AB 2147 Success Story: Jose Santana
By: Anti-Recidivism Coalition, Arc
Tags: Hope, Hearts And Minds, Firefighting, Prison Reform, Fire

Jose Santana at the beach with his family in freedom.

We’re thrilled to share with our community an amazing AB 2147 success story. Please meet Jose Santana, an alum of Ventura Training Center (VTC) and the first person to receive an AB 2147 expungement earlier this year. We want to thank Asm. Eloise Reyes and all the advocates who helped pass AB 2147 so that lives and futures can be transformed. Hear Jose’s story in his own words!

“Originally from Los Angeles, I was sitting in Santa Barbara County Jail from January 15, 2017 to November 17, 2017. I had no idea what I was going to do with my life. It seemed over, and I was getting older and I was going to be going to prison for a fair amount of time at 85%. I started talking to the other individuals that had been to prison. It was going to be my first time going and they were trying to “lace me up” on prison. The one thing I kept hearing was that I should go to fire camp. Better food, more privileges, you got to go out and work. I even heard that if you really tried you could maybe get a job as a firefighter one day. I felt I was getting older and running out of career choices. So I made the decision to do everything I could to get to fire camp once I got to prison.

I was at fire camp, Mountain Home Conservation Camp #10 in Springville, CA. I arrived July 12 2018, and left (paroled) December 25 2019. I was on Crew 2, Lead Saw.

I’m doing fire work now because it has given me self confidence and self worth that I feel I used to lack. Nowadays I hold my head up high and take pride in everything I do because what I do has value that I truly appreciate. I’m no longer hurting the community, I’m giving back to it. I’m constantly humbled when I see my friends, family and strangers and they thank me for my service. I get a bit embarrassed by it to be honest.

Santana at work.

I saw this quote in jail, and it really stuck with me: ‘Things work out best, for those who make the best of how things work out.’ I was tired of doing bad, and when I finally got to fire camp, and CAL-FIRE believed in us, trusted us and made us feel worthwhile my life changed. I’ll always be so thankful to all my Captains along the way who believed in me, and helped me get into Ventura Training Center. Not to mention the Captains at VTC who are just amazing people and continued to help us better ourselves mentally, physically, and educationally. I can’t say enough good things about CAL-FIRE. It’s just an absolutely amazing agency who has helped change my life for the better.

Santana with his family on Christmas.

I came home on Christmas Day 2019. My original release date was for late January 2020. I worked really hard and did all the available credits so that I could get time off my sentence. I wanted to be home before Christmas so that I wouldn’t miss another one with my kids. Since coming home it’s been amazing, but also hard at times. I hadn’t seen my kids for over 3 years. They were 8 and 11 when I got out, both are boys. I hadn’t spoken to their Mother since September of 2016, and my boys since that time also. It was a bit difficult with them at first.

When I was locked up, I wasn’t able to talk to my children, but I remembered the movie “The Notebook.” I was able to get a hold of a few composition notebooks, and so every day for 3 years (35 months) I would take a few minutes to write to my children about how my day was, and let them know that I missed them. Even on fires I carried a notebook in my fire pack so that I could write to them when we were sleeping on the mountain. I just never wanted my kids to think that I didn’t love them, or think about them all the time. Anyways after the initial few months, it was a bit of a struggle, them testing their boundaries. We’ve settled into a relationship that is so wonderful. We talk everyday through phone or through text. I have an amazing relationship with their mother. Now that I’m doing the firefighter thing, she’s started doing EMT. She’s currently getting her EMT license. I never imagined that my life could be this wonderful. There’s still bumps in the road, but there’s so many resources I have nowadays that come to my aid to help, ARC being one of them.

I am so fortunate to be granted this AB-2147 expungement. It was such an amazing feeling to stand before the same judge that sentenced me, only to have him congratulate me and thank me for what I do now. I’m currently almost done getting my associates degree in Fire Technology from Allan Hancock College. With this expungement I will be able to do EMT classes and hopefully get my EMT license upon completion. Over the summer of 2020 I was on the road for 60 days on most of the major fires. Creek Fire, El Dorado Fire, LNU lightning complex, and River Fire. I was able to work with the Santa Maria Fire Department, which is where my kids and kids’ mom live, and they encouraged me to apply. However with a felony I would not be able to work for a municipal fire department. Now I have a shot at being a firefighter paramedic and if I ever choose to, work for a municipal fire department.

Jose biking with his family.

At this moment in 2021, I’m in Kern County on a fire, and have been so for 40 days. My future goals are to stay on with CAL-FIRE, and someday hopefully become a Captain, to finish my fire technology classes and get my associates degree in Fire technology. Lastly to get my EMT license and become a Firefighter Paramedic.”