His new lifestyle and improved health have inspired him to erase one more dark spot from his past: his criminal record. Haskins says he's seeking a pardon for his felony record through the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and eventually from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
"From there, it just snowballed into, 'I wanna clean up my record,'" Haskins says of his new clean lifestyle. "I wanna clean up a bunch of things in my life."
Police arrested The Wee-Beasties frontman in 2012 for an attempted robbery of a Wells Fargo bank. He had slipped a note to a teller at the drive-thru and fled the scene in panic. He didn't use a gun or receive any money, but the Denton police took his actions seriously.
He was originally sentenced to 10 years of probation, but he violated the terms of his probation in 2016. He was given a two-year prison sentence and was released on parole in a little under a year.
"Even just being locked up for that long, I had some real difficulties adjusting," Haskins says. "[President Donald] Trump got elected while I was in. It was like coming out to the fucking Twilight Zone."
One of the biggest challenges of prison life was trying to stay tough and not show that his situation was getting to him while he served his time.
"I can't cry or show any sort of weaknesses, you know," Haskins says. "I just buried all of those things."
Haskins' struggles didn't stop when he was released. He says he still had a problem with alcohol that he had to face head-on if he wanted to make the most of the second chance he'd been given.
"When I first got out, I was in my outside life dealing with alcoholism and stuff," Haskins says. "The first year I was out, it was kind of a tough adjustment. I'm getting out and now I'm a felon. I can't be on a lease most places. I can't work most places. It's like, are you trying to get me into a life of crime?"
Haskins wanted to get back to work for himself and his kids, but having a felony on his record made it difficult to find work. So, he says he worked two jobs "under the table for years" while getting back with his band touring and performing.
"I just got caught up with taxes and stuff," Haskins says. "I'll basically live off of show money and gig money with the kindness of friends and God's good grace just getting by."
He had another setback when his doctor told him he has type-2 diabetes. But rather than let it get in his way, he says it inspired him to sober up and start taking care of himself.
"It's like a game-changer for me because I just changed a lot of things really quickly," Haskins says. "I don't drink or do any shit like that anymore. I don't even smoke pot because if I smoke pot, I get hungry and I'm on a really strict diet. I quit smoking too."
His newfound zest for healthy living may be more inspiring, but it's still a struggle for Haskins. Even though he's working two jobs, he says the medical costs for treating his diabetes can easily add up to harrowing amounts.
"Diabetes is fucking expensive to have," Haskins says. "I'm having to work my ass off just to take care of it."
However, Haskins seems content with where he is and where he's trying to take his life now that he's free, clean and sober.
"It's fun to get up early and not have a hangover, to constantly be productive and work for something," Haskins says. "My focus with our band has gotten so much better too. I'm a better frontman. I'm losing weight and I can breathe better because I quit smoking. I'm just better at doing the things I love doing."
"I'm getting out and now I'm a felon. I can't be on a lease most places. I can't work most places. It's like, are you trying to get me into a life of crime?" – Richard Haskins
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Now, Haskins says he wants to clean up his criminal record. He's not able to get his record expunged and can't afford the kind of legal representation that might make that happen, so he's writing letters and filing for applications with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, or as he says, "I'm going for a fucking state pardon."
Even without a lawyer, Hawkins isn't alone. Guitar player Stephenie Blaise passed the bar and has been guiding him through the legal minefield that is the Texas penal code for paroles and pardons.
"I've been able to kind of pick her brain about stuff," Haskins says. "I try to not abuse it because she's a fucking lawyer and I don't want to use somebody's services without paying for it but she's been so cool about helping me grasp this process."
He's also writing almost daily to the parole board with letters of recommendation and character witness statements from "so many really upstanding awesome citizens and a former city councilman. Even therapists are like, 'Man, I'll write you a letter.'"
"One of the reasons I'm doing this is not just for the pardon and stuff," Haskins says. "I'm just making a change in my life. I want to inspire the other people around me, particularly my children. You can fucking turn it around, man. You can change. You can change yourself."
Haskins says even if it takes decades of letter writing just to get noticed, he's willing to do the work.
"If it takes me 20 fucking years writing [Gov. Abbott] every month, I'm gonna do it," Haskins says. "This is not something I take lightly. It's something I'm taking on. Something like that is worth chasing down with everything you've got."
