Marlin Carey is the first to admit you can’t escape the past.

“I did what I did,” he said. “It was wrong, horrendous, and I paid the price. I squandered a great opportunity.”

What Carey and his accomplices did in 1998 was hold a family hostage at gunpoint for nearly 14 hours in order to rob a Bank of America branch where one of the victims was the manager.

The former Mt. Carmel High School All-American running back was sentenced to four life terms in prison, plus 76 more years. He would not be eligible for parole until he was 116.

But in 2015, California Senate Bill 261 expanded a youth offender law, giving offenders a chance at a parole hearing. Since Carey was 22 at the time of his crimes, he was eligible for parole.

In April, Carey was paroled on his second try. Now 48, he is living in a halfway house in Vista.

“I want to give back,” Carey said. “I embarrassed Mt. Carmel and San Diego. San Diego gave me an opportunity, and I blew it. I want to make the school and the city proud of me again.”

He wants to tell his story.

Marlin Carey was named a Parade All-American alongside future NFL stars.

Star power

Carey’s high school career was as dazzling as his downfall was stunning.

In 1993, he was named a Parade Magazine All-American on the same team that featured Pro Football Hall of Famers Peyton Manning, Tony Gonzalez and Orlando Pace, future NFL star Donovan McNabb and fellow San Diegans Darrell Russell of St. Augustine and Adam Abrams of Bishop’s.

That year, he outperformed future Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams of Patrick Henry, running for 188 yards on 20 carries and scoring five touchdowns and a two-point conversion.

“I remember standing on the sideline because our defense was on the field, and I felt like a gust of wind blew in front of me,” Williams said in 1998. “That was Marlin running past on his way to the end zone.”

Carey was named the CIF San Diego Section Player of the Year as a senior. He finished his high school career with 4,965 yards and 56 touchdowns.

The Sundevils’ misdirection, counter-trey offense was perfect for Carey because he had “speed, strength, quickness and vision,” coach Doug Kamon said.

“The first time I saw Marlin, I said, ‘Oh my God,” said Gary Jolk, Carey’s position coach at Mt, Carmel and the man who drove Carey to school for three years.

“He was a great football player, the best I ever coached. He had speed and natural instincts. I’d put him in the same category as Reggie Bush.”

When Carey was a junior, Mt. Carmel was led by a group of seniors that kept the team in line.

“Once they graduated, I saw a change in Marlin, an arrogance,” Jolk said. “I love him because he did so much for us at Mt. Carmel, but he was different as a senior.”

Missed opportunities

Carey had a full-ride scholarship to USC, but squandered that opportunity. He stopped going to class during his final semester of high school. And while he had the GPA and test scores to graduate from Mt. Carmel, it wasn’t enough for admittance to USC.

Trojans coach John Robinson told Carey he would have to enroll at a junior college to get his grades up. Carey wouldn’t do it.

He weighed his options. Ohio State and the University of Nebraska had been interested in him.

Lincoln High School great Terrell Davis called and encouraged Carey to visit the University of Georgia. He headed south and moved in with Davis.

But “the South was different. It was culture shock,” Carey said. “Then I got hurt the week before the first game, tore a ligament in my ankle and took a redshirt year.”

The following spring, Carey was running with the Bulldogs’ first-team offense in spring drills. Then he returned to San Diego on a break, hung out with some old friends and, Carey said, smoked marijuana.

“In my arrogance,” he said, “(I thought) there was no way Georgia would drug test me.”

But the school did. Carey tested positive, plunged down the depth chart and eventually left school.

A homesick Carey looked into playing at San Diego State. But Tom Craft was running a pass-happy offense, and “I was too arrogant to be the feature back in a passing offense,” Carey said.

The next stop was Boise State. In 1995, Carey carried the ball 12 times for 58 yards.

“But I had no work ethic,” Carey said. “Pride was an issue and my arrogance bit me in the rear. Then I got my girlfriend pregnant and needed money to support the family.

“That’s when the bank robbery plan was hatched.”

The crime

Carey and his accomplices held the manager’s family and a neighbor captive overnight while brandishing a BB gun that looked like the real thing.

The next morning, the manager went to the Bank of America branch on Carmel Mountain Road and placed $70,000 in a bag. There was $56,000 remaining 11 days later, when detectives discovered the bag and arrested Carey at his Carlsbad apartment.

“The only good thing is that no one got hurt, no one was raped. No one was physically damaged,” Carey said. “But I never thought about the emotional damage I inflicted on that family.”

Carey said he was desperate to provide for his young daughter.

“There was no criminal history in my family, so I can’t blame my actions on that,” he said. “It was all me.”

Carey’s mother, who now lives and works in Georgia, said her son matured during his decades behind bars.

“He has changed his thinking,” Maria Carey said. “He not only was humbled, he was humiliated. He went into a family’s home. I could feel their pain. Marlin had no one to blame but himself.

“For so many years, I was ashamed I had a son in prison. I realized he’d be in prison during his formative years, and it would take a miracle for him to get out.”

That miracle came in the form of the Youth Offender Act, with attorney Adanna Ukah taking the lead.

“I visited him often in prison and could see him changing,” Maria Carey said. “He couldn’t directly say he was sorry to the victims, but he was repentant, wished he could do something for that family.

“Marlin is a perfect example of how one bad decision can alter your life … and the lives of those who love you. I’m so grateful to God that he’s a different person. Really, this has been a miracle.”

Terms of Carey’s parole state he must have no contact with his victims and may not possess or consume alcohol, marijuana or any other controlled substance. Carey must submit to random drug testing. He may not enter bars, liquor stores or dispensaries.

The sponsor

Felix Taverna was taking a long drive when, he says, Carey’s name “randomly popped into my head.”

“I had no connection to him, had never met him, but knew of him and what he had done and wondered how he was doing,” Taverna said.

So Tarverna, a radio producer who specializes in events at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, wrote Carey in prison. Carey wrote back.

“Over a five-year period, we corresponded,” Taverna said. “I saw a positive pattern and we formed a friendship.”

That friendship has led to the creation of a partnership. Taverna hopes to help Carey speak to teams and groups about his struggles and how one mistake can alter a life.

Taverna is acting as Carey’s sponsor.

The future

Carey plans to take classes at Palomar College, but also needs to find a job. He has skills as a barber and earned an associate’s degree in computer science while in prison.

Carey found religion while in prison and was baptized. His commitment to his Christian faith, he said, gave him strength during difficult days. He wants to have a relationship with his daughter and a connection with his community.

“I can ‘t lie, prison isn’t easy,” Carey said. “I had never been incarcerated, so I had no idea what to expect. I was angry, but I learned a lot about myself. In prison, it’s their way or the hard way.”

His mistakes, Carey said, have illuminated his future path.

“I had plenty of time to think about the victims, and it was heartbreaking,” he said. “I didn’t treat people the way I would like to be treated. I’m so blessed to be out. I want to be a good citizen.

“I have a relationship with God. I’m not the same arrogant person I was 27 years ago. I’ve been humbled. I’ve improved myself.

“I want to show people there is hope.”