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John Barrett Hawkins is a delinquency prevention specialist. His book The Dirty Nasty Truth: 18 True Crime Stories to Stop Juvenile Delinquency became a number one Kindle bestseller just four months after publication. He is also an expert on weight loss and the author of Penitentiary Fitness: the Amazing Weight Loss Formula.
In 1987, at the age of 24, John Barrett Hawkins was living the aspiring entrepreneur’s dream. After failing miserably with his first three business ventures, Hawkins finally found a niche. His chain of retail clothing stores, Just Sweats, had grown from one location to 22 with annual revenues of $10 million in just three years. With numerous franchise requests, the company was on the threshold of a national expansion.
Like many people who start their own business, Hawkins developed a profound emotional attachment to the company he’d built. In the process, he also acquired an untamable attraction to risk. This combination became toxic when Hawkins’ business partner proposed an insurance fraud that would enable Hawkins to reacquire his partner’s 45 percent ownership in Just Sweats. At that time, Hawkins viewed insurance companies as corrupt, soulless entities and faced no moral roadblocks when it came to fleecing them. But something went wrong — very wrong. In the process of facilitating the fraud, his partner and their physician accomplice killed a man, and Hawkins was held accountable. Hawkins was tried and convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
John learned many things during his years in prison, one of the few that has been truly transformed, and using that transformation for the greater good. His philosophy of “paying it forward” through his presentations to youth, as well as parents, is working to keep our kids on a path away from gangs, drugs and alcohol abuse, the three things that are stepping stones towards delinquency and prison life.
Hawkins’ books and presentations deal with the reality of prison life, the reality of weight loss and fitness, and the reality of building self-esteem. He has spoken with countless youth through school assemblies in California and his message has been well received in several school districts who have made his books available to students.
For more information about John Barrett Hawkins, to order his books or for media opportunities, refer to his website: JohnBarrettHawkins.Com
Laurie Roth has a Ph.D. in counseling and a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. If she can’t reason with you, you had better duck before the roundhouse kick sends you flying! She is the proverbial “pastor’s daughter” when it comes to her sense of adventure and her independent thinking. However, underneath her sharp wit, loony antics, and twisted views, you will find a woman with an uncommon gentle nature, a daily walk with God, and a unique talent for finding success against all odds.
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