About this episode

A raw conversation about addiction, incarceration, and recovery featuring a guest with a history of 78 felonies and a seven-year prison sentence.

In this episode of Get a Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garne's sit down for a raw conversation about growing up around addiction, crack cocaine, prison, gambling, and finding a new way to live. Their guest shares how his life spiraled from cocaine and crack addiction into a criminal lifestyle that eventually led to 78 felony convictions and a seven-year prison sentence. He opens up about getting his first prison number, serving time in six different prisons, and what it was really like inside Noble Correctional Institution during some of its worst years. He also shares just how far his crack addiction took him, including some unbelievable stories from the streets and the craziest thing he ever found in a car. After years of addiction, crime, and incarceration, he eventually found a way to get sober and start rebuilding his life. But recovery came with new challenges. He talks about working security, getting away during a traffic stop, wild situations he encountered on the job, and battling another addiction—gambling. From sneaking into casinos to nearly falling back into destructive patterns, this episode is a reminder that addiction can take many different forms.This is an…

People in this episode

Hosts: Louis Essig, Aaron Garnes

Guest: Unnamed Guest

Topics covered

• addiction
• incarceration
• recovery
• gambling
• second chances
• personal stories

Keywords

• addiction
• prison
• recovery
• gambling
• felonies
• crack cocaine
• Noble Correctional Institution
• personal stories
• second chances

More episodes of Get a Grip Podcast

• I Got High on My Grandma’s Fentanyl Patches | Ep 210 · September 9, 2026 · 1h 12m
• How I Wenat From Crack in High School to a Full-Blown Heroin & Meth Addict | Ep 209 · September 6, 2026 · 1h 10m
• My Mom Introduced Me to Cocaine… Then I Got Hooked on Perc 30s | Ep 208 · September 4, 2026 · 2h 55m
• I Was Prescribed Xanax at 14… Then Fentanyl & Xylazine Destroyed My Life | Ep 207 · September 2, 2026 · 1h 16m
• I Was a Notre Dame Professor Smoking $800 of Crack Every Day | Ep 206 · August 30, 2026 · 1h 51m
• How Hiding My Sexuality Kept Me Shooting Oxy and Heroin Until I Finally Came Out | Ep 205 · August 28, 2026 · 2h 5m

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Get a Grip Podcast podcast page.