For Hanford resident Tony Hughes, his best Christmas present would be a job. Then maybe he could get back everything he lost more than four years ago.

Hughes, 40, had everything before he went to prison. He not only had a wife, but also owned a home, a $40,000 car and $100,000 worth of tools. Now he has no job and lives with his mother.

He served four years and 10 months in Corcoran State Prison after authorities discovered a stolen check in his car. He said he was giving a ride to his friend's girlfriend, who had stolen and was in possession of a $535 check -- unbeknownst to Hughes. He says he had a criminal record because as a 13-year-old, he was found guilty of assault in a fight over a little girl. Prosecutors fought hard to put Hughes in prison with his second felony.

When Hughes came out three weeks ago, everything -- wife, car, house and tools -- was gone. His wife had divorced him, taking with her all his possessions. He didn't even have any of his own clothes when he came out.

The result: He now trusts no one but his mother. He won't let anybody inside his mother's car.

"My mistake was ignorance," he said. "I now have to find new friends."

He once made $67,000 a year as an auto detailer at Cowboys Auto Detail in Hanford before he went to prison. Now he's looking for jobs at Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and McDonald's that pay about $8 an hour. He's even considering janitorial work.

"I have the desire to sweat for the right man," he said. "I'm willing to work two jobs and 18 hours a day."

Hughes is spending his days now in the career center at Kings County Job Training Office, poring over help-wanted ads listed in the computer. So far, he's applied for 30 jobs, mostly in the retail and labor industry. He has plenty of competition from other job seekers at the job center and elsewhere.

"I won't give up," he said. "I'll be here all day."

But finding a job could be a big hurdle.

Many ex-felons, as well as those who have been laid off, those new to Kings County and welfare mothers, swarm the computers of the career center of Kings County Job Training Office looking for work, according to staff members.

"We deal a lot with people from prison," said Gus Pena, an employment and training technician for the career center. "This is usually their first stop in finding a job."

Pena said most of the jobs typically available for ex-felons from the state prisons are in construction and manual labor, not in retail, where Hughes has been applying.

"It's harder because of their background," he said.

Hughes said he wants a job so bad that he even told one employer that he'd be willing for work for free for one week. Hughes told the employer: "If I'm not as good as your top man in one week, you don't have to pay me anything."

He doesn't mind the minimum-wage jobs he's looking for. He earned 8 cents an hour as a clerk for the assistant warden of Corcoran State Prison. He would spend the $27 a month he earned on toothpaste and bathroom materials.

"I learned how to make my money stretch inside," Hughes said.

Now he's determined to earn back all that he's lost. He wants to open a car-detailing shop in Hanford so he can earn back a house, car and tools.

"I plan to open a thriving auto-detailing business," Hughes said. "For the rest of the auto-detailing businesses in town, beware, because your competitor is here."

He's going to first start with a job -- any job -- that will allow him to save money as a down payment for opening his business.

"There's nothing that my wife took that I can't get back," Hughes said.

Hughes, who was born and raised in Hanford, says his best Christmas present would be a stable job.

"The beginning of my success is a job," he said.

Hughes said he hopes some employers, even in retail, are willing to take ex-felons.

"The ex-felon stereotype carries with it a bad taste in my mouth," he said. "I'm labeled a stereotype for life. I just need somebody to believe in me. I want my life back."

Retail isn't his first calling, though. His true passion is detailing cars, for which he earned a certificate in prison. He managed four men in that field in the past before serving his sentence.

But he has other interests as well. Earlier, he worked in construction for Champi Fence Co. in Hanford, making $40 an hour. He was responsible for slate fence construction, as well as cast-iron and chain-link fences. Hughes also has an intellectual side. He earned a bachelor's degree in business from California State University, Fresno.

Life in prison wasn't easy for a man who had everything. Hughes lived two cells away from Charles Manson for two years.

"I heard and saw him every day," Hughes said. "He was loud, funny and obnoxious."

Hughes was afraid of the racial tensions and riots in prison. He stayed away from the violence by working in the office of the assistant warden -- even on his days off.

"A good day in prison is a day without death," Hughes said. "Every day there's a fight. It's a volatile situation."

But prison isn't on his mind these days. Without employment, Hughes thinks of nothing but work. Sitting idle on the sofa irritates him.

"I'm so used to working," he said.

Hughes was raised to work when the sun came up. Starting at age 6, Hughes would wake up at 4 a.m. to watch cows alongside his dad, who worked in the dairy industry. His father would give him a portion of his paycheck.

"I'm going to succeed," he said. "I've paid my debt to society."

The reporter can be reached at 583-2423.

(Dec. 25, 2008)