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“You check 'boxes,' and you can get denied employment, and [it] doesn’t matter how long ago [your crime] was. It didn't matter that [my crime] was 14 years earlier. ” —Michael
Michael Vander Horst still recalls the sound of rain on the roof of his Chevy Cavalier, the night of his crime years ago. The night of the burglary that changed everything. The car was stuck in the mud, and the passenger’s seat was empty. Will, his partner in crime, stood across the driveway, pointing a pistol at the young couple who had just returned home.
No one was physically hurt that night, but lives were damaged, and life as Michael knew it was over. After a brief time on the run, Michael spent months in county jail. In a plea deal, he finally told the truth about what he and Will had done, despite the pressure normally felt by those behind bars not to inform on their accomplices.
To Michael, it was all a blur. At the drop of the judge's gavel, he received a sentence of 13 years in the Michigan Department of Corrections.
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