"Wolf of Wall Street" seeks redemption

Belfort thought he was too clever to get caught by what he describes as bumbling investigators with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Besides, his mentors were cunning teachers. One lawyer kept pens for a dozen or so years to backdate documents so they would later pass a gas chromatography test administered by the FBI.

But when you take as many drugs as Belfort says he did, you do a lot of stupid things. For one, he was obsessed with smuggling money into Switzerland so he could skirt U.S. securities laws and expand his illegal empire.

"It was the stupidest thing I ever did," Belfort said.

A Swiss banker busted in an unrelated case offered up Belfort to get leniency with prosecutors. In 1999, Belfort pleaded guilty to criminal charges of securities fraud and money laundering in connection with manipulating the stock prices for 34 public companies.

Belfort faced a maximum of 30 years in prison, but got a lenient sentence in exchange for his role as a witness for the government.

In prison, Belfort found that nothing burned time like writing. His bunkmate at California's Taft Correctional Facility, Tommy Chong of the Cheech and Chong stoner comedy movies, encouraged him to write a book after they spent nights swapping stories.

Belfort didn't know how to write, but he said he used Wolfe's "Bonfire of the Vanities" as his textbook. He now writes several hours a day. His second book will be about the aftermath of his downfall. He said he is also trying to right past wrongs.

"I believe I have a shot at being redeemed by living a good life today," Belfort said.