About

  I was born in 1982 to James and Laura Clifton. They soon split up and my father took on the responsibility of raising two toddlers alone. In all, I have three siblings. I have an older half-brother (John), a younger sister (Nikki) and a younger half-sister (Tasha). Although my older brother has had a tremendous impact on my life and someone to look up to, for most of my life it has been my dad, my sister (Nikki) and me.

 
  My father is a good man. Being a single parent and taking on two babies had to have been more than challenging and certainly not the norm in those days. In fact, it was quite remarkable. I can remember people being shocked when they would ask where our mother was and my dad would basically say, “You’re looking at him.” He had to do it all. Well, I say “all,” we do come from big family. I had amazing grandparents as well, James and Doris Clifton. I don’t think there was a sweeter soul on this planet than my grandmother, which is how we should all feel about our grandmothers. I also don’t think I’ve ever witnessed a harder worker than my grandfather. Before he passed in 2020, I had the privilege of seeing him inducted into the military Veteran’s Hall of Fame. Such an honor for such a great man. Long story short is, I come from a family of fighters, it’s in our DNA.

 
  My father had no formal education or training, but he exhibited the same hard-working mentality of my grandfather. We lived lower middle class and paycheck to paycheck, but we always had what we needed. My father is also a very direct individual. There’s no “beat around the bush” or feeling sorry for yourself. If you didn’t tell him directly what you needed, then make a good case for it, don’t expect him to take notice or just buy in. He’s kind of a, keep his head down and take care of things on the list kind of guy. My father and I frequently butted heads because I’m more of an abstract thinker. I like to look at obstacles and consider all the angles, find a smart way to solve them where everyone wins. I tend to assess things that could be in my path before I move forward. We may attack a problem very differently but he’s my dad, and I wouldn’t trade him for the world.

 
  An area my father and I got along well in was sports. He loves football and the Arkansas Razorbacks. I’m not sure that “Woo Pig Sooie” weren’t my first words. For some reason people in Arkansas think that it’s a rite of passage to make your children stand in a room of people and perform the “Hog Call”. If your toddler can’t do that, then you’re not a true Arkansan. I’m embarrassed to say, now that I think about it, I did the same to my children and they will probably do it to theirs one day. My father and I played lots of catch together. He found it amusing to fire footballs at me in the street like I was a full-grown man. I found it enjoyable too. Playing catch with him would show him having the time of his life, and me being in fear of mine! What it did do was develop a toughness and competitiveness that serves me well to this day. In addition, there’s nothing you can throw at me that I can’t catch;)

 
  In high school I excelled in sports and academics and fell in love with basketball around the age of 12. I knew this is what I wanted to do. I don’t think a day went by that I wasn’t playing. I continued to work at my craft until I was about 24. My best friend Steve likes to tell people that I could have played anywhere in the country, he played with me the most and has seen me at my best. But truly he’s just a good friend. I was constantly battling a bad set of knees. Multiple surgeries and setbacks kept me from achieving my goals, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. I finally took the advice of my surgeons and called it quits. I had two opportunities to play professionally, one in Charlotte, NC for a small ABA team called the Charlotte Krunk and the other in Little Rock, AR for the Rimrockers. Neither one of them panned out, but I enjoyed and relished the opportunity and the experience to be around elite level basketball players. I graduated college soon after with a Bachelor of Science degree and a minor in Secondary Education. Soon after that, I was offered the opportunity to become a head coach at a small school in North Central Arkansas.

  Around that time, I met the girl who would become my wife. This woman was almost everything I thought I wasn’t. The thing I liked most about her was how carefree she was and didn’t care what anyone thought. I drove my own self crazy caring about that way too much most of the time. She helped me to enjoy life more and taught me to not take life so seriously. We really balanced each other out well. We moved off on our journey together in 2006 to the unknown land of Norfork, AR. Full of people we didn’t know and that didn’t know us. It was a time of great discovery. We both came from large cities and the idea of moving to such a small town was somewhat traumatic. She was in tears the first time we came to the place, but for all the fear we had, there was also an equal level of excitement. We were both ready to grow up, find ourselves and start a family. We would soon find out that there was nothing to fear in this small town. The people there were some of the best you’ll find anywhere. They were so supportive and loved their basketball. My kind of place! By our third year there we had taken them from an 8-win team to a 30-win team and a top five ranking with a legitimate shot at the title. I have friends there who will be a part of my life forever.

