Mike Sabo
| Michael "Mike" Sabo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born: | McKeesport, Pennsylvania |
| Occupation: | Federal prison consultant |
| Known for: | Founder and Executive Director, Prison Consultants of America |
| Charges: | Bank fraud, forgery, grand larceny, identity theft; impersonating a federal official |
| Sentence: | Approximately 14 years across federal and state prisons |
| Status: | Released |
Michael "Mike" Sabo is an American federal prison consultant and the founder and Executive Director of Prison Consultants of America LLC (PCA), a Chicago-based firm that advises people facing federal incarceration.[1] He spent decades as a check, stock and bond forger and impostor before serving roughly 14 years across federal and state prisons, and he built his consulting practice around that experience after his release.[2]
Sabo's claimed authority rests on lived experience inside the federal system rather than on a legal, academic, or Bureau of Prisons employment credential, and he is the only member of the firm whose identity and background are independently documented in public sources.[2][3]
Prisonpedia Rating: Neutral
Prisonpedia weighs each federal prison consultant's independent client reviews, verifiable professional background and credentials, media and public presence, and any documented complaints or disciplinary history. As of our most recent review, Mike Sabo holds a Neutral rating.
No verified independent reviews were located for Prison Consultants of America. Trustpilot has no profile for the firm's domain and no Better Business Bureau profile was found; its Yelp listing shows no meaningful review volume. Sabo's own identity, criminal history, and role at the firm are well documented, but the firm's service quality has no independent evidence base either way, and the credentials of staff other than Sabo could not be verified.
For how Prisonpedia evaluates consultants and what each tier means, see Rating Federal Prison Consultants.
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Background
Sabo grew up in McKeesport, Pennsylvania.[2] Over roughly two decades beginning in the 1970s, he operated as a check, stock, and bond forger and impostor, and was at one point a fugitive from federal custody.[2] By 1992 he had been convicted of bank fraud, forgery, grand larceny, and identity theft in both federal and state courts.[2] In 2004-2005, while owing roughly $95,000 in unpaid federal income tax from the 1990s, he impersonated an IRS official to fraudulently release tax liens against his own property, for which he received a one-year federal sentence in 2009.[2] In total, Sabo has said he served roughly 14 years across federal and state prisons.[2]
Distinct persons, not Mike Sabo of Prison Consultants of America: several unrelated people surface in searches under similar names, including a different "John Sabo" sentenced in a separate 2025 advance-fee fraud case in New Jersey and Florida, and an attorney named Michael G. Sabo at a Philadelphia law firm. Neither is connected to Prison Consultants of America.
Prison Consultants of America
Main article: Prison Consultants of America
Founding and leadership
Sabo founded Prison Consultants of America LLC in 2009, the year he was released from his final federal sentence, and serves as its Executive Director.[2][4] The 2009 date is supported by a business-directory listing and by Sabo's own professional history, which dates his tenure at the firm to September 2009.[4] The firm's own website states it was founded in 2006, a date that precedes Sabo's release from federal custody.[1]
Services
PCA markets itself to first-time, non-violent, white-collar federal defendants under the tagline "Get Home Sooner."[1] Advertised services include pre-sentencing preparation, federal prison navigation, Bureau of Prisons facility-designation assistance, security-classification and First Step Act earned-time-credit guidance, Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP) advice, and post-release reintegration support.[1] The firm states it serves clients nationwide and publishes service-area pages for Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, and Tampa, and it markets specifically to defendants in health care fraud cases.[1] PCA does not publish its fees.
Staff
Besides Sabo, PCA describes its personnel as former Bureau of Prisons employees and defense attorneys, but the firm's website does not currently publish a staff roster or name them in a biography page.[1] One, identified publicly only as Tom, is described as a former Bureau of Prisons employee.[1] Prisonpedia was unable to independently verify the identity, role, or Bureau of Prisons service record of any PCA staff member other than Sabo, and does not list unverified staff names or ranks.
Contact and operations
PCA gives its location as Chicago, Illinois 60611, a general telephone number of (800) 847-6160, and an email address of [email protected].[5] The firm lists business hours of Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and is closed weekends.[1]
Media
Sabo's background and role at Prison Consultants of America were reported in a 2010 Times Union (Albany, NY) profile, which traced his path from forger and fugitive to consultant, and were referenced independently in a 2013 AND Magazine piece by rival consultant Christopher Zoukis.[2] More recently, Sabo was quoted by name as "Prison Consultants of America Executive Director Michael Sabo" in an October 2025 St. Louis Public Radio/Capitol News Illinois story on former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan's federal prison designation.[3]
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Who is Mike Sabo?
Mike Sabo is an American federal prison consultant and the founder and Executive Director of Prison Consultants of America LLC, based in Chicago. He served roughly 14 years across federal and state prisons for forgery, bank fraud, and related offenses before founding his consulting practice.
Q: What is Prison Consultants of America?
Prison Consultants of America LLC (PCA) is a Chicago-based federal prison consulting firm founded by Mike Sabo in 2009. It advises first-time, non-violent, white-collar federal defendants on sentencing preparation, Bureau of Prisons designation, First Step Act credits, RDAP, and post-release reintegration.
Q: What did Mike Sabo do before consulting?
He operated for decades as a check, stock, and bond forger and impostor, was convicted of bank fraud, forgery, grand larceny, and identity theft by 1992, and later received a one-year federal sentence in 2009 for impersonating an IRS official.
Q: Does Prison Consultants of America have independent reviews?
No. Prisonpedia located no Trustpilot profile for the firm's domain and no Better Business Bureau profile, and its Yelp listing shows no meaningful review volume. The firm publishes testimonials on its own website, which are self-reported and not independently verifiable.
See Also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Prison Consultants of America, https://www.pcamer.com/.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Wikipedia, "Michael Sabo," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Sabo.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 St. Louis Public Radio, "Ex-speaker Madigan reports to West Virginia prison for 7-year sentence," October 14, 2025, https://www.stlpr.org/law-order/2025-10-14/ex-speaker-madigan-reports-west-virginia-prison-7-year-sentence.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 MapQuest, "Prison Consultants of America LLC," https://www.mapquest.com/us/illinois/prison-consultants-of-america-llc-791192121.
- ↑ Prison Consultants of America, Contact, https://www.pcamer.com/contact.