Lars Peterson, a convicted felon, will graduate from Virginia Tech in May with a civil engineering degree.
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Lars Peterson left his future in a cemetery near the James River.
Or at least it seemed that way. One hour on Feb. 27, 2000, branded him a convicted felon. And in that downtown Richmond cemetery, Peterson realized he was lost.
He spent nearly eight years in state prison, where he dedicated himself to education. After accumulating 11 certifications and an associate’s degree while incarcerated, Peterson pursued a four-year college education after his release.
Next month, at the age of 30, he will graduate from Virginia Tech with a civil engineering degree.
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He really was lost in the cemetery. He didn’t know where he had been until he read about his crime in news reports.
Peterson had arrived in the cemetery aimlessly. He graduated from Fairfax County’s James Madison High School in 1998 — the year his current Tech classmates were making the leap to third grade. He decided to attend Virginia Commonwealth University in downtown Richmond. But he admits learning wasn’t a priority.
“I had a hefty weed smoking habit and was an experimenter,” Peterson said. “So, I got pretty much involved with the people who were up nights partying, doing various types of substances, and I tried a few here and there. I didn’t really focus too much on school.”
By winter break of his sophomore year, Peterson had begun to grow his own marijuana. He says a friend who doubled as his drug dealer stole drugs from his house over the break, and then socialized with him several times before Peterson and his friends figured out he had taken the drugs. Peterson was enraged.
“Me and a couple of my buddies came up with this plan to rob him,” he said. “And we went through with it a week before the spring break that year and robbed him for about ten grand. There were a bunch of people involved.”
On that night in late February, Peterson and his friends donned masks and broke into an apartment in the student-populated Fan District of Richmond. Peterson carried a machete he had acquired in Guatemala. His friends carried a sawed-off shotgun and a lug wrench.
They abducted the man Peterson said took his drugs. They drove one friend’s blue Chevy Blazer to the large cemetery along the James River. At this point, none of them knew where they were. Panicked, one friend said, “Calm down, Lars.”
The misstep would eventually help identify Peterson as the culprit and send him to prison.
They left the man in the cemetery. Peterson said his outlook began to change immediately after that night.
“I had come to the understanding that my lifestyle and the things I was doing, and the way I was going through with things wasn’t working — and wasn’t going to work. I needed a real solution, a real plan for the future.”
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“Good morning, my name is Lars Peterson, and I used to be a dumbass.”
He doesn’t wax poetic about his turnaround. He pursued a plan for the future. His initial pursuit of a four-year college degree will come to an end when he grasps a civil engineering diploma next month.
He looks unassuming standing before Tech instructor Laura Agnich’s criminology class, but his introduction lightens the mood. This is not part of his rapid ascent from prison roll call to graduation name reading. This is to help the more common felon, the repeat offender slouched in a cell waiting for chow time.
He is not the average guest speaker. He is an ex-felon, a convicted criminal, in a room full of students considering careers in law enforcement.
Peterson actually asked to speak to the class. He began by e-mailing Agnich and sitting in on the class. Then, he approached her about giving a guest lecture.
Even though they had spoken numerous times, Agnich only knew that Peterson had “years of experience with the criminal justice system.” Like most people he meets, she didn’t ask. But after talking to him and hearing his story, she agreed to let him speak.
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A version of this article appeared in the Apr 14 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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Great feature, kudos to the author and the subject.
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A felony conviction and a penchant for weed.
Why didn't he try out for the VT football team?
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Good Feature...But PLEASE proof-read numerous spelling and grammatical errors.
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I read this article in the print version and was shocked to find how irresponsible and deceptive the headline was for the article. “Ex-felon” was blown up to about 100 point font while “moves forward” was written in about 16 point font within the arrow that the E and X forms. By doing this, you are highlighting the negative aspects of the article, and not how this person has turned himself around and is accomplishing something great. Obviously having “ex-felon” in large print makes people pick up the newspaper, but for all the wrong reasons. Highlight his accomplishments within the title of the article, not the fact that he used to be a criminal. He took his time to sit down and talk to you, so give him some respect.
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I 100% agree with the above comment. I too saw the print article (after reading it online) and thought the exact thing! This is an amazing story about how someone has turned their life around. I was shocked by the contrast in font sizes in the headline.
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Valid point, also not sure why EX was subjoined to felon to begin with. Until he's pardoned then he's technically still a felon.
Also to Lars, congrats on making something out of your life. Maybe you could go give this hubbert kid a pep talk.
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Agree completely -- Very amateur, especially considering the article was from an editor of the paper. I'd question if it was even needed to provide a chart of his offenses as well. I wonder how Lars appreciated the layout selected...
