I was born and raised in the projects of Hoboken, NJ by Puerto Rican parents who were loosely Catholic. While I felt loved by both mom and dad, my dad had a temper and a wandering eye. To protect herself and me, mom left my dad when I was eight. My broken home and broken heart left me with a great need to belong; I satisfied that need by joining a gang. By junior high, I was drinking and smoking weed. By my freshman year in high school, I was selling cocaine and other drugs. And I was good at it. I was known as New York J. I was somebody. When I heard about an opportunity to make big bucks on the Texas/Mexico border, I left two ex-wives and three kids behind and moved south with dreams of becoming the Texas version of Scarface. But I wasn’t as slick as I thought I was. The law caught up with me in the Lone Star state. Convicted of selling meth, I spent 10 years in prison in Breckenridge, TX. 

And that’s where my life changed. For the better. That’s crazy, right? But it was in prison that I found Jesus and He changed my heart. While I was in prison I studied the Bible and when I got out, I connected with Calvary Commission in Lindale, TX. Calvary Commission not only prepared me for the pastorate, but also prepared me for a post-crime, post-prison life. I was a transformed man. God led me to Johnathan. I began to disciple him—in part because I had a son named Jonathan whom I hadn’t seen in 19 years.  Johnathan introduced me to his mom named, you guessed it, Ruthy (My Baby Ruth) whom I had begun writing while I was incarcerated. We met, we married, and we blended our six kids into one amazing family. Crazy again, right?

In 2010, I founded Wrapped in the Love of Christ Ministry and in 2013 I launched Get Wrapped Church in Spring, TX. The MISSION of both the ministry and the church is to make Christ known by the way we love everywhere we go. Through the years I have witnessed thousands of incarcerated minds set free, broken hearts restored, and families reconciled to one another. More craziness.

Today, I have a wonderful wife and family, an honorary doctorate, a thriving evangelistic/apostolic prison ministry, an effective and growing marriage ministry, and multiple books in publication. Me – former drug addict, former meth dealer, former prisoner. From Dope Dealer to Hope Dealer. That’s crazy, right? No, that’s God.