Sam Mangel—Deceptions and Deceit 

Need Answers to Your Questions?

We publish this page to document the truth about our company’s working relationship with Sam Mangel, including:

  • How customers complained that he deceived them, and
  • Why we severed our working relationship with him.
    • Scroll to the bottom of the page to see the customers who wrote us complaining about Sam’s deception.

My name is Michael Santos, and I am the founder of Earning Freedom. One of our company’s goals is to improve outcomes for justice-impacted people. Those goals include hiring formerly incarcerated people. We’ve opened income opportunities for many formerly incarcerated people, and to the extent we’re able, we will continue doing so. But I did not fully vet Sam Mangel when the Bureau of Prisons released him from federal prison, and it was a mistake on my part.

My partner, Justin Paperny, and I agreed to open an income opportunity for Sam Mangel. We agreed to pay him commissions, provided he honestly represent our company and the products and services we offer to justice-impacted people.

When we learned from customers that they felt Sam had deceived them, we took the following action steps:

  • We increased our training with Sam.
  • We created guardrails to protect customers against misrepresentations.
  • We recorded videos describing our company’s principles and reasons those principles,
  • We embedded those videos into our contracts, requiring customers to sign and initial that they understood our philosophy and the services we offer, regardless of what others told them,
  • We limited Sam’s authority, by taking responsibilities away from him to issue scopes of work or contracts.
  • We hosted live, interactive webinars each week, and we invited all community members to confirm that those people understood our company’s mission and the reasons behind every decision.
  • We insisted that Sam let every person know about the free, do-it-yourself content available through Prison Professors.

Despite those efforts, we continued to receive complaints from customers. We realized that Sam would not abide by our company’s compliance systems. For that reason, we drafted a new agreement and sent it to Sam, further limiting his role with our company.

We removed Sam’s ability to access the names of people who made inquiries with our company. Without access to those prospective clients, Sam lost the opportunity to earn commissions from selling our products or services.

Disgruntled, he launched a campaign of torturous interference against our company.

We do not begrudge Sam’s efforts to launch his own business. But we wanted to make it clear that people in our database understood we had severed a working relationship with him:

Dear Valued Clients:

As a company, we strive to provide a bridge for formerly incarcerated people as they transition from prison back into their communities. To the extent that we’re able, we open income opportunities until those people get situated and ready to resume their career.

We’ve valued Sam Mangel as a team member in that role. He’s been with us for about two years. Sam is now moving on to pursue new and exciting opportunities with his career.

We want to apprise everyone in our community that as of Wednesday, December 28, 2022, Sam is no longer working with our company. We wish him success going forward.

Wishing all a Happy New Year!

The Earning Freedom Team

January 4, 2023: Message from Michael Santos to all members of our community announcing that we had parted ways with Sam Mangel

Since Fall 2020, entities I control wrote weekly commission checks to Sam Mangel. During that tenure, we paid Sam Mangel or his consulting service more than $475,000 in commissions. Our company paid Sam on a commission-only basis. If he didn’t have any sales during a week, I offered him an advance payment because he told me he struggled financially.

Since removing him from our company, we learned more about Sam’s history of deception and fraudulent misrepresentation. For example, he told us that he had a single conviction for fraud, and that he had never had a problem before. See the Department of Justice Press Release about Sam Mangel’s Fraud:

Upon further review, we learned that he deceived us by not letting us know about his prior convictions related to his fraud and deceit:

  • Criminal Indictment 1: 2002 USA v Samuel Mangel
    • o Criminal Docket for Case #: 2:02-cr-00084-JAG-1
    • Charges: #18:1014and 2. Loan and Credit Applications Generally
    • J&C: Imprisonment for a term of 3 months and 3 years supervised release, w/conditions; Fine $10,000.00. Special assessment of $100.00
  • Criminal Indictment 2: 2016 USA v Samuel Mangel
    • Criminal Docket for Case#: 2:16-cr-00147-PD-1
    • Charges: #18:1033(e)(1)(A) Engaging in business of insurance after having been convicted of a felony involving dishonesty.
    • J &C: Imprisonment: 60 months; Supervised Release: 3 Years; Fine: $100,000; Special Assessment: $500; Restitution: $920,000

