Criminal Minds

In his late 20s, Anthony Gonzales was arrested after killing a man in a drug deal gone wrong. While serving his sentence of 12 years, Anthony gave his life to Jesus Christ, enrolled in the Prison Fellowship® Academy, and even got married to his high school sweetheart! In this week’s Insider, Anthony shares how he overcomes his past daily to become the new man, husband, and father that God has created him to be.

ON PRISON FELLOWSHIP ACADEMY

During his eighth year in prison, Anthony applied for the Prison Fellowship Academy™.

“I didn’t want to stick around where I was at,” he recalls. “I wasn’t in a very good prison. … I had already given my life back to the Lord, so at this time I was thinking of furthering my belief system [and] getting stronger in my faith.”

For Anthony, the Academy had a great impact.

“It was, oh, tremendous in my life!” he says. “It helped me readjust, gave me hope, [and] taught me a lot in becoming a better father, better husband—a better person through Jesus Christ.”

ON THE VALUE OF FAMILY SUPPORT

Anthony was fortunate to have a family that was 100 percent behind him during his incarceration. Once a month, his parents would visit him, and they would often bring his children to see him.

“When you’re inside, something to look forward to helps you get through the time,” Anthony explains. “Just knowing that once a month I was going to get that visit, it really helped me out.”

That support continued after Anthony was released two years ago. Still, life on the outside hasn’t been easy for the former prisoner.

“There were times when it got hard when I wasn’t sure if the rent was going to get paid,” Anthony says. “My criminal mind [would start] working, thinking about going and selling drugs again and getting back into that scene because it was easy, fast money.”

It’s Anthony’s family that has kept him accountable. Repeatedly, his family has supported him in any way that they can.

“Without them to support me and to say, “Look you, don’t have to do that [and] praying for me … I don’t know what would have happened,” he says.

ON GETTING MARRIED WHILE IN PRISON

A year before Anthony’s release, he married his high school sweetheart. The two had reconnected while he was incarcerated, and began corresponding with each other through letters.

The Academy offered a class on marriage, and Anthony and his wife were able to attend the class together at the prison once a month. Through that experience, they realized that God had brought them together for a reason.

“We got married while I was inside,” Anthony says. “She’s been by my side through this whole [reentry].”

ON THE CRIMINAL MIND

For Anthony, the Academy offered a new way to approach life, especially when he began to prepare for reentry.

“Being locked up for as long as I was, [the Academy] helped me to be able to talk to people,” Anthony explains. “Taking classes helped me to communicate, or else I’d still have a prison mentality, a prison lingo.”

Two years later, married and working, Anthony admits that his criminal mentality still tries to pop up from time to time.

“It’s not completely gone,” he says. “It comes up the most during stressful times [like] when I’m thinking about paying the rent, and I’m worried I might not be able to cover it.”

Anthony knows when those thoughts start to plague him that he needs to reach out to his family … and to his God.

“When [those] thoughts start to come up, that’s when I really get to praying,” Anthony says. It’s prayer that takes the thoughts away and gives Anthony the courage to stay on the straight and narrow path.

His life today is a testimony to the power of God transforming his life. He knows that if he had never followed God, “I would have come out to the world and been selfish and just thought about me and making money … I’d be dead or in prison for the rest of my life.”