Join us as we chat with Matt Melvin, who turns his own challenges into a narrative of resilience and empowerment. From navigating the complexities of being on the autism spectrum to battling the stigmas of impulsivity and societal judgment, Matt’s journey is nothing short of extraordinary. He’s not just sharing a story; he’s breaking the silence around mental health and the prison system, showing us how vulnerability can lead to true freedom.

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Impulsivity is the shadow of being autistic and being on the Asperger's spectrum, and it's a constant battle. Even today, there's a constant battle.

This guest knows what it feels like.

To be judged by labels and trapped by them.

Matt Melvin spent time in prison after a series of impulsive decisions connected to struggles with mental health and being on the autism spectrum.

What followed was isolation, fear, bullying, and.

A system that often punishes people long after their sentence is over.

Instead of hiding his story, Matt wrote a book, bullied Behind a G Trump Supporter Goes to Prison, exposing what happened behind bars and what it means to rebuild your identity afterward.

It's also a conversation about vulnerability, men's work masks, and the freedom that comes when you finally tell the truth about who you are.

It's about empathy, accountability, and human connection, which actually creates change.

Here's Matt Melvin.

Instead of going through the mental health court, Judge Jeffrey Crawford and Bob Wolford both decided I didn't meet the criteria. Despite the fact that I have autism. I'm on the Asperger's spectrum. I knew Bob Wohlford. I saw him at Howard Mental Health.

If I had been allowed to go through the mental health court, we may not be talking today. I may not have a criminal record. Instead, I did 18 months, came out, couldn't find a job, couldn't pass a background check.

And what was that indictment for?

It was for aggravated identity theft. That was the charge. And then there was another charge of lying to a probation officer. But that's a little bit. That's a story, too.

I was on federal probation, supervision, doing everything I needed to do.

They added an additional condition onto my release that said, if I find an employer, I needed to tell them about the ramifications of hiring a convicted felon.

Oh, wow.

Nice.

That kind of feels like you're singled out, doesn't it?

Really, it does.

Once again, I was put in a corner and pretended to be the employer and called Parrish Gibson and told her that I knew that Melvin, me was on probation, which is sort of a. It's a history that when I'm pointed in a corner, I feel like there's no way out.

And I make these impulsive decisions without clearly thinking through the consequences. And it just gets worse.

Well, you're desperate, right? You're stuck in a corner. You feel there's no easy way out. And I guess you manipulate or lie your way out. Cause you're stuck.

And scared.

Understandable.

Scared, lonely feeling like the world is against me. Why did I deserve this? Why am I being singled out? And again, it goes back to feeling bullied by the system, by the dealership people in general.

How does.

You mentioned mental health. How does your autism and being on the spectrum factor into this? You know, obviously, you've been raised by your family.

You've had a grounding, an upbringing. But mental health really has an impact on your capacity. Doesn't.

Does. Impulsivity is the shadow of being autistic and being on the Asperger spectrum. And it's a constant battle. Even today, there's a constant battle.

But you were diagnosed properly, right?

Yes, I've been diagnosed when I was 35.

And that was not accounted for when you were convicted or when you were indicted.

Our attorney tried to present evidence. The judge would not hear any of it.

The other thing I wanted to bring to your attention is in the state case and in the federal case, Judge Jeffrey Crawford was the judge in both cases.

Oh, wow.

So I don't think that there's another case where somebody 12 years apart would have the same judge.

That's bizarre.

Yeah. There's some bias.

I guess that's where you're getting at. A conspiracy.

Yes. I also believe that Aaron Noble, the former police chief, was involved as well.

I don't believe that the government would have ever come after me if I didn't have prior theft convictions on my record.

Hmm.

I also feel like the government was trying to make an example out of me.

Were you given any support, any someone to help you with this? A counselor, a psychiatrist? Anyone to shepherd you through the system?

That's a great question. I've never been asked that. Dr. Eric Drogan wrote a very compelling report. I don't believe that it was even looked at, even considered.

That's a lot to process.

This podcast is, you know, about how we present ourselves to the world externally and internally, the personal narrative that we create and we modify and run with through life. You must have had a lot to process and have gone through some difficult exploration of yourself through this, huh?

I did.

How did you get into men's work and what do you get from men's work? What are the sort of the practices?

How did I get into it? That's a good question. I actually found out about it from a recruiter for a job I was applying for. We ended up having a great conversation.

He told me about this group. I won't name the group because I'm no longer a part of it. Jumped in headfirst, didn't know what to expect.

And for me, it was a eye opening experience and something that I treasure today because I had seen probably 35 therapists in my life and really didn't find it helpful until I started doing men's work and going to a weekend and having other men be vulnerable on the carpet and share their experiences. I was able to connect with them and see that we really are connected in parts.

They may not share the same exact story, but men are sharing about being raped or being molested. Things that a lot of men are not comfortable doing.

Yeah, and that holding that down and stuffing that down keeps that male Persona, that male toxicity, and that allowed you to grow in a different way. Vulnerability is scary, isn't it? But there's freedom in that.