On January 19, 2023, Sam Mangel sent out the following message to people who trust our company (people who recognized the machinations of Sam Mangel sent us a copy of the letter that Sam sent to them). We copy it verbatim from a letter that Sam sent from the following email address: [email protected], with the timestamp of Thursday, January 19, 2023 at approximately 4:00 pm Eastern:

Good afternoon,

As you know, going through the criminal justice system can be one of the most daunting challenges we will ever face. Other than the passing of a loved one, there is nothing scarier than the prospective loss of our freedom, the resources we’ve worked our whole lives for, and as important, the reputations that we’ve built over our lifetimes.

Over the past two weeks my former partners have tried to defame and lie about why I left their firm. This says a lot about their characters and sense of desperation.

However I chose not to stoop to their level and rather, once again was forced to retain an attorney to address this.

Here is the Cease and Desist letter which they received yesterday. It spells out the facts:

I am truly sorry that you had to be dragged into this nonsense. You have way too much on your plates to be involved in someone else’s dirty laundry. More so if you’ve paid them money and now are wondering why and what for.

Please know that I will always be available to speak with you about any of your fears, concerns or just general questions.

Thank you

Sam

561-490-4544

Click the link below to download the “Cease and Desist” letter that Sam Mangel says he paid an attorney to produce:

To clarify the record, we did not publish the many complaints we received about Sam previously. In light of the letter that Sam says he paid an attorney to send, we thought it would be helpful for Sam Mangel and his attorney to see what people have to write about him. We’ll stand on the written record, operating openly and transparently.

We have also engaged counsel to respond to Sam Mangel. Our counsel has responded to Sam’s torturous interference against our company. With counsel, we prepare for litigation. The messages below typify the complaints customers sent us about Sam Mangel.

Scroll below to read complaints we received from customers about Sam Mangel’s deceptions:

The email that follows is from a customer that Sam tried to poach. The customer, Bruce, authorized us to publish his response on January 26, 2023, on the condition we do not use his full name. The customer also sent the message to the attorney representing Sam Mangel. If anyone else has an interest in documenting their experience of working with Sam Mangel, please let us know:

Dear Sam,

Please stop bombarding me with your ridiculous and pathetic efforts to poach me as a client. I would never work with such a low-integrity person that operates in such a manner. I told you in December of 2021 I did not want to work with you because of your aggressive, untrue comments and recommendations. 

When you initially tried to solicit me as a client, you came across as being disingenuous and deceitful. That was the reason I complained to Justin about your predatory ways. I told Justin that I only wanted to work with him, and to make sure you never contacted me again.

Despite the complaint I left, you now send me ridiculous emails. I saw the webpage that documents the history:

Since I saw you hired a lawyer, I am writing to your lawyer so that he knows I found you deceitful. For that reason, I would never work with you. Your emails and text messages reaffirm my disdain for you and confirms that my gut instinct was correct when I asked Justin to ensure you stop calling me.

I find it such a shame that after the company opened an opportunity for you to earn an income after your release from prison, you behave with such low integrity. I’ve worked with people like you, who blatantly steal other people’s products and services rather than developing your own. I can’t stand this and I am encouraging Justin and Michael to stay the course. Their work has helped me immensely, and it’s the reason I left them a five-star review.

Separately, sending me a settlement agreement from Michael Santos, showing that he settled an $85 million judgment against another big-government agency and then went on to rebuild and recalibrate only confirms that he has the skill set to help people who go through challenges.

You sir, are a deceitful fraud and I would like you to stop contacting me. I hope your lawyer will tell you the same.

I am, 

Bruce (Last Name Withheld)

PS: I have authorized Michael and Justin to add my email as a complaint to their web page, on condition that they anonymize my name.

