MUNCIE - His steps are short, very short. When he walks, his feet move in abbreviated, predetermined succession - limited by the span of the steel shackles encircling his ankles.

Hands remain handcuffed and at the front, serving as a centerpiece to the bright orange jail uniform that covers much of his 20-year-old frame.

Sean has four years of an 8-year prison sentence to reflect on the life and tough breaks that contributed to his downfall - and the lessons learned that he hopes will aid in his eventual comeback.

"I've been in trouble since I was 11 years old, even before that," said the Warsaw native.

"A lot of people of the younger generation used to look up to me because of my friends, but most of my friends were pimps and drug dealers, so I know now I wasn't the best example."

Sean was a veteran of the probation system long before he wore the title of teen-ager. In retrospect, he says today his conscience finally became his best guide.

Ironically, it was his new-found integrity that ended up making him a resident of the Indiana Department of Corrections.

"Basically, I told on myself and I'm in jail because of that. It put me here and I've had a lot of time so far collecting my thoughts."

Sean already had a record when earlier this year he was arrested for relatively minor crimes.

"At the time, I had done other things I hadn't gotten caught for, breaking into businesses, car theft. I wanted to get it all out and I wanted to let (the victims) know it was me and that I was sorry."

The stage for his decline was set at an early age.

He was 9 when he experienced his first negative influence.

"I met a friend of my best friend's family," said Sean. "He was 18 years old and had been basically kicked out of Chicago for a series of burglaries." Through peer pressure, the impressionable boy found himself accompanying this new acquaintance on break-ins. He wound up on probation for the first time.

When he was 11, he got high for the first time. "After that, mostly everything (I did) was mainly for the drugs."

But in May of 1991, the biggest blow to Sean's already fragile existence marked the beginning of his road to disaster.

Jason, Sean's brother, was killed trying to escape police on his motorcycle.

The chase ended on Old U.S. 30 just east of Plymouth. Police said it began as a routine traffic stop.

"It was senseless," Sean said, still bitter at police for his brother's death.

Jason, according to Sean, had been threatened with statutory rape charges by the parents of his girlfriend.

Police reports said Jason had been booked and released just days before the accident for leaving the scene of an accident.

"When the lights came on, I think he just got scared, said Sean. "(He died) for easing through a stop sign. Yeah, it still bothers me."

Jason had been a role model for his younger brother.

"I just started looking up to people who I thought were cool and like my brother. I know now, that wasn't smart."

As his brushes with the law became more frequent and his involvement in drinking and drugs intensified, his relationship with his father began to deteriorate.

"He finally told me it was time I figured things out on my own," said Sean, referring to the day he moved out. "So basically, I was living on the streets."

It's clear Sean finds the cot in his cell a bit softer than the rock bottom doldrums of homelessness. He also looks at prison as the first step to his ultimate goal - becoming a functional citizen.

"I told my dad I wanted to take a long vacation with him after this is over," he said. "My dad is a runner, so I've been getting in shape. My goal is to run a marathon with him some day."

Raising his cuffed arms, Sean said he hopes other young people will learn from the wrong turns he's made.

"If I could go in front of the high school right now, even like this, I would say, 'Look. This is not the thing to get into.' " [[In-content Ad]]