 
  After several years of marriage, we decided we liked each other enough to try and have children. Nothing excited us more than the thought of sharing our life with a tiny human. We soon found this would be our first big obstacle. We had been able to get pregnant naturally, but it ended in a miscarriage. I don’t think I initially recognized the impact this had on my wife. I guess I thought, naively, that this was just all part of the process and happens to everyone. It was difficult for my wife and rightfully so. We were soon informed that because of a medical condition she had, we would have to go the route of In-vitro fertilization. The process would first require surgery, then the rounds of in-vitro could begin. We had big decisions to make. For starters, I knew that I would have to leave coaching for us to afford all of this. We were surviving on just my salary, but still living paycheck to paycheck. I couldn’t imagine my life without basketball before all of that, but after seeing her hurting and longing to be a mother, I wanted to fix it. I would have fought Goliath for her.

  Little did I know then that God was in control of it all. At our first appointment I picked up a magazine that was lying on the waiting room table. I would like to tell you that as I looked down at the table, “it rose into the air and started glowing in shimmering gold” What did happen however is that on the front cover was a title of an article that listed the top companies to work for that cover fertility treatments. So, I went to work, learning about these companies, their jobs and what would be required of me. I found that the job of a pharmaceutical rep greatly intrigued me. Science of the human body is fascinating, and I love the rewarding feeling of having a positive impact on people’s lives. It was also incredibly competitive. I must have read every book on how to break into the industry and within six months I had my first interview. I hit it off with the hiring manager and got the job.

 
  We left North Central Arkansas in 2010 to set off on a new adventure. My first year in pharmaceuticals was hectic. I had a lot to learn but I was fortunate to be placed on a team of incredibly smart women. They had already experienced a lot of success and knew how to get the job done. Just being able to observe how they did their job daily set the tone for how I would do mine, and honestly had a lot to do with my success over the years. They were always punctual, came prepared and were professional. They also knew how to make the job fun. As I grew in my role over the next two years under great leadership, I was given the opportunity to interview for a specialty role. I was blessed with the opportunity and to thrive in that role as well. As I reflect, I’m so grateful for all the managers and bosses I have had throughout my career. I have learned a great deal from them.

  As I was adjusting to my new role, my wife and I were taking our chances with the in-vitro process. It was long and difficult, but my wife was tough and disciplined with every step of it. The first attempt failed but we were successful on the second. On May 10th, 2012, we had our first child. A baby girl we named Jillian Marie. She was beautiful. If you have ever had a child, then you know, no words can express the feeling you have when you see your baby for the first time. We were overcome with joy. It didn’t take long for joy to turn into delirium though, as we now had to learn what to do with this new bundle of joy. Jillian had colic, so she didn’t really sleep much. Which meant that we didn’t sleep much, especially my wife. After about six months all that went away though and she was a healthy baby girl. We were amazed at everything she did. To us, she was the prettiest, smartest, fastest, whatever-est child we had ever seen. I suppose that is how it should be though. Children are a gift from God, and Jillian was proof. A few years later we would try again only to have another failed attempt. But then an opportunity to try once more would welcome our second baby girl, Colbie Rose on June 23, 2015. My wife allowed me to name Colbie since she got to name Jillian, of course with her approval. Our family was now complete, and we felt blessed beyond measure. At the time of Colbie’s birth there was a lot going on in our life.