Complaint a customer sent us Sam Mangel: Received January 19, 2023

Dear Mr. Kimmelman:

My name is Alisa Brown and I offer this sworn statement, under the penalty of perjury. The following statements are true and correct, commenced on January 26, 2023, and I will happily sign a document should one be requested.

It should be clear that I offer this sworn statement voluntarily, and without pressure or duress from any person. It is a true statement of what I experienced in working with Sam Mangel.

Statement: 

  • Sam Mangel deceived me into paying a total of $7,500.00. He did not provide the service that he promised he could provide.
  • After authorities allowed me to leave prison, with no help from Sam Mangel, I reached out to him for assistance. 
  • He chose not to help.

On January 19, 2023, I logged into the Prison Professors website and left the following message:

I don’t know if this will do any good or not but I wanted to try one last effort. In January of 2021 I was sentenced to 21 months of imprisonment for embezzlement. In Fmarch I contacted this office and was put into contact with Sam mangel. This is where things went downhill. We paid him a fairly big chunk of money twice for things promised that he could not deliver. I have medical issues (brain tumor) and I was promised that we would work on a compassionate release. Well all of the things he told me were incorrect. They never even sent me the compassionate release paperwork and that’s what I paid the bulk of the money for. Basically everything I was told was not done or incorrect. I have contacted sam several times. Actually one time after being released on home confinement I contacted him to help me with some paperwork and he told me he could no longer help me bc of how rude my husband was to him. My husband has never even spoken to him. He still refuses to help me. I received very little help for a very large amount of money. I have hired an attorney to look into this. The retainer for him will cost me almost as much as I paid in to Sam but at this point it’s principal. I feel like I was scammed and my family is already suffering financially. To be taken advantage of during a very scary and vulnerable time is terrible. He took advantage horrible time in my life and made it worse on me. That looks very bad on the whole prison consultant business. I just wanted to reach out and see if you had any contact of anyone over Sam since he wil not contact me back. Thank you

Within 30 minutes of sending the message, on January 19, 2023, I received a phone call from Michael Santos. I had never spoken with him before. Michael Santos introduced himself as the founder of Earning Freedom. He told me that he removed Sam Mangel from the company because too many customers complained that Sam had deceived them. He told me that he stood by his company and that he wanted to make things right with me. Michael Santos asked me to write out my complete experience of working with Sam. 

January 25, 2023: I sent the following message to Michael Santos to describe my experience with Sam Mangel:

A federal judge sentenced me to serve a 21 months January 2021. I had 90 days to report. About three weeks before my report date they had to change my designation due to Mariana not being complete. I was advised that my lawyer needed to submit a new request to the judge or I would be assigned to somewhere that might not be a camp.

That’s when I found your website. I inquired and got a return call from Sam.

Sam told me he could help me with designation and some other things to get ready for incarceration. He told me that would be 2500. He said he would have me ready to go and would be there for anything I might need.  Before I could pay the money I was as already designated to Aliceville.  

Sam recommended that I still pay the money. He said there were so many things he could help me with in the next week. At this point I was 8 days from surrender date.  I was scared and vulnerable so I agreed.

I paid 2500 dollars for absolutely nothing. I received nothing for this.

The next day Sam called me and started asking me about my medical history and alcohol history.  I felt like he wanted me to be an adrlict or something. It was like he was trying to get me to admit to using so we could look into rdap.  He kept saying that  was the only program to get out early.  I told him that I don’t drink at all so I would not qualify for that. Then he kept talking about my tumor in my medical history stating we could do a compassionate release. He said it would be another 5000. 

Sam said y’all had a very high success rate.  That I could see the results over the last few months. 

Sam said that there was a 84 percent success rate in yiur company.  After being incarcerated and reading about this more I know that is a lie.  Sam scammedme. There is no other word for it.

Sam told me he needed the money befor I went in. So I’m a matter of 3 days I paid y’all 7500 for which I received about a 2 hour conversation. Nothing was ever done on my behalf. The only thing I received was some paperwork that was not even legit paperwork according to my counselor.

The counselor said that was not even the right compassionate release paperwork. 

When we tried to contact Sam we didn’t receive anything else. 

