Richard Stratton was arrested in 1982 and convicted under the kingpin statute for importation of marijuana and hashish. Originally sentenced to twenty-five years without parole, Stratton became a jailhouse lawyer and had his sentence vacated. He was released in 1990 after serving eight years in federal prison. His novel, Smack Goddess, written while he was in prison, was published in 1990. Stratton is now an acclaimed filmmaker and screenwriter whose films have won prizes at Cannes and the Berlin Film Festival. A writer and consultant for HBO’s Oz, he was the creator, writer, and executive producer of Showtime’s Street Time. He is the founder of Prison Life, the former editor and publisher of High Times, and a contributor to Rolling Stone, Esquire, GQ, Details, Newsweek, and Playboy.