Reggie Rucker says he was recognized when he entered the low-security Elkton Federal Correctional Institution to serve what was supposed to be a 21-month sentence for embezzlement.
Instead he only served 15 months.
On Friday, he was once again free after his ankle band was removed ending weeks of house arrest.
“I don’t want to waste that experience,” Rucker said. “There’s nothing like having your freedom taken away.”
It clearly gave him a unique look at the criminal justice system.
“I couldn’t do anything in there,” he said. “For someone at my age and of course, having had so much privilege, it was just awful.”
“We’ve got to clean up the criminal justice system,” he added. “There are people in prison for basically doing what in many states now is legal—selling marijuana.”
Rucker had a gambling addiction. One that caused him to embezzle more than $110 thousand from non-profits he oversaw that promoted nonviolence.
“There was nothing done about the gambling addiction as far as the legal system is concerned,” he said.
Rucker said he had to find addiction help on his own, and that he has been clean of gambling for 38 months.
Now 70, he still wants to be of service.
“It’s always been my belief that I should be using what I’ve learned, and who I am, and the trust that people had in me, to make Cleveland and this community a better place,” he said.
He does not rule out a book.
In addition to talking about criminal justice, he is also passionate about raising awareness on football concussions, such as the kind he suffers from.