Born in Peru, David moved to New York at age 17, after finishing high school. He went on to attend John Jay College of Criminal Justice where he majored in criminal justice and minored in English, becoming a Thurgood Marshall Scholar in the process. Since graduating with honors in 1997, David has worked as a court advocate and mitigation expert and currently with Defense Advocacy Services (DAS), a small criminal-justice agency founded in 1997, which he joined as a partner in 1999. His work has been to advocate, orally and in writing, for indigent and private clients in state and federal cases to receive reduced or alternative-to-incarceration sentences based on their unique personal histories and special characteristics. When David is not working he enjoys time with friends, art, writing, politics, soccer and mixed martial arts. His medium to long term goals are to publish his English translation of Peruvian poet Cesar Vallejo’s poetry; to complete and realize a couple of screenplay projects he started based on his work and adventures with friends; and to enter the field of policy advocacy in the areas of criminal-justice, immigration and possibly education. As a practicing Buddhist, David is inspired by the Shinnyo-en Foundation’s Six Billion Paths to Peace initiative and has been trying to spread its message of self-realization and harmonious, altruistic action to friends and colleagues.
“Living a spiritual life is about more than being selfless.
It also means being able to see adversity as opportunity.”
- Shinjo Ito
It also means being able to see adversity as opportunity.”
- Shinjo Ito
