James Lechner:  

to myself, learning as many skills and trades as I could. I learned Secretarial skills, Barbering, Baking, Payroll, Business Administration, and Landscaping. As well as learning how the Courts work, as I appealed the conviction the entire time until money ran out and Courts lost Jurisdiction due to errors made by the "Public Defender" (I agree with the nickname they have in prison, "Public PRETENDER") 2004 -2006 Was released from prison on Parole for two years. During this me I found that Society had changed very much from then I knew it, I was affraid to leave the farm, in all seriousness. Nontheless, I made it off Parole following the simple life rule I ALWAYS have, "try to lead a law abiding life". I found that Society is not willing to give convicts a second chance. It took me twenty-seven (27) months to get an Employer to hire me and proove I'm trustworthy and capable of doing the job. Even then, I had to "get lucky", twist the wording of my application. My Parole requirement was to notify prospective employers of my conviction and Parole status. Being off Parole all I had to do was answer the questions on the Application truthfully. I knew if the application asked "Have you ever been convicted of a felony ?" I would have to answer yes and be turned down. So, I found applications which said, "Have you been convicted of a felony in the past (5 or 10 years) ?" to which I could truthfully answer no to and wouldn't you know it..... first application out and I got hired. I love my job and am trying to get on my feet again, providing society lets me. Wouldn't you know it, society isn't letting me... I got fired from Cincinnati Pool Management because I was a convicted felon who told them up front the whole story. They had even offered me Salary of $75,000/yr, then tried to put it off on the hire-ups. Started my own handyman business and farming, but now the economy is so screwed up I'm looking for work, trying to get back to the Wilmington area