GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Prison consulting is an unregulated business for which some ex-cons and former prison employees charge thousands of dollars.
The service provides inside information to people heading to lockup in order to make life behind bars better. Now a consulting group from West Michigan, RDAP Law Consultants, is facing prison time.
Tony Tuan Pham and Samuel CopenHaver of Grand Rapids, along with Constance Moerland of Hudsonville,are being charged. They’re accused of taking thousands from people and telling them to lie in order to get out early. The early release comes with getting into the Residential Drug Abuse Program, or RDAP.
24 Hour News 8 went to the defendants’ listed addresses in Grand Rapids and Hudsonville, but no one would answer the door. All three are charged with conspiring to defraud the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
"You had me flat out lie and make up stories that were not true and I told you all along that I did not feel comfortable with that," said a woman who identified herself as Lyn during an alleged recorded phone call with RDAP Law Consultants. "I could not do it."
"Right," replied the man on the other end of the line, who said his name was Anh Nguyen – although investigators say his real name is Tony Tuan Pham.
"You are telling me to go get drugs. I told you that I do not feel comfortable doing these things," said Lyn during the call that was played on a YouTube channel called "RDAP Dan."
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