Extras: Gang members removing signs of a past life

Most 18 years old are just getting started with life.  But 18-year-old Juan is actually starting a new life.  More than anything, he's trying to leave his old life behind.

"I started opening my eyes and I'm like, 'What have I been doing all this time?'" Juan says.  "Just wasting my life for no reason."

For eight years, Juan's second home was the streets of St. Paul, and his second family was a gang.  His main hobby as an adolescent was commiting crimes.

But that changed last year.

"They called me up, they wanted to do a robbery," Juan recalls.  "It went down and it all went wrong.  I was the only one that got caught."

Juan's home then became TotemTown, Ramsey County's juvenile detention facility.  During that time, he received no phone calls or letters from his gang.  It was then he realized he didn't need the gang anymore.

"I was about to have a son and I knew that I wasn't going to be there for him," Juan says.  "I knew I wasn't going to be there to see him grow."

Juan left the gang, but he couldn't easily leave behind the gang tattoos that covered his body.

"I just sometimes think I should cut them off with a knife," he says.  "I just don't want to have them."

Now Juan and several other ex-gang members are getting their wish and having their tattoos removed through the Boys and Girls Club's gang prevention program.

Plastic surgeon Douglas Gervais, who sits on the Club's board of directors, is donating his time and services.  Using a laser, he slowly zaps every bit of ink on the teens' bodies.  It's a process that will take about a year -- six sessions, each about six weeks apart.

To get to this point, the teens must prove they're in a healthy environment, no longer committing crimes, working to get a job and improve their education.

"It's a very brave choice to be able to put something like that behind because that's a known for them and coming into this is kind-of an unknown," Gervais says.  "So they're making a very big step."

The local tattoo removal program actually started a few years ago but disappeared after organizers ran out of grant money.  A new grant helped them restart the program this year.

One of the kids, David, is just 16 years old.  He spent a year and a half in a gang and needs a few large tattoos removed.

"It's important for me, because I'm trying to change my life around and I think this is a good start," David says.

Saddam, 18, spent about a year in a gang before he was arrested.

"I was locked up," he says.  "Received no letter from no gang members.  Only family."

He wants to get rid of his tattoos so he can find a job and feel safe.

"Made my family memebers look at me differently now, like I'm a changed person," Saddam says with a smile.

Family is what's motivating Juan to make a change.  "I don't want my son to be a gang member," he says.  "I want him to have a good life."

Losing the tattoos is move painful that getting the tattoos, but that's okay.

"I try not to think about it," he says after his second treatment.  "I just think of all the good that it's going to bring to my life."

Juan is now out of juvenile detention, but he'll be on probation until he turns 21.  He already has a job cooking at a restaurant and hopes to go to school to become a chef.   A promising future for a young man who's trying to erase the past from his mind and body.

Funding for the program is only guaranteed until March and there's a list of people hoping to have their tattoos removed.  The Boys and Girls Club and its partner organizations are looking for more donations to keep things going.  The programs would also like another plastic surgeon who's willing to donate his or her time.  For more information, visit the club's website or call 612-435-1900.

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