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I am glad to see that Lars turned his life around in the manner he did. It goes to show that an individual, can with determination, get out of a dead end and make something of their lives.
Having a violent felony conviction is unfortunately going to make his job search in his field very, very difficult.
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I agree. It's all well and good that Lars turned his life around, but it was a mistake for VT to accept him. I can guarantee that a violent, thieving felon (not an ex-felon) will have a near-zero chance of landing a respectable job after he graduates. Essentially he is going to be an extremely overqualified burger-flipper. A family friend of mine, with several decades of high-level government/corporate experience was recently convicted of a non-violent felony and is now out of work when he was once choosing between job offer. Needless to say, Lars is screwed.
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Maybe this fellow can end up opening a consulting business of sorts. No need to answer to a boss who wants to perform a background check. It won't be easy, but I don't think this guy is destined to be an overqualified burger flipper.
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Maybe this fellow can end up opening a consulting business of sorts. No need to answer to a boss who wants to perform a background check. It won't be easy, but I don't think this guy is destined to be an overqualified burger flipper.
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Yes, I was exaggerating. Actually a lot of the economically successful felons open up their own businesses in order to get around the problems they face trying to get a foothold in the work force. Still, it will be an uphill battle if he does, since he is less likely to find a job he won't be going into his own business with much viable experience under his belt, also he will have a difficult time securing a loan for one.
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Anybody reading this well after the fact might want to know that I did get a job for an engineering firm on my first interview. So all yal haters can eat it. Thanks to VT for doing their homework and letting me in and letting me complete a degree that has led to employment. Go HOKIES!!
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Congratulations Lars! People have no faith..I think it's awesome what you have done and I believe that felon or not, there is always someone out there willing to give those deserving of it another chance. Good luck in your new and well deserving life!
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Wow, Lars, terrific attitude and I am amazed at some of the comments on here about how you are screwed. Bottom line is, your attitude and entrepreneurial mindset is what is going to help you be a success in the long run. I would take the advice of some of the more enlightening comments on here and network like mad, set yourself up as a consultant, and continue to not listen to haters! There are so many folks out there who have been in your situation, thanks for sharing. Kudos also to the writer of the article.
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This was one of the better written pieces I have seen in a long time come from the CT.
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Really good story content. It really does show you that people have the ability to change their lives around no matter how low the situation gets. I agree with the comment that the editor was somewhat tacky for putting "EX-FELON" in huge font but the content of the article itself was solid.
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Really good story content. It really does show you that people have the ability to change their lives around no matter how low the situation gets. I agree with the comment that the editor was somewhat tacky for putting "EX-FELON" in huge font but the content of the article itself was solid.
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Really good story content. It really does show you that people have the ability to change their lives around no matter how low the situation gets. I agree with the comment that the editor was somewhat tacky for putting "EX-FELON" in huge font but the content of the article itself was solid.
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Seriously, Grow up.
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Why? Its funny to me and i'm sure other people had a little chuckle. I'm not the one that forced him to get in trouble with the Law.
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I thought it was funny, someone had to make that joke eventually
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I bet he went in a hole the size of a dime and came out like a silver dollar.
He looks like someone's girlfriend.... they probably turned him into community property
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How was he able to play basketball in McComas before he was a student?
And, from the article, “I just had a lot of trouble wrapping my mind around the concept that one hour of being an idiot cost me seven or eight years of my life,”...um, no offense, dude, but it put you on a new life-path, no?
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It did indeed put him on a new life path, but that is one of the things you realize AFTER it's all overwith. I'm sure it's hard to realize something like that while you are sitting in a jail cell. And you can say that all you want but the truth is, none of us will ever truly know what it's like to lose eight years of our lives. Even if you have the best life afterwards it still has to be pretty tough to think about that.
But anyways, congratulations to Lars, you truly are an inspiration.
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He's still a felon...not an Xfellon. Going to VT doesn't expunge your record.
Seems like the university is getting desperate...I thought only felons with athletic talents were admitted to VT. The military used to take felons etc. Now the military won't take a criminole. Hard to believe, VT is less selective that the military.
At least the military has a means of dealing with criminoles...friendly fire.
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So you believe that anyone who does their time with absolutely no problems does not deserve to have a second chance? What the hell is the point of letting them out then if you think they shouldn't get a second chance? It would be a crying shame to waste this guy's potential to be something great just because he made a mistake at 19. Don't act like you've never made a mistake before, Mr. Holier-Than-Thou
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There's a few things in life you do and cannot undo. Committing a felony should be among those things.
