Alain Fils Aime
Resilient and optimistic are just a few terms to describe Alain Fils Aime, who has managed to maintain a consistently positive outlook on life, despite the challenges he has faced. “I’ve always been happy, '' Alain said, “My past 20 years, even though being locked up, I’ve been living good. I can’t complain.
While incarcerated, Alain knew he wanted to reclaim his life after prison. He said, “Honestly, when I was locked up, I prayed for it. I said when I come home, I'm done. I want to start a box truck company, I want to find a woman who's established, who has a career, and I want my first kid.” Nearly seven years after his release, he has accomplished all of that and then some.
With a combination of hard work and determination, Alain served approximately half the time he was sentenced to and was able to be released roughly three years before his original release date. Alain was incarcerated from May 2011 to November 2014 after he was set up by someone in his neighborhood and caught for dealing narcotics . He served at Mohawk Correctional Facility in upstate New York.
As soon as he was able to, Alain applied and was accepted into the honors dorm, which offered more freedom and a better quality of life. He spent the majority of his time here until being accepted into New York State’s Shock Program, an intensive six month military-like boot camp for non-violent offenders that requires rigid discipline. Through the Shock Program, Alain would be woken by whistle at 5:30AM and forced to maintain a strict exercise and morning routine. He was also held to a strict curfew. However, despite its challenges, this program built comradery among his fellow Shock Program attendees.
Alain shared how challenging and taxing this program was, but how it showed him his own strength and how he was more capable than he even realized. “I was 400 pounds. It was tough for me. But I lost 100 pounds and it taught me, you know, I can do it. And I [thought I] couldn't do it either, but I didn't want to stay three and a half years in regular prison.” Upon completion of the Shock Program Alain was eligible for immediate release.
Less than two months after his release, Alain met his wife and now business partner. Alain and his wife met on January 2, 2015 after being introduced through mutual friends. One month and a day later, they were married.
“So now boom, we get together and spend the whole day with each other. It's like no TV, no radio, nothing. So we get together and she was like, you know, would you marry me and wake up to my face every morning? And I’m like this beautiful face? Yeah! She said I want to get online and submit the paperwork and let me see if you’re serious. She did all that and I was serious. I signed the paperwork and went to the justice of the peace and got married.” Six years later, they are still going as strong as ever.
Alain and his wife are the founders and investors of the company New Trap Logistics, LLC, a lucrative truck driving business established this past spring. Alain’s goal is to employ fellow formerly incarcerated individuals as truck drivers, which there is a major shortage of currently.
“Right now in the trucking business, we have a trucker shortage in a $600 billion industry, and there's a lot of companies who are always looking for drivers.” Alain also highlights the flexibility of this business. “Trucking is not limited to New York. We have truckers all over 50 states. It’s the backbone of the country. We need it.” However, in order to become a truck driver it is necessary to obtain a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL). While attending CDL school is achievable for formerly incarcerated individuals, the cost to go to CDL school ranges from $5000-7000. This is why Alain's priority is to gather sponsors that will invest in this project, so that it can become a realistic career option for formerly incarcerated people. He hopes to create a platform of sponsors for these individuals that will provide them the funding to obtain their CDL.
“If we could find funding to get them their CDL and go to the school and everything, we could definitely place someone with the company.” In the 1960’s, Alain’s parents migrated from Haiti to Brooklyn, NY, where Alain would eventually grow up. Alain lived in Brooklyn until middle school before moving to live with various family members in both Colorado Springs and Virginia. This was an adjustment for Alain, as he transitioned from an urban lifestyle to a more suburban-style environment. In 1998, Alain came back to New York after completing high school.
Before Alain was involved in the truck driving business, he was (and still is) involved in real estate. Alain has owned property in Brooklyn, NY since 1998 and in Syracuse, NY since 2005. Real estate has been a profitable and dependable income opportunity for Alain both before and after incarceration.
Alain also worked in security briefly from 1998-2001. Ultimately, he quit his job as a security guard because the pay was poor and not a realistic income for him to live. Currently, Alain is living in North Amityville, NY on Long Island after relocating from his hometown of East Flatbush in Brooklyn, NY. This is where Alain conducts his business for New Trap Logistics, LLC. He lives here with his wife, four year old son, and three step-children aged seven, sixteen, and nineteen. He has known and basically raised his seven year old step-daughter her whole life.
Today, he maintains a good relationship with his two older brothers, younger sister, and four step-siblings. While Alain’s parents passed away when he was in his early 20’s, he acknowledges his gratitude for these existing family connections. Alain is so excited to be a part of The MAP and is hopeful for the opportunities this will create for formerly incarcerated people. He acknowledges the talent and creativity of formerly incarcerated individuals, considering that some of the most intelligent people he knows are people he met while incarcerated.
When asked about the success of New Trap Logistics, LLC, and the opportunities for truck drivers, he highlighted the business’s remunerative qualities and explained that sharing these opportunities with other formerly incarcerated people is “the goal.”
Alexa Siderakis