For me, it was very scary in the beginning, but as I connected with other men and hearing their stories, I was able to open up myself as well.

Is that when you wrote the book?

No, I wrote the book when I was in federal prison. 10 Institutions, 4 states, 16 months in federal prison, and then a month and a half and a halfway house. That's where I wrote my book.

Your book has some pretty graphic excerpts in it. Has it gone to the prisons? Have they read it? Has anybody come back to you and been accountable for your experiences there to.

No, nobody's been held accountable for anything that's happened.

So nobody's reacted to the book.

Oh, people have reacted, but nobody from the prison, nobody from law enforcement, Nobody from the U.S. attorney's office has reacted. People in Shelburne have reacted, and not in a positive way.

I think one of the reasons I wanted to write my book is to expose that this can happen in a small town like Shelburne, Vermont. It doesn't have to take place in big cities. It happens right here. It's happening still today.

So their reaction, if it wasn't supportive at all, what was the reaction?

Condescending. Calling me out for being a felon.

Huh?

How do you handle that? Because, you know, you've been. You've had a rough road, and now the people in your community aren't even supporting you. So that must.

That must really hit hard.

What other people think of me is none of my business. The world can think whatever they want. They haven't been through the experiences that I've been through.

I believe that when I wrote my book, I was holding people accountable for their actions. And it was also a way for me to no longer wear masks, no longer present one way at work, one way at home, and not really know who I was.

And I feel like a lot of people I know wear masks and pretend to be somebody that they're not. And really, they don't know who they are. Because I have good friends that do this all day, every day.

Oh, yeah. That's an empowering approach. That's very wise. But that's a big leap to get there from where you were.

It was until I started loving myself, forgiving myself, allowing myself to repair and move on and not get out of victim mode. It's very easy to play victim about everything. And I could play victim today, but it doesn't serve me. Instead, I consider myself a thriver.

Yeah, that's true resilience. You have come out the other side, and that's amazing that you got there.

And you've taken such a deep, devastating impact to your personal being and turned that into something positive. And by sharing that, you're allowing people to see. As you said, you've taken off that mask.

It must feel freeing for you and has given you a new direction. I'm sure of it.

Yes. I mean, my dream is to get on stages and speak about autism. I think there's a real benefit to it.

I think a lot of people make this assumption that all autistic people are not high function I'm high functioning autistic. However, I still have challenges, just like everybody else has challenges.

So give us some example of autism. In terms of maybe your behavior, what do you notice?

People will complain that I reach out to them a lot. So what I feel is an appropriate amount of time to reach out another person might perceive as being a pest.

And can you manage that? Have you learned techniques to manage some of the strategies around those?

Each person is different. So what one person perceives as reaching out too much, another person might perceive as not.

What I've learned is to tell people early on that I'm autistic and I'm on the Asperger's spectrum. That way there's no confusion because it will become apparent very quickly. If I don't tell them, they'll think something's wrong, something's off.

Well, and that takes confidence, that takes vulnerability, going back to what you talked about before, and that allows someone else to really understand and feel empathetic towards what you're going through. That's helpful.

I've had a friend for 35 years. I doubt very many people have had friendships for that long.

Well, Kevin and I are lucky. We've known each other for how many years? Quite a few.

Yeah, I think we're 40 years. We got you beat a little bit there, Matt, but that's awesome.

But I get it. And those people are really important in your life. You know, they're your backbone. You talked about your mom a lot. How's she?

Where is she in your journey?

She is very difficult to manage. She lives in fear. Fear dictates her every. Every step of the way.

Is it fear about losing you, what you've gone through? Cause that must have been really hard for her and for you.

It's fear about exposing people in high offices. In the book, it's fear that she can't control me. It's fear that she holds on to a lot of resentment, anger.

Oh, sure, I'm a mom, too. And so if this happened to my boy, I probably could empathize a lot with your mom.

Because you don't want to see your child hurt or going through what you've gone through. So that must be hard for you, too, to watch her go through that.

It was, again, a show of force.

So where do you think the system has gone so wrong? Besides individuals you're holding accountable? What do you think is wrong that puts people like you in this position.

Mental health is a big problem. This country locks up more people than almost every other country combined. Louisiana locks up more people than any other state in the us.

Their crime rate has not reduced at all. We've learned that locking people in a cell is not the solution. I realize that in some cases, whenever it's violent, it is the solution.

Non violent, it is not the solution. But I gotta be frank with you, it's never gonna change. People are incentivized. Cops are incentivized to get arrest.

Lawyers are incentivized to get convictions. Judges are incentivized to move up and get a higher position. You know, look, the judge in my case went from a state judge to a federal judge.

Right?

Wow, that's disturbing. You know, I can't believe that you've been able to process because I'd be sitting in high resentment and anger.

It's very easy to go to those. But it doesn't serve me in the end. And I always try to think in anything that I do, how is this serving me?

And I encourage each one of your listeners, when they're making a decision, think about is this serving me or. Or is this serving my ego?

That's wise.

Yeah, good point.

