For 31-year-old software engineer Preston Thorpe, this puts him in a unique spot. After 11 years incarcerated for various drug-related violent offences, he has made a personal transformation. These days, though, he focuses his time on coding and community benefits. As a teenager, Thorpe was threatened with eviction from his family home. He ventured into drugs on the dark web which soon enough landed him in prison by age 20. After a too-short taste of freedom, he was re-arrested just 14 months later.
In a shocking turn of fate, Thorpe’s story soon changes. Though incarcerated at Maine’s Mountain View Correctional Facility, he begins remote work for a San Francisco-based startup called Turso. This move marks an important departure for Thorpe. He has dedicated the last three years to learning programming online and making meaningful contributions to open-source projects. His story is part of the national movement towards rehabilitation via education and workforce development in our prisons and jails.
A Troubled Past
Thorpe’s early years were marred by instability. After being kicked out of his house as a teenager, he took refuge on the dark web. On the streets, he quickly got into buying and selling drugs. This road soon sent him down a funneling spiral ending up with him behind bars. By the age of 20, he was already incarcerated, battling the repercussions of the decisions he’d made.
When he was released, that dream of a second chance didn’t last long. A little more than a year after being released, he himself was arrested again. This cycle of incarceration left Thorpe reflecting on his past decisions and the identity he had formed during his time in prison.
“The worst part about prison is that you assume this identity [of a criminal],” – Preston Thorpe
Understanding that things had to be different, Thorpe started dreaming about a new world. As he walked into the Mountain View facility, he began to understand that this was his chance to turn his life around.
A New Opportunity
Things turned around for Thorpe in prison after he was able to enroll, remotely, at the University of Maine at Augusta. His commitment to personal development certainly did not come without recognition. He took to programming with fervor, dedicating hours and hours to his craft on the internet.
Throughout this time, he was a passionate volunteer maintainer for an open-source project that had been started and was mostly run by Turso, a database company. His work soon attracted the interest of Glauber Costa, Turso’s CEO. After one too many conversations about his remarkable transformation, Costa wanted to make good on his pledge to change. He later recruited him to join his firm.
“I reached out to him in January, just to understand and get to know him,” – Glauber Costa
For Thorpe, joining the sounds-like-a-crazy-idea-but-it-might-work program was a no-brainer. This groundbreaking program allows incarcerated individuals to contribute remotely during their incarceration. As a member of the Earned Living Unit he is one of roughly 30 inmates who reside in this alternative unit. This far less restrictive facility is intended for those with exemplary behavior records.
As part this program, Thorpe has been employed full-time for Turso since May of 2023. In fact, his home state of South Carolina requires him to pay 10% of his earnings to the state. Additionally, he consistently pays all restitution and child support payments. This model reinforces his individual rehabilitation while contributing to larger community reintegration.
Finding Purpose
Thorpe attributes much of his current mindset to his time working in Maine, particularly during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This self-imposed solitude afforded him the freedom to reflect on his past, future, and personal goals untethered by outside expectations.
“COVID happened right after I came up here, and it just gave me a chance — there was no one around that I felt like I had to act or prove myself to. It was just me. I actually felt like maybe it’s not over; maybe I could actually end up having a normal life. I had this kind of epiphany: ‘I’m going to make something of myself.’” – Preston Thorpe
This new clarity has provided Thorpe the space to construct a new identity outside of his shameful past. He argues that respecting incarcerated people is the key to realizing their potential to become positive contributors to society.
“When you treat people like people, they become the best version of themselves,” – Shoaf
Haley Shoaf, an advocate for prison reform, highlights Maine’s pioneering approach in creating pathways for incarcerated individuals to access education and employment during their sentences.
“Maine has been a real groundbreaker in this area,” – Haley Shoaf
When the pandemic began, the state quickly implemented infrastructure to support remote education. This expansion has now opened the door to inmates like Thorpe so we can transform their lives.
A Vision for the Future
Thorpe’s experiences have led him to adopt a rehabilitative focus that he believes prioritizes community safety. More than just a personal passion, he thinks understanding trauma and how it affects people is the key to reforming correctional systems.
“When I came back, it gave me a heightened sense of understanding post-traumatic stress and trauma, and all of that plays into corrections,” – Commissioner Liberty
Thorpe is passionate about taking a broad, holistic approach to justice that prioritizes rehabilitation over punishment. Here, he shares his concern over the conventional correctional system’s inability to realize the core barriers of inmates.
“If you truly care about making the community safer, if you care about being fiscally responsible, if you care about victims and survivors in the community, this is the way to make them whole.” – Preston Thorpe
He hopes that he can serve as proof that change is indeed possible, even for those who have strayed far off the path.
“It’s like waking up from a dream, me from five years ago,” – Preston Thorpe
At Turso, Thorpe inspires those around him with his incredible journey. He is the epitome of renewed hope for all those stuck in today’s inexcusable school-to-prison pipeline.
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