  I had just been offered the opportunity of a lifetime to be a Regional Sales Manager for an up-and-coming medical device company with an incredible product. This job would push me, challenge me, and help me grow in ways I couldn’t have foreseen. I also had an amazing leadership team that would help foster my growth and encourage me along the way. Simultaneously, I was approached by a very close friend of mine who was working on a side business that was very lucrative. Knowing my tenacity, and ability to outwork most people around me, he approached me to work for him. After he explained the business, I must be honest and say, that I had a weird feeling in my gut that I should have listened to. But he assured me that this business was legal and legitimate. This would be the turning point that would change my life forever, especially over the next 10 years. While I’m not in a position to talk freely about the business model, my opinions on it and my desire to present truth where there are lies. What took place next was my mistake. I handed money to someone I wasn’t supposed to. I knew it was illegal. Yet, I excused it for my benefit and broke the law. I take responsibility for that. I was not someone before that ignored laws or had a habit of breaking them, but it just takes one time to seemingly ruin your life. I say ruin because the idea of living life with a felony feels difficult. Especially for someone who never even thought about breaking a law before. My decision had such a dramatic impact on my life, my hobbies, and relationships that I held and still hold dear. I know I will have obstacles to overcome but I have been shown tremendous favor in light of it all. I’m grateful for those that know me and continue to trust in who I really am, and the things I truly stand for.

  So, what exactly was I caught up in? My charge was for violating the Anti- Kickback Statute. Throughout the period of the federal investigation into the pharmacy that was operating out of Mississippi, I heard things all the time. I knew little to nothing though about the day-to-day operations of the pharmacy. Why they charged so much or what they did behind the scenes, were things I was not in the know of. My only connection to the pharmacy was through the aforementioned friend. But as things are, when the feds came to raid them and ask questions, it was easy to divert all the attention from them and focus on the hundreds, even thousands of their reps. I was one of them along with many personal friends and co-workers working for this pharmacy. Some of us got prosecuted and some of us didn’t. Yet all of us were marketing the same product the same way. The investigation seemed to be centered mostly on those who made the most money from the pharmacy. I had made enough to draw their attention. As a result, I was sentenced to 51 months by a federal judge and began serving my time in August of 2020. Most people took deals prior to an indictment. I on the other hand, naively believed that the prosecutors would go after the people who lied to us, kept information from us, and that they would eventually leave me alone. Boy was I wrong. We want equal justice; we expect it even. Yet, there were many people that made far more money than I did and got far less time. I learned very quickly that defending yourself in this country is very costly. They will set out to ruin you. They have a 99% conviction rate and the mere mention that you think you are innocent in any way will earn you extra time. I definitely wasn’t innocent of providing kickbacks, and I take accountability for that. I just felt a certain way about all the other accusations they lobbied for to put pressure on me.

  I want to pause here to say that my intention is not to make light of what I did. I knew better yet I proceeded. I take responsibility for what I DID do, but I’ve always had a tough time of just going along with a story that I knew wasn’t true. It was hard being portrayed by the media as something I felt at my core I was not. To have a narrative run its course with many false details left as truths has been hard to accept. My responsibility now is to acknowledge this was my doing and no one else’s. I’ve had a lot of time to process that. Prison might seem like a bigger than life event that can overwhelm you, and it certainly can. After going through what I can best liken to all the stages of grieving, I made the decision to use my time to better myself. I obviously left out a lot that I was going through in my story.

 
  There are many legs to my story. One of them was my relationship with my wife. She promised me that we would make it through this, yet she ended up divorcing me when I went to prison. I now had to wrap my head around waking up every day without my kids there with me. That has been the hardest thing. The divorce itself almost killed me of heartbreak, but I made it out the other side stronger than I have ever been. I’m still walking through it obviously as I’m navigating life on the other side. However traumatic as it all is, I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve read a ton of books, wrote countless pages, spent a thousand hours praying, thinking, and meditating on what path life has for me. I’ve walked through fire and come out the other side. I’m better for this experience and what it has taught me. I’ve learned a lot about others, and I’ve learned even more about myself.

 
  I’m committed to being a better version of myself than I’ve ever been before. I can’t change the mistakes of my past, but I can change the things about myself that needed work. I put in work to do just that, and I know others will see the difference. I’ve already stretched myself in ways I never thought I would, like playing guitar and leading worship service every Sunday in front of 70 people. I’m still the same Derek in many ways also. I still love deeply, I’m still passionate with things I care about, and I still enjoy a good laugh. I hope to reconnect with many of my friends that I miss so much, either through Facebook or letters. I will have to depend on people more than I ever have in my life and it will take some getting used to, but I think those that truly love you, want to help you. You are Never a burden to those that love and care for you.