He attended high school in Oregon and Dumont, New Jersey, ultimately graduating from Dumont High School.[9] He attended Fairleigh Dickinson University, being an accounting major after initially being a pre-med major, but dropped out in 1976 at the urging of a friend.[10] After getting into trouble with the law for using illegal drugs, he joined the Marines.[11] He became a sergeant and left the Marines to become an accountant.