16 Facts About Shaun Attwood

Shaun Attwood was born on 28 October 1968 and is an English former ecstasy trafficker turned YouTuber, speaker, activist and author.

Shaun Attwood was arrested in 2002, then released in 2007 and deported back to England.

Shaun Attwood's story was featured worldwide on National Geographic Channel as an episode of Locked Up Abroad called "Raving Arizona".

Shaun Attwood was born in Widnes, Lancashire on 28 October 1968, in a middle-class household, which he has described as "loving".

When he was sixteen, during the privatisation of many public companies by the Margaret Thatcher government, Shaun Attwood attempted to invest in British Telecommunications.

Shaun Attwood regularly visited his aunts in Arizona where he became interested in living in the United States.

Shaun Attwood attended Liverpool University, studying business studies and graduating in 1990.

Shaun Attwood's operation became associated with the New Mexican Mafia, which offered protection following a night of partying where Attwood's associates helped a brother of a New Mexican Mafia member with hiding from the police.

In 2021, Shaun Attwood's story was featured in the Vice documentary I Was a Teenage Felon: "Ecstasy Kingpin".

Shaun Attwood, who had attempted to cleanse himself of any connections to his previous life as a distributor, was caught after ten witnesses came forward.

Shaun Attwood is banned for life from entering the United States.

In 2004, from inside the maximum-security Madison Street jail, Shaun Attwood wrote about his experiences.

In 2007, Shaun Attwood was released and deported to the UK, where he started the first-ever prison YouTube channel under his name.

Shaun Attwood continues to maintain his blog, now under his own name, where he publishes letters and accounts sent to him by other prisoners.

Shaun Attwood now gives talks to schoolchildren and other groups about the negative consequences of drugs and crime, and advocates against Arpaio and his methods.

Shaun Attwood has appeared on BBC, Sky News, CNN and TV in over 40 countries worldwide to talk about issues affecting prisoners' rights.