Its a sad fact but nowadays committing a felony usually leads to a slap on the wrist and a don't do that again.
Ideally those who contemplate committing a felony should as themselves a serious question...do I feel lucky today?
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@Harry Callahan, there's certainly more than a few, and his felony is undone although a pardon is possible but not probably not realistic. A slap on the wrist? hardly, the guy spent 8 years in jail! If anything, people are so used to hearing steep jail sentences so they sound like nothing and consequentially jail sentences go up and up. According to the law he served his time and his status is not undone. He's doing with his life exactly what you would want somebody who's committed a serious crime and isn't spending the rest of his life in jail to do ... making something of it. Nobody can complain or hate on that.
He served his time by law, and now he's got the rest of his life to do what he wants with it like you or me. that's freedom, don't hate it.
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* "his felony is NOT undone" (typo)
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Thanks to those who showed respect, love and to those that made jokes. A sense of humor will take you far. To those who criticize VT, or think the system works, or has a problem with redemption needs some life experience. Your time will come and maybe you will see that things don't work the way you think they do.
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lars i would love to talk to you about your story... im currently going through the same situation as i type this post. is there anyway of contacting you??
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I have to say, I was very pleasantly surprised to read this in the CT. It's a great story that made me remember that not all felonies are a drain on society. Kudos to Lars and best of luck with his future endeavors.
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I have to say, I was very pleasantly surprised to read this in the CT. It's a great story that made me remember that not all felonies are a drain on society. Kudos to Lars and best of luck with his future endeavors.
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Thanks for the inspiration, Lars. I am also an engineering major with a felony. Hope is never lost.
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I am very inspired by this story and was just talking to my 18 year old brother (who is a felon) yesterday because he has talked for many years about just giving up because he is "only going to end up in prison." He has been in and out of jail for violating his parole and has been to treatment 5+ times since he was 13 and last year he was convicted of armed robbery in a grocery store. He is my baby brother and I try to tell him to think of what he would like to do with his life (or to dream), but he thinks that he has no chance of doing anything because of his conviction. This is the story I needed to read. Thank you Lars!!
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My situation is almost exactly the same as Mr Peterson. When I was 23 I was convicted of marijuana cultivation. I served two years in prison and was released in June of 2008. After my release I enrolled into community college. I am currently enrolled in the Civil Engineering Program at California State University, Sacramento. I am an honors student with a 3.6 GPA and plan to graduate in Spring of 2013. Though I am one semester away from graduation I am very worried about my future. In California you can only expunge a felony if you were sent to county jail, not prison. Thus, my record will forever be open to background checks. I have already been turned down from one job due to a background check and since the majority of civil engineering jobs are through the state and private corporation background checks will be mandatory. I have great cause for concern and I don't know what I am supposed to do after I finish college. I hope the story that Mr. Peterson and I share will bring more awareness to this problem.
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My situation is almost exactly the same as Mr Peterson. When I was 23 I was convicted of marijuana cultivation. I served two years in prison and was released in June of 2008. After my release I enrolled into community college. I am currently enrolled in the Civil Engineering Program at California State University, Sacramento. I am an honors student with a 3.6 GPA and plan to graduate in Spring of 2013. Though I am one semester away from graduation I am very worried about my future. In California you can only expunge a felony if you were sent to county jail, not prison. Thus, my record will forever be open to background checks. I have already been turned down from one job due to a background check and since the majority of civil engineering jobs are through the state and private corporation background checks will be mandatory. I have great cause for concern and I don't know what I am supposed to do after I finish college. I hope the story that Mr. Peterson and I share will bring more awareness to this problem.
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Network, network, network! Do not give up on your goals and aspirations. It will not be easy, but as Lars and this terrific story demonstrated, it can be done. Also, I believe in CA you can apply for a Certificate of Rehabilitation. It helps to have that (you can speak to a criminal attorney) and I believe you have to be crime-free and an upstanding member of the community for a specific period of time before you can even apply (ie 5 years).
At first, you may have to apply for jobs you are clearly overqualified for to pay bills, but think outside the box. As someone here posted, you can set yourself up as a "consultant", maybe gain field experience while still a student, then create a kick-ass Linked In profile and have folks with a human resources background give their opinion on it to help present you in the best light. A degree is better than no degree at all. Good luck!
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A degree will only help not hurt you; besides the debt. In respects to finding work, look to make connections, if you don't, you are your own enemy. The world is empathetic to people who practice empathy. Having despair for your future might mean that you judge others and yourself to harshly. Life is real and so is a higher-power. Pray and have faith: give up control, let life happen and don't look back or forward. Best wishes
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