# What actually sends people back

Not new crimes, mostly. Technical violations, and the gap between telling your PO and getting caught.

## Not what you think — Not new crimes, mostly

People picture a return to prison as a new case. Usually it is not. It is a violation (breaking a release rule; can send you back) of the conditions you are already under.

- Missed check-ins.
- A failed drug test.
- Leaving the district without asking.
- Hanging around somebody else with a record when your conditions say you can't.
- Not reporting a new address or a new job.

Small stuff, and it stacks up.

## The pattern — How it actually goes wrong

The pattern is almost always the same. Something goes wrong. The person doesn't tell their probation officer (who supervises you after release). The PO finds out on their own.

Now it is a credibility problem instead of a paperwork problem, and those are not the same size.

## The one rule — Tell your PO before they find out

Every time.

The gap between self-reporting and getting caught is enormous, and it is the single biggest thing you control.

This is also the thing that decides whether [asking to end supervision early](/life-after-federal-prison/ending-supervised-release-early) is a conversation worth having. A clean record with one self-reported problem in it reads completely differently than a clean record with one concealed one.

### [Expungement, sealing, and pardons](/life-after-federal-prison/federal-expungement-and-pardons)

Federal convictions do not go away. There is no expungement, there is no sealing, and the people selling you otherwise are running a scam.

**Need help with this? Just ask.**

These pages cover the general rules. Your situation has details they don't. Email me a question. **Answers are free** , and "you don't need to pay anyone for this" is my most common answer.

[josh@federalprisondude.com](mailto:josh@federalprisondude.com?subject=Once%20you%27re%20out%20question)

I answer in the order received, usually within a couple of days. I have a day job. If your situation genuinely needs more than an email, I take a limited number of consults, so say so and we'll work it out.