My husband and mom emailed several times with no response. I was released on cares act (which was never mentioned to me). If I had known about that I surely would not have paid that much for a chance at compassionate release.  I had almost a year left in home confinement.  

So when I called Sam about a few questions I had, he avoided my calls. I then emailed him. He told me that he didn’t want to hear back from me bc my husband was rude to him and he didn’t want to deal with us anymore.   

My husband has never spoken to him. When I told him that he had never spoken to my husband he said yhay he didn’t have anything to help me with. He said “you are lucky you are out, just enjoy being home and finish out your sentence”. My question was around if he could help me with the early dismissal of supervised release.

So needles to say I have not spoken to him since. He essentially conned me out of my money during a very vulnerable and low point in my life and I am very upset about this.  I have sent all of the information to my attorney to look into it but I also wanted to let you know. I didn’t know if you knew some of the shady stuff that was going on within your company.  

Since talking to you I realize that you must have figured it out. That is little consolation To the many people that Sam scammed.  I appreciate you offering to make things right and I look forward to talking with you on Thursday.

I had to put that on a credit card that my husband had to struggle  to pay with one income while I was gone.  We are still paying on this with a high interest rate that comes with a credit card. I’m only telling you this so you can realize he didn’t take from someone with a lot of money.

We used what little resources we had to do this. When I told him that, he said well let me help you. If you pay this I can get you home sooner so you can have a second income faster. That was not a promise Sam could make. I had no way to know but after I got in I realized that the things he said were not truthful.. that the system didn’t work that way. I regret using this service and I am going to use my lawyer to make sure I’m doing it the right way, but I’m going to make sure that others are not taken advantage of during horrible, scary, and vulnerable time.  

Thank you for your time.  I hope this is what you needed from me. Don’t hesitate to call or email me if you need something else.  I’m sure there are things I missed putting down but this is the gist of my experience of being scammed by Sam Mangel. 

On January 26, 2023 I received a phone call from Michael Santos

Michael Santos apologized for the way that Sam had deceived me. Michael said that he had reviewed the contract I signed with Sam Mangel. He pointed out that the contract I signed contradicted the lies and misrepresentations of Sam Mangel, and that it also included a refund policy. 

Although the time for a refund has passed, Michael Santos told me that he wanted to make things right with me.

He made me an offer to provide a refund for the amount that I paid, less the costs that the company incurred. 

Considering the commission the company paid to Sam Mangel, and the administrative costs of processing the order, I agreed to accept a $6,000.00 payment from Earning Freedom to fully settle my dispute with the company. 

Michael Santos recommended that I reach out to Sam Mangel and to his lawyer for the reimbursement of the money that Sam Mangel scammed from me. He deceived me and he should not have preyed upon me when I was vulnerable.

Requesting Refund from Sam Mangel:

For that reason, I request the reimbursement of $1,500.00 from Sam Mangel, to recover the costs of his scam.

I will gladly sign a sworn testimonial with the appropriate language to anyone who requests. That testimonial will record that Michael Santos acted honestly and appropriately with me immediately upon my notifying him of how Sam Mangel preyed upon and scammed me. I authorize Michael Santos to use this testimonial on his website, provided he anonymize my last name.

Complaint customer sent us about Sam Mangel: January 2023

I still owe you an reply on the items you requested around my experience of working with Sam. I appreciate you wanting to know the truth. I will get that to you.  I sure hope Sam does not land with XXXX, as Sam Mangel is not someone that should be in this business – his lack of honesty and sincerity, coupled with his greed is not a good recipe for working with people who are looking for anything and everything they can to provide hope and help as they go through the toughest experience of their lives.

Complaint customer sent us about Sam Mangel: January 2023

I appreciate the response and the kind wishes. I truly wished that I had met you first and not Sam, I know that the relationship would have been much different as I have read two books that your firm has put out since I have been in here and both had some good insights.

I wish daily I didn’t get set up with Sam Mangel. It gets lonely trying to figure all of this stuff out on your own and he lied to me.

