Charles “Tim” Knott

My name is Charles Knott. Please allow me to give you a brief biography of myself.

I am a 47 year old man and have been married for twenty years. Convicted on 3 counts of meth-amphetamine charges, I was sentenced to serve 8 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Prior to my arrest, I had never had trouble with law enforcement. Over the years, I worked in various fields, including manufacturing, performing jobs such as: assisting in the making of the US military ammunition, metallurgy, production assistant, employee assignments, quality control, labor relations, budget control, and public service.

In the early 90’s I took an interest in politics and was elected as a Precinct Committeeman. A few years later I successfully won a bid to the 16th District County Board seat in Madison County, Illinois. At that time, I was the youngest County Board Member ever elected in Madison County. I was an independent, outspoken Democrat who fought for my constituents regardless of their political affiliation. I also ran for State Representative in the 111 District in Illinois, but was unsuccessful in my bid. It was nonetheless a thrilling and unforgettable experience.

I opened a security surveillance equipment business (EBD Security & Surveillance) in 2002 with very little money but a lot of determination. I vowed to make it a successful business working 16 or more hours a day. I still believe the business had the potential to succeed if it had not been for my choices – as I will now explain.

I soon fell in with the wrong element of customers and that’s when my life began to spiral out of control. Replacing money with drugs soon became normal practice. Within months I was setting in the County jail looking at a possibility of 16 years behind bars. After 9 months of court hearings and relying on bad advice from a lawyer that was disbarred within weeks of my hearing, I plead guilty and received an 8-year sentence. My life was completely turned upside down.

It was devastating to go from owning two homes, new vehicles, having a good marriage and family life that I’d worked so hard for, to a prison cell. An embarrassing position to say the least. I not only caused myself embarrassment but my family that had believed in me. How humiliating!
Faced with all I had done, I made a promise to myself, and my family, that I would redeem myself by whatever means were available to me. While in prison I achieved the following:

• I entered the Gateway Foundation Drug Rehabilitation Program.
• Enrolled in Custodial Maintenance & Environmental Services classes with Lake Land College, graduated with a 3.65 GPA, and became a teacher’s assistance.
• Transferred to Tamm’s Work Camp and was offered a job to be in charge of Officers Clothing which I worked for 11 months.
• Transferred to Carbondale Work Release Center where I finished my remaining 8 _months.
• Never received a disciplinary ticket the entire time I was incarcerated.

I was paroled in November 2008. With my hard work during my four years in IDOC, exceeding all criteria from the State of Illinois and the new law that was passed in early 2008, I was released from parole after only 4 months (over 2 1/2 years early and a first in the Southern Illinois District).

Since my release, I have held a couple of part-time odd jobs, but nothing that had the possibility of becoming a permanent position. My choices prior to my incarceration, and the time I spent in prison, have prevented me from obtaining gainful employment although I have done everything accessible to me in an effort to rehabilitate my life.

Regardless of my accomplishments before my incarceration, my rehabilitation efforts, or the number of applications or resumes I send out, no one seems willing to take a chance on a person with a criminal record. Since my release I have applied for many positions requiring my specific job skills, and have been told I was exactly what they were looking for, until the issue of a criminal record came into play. I immediately sense an attitude change and the interview usually abruptly ends. The Illinois Department of Corrections claim that they strive to reduce recidivism, but their efforts fall extremely short when there is little, or no help working with communities to give persons with a criminal record a chance at employment. I refuse to give up hope and know that one day things will turn around for me so I can once again be proud of myself, be a good husband, father, brother and son.

I would love to help others by sharing my story and hopefully someday I can be influential in steering others heading down the wrong path into a direction that will prevent them from taking this lonely, hard road. Going from all I ever wanted in life, owning anything I wanted, being a proud, confidant, self-assured, ambitious man to a prison cell is not the life I wish for anyone. I know I will once again achieve my goals and become a better man.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at this page.

Sincerely,
Charles Knott