Interesting look at what prison consultants advise as elites head to prison

This MarketWatch article, headlined "When the rich get sent to prison, they call these wise guys first," provides an interesting little looking into an interesting little segment of the "prison-industrial complex." Here is how the article gets started:

Former congressman Anthony Weiner cried when a judge sentenced him to 21 months in prison last week for sexting with a 15-year-old girl. Prison is tough and most felons have no idea what to expect. For a few thousand dollars, however, high-profile felons like Weiner can hire a “prison consultant” to help smooth the transition to life behind bars.

For non-violent criminals like Weiner and “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli — who’s now behind bars in a Brooklyn jail — prison “is a totally different environment than they’ve ever been, it’s crazy in there,” said Michael Frantz, director of Jail Time Consulting, who served 36 months in a federal facility for tax evasion.

“They come from a world where there’s order,” Frantz said. “They have people under them and tell them what to do. When you get into federal prison, you have no control whatsoever. In the real world, there’s order and rational thinking. In the Bureau of Prisons there’s absolutely no rational thinking.”

Weiner’s attorney didn’t respond to a question on whether he’s using a prison consultant, and neither did the lawyer for Shkreli, who was recently sent to a Brooklyn detention center while he awaits sentencing on fraud charges. But Weiner and Shkreli are just the type of convicts who typically use prison consultants. They’ve already helped the likes of Bernie Madoff and Martha Stewart.

What do these prison preppers do? A combination hand-holder, shoulder-to-cry-on, and red tape slicer, prison consultants prep future inmates for life behind bars, teach them how to make the best use of their time “on the inside,” and can even help inmates shave time off their sentences. Many of the consultants have been to prison themselves and know from personal experience how to navigate the Bureau of Prisons bureaucracy.

Prices for their services range from $500 for advocating for better medical care in prison to $20,000 for comprehensive post-prison consulting to help ex-inmates rebuild their lives by starting new businesses — in fields they’re not legally barred from working in — or writing books.

Marketwatch talked to prison consultants to find out how they would advise Weiner and Shkreli. The best part? Many of these tips work for non-criminals too.

For what it is worth, I think "absolutely no rational thinking" is big part of the reason Anthony Weiner is headed to prison.