{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/63607312176c6c00123249b1/66bc1f9da7f4fbb991271011?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Damon West","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/63607312176c6c00123249b1/1723604832336-7427f4dc-d207-4b27-82a7-597311de6d9b.jpeg?height=200","description":"<p>Damon&nbsp;West, M.S. Criminal Justice, is a&nbsp;college professor,&nbsp;internationally known keynote&nbsp;speaker,&nbsp;3 x Wall Street Journal&nbsp;bestselling author and former crime boss in Dallas, who was sentenced to Life in prison for Organized Crime.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>USA Today calls him the “modern day Shawshank Redemption and the most in-demand speaker in America.”</p><p><br></p><p>At 20 years old, he was a Division 1 starting quarterback at the University of North Texas, when he suffered a career ending injury and turned to hardcore drugs to cope with disappointments of life.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>After graduation, he worked in the United States Congress and trained to be a stockbroker for United Bank of Switzerland (UBS).&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>One day at UBS, he was introduced to methamphetamines; he became instantly hooked—and the lives of so many innocent people would forever be changed by the choices he made in order to feed his insatiable meth habit.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>After a fateful discussion during his incarceration with a seasoned convict,&nbsp;Damon&nbsp;had a spiritual awakening. He learned that, like a coffee bean changing with the application of heat and pressure, he&nbsp;was capable of changing&nbsp;the environment around him. Armed with a program of recovery, a renewed faith, and a miraculous second chance at life,&nbsp;Damon&nbsp;emerged from over seven years of prison a changed man.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>On parole in Texas until 2073, his story is one of hope, redemption, grit and the resilience of the Human spirit.</p>","author_name":"Jeff Watson, Michael Lee Simpson"}