NJ.com published the following article on 7/21/2014. To read the full article, click here.

When Kyle was 8, he knew he wanted to be a Trenton drug dealer – Program offers a new beginning

Keith Brown | July 21, 2014

Like many little boys growing up in his north Trenton neighborhood in the late 1980s, 8-year-old Kyle wanted to be a drug dealer when he grew up.Dealers had money. Dealers had nice cars. Dealers had, in an 8-year-old’s mind, everything.

“They were the ones you went to when you needed a couple of dollars for the store, or go to the movies,” said Kyle, now 33. “That was what was in front of you. That’s what was out there. I didn’t know there was anything else.’’

Kyle, who declined to give his last name, fulfilled his childhood dream. But he found out the hard way it wasn’t all that glamorous. He has an arm’s-length rap sheet and spent seven years in prison for conspiracy to commit murder. He’s been shot five times.

Today, Kyle is an apprentice electrician, holds a steady job and dreams of opening his own business. He credits a new, state-funded social-services program for his success and his new outlook.

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