Farming has given a convicted felon from New Hampshire a new lease on life.
Inside the Carroll County Jail in Ossipee, New Hampshire, you’ll find some convicted felons like Daniel Lennon.
In 2015, Lennon stole $65,000 from a family in Bartlett and was later arrested for drug possession.
“I don’t know very many people who were as bad as I was,” Lennon said.
But on a sunny Tuesday afternoon outside of the barbed wire, you’ll meet a different kind of man.
“It feels so good to do the right thing,” Lennon said during an interview with NBC Boston.
Once addicted to drugs, now his vice is work.
U.S. & World
“All day, every day, 12 hours a day,” Lennon said.
His good behavior allowed him to start working at the county farm.
“It’s really hard work, but it feels good at the end of the day,” Lennon said.
He’s even found what some may call an unlikely friend in County Commissioner Dave Babson.
They spend weekends working together at the county’s blueberry patch.
“I hope that some of these kids in here who have been as stupid as he has wake up and realize they can do it too,” Babson said.
Over the last couple of years, state leaders have cut $196,000 in funding to the county farm.
Lennon says it’s a concerning trend for inmates like him who rely the work out here.
“For a few minutes, you feel like you’re somewhere else,” he said. “Even if it saves one person, it’s worth it.”
The 27-year-old felon turned hard-working farmer is proving to his son Connor, and so many others that it’s never too late to make a good decision.
“If I can do it, anybody can do it,” Lennon said, laughing. “I’ll be the guy that turned it around and maybe helped somebody.”
Lennon will be out of jail in six months and already has a job lined up at an industrial plant nearby.
