealing with personal crises, prepares people for the prison system, and helps salvage marriages.

Julio managed to retain his marriage and relationship with his daughter despite being imprisoned for over a decade. He also had a two-year old son with his wife following his release.

However, the unfortunate truth is that communication and contact between loved ones is completely different when you’re behind bars. Julio’s company helps prepare families for that uncomfortable truth.

“You have to learn how to communicate in that 15 minutes without passing blame, and overcoming the urge of complaining,” he said.

Along with his company, Julio also has a podcast called “An Ounce of Prevention.” It also deals with personal and familial crises, and how to cope with them. In every sense, Julio has found that his calling is helping other individuals deal with issues that he had to go with better than he did.

Through perseverance, diligent study of the law, and sheer positivity, Julio has managed to turn his life around. Currently, Julio is on the last year of his parole, and has significant goals for the future. He hopes to buy a house very soon, expand his company and podcast, and spend even more time with his family.

Julio firmly believes that his time spent behind bars is what made him into a productive member of society today. He learned lessons while imprisoned that he wouldn’t have learned if he had never done time. “There’s no such thing as a roadblock,” he said. “You can have a record and make it in this country.”

“Sometimes, in life we need more than just a slight nudge to get back on track. Sometimes we need a swift kick in the ass.”