Chapter 1 The title of chapter 1

I am a reformed criminal. I can't excuse my old life but in many ways, I feel I have made amends. I joined the US Military later than most people. I was 26 at the time.

I was never charged or arrested for my crimes because I decided to get out while I still could. After I joined the military I did two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. I feel like between god and me, we are square.

I grew up dirt-poor in Los Angeles. As a kid I was heavily involved in martial arts and by the time I was 20 I was doing amateur mixed martial arts and cage fighting. I held two black belts. One in Aiki-Jujitsu (traditional Japanese jujitsu) and Brazilian jujitsu. I was also over 6 feet tall and over 200 lbs of muscle.

A lot of Asian guys came to the underground fights and they made money betting on me. They would buy me drinks and ask me to hang out with them. They were members of the "Asian Boys" gang - which at the time in LA was the last gang you wanted to mess with.

Eventually, one of them brought a Russian friend of his and offered me a job as a bouncer in a Russian-owned nightclub in LA called "Spundae" on Santa Monica BLVD. It was rave-style Trance music full of all walks of life. Even had a gay Igor which was the worst because they fought more than anyone else.

It didn't take me long to figure out that the Russian dudes who ran the place were Russian Mafia. They had some sort of partnership with the Asian Boys who handled their muscle and ran the ecstasy trade.

I ended up trying ecstasy and loved it. Within a few months, I was dealing with it. Soon the Asian Boys came to me and explained that I was dealing on their turf. It wasn't an argument or anything. They were respectful but told me that they couldn't tolerate me dealing in the club. They insisted it was their market.

Then I made a stupid decision. I said "Look, I kick your guys out all the time for dealing in here. And the cops come in a lot. How about you sell it to me and I'll push it for you in the club. I can move more than your guys - plus I know when the cops are around."

They liked the idea - and I honk that's what they had in mind. I was Irish so there was no way they were going to recruit me into the Asian Boys. But they treated me like one of their own.

I went to all of their house parties - they provided me with an endless stream of Asian girls and we would roll on ecstasy all night.

Before long I was earning about $2k a week after kicking money upstairs to them and eventually the Russians. I saw people get busted before so I was never flashy with my money. I drove an old 80s Toyota and stayed in my little apartment. I didn't want any attention and both the Asian Boys and the Russians loved that.