Welcome to Compliance Mitigation
Sign up below to receive emails that include free bonuses that we believe will help you with:
- Understanding how to avoid government investigations,
- Telling your company’s story,
- Avoiding judicial proceedings that could lead to any type of sanction,
- Preparing for sentencing hearings that could lead to a fine, probation, or imprisonment,
Each email will include a link to a free digital asset that we hope will be of value to you. If you want to take a free trial of course, Compliance 101, click on the button in the sidebar to the right and register, no credit card required.
Enter your email below to begin getting our email series that include digital assets you can use:
Get your bonuses!
If you enter your email above, you’ll get an immediate follow-up to confirm that we will not spam you or distribute your contact information to others. Every email will include a link to unsubscribe, just in case you want to stop receiving messages from us.
We appreciate your interest in Compliance Mitigation.
If you sign up, here is what you’ll get:
We know you’re busy, and we respect your limited time. Rather than inundate you with too much information, we’ll let you get to know us over the first week. You’ll learn how we help people that face challenges from government investigations, criminal charges, or any aspect of the criminal justice system.
If you’re in a hurry, please use the following link to schedule a free appointment with a qualified member of our team.
You’ll find Sam responsive. You could also call or text him now at 949-205-6056, send him an email directly at Sam@ComplianceMitigation.com.
Although you can unsubscribe from the automated sequence at any time, we hope that you’ll stay enrolled so that we can send you our newsletter that apprises you of our work for the week.
Who Does Compliance Mitigation Serve?
We help people who are looking for information or guidance on compliance training that centers on risk-mitigation. We offer stories from people that have gone through government investigations. Some of those people paid enormous civil penalties, and some went to prison as a result of accusations that they did not comply with rules, regulations, or the law.
We also assist people who are preparing for court, sentencing, or prison. We offer information to help other people that are going through various aspects of the criminal justice system or civil investigations from government agencies.
Through our various platforms, including our website, our YouTube channel, our podcast, or our webinars, we offer specific information that is useful to people at particular stages.
For example:
- People Facing Government Investigations: If people learn that they’re a part of a civil investigation, we help them understand what other people have endured. They can take this information into their calculus to understand options and make better decisions while confronting challenging times.
- People Facing Court Proceedings That Could Lead to a Sanction: Whether a person faces charges for a driving offense that could lead to a loss of a driver’s license or a crime that could lead to a fine, probation, or imprisonment, the costs can be enormous. Every decision along the journey can have a considerable influence on that person’s future. Through the information we provide, people can make more informed decisions. They can interact more effectively with attorneys. They can get a better understanding of how the investigative and judicial process unfolds. They can take steps to work toward the best outcomes. No one can change the past. But through the information we offer, participants can learn about options. The content we provide helps people make more informed decisions as they choose how to navigate challenges.
- People Going into the Prison System: Many people go into the prison system blindly, not knowing its structure, possibilities to grow, or how to work toward getting the best outcomes. We help people understand the custody and classification system, as well as best practices to work toward the earliest possible release. Statistics show what happens to the vast majority of people that go into the prison system. The longer people spend in “corrections,” the less likely those people are to emerge successfully. We help people understand the system, the people it holds, and how to use time productively.
- People Seeking Analysis or Commentary on Contemporary Events: If you’re curious about people going into the criminal justice system, or what happens after a judicial proceeding, we can help. We assist journalists seeking analysis of how the system operates or what transpires after a criminal charge, sentencing, or prison term. We work with law firms seeking information or services to serve clients better. We collaborate with universities seeking content to help the academic community. Compliance Mitigation is an excellent resource for many types of audiences seeking expertise on various aspects of the criminal justice system. Members of our team are available for in-person lectures, keynotes, workshops, webinars, or commentary on current events about the judicial or prison system.
What is the History of Compliance Mitigation and Prison Professors?
My name is Michael Santos. We encourage you to learn more about every member of our team. You can find profiles of each person on our Contributors page, with this link.
I’m a person that learned about the judicial system, the prison system, and government investigations from extensive experience. The experiences of everyone on our team at both Compliance Mitigation and Prison Professors will prove beneficial to any of the people that we serve.
Although I give a full history of my background through my website at MichaelSantos.com, I am happy to provide an abbreviated account below.
The accompanying infographic illustrates the lengthy journey, showing why our team is well qualified to help you.
Arrest:
I made terrible decisions as a young man. By the time I turned 20, I had begun trafficking in cocaine. In 1987, when I was 23, DEA agents arrested me in response to a lengthy indictment. Authorities charged me with multiple counts of drug trafficking, exposing me to a lengthy prison term.
Response:
At the time of my arrest, more than anything, I wanted to get out. I didn’t spend much time thinking about the crime I committed. All I wanted was to get out of jail. I made decisions that led to more troubles. I hired a defense attorney from Miami to represent me in a trial in Seattle. During the trial I lied on the witness stand, denying my culpability, exposing myself to a new criminal indictment for perjury.
Lesson Learned:
I made every wrong decision a guilty person could make. I should have accepted responsibility, expressed remorse, and worked to reconcile with society. Unfortunately, I didn’t get that information until after a jury convicted me of every count.
While locked in county jail, I learned lessons by reading philosophy. Those lessons changed my mindset and changed my life. I vowed to use every day going forward to make amends, working on a three-part strategy: 1) Work to earn academic credentials; 2) Work to contribute to society in meaningful, measurable ways, and 3) Work to build a strong support network.
Sentence Imposed:
A federal judge sentenced me to a 45-year sentence. The sentencing laws in place at the time of conviction differ from the sentencing laws that exist today. With more allowances for “good-time” credit, I would conclude my sentence in 26 years, or 9,500 days—provided that authorities did not take any of the good-time credits during my term of imprisonment.
Adjustment:
I served my sentence in prisons of every security level, starting in a high-security United States Penitentiary. Over time, I transitioned to lower-security levels, and then to minimum-security federal prison camps. While incarcerated, I earned an undergraduate degree from Mercer University and a master’s degree from Hofstra University. I published several books under my name, and I was a ghostwriter for more than a dozen books that I wrote for other people I met while I served time in federal prison.
Accomplishments:
While incarcerated, I wrote all of the curricula for Prison Professors and other websites. I also launched and operated businesses. Revenues generated from my work allowed me to get married and support my wife while she pursued a degree in nursing. As a result of my adjustment, I emerged from prison after 26 years with my dignity intact. I had numerous income opportunities awaiting and immediately launched a career in business, education, and investments.
Release:
On August 13, 2012, after 25 years of imprisonment, I transferred from the federal prison camp in Atwater to a halfway house in San Francisco. I concluded the final year of my sentence in a halfway house and on home confinement. While serving that last year, I began building the business/investment career that would allow me to contribute to society while sustaining my wife and me. Simultaneously, San Francisco State University hired me to become a professor in the Criminal Justice Department.
Supervision:
After one year, in 2014, authorities in the Northern District of California moved to grant “early termination” of my term of Supervised Release. As a result of my “old-law, pre-guideline” conviction, we learned that I had an additional 19 years of parole to serve, which would be followed by another three-year term of special parole. During my second year of liberty, in 2015, the U.S. Parole Commission granted early termination of my parole term. And in my third year of freedom, in 2016, the U.S. Parole Commission granted early completion of my Special Parole term, concluding my obligation to the criminal justice system.
Prison Professors:
Before my release from prison, I began writing a series of books and lesson plans to help people that faced challenges with the criminal justice system. I developed a friendship with Justin Paperny, a man who served a sentence for a white-collar crime. Together we formed a partnership that would lead to a series of businesses.
After his release, Justin launched a one-on-one consulting service, and I continued writing content for a wider audience. After my release, I established Prison Professors and began selling digital courses to jails and prisons across America. Our clients include several state and federal prisons, exposing our work to more than 100,000 people every year. The website, YouTube channel, and podcast make our content available to consumers.
Investment Career:
The adjustment pattern through prison kept me on a pursuit of excellence. Despite returning to society with a 0-0-0 credit score, I set a goal of acquiring my first $1 million in assets within five years of my release.
Through a combination of business ventures and a real estate acquisition strategy, I exceeded that goal. Within five years of completing my sentence, I controlled more than $5 million in assets and more than $3 million in equity.
Civil Litigation:
On July 31, 2018, my wife and I invested $1.4 million to become limited partners in an overseas real estate development project. We intended to build a new brand, called Prison to Paradise, showing the investment strategy that we used to create prosperity after the struggle of a lengthy prison term.
The Federal Trade Commission sued the general partner of the real estate development, alleging that he had violated fair trade practices in a separate land development project. As a result of the FTC’s lawsuit against the developer, my investment was at risk.
Along with the other limited investors, we launched a lawsuit against the general partner to recover our investment.
Since the FTC considered the general partnership a “receivership entity,” the government agency demanded that we drop the lawsuit. On the advice of counsel, we continued our lawsuit. The FTC retaliated by amending its complaint against the general partner. The FTC’s amended complaint alleged that since I had met the general partner while I was in prison, I either knew or should have known about the general partner’s misdeeds. To avoid the potential risk of a $140 million judgment, I agreed to settle—costing me the $5 million in assets and $3 million in equity that I had accumulated since my release from prison. These are the collateral consequences of mass incarceration.
Advocacy:
The lengthy journey has given me insight that would be of value to anyone facing a government investigation, a criminal charge, a judicial proceeding, a prison term, or a struggle of any kind. Along with our team at Prison Professors, we help individuals who want to pursue comprehensive advocacy programs to work toward the best possible outcomes. We follow a simple pattern:
- Define success as the best possible outcome, given current circumstances.
- Create a well-documented strategy to pursue success as we’ve defined it.
- Create tools, tactics, and resources that we can use to execute our strategy.
- Measure our progress with daily execution cycles.
Our team at Prison Professors is uniquely qualified to help individuals, law firms, institutions, and the media with its quest for information on how to get the best outcomes at various stages of any journey concerning government investigations or proceedings in the criminal justice system.