Complaint customer sent us about Sam Mangel: January, 2023

Good Morning Mr. Santos,

Thank you for your email last night.. I received it this morning and have talked to xxxx as it relates to your apology for hiring Sam Mangel.  We both appreciate your prompt response to all of our inquiries and your truthfulness that you have displayed from the beginning..

As business owners ourselves we understand the position you are in all too well.  I will also be honest as business people we should have been better at reading what we were signing and had questioned more.  I am sure you can imagine two days after your sentencing being given years of incarceration you are in shock. Not only were you sentenced to years your brother in law was as well.. 9 Children were going to be left without one parent each and an Aunt and Uncle. Being a mother of 3, a step mother of 3 and an aunt of 3 my biggest concern was the children.. No one can describe the helplessness you feel and the anquish in being told you will not be home for your three youngest highschool years.  

When we spoke with Mr. Sam Mangal he came out of the gates with promises that were music to our ears. He was very persistent and a great salesmen..We believed what we heard and first was the promise of help in an unbelievable situation.

As xxx has told you Sam pushed for everything from a blog, book deal, compassionate release at 12 months and guaranteed RDAP for my brother in law.  From his mouth he guaranteed xxxx would be admitted to RDAP or he would refund the money.

Now let me make this clear that xxxx did have a mental and drinking problem up until 2020 when he went to outpatient treatment. So what I have learned since signing with Sam Mangal is that xxxx qualified for RDAP on his own without paying for a third party assessment.

Unfortunately, as you are aware there is no promises in the BOP and it all comes down to ambiguous laws/rules and if the person overseeing a program or facility follows those rules.  

So no matter how much you know what should be done there can be no promises.. Kind of like we sit here today without correct FSA credits 4 years after a law was put into place and 12 months after that LAW was to be fully up and running with systems and policies.  Hence leaves us to where we are today.  

XXXX was not admitted to RDAP he was declined even after paying $xxxx for a third party assessment that we were promised by Mr. Mangel he would refund if XXXX was not admitted.

We both agree with you on the destination letter from what we know now there was no possibility that I was ever going to get my destination changed in 15 days and the $xxxx was a deposit on the $xxxx Mr. Mangel said it would cost.  I negotiated $xxxxx deposit as we had already paid $xxxxx to your company.

As it relates to the $xxxx paid for my engagement of services again you are correct. We should have read and understood what we were paying for..

However, I will tell you again promises were made and it was very much a hard sell from Sam Mangel of what was going to be offered.. They would set me up with a mentor at the camp I would be designated to, I would have a briefing of “what to expect”, I would have constant communication from my assigned advocate at PF who was later introduced as Mike who also was let go from your company.. and after 12 mos of my sentence served PF would start helping file paperwork for compassionate release for me.  

We spoke with Mike 1x and that is all we heard from him.  

We were told to hold off on the adoption of my three young daughters by XXX as a reason for compassionate release along with other promises. Mr Mangel also strongly encouraged us not to file for appeal of my trial and if I did I should get a court appointed attorney and not pay for one and waste $60,000 like he did.  

That one phone call was the extent of my call or experience with Mike.  I never heard “what to expect”, I was never given a name of a “mentor” and was told explicitly that a camp is nothing like it is portrayed on “Orange is the New Black” from Mr. Mangel himself.  

That was the extent of what we received before I self surrendered on XXX/22.  

We relayed some of the information to my attorney and he strongly disagreed with the no appeal and a court appointed attorney as the court system definitley frowns upon the “leader” who made money asking for help..

Our attorney also found a consultant to consult with us and help file paperwork as needed and his fee would be $xxxxx.  Unfortunately, we liked the promises of Sam Mangel better and felt we had found the consulting firm that we liked.  We did go to your website and we did look at yours, Justin’s and Sam’s biographies. We believed in what Sam told us.

In closing I believe what I have seen in the change from your company in the past 6 mos is where you see and want your company to go. I know when you grow and grow fast we hire people who we believe have the same ethics and wants as ourselves.  

