How do you leave your past behind when you're a career criminal?

"I began stealing money from my parents' drawers when I was probably eight, nine or 10-years-old. There was shoplifting from local stores, chocolate bars, that sort of thing when I was young. That escalated to cars in the neighbourhood, unlocked cars... I would look for a pack of cigarettes. And then that escalated into breaking into homes. Before it was all said and done I had served 21 years in the federal penitentiary system." 

Lee Chapelle has been convicted nearly a hundred times — for break and enter, theft and possession of firearms. Crime — and the punishment — became the life he knew. 

But Chapelle found a way to put his criminal past in the past.

"I tried quite a bit through my 20s to change my life. It was one thing to want to change. It was another thing to actually [get] moving and making change. That was something that took me longer to figure out." But, he explains: "I believed I was meant to do more than time." 

For Chapelle, part of the key is talking about it. "I wear it very openly, I don't hide it. And I believe that inherently all people are good, and I believe we're capable of change."

In fact, he's made it his career as a prison consultant and a strong advocate for rehabilitation. He's concerned that as a culture, we're losing faith in rehabilitation but he's here to say it is possible.

Related Links

• After spending years behind bars, Lee Chapelle now coaches others on how to make it through
• Conjugal visits increase public safety, help offenders reintegrate, experts say

This story originally aired on February 12, 2017