# RDAP program

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "RDAP program," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/rdap-program/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The Bureau of Prisons' Residential Drug and Alcohol Program, which can shave 12 to 18 months off a federal sentence; John Kiriakou repeatedly advises fellow whistleblowers that, combined with good behavior and a halfway house, it can turn a five-year sentence into as little as two and a half years.*

- **Full name:** Residential Drug and Alcohol Program
- **Run by:** U.S. Bureau of Prisons
- **Effect:** 12–18 months off a sentence

The **RDAP program**, the [Bureau of Prisons](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/bureau-of-prisons)' Residential Drug and Alcohol Program, is a sentence-reduction scheme [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) repeatedly recommends to fellow whistleblowers facing federal time.[1] An inmate with any history of drug or alcohol problems, he says, can *"sit there every week for a year"* watching *"a DVD of the A&E network show Intervention,"* and *"they take 12 to 18 months off your sentence."*[1] Combined with good behavior and a halfway house, Kiriakou told [Daniel Hale](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/daniel-hale), a five-year sentence could shrink to *"two and a half years"*, *"next thing you know you're out."*[2] He drew on the same math to reassure Hale that the fear of a decade behind bars was worse than the likely reality.[3][4]

In a separate interview, Kiriakou describes RDAP in the same terms, sitting through a course that is *"basically just sitting and watching episodes of Intervention"*, noting the judge in Hale's case had strongly recommended he serve at the low-security federal prison at Butner, North Carolina, in part because of a substance-abuse problem.[5] He also recounts advising Hale directly, when the U.S. Marshals Service conducted its pre-sentencing investigation, to disclose a drug or alcohol problem: *"Lead with it, that'll make you eligible to be enrolled in the Bureau of Prisons RDAP program."*[6]

## See also

- [Daniel Hale](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/daniel-hale)
- [Solitary confinement](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/solitary-confinement)

## Sources

1. John Kiriakou on the Persecution of Daniel Hale (Ep. 5533) (2021-06-01), at 05:18. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tU2jvrjAx0&t=318s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2021-06-01-scott-horton-daniel-hale-persecution/
2. John Kiriakou on the Persecution of Daniel Hale (Ep. 5533) (2021-06-01), at 05:50. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tU2jvrjAx0&t=350s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2021-06-01-scott-horton-daniel-hale-persecution/
3. John Kiriakou on the Persecution of Daniel Hale (Ep. 5533) (2021-06-01), at 29:47. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tU2jvrjAx0&t=1787s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2021-06-01-scott-horton-daniel-hale-persecution/
4. John Kiriakou on the Persecution of Daniel Hale (Ep. 5533) (2021-06-01), at 31:53. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tU2jvrjAx0&t=1913s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2021-06-01-scott-horton-daniel-hale-persecution/
5. John Kiriakou – Ep 133 (2024-02-04), at 27:50. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHbpdELKO3o&t=1670s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2024-02-04-fortress-on-a-hill-henri/
6. Ep. 5567 – Kevin Gosztola and John Kiriakou on the Sente (2021-08-01), at 12:05. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV3V3wFJUwY&t=725s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2021-08-01-scott-horton/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/rdap-program/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt