Ep. 39: Jeffrey Deskovic — 16 years in a maximum security prison…for a crime he didn’t commit

Wrongfully convicted at 17, Jeffrey Deskovic lost 16 years to prison for a crime he did not commit before DNA testing exonerated him in 2006. He then rebuilt his life: a master's degree in criminal justice, law school, admission to the New York State Bar in 2020, and a criminal defense practice.

He turned that loss into a mission. As founder of The Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice, he has helped free 15 people and supported nine legislative reforms. He is the subject of the award-winning documentary short Conviction (Amazon Prime) and the documentary 16 Years. He has given several hundred talks and written more than 200 articles.

On a podcast, Jeffrey speaks to resilience and reinvention as much as justice: surviving the unthinkable, rebuilding identity and a career after a lost decade, finding purpose in pain, and building a nonprofit that changes laws. He also explains plainly how false confessions and wrongful convictions happen, and what ordinary people can do about it.

His central message: turning pain into purpose.

Beyond justice reform, Jeffrey speaks about mental health and trauma recovery after prison, starting a career from nothing after a lost decade, and the entrepreneurial side of reinvention: founding a nonprofit, building a criminal defense practice and growing a speaking and writing career from scratch.