Unfortunately, I don’t believe Sam nor Mike were those two people and I was one of maybe many that were “shammed” into believing the stories and lies they told.  

I see the progress you have made with your newsletters, your traveling around the country to spread the word of “recidivism”, “self advocacy” and true consulting.  No promises that truly were lies.  I share your books you have sent and the work books. I believe in your work and your advocacy whole heartedly however, it was not what we were sold.

With that being said I believe that we own some of the wrong doing in signing contracts we shouldn’t have.  

I believe XXXX’s $xxxx should be refunded, $xxxx for the misled re-destination that never could have happened, and $xxxx of the $xxxxx paid for my contract even though I was over promised and nothing delivered of those promises.

 I take the blame for signing the contracts and believing in far fetched promises that Sam Mangel made to my family and me when we were vulnerable.  

What you are doing is a great service to many, many inmates who just don’t understand and are hopeless to how beauracry works and self advocating.

I hope you find the above explanations truthful and with all the respect from one business owner to another.  

We know it is never fun having an unhappy customer and knowing there was wrong on your companies part.

We appreciate your willingness to make this right.

Thank you, 

xxxxx

Complaint a customer sent us about Sam Mangel, Received January 2023

I was sentenced to 21 months January 2021. I had 90 days to report. About three weeks before my report date they had to change my designation due to Mariana not being complete. I was advised that my lawyer needed to submit a new request to the judge or I would be assigned to somewhere that might not be a camp. 

That’s when I found your website. I inquired and got a return call from Sam. 

Sam told me he could help me with designation and some other things to get ready for incarceration. He told me that would be 2500. He said he would have me ready to go and would be there for anything I might need.  Before I could pay the money I was as already designated to Aliceville.  

Sam recommended that I still pay the money. He said there were so many things he could help me with in the next week. At this point I was 8 days from surrender date.  I was scared and vulnerable so I agreed. 

I paid 2500 dollars for absolutely nothing. I received nothing for this. 

The next day Sam called me and started asking me about my medical history and alcohol history.  I felt like he wanted me to be an adrlict or something. It was like he was trying to get me to admit to using so we could look into rdap.  He kept saying that  was the only program to get out early.  I told him that I don’t drink at all so I would not qualify for that. Then he kept talking about my tumor in my medical history stating we could do a compassionate release. He said it would be another 5000. 

Sam said y’all had a very high success rate.  That I could see the results over the last few months. 

Sam said that there was a 84 percent success rate in yiur company.  After being incarcerated and reading about this more I know that is a lie.  Sam scammedme. There is no other word for it. 

Sam told me he needed the money befor I went in. So I’m a matter of 3 days I paid y’all 7500 for which I received about a 2 hour conversation. Nothing was ever done on my behalf. The only thing I received was some paperwork that was not even legit paperwork according to my counselor. 

The counselor said that was not even the right compassionate release paperwork. 

When we tried to contact Sam we didn’t receive anything else. 

My husband and mom emailed several times with no response. I was released on cares act (which was never mentioned to me). If I had known about that I surely would not have paid that much for a chance at compassionate release.  I had almost a year left in home confinement.  

So when I called Sam about a few questions I had, he avoided my calls. I then emailed him. He told me that he didn’t want to hear back from me bc my husband was rude to him and he didn’t want to deal with us anymore.  

My husband has never spoken to him. When I told him that he had never spoken to my husband he said yhay he didn’t have anything to help me with. He said “you are lucky you are out, just enjoy being home and finish out your sentence”. My question was around if he could help me with the early dismissal of supervised release. 

So needles to say I have not spoken to him since. He essentially conned me out of my money during a very vulnerable and low point in my life and I am very upset about this.  I have sent all of the information to my attorney to look into it but I also wanted to let you know. I didn’t know if you knew some of the shady stuff that was going on within your company.  

Since talking to you I realize that you must have figured it out. That is little consolation To the many people that Sam scammed.  I appreciate you offering to make things right and I look forward to talking with you on Thursday.

