WXYZ's Andrea Isom Interviews SADO's Pete Martel

Pete Martel recently passed the Michigan Bar Exam. That is an outstanding accomplishment for anyone. But for Pete, the accomplishment is exceptional; Pete spent over 14 years, from 1994 to 2008, in prison for crimes including armed robbery and attempted escape. In a recent interview with Andrea Isom on WXYZ, Pete tells the story of his incredible journey from behind bars to near membership in the Michigan Bar. In the interview, Pete tells how his turnaround began when he started thinking about how his past actions affected the lives of those around him. He began to study law, and he became a legal writer, helping other inmates pursuing their appeals. He says, “I felt like maybe somewhere down the road, once I get released, maybe I’ll go to law school, and maybe I’ll end up at SADO someday.” As Ms. Isom notes in the interview, “Dreams do come true.” After his release from prison, Pete worked for American Friends Service Committee in Ann Arbor and then went to law school at Wayne State University in Detroit. After graduating in 2016, he began working as a mitigation specialist at SADO. “One of my greatest accomplishments is hiring someone like Pete, I feel, empowering him to do what he does,” SADO Director Dawn Van Hoek adds in the interview. We congratulate Pete on his exceptional accomplishments, and we anticipate Pete’s accomplishments to come as a licensed attorney who knows what it’s like to make mistakes and turn them around. Watch Pete’s WXYZ interview, Prison to Prosperity.