By Ricky A. Ortega
Sunrise, where the earth meets the sky in a kiss of splendor as it prepares for the birth of dawn. It lights the world with hope and promise but only for a moment as it slowly surrenders to the lure of the night. Enticed by the light of the moon and the glitter of starry skies, it squanders its brilliance while setting into darkness. Now we wait for the hope of a new dawn as the prodigal sun bids farewell.
Raised in a beautiful home, I had every opportunity to succeed in life, not with a silver spoon but with a spoon filled with humility and goodness. Tempted by the desires of the world however, I squandered the inheritance of love that was promised to me and traded it all for a life of debauchery, a life without parole.
This series of articles will peer into the lives of those sentenced to die in prison. As the sun that hides behind the storm, the prodigal prince refuses to shine. Similarly, LWOPs describe our own fall from grace on a journey back to our true, authentic selves while experiencing the birth of a new dawn, the return of the prodigal son.
Michael Donnell Niles was arrested in 1983 and sentenced to life without parole. The story of his life began to take shape at the age of 9 when his beloved mother developed cancer. “I would rub medicine on her wounds 
hoping to keep her alive but instead I watched her die slowly before my eyes,” confessed Niles. “She was my everything, so I grew up mostly without parents. As a child, I never had much. My little brother and I were on our own at the age of 13 because of an abusive situation. I learned from the streets that having a gun gave me power so I carried a silver plated 25 automatic, which led to my criminal behavior.”
While fending for himself, he developed his love for basketball, a love that was instilled in him by his mother. “She taught me everything I knew about basketball, and so I played with a lot of passion when she died, like I had a chip on my shoulder,” said Niles. At 6′ 7″, he was a force to be reckoned with. Then, at the age of 22, his skill on the court led to his signing a lucrative contract with the Phoenix Suns. “It was the break I needed, but it was bittersweet because I kept thinking that now, maybe I could have helped save my mother’s life. But I had security for me and my brother. It was an emotional experience. I had worked so hard, and I was proud. I felt like I had finally arrived. But all this attention helped feed my ego. It gave me the false belief system that having money allows me to control people rather than being controlled by them. I was idolized by the fans and had all the women I wanted. It takes a mature person to handle all this pressure, and I was doing all the immature things. Fame and fortune are like a magnet and this fed my hunger for power and soon, basketball wasn’t enough,” confessed Niles.
When the judge sentenced him to life without parole, it was an abrupt end to a living dream. “It was devastating to me,” said Niles. “Back then, having LWOP meant you never had a chance of getting out. Surviving the mainline for over 30 years was the biggest challenge I’ve ever faced in my life.” Today, Niles is active in self-help recovery like Emotional Intelligence, Board Prep and SAR, which has meant the most to him. His breakthrough moment came when he was in the hole on Christmas, 2010, when he felt like he was wasting away. Niles concludes, “I knew there was something better, so I left the mainline and came to Mule Creek where I could learn to stop my violence. I don’t regret it because I honestly see myself back in society one day, and I want to be prepared.”
The Long Walk Home is not a physical destination: it’s a place in the heart, a special kind of freedom that perhaps only LWOPs can understand. While tracing our steps back to our forgotten selves, we remember who we were before we committed our crimes. It is like the sun that rises from its slumber and awakens the world with its warmth once again. Perhaps Niles will never again play on the court of the Phoenix Suns, but as he steps onto the court of life, he will always be known as the return of the rising sun.
