Shaun Attwood

Shaun Attwood was born in Widnes, Lancashire on October 28, 1968 in a middle-class household[8] that he described as "loving."[9] After watching several films mentioning stock-markets, Attwood educated himself, with the help of his teacher in economics, on trading stocks by reading the Financial Times at fourteen.[9] When he was sixteen, during the privatization of many public companies by the Thatcher government, Attwood attempted to invest in British Telecommunications. After inquiring with his father, a Labour supporter who disagreed with Thatcher government's actions, Attwood sought money from his grandmother who supported the Conservative party and eventually got £50 which he invested and doubled.[4][10] Attwood regularly visited his aunts in Arizona where he became interested in living in the United States.[9]

Attwood attended Liverpool University, studying Business Studies and graduating in 1990.[11] While attending university, Attwood started to take Ecstasy in the Manchester rave scene which helped him with his anxiety.[4][12]

As Attwood began to organize larger parties with his money, he started purchasing and eventually distributing large amounts of ecstasy in Los Angeles.[9] This gradually turned into what the Phoenix New Times called an "empire”,[13] with Attwood buying pills from the Netherlands to bypass the traffickers in Los Angeles.[14]

Attwood's operation became associated with the New Mexican Mafia, which offered protection following a night of partying where Attwood's associates helped a member of the New Mexican Mafia with hiding from the police.[15] His main competitor in the Ecstasy market was Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, a Mafia mass murderer and former underboss of the Gambino crime family. Gravano attempted to kill Attwood and many of Attwood's associates, which caused him to stop dealing and give up distributing, retreating to his then-girlfriend's apartment and living off money earned during his time distributing. Attwood estimated he smuggled up to £4 million of drugs into Arizona which wasn't exclusive to Ecstasy and also included Xanax and ketamine.[16][5]

Evidence had already been collected against Attwood from his years as an Ecstasy kingpin, and on May 16, 2002, he was arrested at the apartment. Attwood, who had attempted to clean himself of any connections to his previous life as a distributor, was caught due to ten witnesses coming forward.[17]

After serving two years in Maricopa County Jail prior to sentencing, Attwood pleaded guilty for a sentence of nine and a half years, and served the balance of his sentence in the Arizona Department of Corrections.[18] Attwood is banned for life from entering the United States.[19]

While imprisoned, Attwood wrote about his experiences in prison. These accounts were posted online on a blog titled "Jon's Jail Journal" to preserve his anonymity; this began to draw international media attention[20] to the conditions that prevailed under Sheriff Arpaio.[21] While incarcerated Attwood submerged himself in literature, reading over 1,000 books in just under 6 years, including many classics. By studying original texts in psychology and philosophy, he sought to better understand himself and his past behaviour.[22]

In 2007, Attwood was released and deported to the U.K., where he continues to maintain his blog, now under his own name, where he publishes letters and accounts sent to him by other prisoners. Having credited books for being the lifeblood of his rehabilitation, Attwood spoke out in outrage on The Wright Stuff at the ban on sending books to U.K. prisons introduced by Justice Minister Chris Grayling.

Attwood visiting a school

Attwood now gives talks to schoolchildren and other groups about the negative consequences of drugs and crime, and advocates against Sheriff Arpaio and his methods. Shaun has given several TEDx Talks on his experiences. The University of Basel, Switzerland hosted his 2017 talk on what facing 200 years in prison taught him about happiness.[23][11] He has appeared on BBC, Sky News, CNN and TV in over 40 countries worldwide to talk about issues affecting prisoners' rights.

After appearing on the True Geordie podcast, Attwood started his own 'True Crime' podcast and has a YouTube channel with over 430,000 subscribers. He answers questions about what prison was like, interviews true-crime guests and retells stories of what happened during his time in prison. Shaun Attwood has conducted several interviews and has written on the case surrounding the underage sex trafficking ring around Jeffrey Epstein, and has interviewed conspiracy theorist David Icke regarding the September 11 attacks and the coronavirus pandemic.

• Hard Time, 1st edition, Random House (2011); 2nd Edition, Gadfly Press (2014)
• Party Time, 1st edition, Random House (2013), 2nd Edition, Gadfly Press (2018)
• Prison Time 1st edition, Random House (2014), 2nd Edition, Gadfly Press (2018)
• Life Lessons (2015)
• Pablo Escobar: Beyond Narcos Gadfly Press (2016)
• American Made: Who Killed Barry Seal? Pablo Escobar or George HW Bush Gadfly Press (2016)
• Un-Making a Murderer: The Framing of Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey Gadfly Press (2017)
• The Cali Cartel: Beyond Narcos Gadfly Press (2017)
• The Mafia Philosopher: Two Tonys Gadfly Press (2018)
• Pablo Escobar's Story 1: The Rise Gadfly Press (2018)
• Pablo Escobar's Story 2: Narcos at War Gadfly Press (2019)
• Clinton Bush and CIA Conspiracies: From The Boys on the Tracks to Jeffrey Epstein Gadfly Press (2019) formerly titled 'We Are Being Lied To: The War on Drugs [24]
• Pablo Escobar's Story 3: Narcos Demise Gadfly Press (Expected 2020)
• Who Killed Jeffrey Epstein? Prince Andrew or Bill Clinton? Gadfly Press (Expected 2020)

• Official website