“These are my grades when I earned my associate degree. I graduated Cum Laude (with honors).”



My name is Raheem Cirton. I was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. I’m an intelligent, laid-back, down-to-earth person and I possess a good sense of humor. I also possess excellent communication skills and I’m an attentive listener. I’m very selfless and I’m very family-oriented.

I’m loyal, trustworthy, and dependable. My hobbies are listening to music, learning new things every day, and watching sports. I’m a huge sports fanatic. I especially love all of the Chicago sports teams. Since being incarcerated I’ve gotten my associate’s degree in arts and I’m currently a University of Illinois Urbana Champaign Student through the Education Justice Project (EJP) program here at Dunville I’m in pursuit of my bachelor’s degree in arts. I’m also currently enrolled in the automotive mechanics program here at Dunville and I expect to become Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) Certified by April or May of 2024.

Instead of feeling sorry for myself and blaming everyone for my current situation and circumstances, I instead decided to use this time to better myself. If it’s God’s will and a special woman is able to find it in her heart to be my pen pal and hopefully one day my friend, I’m interested in building a bond and a friendship with a special woman who isn’t judgmental and who understands that sometimes bad things can happen to good people.

Please understand that I’m not trying to downplay my reason for incarceration because I understand that my reason for incarceration is considered to be one of the most egregious crimes that a person can be accused of committing. All that I ask is that a special someone blesses me with the opportunity to explain in full detail all of the factors that led up to my incarceration. I believe that special someone might understand and be able to find it in her heart to be sympathetic to the factors that led up to my incarceration.

The only thing I want those special people who are able to find it in their hearts to read my profile to understand is that not everyone incarcerated is guilty of the crimes they were accused of. The truth of the matter is some people lack familial support and they also lack the financial means needed to be able to adequately defend themselves so they end up having to plead guilty to a crime they didn’t commit with the hopes that they’ll one day see their freedom again. Especially if they’re a person of color which sadly is what happened to me. And please believe that it’s the scariest feeling in the world to have to wonder if you’ll ever come home again knowing that you’re innocent.

Please understand that I’m not looking for anyone to feel sorry for me. Instead, I’m looking for a special person who’ll be able to find it in her heart to be my pen pal and if it’s God’s will, hopefully, we’ll be able to build a bond with each other which will hopefully result in us becoming friends.

If you’re interested in getting in contact with me, which I hope and pray that you will be, you can either write me or email me. If you’re interested in emailing me, sign up for connectnetwork.com. Again, all that I ask is please bless me with the opportunity to explain the factors that led up to my incarceration in full detail. Thank you so much for being able to find it in your heart to read my profile. Your kindness is appreciated.

The last thing I would like to say is even though it might sound crazy to hear me say, my incarceration was probably one of the best things that could’ve ever happened to me for so many different reasons with a couple of the most important being that I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to accomplish things that I’ve never dreamed or imagined I could do including earning my associates degree, being on the verge of earning my bachelor’s degree, and also being on the verge of becoming ASE Certified in Automotive Mechanics.

Most importantly, it’s because of my incarceration that you’re reading my profile right now. All that I can say is God works in mysterious ways and God does everything for a reason.