I have to confess though, that it doesn't sound like you have a very hopeful picture, at least of the country. And it's hard to get up every day without hope, isn't it?

I have hope that there will be more assistance for mental health. I think the biggest challenge is that once you're a convicted felon, people will label you as a felon.

That's the biggest change that needs to be made, is not calling somebody a felon. It's a demeaning comment to make.

I also just in interviewing for various jobs, I had a guy ask me one time after the interview if I was on any criminal list. I don't even know how to respond to that.

Yeah, well, it seems patently unfair that, you know, even if you weren't picked on and you did a crime and you were convicted and you did your time well, you did your time.

Yeah, should be the end of it.

But the way the system is built is that you're labeled that for life without a chance to show you've changed and to live a better life, you're sort of stuck forever, aren't you?

Once you have a felony on your record, it's very hard to get rid of it. It is, in my opinion, a death sentence. It eliminates you from a lot of jobs, it eliminates you from finding housing.

Wow.

Going, serving on a jury, going to the short line at the airport, owning a gun, adopting a child. All of these items that should be available to anyone is now limited.

And the other thing that I think is important is in my case, being charged with aggravated identity theft. If I was found guilty, there would be a two year minimum mandatory sentence. I was forced to take a plea.

The government has a 96% conviction rate in the federal system.

Oh, wow.

Wow.

So there's many others like you, I'm sure, who have been marginalized and under supported and who are in mental health situations that shouldn't be in prison, shouldn't be incarcerated.

I believe that prison is absolutely the last resort because there is no rehabilitation. In fact, most people that are in prison, that are of a minority, are victimized.

Instead of being rehabilitated, they're put in a worst case situation when they come out.

Yeah, that seems so clear, doesn't it? And then you wonder, so why does the society do that? I guess it's a feeling that somebody's got to pay and the society feels better when.

When we lock up those people and make them pay. Right.

I agree with that.

But of course that's not about fixing people or helping or changing. Yeah, that's kind of sad. I noticed the title of your book identifies a few things. It identifies specifically Gay, Christian and Trump.

And I'm curious why you chose in your title the first thing we see to identify those things so strongly.

I wore masks for most of my life. This was my freedom from appeasing the world. I wanted to stand up and say who I am and not care about what other people think of me.

And do those three things you've listed, has it changed with everything you've gone through?

No, it's not changed at all. It's still the same.

Okay, and how about how those things contribute to the way your society functions? I'm curious if you're disappointed or mad or anything in terms of those things. You know, somehow the society's in a position it's in. Right.

And something contributed to creating this unfair world. You don't hold any of those accountable?

I hold it all accountable. I just don't hold resentment. Because if I have resentment, that prevents me from having God.

Anytime we are holding somebody else hostage, it prevents us from having a relationship with God. And through my experience, my faith only grew stronger.

I'm gonna say, you can be king. You can be king of the US And I'm gonna Say, what would you change?

How if you had the control and you didn't want this to happen to other people, what would you change first? What would you do to the system?

Fire everybody in office.

Okay, start, please.

That's a start.

Burn it down. And then what, Matt?

Start over. Allow men and women that are of low income to run for office. We live in a country where you have to be filthy rich in order to run for office.

Hmm.

Yeah. Okay, so you limit the dollar and.

How equalize the playing field and how.

You can run for office and put limitations on there.

Uh huh.

What else would you do to the system? Do you think that's gonna change it?

Religious studies in every single school. 10 Commandments in every single school. The Bible in every single school.

And what is that combating? What are you going against? Human nature.

Evil. Evil. Satan.

And I guess you're assuming that's kind of built into humans and we have to challenge it. We have to put up a wall to it or something. Right.

The human tendency is to get into the flesh and sin.

And so you would like to put up a block to that sin.

Yes.

Where are you now in your life in terms of. What is your focus? Are you working? What are you surrounding yourself with in terms of positivity? To support yourself?

Surrounding myself with positive people. I am in the process of removing negativity, negative people out of my life. My parents are always negative. It's very hard to get rid of them.

Yeah, it's true.

True of all of us.

Yep.

Yes.

You're stuck with your family that you were born with. Yeah.

Yes. Are you working?

In terms of my community, trying to find men and women in my life that can build me up and help me to get where I want to, and that is on stages sharing about autism, sharing my testimony, and inspiring other men and women to live their dreams.

Matt's willingness to stop hiding behind masks is courageous.

So many of us are performing versions of ourselves just to survive, while we.

Quietly feel disconnected, misunderstood, or ashamed.

Through Matt's story, we can find. Feel how vulnerability is terrifying, but it can also be freeing.

And it highlights that people deserve the grace to be seen for their growth, for their change. Each of us can transform.

Your past doesn't have to silence your future.

Your voice matters most when it comes from honesty, accountability, and lived experience.

Because when people feel seen instead of.

Labeled, real connection and real healing can begin.

Ignite.

My voice wants to support your growth so you can find your voice.

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Ignite my voice. Becoming unstoppable. Your voice is your superpower. Use it.