I had to put that on a credit card that my husband had to struggle  to pay with one income while I was gone.  We are still paying on this with a high interest rate that comes with a credit card. I’m only telling you this so you can realize he didn’t take from someone with a lot of money. 

We used what little resources we had to do this. When I told him that, he said well let me help you. If you pay this I can get you home sooner so you can have a second income faster. That was not a promise Sam could make. I had no way to know but after I got in I realized that the things he said were not truthful.. that the system didn’t work that way. I regret using this service and I am going to use my lawyer to make sure I’m doing it the right way, but I’m going to make sure that others are not taken advantage of during horrible, scary, and vulnerable time.  

Thank you for your time.  I hope this is what you needed from me. Don’t hesitate to call or email me if you need something else.  I’m sure there are things I missed putting down but this is the gist of my experience of being scammed by Sam Mangel. 

Sent from my iPhone

Complaint a customer sent us about Sam Mangel, Received January 2023

Hey I just wanted to let you know that regardless of what sad email Mangel sends out with some crappy cease and desist, I personally, and I’m sure many others, have been completely satisfied with the services you provide for us in these situations we’ve fallen into. I just went back and re-read some of texts between Mangel and myself and I remembered how much he rubbed me the wrong way. You made that right with me. I’d be happy to send you those screenshots if for nothing more than to help you say “f this guy, we made the right decision.”
Thank you Justin. My wife and I are navigating this process as positively as possible because of you and your team, and not at all because of the shitweasel. You and Michael have given people the ability to work for better sentences on their own without cost should they want to. I have never seen some much content given at no cost in order to help people navigate through such a difficult system. Kudos! Stay the course!

Complaint about Sam Mangel, Received January 2023:

I was sentenced to 21months January 2021. I had 90 days to report. About three weeks before my report date they had to change my designation due to Mariana not being complete. I was advised that my lawyer needed to submit a new request to the judge or I would be assigned to somewhere that might not be a camp. That’s when I found your website. I inquired and got a return call from Sam. He told me he could help me with designation and some other things to get ready for incarceration. He told me that would be 2500. He said he would have me ready to go and would be there for anything I might need.  Before I could pay the money I was as already designated to Aliceville.  Sam recommended that I still pay the money. He said there were so many things he could help me with in the next week. At this point I was 8 days from surrender date.  I was scared and vulnerable so I agreed. I paid 2500 dollars for absolutely nothing. I received nothing for this. The next day he called me and started asking me about my medical history and alcohol history.  I felt like he wanted me to be an adrlict or something. It was like he was trying to get me to admit to using so we could look into rdap.  He kept saying that  was the only program to get out early.  I told him that I don’t drink at all so I would not qualify for that. Then he kept talking about my tumor in my medical history stating we could do a compassionate release. He said it would be another 5000. He said y’all had a very high success rate.  That I could see the results over the last few months.  He said that there was a 84 percent success rate in yiur company.  After being incarcerated and reading about this more I know that is a lie.  I was scammed. There is no other word for it. He told me he needed the money befor I went in. So I’m a matter of 3 days I paid y’all 7500 for which I received about a 2 hour conversation. Nothing was ever done on my behalf. The only thing I received was some paperwork that was not even legit paperwork according to my counselor. He’s said that was not even the right compassionate release paperwork. When we tried to contact Sam we didn’t receive anything else. My husband and mom emailed several times with no response. I was released on cares act (which was never mentioned to me). If I had known about that I surely would not have paid that much for a chance at compassionate release.  I had almost a year left in home confinement.  So when I called Sam about a few questions I had, he avoided my calls. I then emailed him. He told me that he didn’t want to hear back from me bc my husband was rude to him and he didn’t want to deal with us anymore.  My husband has never spoken to him. When I told him that he had never spoken to my husband he said yhay he didn’t have anything to help me with. He said “you are lucky you are out, just enjoy being home and finish out your sentence”. My question was around if he could help me with the early dismissal of supervised release. So needles to say I have not spoken to him since. He essentially conned me out of my money during a very vulnerable and low point in my life and I am very upset about this.  I have sent all of the information to my attorney to look into it but I also wanted to let you know. I didn’t know if you knew some of the shady stuff that was going on within your company.  Since talking to you I realize that you must have figured it out. That is little consolation To the many people that he scammed.  I had to put that on a credit card that my husband had to struggle  to pay with one income while I was gone.  We are still paying on this with a high interest rate that comes with a credit card. I’m only telling you this so you can realize he didn’t take from someone with a lot of money. We used what little resources we had to do this. When I told him that, he said well let me help you. If you pay this I can get you home sooner so you can have a second income faster. That was not a promise he could make. I had no way to know but after I got in I realized that the things he said were not truthful.. that the system didn’t work that way. I regret using this service and I am going to use my lawyer to make sure I’m doing it the right way, but I’m going to make sure that others are not taken advantage of during horrible, scary, and vulnerable time.  Thank you for your time.  I hope this is what you needed from me. Don’t hesitate to call or email me if you need something else.  I’m sure there are things I missed putting down but this is the gist of it. 

