A former Justice Department prosecutor tells
Newsmax TV he turned to shooting heroin and robbing banks after spiraling into a deep depression.
Andrew McKenna, author of the new memoir,
"Sheer Madness: From Federal Prosecutor to Federal Prisoner," said the seeds of his downfall were planted when, as a Marine, he was injured in a night navigation exercise and put on painkillers.
Note: Watch Newsmax TV on
DirecTV Ch. 349, DISH Ch. 223 and
Verizon FiOS Ch. 115. Get Newsmax TV on your cable system —
Click Here Now
"You couldn't complain about an injury because it can set you back in training. For the next couple of years, I just kind of grinned and bared it," McKenna said Wednesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show."
After the Marines, McKenna joined the Justice Department, investigating international drug trafficking and money laundering cases and later joined a law firm.
But years of untreated emotional distress, combined with the physical toll of the military, a reliance on prescription medication and alcohol — as well as divorce and the loss of contact with his sons, drove him to crime.
He went on a heroin binge and robbed five banks and two supermarkets before being caught and sent to federal prison for five years.
"I've always sort of had an addictive personality and a risk-taking personality," said McKenna, who now lives in upstate New York, does legal research and is working on a second memoir.
"Sheer Madness: From Federal Prosecutor to Federal Prisoner" is published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.