An inmate released from San Quentin prison has a new life working for a high-tech company in Silicon Valley.
Chrisfino Kenyatta Leal grew up in San Diego, California, quit school and began dealing drugs.
In 1991 he was sent to prison for three years for an armed robbery of a restaurant.
Leal said when after his release from prison he went back to the same crowd with the same criminal thinking.
In 1994, Leal was arrested for possessing a gun as an ex-felon and sentenced to 25 years to life under California’s newly enacted Three Strikes law.
By staying out of trouble during his incarceration, Leal was transferred to San Quentin in 2006.
He said he took advantage of the numerous self-help programs at San Quentin, including The Last Mile (TLM).
TLM is the brainchild of venture capitalists Beverly Parenti and Chris Redlitz and provides inmates with the opportunity to develop innovative business concepts.
“A great opportunity for me to transform my hustle,” Leal told The New York Times.
Parenti said the purpose behind TLM originally was to reduce recidivism and reduce the cost of prison spending.
Redlitz said he advises TLM participants to build businesses based on their passions; then, “they swim in a shark tank and learn how to present their ideas in a professional manner,” Redlitz said. “In the end, when the men return to the community, they’re transformed into confident businessmen.”
Leal graduated from TLM in 2012.
Scores of Bay Area business leaders attended the graduation, including Duncan Logan, the founder of RocketSpace, a company that provides offices and supportive ecosystems for startups.
When Logan met Leal he offered him a job upon his release from prison.
That November, California voters changed the Three Strikes law, which gave a judge the opportunity to review Leal’s case and prison files.
The judge changed Leal’s life sentence to seven years. Leal had already served 19 and was released from prison.
Since an initial internship, Leal has become RocketSpace’s manager of campus services.
“I think that there’s a parallel between the entrepreneur and the prisoner,” he told the Times. “A lot of these guys, they‘ve failed, and they got up, and they’re trying again. And so have I.”