From Alisa and received on 1/23

Hello Alisa,
Thank you very much for providing this detailed explanation of the way that Sam deceived you. We removed him from our company because of precisely what you describe.
Our company will make things right with you.
Please let me know when we can get on the phone to discuss again.
I am traveling, and fly back to California tomorrow.
Can we schedule to talk on Thursday?
Thanks,Michael Santos

Responded to resolve

Sent from my iPhone

Complaint about Sam Mangel, Received March 27, 2023:

Dear Mr. Santos,

Thank you for taking the time to resolve the deception and misrepresentation of Sam Mangel. I appreciate your company’s honesty, integrity, and willingness to make things right.

As I told you during our phone call, Sam Mangel called me within minutes of the time that I filled out a lead form on your website. He told me that he was the company’s principal and that he could get me out of prison earlier than the term I received.

At that time, I felt vulnerable, and he told me what I wanted to hear rather than what I needed from him. For a payment of $7,500, he promised to get me out of prison within seven to nine months. He said that if I had hired him earlier, I wouldn’t have been going to prison at all.

Sam Mangel promised to be my point of contact throughout my term in prison. He assured me that at seven to nine months, he would coordinate documents that would start the process leading to my release.

As we approached the date, he abandoned me. He did nothing when I needed help to request a furlough to attend a family funeral. When I asked him to refund the payment for non-performance and deception, he quit responding entirely.

The Bureau of Prisons transitioned me from prison to a home confinement setting, though Sam Mangel did nothing to assist me. He lied, deceived, and preyed upon me during a time of weakness. 

I emailed your company to complain about Sam Mangel’s lies and deception. Within minutes, your partner Justin Paperny connected with me with a pledge to work toward making things right. Then I received a phone call from you.

Both you and Justin apologized for the deception I endured at the hands of Sam Mangel. Before that call, I had never spoken with you. Yet without hesitation, you and Justin agreed to refund 100% of the money that Sam Mangel scammed me into paying during my duress.

I agreed to write this candid and truthful letter about the deception of Sam Mangel. In addition, I decided to write this testimonial for your company’s honesty in making things right with my family with a 100% refund of the $7,500 I paid. 

I encouraged you to publish my review on www://prisonprofessors.com/sam-mangel-2/. I am including Sam Mangel’s attorney on this email thread: 

·  Sam Mangel’s Attorney—Chane Socarras: [email protected]

·  Elizabeth Caruso: [email protected]

I agree that people should know how Sam Mangel scammed my family with his dishonesty. I am including my attorney on this email thread, with hopes that he will report Sam’s deception to the appropriate authorities.

Best regards,

/S/

David C. Willner

NOTE: I agree and will accept a 100% refund ($7500.00). I hereby release Earning Freedom/Prison Professors/White Collar Advice from any claims. You, Justin, and your company acted honorably and professionally concerning my circumstance. Kindly remit funds to the address I provided (but I would prefer that you do not publish my mailing address or phone number.)

  • Note: In December 2022, we chose not to renew this individual’s independent contractor’s agreement.

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