Greetings, Fellow Humans!
There are three reasons for this post:
- to come clean about my colorful criminal history,
- to announce the publication of my memoir and podcast, and
- to give y’all a hint of what’s next in this, my daredevil life.
“Rumours of my death
have been greatly exaggerated.”
— Mark Twain
PART 1: CRIME & PUNISHMENT
Let’s start with the easy part: You may have wondered why I’ve been mostly offline since 2017. The reason is pretty simple: that summer, as I was strolling through the international terminal of LAX, about to board a flight to Berlin, I was surrounded and tackled by a full scrum of CBP agents; cuffed, detained, and arrested for bank robbery. More than $40,000 cash was seized from my luggage. I spent the next 6 months awaiting trial in the high-security wing of Orange County Jail, held on a million-dollar bail. After paying a small fortune to a private lawyer, I was graciously released to probation… but I hadn’t learned my lesson yet…
In August 2018, en route to Burning Man — my SUV packed full with camping gear, sound equipment, crazy costumes & party favors — I was captured at gunpoint atop Mount Rose by a joint task force of the FBI and the Washoe County Sheriffs. This time they weren’t messing around — I was charged with 3 bank robberies spanning two federal districts, and looking at a maximum sentence of 60 years. I was eventually, by the Grace of God, sentenced to a miraculous 5-1/2 years in federal prison. But after multiple failed escape attempts, I was deemed a high security risk, and assigned to the savage yard of USP Beaumont – a Level 5 Max Federal Penitentiary. That’s where I served the majority of my sentence, alongside some of the most notorious gangsters in America.
PART 2: PIRATE SOLDIER KING
I re-entered the free world in 2023 and took up residence in Santa Monica, where I have been busy rebuilding my relationships, my faith, and my life — and diligently transcribing the wild journey of those last 10 years into a page-turning memoire.
Pirate Soldier King is that book. It details my wild ride as a successful start-up founder, my shocking and rapid descent into the dark world of bank robbery, my long and painful journey through the labyrinth of the federal prison system, and my present and ongoing walk along the road to redemption.
The book is available for pre-order now:
Visit https://PirateSoldierKing.com
to secure your copy and to download three free chapters.
We’ve also created a companion podcast that expounds on the ideas, themes, characters and stories explored in the book.
Please view / listen / like / subscribe:
Video: https://www.youtube.com/@PirateSoldierKing
Audio: https://podcast.piratesoldierking.com
Which logically brings us to…
PART 3: WHAT’S NEXT?
It’s true, I took a highly unconventional path through this adventure we call life… and my journey is not even halfway done! The first half was a helluva roller coaster… and I’m even MORE excited about what comes next.
From my perspective, I am following the Hero’s Journey to the best of my abilities. I feel strongly that the depths of my transgressions will be balanced by the gifts of my future endeavors. And what will those be? Put simply, I entered prison a selfish capitalist. I came out a dedicated servant of the people. It is now my intent to serve my community, my nation, my species, my planet and Yahweh, with every ounce of energy I have left in this mind, body and soul.
So next you might ask: “How?” Well: I am starting with the publication of this book and podcast. And while arguably those merely relate an entertaining narrative about crime and punishment, I happen to believe that my journey through the depths of the criminal justice system uncovered some deep gems of wisdom… wisdom that the majority of my community (most of y’all!) have not been exposed or privy to in your lives. During my lengthy incarceration, I learned a tremendous amount: about honor, integrity, humility, service, leadership, wisdom, spirituality, communication, physical fitness, combat and manhood, to name just a few.
This wisdom is implicitly embedded within the narratives of the book. But it is also my mission to explicitly extract the lessons, the wisdom teachings, and to communicate them to the world. Having actively participated in pushing the leading edge of technology, including AI, for more than 2 decades, and then being thrown into the luddite depths of the US Prison system, I feel I have alchemized a unique worldview that bridges quite a few social, cultural, and economic strata — and will prove of great value to humanity.
In parallel, we are launching a non-profit foundation to a) prevent at-risk youth from ever entering the criminal justice system, and b) to give inmates who are already tangled up in it the tools they need to reform/transform into active, healthy, productive members of society. 10% of the proceeds of the book will go directly to funding this foundation.
This all starts with a speaking tour. I plan to speak at TEDx this summer as the kickoff event, and we will see where it goes from there. I’m excited to share this journey with all of you, and have deep gratitude for all that you, my community, have contributed to my life… in terms of time, energy, inspiration, companionship, and shared experiences along the way.
Excelsior!
Gregory Roberts
Santa Monica, California
March 31, 2025
PS – I have also been actively pursuing my new passion of mountaineering / alpinism since re-entering the free world. If any of you want to climb a big mountain anytime soon, hit me up! Let’s go!!!
#Memoir
#TrueStory
#PirateSoldierKing
#TrueCrime
#TrueCrimeCommunity
#CrimeWriting
#MustRead
#WritersOfLinkedIn
#IndieAuthor
#Storytelling
#BookLaunch
#NonfictionBooks
#CrimeAndPunishment
#GoPlayOutside
#EveryDayIsAWindingRoad
#TurnThePage
photo credit: Suzanne Rigdon. “Gregory jumps for joy, seeing the ocean again for the first time since his emancipation.” — October 29, 2022 — Seal Beach, CA